For this week’s blog entry, I found an interesting article
from thisweeksnews.com that presents ELLs at a high school who made a very
powerful and effective video. The
students from Kenya, Palestine, Peru, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, and Yemen are a
part of an ESL club at their school and wanted to promote an understanding of
what it is like to be an ELL including their unique cultural backgrounds.
These students always felt that by being an ELL, they have
had a hard time fitting in with others or felt isolated due to their
language/cultural differences with native English speakers. So, they took action and created a 15 minute
video depicting their lives, where they came from, their emotions, and
aspirations to help show everyone that they are no different from their
peers. The link to their video is at the
bottom here, but it is such an effective way to reach an audience of students
and teachers to deliver a message. The
ELLs said they saw a noticeable difference for good in the way students and
teachers interacted and spoke to them after the video’s release. The school board president describes being
brought to tears having seen the piece as it contains several personal
struggles these students faced from civil war to friends being killed by
militants.
As a film fanatic myself, I have always believed in the
power of videos created to tell a story and create a dialogue. This was a highly effective example of just
that. I could certainly see other students
taking advantage of this method of storytelling to help connect with others to
show a little of what it is like to be in their shoes. With training students in Digital Stories,
working with editing techniques, and interviews, I feel that all ELLs could
work together in different settings to accomplish a video like this of their
own.
ESL Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HatsilPEKNE
References
Kuhlman, M. K. (2017, June 14). Central Voice members use video to increase understanding. Retrieved from http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20170613/central-voice--members-use-video-to-increase-understanding
James,
ReplyDeleteYour article for this week is very interesting! As teachers and the students, they may not realize what it is like for a student to come to America not knowing the language or anyone...essentially they are thrown into a situation not being able to communicate or relate. The video clip you provided was very well done and it was sad how those students felt when they first arrived...but also interesting to hear how far they have come in all aspects (especially language). I think creating this video and awareness is a great idea and should be done more often in all educational settings. Personally, I have traveled to several countries and did not know the language-it is not the most comforting thing in the world...I felt so lost and vulnerable in that country...so I can only imagine how students feel when they first arrive.