Teacher Observation Journal #3

Today, I went and saw my friends again or as I call them in the classroom "Mis Amigos". I was not in the classroom yesterday and they were all very happy to see me again. Well, because today is Friday it was "Game Day". The day started with the fabulous 5. Again, their grade levels are 1st to 5th. I played Guess Who and that was a great game to get the students familiar with question words which they have some trouble with (I will expand on that later). We also played with dinosaur models and I really LOVED that! The students were excited about the dinosaurs and wanted to hear all about them. Mrs. Becker and I read the facts about the dinosaurs. I find when the teacher is excited about something in the classroom it can be quite contagious! I absolutely love dinosaurs so I was reading everything I could about them. '

We also played animal bingo which is good for letter recognition.

After lunch the awesome kindergartners came into the classroom. They were very happy that it was game day. We played a matching game and one of the students did exceedingly well with it.

I had been thinking about questions that I wanted to ask the teacher and I got the chance to ask her at the end of the day. I asked her about needs assessment and how she keeps track of which students need improvement. She has such a variety in her classroom and I was curious how she figured out what they need. She told me it was through getting to know them and there was no formal process. I wonder how this works because as an onlooker I can see that going by memory would be difficult for me.

The next question I asked Mrs. Becker was why some of the students drop the final letter when they are reading. It has puzzled me for the last few days because I would listen as a student read and a whole letter would be dropped or a new one added. For example, the word 'will' is read as 'wilk' and 'continues' is read as 'continue'. Mrs. Becker explained that the students' parents and family are also learning English and are possibly less advanced than the students. The pronunciation is not as precise as it is in school. In other words today is the day I realized how important it is for teachers to ENUNCIATE!

I got some very wise words of advice from Mrs. Becker. I was telling her how much I just loved her students and she told me she felt the same way. She says her philosophy is to treat her students as if she were a mother to them (adults and children alike). She said the students are away from their families for more than 6 hours a day and need that in their lives. I remember that my most favorite teacher had this same philosophy.

Teacher Observation Journal #2

Today I went to the elementary school again. I was so happy to see my new friends again and they all seemed happy to see me too! The morning started with working with one student on sentences from his spelling words. He thought up the sentences and then I wrote them down. After that he copied what I had written. I am unsure what the student actually gets from this activity.
Next, I helped another student with his spelling words. When he was finished he read me part of a story book he was reading. He got sidetracked and told me that he was only reading at a 2.2 level. I was not quite sure what that meant but I inferred that others in his class were at a higher reading level. He then showed me a sticker that was on the back of the book that said "2.6" He said he switched the stickers because he was sick of being made fun of. I felt so very bad for him and I am curious why there are the stickers on the books in the first place. I would hope the library could find a different system that is more anonymous for the students.
This student got bored of what he was reading so I asked him to find what he liked. He brought me his reading book about bats. We had so much fun looking up the different bats and how long their wing spans were. I asked Mrs. Becker for a ruler so we could look at just how long certain bats wings measured to be. I found it interesting that one species has a length of 5 feet while the smalled bat called the hog nosed bat has wings that are only 5 inches long! It was great to see this student actually want to read something and not just sit there and redundantly read because he has to.

After the 'boys club' (as Mrs. Becker calls them) came in we went and got the kindergartners. We reviewed the letters we went over yesterday and started a new letter "c". I got a drawing of a cat out of the deal which I love! I also got a drawing of me and one of the students together. I love children's artwork. I am a little puzzled with the kindergartners and I am going to ask Mrs. Becker how she assesses each individual child's needs. It is clear that there are some that struggle more than others.

I love being with the students and the funny thing is THEY have taught me so much already.

Teacher Observation Journal #1

I went to my very first teacher observation at Maple River Elementary School in Good Thunder today. I most of the teachers and the principal and everyone was so nice. Many of the teachers asked me if I would stay longer because the teacher I am observing needs "another adult in that classroom". I went to the classroom which appears to be an old storage unit in the back of the library. It is a tiny little room but the teacher has every inch of it covered with letters and pictures. I like the room a lot and I did not realize how much I missed sitting in miniature chairs.

The day started with one student from the 1st grade come in for help with reading. The teacher wanted us to read the story Johny Appleseed together. We read it out loud and he followed along with my finger. I found he was getting bored so before we would read a page I would have him look at the pictures and guess what was going to happen next. That seemed to work because then he wanted to keep reading so he would find out if he was correct. He was then suppose to write three sentences about the story. I noticed while we were reading Johnny Appleseed, other children were wondering where the laughing an having fun was coming from. A that time all the morning students had arrived and it totalled to be 5 students ranging from 1st to 5th grade and they were all either cousins or brothers. That does not seem to be a lot of students but when the classroom is THAT small it is quite intense.

