RITELL

The Rhode Island Teachers of English Language Learners conference was very interesting.  Dr. Deborah Short is a sort of pioneer for teaching English to non-native speakers and she shared an enlightening presentation with us regarding SIOP, or Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol.  Prior to the event, I had very limited knowledge of this topic.  I actually had an opportunity to experience it being employed while doing observations at Mt. Pleasant High School, but did not realize I had witnessed its utilization until attending this conference.  I have to admit, that my ignorance left me feeling a little bit lost at times during the presentation and that there was so much information in Dr. Short’s lecture did not help matters.  However, I do feel like I have a better understanding of some of the concepts related to English language learning. 

            I was very surprised to find out that the new Common Core State Standards do not address this issue at all.  Dr. Short informed us that the CCSS that is being adopted by 46 states does not provide standards for students who are not native English speakers, nor does it address special education.  Instead, it leaves decisions about these areas up to state and local school boards.  I find this surprising because if such a broad-based program that can be implemented nationwide is being proposed, I feel as though it should clearly be all-inclusive in consideration of the wide range of learners throughout public school systems. 

            Dr. Short presented some data of a study done between schools that employed the SIOP model and those that did not.  It showed that although achievement in the SIOP schools were not always greater than non-SIOP schools, the increases from year to year were much greater among SIOP schools and clearly showed an upward trend whereas non-SIOP schools figures were much more static and even throughout.  This is a promising study, however, I noticed that it was done several years ago, dating back to 2006, and I wondered why there is not more recent data and why the study stopped after three school years. 

            In my brief experience with this strategy, it seems as though it would be a much more effective one than traditional methods of teaching English to new learners.  It does not take away from other content in order to focus on teaching English but instead integrates learning English with learning content.  I witnessed it being effectively used in a 10^th grade World History class and the majority of students in that class displayed signs of understanding and making gains in both areas simultaneously.  In addition, Dr. Short advocates using a more complete method of learning a language, including cultural effects of language, beyond just vocabulary and grammar that sometimes do not adequately serve an English language learner. 

            I will be interested to continue to study and perhaps someday employ SIOP methods in a classroom.  I left the conference with a list of sources for more information on the topic and since I am now a member of RITELL, I will continue to receive their email newsletter.    

Observation #4

1)       The objective is:

Explain why Federalists opposed the Louisiana Purchase.

2)      Analysis

3)      I would have students write two short essays pertaining to the primary sources they read.

 

1.       What reasons do Alexander Hamilton, Rufus King, and Timothy Pickering give for opposing the Louisiana Purchase?

2.      To which political party did Thomas Jefferson belong and why is that significant?            

Observation #3

            As the students walked in to their AP US History class, they picked up their work folders from the bin on Ms. H’s desk that was marked with their period number and class title.  They sat down in their seats and immediately had a task to do.  Written on the white board on the side wall was their assignment.  It read: “Do Now.  Who fought in the Revolutionary War?”  It seemed like an easy question AP US History students to answer and Ms. H explained that she wanted to make sure all her students knew the answer because on her car ride in that morning, she had heard on the radio someone who did not answer the question correctly and had claimed to have been an AP student.

            The nine students in the class worked on answering the question on a small slip of paper and most of them did not take too long to do it.  One student came in a little late and when the question was posed to him he began answering aloud not realizing that it was a written “Do Now” assignment.  His classmates and the teacher quickly hushed him and explained he should write it down.  I am assuming the “Do Now” is a daily occurrence and it is a school wide theme.  Every class I observed had one posted on a board somewhere in the room.  This is great for making sure that students have something to work on immediately upon entering the classroom and do not have to wait for a lesson to begin.

            It seems the rules in Ms. H’s class were already understood and these students, having been in the class for a few months, did not need to be reminded of class room procedures.  I do not think anyone raised their hand to answer a question, they simply took turns speaking and no one interrupted anyone else.  When it was time to take notes from the overhead projector, students freely moved their seats to be in a better position to view the overhead.  When a question was posed by the teacher ad no one volunteered to answer, she called on someone.  All assignments were posted on a chart on the wall.  I observed Ms. H give an assignment and shortly thereafter she marked it on the chart.  I should have gotten a closer look at the chart to see exactly what information was on it but I did not want to hover over her shoulder as she wrote it in and then I forgot to look at it after class had ended because I was talking to her about the class.  I think she numbered the assignment, titled it, wrote the date it was assigned and possibly the date it was due.  This serves as an easy way for students to make sure they are up to date with assignments without taking time out of learning activities. 

