Welcome 2018!
This new year and new semester prompted me to consider what I want to be and do in 2018. Determined to be more and better in this year than I was in 2017, I began January 1 with reading, reflecting, and enjoying family time. Each day is an opportunity to shape who I am and want to be. My new and improved routine did not begin on January 2. Some weeks into 2018 and the first week of spring classes, I'm still figuring out how to get up in time to stretch or have coffee, wake up children, read a news blog, make lunch, get ready for the day, and leave the house to drop off the high schooler before work. After a few days of saying, "I think I need to start my day earlier," I reset my alarm. Baby steps.
Many things stay the same when you work within an academic calendar. I have ongoing projects with accreditation, research, and writing that stretch along the August-July continuum rather than the calendar year. Yet, new classes in the spring semester revitalize me with opportunities for curricular revision. And this semester, two pathways to enhance my understanding of students and partnerships have presented themselves in very different settings. One is within my freshman composition course; the other is in my secondary English methods course.
The second semester Writing Studies delves into discourse communities, and in my particular learning community cohort the focus is civic engagement. I began planning for this course in November while attending the National Writing Project Annual Meeting. At that time, I was introduced to the PBS documentary American Creed and worked with instructors who had previewed the film and developed resources. It was with even more good fortune that I learned the director of freshman composition at my university had received a grant for including service learning in the Writing Studies courses. My course will analyze historical discourse, which will unfold as an exploration of today's discourse and the needs in our local communities.
My affiliation with the Illinois Writing Project and my participation with the National Writing Project College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) placed tools in my hands that will deepen this exploration of discourses in the composition class. These argument-writing resources provide a framework for putting texts in conversation with one another and a foothold for students to engage in these conversations with each other. Being present, being open, and being responsive allowed me to make the connections necessary to plan this semester. I hope that what the freshmen experience within the class is as meaningful as planning for them has been.
In my secondary English methods course, five teacher candidates are continuing their program that began last fall. We weathered some obstacles in the fall course, including my attempt to add writing and research layers to an already packed schedule. We tried writing personal pieces with little time to develop them. We recorded teaching episodes but did not fully take advantage of the feedback feature that was available in the technology platform. After experimentation that resulted in marginal (if any) success, I should have been hesitant to try anything new this spring. However, I want to enrich the candidates' experiences in the program, and have prepared myself for the setbacks that might occur.
It has been a dream of mine to recreate my graduate research assistant experience of assisting a middle grades methods course taught in a middle school, often utilizing technology for backchannel discussions about classroom observations. At the least, I hoped for my candidates to observe in a school together at the same time so that we could unpack the observations in our weekly class sessions. Though possibly more than I should have hoped for, I also wanted a classroom space within a high school. I am thrilled that our new partnership with a local high school opens doors for that dream to become a reality. We meet in our high school classroom next week. As we discuss candidates' observations and unpack the assigned readings, it will feel different from our university campus space. I want it to feel different. High school is where they have chosen to be, and it is my responsibility to prepare them. Surrounding ourselves with the high school culture is only the first step.
Baby steps.
Showing posts with label observation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label observation. Show all posts
Friday, January 19, 2018
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
EL Methods on Location (Part 4)
Immersion versus bilingual language learning methods can be a difficult call to make for parents and administrators. The elementary I observed in this district offers bilingual up to 3rd grade. Then in 3rd grade students go to English classrooms with EL supports. According to the district coordinator, schools may approach language learning in one of two ways. In what they call their bilingual education program, the class is taught in both the first language and the target language. Over time, the first language usage is decreased while the target language is increased. In a dual language program, classes are taught 50/50 in the first and second language.
Unfortunately, some students may not have strong literacy at home in their first language, which means bilingual methods would not work well for them. If students do not have a strong literacy background in their first language, they will struggle learning another language, and some students may come from extremely diverse backgrounds, as Rubinstein-Ávila (2003) showed in a snapshot of three EL students.
In the first-second combined classroom, Ms. Carmen* shared that she used whole brain teaching, a multisensory approach that involved the mind and body. Teaching grades one and two allowed her to see students for two years, which helped her determine if language learning difficulties were developmental or indicative of a learning disability.
At the beginning of the day, Ms. Carmen displayed a Spanish paragraph on the smart board and asked students to find three new words. Students then added these Spanish words with their English equivalents to their vocabulary list. The paragraph she displayed provided directions for the remainder of the morning. Further, she pointed to a list of phrases in everyday English and asked students to practice the accompanying phrases in academic language. These included phrases about respectfully disagreeing with someone else’s point-of-view. Collier (2008) listed strategies teachers could use to help ELLs access academic language. Up to grade 4, students are learning to read, but older students begin to show gaps in understanding because instruction changes to reading to learn. As Ms. Carmen demonstrated during my observation, small group instruction is important. And, as Collier emphasized, using academic language verbally is more important than worksheets or other forms of vocabulary instruction.
