Today was another surprising day at school. Probably the sweetest woman I have ever met arrived this morning to teach my class how to apply for an FHA first homebuyers loan. Wow. This woman, a real estate agent by day, is also a foster mother of 8 kids. Most foster moms are stay at home moms, living off of the governmental subsidies provided to them for taking care of the children. This woman is married, so when she is at work all day long her husband is taking care of the kids, and when she gets home from work, he goes to work on 2nd shift. She is literally always working, always on the clock. And she had time to volunteer at school today. Wow.
Besides the tutoring experience, the best thing I am taking away from this class is the renewed faith I have in everyone. As an active volunteer, I see a lot of destruction and devastation in its wake. My closest friends are those that volunteer with me, so I'm not used to meeting so many wonderfully selfless people like this woman. Put people like her with the amazing students that take my class and you have an incredible group of people. I'm so blessed to be a part of this.
I quickly looked over her lesson plan for the day and made copies for the class so I could assist. I could tell it was going to be interesting, finance isn't my strong suit, and I've only ever rented a home - so I was listening intently to say the least! We started with a budgeting exercise (how perfect). I handed out an example of a "budget case study" that detailed the monthly spendings vs. income of one person. The students learned how to categorize expenses into rudimentary categories to help them stay on track, like clothes, food, and entertainment. Then we went over how to easily allott a certain percentage of one's income to a certain category, and follow this from month to month.
I thought her approach was very easy to understand and the students really got a lot out of today's class. Another reason why I love this class, it teaches English, but it's really teaching Life 101. There are so many side lessons discussed about adjusting to American culture and thriving within it. I'm telling you - it's even helpful for me, a native English speaker that was born and raised in the United States.
After the break the rest of the lesson focused on utilizing formulas to determine if a certain income will be able to afford a certain mortgage payment, and other common scenarios like this. Everyone was given a packet detailing everything that was covered, and the real estate agent left all of her information. She was happy to represent any of them in finding a home in the future.
At the end of class she asked everyone to keep a weekly record of everything that they spend, and then categorize each expense like we did in the exercise today. Even though she was not going to be back in a week - don't think that didn't stop me from making everyone participate! I did it myself too, it's only fair! I was very surprised, it's incredible how much less you will spend when you are aware of what is being spent.
Debt is the one aspect of American culture we would like to omit from advocating here :]
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
I have so much to learn.
Something fascinating happened today, although not necessarily in a good way. One one person showed up for class. One. Sometimes there are slow days where only 5 or 6 people show, but one? To top it all off, another volunteer had prepared a lesson for today (there are several volunteers that can only teach once or twice a month). Since I'm there everyday, I compromised by letting the volunteer sit down one on one with the student for a private lesson, while I graded a stack of homework.
I'm adamant about updating each student's portfolio, because it helps them and myself to see their progression. Since I had a lot of time on my hands, and there wasn't much else that needed to be done (I asked every classroom if they needed a helper - even the nursery!) I took the liberty to reorganize them a bit. I read their latest compositions that we had just spent time on a few classes ago. Amazing. Some of these essays were definitely high school level; for someone that moved to America 5 months ago that is really impressive. And that is what makes my job so easy - these students want to learn. They are driven and positive people. They are my kind of people! I don't feel like I have to hold their arm behind their back to complete an assignment, which is what some of today's high-schoolers do. Their desire to succeed is refreshing, and it makes me work harder too.
By the time classes let out for break, I was well finished with all of my grading. I even had the chance to go over my lesson for tomorrow. I strolled into the Beginner Classroom and introduced myself to another teacher filling in temporarily. Her name was Jean and she was captivating. I loved listening to her stories, advice, and life lessons. So even when she protested that I would be bored helping out with her class I told her I was going to stay. I really wanted to observe her and take some notes. I probably wrote down 5 pages worth, but I'll post some of the more important things to remember here:
1. Make everything tangible.
Just like I had used visuals and animated expressions the class before, making things come to life as Jean said are what really make impressions on them.
