Tiffani Day

Journal #1
Observation Date: 10/21/14
Location: Central Linn Jr./Sr. High School
First Language: Spanish

Background Information:
Before going into my first observation I'm not nervous about the observation itself, rather
I'm nervous about what to watch for. I'm also nervous about what to watch for. I'm also nervous
about creating a distraction in the class, therefore voiding the authenticity of my observation.
The student I will be observing today I had last year in an eighth grade class when I did my
practicum. The school I am doing my observation at only has one person in the district who does
ELL pullouts, so my observation will be in the standard classroom setting. I will be observing
how the student is taught, the accommodations he needs, and how he adapts to learning the
material in English.
Juan Garcia is a first generation American born child in his family. He has two younger
sisters and lives with his mother, father, and his fathers parents. The only language spoken in his
home is Spanish. This would indicate that the only environment his English is reinforced is at
school or social settings. Juan's father is also the only one in the household that has a job, he
works for a local farmer. I only point this out because earlier in the text it is said that economic
situations can have an impact on the language development of the ELL.
Observation:
I observed Juan today in a Freshman Health class. The students were split up into groups
giving different presentations on body systems. Each group had a different system that they
taught the class. Juan and his group got up for their presentation, I noticed that Juan was quiet at

the beginning. I could tell that some of the terms were probably challenging for him. I know
some of them I struggle with and I a native English speaker. Each member of the group had a
different term from the Central Nervous System that they defined and taught the class.
Juan's job in this presentation was to talk about the brain stem. I'm not really sure the
process the group used to divide the terms, but as far as pronunciation goes this was probably the
easiest term for Juan to define. In my opinion, Juan did very well. He was pretty fluent in
English with only a couple of mistakes. The words he seemed to struggle with the most seemed
to be the ones he probably doesn't hear every day. I really liked how supportive and encouraging
his classmates were.
Connections:
After observing Juan, I am impressed with his perseverance. My first impression was that
his lack of language reinforcement would directly impact his ability to perform. This is simply
not the case when it comes to Juan. He is only exposed to his second language at school and in
social settings. According to our text, learning and language acqusition overlap a great extent in
the sense that both are social, contextual, and goal-oriented. (Freeman & Freeman 2011 p. 73)
Reflection:
This was an enjoyable experience. I feel my opportunity was unique and I chose a good
day for my first observation. I was able to directly see the ELL I was observing perform. What I
really look forward to in the next observation, is seeing how the teacher instructs Juan and what
adjustments he needs to make for Juan.

Sources Cited
Freeman, David E., and Yvonne S. Freeman. "How People Learn and How Do They Acquire
Language?" Between Worlds Access to Second Language Aquisition. 3rd ed. Portsmouth:
Heinemann, 2011. 51. Print.