Personal Beliefs

My personal beliefs will influence the way I teach someday. After learning about ELLs, it makes me want to be able to help them learn the best way possible. Differentiation will be huge in order to make sure all of my students needs are being met. We were all pretty much immigrants at one point in time and we have to realize we need to accommodate our ELLs if we want to stay competitive worldwide. 

We have discussed in one of our classes that it shouldn't be called "achievement gap" but "opportunity gap". This is a systematic problem and not an achievement problem. Our students are not going out of their way to not pass standard tests, its external forces that are not enabling them to do so. 

Teaching ELLs is more than just good teaching. We need to learn more about how to teach effectively. When you have a serious medical issue, would you go to see a general doctor or a specialist? When going to a fancy restaurant do you want a chef or a cook to prepare your food? The same goes with teaching ELLs we need more than just good teachers, we need good teachers with specialized ESOL endorsements.