Topic Avoidance Strategies

I really liked the section in chapter 4 about Enabling Students through Strategic Learning. The strategy that really stood out to me was in reagrds to teaching "topic avoidance strategies." Dornyei said, teaching topic avoidance strategies and fillers allpw the individual to gain more time for comprehension. this strategy opened my eyes to thinking "outside the box." Teaching a second lanugage is not only about learning the language but also to teach them

Common Core Standards

I learned (briefly) about the Common Core Standards and how important it is to align these standards with TESOL standards for ELLs.  I'm starting to freak out a bit because nobody really teaches us how to align standards.  I hope that we can learn a thing or two in this class regarding standards and alignment. 

"The one doing the TALKING is the one doing the LEARNING"

"the one doing the tALKING is the one doing the LEARNING"

the source of this quote is a mantra repeated frequently by my principal Mr. Fullo. After reflecting on the reading, I thought about the learning that takes place in my classroom. As a first year teacher, I have gained much of my knowledge through firsthand experience. teaching is a tough job, especially when dealing with learners who are resistant to putting in the effort. Utilizing evidence-based research, I have fortunately been equipped with skills necessary in ensuring that real learning takes place in my room through active class discussion. As advised by my principal, class lectures should be minimal, lasting anywhere from 5-15 minutes. In addition, a variety of instructional strategies are employed during lectures. For instance, after teaching a new concept I have my students team up with an "elbow partner." With their partner, students engage in "think/pair/share," an activity that requires students to think about new concepts critically and then share their thoughts and ideas. By doing this, students are able to think about concepts in different ways, thus, widening their worldviews. 

(Picture credit: https://www.marcellapurnama.wordpress.com)

Dialectical Relationship in Libertarian Education

I know that you all have read chapter 3. I just want to know what you have to say for the following questions.

“According to Freire (1970b), the relationship between teacher and student should be dialectical. What kind of classroom environment might foster this relationship? What sorts of activities might take place in such a classroom? Can you envision yourself in a dialectical relationship with your students?” (Richard-Amato, p. 89).

I have posted on today’s forum in response to one of our classmates that there are times I become my students’ student. Having done and said that, apparently, I envision myself in a dialectical relationship with my students. Dialectical process, according to Freire, is based on “libertarian education” in which the teacher and students are partners (p. 83). Richard-Amato explains that through meaningful communication, students are involved in acts of cognition. Dialectical process leads to cooperative relationship between the teacher and students which is important in second language teaching. As most of us are in this class to become teachers in ESL, I think understanding dialectical process is something good to know so that we can try or make use of particular activities with the goal to achieve meaningful social interaction in our ESL class and beyond. And what do you think?

Scaffolding

     As a teacher, I always use scaffolding as a teaching tool. A student can only build on what they already know. If the student does not have any prior knowledge about the topic then I provide them with those experiences so they may relate concepts with experiences. The more students discuss, read about, see pictures of, and experiment with the concept, the more they learn it.This is very true with my first grade students. Every year I would teach my first grade class about magnets. At the beginning of the unit, all of my students had the same basic knowledge. Most of them say they used magnets to hold up items on their fridge. As the unit progressed the students were exposed to more terms and activities regarding magnets. These experiences built off my students prior knowledge and added to it. By the end of the unit, the students were able to identify the north and south pole on a magnet as well as what made them repel and attract.

     Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development allows a teacher to gage how much their students have learned with the use of scaffolding. Just like my unit on magnets, the students had a basic understanding of what magnets were, but through exploration and experiences they expanded this knowledge.

 

Learning and having fun in the classroom

I am not yet a teacher, but I like to draw from my experiences from when I was a student in a second language class to think and plan on how I would teach. One of the topics that I thought about lately was having fun while learning. While of course not every single class can be entirely without memorization or learning difficult subject matters, I think a fun class ever so often would inspire and motivate a student. This would be very much the case if the student was young.

I took a month long German summer class when I was twelve and it was one of the most fun I've ever had in a classroom. We would sing a song in German with the aid of a songsheet that had the lyrics both in German and English. The teacher would then go over the similarities of the two languages from the translation and then why some concepts were so vastly different.

The best class of the month had to be the last, being it was themed as Christmas in July. We sang Christmas carols in German and the teacher brought in German dishes and desserts. The food really showcased the culture and it didn't seem so alien to me. Of course, my favorite part of the day was when the teacher gave out small toys that he had gotten from Germany. They were very inexpensive, but as a twelve year old it delighted me to have a toy from a different country. I kept it for years afterward and when I saw it sitting on my desk, I would speak the small bit of German that I remembered from the class.

