Here is the post where I talk about Lee’s language abilities. As with English Language Learners, it is difficult to truly prescribe her level. When speaking, Lee carries an accent and at times I cannot understand what she is saying. In the previous post, I talked about how Lee feels she has no problem with English at all; because of this, I can assume that the English is much clearer in her head than in speaking. In saying this, I hope I don’t give an inaccurate view of how she sounds. Lee shows a good range of vocabulary; her biggest problem–both in speaking and writing–arises when she switches up the word order or uses a wrong word. In our conversation she kept saying that she must be “spontaneous” or something because she was talking so much; I think she meant a different word but it was simply not preventing itself.
This is the same in her writing. While Lee incorporates good vocabulary and carries wonderful insights that her peers do not even think of, it struggles to be put on paper in a coherent way. It is often like putting the pieces together, although they are intelligent piece. I have included an excerpt from an essay that she wrote in class.
You can see the puzzle pieces. Also evident is a level of insecurity in writing. Lee is not far behind her peers–in fact, she is ahead of many of them; but she is anxious about beginning an essay and calls me over during writing assignments to see if she is doing things correctly. I have spoken to Lee about her previous writing instruction and she told me about her teacher last year who taught her good strategies to essay writing and made the students practice a great deal. This practice is most definitely evident in her writing–it is what separates her from a good number of the class. She says that practicing writing a great deal in that class helped her feel more confident in her writing. I think that that are still some insecurities that remain, but from this direction I can see that perhaps a lot of it can be guided through simply practicing writing more in class. I have incorporated this decision since hearing this from Lee and hope to see some more gradual improvements.
She did fairly well last quarter with a B-. She was thrilled with this grade and I felt that she deserved it because she takes things more seriously than other students; something I think everyone can learn from her. I am anxious that she is better prepared for college though, and hope that she follows through with her plan to attend. I worry that if she doesn’t go to community college right off the bat that she might never go; it does not appear to be something her mother would stress for her to do. I plan on following through with Lee after graduation and before then do my best to hone her skills so she feels confident and ready to take on the challenge of higher education.
