Social media and technology are truly booming in classrooms. While I have not had the opportunity to use any of the classroom management applications or teach a class that has access to computers/iPads in the classroom, I think it can really be a game changer. This article is a pretty good example of some of the positive ways we can use technology and social media to encourage language learning and a convivial classroom atmosphere. I'm very interested in discovering the various ways technology is being implemented in classrooms (or outside!) and hopefully applying some to my own in the future.

This was just briefly mentioned in the article, but I liked the bit about the students "writing about themselves". For these types of social media platforms, where the students have a lot of free rein, I think having them write about themselves is such a good idea. It is quite broad, but so familiar- everyone knows themselves! I think it's also a pretty ingenious way to strengthen their interaction not only with the language itself, but with their fellow classmates as well. It seems like a good opportunity for the refugee student community to build relationships with and learn about each other, other classmates, and their teacher.

While I generally agree that anxiety can be a huge detriment to the language learning process, I think it is much more nuanced than this. While Krashen's theory is based on the mainstays of L1 acquisition, I think it is important to recognize that there are differences between L1 acquisition and L2 or L3 learning. As we have seen in previous weeks, there is a pretty good amount of evidence to support the Critical Period Hypothesis. Additionally, students learning an L2 or L3 can have very different sources and levels of motivation, not to mention cultural backgrounds, personality types, and other affects. Of course, we should never push our students to the point that they feel anxious in the classroom. However, I do think fostering a comfortable atmosphere to gently challenge the students to try something new and step a bit outside of their comfort zone can be equally rewarding to many. And sometimes, it may be a matter of grading and participation- if we allow students to simply not participate until they are "ready", some will be chatting right from the beginning while others may take weeks. I suppose the biggest takeaway is to create an atmosphere to reduce the anxiety and build each student's knowledge of the language to help them feel more prepared to participate!

Of course, this is just Krashen's hypothesis, but I could see a few points where this gets tricky when translating it to real-life classrooms. I think back to the beginner level classes I've taught- what input exactly is "comprehensible" to them? Especially because a lot of times, the lowest level classes may just be a catch-all for the students that couldn't score high enough into the next levels. From my experience, their individual understandings varied quite greatly. It's not always the simplest task to find material that is both interesting and understandable to each student. This is even truer as the students get older. If you are teaching adults at a very basic level of English who don't have much prior exposure to it, what they can understand will be quite different from what is interesting to them. There will always be a few categories that widely engage students - sports, music, movies, travel, food, etc. I suppose it is important to find many sources of materials to try and balance the interesting and understandable aspects of them.

Like Danielle, I also used to assume that being bilingual meant you are biliterate. However, as Kristina Robertson states, it is so important to differentiate the two in order to understand the struggles that many bilingual students face. Just like learning a first language and learning to read that language don't simultaneously occur naturally (learning to read not being very natural at all), it makes sense that the same would be true for bilingual speakers! I think this, along with many other bites of wisdom from this article (recognizing students' home lives and educational backgrounds), is very important in clarifying misconceptions that a lot of people may have about ELLs and language literacy.

I've always considered realia to be so important in the classroom, no matter the age or level! Perhaps it's because I myself am a visual learner, but when I think back to my previous school experiences, I often remember what the classroom looked like a lot more than what the teacher said. This carried on even into my undergrad years- one of my clearest memories is working with a triangular stylus and clay when we were learning about Cuneiform and early writing systems. I think realia is such a useful way to bridge the gap between the words written or spoken and real life, and so helpful for visual and kinesthetic learners!