When I was speaking about this subject to my mother, she brought up that in her High School German class, she would give her teacher some money and he would buy her some German comic books to read. She said she read them everyday when she was a teenage. It also help her a lot in the language being she would translate them herself. She loved the comics so much that she still has them to this day.

I think that if a student sees a class as fun, then they would want to learn more and be able to retain the knowledge they learn.     

-Kaylynne      

"Some teachers aren't allowed to teach English"

A friend of mine shared a story with me a few days ago.  She was having a conversation with an acquaintance of hers named "Mary."  Mary states, matter-of-factly, that "Some teachers, especially those who are not native English speakers, shouldn't be allowed to teach English."  Wow! This statement got my blood boiling.  Additionally, Mary commented on how "Many of the teachers on Guam have thick accents, so how do they expect to teach the proper pronunciation of words."  How ignorant can this person be to say who is qualified to teach English.  I have many friends who are non-native English speakers who speak the language better than I do...and I'm a native English speaker.  I guess "Mary" is talking through a prescriptive point of view and is entitled to her own opinion.  She may be one of those people that feel "The English language is better than the rest."  However, as a linguistic student studying to be an ESL teacher, I see language through a descriptive view and there is no such thing as a "better" language. 

Different perspectives in learning

As we saw these two names in our chapter readings, and if you want to know their philosophy briefly ...

No Exceptions Signs

This sign raises a lot of questions with me. I am not sure what the motivation was to put up a sign like this is Crestwood, but obviously the mayor is very adamant about knowing the English language. I wonder if this mayor ever took a class on multicultural diversity or ethnic studies. If he did, then he should realize his statement is harsh and insensitive.

Teaching the ESL learner

This clip shows a resources that may be of assistance for ESL teachers. The last half of the clip focuses on a demonstration of learning concepts. The teacher uses gestures to allow the learners to connects a new concept with something they already know. In teaching the word "shutters", the instructor uses the students' knowledge of window and uses a comparison to their bodies to assist in comprehending the new words. The teacher was effective because the student was able to define the term. This strategy can be used for all learners, but would especially help the ESL learners.

Recast and use in the classroom

When I read about the concept of recasting in the classroom, I had to reread it over again. I thought it was such a unique type of correction.

It related to my own personal experience in that I made a mistake in my Japanese class at college and the professor stopped the whole lesson to explain how and why I got the concept wrong. At that moment, I wished the world would have swallowed me whole. When the professor asked me to say something else, I froze and couldn't even speak. I had thought, what if I made another mistake and I was made a fool of again? I mumble the answer quickly and tried to keep from the professor's eye for the rest of the class.

I would never want any student in my class to have to experience something like that. Below is a youtube clip I found that displays an example of recast.

-Kaylynne

    

Learning a second language in the classroom would normally at first reaction for most people would be nerve wrecking, but with the proper understanding and at minimum awareness would eliminate that fear/nervousness.  After going over chapter two, it reminds me of when I was immersed in the language of Turkish.  I walked in down town Adana, a part of Turkey near the border of either Iraq/Iran, I forget? But anyways, while walking into one of the alleys because I saw children playing.  This experience immediately immersed me in the language.  I was prepared with my Turkish dictionary to say hello (merhaba).  My curiousness of learning the language and culture drowned the fear of being afraid in the alley.  I didn't even realize until the adults all came out that I could have been in danger, but they eventually calmed down and accepted me.  They started talking back at me in Turkish.  They gave me the hospitality of being at home and part of their people.  This motivated me to learn even more.  So I wonder, how would fossilization of the language occur if you are just exposed to the cultural and survival need to communicate?  I think I understand the part that says we subconsciously store words til a later time.

Developing a yearly plan for my education class

I received an assignment for my ED489 (Evaluation) class of developing a school year plan.  We are required to use the GDOE SY calendar 2012-13 to create lesson plans for the entire year for my content area, which is secondary ESL.  And it just hit me!  I'll be student teaching next semester and, to be honest, I'm a little nervous.  Because most of you are teachers, I was hoping you can give me (and the rest of the undergrads) some advice/insights about how to prepare for the school year.  Do most of you prepare during the summertime or do you procrastinate or try to wing it?  Also, do you use the same lesson plan every school year or change it up?  Do you strictly follow the sequence of your textbook on what you're going to teach or do you deviate from it?  Sorry, I'm still learning the ropes.  I'm a little anxious.  Thank you in advance for your input.  I know that regardless if I'm majoring in ESL, I would still have to follow the standards for my grade level and would have to create lessons that would be effective for my students.