2. Identify with them.
Point out any possible thing you have in common with them, "We're both wearing green!" "We both have 3 letters in our first name!", etc. The objective is not to be constantly agreeable, but to break down the wall between tutor and student. By identifying the fundamental basics that everyone has in common with each other, the students will reach out to you and you will both get more out of the experience.
3. Never add a variable to the equation until it's solid.
Meaning, don't throw more at them than they can handle. She especially advised me not to trust students when they say they understand (flashback to my mindless droning in French IV). Tell them to prove it, most of the time they will just tell you they understand because they feel pressured and uncomfortable (Amen!). But learning English from someone you barely know in foreign country is going to be uncomfortable. Roll with the punches.
4. Don't assume anything.
This was probably her most important point, never ever assume that students already know something. You will waste time teaching them at a level they are not at yet. Plus asking about their abilities kills two birds with one stone: it makes them feel confident about all of the things they show you that they can do, and it lets you exactly what their capabilities are.
5. Know the difference between BICS & CALP.
BICS, or Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, is a social language acquisition and not very challenging cognitively. It is the type of language that a person will learn within the first year of moving to a new country. CALP, or Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, is an academic language acquisition. Not only does it entail knowing a vast vocabulary, but it presents the ability to compare, synthesize, evaluate and infer. As a tutor of ESL, these are the teaching standards I need to know. Which brings me to my final point,
6. Read, read, read.
Jean gave me some great recommendations about ESL books for tutors that I should read. She told me to research it on the internet, look for classes to take, read manuels and books about making lesson planning - she told me to dive in, and not come to the surface until I know everything there is to know about teaching ESL. And even then, I should read another book, just in case.
I really appreciated the opportunity to participate in the beginner classroom again and especially to talk with Jean. I stopped by the library on my way home and signed out 3 books on tutoring ESL. I really feel as though I've found a nitch in tutoring, especially because of my practice with helping kids at after school programs. There is no doubt, however, that I have a lot left to learn. I can thank my strong will for being up for the challenge.
I'm adamant about updating each student's portfolio, because it helps them and myself to see their progression. Since I had a lot of time on my hands, and there wasn't much else that needed to be done (I asked every classroom if they needed a helper - even the nursery!) I took the liberty to reorganize them a bit. I read their latest compositions that we had just spent time on a few classes ago. Amazing. Some of these essays were definitely high school level; for someone that moved to America 5 months ago that is really impressive. And that is what makes my job so easy - these students want to learn. They are driven and positive people. They are my kind of people! I don't feel like I have to hold their arm behind their back to complete an assignment, which is what some of today's high-schoolers do. Their desire to succeed is refreshing, and it makes me work harder too.
By the time classes let out for break, I was well finished with all of my grading. I even had the chance to go over my lesson for tomorrow. I strolled into the Beginner Classroom and introduced myself to another teacher filling in temporarily. Her name was Jean and she was captivating. I loved listening to her stories, advice, and life lessons. So even when she protested that I would be bored helping out with her class I told her I was going to stay. I really wanted to observe her and take some notes. I probably wrote down 5 pages worth, but I'll post some of the more important things to remember here:
1. Make everything tangible.
Just like I had used visuals and animated expressions the class before, making things come to life as Jean said are what really make impressions on them.
2. Identify with them.
Point out any possible thing you have in common with them, "We're both wearing green!" "We both have 3 letters in our first name!", etc. The objective is not to be constantly agreeable, but to break down the wall between tutor and student. By identifying the fundamental basics that everyone has in common with each other, the students will reach out to you and you will both get more out of the experience.
3. Never add a variable to the equation until it's solid.
Meaning, don't throw more at them than they can handle. She especially advised me not to trust students when they say they understand (flashback to my mindless droning in French IV). Tell them to prove it, most of the time they will just tell you they understand because they feel pressured and uncomfortable (Amen!). But learning English from someone you barely know in foreign country is going to be uncomfortable. Roll with the punches.
4. Don't assume anything.
This was probably her most important point, never ever assume that students already know something. You will waste time teaching them at a level they are not at yet. Plus asking about their abilities kills two birds with one stone: it makes them feel confident about all of the things they show you that they can do, and it lets you exactly what their capabilities are.
