Last ELL Teach

Today, I met with my ELL student for the last time. I  had a worksheet with reading material about apartheid and Africa. We started off by doing a vocabulary worksheet to establish an understanding of the vocabulary that is relevant to apartheid. We did a vocabulary table that consisted of him writing down the definition and then using the word in a sentence that he created. Loaded with our new vocabulary, we took turns reading the packet. While we read, we did a graphic organizer of the main points; it was a bubble graphic organizer. We took the headlines from each section and added the relevant info beneath it.

Todays activity went off without a hitch. My student was very focused and was already familiar with this type of activity, considering we have done it before. Without much instruction he drew out the graphic organizer, only occasionally glancing over at mine as I modeled the activity throughout the reading. Going over the vocabulary in the beginning made the reading process a lot more understood. It was not very often I had to explain what a word meant.

In reflection, I see good things for my ELL’s future. In the same sense, I also see good things in my future of working with ELL students. Taking the time to describe some basic things concerning the English language will make all the difference in teaching ELL students. I expect this experience and training to work well for me in the field. Another reinforced idea I’ve learned throughout the block was that modeling and routine are key structural elements that make teaching and learning easier for both the student and teacher. I could tell my ELL student got more comfortable around me the longer the semester went on; he more openly spoke Spanish to describe English words and I translated to English. This type of comfort level will be important for not only ELL students but also the majority of the population of students. My ELL experience was well-rounded  and I feel more prepared to take on the responsibility of ensuring all students learn in my class.

Last Video Teach

Today, for my last video teach, I plan on lecturing about conditions that soldiers were exposed to during the vietnam war. I plan on lecturing with the use of a powerpoint with pictures. I am going to include conditions such as disease and environmental issues. After I lecture, I will ask the students to read two letters I have provided for them. The letters are from vietnam soldiers during the war; they are letters home. I will ask the students to write their own letter home as if they were a vietnam soldier afterwards.

I expect the students to do fine participation in the lecture and the readings, but I have doubts that the students will want to engage in the writing activity. When constructing my lesson plan, I felt hesitant to assign such an activity. To me, it sounds a bit like an activity for younger kids.

In reflection, I think trying to reach out and try new things is important, especially as a beginning teacher. I often see teachers get stuck in one certain way of teaching. Its important for me to set good habits and always challenge my students. Even if this video teach fails, it will still serve as a good interest assessment tool I could use for other classes. I want to keep my students engaged and I can do this by tending to their interests.

He Speaks Well

Today, for my ELL observation, I went to a teen leadership class. Teen leadership is a class that helps high school freshman develop a better sense of themselves and makes them more comfortable with public speaking. today, the students presented 2 minute speeches based on whatever topic they wanted. My ELL student gave his speech today. His speech was based on his move from South America to the United States. He spoke very clearly and articulated his position very well. The teacher gave much praise and the class voted his speech the best out of the 10 or so speeches given.

The classroom environment was very safe. The kids in this class were very informative and were extremely personal in their speeches. They disclosed personal histories that best friends seldom hear. The teacher gave his own speech before the kids did. His speech was interesting and very personal as well. The students really take to his personality because he shows them the respect that he wants from them. He spent a good amount of time praising my ELL student for the progress he made over the semester.

In reflection,  I am going to build that same safe environment that I saw Mr. M build today. I can see why he is so successful. The kids trust him and he trusts his kids. He is honest with the kids and he is willing to accept their honesty as well. It doesn’t seem like many teacher except students opinion of their environment. If you believe in your students, they will believe in you and any message you send them.

ELL Geo Review

Today, My ELL students and I worked on a geography test review. I had my students read the question and take turns answering the questions. I often pointed out words and asked if they knew what they meant. After we filled out the entire review, I played a game with them. I would randomly choose questions and pose them.

The process I used was a bit repetitive and boring. The review was very fact based and did not utilize a higher order thinking method of learning. I found out today that one of my students is failing all his classes and frequently gets frustrated with class and leaves. I believe he is frustrated by the language barrier. While one my students was very active in our review, he really did not want to participate. The last half our meeting was a bit more interesting as we played a game.

