In today's political atmosphere, we are very familiar with "Joe the Plumber" and his opportunities for financial independence. My reality, however, is concerned with Jessi, the student, who cannot speak English very well and his opportunities to learn. The student who just last week was pushed to tears because he could not do anything besides stare hopelessly at a test. Friday's reading session allowed him to fully participate in a discussion about literature. He worked independently without his teacher sitting next to him, which I'm sure he dislikes, and completed the assignment on his own.
My students participated in a modified literature circle discussion where everyone practiced the role of illustrator. They were asked to read the story independently, in either Spanish or English, and later illustrate a scene that would describe what they read. Jessi chose to illustrate an important scene from the story. When it was time for the group discussion, he described his illustration and gave a logical reason for choosing to illustrate that scene. A feeling of accomplishment was evident on his face. It was as if his demeanor was exclaiming, "Yes, I can do this, I did do this!"
Jessi's story is typical of other students' stories in my class. They have been able to participate in class discussions, work independently, and freely interact with peers in academically challenging materials. This bilingual unit has opened the door to access the curriculum for many of my students. On a personal level, it has left me with a feeling of accomplishment because at the end of my day, I know that my students walked away having learned something.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Bringing Jessi to Tears
On Friday, my class concluded taking the annual CELDT. Everything was going great until I noticed that many of my students had completed the first portion of the writing section within 10 minutes of starting. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing! Many of my students are at a point in their English language development that they could handle the the demands of the exam, however, they chose to breeze right through it.
After the rest of the class finally put their pencils down, only five minutes later, I reminded them, rather sternly, of the importance of the exam. They were reminded of how this exam would negatively affect their futures if they decided to blow it off like they were. My bantering didn't work, however, as they continued in the very same manner for the second section of the exam. At this point, I was bursting at the seams with disapproval and disgust. A cloud seemed to have blocked my vision for a few seconds as I ranted about how disappointed I was at my students, but when I finally came to, I noticed that only one student had been deeply moved by my anger-induced address. When I had fully snapped out of it, I noticed that "Jessi's" eyes were swelling up with tears for no apparent reason (yeah right, I would've been led to tears if I were in his place too).
Before I continue, it's important to shed some light on Jessi's story. He is a young 5th grade student who came to me at the end of last year as a 4th grader. He spoke not one word of English, and quickly became a "problem student" in and out of the classroom. He is constantly trying to be funny, and is incredibly adept at horseplay activities. In spite of all this, he is actually one of my favorite students! In this occasion, Jessi's test-taking behavior really upset me. Even though it was very natural for him to be the first to finish (on account that he couldn't understand the test and mark any answer) I became irate when he did what came naturally to him. I closed my proximity to him and demanded (in a whisper-shout) that he go back and check his work because he was just sitting there looking around the room. Immediately, he finally succumbed to the pressure and let the tears out. That scene haunted me the rest of the day.
Immediately following this scene, I removed his exam and relieved him from taking the rest of the writing exam. How could this boy perform what was being asked of him if he couldn't even read the prompt? How could he demonstrate his knowledge if he was specifically told he could not write in Spanish and had to produce writing in a language he could hardly understand? Later on that morning, at recess, I asked Jessi about what he experienced during that morning exchange, but he couldn't quite describe what he felt. He simply said that he felt better. I asked him if he had felt helpless because he couldn't do what was being asked of him and he answered, "yes." I swallowed my pride and asked him to forgive me, and he graciously did.
Later that day, during the time set aside for the bilingual unit, Jessi came to life answering questions and participating in class discussions. What made the difference, you ask? The difference was that he could answer in a language he knew well and in a language in which he could produce what was being asked of him. We discussed Sandra Cisneros' La Casa en Mango Street, and shared our hopes about the house of our dreams. Everyone had something to share, including Jessi, who was eager to share that his dream house would include "una cancha de futbol a soccer field, una casa de tres pisos a three story house y una piscina grande a large swimming pool."
I am not advocating that Bilingual education is for everyone, but I do believe that it is good for my students. Students who do not have access to enough mainstream language models, and who are new to the United States. They bring many skills and lack a few others academically speaking, but that can be evened out through a strong bilingual education program.
In closing, I'd like to say how much fun it's been to create a unit that didn't exist before. It has not been easy by any means, but the process has sparked a renewed joy of teaching for me. I look forward to completing the unit in a couple of weeks and see my students grow and trade those tears into a joy of learning.
After the rest of the class finally put their pencils down, only five minutes later, I reminded them, rather sternly, of the importance of the exam. They were reminded of how this exam would negatively affect their futures if they decided to blow it off like they were. My bantering didn't work, however, as they continued in the very same manner for the second section of the exam. At this point, I was bursting at the seams with disapproval and disgust. A cloud seemed to have blocked my vision for a few seconds as I ranted about how disappointed I was at my students, but when I finally came to, I noticed that only one student had been deeply moved by my anger-induced address. When I had fully snapped out of it, I noticed that "Jessi's" eyes were swelling up with tears for no apparent reason (yeah right, I would've been led to tears if I were in his place too).
