September 11. A couple of weeks ago, I was forced to remember this name – Osama – not because of its similarity to the current American president, Obama, but for all that surrounded it 11 years ago. September 11 is the anniversary of the time when the two towers fell – not the ones our younger students have known growing up – not the ones where The Eye and Saruman were holed up, casting doom and destruction (courtesy of the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings).

Nope. For those of you who have some decades behind you, you will remember the day the world stood, speechless, wide-eyed, bewildered and confused as the two symbols of American (and seemingly, the world’s) power came collapsing down to the ground, and into ashes (after two passengers planes went straight into the top floors).

When the World Trade Center towers came down, September 11, 2001, the world had all ears and eyes glued to the news. We all watched as the horror of it all dawned. And we waited as authorities scrambled to find out who did it. Everyone wanted to know: who was capable of dragging innocent people six feet into nothingness? And to what end?

As I showed my Social Studies students (all ELLs – English Language Learners), a video of the catastrophe that was, a few things were apparent.  Number one, all but one, had a clue what the date meant. Two, our young people nowadays are faced with too many distractions courtesy of all the pads (or pods) they own – iPad, iPod, iPhone – and everything else that comes close, that there is not much room to draw their attention towards what happens outside their cyber communities. And three, there’s the question of how all these “distractions” will impact their lives and the kind of people they become in the future?

Yes, the young learners I had in that classroom a few weeks back, all knew who Bin Laden was, or at least what the name represented. But then, does any of us common, regular people, really know what happened back then, and if indeed the stories we have been fed through the media, were all true, genuine, and yes, real?

If indeed we are to prepare our young learners for the next century – whatever that means – shouldn’t we be teaching them to have more of a questioning mind, rather than passively following the mob?

Shouldn’t we be teaching them that there is another face to the stories they read, hear or watch from the news? What, in fact, are we to actually teach?

Perhaps one could be, that it is important for our young learners to keep watch of what is happening outside their online video games, outside the world of entertainment and juicy gossips (e.g. Are Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber breaking up?), outside the world of social media, Facebook, in particular?

Another, could be, that it is important to NOT take the news and stories they are fed on TV, newspapers and magazines – online or not – to be THE only one truth. That it is important to have an inquiring mind – one that is not so easy to believe, nor judge, nor take sides. For as much as the world, and its peoples, have benefited much from the technologies and speed of information we get from the internet, it is also potentially a tool for others to instigate, incite and light fires to violence, hatred, and misinformation, at the very least – which could lead our young people towards making wrong decisions about their lives, as well as their future.

History, as we know it, is being rewritten, almost on a daily basis. Where we once believed that early humans led such difficult lives, scientists and scholars are now changing their minds, and are starting to believe (and teach), that perhaps, our ancestors lived happy, “quality” lives, by virtue of the fact that they had time to sit down around fires, and share stories, laughs, triumphs and victories (such as kills of the day, celebrations (birth of a new member of the tribe), songs, and so on. Whereas, we, who believe ourselves to be civilized, and so blessed with the advent of the new technologies of our times, are constantly bombarded by work, stress, unfounded phobias and fears, and the constant barrage of demands from all aspects of our lives. We scramble to get ahead, spurred on by the need to accumulate wealth because our neighbors are doing it. The drive for achievement in careers peak because the financial needs of our families demand of it. And the need for fame and prestige remains constant because those are key elements for the first two.

So going back, what can a teacher learn (and eventually teach) from the stories that surround Osama Bin Laden?

Well, from this particular teacher’s experience, TO ASK QUESTIONS is one.

To POSTPONE JUDGMENTS and refrain from setting one’s opinions in stone – whether it be about people, about events, or even about what we think we know and believe we know, is second.

And finally, to constantly SEEK THE TRUTH, and the WISDOM, behind every piece of fact we find, hear, see, or experience – for the world has become a much more complicated place to live in, and to fully understand. And so, it will also take a complex mind to handle it all well, and in stride.

