Class on April 27th

Thank you, Esther, for giving us time to work with our groups and have our work reviewed. Part of me always hastes doing peer review, but I'm usually grateful for having done it. As a teacher it is sometimes hard to tell if a class is really acomplishing anything during group work time. My comp 101 class had a peer review session of their final paper, and I really don't think too many people completely followed my directions as to what I wanted them to do. But I do know several students got questions answered that were important is their success on the final paper, and I guess that's what really matters in the end; not that they followed my directions to a T, but that they get the help they need to meet the requirements four the class.

I am interested in learning more about classroom mangagement at the 'adult' or college level. I'm curious as to what research has to say about the similarities and differences between techniques for younger and older students.

Class on 4/20

Taking the test tonight was an interesting experience. I'd really like to learn more about how the test is scored--maybe I could use the same system to help me grade this stack of papers from Comp 101 :) Actually I think having several humans look at and judge human writing is the best way to go about it.

I just wanted to share the following story about a guy who wrote a children's book entitled B is for Beer. I thought some of you might appreciate it.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/04/28/tom_robbins/

Reading for 4/20 (Dude)

Classroom-Based Assessment

I am a big fan of making my own tests. Although I like to borrow and steal material and questions from other places, I find that most tests do not meet my needs (and in turn my students').
Washback is difficult to achieve. I hate providing extensive comments on my students' writing, mainly because of the time factor, but it is also only a handful of students who even want or utilize extensive feedback. I usually use a rubric or checklist for grading, and then 3-4 comments with a few grammatical corrections if they happen repeatedly. I've had to go over punctuation for quoting and integrating sources with my students quite a bit this semester. I am surprised that this is a skill that is lacking. We see it used in print so often. Okay, I see it in print so often. I have a hard time remembering how old I am (the show thirty-something finally makes sense). I played a video clip from Letterman with former govenor Rod Legovitch, and only a couple of students knew who Legovitch was, and not many more knew who Letterman was. Ugh.
As I mentioned before about my placement in the kindergarten room, I got to administer an end of unit test 1:1 with two students. I think it would be extremely helpful for classroom teachers to have the opportunity to do this, although rather time consuming. But it was extremely clear to me what each of them still needed to work on. And it eliminated some external factors that could skew results, such as a student just not hearing the question, or thinking something else was being asked.

I just wanted to alert you to two websites I found interesting and useful, particularly for younger students.

http://www.storylineonline.net/ - this one has recordings of famous people reading popular children's stories. Last week I observed the students engrossed with Sean Austin (go Goonies)reading A Bad Case of Stripes. I developed a super fun lesson plan using that book that I used last year.

http://www.tinyd.net/sseandb.html - and this is a link to a bunch of Sesame Street song lyrics. I can never remember the words (la-de-da-de-dum).

6th and 7th observations

This week I completed my observations at the elementary school here in Mankato. On Tuesday I was asked to give two different kindergarten students (one at a time) their unit test in Reading. I thought the test did a wonderful job of pointing out the skills and concepts the students were struggling with. There was one question, however, that I thought was misleading. The students were supposed to point out which picture, out of three choices, had a cat in the middle of the tree, meaning the picture with a cat sitting on a branch half way up the tree. Unfortunately, the picture with the cat on the top of the tree had the cat placed right on the top center, so one could argue that cat was also in the center of the tree.

One of the students really had a hard time differentiating between the words 'bud' and 'bed'. The test covered several beginning, middle, and end sounds.

Today I learned an interesting technique used by one of the ESL instructors. She pre-teaches several of the concepts that are going to be covered in the classroom the following week. She does this to give the Ell students background knowledge before the classroom teacher introduces new topics. Today I worked with 2 boys on comparing and contrasting by reading a book about elephants and ants. Next week the teacher is going to start a unit on bugs so I highlighted the parts of the ants, such as their antenna and jaws. She will also be having them start comparing and contrasting items.

When I interviewed the classroom teacher I asked her what the most important thing a new teacher needs to know, and she said hands down it is classroom management. She recently went to a seminar about the Responsive Classroom (http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/about/aboutrc.html). I'm really hope that classroom management is addressed at some point during the TESL program. It really is just as important as content knowledge.

Class on April 13th

http://samuraisam1.blogspot.com/2005/12/role-of-teacher-opinions-in-public.html

I posted this link to a blog that discusses the role of teachers' political opinions--which tend to be closely tied to one's views about what is right and what is wrong within our society--in the classroom. It was an interesting discussion that every teacher should consider.

So, class last night... I learned of a few new interesting activities. I'm going to have to file away the idea of the story recall. The activity is good for testing both listening and writing. An excellent way to teach students how to take notes as well.
The presentation at the start of class was interesting. I was reassured that I am teaching at about the right level of difficulty. When I surveyed my class 1/2 way through the semester, a few students said they were overwhelmed with all of the work, and a few of them said everything was too easy. Nobody else really said much. "It's fine."
I agreed that the ELL students in a mixed freshman comp class are not necessarily the worst on grammar. They usually have more subtle, or different types of errors, but the native speakers (in my limited experience) tend to have more pronounced and noticeable grammatical errors. I usually grade grammar based on how it affects meaning and distracts from the message.

