Ruth Lopez-Castro

TCH_LRN 401 – Haller

Competency 4.F Reflection

I feel strongly confident in the ability to plan and support English Language Learners’

engagement and various learning opportunities due to the course I have taken at Washington

State University. These courses have helped me succeed and achieve Competency 4.F because I

have completed various assignments and lesson plans where I needed to focus on planning and

doing differentiated instruction and learning environments. There are two pieces of evidence

that I believe reflect my achievement the most. The first piece of evidence I will include is an

assignment from SPEC_ED 420 where my peers and I created a presentation of various tools for

teachers to incorporate into the classroom to assist and support students. The second

assignment I completed was my final portfolio for ED_PSYCH 401.

The presentation we created was a Toolkit to serve as a resource for us and other

educators. This resource entails four different categories which are labeled as classroom

environment, student interactive, professional development for teachers, websites and articles.

While creating the Teacher Toolkit, I thought to myself what do I plan to use in my future

classroom? Can I find even more new resources I haven’t used? How will these resources be

useful to me and other educators as we plan our lessons? Asking myself various of questions

allowed me to find resources that are specific for students with disabilities and ELLs, that

involve the use of technology, and that are specific for teachers support their development. For

example, I found an App known as Word Lens and this app can be very beneficial for ELLs to use

as a translator to assist them in their activities. This tool can serve as individualized instruction
as some students may need it more than others and the language students need English

translated to may vary as well. Additionally, I have thought about how to use these various

resources for whole group instruction and partner instruction as well. I can use the Storyline

Online website as a read aloud to my students as whole group instruction. I can also

incorporate the use of the Exploratorium website to incorporate partner activities. This website

includes science activities that can be modified if needed. This proves I have achieved

competency 4.F because I have researched and learned how to plan and support ELLs.

The second evidence that adds to my growth towards this competency is the Final

Assessment Portfolio I completed for a previous course. This assignment required me to plan

and create assessments for a 2 – 4 week instructional unit. In this portfolio I included many

assessments and activities, for example I included formal and informal assessments. One formal

assessment I included was a project that students would need to work together in groups to

see a budget and purchase items. One informal assessment I chose to include was a think – pair

– share strategy, this strategy involves working independently, with a neighbor, and as a whole

class. This also indicates I have thought about how I can plan for a variety of interactions in my

future classroom. Although this shows my growth, I would have liked to add into this

assignment how I would specifically plan for ELLs as they may need extra support. Going

forward I want to learn more how to quickly modify my lessons and activities for the challenges

I did not think would occur and therefore did not plan for. I want to be able to quickly find an

alternative for students if needed. For example, an ELL student may have a difficult time

explaining their thoughts and findings to their peers, so I want to ensure I know

accommodations for this on the top of my head.

 Including various forms of learning environments and opportunities for students

especially ELLs gives students some sort of opportunity to be confident in at least one of the

strategies and/or assignments. Allowing multiple ways to engage students can make them

excited for their learning and can make them actively more engaged than if I were to only

provide one form of interaction. It also allows for students to use their skills in different ways.

This can have a positive impact on their school setting as my students will not be forced to sit

and work silently and independently every day because I have learned from THEORY that

people also learn from their interactions with others and the environment around them. This

theory connects to my achivement of the competency because it shows that I understand why

it is important to create multiple means of interaction. This also allows for diversity as some

students may work better in a group environment then others while others may work best one

on one with the teacher. This shows that there is no wrong or right way to learning and that we

all have different skills that make us unique and we can learn and grow from each other

because of this. Finally, it is crucial to include various forms because at times students may

need to be grouped according to their ability levels as well. Overall, interaction is a key part of

learning.