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!) It sounds like Mrs. Morgan may be saying one thing and doing something different not knowing how her students are feeling. I would most definitely suggest that you share the findings with Mrs. Morgan, but before you do that, I would suggest talking to the student briefly to find out what qualities the student likes about her. Having some positive things to say could definitely help to offset the news you would be bringing her about her students feelings. You also want to be careful how you present the information to the teacher. You don't want her to feel defensive or for her to harbor feelings against the student (which is unlikely). Either way though, the student will only what he needs academically if the teacher knows and can provide it to him. It sounds like she is pretty unsure of his capabilities presently, so I think talking to her about it would probably be best.