Does it translate?

Four worms and a lesson to be learned!!!!

A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.

Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.

The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.

The third worm was put into a container of chocolates.

The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:

The first worm in alcohol
Dead.

The second worm in cigarette smoke
Dead.

Third worm in chocolates
Dead.

Fourth worm in good clean soil
Alive.

So the Minister asked the congregation,

”What did you learn from this demonstration?”

Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,

”As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!”


Last time I blogged I think I mentioned something about jokes not translating. I can understand where third grade jokes don't translate because they really aren't meant to be funny (to adults). But this is funny. Or is it? One of my girlfriends sent it because there is an outbreak of ringworm in her seventh grade class. Eeew. In that context the joke becomes a little funnier.

First research blog

I'm glad I'm doing a research paper along with the class I am teaching because it has been giving me reminders of how long it can take to research a topic. This project has also reminded me of how easy it is to find what your looking for, and ignore the evidence you don't want to exist. My main question of research is, "How should I respond to drafts of student writing?" Some research says a response can stifle student writing, other research says only specific feedback helps--and good luck figuring out what that is and how to do it effecively--, and yet other research says it help the developing ESL writing to get as much feedback as possible. Right now I think I will offer my class a little of each method. I know they want as much feedback as I can give them, but that takes time I don't really have. I'll give them as much feedback as I am able to give and call it a day. We'll see if more research turns up any other possible results to my question.

Class on Oct 27

I really enjoyed the happy/sad face technique used by our presenters last night. I kept thinking of students I have had in the past who love to get in front of the class and make everyone laugh, and this is a perfect way to let them do so without being a distraction, rather they become engaged in the learning.

I always enjoy microteaching presentations. The hardest part is trying to only teach 10 min of a lesson. It is natural to want to explain the entire lesson in order to put things into context. My lesson was about teaching jokes and humor to a third grade class. I think it is an important lesson (it is listed as a goal on the ESL website we were directed to for this assignment) because kids LOVE to tell jokes. And nobody wants to be the last one in their class to hear "Why did the chicken cross the road?"--a staple in American humor. Or, if somebody walks up to you and says, "Knock knock." It is important to know the correct response: "Who's there?"
"Boo"
"Boo who?"
"Why are you crying?"
Ha Ha Ha!
However, I did not realize how hard teaching jokes would be. They really need to be explained thoroughly. Now I wish I were in the humor group for the multi-genera papers. Not really, but I hope they do a good job so I can learn a thing or two from them.

Class on Oct. 20?

In some respects I like that I always put off writing my blogs until right before class. It allows me to recall what happened last week which helps me transition into class easier. However it also creates anxiety, and I don't think that is a fair trade off. Anyway...
Last week I believe is when two classmates gave a presentation in which they asked us to get into groups and create assignments based on readings from the book. I will admit to being a dunce and panicing when I heard the assignment was based on "negation" and I couldn't--for the life of me--figure out what the *#$@ negation was. I felt like I was in a bad dream, or a room full of people who were speaking another language than me. Of course I felt like an idiot when I finally figured out what was going on, but it gave me a good reminder of what it might be like to be a non native speaker. I chose not to ask what negation was because I it seemed so obvious to everyone else. It took much longer than it sould have for me to realize what was going on. I really hope I am able give my students the confidence to ask when I am not being clear so they don't have to sit with that feeling I had.

class on 10/13

I continue to be amazed by the cultural aspects of ESL that I didn't know I didn't know. I was reminded of this when I saw the movie clip about the Samali refugees. I never thought about having to show someone how to use a gas stove. I suppose though, I have to show friends/family how to use my stove when they come over because each one is a little different. I have rather mixed feelings about the idea of non native speakers teaching a language. I do believe it depends on the situation. The reason I showed the first youtube video with the Americans with strong accents (and some inappropriate opinions) was to illustrate the point that some American accents are further away from standard English than some of the international students in our class (plus I just think dialects are fun). Also, it is important for teachers to understand methods of teaching and not just content. And the reason I showed the second video is to illustrate the point that not all Americans know specific regional termonology, or even have a broad general vocabulary, so a non-native speaker may have a leg up in that area as well. On the other hand, my Spanish teacher in high school was a non-native Spanish speaker and she--in my opinion--didn't do a very good job. Whether it was her teaching method or grasp of the language that was lacking, I'm not sure, but I didn't learn (retain) a thing. She tended to revert back to English far too much. I wish we had had more time to discuss the English-only debate.

Class on Oct 6

Although this was the third time I have listened to a library presentation on using online databases, I still learned something. I hope to bring my comp students to the library again in a couple of weeks for another presentation and I am confident I will again learn something new. I think this just reinforces the importance of the concepts of both scaffolding and repetition.

The presentation today reminded me of how important it is to be clear and confident when giving directions for an activity to a class. I think the confidence a teacher conveys goes a long way, even if they don't feel confident about what they are teaching.

I was extremely grateful that I had previously taught "The Pearl" when we were re-writing our classmates lesson plans. I hope we do a lot more with lesson planning because I believe it is such an important part of teaching. Although I am definately a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants teacher, I know it is not good practice. I also think it should be stressed how important it is to have sub plans be EXTREMELY clear. I did substitute teaching for a short time--short because it is a horrible job since most teachers are not very clear with their plans, making things difficult for the sub and the students.

Sept 29 class reflection

Last week in class I most appreciated being able to create a lesson with peers. I thought it quite helpful to discuss (and argue) why certain activities should or should not be included. It was interesting to hear about different peoples' preferences and experiences--the reasoning behind why someone would not choose to have a coloring sheet with lines for first graders.

Last week I also learned that I learn best by listening. Granted, all of my scores were withing a 6 point range. I'm guessing that means I need to see, hear, and do something before I can learn it. Makes sence. Although I did complete my Media in Education course without ever opening the book or taking notes, I just never missed a lecture and I paid rapt attention. A lot could be said for prior knowledge in that course though.

Reading for week 7

Although the topic of motivation related to education and learning has always kind of frustrated me--feeling like there are too many outside, pre-set factors in students for me to make a whole lot of difference on way or another--I really enjoyed the section in L&S about motivation in the classroom. Particularly the statement about how if a teacher makes certain remarks about the upcoming activities, a students' interest level is heightened. I would like to learn more about this so I could consciously make remarks to better engage my students. I also enjoyed hearing that co-operative learning helps with motivation because I tend to rely heavily on group work in my classroom and I know this has the potential for some students to just check out and not pull their weight. (I never realized how much I use figurative language in my writing.)

In the opening paragraph of L&S ch 3, it asks the reader to "interview several friends, colleagues, or family members about their experiences learning a second or foreign language" (p53). At first I guffawed, and then I remembered I had just had this conversation with my mother. She had taken ASL several years ago and had a very positive experience with it. I wasn't so fond of mine. We both probably have the same level of proficiency: minimal. It was just interesting to ponder what made the difference in the positive/negative feelings we each had toward our experiences with language acquisitions.

In HDB ch 7 I found the Scope and Sequence chart to be quite useful. I felt it was concrete information that helped summarize the more abstract information given in the chapter. I agree that judging someone's level of proficience is quite a relative task. However it is necessary to have some set of criteria to distinguish what who needs to be taught.