TEFL Bow Mar Colorado

Teaching Styles (68.) Exploring the needs of young learners Before the era of personal computers, MP3 players and the internet, classroom learning was often characterized by sitting quietly at a desk, listening to a teacher dictate and assign tasks. It was then the students' responsibility to work independently with their notebook and given text to fulfill the requirements directed by the teacher. However, times have changed significantly with the emergence and acceptance of research on multiple intelligence and personal learning styles. It is no longer believed that the teacher-centered instructional approach to learning and acquiring knowledge is without question the ideal. Nor has it proven to facilitate desired results in the academic arena with students, whether native english speakers or english language learners. Deteriorating results have called for reform in the classroom, revolutionizing the way teachers traditionally teach and how students have understood classroom life. While classroom teaching and learning have taken a shift over the last 15 years, with technology paving the road for interactive tools such as Smartboards and laptop access via mobile carts, there is still much room for improvement. Technology alone cannot be the sole vehicle teachers rely upon for reform to take place; engaging our students and providing them with real captured learning. Rather, teaching that encompasses and stimulates the sensory, visual and kinesthetic faculties, along with the auditory, has shown to capture the interest of students along with producing the necessary academic achievements. If this has shown to benefit the native english learner, how much more for the learner of english, whose primary hurdle is accessing knowledge through words; written or spoken.Their struggle not simply in juggling academic demands but the very instrument through which these demands come. One researched teaching method, pioneering its way through the system and rising up to address this recognized need, is a model for both esl students and native speakers alike, called ‘Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol'; the SIOP Model. It is a comprehensive and detailed approach to teaching, involving and stimulating the faculties discussed that benefit any learner. For the english language learner in the typical school classroom, it provides an experience that taps into modes of learning and comprehension which ease the stress of traditional single-track auditory teaching and reading. This system allows language learners to further their english skills while tiering it with academic content, maximizing students' academic success in the present, thereby aiding it in the years that follow. Along with incorporating elements such as group/pair work, games, songs & grammar that would also fill a typical esl classroom, they use academic content to expose and provide the skills these students need to thrive both within and outside the academic arena. The following is an example given from the handbook on the ISOP Model:......in a primary grade classroom, one theme might be “Life on a Farm.” While the students learn such language related elements as names of animals, adjectives, and the present continuous tense, they also solve addition and subtraction problems, read poems and sing songs about farm animals, and discuss the food chain, thus exploring objectives from mathematics, language arts, music, and science.....In general, content-based esl/ELD teachers seek to develop the students' english language proficiency by incorporating information from the subject areas that students are likely to study or from courses they may have missed if they are new immigrants. Whatever subject matter is included, for effective content-based esl instruction to occur, teachers need to provide practice in academic skills and tasks common to mainstream classes. (Making english Comprehensible p.14-15) In summary, the SIOP Model offers a strong comprehensive approach whether teachers choose to use it in a typical classroom or solely for the english language learner. In the esl classroom it will equip students with skills that reach beyond conversation based english to priming them for the expectations and demands of the school setting. In the public or private school system, a Model like SIOP can transform a students education experience, making knowledge more accessible and enjoyable which will only serve to boost and equalize academic scores between native and ELL students.