An effective teacher?

I once had this professor a few semesters ago who said," in my 13 years of teaching only 3 students have passed my class with an A, and not many were able to obtain a grade higher than a C too because this is a difficult class and not all can handle the work load". The professor said this the first day of class in a boastful way. Then I thought to myself, why is he boasting about the fact that very few people have passed his class with an A, let alone pass with higher than C letter grade because that does not make him a good teacher, but the opposite. That is a sign of the professor's ineffective teaching that has affected the students learning. This made me think of what my ED 110 professor said " not everyone can teach". You can be so knowledgeable about a subject, but knowing how to teach the subject is whole different ball game. The only way I passed the class was by teaching myself through the textbooks and researching online. I believe that the problem or cause of the few number of students who were able to pass his class is not because of the difficult work load, but the professor's teaching methods. What are your opinions about the professor I mentioned?

Entering the World of ESL

When I was taking classes to obtain my bachelors in elementary education, I took a course all about educational theory and foundations. I remember sitting in that class completely confused by all the terms and approaches. It wasn't until I took more classes and began applying these concepts to teaching when I started to make connections. My experiences helped me to comprehend what I was reading and learning about with what I was experiencing the classroom.

After reading chapter 1 "From Grammar-Based to Communicative Approaches: A Historical Perspective" I felt like, here I am sitting in another class completely confused by theory and foundation. However, our discussions and presentations of the various sections really helped me to make connections and understand the reading.   

I was excited by our small group discussions because I got to mingle with other individuals from our class. I was able to speak with people and there was an overwhelming wealth of knowledge being shared. It was motivating to see a group of professionals working together towards a common purpose, which was to teach second languages more effectively to students.

Application of Chapter 1 Reading and Class Activity

Didn’t we all read the methodology of language teaching from grammar-based to communicative approaches for the first chapter of our textbook and from the communicative approaches to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for the chapter article reading? I wanted to apply my knowledge from the reading and the activities that we had in our class last time to my other class that I teach. I teach ESL in a small school and in my Junior High class, there are 3 students. I have three students for 45 minutes and a story of two full pages to finish reading all to myself today. I showed the textbook to the students and I was not surprised to hear them moaning: to read two pages is too long and too difficult and too boring for them! Then, I showed them three separate sheets that I had prepared with three different parts of the story and asked them if the portion was manageable. Even the face of the least motivated student lit up and he asked if that was all for him to finish today. I told them that they were to read their part and to explain what they understood from the read. Instead of the text instructions for the students to read and do the comprehension exercises, my students had a good reading and sharing the part that each of them read through communicative activity (retelling, explaining, questions and answers) much similar to what we did in our ED481 class. When the bell rang, I asked them how they liked today’s reading and the activities, they all shouted, “It was good” and asked me if they could have the same drill for the next reading assignment in class. Definitely. I just had my first successful application of what I learned in ED481/G class.

Cooperative Learning

The first and most important element in structuring cooperative learning is positive interdependence.

Positive interdependence is successfully structured when group members perceive that they are linked with each other in a way that one cannot succeed unless everyone succeeds. Group goals and tasks, therefore, must be designed and communicated to students in ways that make them believe they sink or swim together. When positive interdependence is solidly structured, it highlights that (a) each group member's efforts are required and indispensable for group success and (b) each group member has a unique contribution to make to the joint effort because of his or her resources and/or role and task responsibilities. Doing so creates a commitment to the success of group members as well as one's own and is the heart of cooperative learning. If there is no positive interdependence, there is no cooperation.

The nine ways in which positive interdependence can be structured are as follows:

1.       Goal interdependence-The group has a common goal and every member of the team is expected to achieve it.

2.      Incentive interdependence-Everyone receives the same reward but only if every member of the team succeeds.

3.       Resource interdependence-Resources, information, and material are limited so that students are obliged to work together and cooperate in sharing available resources.

4.      Sequence interdependence-The overall task is divided into a sequence of subtasks. Individual group members perform their particular tasks as part of a predetermined order.

5.       Role interdependence-Each group member is assigned a role with specific responsibilities. Each role contributes to and supports the task's completion.

6.      Identity interdependence-The group establishes a mutual identity through a name, flag, logo, or symbol. These can be augmented by a group song or cheer.

7.       Outside force interdependence-The group, as a whole, competes against other groups.

8.      Simulation interdependence-The group members imagine that they are in a situation or role where they must collaborate to be successful.

