LITERACY ACTION PLAN

BY: KEVIN GUEVARA 12/18/14

My Role &
Relevance
Who am I? I am just a young
Latino from Boston who wants to
make a difference in the lives of
children from all around the
world. I know from first hand
experience about the difficulties
that many ESOL students face in
the education system. The
interface between language,
culture, and education is that they
all go hand in hand with one and
other. Every student brings a
unique language and culture to
the classroom that contributes to
the education of the whole
classroom. It is important to view
the job of an educator as a culture
worker because it is our role as
educators to keep the students
culture alive and well in the U.S.
We can not let students lose their
cultures just because they are not
in their home country.
Linguistically Rich 21st Century Learners
The kids I will teach will be kids from all over the world. I hope
to have very diverse classroom where there will be kids who all
have their own unique culture and language. I need to learn a lot
about world cultures if I want to properly help out my students.
Many teachers do not know how to deal with diversity in the
classroom because we usually base our perceptions on our own
cultural perspectives; thus we judge others according to what is
familiar (10). I will need to know the polite way to greet a
student from Japan. I will need to learn about the religious
customs of students from Arabia and other parts of the Middle
East. We, as teachers, can become more culturally competent by
doing research or just asking the children about their unique
culture and customs. We can have the students do presentations
on their country, language, and customs.
Cultivating
My Classroom
Classroom
Community
It is important to ensure that
every one of my students feels
safe in my classroom. I want my
classroom to be a sanctuary for
children to share their unique
stories, customs, and language
without fear of being judged. I
will need to be aware of the
different customs of each
student; the miscommunication
occurs not only verbally but also
through body language,
gestures, facial expressions,
personal space, and
movement (17). I would never
want to accidentally offend one
of my students through a gesture. Intercultural communication is The best way to facilitate these
It is my responsibility to be aware
the wide range of communication competencies would be to have
of what might be offense in
different cultures. It is also my issues that will inevitably arise culture day. Students can bring
responsibility to make my fellow within an organization composed food and inform the facility of the
educators aware of these offense of individuals from a variety of school about their traditions and
gestures, so that they will not
religious, social, ethnic, and what is offensive to their culture.
accidentally offend one of their
students. educational backgrounds.
Language and literacy
acquisition looks like a student Language & Literacy Acquisition
struggling to pronounce a word
and the teacher helps him
pronounce the word. It is
basically watching a student
learn how to read and write in
English, and also watching a
student improve his reading and
writing skills. Socio-emotional
context have a huge impact on
learning a new language; Some
students do not succeed because
negative relationships with
persons of the dominant culture
have cause them to resist even
the appearance of
assimilation (166). Some
students cant succeed because
they don not have the proper
support. There are some students
who are on their own; their
1.Metacognitive Strategies- self 3. Social and Affective
parents do not care about what
regulatory strategies that help Strategies- Communicative and
they are doing in school, and their
students to plan, monitor and self self control strategies that help
teachers are not giving them the
evaluate. 2.Cognitive Strategies- students interact with others to
help they need to succeed in the
task appropriate strategies that enhance learning or control
classroom. Some of the basic
help students to actively their own affective states
features of research-based,
manipulate the content or skills (105-106)
effective method are:
they are learning.
I believe education is a human MY LEGAL, ETHICAL, & MORAL
right. No child should be denied OBLIGATIONS
the opportunity for a fair
education just because the child
was not born in the U.S. No child
should be given an inadequate
education just because the child
can not speak, read, or write in
English. As a a teacher, it is my
obligation to give all of my
students a fair education. In some
countries education is a privilege
that only wealthy families can
afford. This country provides free
education to any person regardless
of economic status or racial
background. My classroom and
teachings could be the greatest
privilege and opportunity for some
of my students. I will not
disappoint them just because they people going to extreme lengths The novel is perfect because the
do not speak the same language as just to get an education. A good language is basic. The novel also
