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Goal

The Timekettle M3 Language Translator Earbuds would enable teachers to talk with, instruct, and engage ESOL students who are not fluent in speaking, reading, and/or comprehending yet. These would also allow conferences with parents and guardians of these students who can't speak English so that the needs of the students are not hindered by a language barrier.  

What will be done with my students

These earbuds would be used when concepts are not being mastered by a student due to a language barrier. An ELL student sometimes struggles with content due to vocabulary and pronunciation issues. These earbuds would allow me and other teachers to use vocabulary and have it translated in the students' home language and then be able to provide further instruction once the translation is achieved. While visuals are a powerful resource for ELL students, concepts in math such as specific terms do not always have visuals that will help with understanding. Exposure to the English language and content specific vocabulary is fundamental to students’ learning. The earbuds would not be used during general instruction so that the students are exposed to English, but in specific learning situations where a teacher has identified that the language barrier is hindering student understanding.
 

Benefits to my students

These earbuds would be beneficial when speaking to parents and guardians of ELL students who do not speak any English. When a student is struggling and a parent conference needs to occur, it's extremely difficult to relay the concerns, issues, and challenges a student may have when the parents do not speak or understand enough English. This tool would give parents and teachers their own voices in these meetings, make connections with each other, and develop an action plan together to benefit the student and his or her needs. These earbuds would also be used during intervention and remediation where content has been taught but assessment data is indicating a comprehension issue. By utilizing this tool, I would be able to speak to a student in his or her home language about the content and can then determine if language is the barrier or if there is another issue at play. During main instruction, English would be the primary language, but there are instances when I can recognize that a certain word is not being understood, so using the earbuds in isolated instances during primary instruction would help alleviate the need for some remediation if the concept is mastered initially.

In addition to academic needs, this tool would promote relationship building between teachers and students. When a language barrier is present, the social and emotional needs of an ELL student cannot always be fulfilled as well as their peers. Being able to have a conversation with students who aren’t ready, able, or comfortable speaking and understanding English yet is very difficult. I have tried to learn certain phrases in my ELL students’ home languages and when I speak to them in their language, their joy is evident on their faces. They realize I care and they want to talk with me more. These earbuds would allow me and my students to talk about what they need and how I can help them.

 

Budget Narrative

Technological tool to aid in student learning and relationships 

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