Highlights of CATESOL

This year’s CATESOL conference held at the SDOE was in my estimation one of the best I have attended. From the keynote speaker and discussion groups, lunch time raps and of course the breakout sessions there was something for everyone. Generally I am not fond of keynote speakers. In the past I have found them to speak on general or esoteric topics which while appealed to my intellectual self, offered me nothing to take into my classroom. To my delight, our keynote speaker, Marian Thacher gave us a well spent hour on using the internet as a tool and how to integrate lessons, portfolios and bookmarks “in the cloud.” She also talked about using social networking sites. Her materials were very informative and included many lists of websites to surf and gather materials. She asked an interesting question, how many of us store our bookmarks for websites exclusively on our home computer. I believe everyone in the room agreed that is exactly what we did. She then told us that by joining Delicious.com we could store our bookmarks and have access to them on any computer. This would be very handy if you teach at more than one campus and would like to show your students that one perfect website you have marked at home.
The first session I attended was given by Suzanne Woodward from MiraCosta college. She showed us how to teach verb tenses with games and activities. Most of the activities she explained came from her book, Fun with Grammar, and I of course immediately ordered a copy for my classroom. One of her activities is played like musical chairs and practices the simple past. The teacher stands in the middle with students occupying chairs around her. She makes a factual statement about something she did in the past, “ I ate breakfast this morning,” If anyone didn’t, they must say, “I didn’t,” and give up their chair. The teacher then takes their chair and they are in the middle. Students learn to be crafty, girls saying, “I washed my new dress yesterday.” Of course, the young men can’t very well stay seated in agreement, so must say “I didn’t,” and give up their chairs. It seems a very lively game and one that would help past tense practice. The other idea she gave us that looked like a lot of fun was the Wanted Poster. This could be past or present perfect exercise. It is very easy to find online programs that will convert your photos into wanted posters. Students in groups must name their gang, then come up with several misdeeds they are guilty of. Although the teacher had some misgivings about putting students in roles of thieves and criminals, it seems her students really enjoyed the activity and got into the spirit of the crime. People feeling squeamish about this part of it could use lessor “crimes” like parking in the teacher parking, or thowing away a perfectly good sheet of paper. The posters can then be presented perhaps in a powerpoint for the whole class perusal and explanations by each “gang.” Suzanne then gave us a great list of songs that use different tenses. They would be good for cloze activities as well as having the class sing along for oral practice. There were so many good ideas, I’ll save the rest to share for next week.

The Forever Student

As we progress through our careers guiding the lives of those entrusted to our knowledge and expertise, it seems to me that there is an inherent obligation for teachers to also remain a forever student. Aside from the obvious research methods and ever changing legislation we must remain current on, there is an intrinsic reward in keeping the learning fires burning. If my lesson plans aren’t fresh, I am not fresh in presenting them. When I taught middle school I sometimes repeated the same lesson as many as five times in one day. As the day progressed I learned what worked well and what adjustments might make it better. By the end of the day the lesson I was teaching barely resembled the lesson I taught first period. In the teaching profession we have a vast treasure trove of materials at our fingertips if we wish to sample them. There are journals, professional development opportunities, conferences and the ubiquitous internet to name a few. Teaching is an exhausting profession, but I learned from Harry Wong, The First Days of School, that with a few procedures in place it ceases to be the sole domain of the teacher, and the students assume much of the day to day minutiae that can consume many instructional minutes. For an excellent example of a teacher handing over responsibilities and students thriving, look at Tim Bedley’s video at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-160387722995531338#
Remembering myself as a new teacher, I couldn’t wait to put my lessons into action in my classroom. The sparkle of enthusiasm a teacher brings to a class is very contagious. If you love a subject or an activity, it is almost guaranteed that your students will love it too. Some years ago I began teaching Tom Sawyer to my 7th graders. I personally adore this book. I knew that if we just tried to plow through it from page one, my students would quickly get bogged down by the vocabulary and tune out quickly. How many of us could define adamantine or ambuscade ? These were common words in the 19 century, but have fallen into disuse in our modern times. They perfectly described an unbending Aunt Polly lying in wait for an unsuspecting Tom. Mark Twain had originally written this novel as a play, and that is exactly how I worked with my students to read it and act out the parts. They were enthusiastic because I was, and they could see the humor and timeless values Twain portrayed so well. To remain enthusiastic we can’t be content to rest on our laurels with lessons we have done so many times we can practically sleep walk through them. Students all know if a teacher is only half there and it greatly compromises their willingness to invest themselves and their time if they suspect this to be the case in their class. As I write this I am greatly looking forward to an upcoming TESOL conference. It is on a Saturday, so I will lose a day of my precious weekend, but I know I will gain new ideas and insights that I will use for years to come. I’ve been attending conferences for the past twenty years and always come away with something new I can perhaps change a little, or use part of, or in many cases take into my classroom exactly as presented. This has impacted my teaching in that I am always changing and trying to improve. I remain curious as to why some lessons are so successful and some less so. I am always open to something that might help my students understand a concept that has been elusive and frustrating. I love to hear how other teachers have tackled a problem that I haven’t been able to solve. So bring on the teachers, this student is ready to learn!

