Entry 3

Blog Entry 3 Reflection

I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Jordan Brazell, who is a teacher at a juvenile center for young men. His classroom is a little different than most. Since these young men are in a different situation than most, there classrooms are not simply divided by grade but age as well. For instance, Mr. Brazell mentions that the groups may have some students aged ten to twelve years old, or sixteen to eighteen years old. Before the interview, I asked the question does the change in age make it difficult for some of the students to learn? His response was that there is typically no delay in learning because these students remain in these same groups after school as well. Meaning that their relationships have already been formed before the start of class, so those that may disturb the class are typically redirected by their peers without any tension at all.

Throughout the interview, I asked Mr. Brazell a series of questions and the one that stood out to me the most was, what type of motivation does his English Language Learners need the most? An example that I gave was providing candy as a reward. Mr. Brazell informed me that there is only so much that his students may receive as a reward so he usually just sticks with words of affirmation. He stated that this along with simple one-on-one guidance motivates the students to accomplish more than usual. He says that this type of reward is simply better due to the fact that many of his students do not receive this type of recognition at home. According to Ortega, “These attitudes come from the collective values, beliefs, attitudes and even behaviours that are rewarded and modelled for the learner in the communities in which he or she participates, be it a classroom, the family or the wider environment of neighbourhoods and institutions”(Ortega, p.174 , 2013). By attitudes I believe he simply means a positive attitude to continue to progress which is what is beneficial to all students.

I think this is an important thing to remember for all of our students being that each of them comes from different backgrounds no matter the language they speak. Being able to connect with students on a deeper level could motivate them to not only learn more about a new language but have an easier time applying it as well.

References:

Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.

Video: https://youtu.be/fWa4Fco_ONs