In reflection, I expect that the students will or have not done well on their tests. The teachers in their class may be not paying attention to the ELL students’ special circumstance and need for a specialized curriculum. Next time, I  am going to try to include more Spanish in my tutoring time. I noticed that they often struggled to find words to describe what they meant. When I prompted them to answer in Spanish, they elaborated very well and their eyes lit up a bit more. Their circumstance is not easy. I feel a lot more understanding and I am empathetic to them. I know It will be hard to  help these students succeed in school but they deserve that effort and I will make the effort.

second video teach

On Wednesday, I taught my second video teach. I started the class with an engagement activity that had students predicting what the purpose of my lessson would be. I showed the kids two videos: a video of mlk jr. and a video of malcolm x. The kids made predictions about malcolm x’s agenda as a civil rights leader. afterwards, the I lectured on malcolm x while we answered a lecture guide together. Afterwards, I showed the kids a video about Cesar chavez, a civil rights leader they knew little about. Again, we answered a video guide together and the students asked additional questions about the civil rights leaders I discussed.

I found that the engagement activity I used worked well. The students tend to like any activity that feels like a game. I figured that out after my first video teach; we played jeopardy. the students were intrigued also by the obscure, at least to them, civil rights leaders. they were very inquisitive as to the nature of celebrity they were. I also added malcolm x’s personal background knowledge. His life was filled with drama and the students liked the story of a conflicted life.

In reflection, I see how important it is to engage studnets personal interests and background. the students found it easy to pay attention when they wanted to learn more. Changing up my approach from lecture to video also kept their attention on the tasks at hand. I know, personally, that I enjoy a variety of learning methods. I feel as if my delivery is still a little rusty, but I expect to get better with practice.

ELL Geography Tutor

Today, my two ELL students and I worked on a geography assignment. The assignment concerned the Middle East and the production of oil. Today was not a day that we focused on rapport. Instead, we got right to work. We took turns reading out loud from the article and then organized the article into a graphic organizer. First, we started by writing down and pronouncing the most important vocabulary.  We then formed sentences with the newly learned vocabulary. After vocabulary was learned, we worked on reading and the graphic organizer.

Today was a comfortable day with my ELL students. We did not focus on rapport like in other sessions, but their was an understanding of each other’s roles. The vocabulary exercise before the graphic organizer served as a great tool; it allowed us to keep reading when we came across it in the text. This gave us the ability to read for content instead of vocabulary. The graphic organizer served a good reading guide. It kept them focused on a goal, which was to complete it and develop understanding of the importance of oil in the middle east.

In reflection, today went really well. I felt a good academic connection my students. They stayed focused most of the time and I believe some information and concept will be retained. Next time, I would like to have them work more independently. A less direct teach may allow me to assess their knowledge a bit more.

Preparing for my first video teach

Today, I will be completing my first video teach. I worked for quite some time on it. I decided to do a jeopardy game. I made it a power point presentation. In the game I have listed themes that I know they gone over in last six weeks. Also, I have included subject matter that I will be presenting in my second video teach. That lesson plan will be over Civil Rights.

When preparing my lesson, I knew I wanted to activate knowledge I know they have received. I used key words I’ve heard their teacher use such as “stalemate.” Also, I used a a theme they will be learning about next week. Hopefully, if all goes well, my introduction of new material will serve as an engagement activity and activate their schema next week when I present my Civil Rights lesson.

In reflection, I can see my transformation from student to teacher. I see myself considering methods I would have neve before. I’ve noticed my terminology changing and growing with experience. Putting all the theory I have learned into practice is really turning out to be a great experience. I expect to be decently prepared for my student teaching next semester.

ELL Instruction

This Monday, we met with our ELLs. The first time I met with mine, it was not very productive. Monday was different. We met with our ELL students and worked on their language proficiency. We read a passage from a book and I assessed them.