5. Know the difference between BICS & CALP.
BICS, or Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, is a social language acquisition and not very challenging cognitively. It is the type of language that a person will learn within the first year of moving to a new country. CALP, or Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, is an academic language acquisition. Not only does it entail knowing a vast vocabulary, but it presents the ability to compare, synthesize, evaluate and infer. As a tutor of ESL, these are the teaching standards I need to know. Which brings me to my final point,
6. Read, read, read.
Jean gave me some great recommendations about ESL books for tutors that I should read. She told me to research it on the internet, look for classes to take, read manuels and books about making lesson planning - she told me to dive in, and not come to the surface until I know everything there is to know about teaching ESL. And even then, I should read another book, just in case.
I really appreciated the opportunity to participate in the beginner classroom again and especially to talk with Jean. I stopped by the library on my way home and signed out 3 books on tutoring ESL. I really feel as though I've found a nitch in tutoring, especially because of my practice with helping kids at after school programs. There is no doubt, however, that I have a lot left to learn. I can thank my strong will for being up for the challenge.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Time and Sequence
It felt good to go back to my intermediate class today, but it also felt nice to know more faces in the building. I am building quite the reputation at school! I think a few people think I am a student because I am so young, I had someone compliment me on how well my English was. To which my thought was I hope it's good it's my native language. At 22, I am definitely the youngest tutor at school, but I kind of like it that way. Most of the students are around my age, so it really allows me to identify with them. I still can't believe the adversity present right here in central Pennsylvania but hey, I love it. Just more relatives I can drop a line when I'm traveling the world for the rest of my life ;]
Since there are only two more weeks of class left the GED test will take place after those two weeks. Last week we worked on an intensive lesson on reading comprehension, so today we worked on improving our writing skills (the GED test will be mostly reading and writing tasks).
I passed back some previous writings that they had completed and we dissected these compositions in tenses. I explained the importance of sequence in writing so that readers can comprehend time that has lapsed in your story. Key words like first, now, and last transition ideas and establish paragraph development. We read examples of essays with and without transitions to exacerbate the concept. Then, they had a good portion of class time to add transitions to improve their writing, remove transitions that were used incorrectly, or rearrange sequences in their story to make more complete sense.
This crossed over into a mini lesson about test taking, and how to spot words like this when skimming a composition and answering comprehensive questions about it, score! I personally find it funny whenever I give advice about test taking because it has never been my strong suit. But they are very thankful for the tips. I have one student that has taken the math portion of the GED four times and failed. He is not giving up, everything counts.
After the break we worked on a fun activity using a timeline. The students had to figure out a puzzle using contextual clues about time and place events in chronological order. I think they found it very reinforcing. Afterwards each student read their edited essay to a peer. The test was that if another student could successfully delineate the order of the story without further explanation, than there were a sufficient amount of transitions present. Whenever a peer was confused in the story, the writer knew exactly where they needed a transition. By being both the reader, writer, and listener, they could start to spot needed transitions before they were told there was anything missing.
I take lessons like these extremely seriously, especially because of the teaching standards required by the government. These students are not just trying to have everyday conversation in America, they need to pass national exams. It is up to me to get them there. Good things certainly come in due time.
Since there are only two more weeks of class left the GED test will take place after those two weeks. Last week we worked on an intensive lesson on reading comprehension, so today we worked on improving our writing skills (the GED test will be mostly reading and writing tasks).
I passed back some previous writings that they had completed and we dissected these compositions in tenses. I explained the importance of sequence in writing so that readers can comprehend time that has lapsed in your story. Key words like first, now, and last transition ideas and establish paragraph development. We read examples of essays with and without transitions to exacerbate the concept. Then, they had a good portion of class time to add transitions to improve their writing, remove transitions that were used incorrectly, or rearrange sequences in their story to make more complete sense.
This crossed over into a mini lesson about test taking, and how to spot words like this when skimming a composition and answering comprehensive questions about it, score! I personally find it funny whenever I give advice about test taking because it has never been my strong suit. But they are very thankful for the tips. I have one student that has taken the math portion of the GED four times and failed. He is not giving up, everything counts.
