Confidence is a tricky idea. It is something that everyone needs in order to achieve the goals they set, improve their skills, and even start friendships. So much in school, and in life, requires a person to be confident in new and challenging situations. But what does confidence actually look and sound like? I define it as having the belief that you have the ability to reach your goals or meet challenges. It is a difficult idea to define but without confidence a child will not be able to reach their amazing potential. How do we as educators and parents build confidence in our children?
1. Focus on your child's strengths. At any given moment in a student's education there will be skills and understandings that they need to work on and get better at. Yet we shouldn't focus completely on the work a child has to do. Our students, especially as English learners, need to know that what they've been doing is challenging and celebrate the progress they've made. Meeting the rigorous standards that are set at our school in an additional language is a tremendous challenge and I am impressed every single day I work with the students at KISJ. Remember to remind your child that you are proud of their effort and resilience in their studies. The following are some ideas for the type of praise you could give your children to help build their confidence:
2. Set, track, and reflect on goals. Successful learners set goals for themselves and measure their progress. Most importantly they reflect on the work they’ve put into achieving the goals and learn something about themselves. It is helpful to set goals that focus on the process of learning rather than the product of learning. For example, a goal that can help build confidence in your child could look like: “I will read an English book for thirty minutes, five times a week.” We know that successful readers keep a reading habit. By setting a goal for daily reading and tracking his or her progress, your child can learn to see that they have control over their learning. This, in turn, will help develop their sense of confidence. The following are some reflection questions that might help in the process:
3. Remember to focus on the process of learning, not the product of learning. We are showing your children how to become independent learners, not simply to comply with what we ask of them. When your child shows improvement in a subject, no matter how small, this is something to feel good about. Elementary school is a formative experience. When your child receives a grade that they’re not satisfied with it is an opportunity for growth, nothing else. Becoming a confident and independent learner takes time and effort. Education is much more like a marathon than a sprint and it helps to remember this. With patience and understanding, we can help our children become more confident learners.
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![]() When we see an iceberg, the portion which is visible above water is, in reality, only a small piece of a much larger whole. We often view culture in the same way; identifying a culture by only what we see. Immersing ourselves in international schools requires us to engage with different cultures as much as different languages. In order to truly succeed we need to learn about one another’s cultural core values (what’s below the surface of the iceberg). As teachers in an international school we need to learn about our student’s cultures to better relate to and gain their trust and confidence. We can do this through conversation, journal writing, and incorporating cultural aspects into projects and class activities. By getting to know our student’s cultural core values we can better respond to their needs and differentiate our instruction. It is also important for students and their families to learn about their teachers and classmates varying cultures as well. By having a better understanding of different cultures, students and parents can have a clearer vision of the school and teacher practices. Education is a team sport; we need to all work together to ensure students receive the best education they can. By taking a vested interest in each other’s cultures, we can work together as a stronger, more unified team. ![]() As ELL teachers our main job is to support language development. We help students develop their English skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. As parents at KISJ you are very familiar with the fact that for the past year and a half the ES ELL teachers have focused their support in Reader’s Workshop. So, let’s talk reading. The components of reading are: decoding, fluency, rate, comprehension, and metacognition. Decoding is the ability to break apart the sounds of a word in order to in order to say that word. Decoding is related to pronunciation. Fluency is the ability to read as we speak, in a smooth way and with expression. Rate is how fast or how slow you read. Comprehension is the ability to understand what you read. Background knowledge and vocabulary are key aspects of comprehension. Finally, metacognition is thinking about how you think. Metacognition in reading is the ability to talk about how you figure something out in the text. It is important to note that some components of reading, like decoding, are more emphasized in younger grades, as students engage in the study of phonics. In older grades, an important switch happens. In lower Elementary students are learning to read and in upper Elementary they read to learn. Because of this switch, comprehension and metacognition are reading components that are greatly capitalized in the older grades. Although Reader’s Workshop is a method to teach reading, it provides us, ELL teachers, with the perfect platform to help develop all four domains of language. Within the Workshop students engage in meaningful activities that not only support reading, but also support the development of writing, listening and speaking. Together with the Homeroom Teachers we ensure that students are engaged in relevant activities and have the language to be successful in them. At school, on a daily basis, your child is engaged in activities that will help improve his/her academic English. As a parent it would be beneficial if you could provide your child with opportunities to practice his/her social English. Say, a holiday trip to an English speaking country. Now, wouldn’t that be fun! |
AuthorThe Elementary ELL team! Archives
March 2019
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