Reading for April 13th

The other day I was holding Oscar (who will be 4 in June) while I was shutting down my computer for the night. He said something about listening to music, and then clear as day: "We need an i-pod so we can just put the music from here to there."
"Oh, really," I responded with a raised eyebrow. We don't own an i-pod. I'm not sure if it is something he's heard about at school, or picked up from watching commercials...
Next he requests, "Mommy, let's buy one."
"Okay." Hey, why not?
Pause. Pause. Pause. "Mommy?"
"Yes, Oscar."
"What's an i-pod?"

This conversation just reminded me of how important our student's experiences are, both in and outside of the classroom, to their performance on tests. It also is important to their reading comprehension. It also reminds me that if I am going to test my students on using an i-pod then I need to teach them how to use an i-pod first. It sounds obvious, but it really isn't. Using this reasoning, teachers should "teach to the test" in regards to standardized testing. But that methodology is looked down upon. Does this make sense?

I get to present on assessment tonight, so start getting excited. We'll cover IRI's, Cloze passages, and other wonderful topics.

Class on April 6th

I found the presentation on the Koren educational system quite interesting. It is amazing how cultural views about education can vary so drastically. I hated giving my 5th graders any sort of homework if I could help it. Only those who goofed off during work time ever had to do anything outside of class. And then they usually only got it done if I emailed their parents to let them know it should be getting done that night. I guess I just want kids to enjoy their days being grasshoppers before they have to become ants.

Reading for April 6th

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

ROBERT FROST


So I had a wonderful 3 paragraph reflection done right here a couple of hours ago, then the power went out at my house...which means my internet doesn't work...which means Blogger wasn't able to save what I had written...and now the space button on this keyboard at school is sticking...so I had to move to a different computer...so here I go again...

I was most inspired by the example of Ms. Guadarrama's third-grade class creating photo-illustrated essays (in P&B pg 357). The steps outlined were: 1. students bring in a set of personal photographs 2. the students organize the photos in the order they want to tell their story 3. the teacher would then go around and listen to the students' stories and help them rearrange the photos if necessary 4. the students would then glue down the photos 5. then they share the story orally with the whole class 6. next the students would write the story they had shared with the teacher and the class in essay form 7. the pictures and essays would then be posted on the wall.

The reason this lesson struck me is because I would typically have students write the story before sharing it. I thought about the benefits of sharing it orally first, and I think I am convinced Ms. Guadarrama's on to something. Be sharing the story orally, it give students time to organize and remember details from the photos. It also helps them overcome the pressure of sitting down in front of a blank sheet of paper (or screen, as the case may be), and having to think of something to write about--students will sit down, knowing what to write because they've already told the story twice. Genius (or is it horribly obvious to everyone but me). The argument for writing first is it gives those with stagefright something to fall back on, something to read if their minds go blank.

The section in MCM that was particularl useful for me was the section on Oral Teacher Feedback. I agree that this is the ideal method. I prefer discussing students' writing with them face-to-face, allowing for clarification as necessary. I would be intimidated to record my feedback. I dislike leaving written feedback because I know a lot of my comments are probibly confusing.

Class on March 30th

Writing is an extremely difficult subject to teach. I think that students need to have a certain amount of innate ability. I don't think it really matters how much previous experience people have had with writing, as long as they have been exposed to the art of story telling. If someone doesn't know how to tell a story, I don't think they'll be able to write one very easily either.

Getting students to understand writing as a process is a difficult thing to do as well. Mainly because of issues with time; nobody has it. Students write out their first drafts, and think editing means correcting the grammar from that draft. They don't really read it for organization and content: "I organized it while I was writing it." Sometimes they get married to their first drafts and hate to change something they worked so hard to create, especially the opening paragraphs. I try to stress that I am only asking them to reword to clarify the point they are trying to get across, but they think the sentence makes sense. And it should make sense to them, they wrote it. Now I must stress that I am talking about 1/3 of the students I have taught. The rest either don't provide me with feedback, or soak up any suggestion I make about improving their writing.

And I'll try not to lament too long about the horrors of trying to grade students' writing. Not only does it take FOREVER... But it is extremely subjective. Even if the only thing I were to grade were proper citation, there are numerous errors that could be made. And trying to pinpoint a number of points off for not using hanging indents, for example, is it more or less than not alphabetizing their sources, or forgetting page numbers for the in-text citation? I've been getting better this semester with using checklists. Last semester I used rubrics based off of the 6 traits of writing. It was better than nothing, but not as specific as I would have liked.

