Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Reasonable Expectations For my Methods for English Language Learners (ELL) course at the university, I was assigned to interview two upper-elementary students who were recent immigrants. I picked one Asian and one Hispanic student for the interview, both of whom had good English proficiency. Before talking to the students, I talked to the classroom teacher, Mrs. Morgan. As an experienced teacher, Mrs. Morgan really impressed me with her knowledge about how to teach English Language Learners. She said the most important thing in teaching ELLs was setting reasonable expectations for their performance. When I interviewed the students the next day, I learned a lot about ELLs' experiences. The Asian student said he was confused most of the time. The teacher gave him difficult tasks without detailed directions. He had to rely on his classmates to figure out what to do. The Hispanic student felt like the teacher did not think much of him. He said that especially in math the problems the teacher gave him were too simple for him. He also mentioned that the teacher never called on him. Mrs. Morgan asked me to share my interview findings with her. What should I tell her? What do you think is problematic about Mrs. Morgan's beliefs and practices? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) Yes I think you should tell Mrs. Morgan about your interview and you should only tell her the truth. This way Mrs. Morgan will see her mistake. I think Mrs. Morgan's problem is that she stereotypes her students. I don't know if you this or not but the stereotype that I know of for Asian students is that they are really smart especially in math and Hispanic students tend to be slower. She gave the Asian student work she thought wasn't difficult while she gave the Hispanic student something that was too easy. Not once did you mention did Mrs. Morgan make en effort to know where these students learning ability stood. How can you set reasonable expectations if you don't know where your students are to begin with?