All About Me

One of my favorite activities to engage students in lively conversations with each other is very easy and calls for almost no preparation. Students are placed in groups of four and asked to each take out one clean sheet of paper and a pencil. They now fold their paper twice so they have four equal divisions of space or boxes to work with. For ease in explanation, I also have them number each square. Top left number one, top right number two, bottom left three and bottom right four. I explain that they will be given some easy (and fun) instructions on what to put into each box. They don’t have to worry about spelling because they are not permitted to write anything. All the instructions they will be given will be for them to draw. It can be a concrete image, a symbol, or an idea. I always find it necessary to stress that this isn’t about evaluating art, but is very much about communication. If you want to draw a person, we won’t expect some competition for the Mona Lisa. A stick figure or a lollypop outline is all we will need for the activity. In the upper left corner they are instructed to depict the people in their family. Stick figures, round balls, squiggles are all just fine as long as they mean something to the artist. Do allow a few minutes for this as some students are genuinely perplexed at being asked to draw and need time to get in the right mood. Next in the upper right block students should draw a hobby or sport they especially enjoy. They might draw a tennis racket, a horse, or a book. Whatever they depict should be something they truly like to do in their spare time. The lower left block is for something students have done that they are really proud of. I usually have to explain pride. I ask them to think of something that they have accomplished that makes them happy and warm inside like an excellent play in a ballgame or passing a very difficult course. It might be sitting with a sick relative or giving something up that you really wanted. Now in the lower right block students can put down symbols for their hopes and dreams. Do they want to get married and have children? Do they dream of a new car, an advanced degree? Have them put their dreams symbolically into the last box. If there is time I now direct them to the middle of the paper and have them draw a picture of the one place in the world they would like to visit. Now that they each have a finished sketch of things that are meaningful to them they should exchange papers with the person next to them. They now tell their partner the story of his life from the pictures. There will be many interruptions and corrections which is the purpose of this exercise. By giving students things to talk about that are very personal and in which they are highly invested, they become very motivated and open to share them with others. While these topics are of a personal nature, they are not intrusive and the student is always in the position to choose how much he or she wishes to share. When the noise level indicates that most of the productive interaction has taken place, I ask for a few students to share some interesting insights they learned about their neighbors. This activity promotes conversation, builds community and strengthens student willingness to take risks. If you wish to have a copy of this activity on a step by step power point, please email me.

Put a Word on Your Keychain

Without a doubt the most important thing an L2 can do to build on his language skills is to enlarge his vocabulary. One neat way of keeping track of new words and watching progress, is to keep index cards. Many years ago I started assigning my younger students the task of keeping each new vocabulary word on a separate card. The new word would be printed on the front of the card. The back of the card would be divided into four parts. In the upper left students would write a pronunciation key with accent marks and any notes they might want to make. In the upper right I asked them to make a simple sketch of what the word meant or symbolized to them. In the lower left would be two synonyms and two antonyms. Finally in the lower right would be a sentence in which the meaning of the target word could easily be understood from context. Holes were punched in the upper left hand side of the cards and then kept on a key chain or metal circle clamp. As we studied new words, they would be added to the stack and students would become very proud of their visible progress. Interestingly when I mentioned this to one of my evening ESL classes, the students eagerly said that they too wanted to keep track of their words on cards. We now use these as flashcards for test review and for a few simple games. One quick and easy game we play is one minute password and it is similar to the standard password game played on TV and in many American homes. Students sit in groups of four. They may each choose five cards from their own collection, but must not tell their group mates which cards they have chosen. There should be about 20 cards in the playing stack. All the cards are shuffled and put into a pile face down in front of the student who will begin. The teacher then signals all groups to start. The “it” person in each group now takes the top card and turns it over, carefully not allowing others in the group to see. It is a good idea to have a blank card to put behind the cards as they are drawn, as students have been instructed to put much writing on the back. The person holding the card must now try to get his teammates to say the word on the card. He may not say the word himself, nor any part of it. He must think of clues in the way of synonyms, antonyms, sentences in context etc. (Much body language seems to also take place.) If his teammates do guess correctly, the card is placed face up on the table and equals one point for the group. If his teammates cannot guess after a reasonable length of time, the card goes back to the bottom of the deck. The player giving clues has one minute to elicit responses. He may give clues to as many cards as he can in one minute. When the teacher calls time, the student on the left of the last one who was it, now has one minute to get fellow students to guess the next vocabulary word. Play should go on at least until all players have had a turn. The winning team will have accrued the most points. I have found this to be a high energy fast paced way to raise the overall level of student involvement. Another plus is that the students love it. So get your students to put some vocabulary on their keychains!