me. I will not disappoint them just example of this is a novel called has many illustrations, so the
because they do not have the same The Absolutely True Diary of a students will not have a hard time
religious beliefs as me. As an Part Time Indian by Sherman following the plot. I could invite
English teacher I can easily Alexie. The novel is about a my students to read this novel, and
integrate the goal of social justice young Native American who has give them a brief history lesson on
in my classroom. There are plenty to travel miles from his some of the sacrifices people have
of novels out there that deal with reservation everyday to go to a made for equal education.
better White high school.
I had the opportunity to work
with Asian refugee students at FIELD WORK EXPERIENCE
Ithaca High School during the
Fall of 2014. The students ages
ranged from fourteen to
seventeen. The classroom was
an ESOL setting. We (Ms.
Newton and I) worked on
literacy skills related to reading,
comprehending, and writing
text. We used many visual and
written strategies to help the
students acquire new English
vocabulary and they did a lot of
interactive work with the
reading material. We also helped
their speaking skills by inviting
them to do communication
activities with each other. This
was an extremely valuable
learning experience for my
career as an ESL teacher. ELL
that I must have some form of English. I know from first hand
students are a valuable part of any
knowledge about the different experience about the unique
education community. I taught
cultures, languages, and beliefs of struggles of not being able to
them a lot about English, and
every student. It will help me speak English, and to have family
they taught me a lot about their
figure out the best way to teach who were not born in this
home countries. I also learned
my students. I learned that I country. This will help me
about their unique struggles
should never underestimate a understand the unique needs of
which will definitely help me
students ability to learn just my ELL students.
with future students. I learned
because the student can not speak
I plan to use a lot of Vygotskys
Zone of Proximal Development MY EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE
Theory to address the needs of
my LCD students. Vygotskys
Zone of Proximal Development
Theory states that children are
able to learn more efficiently by
receiving help from their older
peers. I will prepare the lesson
by asking the students what they
know about the lesson before we
start learning. By learning what
they already know about the
lesson, I will be able to figure
out the proper way to implement
the lesson. I implement/execute
the lesson by giving them
something that will challenge
them enough to seek help from
me or their peers. I will asses the
growth of the student by
dividing the lesson into different
sections, and allowing them to
go back to make changes to the
parts they already submitted. This methods, and see which of my them poems on war. Then Ill
way they can go back and make students need more attention. If I assign them a writing assignment,
improvements to their work. If assign my students to read poetry and I will help them on their
they can improve their previous about war, I will first ask them writing. Then at the end of the
work that means that they are what they know about war and lesson I will ask them to rate the
academically growing. I will poetry.Then I can prepare a lesson, and grade my teaching
allow students to grade my lesson based on their knowledge method for the lesson.
teaching effectiveness. This will of war and poetry. After giving
allow me to improve my teaching them the lesson, I will assign
As an English teacher I will MY COMMITMENT TO EDUCATIONAL EQUITY & SOCIAL
actualize my commitment to JUSTICE
educational equity and social
justice by doing a variety of
things. The first and most
important thing to do will be to
form a friendly and trusting
relationship with all my students.
I will also try to form a trusting
relationship with their families to
make sure they are involved in
their childrens academic careers.
I will learn the about the different
languages and cultures of my
students to better understand their
unique learning needs. I will need
to incorporate a lot of visuals in
my lessons. Being an English
teacher will give me so many
great opportunities to incorporate
materials from different cultures.
I could include works from
authors of their home countries. I
could include poems in their
native languages. I could have
them write poems or short stories
about their countries and their
unique struggles.
 References

Ariza-Whelan, E.N. (2006). Not for Esol Teachers: What Every Classroom Teacher Needs To Know About the

Linguistically, Culturally, and Ethnically Diverse Student, 10, 17

Richard- Amato, P. Emergent Participatory Language Teaching, Making it Happen, 105-106

Richard- Amato, P. The Affective Domain, Making it Happen, 166

Connery, M. C. (2014). Class notes, power points, and handouts.