I just wanted to alert everybody of the link I posted below. It is to a site that, unfortunately, sells (I wish they were all free, but they give you a good sample) of educational songs. Some of them I've heard before, but some of them are quite unusual. The misspelled word rap is particularly enjoyable.

http://www.songsforteaching.com/chantsraps.htm

Reading for March 30th

For this entry I would like to focus on one specific idea posed in HDB ch 21 pg 396.
"Dana Ferris (1997) offered useful guidelines for making teacher commentary more effective. For example, Ferris found that when teachers (a) requested specific information and (b) made summary comments on grammar, more substantive student revisions ensued than when teachers (a) posed questions and (b) made positive comments. We are still exploring ways to offere optimal feedback to student writing."
I found this section interesting because it relates quite nicely to the research I did in Methods last semester. Some of you (Mariya?) may recognize the echos of 'more research is needed' in regards to student feedback -- every article I read stated it at some point. But this section also creates more questions for me than it answers. If positive comments don't bring about change, should they be used? Isn't requesting specific information "appropriating" student's writing? What might a summary comment on grammar look like? Why wouldn't posing a question work? Like asking a student for more information in certain areas?

Class on March 23rd

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to others lesson ideas, and being able to present my own. The books and materials offered in the library always amaze me. I hope other classes are utilizing these materials so they will continued to be offered. Just like I encourage my comp students to utilize the support of the tutoring center so that service will always be available. With all of the talk of budget cuts, I'm always afraid something important might go. Is it true there is a bowling alley on campus?

I don't enjoy critiquing other teacher because it makes me feel judged when I teach. I was listening to NPR the other day on my way home and they were playing something about ecucation in Minnesota, and one of the comments was about the support and supervision of teachers. One of the speakers was arguing that rather than having a "gottcha" attitude, or an administrator that points out everything teachers are doing wrong; administrators should be creating an environment where teachers feel supported and are helped in growing and developing the skills they need to be successful. The observation reports I got when teaching last year always had two positives and a suggestion for growth. It made things much less intimidating when I knew I wasn't going to be berated for anything.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/26/midday2/

5th Observation

What a busy week! Oscar started swimming lessons this week (he's the first kid shown on the news clip http://www.keyc.com/node/19429 ). I carried him into the pool area crying because he didn't want to go in the water without me. And I carried him out of the pool area because he was having so much fun. He got 1:1 instruction with a lovely young lady who built up his confidence quite nicely. Lots of positive reinforcement. It just goes to show, you can catch more flies with honey...



This week I also observed a different kindergarten classroom at a school in North Mankato for one of my other classes. This class was the complete opposite from the one I normally observe. They have the same intro to literacy curriculum, so it was interesting to see how someone else utilized it. The class had 20 students (2 more than the other class). When I walked in the teacher was giving them instructions on what they would be doing while she was working with small groups (which is how she delivered the literacy instruction). They had 3 tasks. First they were to write in their journals about something that happened to them over the weekend; the "Weekend News" is how the headed their paper. Then they had to complete 1/2 of an art project (they could only do 1/2 because they needed to wait for the glue to dry). Then they could choose either a book or a game off the shelf. They also went to a station in the hallway as a group when the teacher was done with them and that rotated as well. The teacher had the class broken up into four groups based on ability and worked with each group for about 15 minutes. So she was occupied for just over an hour with these small groups. In this hour she did not have to address one single behavior issue or remind anybody to stay on task. The kids stayed busy and quiet. I couldn't believe it. This was Tuesday.



On Thursday I went to observe for Methods. Like I said before. The two classes are day and night. The teacher presented the same curriculum, only she did most of it as a whole class. She would stop every so often to play a song and let the kids get their wiggles out. At one point they even took a bathroom break so the kids could get up and move. After whole group instruction, the class put on their coats and went outside for 5 minutes. Then they came back in and broke up into small groups. There were 4 stations with a teacher at each table (even I get my own table to works with each of the groups). Kids were constantly being redirected and encouraged to get back on task. The station I was working at involved showing the kids a picture and they had to write a sentence about what was happening in the picture. The had to sound out the words they wanted to use (it was tough not to just tell them how to spell something).



I usually spend about 1 1/2 hours in this classroom and then I go to the ESL room to work with 3-4 2nd grade boys. This was the week I videotaped my lesson. It was kinda fun (the lesson, not the videotaping). We read tongue twisters together. They hadn't ever heard of a tongue twister before. They did a good job.



Then I spend the last 1/2 hour of my time at the school going back to the kindergarten room with one of the ESL teachers. She gives me some materials and a specific goal and sets me up to work 1:1 with one of the students. This is the best part of my day because all of the kids really want to work with me. They love the attention and the work the teacher assigns in usually pretty relevant and interesting to them (like reading a dinosaur book or a bug book and talking about it). Good times.

Reading for March 23rd

First of all I would like to comment on how lovely the rain looks today. I just hope the power doesn't go out. Oh well.

Rain

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can't do a handstand--
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

Shel Silverstein

P&B Chapter 5
Already, in the introduction to this chapter, two very important aspects of writing has been discussed: having a purpose, and a sense of audience. I've been trying to get this across to my class of college freshman and sophomores all semester. Some of them still don't understand why these two concepts are important to their writing.