            While students worked in groups reading primary documents and answering questions about them, the teacher went around checking the prior day’s homework assignment.  With grade book in hand, she went to each student to make sure they had completed it.  Some had not, and one student in particular who had been absent the day before had e-mailed the teacher to ask for any assignment he missed while out.  He had not completed the homework even though he had been proactive in asking for it.  He and Ms. H went back and forth a bit about it in a very calm, conversational way; she did not get mad at him and he did not get defensive.  She had him check his e-mail again on the computer in the classroom and reread the message.  After doing so he admitted he had not read the entire message and thus missed the assignment and that was that. 

            Ms. H managed her classroom effectively.  She was very even-tempered and had a calm demeanor about her.  She was assertive without being too hard on students.  She let them know what she expected of them and held them accountable but also treated them as adults capable of handling their own business.  She used subtle reminders when students did not follow procedures.  She must have heard someone say something inappropriate under their breath or to their neighbor as she walked by.  She did not get overly upset or berate the student.  Instead, she gave him a look of subtle disapproval and asked him, “What was that?”  When he said, “Oh, nothing,” she maintained eye contact with him and said, “I must have a ring in my ear, I thought you said something.”  She let the student know that she knew that he had misbehaved but without letting most of the other students know the student had done wrong.  The way in which Ms. H managed her classroom allowed for more learning time and less time correcting or supervising behavior.

Microteaching II comments

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Observation #2

Teacher: Ms. Pinto

Subject: World History I
Grade(s): 9

Essential Question:  (Why are you teaching this?)

Who was Marco Polo?  Why was he important?

Learning Objective(s): (include A, B, *C, *D) *assumed to be with pen and paper, individually, and 100%

Ss will determine the significance of Marco Polo’s journeys.  Ss will study various sources and articulate their findings using the 5 Ws and How? Interrogatives.

Bloom’s Taxonomic level:

Comprehension, Application

Student Standards: (Common Core or subject specific, write out the exact standard)

World History Era 5 Standard 1: The maturing of an interregional system of communication, trade, and cultural exchange in an era of Chinese economic power and Islamic expansion.

Teacher Standards: (RIPTS or NETS or WIDA; write out the exact standard):

RIPTS 6: Teachers create a supportive learning environment that encourages appropriate standards of behavior, positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self‐motivation.

Materials/Resources needed, including technology:

World History textbook, several readings about Marco Polo, an excerpt from Polo’s book, Document Based Questions Worksheet, Primary Source Document Worksheet.

Step One Group reading	5 mins.	Call on Ss to read section from book.	Read aloud in a clear, projected voice.
Step Two Introduce 5Ws and H	5 mins.	Direct Ss to read other sources and answer 5 Ws and H
Step Three Independent work	20 mins.		Read documents, answer Qs	Who, What, When, Where Why, How?
Step Four Dyads	5 mins.	Direct Ss to work in pairs, share info they found, work together to fill in missing info.	Compare findings, work together to get all information.
Step Five Independent work	15 mins.	Pass out worksheets, have Ss work on them.	Answer Qs on worksheet.

Observation #1

Mr. McFadden’s class

            Before entering the classroom, I was told it was an LEP, or limited English proficiency, class.  It looked like your average classroom; teacher’s desk at the head, students’ in rows facing the front, a computer in one corner, white board in the front, blackboard on one side, book shelves opposite that, a map of the U.S. with each state shaded a certain hue to indicate which were more or less populous.  This was a Modern World History class for LEP learners.  On the wall at the front, from where Mr. McFadden lectured, were signs all saying the same thing, “Welcome,” each in a different language.  There must have been ten to fifteen of them. 

Atop the bookshelves was a sign that read, “Library.”  I have to say it was a somewhat sorry looking library but I will have to assume that students love reading so much that all of the books are currently on loan.  Every desk did have a copy of the course textbook underneath it which seemed like a nice convenience because it was a doozey of a book and would be a burden for any fourteen-to-eighteen-year-old back.  Mr. McFadden informed me that the students also had a copy they kept at home.

This convenience, he told me, was afforded by the fact Mt. Pleasant High School has been trending toward a less populated student body since he began teaching there twenty years ago.  Student population is somewhere around 900, down from recent years when it was 1300 or so.  The particular class I observed had twelve students, which could have been due either to the decrease in students or that it served a specific minority group in the school, LEP learners.  It is hard to say for certain, but either way it seems these twelve students benefit from the situation as a low student-to-teacher ratio is always desirable and students do not have to lug enormous books around.  Beyond that I will not speculate on implications for the school or community.