After leaving Ms. Carmen's room, I was able to see the many hats of Ms. Lapiz, one of the EL teachers. This day, Ms. Lapiz worked with a second grade student from China who had been in the school for only three weeks. They played a matching game. Erica counted as she laid out the cards with the color names. As each card was turned over, she read the card aloud. Ms. Lapiz reminded her to “use your words.” Erica smiled with each match she made. At the end of the game she counted the matches aloud. She had six and Ms. Lapiz had four. Stewart (2010) stated the importance of feedback, especially the type of positive feedback Ms. Lapiz constantly gave Erica:
*All names are pseudonyms
Unfortunately, some students may not have strong literacy at home in their first language, which means bilingual methods would not work well for them. If students do not have a strong literacy background in their first language, they will struggle learning another language, and some students may come from extremely diverse backgrounds, as Rubinstein-Ávila (2003) showed in a snapshot of three EL students.
In the first-second combined classroom, Ms. Carmen* shared that she used whole brain teaching, a multisensory approach that involved the mind and body. Teaching grades one and two allowed her to see students for two years, which helped her determine if language learning difficulties were developmental or indicative of a learning disability.
At the beginning of the day, Ms. Carmen displayed a Spanish paragraph on the smart board and asked students to find three new words. Students then added these Spanish words with their English equivalents to their vocabulary list. The paragraph she displayed provided directions for the remainder of the morning. Further, she pointed to a list of phrases in everyday English and asked students to practice the accompanying phrases in academic language. These included phrases about respectfully disagreeing with someone else’s point-of-view. Collier (2008) listed strategies teachers could use to help ELLs access academic language. Up to grade 4, students are learning to read, but older students begin to show gaps in understanding because instruction changes to reading to learn. As Ms. Carmen demonstrated during my observation, small group instruction is important. And, as Collier emphasized, using academic language verbally is more important than worksheets or other forms of vocabulary instruction.
After leaving Ms. Carmen's room, I was able to see the many hats of Ms. Lapiz, one of the EL teachers. This day, Ms. Lapiz worked with a second grade student from China who had been in the school for only three weeks. They played a matching game. Erica counted as she laid out the cards with the color names. As each card was turned over, she read the card aloud. Ms. Lapiz reminded her to “use your words.” Erica smiled with each match she made. At the end of the game she counted the matches aloud. She had six and Ms. Lapiz had four. Stewart (2010) stated the importance of feedback, especially the type of positive feedback Ms. Lapiz constantly gave Erica:
Positive feedback can be empowering for students who lack confidence in the subjectI followed Ms. Lapiz to a 5th grade math classroom. They were working on perimeter of a rectangle. Ms. Lapiz circulated the room. With some hand gestures, she communicated with a student. She stopped to work with two students at a table group in the front of the room. When the teacher directed students to work with partners, I noted how Ms. Lapiz facilitated students' learning:
matter. By giving them such feedback, ELL students may be motivated to put forth more effort, which will produce a higher quality of work, greater self-confidence, greater learning and then even more deserved positive feedback in a continuous loop. (p. 5)
Ms. Lapiz continued to circulate and occasionally paused to check student work.
“Use your resources,” the teacher said.
Ms. Lapiz knelt by another student to guide work.
A student asked the teacher a question. She responded, “Where can I start to help you?”
Ms. Lapiz worked with a student.
The teacher circulated the room. Students explained their answers and she asked, "Why?” They explained further.
Ms. Lapiz worked with other students at a table.
The teacher said, “Prove it.”
Ms. Lapiz moved to another student. I heard her say, “Yes, but how?”
Fenner (2013) said, “ESL teachers can play a critical role in helping content teachers analyze the academic language demands of their content areas, design lessons that teach academic language and content simultaneously, and implement CCSS-based instruction for ELs” (p. 9). Ms. Lapiz and Ms. Carmen showed how they supported the youngest students in the district. What I discovered was that this level of commitment to collaborating, co-teaching, and instructing with EL students' needs at the center continued throughout the grades but presented itself in slightly different ways.
Rance-Roney, J. (2008) discussed the importance of establishing a classroom community inclusive of everyone in the classroom. Such communities in EL classrooms are developed by teachers who work together. Ms. Lyons, a middle school language arts teacher, stated it best when she responded to my observation follow-up email:
I love co-teaching. It can be so much fun! It is like a good marriage. You have to work at it, and both partners have strengths and areas of growth. I like the people I am co-teaching to be equal to me. It helps to share the chalk when you are on the same page and can plan together. Everyone brings something to the table. Sometimes it takes time to develop the relationship, especially trust. It improves over time. The outcome for kids is amazing, especially when it is effective. I love teaching with [my EL teacher]. She jumps right in and is a great resource. Her enthusiasm and her focus on them as people is inspiring. She truly honors what they say and do.
Honoring students. When honoring students is at the heart of their professional learning, instruction, collaboration, and reflection, educators wearing any hat in the school show teaching as more than just a job.
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