Candidates Program Reflection-

Throughout my time within the TESOL program at Touro, I have learned such a wide
variety of new information that has furthered my capabilities as an educator. One topic in which
has assisted me greatly is the importance of curriculum development, from the course EDDN
635. Curriculum development revolves around educators collaborating with one another with
diverse instructional strategies to continuously improve curriculum. The backward design a
curriculum development tool that is composed of three stages that range in complexity of what
students should be able to academically achieve and comprehend according to their grade level
and age (Wiggins & McTighe, 2008). Learning about this strategy taught me step by step
instructions to ensure that I am gathering meaningful data on my students. The first step of this
process involves identifying the desired expectation of students through consideration of goals,
standards, and performance goals for the appropriate subject curriculum. When considering
student expectations, I learned from course EDPN 671 that it is essential to consider the vast
impacts of teacher expectations on the development and experience of our students. Both the
academic and behavioral expectations that teachers hold over students often will determine how
they will perform, regardless of any other instructional factors (Nieto & Bode, 2018). As
educators we must hold high expectations of our students alongside effective instruction in order
to truly promote their development. Following this step, the evidence of assessment must be
created carefully according to the learning expectations. Creating a variety of different means of
assessment strategies ensures that all students will be given the opportunity to express their
learning. The final stage of the backward design is the planning of meaningful, enriching
learning experiences. It is vital to constantly integrate instructional strategies that are best
accommodated for the needs of our diverse learners. The use of this design assists students in
meeting learning expectations while empowering educators to constantly ensure they are
providing the best resources for their students throughout their ongoing academic development.
            Another important subject that I feel as improved my potential as an educator is learning
about the theory of multiple intelligences. This theory, which I learned in course EDDN 671,
states there are several different means in which students can prefer to learn, rather than solely
learning through one common method. The theory differentiates human intelligence into
modalities of learning such as musical, visual, linguistic, logical, kinesthetic, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential (Edutopia, 2010). Implementing the theory of multiple
intelligences into our everyday teaching practice allows us as educators to provide the most
effective resources that best fit the needs and learning style of each individual student. When
determining the best resources to provide our students, it is important to keep in mind the critical
period hypothesis, which I learned about in course EDDN639. The critical period hypothesis
portrays how when given an enriching learning environment with appropriate instructional
methods and learning materials, children between the ages of two and thirteen are more prepared
to acquire new language proficiency skills (Ortega, 2009). Taking into account the age of our
students allows us to prepare more effective resources aimed towards progressing their academic
development. Providing our students with accommodating scaffolds within an enriching learning
environment will ensure that they can develop essential linguistic and proficiency skills in their
ongoing education.
 I have grown both personally and professionally throughout my time in this program in a
wide variety of ways. As educators, it is essential for us to take interest in our student’s home
lives and culturally backgrounds. Doing this also encourages students to want to learn more
about each other. Motivating students to want to express themselves pushed them towards
improving their ability to communicate fluently. I learned in course EDPN 673 the importance of
constantly integrating opportunities for students to engage in meaningful conversations with each
other plays a vital role in their learning and language development. Allowing students to
participate in student-led discussions about lesson content is an effective strategy of direct
teaching that will gradually increase their ability to make self-corrections in their English
proficiency (Richards & Rodgers, 2016). Encouraging students to make self-corrections in their
independent language usage plays an essential role on their ongoing language development.
While it is important to motivate our ENL students to advance their English proficiency skills,
we also need to consider their native language. It is often that students transition so much of their
knowledge and effort towards learning English that they eventually lose proficiency in their
home language. I learned in course EDDN 639 the concept of language attrition, which states
that bilingual students learning English often lose proficiency in their native language. The
process of language attrition gradually decreases a student’s native language proficiency skills
such as awareness of phonological and grammatical structures towards new, constantly practiced
skills in another language (Goldin, 2022). With this in mind, I plan to integrate my students’
native languages and culturally traditions into instructional strategies and scaffolds to better the
quality of their learning. Maintaining cultural awareness of our actions as educators and the
environment we provide to our students is essential in providing effective instruction.
 Over the course of my time within this program, I have countless implications that I
intend to use in my future teaching practice. One major milestone that has impacted my attitude
as an educator was learning about culturally responsive teaching in course EDPN 671. Culturally
responsive teaching revolves around the awareness and implementation of students’ cultural
traditions, values, and personal experiences towards improving the quality of everyday
instructional activities in the classroom. It was eye-opening to me that it took countless decades
of inequality within our educational policies to realize that students cannot reach their utmost
highest potential without the aspects of equality and true inclusion in their daily academic
instruction (NYSED, 2018). In order to ensure that I am constantly integrating culturally
responsive teaching into my instruction, I plan to implement new instructional strategies such as
the communicative language teaching method, which I also learned in course EDPN 671. The
communicative language teaching method revolves around students using scaffolds to
communicate with one another while exposing each other to new vocabulary and linguistic skills.
The constant use of this method gradually motivates students to want to express themselves with
other individuals inside and outside of the classroom (Celce-Murcia, 2013). Providing students
with different enriching means of communication with one another motivates them to increase
their English language proficiency levels to express their emotions more accurately. The use of
strategies such as this one into our classroom instruction will be significant steps in
accomplishing the goal of culturally responsive teaching, to empower students to have the
potential to achieve any level of academic success while furthering their development into
adulthood (NYCDOE, 2018). Building on this, the use of individualizing scaffolds is another
instructional strategy that I have found to be effective for my students while also accommodating
for culturally responsive teaching. Providing students with resources that meet their personal
needs and interests with consideration to their native language promotes ongoing English fluency
while enforcing bilingualism. Over the course of my time in the TESOL program at Touro, I
have learned more effective teaching strategies and life lessons to apply to my teaching than I
ever could’ve hoped for. I look forward to graduating this semester and carrying on all of the
knowledge that I have learned into providing my students with the most beneficial learning
strategies to improve their English proficiency skills and overall academic achievement while
making positive, meaningful impacts on their lives.

 
 References:

 Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2008). Understanding by design. Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.

 Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2018). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of
Multicultural Education (Seventh ed.). Pearson.

 (2010). Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences. [Video].

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYgO8jZTFuQ

 Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. London: Hodder

 Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2016). Approaches and methods in language teaching.
Cambridge University Press.

 Goldin, M. (2022). Age and age of acquisition.

2_Age_online.pptx. https://touro.instructure.com/courses/79028/files/5802175?
module_item_id=2383878 .

 NYSED. (2018). Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education

Framework.http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/crs/culturally-responsive-
sustaining-education-framework.pdfLinks to an external site.

 Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Brinton, Donna M.; Snow, Marguerite Ann. (2013). Teaching
English as a second or Foreign Language. Heinle ELT.

 NYCDOE. (2018). NYSED Culturally responsive-sustaining education

framework.https://www.weteachnyc.org/resources/resource/nys-culturally-responsive-
sustaining-education-framework/