Two Towers Memorial

For sure, he’ll be talking something more than just an upgrade over the latest iPad. I mean, this is Steve Jobs! We’re talking about the man who singlehandedly changed the way we all think about how we communicate and how we exchanged and shared information with each other through Apple’s products. This is the man who clung on to a dream, even when all sense of reason pointed the opposite direction. A man who built a company that had people camping out outside stores at 3 o’clock in the morning, just to be among the first ones to hold whatever latest gadget Apple was selling.

But “he’s gone too soon”, says the Time’s issue of The Year in Review, referring to Jobs’ early passing in 2011 at age 56. Indeed, an icon has left the house. Weeks after his death was announced, students I was teaching were making comments about the Mac being too slow, or some small remark about the quality of Apple products declining. But what the heck, these gadgets they were complaining about were bought before the icon’s demise! They were a part of a whole array of products made, produced and sold well way before Jobs’ death, but users’ perceptions have shifted (well, the young ones’, at least) overnight.
There’s a lesson to be learnt there somewhere – that perceptions do play a big role on how we consume things, and most probably, this is all the same in all aspects of life. Which brings me to the fore of this article – how does technology impact student learning in the classroom? And are we, teachers, ready to take on the plunge and use the new tools of the 21st century to impact learning?

As talk centered on technology in a History class I was teaching last week, one can’t help face the fact that we have come a long way from pencils, pens and typewriters. “Doing a presentation”, in my early experience as a learner, was a task reserved for the elite few who worked in marketing or advertising, and the phrase would conjure up images of a boardroom full of all these tech-savvy people, a big screen would be pulled up in front, and all kinds of graphs and figures will be the source of discussions.

Today, our students can teach us more than just a thing or two about technology. Technology has become synonymous with their generation, and we, the teachers, are the ones who have to up our game, and catch up on what our kids are using to communicate and express themselves. Or else, we be dubbed as Mr. or Ms. Dinosaur in room 101.

Our school had the entire day today dedicated to learning about some of the technology of the 21st century. The last two years, our school has invested a lot of money on redefining how we access the web and how we, the teachers, strengthen our expertise in the use of the tools of the 21st century to facilitate and guide learning in our classes.

Many of my colleagues stepped up to the plate and led presentations for today’s in-service trainings. I was particularly interested in the use of the Mimio, an interactive whiteboard. It was amazing to see the variety of tasks it enables a teacher to do – from dragging a file from one’s desktop on to the board, so students can use it for practice, for instance. For Math teachers, it means being able to use, re-use and recycle the same graph, for example, to teach different classes. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. It even records the teacher’s voice, as he goes through a Math problem, one step at a time. It saves work done on the board, too, for future reference, or if students needed to review how something was done. It was a “wow” moment for me. It can hide parts of what one has on a document, for example, so the class can focus on one item at a time.

Then, there was a session on the use of Google. It was equally amazing that I’ve been using Google for years, yet have not been able to tap the many interesting features it has to make my life easier, particularly in terms of communicating with the students about work – until last year – when our school made trainings available to teachers on the use of Google Apps.

There is so much out there, and yes, it CAN get overwhelming. But the great thing about the direction our school is taking, is that we are not expected to learn every single one of them, but to pick and choose a few we feel would be useful in our own practice.

Talk at school also touched on the importance of using these new tools available for us all, not merely to substitute something we have been already using, but to move us towards modifying and redefining our own practice of teaching, using the tools of the 21st century.

And so, are we ready to change? Using words borrowed from our Tech Coordinator at school, he said, “Students don’t change.” Therefore, if we wish to make our own practice better, more effective, and have more impact towards meaningful learning, it is WE, who need to take steps towards change (and learn to speak and use the same language our students have been born into).

And I wish I could tell you that it was all part of some grand plan, that I let you read that first part to have you guessing, or wanting for more. But the thing is, I actually just wasn’t specific or detailed enough the first time, that I felt I needed to write this article and share it with you so you will understand what indeed was it THAT WORKED!

So, here we go.

