Some pictures of the road leading to the school:
The buildings on the left are houses, but I don't know who lives in them.
If you enlarge this picture you can see the trench full of stagnant moldy water and trash running alongside the road.
Imagine piles of this everywhere.Also, too bad I couldn't capture it on camera, but it was SO WINDY. I think I can still feel the dust between my teeth (yes Mom, I know...mask. I forgot to bring it today).
So today:
I was so nervous about coming back, because last time was, you know...crazy. So I e-mailed my wonderful friend Leilani, who works for Jumpstart, and begged her for advice on how to teach little ones, and she sent me back a treasure trove of tips! So I took those tips and made a lesson plan that included singing, a SILENT game, storytime, and candy. And it was awesome. It totally worked! The kids were soooo cute and involved (also, I'm 100% sure that the regular teacher standing in the back of the classroom with a stick helped them stay in their seats). I also videotaped each of them saying their names, so I can start memorizing them (although I honestly can't understand 80% of them so...better luck next time haha), and I present three of those videos here for your viewing pleasure! The girl in green is my favorite haha. But don't worry, I won't show it!
My favorite part of the preschool class was when we read them The Giving Tree in Chinese. They were so absorbed in the story, and throughout the story we would ask them questions (per Leilani's suggestion, thanks lei!!) like, "Is this tree a nice tree? Why do you think so?" or "Is this boy a nice boy?" And their answers were so cute. And at the part when the boy cuts off the tree's branches to make a house, one of the kids was like, "Then the tree will be gone!" and another boy responded, "No, trees can grow their branches back!" To which Adam and I responded, "Well, let's see what happens in the story..."
When the bell rang at the end of class, we were still on the second-to-last page, and almost all of the students stayed quiet and still to find out what happened at the end!
Bad news:
1. My sixth graders don't know how to read. Some of them can recognize words, but even though they can "read" a sentence like "The fat cat sat on the mat," they don't know what it means. Basically, the way their teachers have been teaching them English is by making them memorize the sentences in the books, so they memorize how those words look and what those sentences mean, but they have no concept of phonics and no grasp of how the English language works. Aahhh. I'm torn between just trying to expose to them as much English/American culture as possible in these next few weeks, or attempting to lay a foundation of basic phonics for them.
2. This isn't that bad, but today we ran out of candy to give the preschoolers! I mean, we'd already given each of them one during class because they all played the game without talking, but we'd also told them they would get a prize at the end of class if they were good, and then at the end of class after they'd all lined up, we discovered we didn't have enough...haha but it's okay, we told them we'd give them two next time. Time to buy lots of snacks.
Random:
A window broke while I was teaching my sixth graders today! The window already had a hole in it from before, and the wind was blowing really hard outside today, and in the middle of class a bunch of class suddenly splintered off of the window and scattered onto the floor. Luckily, there wasn't too much, so we just swept it into a corner...
A concern I have about my sixth grade class is that even though there are only twelve students, it's hard to engage some of them. Some obviously have a better grasp of English than others, and there's one guy that I think has potential, but he mostly just checks out during class because he can't keep up with the others, and I think he's already given up. I don't know if he's like this for all of his classes...I hope not. Anyway, I want to help ALL of them learn as much as they can! No child left behind! ha ha. But really. Any suggestions?
I remember one of the most helpful in my first semester English was simple conversations like:
ReplyDeleteA: How are you this morning?
B: I'm fine, thank you. How are you?
C: I'm fine, thank you.
We would pair up and converse until we learn it by heart. Fully understandable with some initial explanation.
I teamed up with a student who suffered from some level of down syndrome, and could not catch up on any coursework. However, he loved English, and could converse very well. He got an A at the end of the semester; but later transferred to a special school.
Make up simple conversations like that, around some fruits, sports, places, roles, etc. They should know what candy is by now, right?
Teach them phonics! Since this is something new for everyone, it becomes a good opportunity to light up "hope" especially in those who have the potential but feel so lost, behind, and have given up the hope of learning. Phonics is the fun way to learn English. With that foundation, your students will find that they can actually "read" on their own. It's a tremendous encouragement for everyone. I remember that both you and Liz had fun trying to "sound out" words on your own. Hopefully, their regular teachers can build on this foundation when they observe the positive feedback.
ReplyDeleteAlways have a mask in your pocket/purse.
ReplyDeletemake him feel smart. ask a question you know he will get right and really praise him. make sure he feels confident. once he begins getting more and more things right, hes going to feel smarter and smarter, like hes one of the best in the class as well.
ReplyDeleteFor the one who seems to be checking out, I would suggest that you make sure to keep him engaged. Ask him direct questions, but also, take any opportunities you may have to get to know him, and the other students, on a level that isn't related to school. Find out what they care about, care about what they care about, and your teaching will follow. I'm glad you're getting to do this!
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