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=The Current State of Education for English Language Learners= - What works with ELLs - Is it only about degree of implementation? - How long it takes to acquire English - The new wave of immigration - A growing ELL population - Characteristics of the current ELL population

July 1: Snow, good points about the complicating factors of teaching strategies. Another good reason why teaching is a profession, not a "cookbook" job with scripts everyone is supposed to follow. In terms of immigration, of course students have the responsibility to learn the new culture and language of the school (which most of us are always excited to do when we travel or go to live in a new place), but on the other side, the host community has a great responsibility to welcome and help the newcomers as they long to become a meaningful part of our community and country. (T. Conrad)

Sn-smith Chapter 1 On page 6, the author mentions that good teaching strategies work everywhere, but if a teacher does not use the right teaching strategy to meet their students' needs, the good teaching strategy can still fail in the classroom. I found this to be a very good point. As a teacher, I have learned that knowing good teaching strategies is only half the game. A teacher also needs to know how to make a strategy meet the students' needs. For example, L3 ESL students need level 3 learning material, not level 1 learning material. If a teacher gives level 3 students level 1 material and delivers this material with great teaching skill, the teaching and learning in the classroom will still be considered a failure for both sides, the students and the teacher. In this chapter, I also found it interesting that it took a student 5-7 years to reach near native proficiency levels. However, ESL students are required to take tests in their first year in United States ESL programs.