We started by drawing a graphic organizer of their family. I drew one as well. Much of their family was living in Mexico. Much of my family lives in Mexico. We had alot to talk about, especially Mexico. I talked about my trip to Mexico last summer and how hard of a time I had trying to speak and learn Spanish. They found my antedotes amusing. Our connection to language difficulties established common ground and furthered our repoire. This type of commonality is an excellent way to establish credability with a student. It showed that I understood their unique perspective in a foreign country.

 One notable difference in our reaction was the chemistry we had, personality-wise. We talked about events that had happened since the last time we met and even shared a laugh. That last time we spoke on that level, my students were more interested in things going on around our meeting place, especially girls and hot cheetos.  I started off our assignment reading a passage from a book and asked them to summarize what they heard. Initially, they didn’t expect me to ask them to do such a task and didn’t pay attention. I read again. This time they struggled for words to summarize and I helped. This type of scaffolding proved to be beneficial. It was not that they did not understand the content, it was simply the struggle for words to describe the content. Scaffolding with ELL students seems especially important. They constantly need support, they are not only learning a new language, but also learning new academic material.

Next, I had my two ELL buddies read a passage silently. Afterwards, I had them answer some questions to assess comprehension of the passage. Again, we ran into problems of content descriptions from our reading. I gave them words that helped better their thoughts and had them say the sentence back to me so I knew they, at a very basic level, understood what was going on.

I followed up with having them read a passage out loud. One of my students struggled more than the other. After having them read the passages, I asked if there were words they did not understand. They both act as if they knew it all. I suspected otherwise. I found words from the passage they either had a hard time pronouncing or words I suspected they just would not know. Apart from transisitonal words, there was alot they did not know. We went back through all the passages and I pointed to words and asked them for a vague definition. Some of the words, I asked them to translate into Spanish. I, in turn, attempted to pronounce them. They helped with my pronounciation.

 Afterwards, we drew a diagram about the family we read about in the passages I had read with them. This activity was not very stimulating. They were more interested in knowing about the family, not their birth order.

In reflection, I feel more confident about interacting with my ELL students.  We developed a better repoire, a utility Mr. Ray. uses and has found to be successful. I see it’s importance even more now. I also found that ELL students do not want to be viewed as “stupid.” They want others to think that they know what going on and often nod, even when they do not know whats going on. It’s important not to assume they understand the material because they are so often prone to say they do when they do not. When working with ELL students, the teacher must investigate comprehension more comprehensibly to ensure the student is successful. This investigation will likely more intense that with English speaking students.

Strategies

This week we have focused on strategies for activating students knowledge (schema)  and interest. The purpose of pre-reading/teaching strategies is to gain the audiences’ attention. I believe these strategies will prove to be important in the classroom. As I now reflect about the most successful lessons I’ve seen taught, there seems to be a common denominator. Learning the variety of strategies available will make my classroom a more exciting place to be; it will allow for changing dynamics it my classroom.

Today, I saw a fellow colleague give her first video teach. While she is rough on herself, she did fine. Excellent, you could even say, considering it was her first one. She did activate students knowledge by complimenting the teacher’s lesson. The teacher provided questions to the students. After her first teach, she mentioned that confidence was a large issue concerning the success of her teach. I think that is true.

check out her blog about her first video teach: http://www.dc1234.wordpress.com

Instruction

Today, I instructed students in a government class on how write an argumentative essay. I taught the three main approaches to arguments, which are: logic, ethics, and emotion. The class went pretty well. The students used a reading guide with the lecture and powerpoint. Afterwards, we looked at an example essay that utilized the most important approaches in a useful manner. After my instruction, my co-op teacher informed me of my flaws. She mentioned that, at times, my voice did not project well enough and that I should practice on not being monotone in my speech. She also noted that I need to let students defend their answer when I pose a question they do not answer in a way I expect. She said I should try letting them explain their answer, even if it is wrong. I agree with her critisms and will work to better my technique and nuiances.

 In reflection, I realize the importance of preparation in lesson plans. At moments, I felt lost and noticed when silence went for too long. I also realized the importance of name recognition. Students I called by name were more eager to actively participate in class activities.