After the break we worked on a fun activity using a timeline. The students had to figure out a puzzle using contextual clues about time and place events in chronological order. I think they found it very reinforcing. Afterwards each student read their edited essay to a peer. The test was that if another student could successfully delineate the order of the story without further explanation, than there were a sufficient amount of transitions present. Whenever a peer was confused in the story, the writer knew exactly where they needed a transition. By being both the reader, writer, and listener, they could start to spot needed transitions before they were told there was anything missing.
I take lessons like these extremely seriously, especially because of the teaching standards required by the government. These students are not just trying to have everyday conversation in America, they need to pass national exams. It is up to me to get them there. Good things certainly come in due time.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Walk before you run
This morning was I was reminded of the shortcomings of any volunteering experience: unreliability. Volunteer programs will never receive the same type of priority as ones that are financially backed, it's just true. Unfortunately for the community, this means that sometimes volunteers adopt a less than fervent attitude towards what they are doing. In other words, it's easy to back out of.
Long story short we were short a teacher this morning, so I after some quick brainstorming my supervisor came up to me and asked, "Are you ready to take on an entire class .. alone?"
"Of course."
And so there I was walking into the Beginner Level English as a Second Language Class for the first time. Only a handful of students, coming from Puerto Rico, Israel, and different parts of Africa, who could barely tell me their own name in English. After struggling for about 20 minutes to even communicate with these students, let alone find out 'what they learned last class' - I remembered something from my freshman year of college.
Entering one of the most prestigious graphic design programs in the country, I was seriously psyched to get my hands on the latest graphic art software. But our professors - which were artistic giants in the world of graphic design - insisted that we only produce images manually ... without using vector software ... FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
For an entire year I doodled, painted, sketched and sculpted anything and everything I saw. When my class had finally made it to our second term I asked my prof why he was so persistant about manual craft, and he responded, "because you must learn to walk, before you can run." It seemed so elementary at the time, but standing before those thoroughly confused faces I knew I had to get back to basics.
Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Kim. I am from Harrisburg. My favorite food is pickles.
And we went around the room until I knew everyone's name, everyone's hometown, and everyone's favorite food, song, pet, color, or film. (One of them is actually from Casablanca!) This took an entire hour.
During their 15 minute break, I skimmed through several books in the back of the classroom, still not knowing what they had covered until now or what their abilities were. I found pictures. Ah, pictures. What a blessing. We took the rest of the class period to look at the picture, identify what was in the picture, and describe the picture with adjectives such as colors or textures. I really let loose and got animated with them, which I was afraid to do at first. I always feel like I am slightly offending someone when I stoop to the level of a birthday party clown in order to get them to try, but I just have to remember the times when I sat there with my French tutor on a Saturday morning during summer session babbling like an idiot. We have both been there and it is astronomically difficult. Easing the tension with a little bit of comic relief makes for an encouraging atmosphere.
By the end of class all of them were begging me to be their teacher.
I have no idea if I actually taught them any vocabulary or English skills, but I definitely showed them that they can afford to make mistakes and they should not be afraid to take that chance. Ultimately, nobody can run before they can walk.
Long story short we were short a teacher this morning, so I after some quick brainstorming my supervisor came up to me and asked, "Are you ready to take on an entire class .. alone?"
"Of course."
And so there I was walking into the Beginner Level English as a Second Language Class for the first time. Only a handful of students, coming from Puerto Rico, Israel, and different parts of Africa, who could barely tell me their own name in English. After struggling for about 20 minutes to even communicate with these students, let alone find out 'what they learned last class' - I remembered something from my freshman year of college.
Entering one of the most prestigious graphic design programs in the country, I was seriously psyched to get my hands on the latest graphic art software. But our professors - which were artistic giants in the world of graphic design - insisted that we only produce images manually ... without using vector software ... FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
For an entire year I doodled, painted, sketched and sculpted anything and everything I saw. When my class had finally made it to our second term I asked my prof why he was so persistant about manual craft, and he responded, "because you must learn to walk, before you can run." It seemed so elementary at the time, but standing before those thoroughly confused faces I knew I had to get back to basics.
Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Kim. I am from Harrisburg. My favorite food is pickles.
And we went around the room until I knew everyone's name, everyone's hometown, and everyone's favorite food, song, pet, color, or film. (One of them is actually from Casablanca!) This took an entire hour.
During their 15 minute break, I skimmed through several books in the back of the classroom, still not knowing what they had covered until now or what their abilities were. I found pictures. Ah, pictures. What a blessing. We took the rest of the class period to look at the picture, identify what was in the picture, and describe the picture with adjectives such as colors or textures. I really let loose and got animated with them, which I was afraid to do at first. I always feel like I am slightly offending someone when I stoop to the level of a birthday party clown in order to get them to try, but I just have to remember the times when I sat there with my French tutor on a Saturday morning during summer session babbling like an idiot. We have both been there and it is astronomically difficult. Easing the tension with a little bit of comic relief makes for an encouraging atmosphere.
By the end of class all of them were begging me to be their teacher.
I have no idea if I actually taught them any vocabulary or English skills, but I definitely showed them that they can afford to make mistakes and they should not be afraid to take that chance. Ultimately, nobody can run before they can walk.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Linguistics, Anyone?
If there was one class in college that I should have failed, it would probably be Advanced French Linguistics. Thankfully I did not, but that is not to say it was any cakewalk. Not even regarding the fact of how complex the study of linguistics is, imagine taking it in a foreign language. Playing devil's advocate here, having a background in linguistics can really help someone to understand nuances and idioms in a foreign language. Meaning, it's important, no matter how ridiculous it is.
Since yesterday's lesson was pretty laid back, and I seemed to have found my tutoring nitch, I decided to hit the hard stuff. Plus, my lessons generally get more intense as the week progresses. Happy Wednesday class. Aren't you glad you came?
9:00 am: pop quiz time. I copied a quiz that I came across on strange expressions in English. I didn't expect anyone to ace the quiz I administered, in fact, I expected them to do just the opposite. That is because the expressions on this quiz were ones that have no sensical entymological history ... they just exist. I wasn't exactly trying to stump them, but I was trying to start the linguistics lesson off by making it clear that a lot of the English language has no rhyme or reason. Something that they hear constantly...one more time wouldn't hurt.
Some students surprised me with their conclusions of using context clues to figure out expression meanings. The amount of illogical expressions that we have adopted into common English is astronomical. Did you know that the definition of something being "the bomb" made its way into Webster's? As in, you da bomb. Well, those are the expressions that my students knew. Older ones, like "up a creek" and "live and let live" proved more difficult.
After (what seemed like) some agonizing exercises we took our break half way through class. After the break we read a very advanced article entitled, "Hue and Cries". This article described the so-called discovery of the earliest version of the photograph by Levi Hill, accusing Daguerre, the original inventor, to be fraudulent. This is by far the most advanced piece of literature we have read in class, but I thought the challenge was appropriate for the type of lesson. Plus, stylistically there are more idioms and foreign expressions in more sophisticated writings, so I had to dig deep if I wanted to show them real examples of this stuff. Even the title itself was used as a homonym for another meaning in the article - fancy!
Several reading comprehensive activities later, we moved on to a preview of next week's lesson for a mental break. We looked at comic strips illustrating real life problems such as what to do when you don't understand your doctor, or how to choose healthy foods over processed foods at the grocery store.
Needless to say the students were grateful to look at some pictures:]
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Home Field Advantage
Every week the school that I tutor at receives a current events newsletter entitled, "News For You". These are a godsend, because the articles are written in different English reading levels (yay!) and they come with a teaching guide so I know which ones are more difficult than others, without reading them first. Discussion is the most engaging form of teaching, so this newsletter gives us current issues and topics to talk about.
Today was especially interesting for me, because we discussed a new advertising campaign for cigarettes in Australia. As a graphic designer, I am constantly analyzing advertisements, packaging, graphics, and basically anything in print. I was really passionate about this topic, and my enthusiasm always carries throughout the classroom. If one thing is for certain, it takes a very secure and outgoing individual to teach ESL. You need to be able to laugh at yourself, you need to be able to let things go and have patience. I can thank my four years of sitting for underpriviledged children after school for that - but seriously, that experience came in handy. I'm not calling these motivated adult learners middle school children, I'm just saying there is a barrier between us and it is up to me to break it.