The Many Faces of the Learner

On one end of the spectrum there may be one or two students in a class who to the teacher's delight have an energy and charisma that sweeps the class along in its wake. These students add to the positive chemistry of the learning environment and encourage the shyer student to risk taking a more active role. When these students are absent, a tangible change takes place in the class almost as if someone had punctured a balloon. But when they are present they invite light hearted joking, competition for answering questions, and provide added help for a struggling classmate. The other side of the coin, of course, is that this chatty student may monopolize all the Q and A time, or rush in with answers before his fellows have a chance to formulate the right word order for the answer they may readily know. A remedy that can be useful is the "five elephant" rule. I use this for many situations from discipline to ensuring I allow enough wait time for students to think of an answer. It's quite simple. If you silently think, "one elephant, two elephants, three elephants, four elephants, five elephants," you have effectively waited for five seconds. By teaching an overly exuberant student to count five or seven or ten elephants, you give other students a more level playing field. They also feel less in competition with the stronger student. This should be explained to the elephant student so they also feel appreciated and needed. It is wise to remember that the school experiences we offer this population might be their first beyond a few years of elementary school. The opportunities for them to be recognized and receive kudos may only exist within the four walls of our ESL classrooms.
The opposite side of the spectrum is the painfully shy student who looks as though he or she is getting ready to bolt at any given second. They may shrink into the woodwork if they think they might be called upon. The teacher can be very comforting and nurturing, but if the student walks in the door with a lot of excess baggage, our greatest allies are going to be kindness and time. I like to build an atmosphere of trust and some minor risk taking for the first few weeks of classes. I often tell my students that the best audience they will ever have in their lives is surrounding them at that very moment. When I ask questions, I use a failsafe method of stress relief I learned from a presenter some years ago. In the TV show, "Who wants to be a Millionaire," contestants are asked questions and given options if they don't know the answers. They may phone a friend, survey the audience, or have two of the possible answers removed. The first two work very well in a classroom. If a student can't answer, he can ask a classmate. If that isn't satisfactory, we can poll the rest of the class. It becomes a more of a game and the spotlight isn't focused brightly on an uncomfortable deer in the headlights student.
The most worrisome group I find in my classes are those I call the "invisible students." I can easily learn the names of the class clowns and the shrinking violets by the end of the first week. They stand out and have obvious needs. But what about the students who turn in the work, cooperate nicely in groups, then fade into the background out of sight and out of mind? It is very easy to allow them to continue on, passing quizzes, contributing to class, and not giving the teacher grief. But I wonder if they are receiving equal access to English learning. We tend to call on the people we are familiar with and the names we know. The invisible students are usually the last ones I commit to memory. A small solution has been to keep an index card printed with each students name. As I circulate around the room, I can call students equally as I go through the pack. I have learned from experience to shuffle the cards often as student anticipate the location of their name and pay attention accordinly. Another way of providing equal access to everyone is to hand out our trusty index cards (do invest in shares of this company) with the names of fruit or animals on matching pairs. As students enter, I hand out the cards and they must find their matching partner. Too often when students choose their own partners, they keep picking the same ones. By mixing the pot we equalize learning opportunities and afford a richer conversational experience for every student.

