Professional Conference Reflection

On November 15^th, I attended the Rhode Island Teachers of English Language Learners (RITELL) conference at Rhode Island College. As is evidenced by the name, RITELL is involved with promoting literacy and the production of reading materials for English language learners all over Rhode Island. The keynote speaker was Danilo Figueredo, an author and librarian who has written a number of children’s books focusing on Latino characters and culture. He discussed the importance of making available to students materials that reflect their varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The other speakers at the conference also discussed how important this, and discussed a number of books and how they can be used effectively in the classroom.

Though connecting content to students’ experiences and backgrounds is certainly something I was familiar with before the conference, the speakers and their ideas gave me some concrete ideas as to how I could do this. Of course, the conference was geared more towards teachers who either teach English as a second language or have a lot of students whose first language is not English. I could not, therefore, completely relate to some of their suggestions or ideas, as I plan to teach history. Regardless of the disconnect between the conference’s focus and my own intentions in the future, it still provided me with food for thought as to how I can relate my lessons to my students’ lives.

One aspect of history that is frequently overlooked is what has been termed social history. This is the history of marginalized or minority populations, including women, ethnic minorities, laborers, and immigrants. I think it is important to include the stories of these populations because of the fact that they are so often overlooked. Not only that, but it is more than very likely that I will have female students, nonwhite students, and students whose ancestors immigrated here recently. As a result, it will be important, if not necessary, to include stories to which they can relate in order to keep them engaged with, excited about, and invested in the subject matter. Not only will this serve to teach these students about the value and importance of their own experiences and backgrounds, it will also paint a more complete and accurate picture of the historical narrative, which is something that every teacher should strive to do.

Though the ideas and materials discussed at the RITELL conference are not something that I could use explicitly in my future classroom, they certainly got me thinking about what I can do. I think that teaching students about the stories of often overlooked groups in history will be an invaluable tool in keeping students engaged and excited about learning.