My first student went back to his main classroom and I worked with another student on reading. The teacher provided a basket full of little books that he could read. He was reading a story that was at beginning level but even I was bored with it. I told him to find a book that he really wanted to read. We found one about soccer and that was sooo much better. All of the kids play on the same soccer team and they get quite excited when talking about it. I didn't mind that they were telling me about soccer because at least they were talking. The main teacher did not want them to be talking so I directed them back onto the story. Every few pages he would stop to tell me something more about soccer. I really liked meeting those students! One of them saw my Spiderman notebook and drew me pictures!

The last group of kids to come in is 5 kindergartners. I had not realized but it is a big deal to walk down the hall so everyday one of the students gets to pick the "pattern" with which we walk. We finally got to the classroom and started to discuss the letters "a" and "b" and only after 30 minutes they were gone. It was not nearly enough time to help the kids with any of the language issues that they have.

Overall, it was a day full of learning, for me and for them!

Reflection of Class on 2/23

Class on Monday night went well and it began with Charlie and Kizuna presenting about the subject of oral communication. They went over some of the problems that students may have when learning a second language such as rhythm, stress, and intonation. I liked hearing Kizuna's personal experience with the above areas of difficulty. We then discussed if a non-native speaker and a near native had the same oral speech. I think some non-native speakers are at an advantage, especially at the academic level because some do not have bad habits that native speakers do. We then got into groups and discussed a prompt that we were given. I was with Lillian and Chao and we discovered that we did not care a whole lot about the gowns that were worn at the Oscars (or was it the Academy Awards). We then talked about what we did over the weekend and what Lilian was going to do the upcoming weekend. Chao then said she has never flown and we got to talking about the word 'flown'. It is interesting how conversations begin. Charlie asked if we thought there were some differences in the way men and women communicate and I had never thought about it before but there were some very valid points brought up. I thought Kizuna and Charlie did a good job and with the time constraint they were in they actually handled it very well. I think I would have been a little stressed if I knew I only had 5 minutes to cram all that material in.

We then went to the G.L.L. and were going to watch a movie clip and analyze the speech of E.L.L. students but for the majority of the class the video did not work. We had the opportunity to go to the stacks in the back of the library and seek out materials that could be used in the classroom. We were suppose to think of activities that could get the students to speak. Mariya, Chao and I picked a ton of materials and I think I made Mariya go crazy with all the materials I kept picking up and wanting to use. We finally ended up with some really good materials, especially the organ suit that I wanted to keep!

Reaction from Week 6 Class Period

So, Thea and I presented on Monday and it was so much FUN!! We played Simon Says and I did not realize that some of the international students had not played that game. I feel bad because I would have happily explained it. I hope everyone had fun with it anyway. We just used the game to illustrate the different types of listening that were engaged.

We then talked about the different types of listening activities we have experienced in our learning and teaching experiences. I shared the time I had in a high school Spanish class. We were all partnered up and one of us was blind folded. It was the partner's responsibility to direst their partner in Spanish. "Derecho, Izquierda, Derecha...etc..." I found it to be quite useful in remembering the terms because I was actually listening for fear of running into a wall. We also talked about horrible dictation is and how redundant and boring it is. Personally, I have never experienced it but I can see how out of place it can be. There seems to be no connection with what the students are listening to and the actual student. Like the M.C.M. book the students need to be able to connect with the material and it needs to be relevant. I think dictation goes against both of those items mentioned.

Solen came in and talked about his ESL 202 class. (I think it was 202 or maybe it was 101). I really enjoyed everything that Solen had to say and he seems to be very in tune with his student's needs. I hope I as good of a teacher as Solen seems to be. He seems to be constantly analyzing his students' progress and his development as a teacher along with the success that his class is having.

We also talked about the reason why some students never go to office hours. Honestly, I have never thought it to be a big deal. If a student is having trouble then they can go in and remedy the situation, however; it appears that it can be very intimidating. I bet it can be especially when learning a second language but I think it is important to be able to ask questions and receive help from our professors. I think I had a Spanish professor that was absolutely sick of me by the end of the semester. I was always asking questions before class, after class, in his tutor hours and office hours. When I do not get something I either give up or obsess about it. I suppose I would rather have the latter.

Towards the end of the class we went to the G.L.L. and talked about the assignment that is due in two weeks. I can't think about tomorrow let alone two weeks from now but hopefully I will get enough time in my busy schedule to work on it early. ]

Oh! I finally got my teacher assignment. She is in Good Thunder and I am really excited to get started!