On page 177 the author discusses the many way parents can help facilitate their child's understanding of the function of printed materials. It encourages parents to explain the purpose for various materials. One of them it mentioned was street signs. Yesterday I walked with my boys to a park near our home. On the way my 3-yr-old asked how much further it was to the park (it's about a 5 block walk). I told him that when we got to the Yield sign we needed to take a left and then we'd see the park. Later that day, as we were driving to the grocery story, he told my husband to take a left so we could go to the park. I looked up and say a Yield sign up ahead. Apparently I didn't quite explain the function of a Yield sign properly.

One aspect of the book I would like to learn more about is the statement: "English learners should not be involved in phonics instruction that isolates sounds and letters from meaningful use of text" (p. 175). Is it that students need to understand the purpose for learning phonics first; they need to know what a book is for before they learn to read it? The book gives the reason that "there will be differences early on in English learners' ability to perceive and produce English speech sounds" (p. 175), but I guess I need more information on this concept.

An idea that this chapter didn't really touch on that I have read about elsewhere is that if a student's L1 isn't being developed, their L2 will struggle to develop. I hope the next chapter gives more information on these situations and how to assist in L1 development for young learners in an ESL context.

MCM
Many of the ideas in this chapter reflect and support what was said in P&B. The one idea that I would like to highlight is to provide authentic purposes for reading and writing. I wonder if this is a concept I am not doing sufficiently in my comp 101 course. I have tried stressing all of the different way student can use the papers they are writing for my class, but perhaps I need to look at the assignments again.

An Ode to Our Dependence on Technology (4th observation)

After I dropped off my boys this morning, I thought about what I had lined up for today; I was mentally organizing my time. And then it hit me, no matter where I was going to work for the day--the TA office, the library, at home--I was going to be sitting in front of a computer. This is the first time in my life I have been this connected with technology.

When I was working at the child care center, about 50% of my time was spent either on the phone or the computer, usually both at the same time (I managed the billing and board reports as part of my job there). But, 50% of my time was spent talking with the kids, the staff, or the parents. If the computer wasn't working, or someone else needed it, I always had something non-technology related to do.

Even when teaching in the public schools, maybe 15% of my time involved technology. While teaching I'd use a a computer to check my email a couple times a day, take attendance, look up lesson ideas, or enter grades in the gradebook. Edison schools also had a bi-weekly session set up with the school technology guy (actually it was a lady) to do mini-lessons in technology for the teachers. That was nice.

And now, almost all of my work is on the computer. I get away from the computer, usually, during class time (except my online class, obviously, so that'd be about 6 hours a week). Even when I'm teaching (only 3 1/2 hrs a week) I need the computer for just about everything. And my students do too. I am shocked how many of them I see who are physically unable to stop. When I have them turn off their computers there are always a few who then pull out their phones to text. Ugh.

My point is, as I thought about all that I had to get done today, I was trying to think about something I could do that didn't involve technology, and I couldn't. Even doing the reading for class, I need to have blogger open and ready or I forget the parts I had comments about by the time I go to write about it unless I write it immediately.

And then I started contemplating on all of the technology I see happening in the classroom at my observation site. The teacher uses the smartboard on a daily basis to conduct the reading lesson. It really enhances the lesson, and definitely peaks student interest. Last Thursday when I went to observe, the Kindergarten classroom had a substitute teacher. She was lovely, but the schedule was a little off, and the real kicker, she didn't have the code to be able to use the smartboard. This was really bothering the kids. She was doing circle time the same as always, only she was reading from an actual book as opposed to the book being shown on the smartbord using a CD that comes with the curriculum the district uses. The following conversation happened like three times in 5 minutes...

child 1: Teacher, Ms. Davis usually does this on the Smartboard.

child 2: Yeah, but we don't have the code.

child 3: So we can't use the Smartboard.

Teacher: Yes children, today I will be doing things a little different.

Para: And that's okay.

Teacher: I'm still teaching you all of the things Ms. Davis would be teaching you, I just do it differently.

Children nod approvingly.

I am always conflicted between the good technology can do to engage some students who may otherwise be "bored". (The other day my three year old told me our house was boring. Although I don't think he really understands what it means, he used it in an appropriate context. Kinda made me think how well someone could have a conversation in a second language and sound like they knew what they were talking about, but really have no clue. I remember when I was little, maybe eight, and I called my brother a slut because I'd heard it on the bus and I knew it was a mean word, but I didn't know what it meant. My mother pulled me aside and explained. I'm still embarrassed from that conversation.) And getting so addicted to using technology that there are no other options. Sure I could sit down with a notebook and pen to take notes while I read, but that seems like I'd be doing twice the work. I hope all this multitasking is beneficial to the human brain. What was your Tetris score when you were 4?