9.      Environmental interdependence-The group members work together within a specified physical space, such as a section of the classroom.

(http://cooperativelearning.nuvvo.com/lesson/216-5-basic-elements-of-cooperative-learning)

"the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."-Aristotle

As a first-year teacher, I do not know how I would have been able to handle the daily stress, exhaustion, and, most importantly, the overwhelming responsibility of ensuring that real learning is taking place in my classroom if it were not for the support of my team. PLCs, or professional learning communities, are constantly taking place at V.S.A. Benavente Middle School. Collaborative efforts are put forth by all individuals in PLCs in order to realize the shared mission and vision of our school: to provide a safe, conducive, and modern learning environment that will prepare all students to become functional and productive as they face the challenges of the twenty-first century (http://vsabms.weebly.com/vision-mission-and-eslrs.hml). Regardless of status, from first-year teachers to veteran school aides, all members of the faculty, staff, and administration at BMS work interdependently and provide meaningful contributions that benefit everyone, most especially our students.

I have taken the same approach in my classroom by making my students work in groups for their third quarter project. Of the nine ways in which positive interdependence can be structured, my students were instructed to assign roles to each member of the group. So far, I have observed that students seem more engaged in the learning process because the success of the group is dependent upon their contribution.

"All Guam teachers are ESL teachers"

My Linguistics professor two years ago made the statement "All Guam teachers are ESL teachers" and it always stuck with me.  I totally agree with him because every mainstream classroom will be full of different ethnic backgrounds, but not every teacher will have the background knowledge of L2 acquisition or the different strategies and methods that would help ESL students' comprehension.  I am so glad that I decided to major in this content area because I feel that if I am going to be a teacher, I would like to teach students who require that extra attention.  I can't wait until I student teach next semester to apply all the strategies that I've acquired throughout my college career. 

The Audiolingualism Approach

While reading the textbook, I came across the audiolingualism approach and recalled that I had found a great many text and tapes on the internet that used the approach. Here are two websites that host the material:

http://www.ielanguages.com/languages.html

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php

The second link includes nearly all the languages that the Foreign Service Institute created, however, I included the first link because it actually has American English ESL lesson plans. These are all in the free domain being they were written during World War II and the copyright has expired.

I thought this was helpful to look over as it shows how the approach was used with textbooks and tapes.

-Kaylynne

Speak English Signs

Down the end of the main hallway and on the cafeteria wall, signs read:

"Thank you for speaking English"

In my elementary/middle school, I was always reminded of what the sign read when my classmates and I walked in the hallways. My principal and teachers would point it out to us. But, I never cared about those signs because English was the only language I could speak. What I do remember are the many times I would hear my teachers conversing in their language in front of the sign or even in their classrooms. I am not sure if those signs are still up, but it is interesting!

Funny video about Learning English



This video may relate to our discussion of Chapter 1:

 

Although I have not watched this movie, the video clip shows that the character is able to speak English to some extent, but wishes to learn the accent. In the video, he wants the world's greatest accent coach to help him have the purist American accent. However, if you notice he is trying to become accustomed to the accent in another country (France I believe) and learning in a single room. He is also learning from one teacher. If you take a look at the background of the instructional environment, there is not much to work with. It reflects some of the traditional ways of learning a second language. As we discussed in class, we can see that more approaches may be needed to acquire language to a much greater extent.

On another note, it is interesting that the character is focusing on mastering the accent. I am sure that we all have some reaction when we hear a person speak English with an accent for the first time. Sometimes when I am first exposed to a new accent, I tend to focus more on the accent and not the meaning of the message. But everyone has an accent when speaking to someone of another language. Accents are also attractive to the ears. Have you ever said words or phrases (sometimes even lengthy phrases) in a familiar accent? And then repeated it? Amazing how you can easily become fluent at an accent!

Hi Dr. Rivera,
Can you please describe the criteria for the Philosophy of Teaching paper.
(Is it similar to the criteria for the reaction papers?)

Chapter 1 Jigsaw Posters

Below are the posters we made and used for our Chapter 1 discussion in class.

 

Section 1:

 

Section 2:

Section 3:

SOE conceptual framework

Hi Dr. Rivera,
As I notice, for example, KS1, 2, 4, in the syllabus for class assignments, do you recommand any particular website to find the elaborate information/criteria of the given numbers for KS-Knowledgeable Scholar, etc.? I found general information for the SOE, UOG conceptual framework. Unfortunately, I could not spot the numbers on the website that I looked into. I will also go through the list of links for Access to Information in the syllabus again.