So thank my lucky stars for pictures. The reason why I love art so much? Because first and foremost I love people, and art is a universal language. Anyone can have an opinion about it, and everyone can be right. This particular article had photographs with it detailing the new graphic cigarette packaging. It showed a pair of cancerous lungs where the brand name would normally appear, and the phrase, "smoking causes lung cancer" in large print font. The brand and company information was printed very small on the bottom of the package.
My students are a sharp bunch; they unanimously agreed that this new packaging would be effective in reducing the tobacco industry. Along with teaching English, we discuss many important things in class that are helpful for adjusting to American culture, and just for maintaining a healthy life in general. I'm so proud that they all take care of themselves so well!
On days that we read and discuss the newsletter, there are reading comprehension worksheets that go along with the articles. After they work on these, I tell them to circle any vocabulary words that they do not know and I write them on the board. I circle ones that I believe to be difficult as well, and then add them to the list. This way we can keep a running vocabulary until the end of class. I make an effort to use these words when speaking, and I encourage the students to do the same. One of my French professors in college did this everyday in class, and just by using a few new words in my speech each day, I drastically improved my vocabulary. Considering that most of the documents that these students are having trouble understanding and responding to are legal, medical, or federal, gaining a more technical vocabulary is key. For that sake, the words in the newsletter are perfect.
I especially enjoyed teaching today because I got to talk about what I do at my job, and why I love it so much. It was probably the first day I felt totally at ease and comfortable while teaching. A little boost from my field of graphic design sparked a confidence that I hope is here to stay.
Monday, June 7, 2010
These are a few of my Favorite Things
I like to kill two birds with one stone as often as I possibly can. Naturally, my ESL experience is no exception. I thought about topics that the students could write a composition on for about an hour last night. What do you do when you are upset? Do you think it is ok to grow vegetables with chemicals? Describe someone that inspires you. What is so disastrous about the oil spill in the Gulf?
The intermediate class that I tutor is diverse in levels of English capability. I needed to give them something that they could easily understand, but still respond in a sophisticated writing style. For most of these students, the GED test awaits at the end of this course. And then it dawned on me, "my favorite...". By giving them the liberty to choose whichever favorite thing they wanted to write about, season, sport, food, etc., I could find out more about them personally (one of my goals) while they had fun telling me about their favorite thing.
About half of the class needed some comprehensive one on one time with me before starting the new assignment. The other half was advised to write until the break halfway between class, afterwards we would complete a revising exercise together. After most of the class had something to edit, we talked about specifics: details. Details are the body of every paragraph, which make up the body of every composition. Needless to say they are paramount for a good written work. As a class we discussed different types of details, including sensory and example, and then students went back and categorized every type of detail they had used in their writing.
Lessons like these are super effective for classes with different level learners, because everyone can work at their own pace, and you can always add to a composition. I had one student that was still struggling with comprehending the subject of the main idea from last week, and another handing in a 4 page essay. Both got an A for effort.
One of the books I picked up on ESL tutoring explains that the most incriminating thing to do when teaching ESL is to tell the student they did something incorrectly. I took this to heart, because I want to be encouraging and motivating, not stifling. So when the students handed in their compositions at the end of class, I was very technical in my grading. I only corrected blatant spelling and grammatical mistakes. And I only wrote encouraging comments. Instead of rephrasing every single English idiom they misunderstood, or informing them that something "didn't make sense" in English, I re-typed their compositions the way that I would write them. Then, when they get them back they are able to compare what they wrote to what they meant to write, and decide for themselves what goes in between. Another rule of thumb from the tutoring book: never put words in their mouths. Regurgitating what the teacher says and does is hardly learning, but steering clear of this is so much easier said than done. I think the way I chose to grade their papers was a start.
Seeing them understand their mistakes and improve, now that is one of my favorite things.
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