Can We Talk?
Research (not to mention common sense) tells us that to become proficient in a second language we need to practice speaking it. Often times in our ESL classrooms the teacher does a command teaching performance of explanations, modeling, assigning, anecdotes, and the list goes on. Unfortunately our captive audiences are only with us for a precious few instructional minutes each class session. Many times I feel like the class time has flown by and wonder how it could already be time to leave. When this happens, it gives me pause to think about how much teacher talk versus student talk took place. Time flew because I was having a good time, but were my students benefiting from our minutes as much as they could have been.
In the past few years I have revised both my teaching philosophy and the manner of transmitting my lessons to students. When I taught lower grade students I enforced strict rules of silence when tests were given. Lest someone be guilty of the major felony of CHEATING, I patrolled the aisles for any signs of miscreants. Today in my level three ESL class, we often share tests. Partners sit together and collaborate on answers. The answers may be correct or not but this is not a major concern. The important outcome is that they have actively engaged in speaking English, negotiated problems, and actually worked up a sweat making themselves understood in an authentic situation. Answers will be checked and corrected later. I tried this out as something of a lark in our summer session, and it was so successful that I now give many tests in this manner. Another change I’ve made is how I offer dictation practice. The research is somewhat mixed on the efficacy of even doing dictation with ESL students. In prior years I would do a dictation and have students share answers with each other, then put them up on the board for everyone to see and help correct if needed. At a TESOL conference a few years ago, a presenter suggested students dictate to each other, sitting face to face with file folders open and separating their work. This has been very successful and popular with the students. They still put the finished product on the board, but they have also spent much more time talking about it.
When giving instruction, or explaining a fine point of grammar I used to ask for questions, or carefully monitor guided practice for concerns. It occurred to me many years ago that there are levels of understanding and filters which construct insurmountable barriers between students and teachers. I was taking an advanced statistics class once and try as I might the figures wouldn’t line up, and the teacher’s explanations didn’t make sense no matter how many times he patiently explained. Luckily I had two good friends in the class who were also suffering. We decided that we could go on asking him the same questions and he would obligingly give us the same unintelligible answers. We tackled the problem together by meeting before class, each explaining the piece we understood. Voila! Oddly enough we each had enough of the whole to make sense and lead us to, if not complete mastery, at least a passing mark in the class. With this thought in mind, I began having students teach each other lessons I have just explained. I listen carefully for errors. I invite them to give examples on the board, and class discussions sometimes become very lively. Where in the past I was the sole dispenser of knowledge, students now are invited to share in information gathering and disseminating. They are taking responsibility for their own learning, and on a metacognitive level they can see what they need in ways I am not privy to.
I am always looking for ways to involve students more in the conversation through games, activities, discussions and learning situations. In answer to Joan River’s signature comedy routine, “Can we talk?” My students would respond with a resounding, “Yes we can!”

The Lowly Index Card

On the first day of a new semester I used to attach tape to each desk with an identifying letter and number, a-1, a-2, b-1, b-2 and so on. I didn’t scatter these randomly, but put them in a logical order to be located quickly. I waited at the door as students arrived and handed each one an index card with a seat number printed in the upper right hand corner. I greeted each student by saying, “Welcome to the first day of school, here is your reserved seat. Match this number with the desk bearing the same number.” Students were kept busy finding their “reserved” seats while I greeted their classmates at the door. This solved a couple of beginning term conundrums. The student didn’t have to worry about seeking a place to sit, and the teacher needn’t worry about troublesome couples upsetting the first day of class. I always shuffled the cards before handing them out so that people entering together would not be seated together. An added bonus is that I could arrange student placement exactly as I wanted without having a few shy students plastered against the back wall.
Once students were all seated, I had them fill out the information that would be useful to me in our class. This has changed over the years, but basically I asked for first and last names on the second line left side, their birthdate on the right side, and a nickname or “American” name at the top in the center. It has always been a helpful conversation starter to also have them skip a line and write down their interests and hobbies.
First day roll is very easy at this point. I could call out a seat number and have the student in that seat say their name. If it were difficult, I would repeat it until the student was satisfied I could say it correctly. Then I would make phonetic notes in my roll book so I never caused mispronouncing embarrassment or unwittingly saddled them with a silly new nickname their classmates would be certain to take note of.
Before the end of class I would collect all the cards and now had a readymade seating chart.
As the year progressed I used the cards to call on students equitably, as well as keep notes on speeches, homework, and contacts. To my surprise, my students were especially delighted when I called them by birthdate or personal interests instead of by name. It became a guessing game and added a lighthearted touch to our lessons. Incidentally I originally got the idea for index cards from a lecture by Harry Wong when I was a brand new teacher, circa 1987. His book, “The First Days of School” is a must for new teachers as well as old timers.
There is much more to be said and celebrated about the lowly index cards, but I will keep this entry dedicated to the first day. With ESL students my trusty cards are still a mainstay of my first day and become quite dog-eared by semester’s end. I now use a separate card with all students’ names to keep roll. I appreciate not lugging my roll book wherever I might be in a classroom. All the information I need is compact, portable and easily accessible. You might say, it’s all written in the cards.

