InTASC Standard #2: Learning Differences

The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure
inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.

Learning Goal: Student(s) will feel that their different learning needs are being met individually.

Narrative:
During my time as a student at Rochester College, I was given
the opportunity to tutor ESL students at Rochester High
School. I worked with four girls who spoke very little English.
The students had all been in the States for less than three
months, and they were struggling with English vocabulary. I
assigned them a book with a low Lexile Level and began each
session with direct vocabulary instruction. I would do a seven-
step vocabulary activity. First, I would say the word out loud.
Then, I would have the students repeat the word back to me
three times. After this, we would read a sentence from our
novel that uses the word. Next, I would provide them with the
dictionary definition of the word to get them familiar with
formal English. After this, we came up with an “everyday
definition” so they could understand the word better. The 5th
step was a warning about the word. I would explain to them
that sometimes words sound the same but have different
meanings, or that just changing one letter in the word makes it
something completely different (scared/scarred). After this, I
provided them with a visual representation of the word. Lastly,
I had the students write the word in a sentence.

Reflection:
Tutoring students who spoke very little English was a
wonderful experience. It was a challenge for me because I had
to explicitly teach the students a lot of vocabulary. This
frontloading was essential because without it the students
would not have been able to understand the plot of the text. I
learned a lot about patience and understanding from this
teaching experience. I created multiple vocabulary lessons, but
the students were still not fully grasping the meaning of
words. We would read, and the students could not understand
what was happening because of the language barrier. Finally, I
decided that it was more important that they learned the
vocabulary, even if it meant we would not finish the book on
time. Once I taught the Seven-Step lesson, the students actually
retained the vocabulary. It took the entire hour to teach them
ten new words, but it was worth it when they began using the
words in sentences. Working with ESL students is challenging,
but extremely rewarding.