I believe that “Education is teaching valuable life skills that a person will be able to apply in real-world scenarios.” The seeds of this educational philosophy were laid in my early childhood, which I continue to implement in my classroom, even today.

            While growing up I learnt English as a Second Language. After attaining formal education in English and by working in classrooms, I realized the supreme stratum it enjoys above all other languages in the world. As some students struggled to speak, I could relate to their feelings, as I have experienced the same awkwardness that coincide with not knowing the language. This is when I felt the need to formally teach English as a Second Language, to help students develop the necessary skills and knowledge of English.

Currently while pursuing Masters in Teaching English to the Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), I became aware of employing a democratic approach. In my future classroom my goal is to cultivate a democratic classroom environment by infusing values such as co-operation, mutual respect, fairness, justice in students and, by valuing all students’ voices. I believe in Vygotsky’s Co-operative Learning Theory, where the more knowledgeable other (MKO) supports and guides the less proficient English learner. (Garhart , 2013). This exchange helps to establish a ‘buddy system’ in the class and promote co-operation. I would also implement the classroom management plan with students, having them come up with a list of agreements. This encourages students to take responsibility and be co-creators of their own learning. Thus, an open dialogue between students and me, will set a democratic tone of mutual respect and beginning of a solid partnership.

Last year, by working with an After-School Program in Bronx (K-3) combined with course readings of Study Abroad Program, I learnt about - “Funds of Knowledge”. This made a great impact on the way I plan lessons for Language Learners. This theory helps in building culturally responsive classroom (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992). Instead of focusing my teaching on “what students’ lack” in terms of knowledge and language, I plan my lessons around “what students bring” to us in terms of cultural experience, skills and knowledge. This would make ELLs feel valued for “who they are”. Another key planning idea I developed was planning lessons by following the Understanding by Design (UbD). Engaging in this process helped to create interdisciplinary plans. For example, cooking cultural dishes, learning about Solar system through Art, surveying about planets in their home language, etc. By making such personal connections, students will be intrinsically motivated to participate in the classroom learning experiences.

I derive joy by embracing diverse backgrounds. My classroom will be a place where individual differences are celebrated and diverse needs are tailored. To fit the needs of students, I differentiate the instruction into three categories – content (varied text - to complete the task), process (different activities through which students learn), products (vehicles to demonstrate the knowledge, like individual work or group work presentation, etc.). According to Carol Ann Tomlinson, differentiation can be based on either of the three categories. (Tomlinson, 1999, p. 11). Therefore, I sometimes differentiate only one of the above areas, two or all three. Moreover, I would group heterogeneously, in this sense, students with mixed ability and different English levels work together, which not only supports their learning needs, but makes the learning experience fun for students.

As English as a Second Language teacher, I want to make sure that students use the learnt language meaningfully and in a risk – free environment. For this reason, I implement some of Kagan’s co-operative learning strategies, Total Physical Response (TPR), use visuals and hands-on experiences to support my instruction. Kagan (2009) states some of the popular co-operative teaching strategies like - timed think-pair- share, round table, number heads and concentric circles that develop language skills through a communicative approach. (E.Wright, 2015). I would use them at various points of instruction - for assessment, practicing the new content or for brainstorming. Round table strategy in my classroom would look like, students sitting in a circle and recording their thoughts on any topic or 1st graders practicing the conjunctions ‘and’, ’but’, in concentric circles, etc. Through these strategies I ensure that students internalize the grammar forms and practice the vocabulary. Additionally, I strongly feel that strategies like, Total Physical Response (TPR) where they use their bodies to understand the language, would benefit language learners. As explained Asher (2009) explained the three-stepped strategy, teacher models the command, students imitate the action, and then are easily able to carry out the command. (Wright, 2015). This would be a scaffold to understand difficult academic words as students see, listen and act out the words. Moreover, my classroom would have colorful pictures and anchor charts, so students can review the learnt vocabulary and it would also help in scaffolding a task. I believe in providing students with hands - on experiences, so they not only have the opportunity to express what they have created but would enjoy the experience of learning by doing. Employing these strategies would make my classroom student-centric and make the content comprehensible for English Language Learners.

Just as I feel the need to differentiate my instruction and strategies, I feel the same about assessment and feedback. During my course work, I learnt about reliability (provide information that can be replicated) and validity (how well a test measures what it claims to measure). As pointed in the Educational Assessment for Students – “Assessments are reliable and valid when the data is collected in a systematic manner by conducting multiple assessments.” (Brookhart & Nitko, 2014). This is what I would do and use this data to close the learning gaps. Feedback too, plays a vital role in language classroom. Specific feedback, for example, praising students for what they have done well will boost their confidence level and inform them what they have to do next.

The above experiences have provided me with a good preview of my future classroom and to be a reflective practitioner. I believe that by reflecting on my teaching, I would not only hone my teaching skills, but help students reflect on their learning as well.