Readings for Week 6

This weeks readings were really interesting and informative in an area of ESL teaching that I was unfamiliar with. I found through the readings how important listening skills are in a second or foreign language. It seems that ability is often overlooked as something is simply acquired and it does not require organized instruction. I thought that same thing until I read the assignment for this week. One would assume that when a student is surrounded by listening they just "pick it up" but it takes time to teach the skills of listening.

In the M.C.M. book I learned that there are different types of listening contexts and there are different purposes for listening. It is very interesting that the subject of listening can be broken down into neat and organized subheadings. To read about listing in this way makes it seem that it is actually possible to teach something as extensive as reading in second or foreign language.

I learned that listening can be bidirectional, unidirectional, or autodirectional. It seems that throughout the day we all "listen" a lot more than we thought. The M.C.M. book claims that throughout any given day we listen twice as much as we speak, 4 times more than we read, and 5 times more than we write. That is a lot of listening and it comes from a number of sources. The radio (unidirectional), our friends and family (bidirectional) and of course our internal thoughts (autodirectional).

I thought it was interesting that intonation in a speaker's voice can affect the message along with the speaker's body language. I once read that body language accounts for 80 percent of communication. That is, if Jack was telling me that he really liked me and he had his arms crossed in front of his body and he was looking down, I would know he was lying to me.

Today, Thea and I present and I am excited because we have a couple fun things planned for the class. We are NOT relying on technology so this presentation should go better than the last one I did.

Oh! I forgot to mention that I absolutely LOVE the idea of a listening lab!!! It seems like a great way to get students excited about listening to English. The fact that students can have a choice about what to listen to and when to listen to it is amazing! I like the idea of a reading lab too but then again that is another chapter, isn't it? : )

Week 5 Class Reflection

So this week's class was interesting to say the least. Rachel and I attempted to present, however, it seems the technology in the classroom was having none of that! Oh well, I think we adapted pretty well and moved on with other things that we had planned. I liked talking about weird words in English because it is fun to try and figure out what they mean.

After that we listened to Diana talk about vocabulary and the research she had conducted for her APP. I think she had some valid points about vocabulary and how it is important to teach it in context and to never present a new vocabulary word with its respective antonym. I know I was taught many words that way but I can see how it can be counterproductive when teaching new words, especially to children.

We then went into the G.L.L. and finished our presentation. Honestly, I think the presentation was greatly effected (did I use that right?) by the huge gap in it. The class seemed to have lost interest and it was getting close to 9:30 which means we all get tired and anxious to go home. If the presentation was all together I think it could have been a lot better. But as the old adage goes, "Have a Plan B"

In the G.L.L. we got into our groups from the previous week to see how we could integrate the teaching of grammar. I like the idea of paying special attention to such things because while teaching a lesson plan I would be able to know what to put emphasis on.

The animals above are for Mai and me, we thought they looked funny and gross.
Oh, I promised Mariya the list that I got the weird words from so here they are with their 5 counterparts.....

1. Erinaceous
Like a hedgehog
2. Lamprophony
Loudness and clarity of voice
3. Depone
To testify under oath
4. Finnimbrun
A trinket or knick-knack
5. floccinaucinihilipilification
Estimation that something is valueless. Proper pronunciation based on Latin roots: flockə-nowsə-nəkələ-pələ-fək-ation.
6. Inaniloquent
Pertaining to idle talk
7. Limerance
An attempt at a scientific study into the nature of romantic love.
8. Mesonoxian
Pertaining to midnight
9. Mungo
A dumpster diver - one who extracts valuable things from trash
10. Nihilarian
A person who deals with things lacking importance (pronounce the ‘h’ like a ‘k’).

Grammar and Vocabulary

The Chapters in both H.D.B and M.C.M. both concentrated on vocabulary and additionally, grammar was covered in the H.D.B. book. Both topics are something that I have been interested in as it seems the two areas are important in second language teaching.

H.D.B. discussed whether the inductive or deductive approach would benefit students more. He claims that inductive mimics the natural way in which language is acquired. That is, when people are learning their first language they are only implicitly aware of the grammar rules. If asked, many people cannot explain grammar rules and yet they apply many of these rules throughout any given day. In my own experience I learned grammar through the deductive approach. I have to say, after reading about the implicit approach I can see how that is favored. With deductive approach it seemed to add a lot of unneeded pressure on the students to use a certain grammar rule correctly. With the inductive approach students are able to learn over time what grammar rules to use and when to use them. Overall, I think the inductive approach is more conducive to communication.