Mr. McFadden had the day’s objective written on the white board: I will be able to explain how Stalin ruled the Soviet Union through the use of terror.  He also had a “Do Now” assignment which was simply a page number and question or activity number.  Students trickled in and took their seats and I was so busy looking around and taking notes that I suddenly looked up and there they were.  And then I realized that a flurry of foreign tongue was flying frenetically around me and I remembered the nature of the course.  And prior to this I thought I knew a good deal of Spanish, but this was not Spanish.  Except, come to find out it was, and I am very much out of practice (though, for the record, listening comprehension is the most difficult aspect of learning a language, especially when listening to a native speaker).  It felt good, however, and gave me hope that I might someday have the opportunity to broaden and hone my Spanish skills.

That aside, it seemed as though Mr. McFadden gave the students a long time to complete the Do Now task and that many of them were not attempting it.  Eventually he urged some of them to get started on it and I think, though I could be wrong, that all of them did complete it by the end of the class.  Mr. McFadden introduced me to the class and then had the students introduce themselves one at a time.  They told me their name as well as the country that their parents came from.  Some of them had been here for a very short time; arriving as recently as three weeks ago.  Most of them were from Spanish-speaking countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and maybe a few others.  One student was from Poland and one was from Laos.  There were four times as many males as females.  Most of them participated, but the students in either back corner did not engage in discussion and one seemingly did no work at all and had a distant, stoic kind of look on his face the entire class.  Two young men in the front, with their desks facing sideways compared to all the others, talked to each other in Spanish virtually the entire class and said very little in English.  I wondered why Mr. McFadden did not separate them but let them sit next to each other even though they were disruptive at times.  He assured me that one of them is actually a very good student and he keeps the other on task. 

I thought Mr. McFadden did an excellent job in delivering the material to the class.  It was mostly just straight lecture and then time to work on questions related to the lecture.  He did, however, achieve a good balance between teaching the lesson, making sure the students understood key terms as well as concepts, and introducing new vocabulary.  Most students were engaged and did their work regardless of their demeanor or behavior, which was varied.  Some were quiet, others not, some asked questions, some did not, but completion of the assignments in the end will tell Mr. McFadden whether or not the objective was met.    

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Teacher Accountability

The best way to ensure that teachers are doing a good job is through teacher accountability.  Teachers are responsible for preparing students for postsecondary education and the workforce by making sure that students comprehend course material and learn important skills that they will use after high school.  Just as teachers measure student progress, making them accountable in learning new material, teachers need to be held accountable in the effectiveness of teaching methods.               

            How to do this?  The consensus of late has been an emphasis on standardized tests administered to students to measure their understanding of concepts and material relative to their grade level.  Most are done annually so that progress (or lack thereof) can be tracked from year to year.  I am not sure this is the best method, or to what extent this is used to measure teacher effectiveness.  Exams cannot and should not be the sole means of judging an academic program’s success or failure, which is often the case.  That is not to say that yearly exams are not useful, but that they should be taken into account in conjunction with other variables.

            Frequent teacher observation by school officials are important to ensure that teachers are doing a good job and have the resources they need to help students meet course goals.  This has been demonstrated to work well in struggling schools in Connecticut.  By measuring teacher effectiveness with direct observations, teachers who need more assistance in developing better teaching methods can have more contact with school officials who can provide them that assistance.  Teachers who are deemed to be effective and whose students perform well can also share their techniques with administrators and can improve the overall system.

            Another important factor in ensuring good teaching in public schools is communication.  Not just between students and teachers and teachers and administrators, but also between teachers and parents.  Frequent communication between teachers and parents of students can be important to academic achievement.  Keeping parents “in the loop” of school events can help keep students on task.  Parent-student communication is also important, but that is much more difficult to regulate. 

            Teacher accountability is of prime importance to student success in the public school system.  It should be a concern for everyone, not just parents of students or public officials.  The advancement of education and excellent quality education is a concern for society as a whole.  Beyond just taxpayer concerns of appropriation, education is a major driver of economic progress and can be the difference between a more developed, egalitarian society and one in which day to day subsistence is a struggle.  It is up to society to recognize the importance of education.  It is up to teachers and parents to do everything in their power to help students succeed.  It is up to students to put forth their best effort.

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