Before I continue, it's important to shed some light on Jessi's story. He is a young 5th grade student who came to me at the end of last year as a 4th grader. He spoke not one word of English, and quickly became a "problem student" in and out of the classroom. He is constantly trying to be funny, and is incredibly adept at horseplay activities. In spite of all this, he is actually one of my favorite students! In this occasion, Jessi's test-taking behavior really upset me. Even though it was very natural for him to be the first to finish (on account that he couldn't understand the test and mark any answer) I became irate when he did what came naturally to him. I closed my proximity to him and demanded (in a whisper-shout) that he go back and check his work because he was just sitting there looking around the room. Immediately, he finally succumbed to the pressure and let the tears out. That scene haunted me the rest of the day.
Immediately following this scene, I removed his exam and relieved him from taking the rest of the writing exam. How could this boy perform what was being asked of him if he couldn't even read the prompt? How could he demonstrate his knowledge if he was specifically told he could not write in Spanish and had to produce writing in a language he could hardly understand? Later on that morning, at recess, I asked Jessi about what he experienced during that morning exchange, but he couldn't quite describe what he felt. He simply said that he felt better. I asked him if he had felt helpless because he couldn't do what was being asked of him and he answered, "yes." I swallowed my pride and asked him to forgive me, and he graciously did.
Later that day, during the time set aside for the bilingual unit, Jessi came to life answering questions and participating in class discussions. What made the difference, you ask? The difference was that he could answer in a language he knew well and in a language in which he could produce what was being asked of him. We discussed Sandra Cisneros' La Casa en Mango Street, and shared our hopes about the house of our dreams. Everyone had something to share, including Jessi, who was eager to share that his dream house would include "una cancha de futbol a soccer field, una casa de tres pisos a three story house y una piscina grande a large swimming pool."
I am not advocating that Bilingual education is for everyone, but I do believe that it is good for my students. Students who do not have access to enough mainstream language models, and who are new to the United States. They bring many skills and lack a few others academically speaking, but that can be evened out through a strong bilingual education program.
In closing, I'd like to say how much fun it's been to create a unit that didn't exist before. It has not been easy by any means, but the process has sparked a renewed joy of teaching for me. I look forward to completing the unit in a couple of weeks and see my students grow and trade those tears into a joy of learning.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Baby Steps
Sleeter (2005) suggests that we have a difficult time designing our own curriculum because we're so accustomed to following what is prescribed by the state through the adopted textbooks they provide. The majority of us, since day one on the job, have proceeded to follow the pacing calendars in order to cover as much as the curriculum as possible. I believe we do it because it is both easy (all we do is open the book, and follow the script), and because we've never really had the opportunity to sharpen our skills as developers of curriculum even though we have been trained to do so. Some may argue that our power to develop curriculum was stripped from us when NCLB became the law of the land. We must realize that although it does call for "standards based instruction," it does not call for teachers to become robotic in their teaching. Others still, may argue that there is no time for developing curriculum. However, I've found that although it may be time consuming to develop curriculum, it is well worth the effort because we will both teach with enthusiasm and students will learn through engaging lessons while the content standards are addressed.
Creating the curriculum for my culturally responsive unit has helped me understand the concept of enduring, worthwhile, and important understandings students should possess after every lesson or unit I teach. Enduring understandings are those that we want our students to remember long after the lessons have concluded, while important and worthwhile understandings help develop the enduring understandings in our lessons or units. Although worthwhile understandings are good things to know, they are not essential to developing the enduring understandings.
I've narrowed down the big idea for my unit to read, "Leaving behind your country, but not your language and heritage while learning English in the United States." To help support this idea I've developed the following enduring understandings: Being bilingual is a good thing; Spanish is a valuable language; Being an immigrant is not bad despite what the media may say; Others before you have overcome what you are living. Important understandings include: Comparing and Contrasting your experience to the author's experience; Use writing with correct mechanics and organization to share your own stories; Develop fluency in Spanish and English; Use and identify story elements appropriately; Consider your audience in writing. Worthwhile understandings include: Become familiar with Hispanic authors; The benefits of cognate usage.
In closing, I'd like to admit that creating this unit did not come naturally for me. In fact, I'd say that it was like trying to swim upstream through category 6 rapids! Okay, I think I may have taken it too far, but you get the picture. However, once I overcame the turbulence, I realized how powerful this activity is for my profession. Applying this planning strategy while using the adopted curriculum is also possible. Lessons that are there just to fill the textbook can be identified and excluded, while more essential lessons can be further studied or extended. This type of planning and teaching is good for all who are involved! I think I've finally reached a crossroads in my teaching career. Which road will I take? For now, I'll proceed to teach the unit I've developed and continually build upon that. Like they say, "It's a matter of baby steps, baby!"