Class on March 16th

I think it is interesting how the tide has turned in the public schools from math and science focus a few years ago to reading focus today. I'm guessing it is because students tend to have a pretty hard time learning math and science without strong reading skills. I think it is extrememly important to teach students how to read well. For a strong reader it seems like a no-brainer skill. However, for whatever reason, not everybody's brain is wired to read well. And by well I mean quickly and fluently--to read and achieve a set purpose. And some of the skills of good readers are not obvious to everyone. Even something as simple as, "Keep the discusion questions in mind while you read." Some students think that they will just remember everything. And knowing it is okay to reread something, or knowing when a text is above your comprehension level. A friend of mine gave me a book he just finished reading about Abraham Lincoln. I couldn't make it through the first chapter. It was kind of interesting, but I didn't really have the political or historical knowledge necessary to put the information into perspective. It was a good reminder to choose appropriate readings for all of my students.

I think textbook selection is one of the trickiest tasks EVER! I'd hate to have to write one. No one book can cover every skill, and if it did it would be so long and complicated nobody would want to use it. I think suplementing materials is a given for every teacher. Even where I taught last year, the curriculum was scripted so we were not expected to suplement materials, but everyone still did (although it was kind of done behind closed doors).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Reading for 3/16

HDB Ch 20

On page 359 the author discusses schemata in reading. I thought that breaking down that passage about the 15-year-old boy returing from his audition was a wonderful example that really made the idea of background knowledge stick.



MCM pg 196

One of the most helpful parts of the MCM reading was its definition of reading fluency: "Fluency involves rapid and automatic word recognition, the ability to recognize basic grammatical informations, and the rapid combination of word meanings and structural information to create larger meaning units." The kindergarten class I have been observing frequently reviews "sight words" or words the teacher says they should not have to sound out, but know by sight because they see them so much in their daily reading.



MCM pg 197

Another concept discussed is paced reading. I like this idea much better than timed reading, because timed reading makes it seem like a race, and that is not what reading is. Reading should be done with expression, much like regular speech, and when students try for a "good time" they don't always read well--at least from what I've seen.

3rd Observation

So today, and anybody who knows be won't believe it, I arrived at the school 1/2 hr before my scheduled time! And boy am I glad I did. They class--16 kindergarteners, 1 teacher, and 1 para--we doing some Brain Gym yoga. It was awesome. They then moved into a question and answer session where the kids raised there hands and talked about whatever was on their mind. There were some really off the wall comments, like, "Sometimes I just don't want to finish my supper." Followed by, "I ran the fastest today." And, "My baby sister cries so loud. She's naughty."

I learned that the class has 18 students (when nobody is absent) and 6 of them are identified as ELL. The range of abilities is amazing. For part of my time there I manned a station in which children were asked to categorize words ending in -en, -et, -ed. According to the regular classroom teacher, children have a really hard time with the /e/ sound (like in hen or elbow). Only a few of the students were able to sound out words they didn't know (bed, men, jet, ect.). Then a little while later the ESL instructor asked me to listen to one of the ELL students read and quiz him on how well he knows the seasons. He was a wonderful reader; he knew how to read almost every word in the book he was given. And he knew how to sould out the words he didn't know. What I'm saying is, he was one of the best readers in the class (way above some of the native speakers). The only thing he really needed ELL services for was culture and exposure to concepts he may not have been previously exposed to.

I also spent some time reading with a couple of fourth graders in the ESL pull-out room. They taught me how important it is to make the time in that room fun and of obvious value to the students. One of the boys I was reading a very boring story with kept asking why I was making them stop to talk about the story. I explained that I was just checking to make sure they understood what they were reading, and to focus on certain vocabulary. I don't think he liked my explination. I'm guessing he thought that he was missing something in his regular classroom.

Class on 3/2

I appreciate continuously receiving classroom opportunities to have classmates share lesson plan ideas. Although many of them may seem rough--pardon the metaphor--like a mother who forces her child to take piano lessons, we will all be thankful for the experience in the future. I think activities that ask us to come up with impromptu lessons will help strengthen our skills for the night when all plans fail and we need to be creative with the time allotted.



And thank you, Mariya, for presenting. I always enjoy hearing your perspective on the material.

Class on 2/23

I think it is important to note the differences in opinions on how to rate the ESL students in the video presented in class. This was a good reminder as to how critical it is for students to receive multiple methods of assessment when being placed in ESL classes or other services. It also clearly illustrates why I hate giving grades: no matter how straight-forward I try to make my assessments, there is almost always some inherent bias or human error to deal with.

I appreciated the opportunity to peruse through the various teaching/learning materials in the back of the library. I can't say I would have ever gone through there on my own. I held conferences in the basement of the library today near the GLL and several students commented that they didn't even know that area of the library existed. A couple of students were late because they had been looking for me by the Learning Center (even though I explicitely stated in an email I had sent out last week that there was a difference). Anyway, it is always nice to know what is available at a school one teaches at.

