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!) Evidently, you should let Mrs. Morgan know what your interview responses were. How is she going to improve her teaching if she is not aware that she is doing something wrong? Therefore, it is necessary that you let her know about the problems that both students are experiencing in her class. Also, I would tell her that ignoring a child is not going to solve anything or improve his English. Teachers tend to underestimate migrant children because they assume that this child is not competent with the rest of the children. Overall, I would tell her that she needs to read more books about how to educated immigrant students to extend and improve her teaching.