My first experience teaching was in a Head Start preschool program for low-income and refugee children in Burlington, Vermont. Of the fifteen students, 13 were ELL that spoke 7 different languages. Although it was important to help these students develop their English language skills (many of the children were able to quickly gain skills to engage in conversation), it had been equally important to encourage students and their families to nurture their native languages at home. It was also important for the classroom teachers, including myself, to understand these students’ background, languages, cultures, religions, etc. in order to serve them as best we could. This required providing translators for any and every event (from parent-teacher conferences, to pancake breakfasts, to math game night). We also did MANY home visits with these families (with translators) in order to ensure we understood the family’s goals for their child’s education. We tried to bring each student’s culture into the classroom in authentic waysWe tried finding books that were written in both English and their native language to encourage reading at home. Although, we learned that many families were illiterate (some families came from areas of the world that only had an oral language) and so we encourage families to take the free Adult English Language Learning classes that were offered in the same building at the same time as the preschool program. Their were also workshops and language classes for families to encourage and develop skills in their native language. Obviously, not every school has such a “closed system” where family members can participate in learning programs in the same building at the same time, but these small steps we took to engage children and their families seemed to help build a strong foundation for learning in these students. By the end of the school year, many students were speaking, writing, and reading (the alphabet and some sight words) in English. Their families had also developed some English language skills, and we could converse with many of them at the end of the school day about their child’s day. We wanted to encourage students to develop English language skills but not lose their native language, and in this small program were were able to find ways to do both.
Sounds like you had an ideal situation. Knowing 2 languages before puberty is one of the best ways to expand the brain. This is why many schools introduce a second language in elementary school, but it's usually not intense enough! Nancy
I really enjoyed reading the articles/reading posted for this week. I found them all to be so useful, that I printed them out to keep with me with my future professional endeavors. I particularly enjoyed, “How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class” by Tristen De Frondeville because of the easy-to-follow “Here’s how you do it…” sections and the author’s real life experiences using the techniques in their classroom. During my student teaching I have seen many students resort to “dead time” throughout the day, and despite the activity or consequence or reward, students seem to lose engagement on a daily basis at some point or another. I have tried a lot of the strategies I read on this list, but the strategy that required students to take a short break by following a rhythm/sound pattern is something I have done, lead by a Lesley professor, but never tried myself. I decided to try it out this week and make a rain sound (first people pat their legs, then snap, then stomp, then make a “shh” noise in a round). Due to the scheduling of the day at the school I student teach at, the kids are sitting and doing the same subject for long periods of the day. Nearing the end of the day it seemed as if all of the students were experiencing “dead time” and I gave it a try. They did get a little silly when we first started and had a little trouble getting back to work afterwards, but after a minute or so the kids were noticeably more attentive, and they ended the day in higher spirits. I think that if strategies such as these were used more often and introduced early in the year they could be incredibly effective and more routine-like, thus avoiding the minor difficulties that I experienced. I will absolutely try it again when I have my own class!
In De Frondeville’s article, he suggests ways to keep students engaged in the class, his first strategy is to use a mind warm up. To mimic this strategy I wrote a sentence on the Smartboard, and asked students to read it. Then students worked in groups of three to see if they could identify the mistakes in the sentence. Mistakes consisted of misspelled sight words, misuse of upper case/lower case letters , improper spacing between words, and lack of punctuation. After students had a minute to find mistakes I asked volunteers to come and fix the mistake on the Smartboard. I repeated this procedure with five sentences so each student had a chance to come up to the front, and correct a mistake. The students were definitely engaged in this activity. Unlike many activities we do, I noticed I didn’t have to keep reminding the students to stay on task. This activity was appropriately challenging, and I was pleased that every student was able to find a mistake. I would definitely use a warm up like this again!
My first experience teaching was in a Head Start preschool program for low-income and refugee children in Burlington, Vermont. Of the fifteen students, 13 were ELL that spoke 7 different languages. Although it was important to help these students develop their English language skills (many of the children were able to quickly gain skills to engage in conversation), it had been equally important to encourage students and their families to nurture their native languages at home. It was also important for the classroom teachers, including myself, to understand these students’ background, languages, cultures, religions, etc. in order to serve them as best we could. This required providing translators for any and every event (from parent-teacher conferences, to pancake breakfasts, to math game night). We also did MANY home visits with these families (with translators) in order to ensure we understood the family’s goals for their child’s education. We tried to bring each student’s culture into the classroom in authentic waysWe tried finding books that were written in both English and their native language to encourage reading at home. Although, we learned that many families were illiterate (some families came from areas of the world that only had an oral language) and so we encourage families to take the free Adult English Language Learning classes that were offered in the same building at the same time as the preschool program. Their were also workshops and language classes for families to encourage and develop skills in their native language. Obviously, not every school has such a “closed system” where family members can participate in learning programs in the same building at the same time, but these small steps we took to engage children and their families seemed to help build a strong foundation for learning in these students. By the end of the school year, many students were speaking, writing, and reading (the alphabet and some sight words) in English. Their families had also developed some English language skills, and we could converse with many of them at the end of the school day about their child’s day. We wanted to encourage students to develop English language skills but not lose their native language, and in this small program were were able to find ways to do both.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had an ideal situation. Knowing 2 languages before puberty is one of the best ways to expand the brain. This is why many schools introduce a second language in elementary school, but it's usually not intense enough!
DeleteNancy
I really enjoyed reading the articles/reading posted for this week. I found them all to be so useful, that I printed them out to keep with me with my future professional endeavors. I particularly enjoyed, “How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class” by Tristen De Frondeville because of the easy-to-follow “Here’s how you do it…” sections and the author’s real life experiences using the techniques in their classroom. During my student teaching I have seen many students resort to “dead time” throughout the day, and despite the activity or consequence or reward, students seem to lose engagement on a daily basis at some point or another. I have tried a lot of the strategies I read on this list, but the strategy that required students to take a short break by following a rhythm/sound pattern is something I have done, lead by a Lesley professor, but never tried myself. I decided to try it out this week and make a rain sound (first people pat their legs, then snap, then stomp, then make a “shh” noise in a round). Due to the scheduling of the day at the school I student teach at, the kids are sitting and doing the same subject for long periods of the day. Nearing the end of the day it seemed as if all of the students were experiencing “dead time” and I gave it a try. They did get a little silly when we first started and had a little trouble getting back to work afterwards, but after a minute or so the kids were noticeably more attentive, and they ended the day in higher spirits. I think that if strategies such as these were used more often and introduced early in the year they could be incredibly effective and more routine-like, thus avoiding the minor difficulties that I experienced. I will absolutely try it again when I have my own class!
ReplyDeleteGreat that you tried something and learned from trying! You also have to remember that everyone zone's out at some time, Is it always bad??
DeleteIn De Frondeville’s article, he suggests ways to keep students engaged in the class, his first strategy is to use a mind warm up. To mimic this strategy I wrote a sentence on the Smartboard, and asked students to read it. Then students worked in groups of three to see if they could identify the mistakes in the sentence. Mistakes consisted of misspelled sight words, misuse of upper case/lower case letters , improper spacing between words, and lack of punctuation. After students had a minute to find mistakes I asked volunteers to come and fix the mistake on the Smartboard. I repeated this procedure with five sentences so each student had a chance to come up to the front, and correct a mistake. The students were definitely engaged in this activity. Unlike many activities we do, I noticed I didn’t have to keep reminding the students to stay on task. This activity was appropriately challenging, and I was pleased that every student was able to find a mistake. I would definitely use a warm up like this again!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a chance to try one and that it was successful!!
ReplyDelete