Jessica Harrington

Dr. Howland

EDUC-X 426.3

27 February 2020

Week 08: Let’s Think – Personal Reflection

Over the duration of this course, I have learned several strategies for improving the level

of instruction I provide to my English Language Learners. Perhaps the most helpful skill I will

take with me is the ability to look at a lesson plan and incorporate new and engaging ways for

students to access the material. My school provides all teachers with a set curriculum, but gives

us the freedom to modify it as we see fit. In this way, I can now be more intentional about

integrating reading, technology, and assessment strategies on a more frequent basis in order to

better meet their language acquisition and academic needs.

On top of understanding how to modify an existing lesson plan, I am also taking with me

a variety of strategies and specific activities that will improve my students’ literacy in grade level

content. First and foremost, I plan to organize all of my upcoming units around a central theme

or idea. I am hoping that in doing so, students will be able to make connections more easily

across the various texts we will be analyzing in class. To start, I modified the unit I am currently

in to center around the idea of “Facing Challenges” and chose stories, articles, videos, and

movies that all related to this theme. What I am already noticing is that students are now better

able to discover details and patterns that are similar across all of the texts. They are also able to

more effectively make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections because of the

repetition of the theme and central idea in every lesson.

 In terms of concrete strategies, I plan to start incorporating the use of dialogue journals so

students are better able to collect evidence as we read and engage with the texts in a more

meaningful way. Based on the readings we did in class, I also have plans to launch an online

blog where students can publish their writing assignments and give and receive feedback from

their peers. In these ways, I feel as though I will be a more effective teacher by creating more

exciting opportunities for students to think outside the box.