The H.D.B. book also covered two different view points on vocabulary teaching; incidental exposure and intentional exposure. H.D.B. states that intentional learning proves to aid in student's vocabulary, however, I think both view points have their benefits. I believe that the old adage that we have all heard before sheds some light on the topic, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." It seems that with reading many people can improve their vocabulary without intentionally doing so. With that improved vocabulary they are able to understand more reading materials and are more efficient readers. The better these people are at reading the more they will want to do it and the snowball effect continues.

The M.C.M. book also covers vocabulary learning and the two view points of implicit and explicit. M.C.M. claims that many of the words that many of us have in our vocabulary have been explicitly taught, however; when proficiency is high enough in a second language that explicit learning can change into implicit. M.C.M. claims that the first 2,000-3,000 high frequency words of a vocabulary should be taught explicitly but after that many of the low frequency words can be acquired through reading and listening. I like to think of the first 2,000-3,000 high frequency words as the foundation and the many high frequency words to follow as the rest of the house. You need to have that foundation or you will not have a house (or implicit learning of other vocabulary).

Multiple exposure to a word is also important for that word to be considered "learned". This is important in both implicit and explicit learning. M.C.M. claims this lack of exposure is a common problem with many L2 learners and teachers can avoid that problem through more exposure or "book flood". AS a teacher I like the idea of "book flood" because it could target all the students' interests and the idea of finishing a book would give additional intrinsic motivation. Maybe it just my thought that reading could save the world one day.

Week 4 Classtime Reflection

In this week's class time Rachel and Thea began the class with a discussion about building awareness and practical skills for communication especially cross culturally. They began by asking if any of us would ever decline someone our notes for class if we were asked. Everyone in the class said that they would not have a problem loaning their notes. Maybe it is because I live in Minnesota but I think that would not be very kind to not loan notes to a fellow classmate.

After the wonderful presentation by Thea and Rachel we got in a circle and discussed what we thought some cultural differences were with respect to food, gender, etc... Some interesting points got brought up, such as other cultures are more "touchy-feely" than Americans. Also, some cultures view sharing food as socially acceptable but in America some people are protective. Although I love America and being American, sometimes I wonder if I am from another country! The things people were describing about their culture are all the things that make me an enigma in the U.S.

Finally, we went to the G.L.L. and made units and lesson plans to practice what we will have to do in the future. I really liked our lesson plan because it was based on teaching children astronomy! Two of my very favorite things in life! I liked hearing the questions about the lesson we planned because it made me look at some things that I would have to pay more attention to when planning a lesson.

Integrating the 4 Skills

This weeks readings in the H.D. Brown book discussed the integration of the 4 skills necessary for communication in any language (listening, speaking, reading, writing) Special attention was given to the importance of the whole language approach. This approach appeals to all or at least two of the skills mentioned above.

The book gave different models of integration that can be used in the ESL/EFL classroom. As I read I kept thinking, "This model is my favorite and the one I will use when I teach". I found myself thinking that on almost every model I read about. What I liked about the readings in the H.D. Brown book was the examples of how each model could be executed. For example, with respect to the Integrated Lesson an entire lesson plan was outlined on how this model may work in a real classroom.

I like the idea of theme teaching, although I get the idea that H.D.Brown believes there are better models to follow. That leads me to say that I like the thought of teaching a different subject matter while not concentrating on the actual language itself. As a foreign language learner of Spanish, I find that I learn much better when I am relaxed. That is to say, when I am not concentrating on the mistakes I will make I speak a lot more and without fear. Perhaps some of my NN classmates could weigh in on this. I wonder how they learned English best and while in the TESL classes are they still enhancing their English proficiency? Because the TESL classes are not focusing on their English, do they feel they are improving their English even more? All good questions I will ask my classmates.

Another point in the chapter that I found to be quite interesting is the discussion of dialogue within the text books. The example of Jack and Tony is actually quite boring and predictable. That is somewhat of a regression for the students' literacy skills because as I learned in Dr. Stoynoff's literacy class, a good reader makes predictions. Well, how can a student make a prediction when the outcome is spoon-fed to them. I like the idea of students having to formulate guesses while reading. In fact, to this day I still remember when I heard a dialogue in my Span 102 class that was very unexpected! It was a video of about 5 students travelling throughout Mexico. It showed the interactions between the students and their host mom. At first it was all pleasantries which meant I was not really listening. Then, my attention was grabbed as all of a sudden this sweet old lady starts yelling at the students! She was angry because, "El dormitorio estaba todo desordenado por los estudiatnes!" (The bedroom was messed up by the students!) I will never forget that and that was about 3 years ago. I think we should never underestimate the power of intrigue in a classroom.