How long do we let the student try until we
start to help them after saying "you try it"?
We want to give them time to take risks, but
not enough time to let them get too frustrated
If they are just sitting there quietly and it's pretty obvious
they're not going to take a guess at the word, we should
step in and help them out with it.
When they do try to read a word, we need to give them praise for
anything about the word that was right. Whether it sounded like
another word or one of the letters was right, they need that
positive reinforcement.
How do I learn everything I need to learn about all
the different languages I'm going to encounter?
I think some part of this is we learn by experience. We
work with our students and help them in whatever way
we can.
Most second language learners still speak their first language when they
are at home. It's important to give them positive reinforcement and make
sure they know they are not wrong when they speak their first language.
We need to praise them for all the little things.
I also think we can learn from them. They can help
show us what they need and how they're used to
learning and from that, we can decide on what the
best way is to teach them.
If we know a child will shut down when we try to
read a new book with them, how do we get them
to get excited to read and show them it's okay to
take risks?
They need a lot of positive reinforcement. We need to
praise all the little things they do right. We need to help build
up their self-confidence.
Another thing we can do is choose a
book from their reading level about
something we know they like.
Make sure they know taking risks is part of learning. Make
sure they know we're not here to judge them if they make a
mistake, but to help them in any way we can.