So I'm getting an opportunity to present to my classmates in the Emergent Literacy class I'm taking. I am presenting ideas on how they (mostly Early Childhood or Elementary Education undergraduate students) can support student's L1 in their classroom while also developing their L2. Anybody have any suggestions on ideas I should include? I've done some research on why it is important for them to do so, now I just need to support it with how do do so.

2nd Observation

So today's observation got cut short again. Not by sick children (thankfully) but by the lovely snow that is coming down like powdered sugar on pan full of brownies, convincing the district to let the kids go home early. But I did get to spend an hour and a half observing in the kindergarten room. I'm glad I get to observe kids that age because I didn't think I would enjoy that age group, but I really do. The teacher had me take charge of the last 5 minutes of circle time today; I had flashcards with pictures of people and the children had to guess thier occupation--a good way to teach culture. Next week I'm going to have to try and arrive 15 min earlier because I missed out on the beginning of her lesson. She was teaching from the reading curriculum my Emergant Literacy instructor presented last Tuesday in class. So it was nice to see the material in action. She also assigned me to a "station" during writing. I helped the practice writing the letter "R/r". Sadly my r's weren't much better than theirs. I never was good at Handwriting in school.

I was able to observe the young boy who just started learning English at the start of the school year as he was sounding out some words. He was just as good as some of the native speakers, but he did struggle with some of the pronounciations a little more than the others. He was also rather concerned that his letters looked just so when he wrote, which sometimes prevented him from finishing a task on time. I tried to help him with an "n" but he erased it; apparenlty I didn't do a very good job.

On a side note--now can you picture the other half of my photo?

Reading for 2/23

(The picture reminded me of a conversation that occurred when Solon presented)

MCM Teaching Oral Skills



I think non-native and native speakers alike could benefit from some of the suggestions made in this chapter: "opening and closing a conversation, introducing and addressing people, giving invitations, expressing thanks, apologizing, complimenting, getting attention and interrupting, agreeing and disagreeing, controlling the conversation, and getting information" (105). I can't find where I read it now, but the book mentioned practicing keeping a conversation going; I'd like a lesson on that. Anyway, I thought this was an extremely useful chapter and I don't look forward to practicing these skills when I take a foreign language next year. Speaking is an extremely difficult thing to do (when done right, i.e. considerately) and although it is important to practice, as teachers we need to remember it is also quite painful. Especially for students who are not unnaturally overconfident. (I read something the other day how all humans tend to be overconfident, and that people who are depressed just tend to be realists--I thought it was funny).

I thought it was interesting that the book stated that non-native speakers say fewer "um's" during a conversation, and tend to neglect to give other non-verbal cues that they are not comprehending the information a speaker is presenting, than native-speakers; apparently people (I'm assuming mostly native speakers who are not receiving culturally appropriate cues) tend to interpret these actions (or the lack thereof) as understanding.

P&B Ch 4

I love the idea in the opening scenario of giving students class credit to read poems to people in and outside the classroom.

Caterpillar
~Christina Rossetti

Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.

Although I am not a huge fan of poetry, it does offer a million chances for success for students. And it can be a much simpler way to tell a story. Plus it gives chances for rhythm in language to be decoded easier. At least I think it's easier.

The table on pg 124 offers some excellent guidance on how to achieve a specific purpose with language. I particularly appreciated that they put divertive, or telling jokes, as a function.

Q: How did the farmer fix his jeans?

A: With a cabbage patch!

Ha ha ha! Whoooah.

1st observation

I'm so glad I'm doing my observations at an elementary school. The kids are so darn cute! The teacher I'm assigned to is having me spend the first 2 hours assisting in a kindergarten classroom that is quite diverse. I didn't actually get to talk to the teacher, just because of how the day was going, but from what I gather there are about 16 students in the class (several of them were coming and going with different specialists). At least 3 are English Language Learners, but I think others are bilingual. She had me sit at a table with a student who didn't speak any English at the beginning of the school year, but has learned a lot since then.

When I arrived in the classroom they were having circle time. The teacher was reviewing a story they had just read about a bunny who got stuck on an icy pond. She was also modeling a picture they were going to color, cut, and glue on their own following circle time. I was surprised how squirlly the kids were. The 3-yr-olds at my son's preschool sit and listen much better, but then most of the kids at his preschool have probibly been in a formal child care center since they were infants and know the expectations; whereas a lot of children entering kindergarten have never had experiences with this kind of a setting before.

After group time the kids all went to their tables to work on their projects independently while the teacher worked with groups of 4-5 on phonics. There was an assistant in the class who was kept busy keeping students on track.

For anybody who has not ever worked with young children, just so you know, 90% of a teacher's time is spent addressing social/behavor issues and 10% goes into traditional teaching of the 3 R's. For example, the students at the table I was sitting with kept having conflicts over where the bin of carayons was to sit. It couldn't be exactly in the middle or nobody could reach it. If it went to the left, the students on the right complained, I think you know where I'm going with this. Then at some point the ELL student I was observing started to mimic everything the little girl next to him was saying. He wasn't trying to be bothersome, but she didn't appreciate it. I thought he did an excellent job mimicing her pronounciations!

