As amazing as a lesson is, it is unacceptable when even one student lacks the language to process the language to be fully engaged in the learning experience. The English Language Learner population at our school is small enough that when one of them falls behind, we all know and are affected.
Our students are newcomer English Language Learners in a San Francisco public high school.
They are energetic, inquisitive and motivated young people who want to become successful in school and in their futures. Most of them are 9th and 10th graders with a lot of the homework and projects and tests to study for that they share with their peers, but they have the additional challenge of encountering a new and unfamiliar language nearly all the academic day.
My students enjoy coming to class every day. They seldom complain about the work we assign them, and the demands we put on them. But that does not mean they struggle. One major obstacle among English Language Learners, whether they are beginners or advanced, is the lack of vocabulary to understand what they encounter or access to a well of words that they can use to communicate their own thoughts and feelings.
My Project
While English Language Learners are among the most motivated students in our school, some of them have a hard time following class discussions and lectures, read much slower, and do not pick up a lot of words mainstream learners take for granted. With a tool like the LiveScribe Echo Pen, they would be able to take notes, or borrow notes taken with the device from a classmate. They would be able to upload the notes and read/listen to the notes on their own time. They would be able to pick up the important points of a discussion or lecture, and perhaps use these for study or review, or just to understand how to complete homework assignments.
An additional advantage of the Echo Pen would be the ability to record either a discussion or record their own speech, and use this for evaluative or review purposes.
The LiveScribe Echo Pen and apps would be a best friend to guide then through the sea of words that they encounter every day, and allow them to collaborate with classmates, and eventually allow them to use their improved vocabulary and language abilities to express powerful ideas.
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