I recently went to one of my favorite websites and found that I had pressed a button to translate it to another language. I was caught very off guard and wasn't immediately sure how to change it back. I realized how our student's must feel when looking at a difficult piece of text. I decided to use my context clues to help me navigate the webpage. The visuals were more helpful than ever before! I was using those clues to help me navigate around the webpage; just like our students must use the visual clues in our classroom to help them navigate through our instruction!
I found that there was very little I could comprehend without support. I needed a strategy to help me. I decided to search some of the words online to try to translate them! That was a big help! I also asked a friend who was working near by to see if they knew the meaning of any of the words in the heading. She was able to help a little. Using a friend and an online resource were both helpful and enabled me to find what I needed to translate the webpage.
Being put into this situation, although frustrating, was inspiring because it allowed me to step back into the role of a pre-reader. To feel their frustration and angst will help me to be more patient with my students in the future.
Thanks, Elizabeth, Just as you found it helpful to work together with a friend to attempt to translate the meaning, ELL's often feel safer and more confident when they can work collaboratively. I'm glad that this experience enabled you to feel empathy toward your ELL's.
ReplyDeleteHeidi
Elizabeth, when my husband and I first were married we lived in Germany. During our tour in Germany we had to learn how to get around, and communicate with the Germans in order to survive. Ordering food was very difficult at first so we used pictures on the menues to help us choose our meal. We also looked to see what other people were eating and then connected the meal to words on the menu by asking people too. My point being that people are a great resource:)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I found it difficult to understand my website as well. It's challenging to look at something familiar and have it be essentially undecipherable. It gave me a new appreciation for the ELL students I work with.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, it is difficult to understand another language when people are talking around you and you are not familiar with it. I was extremely discouraged when I actually saw the text. For your postings I like how you added asking a friend, something we don't often think about.
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