When it was time for the class to go to lunch I headed back to the ESL room. I observed a 4th grade math lesson (talk about kids off task!). And then I checked my phone, only to see that my son's daycare had tried calling about 50 times. He was running a fever and was really sad. So I left early. I look forward to going back again. I'm going to work on teaching materials for 5-6 year-old ESL students. My lesson should be fun.

Class on Feb 16 09

I appreciated hearing Solon present on his teaching experiences in ESL 101. And, yes, I enjoyed Thea and Stephanie, too. I always like hearing about people's teaching ideas--both philosophy and methods.

So I just read the chapter out of my book Eats, Shoots & Leaves on the history of the comma. Good stuff. He explained that it was comma placement that brought about Catholics belief in purgatory vs Protestant belief in, well, jumpin' strait up to heaven when ya die:
"Verily I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise." vs. "Verily, I say unto thee, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
And, he also talked about how historically all punctuation was used to help people understand how the written word should be interpreted when spoken--to indicate pause or stress. I think I'm going to assign that chapter when we get into argumentative essays. Good stuff.

Reading for 2/16

My husband found it amusing that I was reading a chapter on Teaching Listening. He frequently accuses me of being a poor listener myself. I argue that he is poor at noticing my subtle body language that I use as a response to his seemingly rhetorical questions.

Anyway, I think teaching listening is an important skill, not to be overlooked when teaching a second language. In fact, I believe it should be taught in early elementary school to native speakers as well. I found some of the skills discussed in HDB ch 18 to be similiar to those taught for academic reading--e.g. scanning for key words and phrases. I suppose that is because some academic texts are similar to reading in another language.

So as I was writing the above paragraph I was wondering about the correct punctuation for "i.e.", so I looked at this web site--http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/e.g.html--only to find that I was mistaken in my use of abriviations. I always thought "eg" stood for example (which I guess it does), but I had the spelling off. Phonetically it would be egg-sample, and that's not correct. Example/egg-sample. Listen. You'll see what I mean.

I'd really like to hear from a non-native speaker on their experiences with English dialects. Although I'm sure they don't run into that around here since we all speak properly don't cha know, but if they've been elsewhere in the US of A.

Class on 2/9

Class this past Monday made me a little nervous about teaching grammar. There is a lot I am going to have to re-learn. It seems natural to teach numbers in order, but I understand that then students will always need to go through the whole sequence to remember the number they need to say. I guess it is similar to learning certain phrases in English, it is best to learn in chuncks; but students also need to become familiar with the words individually, in their other forms. Am I being general enough? :) I would really like to see someone teaching a lesson on grammar. Last night in my Emergant Literacy class we watched a clip of someone conducting some intensive phonics work with three students. It was excellent modeling.

http://www.jimwegryn.com/Words/Words.php - check out this site for a unique look at words you may not have thought about before. Like "butterfly". Think about it. Is it a compound word? What might it mean?

HDB ch 22

I thought this chapter on Form-Focused Instruction was quite helpful for me. I am continuing my research from last semester on Corrective Feedback and I thought this chapter tied in quite well with some of the issues I am grappling with. I was particularly intrigued by the statement that, "research shows that rarely is overt grammatical correction by teachers in the classroom of any consequesce in improving learners' language" (426). Instead it is suggested that teachers focus on helping their students elicit meaning from the texts they read and express their ideas accurately in their writing and speech, whether the grammar be correct or no. :)


The charts and sample exercises were helpful in illustrating possible techniques to teach certain concepts. I particularly liked Exercise 1 that suggested using realia to teach posession. Far more fun than worksheets.

I am 1/4 of the way through Coraline. So far I am not impressed. Maybe this will be the first case of the movie being better than the book.

Class on 2/2/09

I was just thinking how I am far more tolerant of non-native speakers who do or say something odd or insulting than I am of native speakers. One of my students the other day said, "Good bye, Teacher." And one the native speakers in class thought it was really odd. I thought it was respectful, although not common. On the other hand, one of my students today (I teach comp 101 at MSU as a TA) called me Jodi. Although it didn't bother me really--several of my professors at the University of Minnesota-Duluth asked to be called by their first names. Actually I think they were all in the Education department, although I don't know why that would matter. Anyway, I just thought the juxtaposition between the two was interesting.

It was intersting to look at everyone's lesson plan ideas. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is an awesome movie. I'm having my comp class analyze one of MLK's letters for their first writing assignment; an interesting slant at teaching culture for an ESL assignment.

