This part of the article made me think about we as teachers only know one side of our students. Yes, we know our students well and over the school year learn all about them. Even with that, I feel like we only see one side. With social media being so influential these days, the life our students have behind the screen is something we don’t know. A lot of the time, social media and young learners can lead to trouble, a lot of it. Let’s face it, people can be mean behind the keyboard where no one can see you. This is like a whole other world. By connecting social media and the classroom, not only can there be the opportunities this article speaks about, but it could also lead to accountability for students. Knowing their teachers are connected to their lives inside and outside of the classroom via social media could open up new, more positive outcomes for young learners.

As many of my classmates have said, this would be like learning two puzzles at the same time. Thinking about my students, it is much easier to understand, read and use a word that is familiar to them. When we are learning new vocabulary words for example, my students are learning about the meaning and becoming familiar with them before they would try to use them. Just like anything else, if you have background knowledge in a topic, word or place, it is easier to navigate through it. This is the same from reading. When an ELL student is learning how to read in English for the first time, having understanding of words and meaning in their L1 would be key for them to learn and use the English words being taught.

This is something that as a whole, my school has invested time and resources into learning more about. The silent period is crucial for student development with a positive classroom mindset. Think about when you were in school. Your teacher called on you and you didn’t know the answer to the question. For me, I was frozen. I was nervous and I was unsure how the teacher would react. 9 times out of 10, my experience was if you didn’t know something right away, you most likely would be passed for the next student to answer. There was no wait time given. Wait time or silent period is not for a student to find or make up an answer. It is time for the student to critically think about what is being asked of them. We are all different in the way we learn, just like our students. We all need different supports to thrive. Silent period is one of those way we can give our students the time they need to think and give a thoughtful response.