The First Day of School

As a new teacher many years ago, I found the day before the first day school began to be one of nervous energy and a sleepless night. The classroom was decorated, class lists were at the ready, first day warm-ups and ice breakers all set up and conveniently located, I am ready. Bright and way too early the next morning twelve year old seventh graders file in on what will become the quietest day of the school year. We size each other up. The fellow slouching in the second to the last seat will be trouble, best learn his name quickly. The young lady smiling sweetly in the front row, and very eager to please. Aha, an ally, another name to remember. And so it goes. Teachers and students doing the beginning of the semester dance jockeying for power, acceptance, and ultimately in the teacher's case, control. Studies have shown that school children generally have two concerns in regard to their new teachers: will he/she like me, and how much homework will I have to do. This could ostensibly be generalized to the ESL classroom. In many ways students entering an ESL classroom bring with them the same fears that they harbored in their early school years. "Will I be able to do the work?" "Will the teacher embarrass me?" I've found that the more invested I am in my lesson plans and curriculum, the more difficult it becomes to make those all-important connections with my students. As teachers we do a delicate balancing act with a finite number of instructional minutes and the sometimes fragile egos of a diverse collection of English learners. I have come to the conclusion that the investment of these initial minutes in goodwill will pay great dividends down the line both in student attrition and overall success. Instead of doing the impersonal roll-call at the beginning of the first night of class, we will play a game. We will go over the syllabus, but only after I tell a little about myself. In the initial sizing up period, I hope students decide that this is a useful and safe place to learn English. It doesn't take long to make this choice. The experts tell us that in a job interview results are probably decided in the first two seconds. And it takes less time than that to remember to smile.

Focus on Homework

Several years ago one of my seventh grade boys waited after class and mournfully stated, “Mrs. Clarke, I can’t do all of your homework. It’s too much, I work hours and hours and it never gets finished.” I was somewhat taken aback, as I thought I was only assigning 30 or 40 minutes a night. After I had ascertained that he had a set time and place to do his assignments, I then gave him this instruction. “When you go home today, I want you to borrow your mom’s kitchen timer. As soon as you are ready to begin tonight’s homework, set the timer for 35 minutes. Set to work immediately and when it rings, you are done. Close your books. Now talk to friends on the phone, play video games, listen to music, or better still go outside and play. We will talk again tomorrow and see what adjustments need to be made to the homework.”
The next day I was most interested in seeing how my little experiment had turned out. My student came up to greet me at the beginning of the period and I enquired how much work he was able to complete in his 35 minutes. “All of it!” He fairly bubbled. “I finished it all before the timer even went off.”
There was no magic at work here. My little fellow had just never mastered the concept of time management. Many children are sent to their rooms to do homework in isolation. The implicit message being that they work until completion. It is rare parent who imposes a time limit on when they will no longer be banished. It is hardly a wonder that they seek solace in kid friendly amusements. Note, I did not put any stipulations on my student’s homework time distractors. The caveat that he well understood though, was that things such as phones, video games etc. would all be available after the timer rang—thus unavailable while it was in progress. Since his study time was cleared of the usual clutter of outside influences, his focus was on my English assignment and the slight pressure of the ticking of mom’s kitchen timer.
While this was successful with a middle school student, I think it can have larger implications for our adult student populations as well. Teachers often pleadingly exhort students to practice English outside of class. Research (and common sense) tells us that this sort of homework gives extraordinary growth in language learning. The majority of students want to practice, but lack of opportunity, shyness, time constraints, all conspire to let it fall, all too often, by the wayside. My conjecture is that if we gave them a “kitchen timer” type crutch rather than the open ended admonition to go out and practice, we would see improved results. While listening to the radio or TV students could translate or answer in English for a set length of time, perhaps 15 minutes to start. While driving home, sing along with a favorite song, but sing the lyrics in English. For reluctant readers, we might suggest they choose a book written in English and open it randomly and read a paragraph aloud, only one.
The key is that students see an end and not just a lengthy study session out of their comfort zone and out of their control. Most of us will tackle a disagreeable job with better attitude if the end is in sight. If we can show our students the end, they will have a much less difficult time beginning.