Creating the curriculum for my culturally responsive unit has helped me understand the concept of enduring, worthwhile, and important understandings students should possess after every lesson or unit I teach. Enduring understandings are those that we want our students to remember long after the lessons have concluded, while important and worthwhile understandings help develop the enduring understandings in our lessons or units. Although worthwhile understandings are good things to know, they are not essential to developing the enduring understandings.
I've narrowed down the big idea for my unit to read, "Leaving behind your country, but not your language and heritage while learning English in the United States." To help support this idea I've developed the following enduring understandings: Being bilingual is a good thing; Spanish is a valuable language; Being an immigrant is not bad despite what the media may say; Others before you have overcome what you are living. Important understandings include: Comparing and Contrasting your experience to the author's experience; Use writing with correct mechanics and organization to share your own stories; Develop fluency in Spanish and English; Use and identify story elements appropriately; Consider your audience in writing. Worthwhile understandings include: Become familiar with Hispanic authors; The benefits of cognate usage.
In closing, I'd like to admit that creating this unit did not come naturally for me. In fact, I'd say that it was like trying to swim upstream through category 6 rapids! Okay, I think I may have taken it too far, but you get the picture. However, once I overcame the turbulence, I realized how powerful this activity is for my profession. Applying this planning strategy while using the adopted curriculum is also possible. Lessons that are there just to fill the textbook can be identified and excluded, while more essential lessons can be further studied or extended. This type of planning and teaching is good for all who are involved! I think I've finally reached a crossroads in my teaching career. Which road will I take? For now, I'll proceed to teach the unit I've developed and continually build upon that. Like they say, "It's a matter of baby steps, baby!"
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Just because it's Spanish
In preparing the literature review for this project, I finally came to understand why bilingual education (B.E.) programs were dismantled in California. The most compelling reason B.E. programs were removed from schools across our great nation was that it was considered un-American for U.S. students to learn in a language other than English. Even though Rossell (2002), one of B.E.'s biggest opponents, admits that B.E. programs are good for certain students, she and others like her cannot accept these programs simply because Spanish is the mode of instruction, and bi-literacy its goal.
Actually, I have sided with the opposition for the greater part of my teaching career too. In reality, I agree with the opposition in that perhaps B.E. was not made for everyone! They believe that "forcing" a child who speaks not a word in Spanish into a B.E. program is a big mistake. In this too, I agree. Students should never be forced into doing anything. I don't believe that all students were forced into B.E. programs in the past, but we were fed that story to stir the voting people's anger.
Eight years later, I now believe that B.E. programs can and should still be used to reach California's immigrant population. This year especially, I've seen the incredible pressure that my students have to endure during instruction. They simply do not understand me, or understand very little of what I am saying! To help my students build their in their language abilities, I've gathered bilingual short stories, poems, sayings and songs to help them identify with their Mexican heritage and build their English literacy skills.
Gary Soto's Spanish and his Baseball in April short stories, along with Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and other bilingual literature will definitely strike a chord with my students' experiences. For example, Cisneros' House on Mango Street,
"Now Uncle Nacho is coming in his car, and we have to hurry to get to Precious Blood Church quick because that's where the baptism party is, in the basement rented for today for dancing and tamales and everyone's kids running all over the place" (pg. 46-47)
this scene describes a scene that many students can relate to. Most Mondays, during our class meetings, students will describe a party they attended during the weekend that resembles a scene like the one described above. As I read the story, I could come up with a handful of memories with my family that included music, laughter and everyone's children running around. It reminded me of breakfast in honor of my sister's 47th birthday yesterday morning. It was only my mother, my brother Jose, Leonardo with his wife and two children (ages 2 & 3), Lourdes and her two children (teens), the birthday girl and her husband and 3-grown children and two grandchildren (ages 1 & 4), Juanita and her husband and daughter (pre-teen) and me. We took up three whole tables and made lots of noise during breakfast! My nephews were running around fighting over Spiderman toys, while the adults told stories about shopping trips and family members who were not there (the other half).
It was amazing that such a short story could remind me of so many family experiences. That is the kind of response I hope to get from my students next week when I begin the unit in my class. I expect that they will be inspired to remember their experiences and tell about them through their own words in writing projects that will take place. The greatest part of all this, however, will be that it will happen in two languages! Students will understand what is going on during the unit just because it will be in Spanish and English, of course!
Actually, I have sided with the opposition for the greater part of my teaching career too. In reality, I agree with the opposition in that perhaps B.E. was not made for everyone! They believe that "forcing" a child who speaks not a word in Spanish into a B.E. program is a big mistake. In this too, I agree. Students should never be forced into doing anything. I don't believe that all students were forced into B.E. programs in the past, but we were fed that story to stir the voting people's anger.
