Colerain

Mack
EDU 6201
December 12, 2016
Rationale-Reflection

This semester has offered a bounty of important insights regarding English
language development and instruction. Being in the classroom provided
opportunities for me to connect theory to practice, as I realized the complexities of
addressing all students needs in one classroom, acknowledging their struggles and
their strengths in order to help them learn effectively. In one ESL classroom I
worked in, students were encouraged to make use of their native language in order
to access new information in the target language. This strategy not only valued their
knowledge and experiences, but also enhanced their ability to access difficult and
unfamiliar content.
I find that continual reflection on the teaching and learning processes is
essential for achieving progress. It is important for both the teacher and the
students to engage in this practice of reflectionconsidering what went well and
what still needs improvement. These moments of reflection allow us to consider
which students need alternative methods to become more involved. One teacher I
worked with this semester successfully practiced reflection each day, often coming
to important realizations during the lesson that shifted the way she taught in order
to extend additional language support to those students who needed it.
I think that my diversity practices paper and lesson plan demonstrate my
ability to support learning differences in your classroom by allowing students
different ways to demonstrate learning. In my diversity practices paper, I explain
my philosophy of assessing students on a variety of topics relying on their personal
experiences and opinions as well as in presentational formats through
measurements that adhere to communicative language teaching. Students have
multiple means of expressing and demonstrating knowledge, allowing them to
access the strengths and develop additional skills. For example, in my lesson plan,
students are assigned to evaluate the YouTube video Like a Girl through multiple
formats, accessing multiple literacies and intelligences while attending to learner
difference and diversity.