Katie's Portfolio Blog

I have been given the opportunity to work with two different English Language Learners. I meet with the students on an every other week basis. For example, if I work with one student on Tuesday the next week I will work with the other student on Thursday. One of my students is from Nepal. This student is motivated to learn English, however I have come across the realization that it is difficult to teach some parts of English because the language does not make complete sense. The other day we were learning about food and I became aware of how the cultural differences had an impact on a student's learning. There were foods in the United States that the student was not allowed to eat because his culture just did not eat those foods. My other student I have learned is having a very difficult situation outside of school but it is really having a negative impact on her learning. This student has been told by their family that they will be returning to her country for an arranged marr...

Vygotsky is a social learning theorist who believes the role of the teacher is significant to the learning done in the classroom. He believes that a socially interactive classroom environment is important because the developmental stage that adolescents are in depend on social interaction. Maslow is another learning theorist, he believes in the hierarchy of needs. In order for students to be mentally available to learn they must first fulfill the lower levels of the pyramid.  As a future teacher I agree with Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. I think it is important that students are mentally and physically ready to learn and they will not be able to do this if they have not fulfilled the lower levels of the pyramid. It is important for students to have the right nutrition while learning, stay away from simple sugars. Simple sugars are good for a few moments but then cause fatigue. Students have to feel safe in the environment that they are learning in, and feel comfortable enoug...

Charlie, the main character in Perks of Being a Wallflower, is a freshman in high school who is struggling with the suicide of his only friend in middle school. Dealing with this type of trauma at this age is difficult, not that it is not difficult at any other age. However it is important to take into consideration that the transition from middle to high school can be difficult for students. From a teacher perspective I think it is important that we work with the students to create a smooth transition and help them in anyway that we can. Charlie's English teacher recognized that he liked to read and write and therefore gave him more books to read and graded his papers a little more rigorously. Having something to focus on such as the extra reading and having to put a little bit more into his papers can be a good escape for Charlie so he is not always thinking about how he lost his best friend. I think the structure of the novel is also important to pay attention to. The novel is...