During the assessment and the instruction period the student very much wanted to spell each word and had trouble understanding the concept of counting the individual sounds. However, in the end she did accomplish the task, but it felt a little as if she were sometimes guessing rather than feeling very certain of the concept. Although she is intelligent and literate in her native language, the concept of phonemes (vs. phonics) was very new to her and she would benefit from more instruction than could be provided in a thirty minute session. Also, the exercise of saying words slowly or saying each sound individually caused her to giggle in seeming embarrassment. In this instance, …show more content…
Although I understand that this is not the proper instruction for phonemic awareness lessons, I feel she would have benefitted from seeing the concept on paper. As an adult learner, the student tried to apply a process understood from prior learning, which is spelling, and had difficulty with the phoneme concept. This idea of separating and counting the sounds was new and unusual for her and required various attempts to explain the process, which was made more difficult without a written demonstration. Also, to help the student, I could have provided more of a background into why sounds are broken down this way and how it would benefit her ability to read in English, though due to her skill level in speaking English this explanation might have been required in …show more content…
When Alisa had trouble understanding the concept being taught I utilized kindness and patience to teach and explain, even if the explanations had to be repeated or restated. As noted in the earlier teacher reflection, I continued to show respect for the student by acknowledging her native literacy skills but also to ensure that I treated her as an individual and not make any assumptions or expectations based on age or other factors. Further, since the student is at an early level of reading in English, our session together, which provided her with knowledge that she did not previously have, helped to promote a desire in her to continue to improve her reading