TIP #3: USE SCAFFOLDING TECHNIQUES TO HELP STUDENTS ACCOMPLISH TASKS.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 442.

TIP #2: ENGAGE WITH YOUR STUDENTS' SPECIAL OCCASIONS AND INTERESTS.

On a related note, many American teachers develop special activities for holidays— Halloween, Passover, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and so forth — as well as American pastimes — baseball, lemonade stands, overconsumption. Ask your students to share their own holidays and interests, and incorporate these ideas into your classroom. One of the best ways to get a child or adult talking is to ask them about their personal life. Whipping out a handout that includes something that relates meaningfully to their lives will strengthen their interest in the classroom community and the material itself.

Scaffolding is the support given during the learning process that is tailored to the needs of your students. Since ESL learners generally need a new kind of support, it can be helpful to think of scaffolding as divided into three categories:

1. Verbal scaffolding: slowing speech, enunciating words, paraphrasing, rephrasing, using “think-alouds,” etc.;

2. Procedural scaffolding: one-on-one teaching, coaching, modeling, small-group instruction, partnering, and pairing; and

3. Instructional scaffolding: use of pictures, regalia, graphs, graphic organizers, audio-visual aids, and so forth.

Being aware of how you use these tools in the classroom can help you better plan for the needs of your students. Eventually, the goal is for the student to figure out the task at hand on their own and no longer need the additional support.