Reading for 2/2

The teaching of culture always seemed like kind of a "duh" topic to me. But I was plesantly surprised with how the concept was presented in MCM's chapter Building Awareness and Practical Skills to Facilitate Cross-Cultural Communication. I think teaching cultural differences should be taught far more in the general education setting of US public schools. Sure we have Black History Month, and are required to read from diverse authors, but I think more needs to be done. The sections on the Invisible Culture and The Importance of Noticing are good examples of this. An appropriate exercise for all students is to look at things that they do and think about why they do them. Why do we say "thank you" even when someone hasn't really helped us with a problem? And why would someone comment on my teaching evaluation from last semester that I seemed "aloof"? Okay, maybe I just have a chip on my shoulder right now. But, what, did this student think I behaved incorrectly compared to how they think a college professor should act? Am I supposed to befriend them and ask how their day has been going? Should I have held an end-of-the-semester get together at the Loose Moose? But I digress...

Seriously, though, I also thought the sections entitled Teacher, Teach Yourself and Making Choices were helpful because they made me think about whether I want to allow students who are uncomfortable speaking up in class to remain silent or if I should pull them out of their comfort zone and force them to engage with the class. In other words, what do I expect from all of my students and how do I plan to make it happen.

I thought the section of ch 17 in HDB about the Episode Hypothesis was interesting, but I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to get from it. The overall topic of the chapter, Integrating the "Four Skills", seemed obvious, but worth the read. Last year I was a reading teacher, but we definitely did a whole lot of listening, speaking, and writing to support the target skill.

The Integrated Lesson that was presented was a fabulious example of how a well planned lesson should go down. I liked how the focus listed three concepts (situational, functional, formal). I always have a hard time picking one goal for my lessons. This showed appropriate options.

Class on 1/26/09

I wonder if there is a job out there that doesn't require ongoing development. Probibly not one I'd want to do for the rest of my life.

I must stress what I believe to be the most important part of career development: networking. I have seen time and time again people who are able to better their position by getting to know the people who make important decisions--like who to hire/promote. If a prospective employer remembers you from when you introduced yourself at an important conference then he/she is going to know that you are someone committed to your work and improving your knowledge about your career.

My husband actually got a job offer with a pretty good company when he was working as a delivery driver because the guy he delivered to thought he always did a great job and wanted him on his staff. I hate to say it's not about what you know, but who you know...but it's a little of both.

That's one reason I'm hoping to take part in the graduate research conference. I'm nervous as *%^& about presenting, but mainly because it's something I've never done before. I used to be nervous when I first started teaching, too. Now I'm only nervous on the first day. But I do think it will be a good opportunity to interact with people I would not likely otherwise meet.

MCM 499-514

LESSON PARTICIPANT INTERACTIONS
This would be an extremely interesting topic to research. I'd actually like some ideas right now on how to increase participation in my classroom. After the second week I can point out the 5 students who will be doing all of the talking this semester unless I do something quick.



5 MINUTE PAPERS
I think I will try some 5 minute papers. My only reluctance is that it will go similar to the journaling I have students do at the beginning of class. Some of my ELL students will write 2-3 sentences in the 10 minutes I give them to write and some of the native speakers will write 2-3 solid paragraphs, if not more. It worked great last semester, but then I only had one ELL student, and he had been speaking English since he was 5. So I'll try having them reflect at the end of class. But that still doesn't solve what I should do at the beginning of class. The purpose behind having them write at the beginning of class is mainly to generate ideas for paper topics. Sometimes it is just to have them practice their writing. And sometimes we use it as part of a class activity in which they will respond to one another. I don't want those first 15 minutes to be a waste of time for 1/4 of my class. Ideas? Questions I should be asking? Research I should be conducting? :)
I just don't want my students hiding in the corner like this guy, afraid of what I'm making them do in class.

FORMATIVE FEEDBACK FROM PEERS

Although I have always appreciated the feedback I have received as a teacher after being observed, I would have to agree with the author that I almost always knew in advance what they were going to address. I think observing other classrooms is even more valuable. It is one of the best ways to understand new techniques and how to implement them properly. Also, it gives new teachers an idea of what expectations to hold students to, at least a gauge to go by. When I first started teaching full-time, I thought my class was always out of control--until I did a couple of peer observations. The classes I observed were way louder and more off task than my classroom. I hadn't realized how strict I really was. I had always thought I was kind of a pushover. Interesting.

MCM 489-498

TEACHER COGNITION
I think it is intresting how the next step from researching how a language is learned is to research how teachers teach language learners. I enjoyed the comparison because I agree that learning to teach is a lot like learning a language. You try a new activity (or word) and you adjust based on the reaction you receive--did the class participate (did you get directions to the bathroom)? Although, I am unclear as to what will be done with this research.

WASHBACK
The concept of washback is still a little puzzeling to me. If a test is good, then washback should be good; if teachers begin teaching to a good test then their students are learning the appropriate things. (Was that vague enough)? I guess if washback is also considered a deminished amount of laughter in a class (p. 495) then it is not a good thing.

TEACHER RESEARCH
The end of this chapter was a real pep talk in conducting research. I am almost tempted to conduct some. I think I'll wait until I'm a little more settled in the field. I will continue to plot my way toward it though. I definitely have some questions I'd like answered.