Eight years later, I now believe that B.E. programs can and should still be used to reach California's immigrant population. This year especially, I've seen the incredible pressure that my students have to endure during instruction. They simply do not understand me, or understand very little of what I am saying! To help my students build their in their language abilities, I've gathered bilingual short stories, poems, sayings and songs to help them identify with their Mexican heritage and build their English literacy skills.
Gary Soto's Spanish and his Baseball in April short stories, along with Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and other bilingual literature will definitely strike a chord with my students' experiences. For example, Cisneros' House on Mango Street,
"Now Uncle Nacho is coming in his car, and we have to hurry to get to Precious Blood Church quick because that's where the baptism party is, in the basement rented for today for dancing and tamales and everyone's kids running all over the place" (pg. 46-47)
this scene describes a scene that many students can relate to. Most Mondays, during our class meetings, students will describe a party they attended during the weekend that resembles a scene like the one described above. As I read the story, I could come up with a handful of memories with my family that included music, laughter and everyone's children running around. It reminded me of breakfast in honor of my sister's 47th birthday yesterday morning. It was only my mother, my brother Jose, Leonardo with his wife and two children (ages 2 & 3), Lourdes and her two children (teens), the birthday girl and her husband and 3-grown children and two grandchildren (ages 1 & 4), Juanita and her husband and daughter (pre-teen) and me. We took up three whole tables and made lots of noise during breakfast! My nephews were running around fighting over Spiderman toys, while the adults told stories about shopping trips and family members who were not there (the other half).
It was amazing that such a short story could remind me of so many family experiences. That is the kind of response I hope to get from my students next week when I begin the unit in my class. I expect that they will be inspired to remember their experiences and tell about them through their own words in writing projects that will take place. The greatest part of all this, however, will be that it will happen in two languages! Students will understand what is going on during the unit just because it will be in Spanish and English, of course!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Bamboozled by Good Intentions
It seems that the more I delve into the topic of Bilingual education and its role in helping language minority students acquire English, the more I feel that we were bamboozled into accepting the "gato por liebre"(they gave us a cat instead of a rabbit--the saying doesn't translate very well...sorry!) exchange. In 1998, being a young, misinformed voter, I bought into the let's teach them more English so they'll learn more English hype of Prop. 227. It seemed to make sense to me. We were duped into believing that by providing primary language instruction we were somehow undermining the opportunities the children of immigrants had to experience the American way of life. If they never learned English, they would never have a solid chance in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness guaranteed to all who dwell on American soil.
James Crawford (1997) explains that the public's focus was diverted from debating what is good for students, to debating about whether or not the public should be for, or against bilingual education. Over a million students in California alone fell destitute, destined to inherit a future replete with poverty in academics and life. Now, ten years later, one need only to read the daily headlines explaining that large numbers of language minority students are either dropping out of school, or are lining up in larger numbers than other groups to receive their bogus certificates of completion because they can't pass the CAHSEE. It is evident that bilingual education was not the universal educational panacea that legislators had gambled on, but it was a step in the right direction; it was and still can be good for students.
That being said, I'm announcing that my A.R. project's focus has changed somewhat. Now, it will revolve around a unit I will develop and implement using bilingual songs, poems, and literature and its effect on English acquisition. I feel this leans more towards the emphasis of this program by addressing the multicultural and social justice aspects we've studied over the last two semesters. Even though the change means a lot more work for me, I feel that it will lead to greater things for me and my students.
James Crawford (1997) explains that the public's focus was diverted from debating what is good for students, to debating about whether or not the public should be for, or against bilingual education. Over a million students in California alone fell destitute, destined to inherit a future replete with poverty in academics and life. Now, ten years later, one need only to read the daily headlines explaining that large numbers of language minority students are either dropping out of school, or are lining up in larger numbers than other groups to receive their bogus certificates of completion because they can't pass the CAHSEE. It is evident that bilingual education was not the universal educational panacea that legislators had gambled on, but it was a step in the right direction; it was and still can be good for students.
That being said, I'm announcing that my A.R. project's focus has changed somewhat. Now, it will revolve around a unit I will develop and implement using bilingual songs, poems, and literature and its effect on English acquisition. I feel this leans more towards the emphasis of this program by addressing the multicultural and social justice aspects we've studied over the last two semesters. Even though the change means a lot more work for me, I feel that it will lead to greater things for me and my students.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Welcome
Hello to all in Bloggerland and welcome to my site. This site is dedicated to describe my action research (A.R.) project for the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at CSU, Fresno. My A.R. project will investigate the effects of music, particularly singing, in developing reading fluency for English Learners (ELs). My subjects will be my fourth, fifth, and sixth grade student in Atwater, California.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)