What’s working right now for the ELLs (English Language Learners) or ELD (English Language Development) learners I support in the high school where I teach is that they now ARE in a Social Studies class where they are actually engaged and involved, and interacting with the teacher. Now, what’s so remarkable about that?

Well, you have to understand the challenges that came in the beginning in order to appreciate the current positive environment these learners are in.

Since these students were new to the school, they were all in different classes for Social Studies to begin with, as it is the aim of our school to mainstream all ELLs – for good reason. Research supports the move towards mainstreaming, because students learn much faster when they are with peers who are more proficient than they are in terms of language.

However, this year, we happened to have students who are really low in English language ability- some are coming into high school from local schools, and others from outside the country, where they also had very little exposure to academic English.

As the weeks went on, and it became apparent that no amount of adapting on the part of the subject teachers will be enough to help these particular group of students succeed, discussions started as to what to do, how best to do it with the least disruptions to the students’ schedules, as well as in terms of making use of resources (human, in this particular case). Instead of complaining or raising arms about a potential problem, teachers and administrators at my school worked hand in hand, and finally came up with a solution – create a separate class to better serve the ELL/ELD students.

And so we did. So now, by virtue of the class being small in number, students have opportunities to speak up, to get more actively involved in class activities, and to ask questions without the fear that comes with being in a large class where everyone else seems born with a tongue that automatically speaks English.

The core subject teacher also feels fulfilled that instead of blank stares, he is met with animated pairs of eyes, absorbing, synthesizing, and yes, definitely understanding the material he is discussing.

But more than learning the subject matter, there is pure joy in watching a student smile for the first time, where a few weeks back, there was just this bewildered, even frustrated, frown. There is no underestimating what an empowered students are capable of doing, given the right opportunities. And empowerment only comes when all decision-makers align their ideas to benefit the most important people in education – the kids.

A child who is grappling with the rigors of an international education, while understanding the culture of her/his host country, and is looking to the future in terms of what entry to a good university brought on by a good high school education means for his/her dreams, has much to smile about when he/she is allowed to face all these demands in a caring, understanding environment. An environment of care and understanding is nonnegotiable, if we wish our ELLs to thrive.

And that is what ‘WHAT WORKS’, mean!

It is great to work in an environment where there is a clear sense of purpose. In a world full of woes and strife, that is one reason to wake up everyday, and contribute one’s share to the efforts to make the future a better place for today’s children.

Please visit this link to read my previous articles:

http://www.heddatan.com/it-works.html

AND

http://www.heddatan.com/the-x-factor.html

Thanks to YouTube, (and to talent discovery shows such as The X Factor) nowadays, it is no longer such an arduous journey to be discovered for one’s talent. Many young personalities have found their way to Hollywood by posting a homemade video on YouTube. And once it goes viral, TV appearances, recording deals, and invitations for other performances come easily.

Watching and finding out the stories behind the exceptionally talented ones and those who succeed (the ones who get all “Yeses” from the judges), all lead me to think about English learners. In the 17 years that I have been teaching English to students of all ages – 5 years of age to adults – the one element of learning I have seen that spells the difference between winning and remaining stuck at a lower stage of the learning curve, is none other than, FEARLESSNESS.

English learners are actually not that different from the young talents we see on these competitions on TV. English learners too, go through a path of getting “discovered”. Their discovery, however, does not necessarily mean you’ll see them at the Ellen or Oprah show. Their discovery takes on less drum roll, but still, it is a discovery.

Their “discovery” is that point in time when they feel they have “cracked” it. Their discovery is when they feel they have gone over the hurdle of thinking (and experiencing) English as being difficult. Once the learning of it ceases to be looked upon as “hard”, it’s all up hill from there.

However, there is one factor that has to be present in English learners first, before they could even hope to “crack” the learning of (and acquiring proficiency in) English. That one trait, that one quality, is no other than that same trait that makes stars of ordinary people with great talent – FEARLESSNESS.

I have seen teenage learners of English, who came straight from non-English background, yet are able to “crack” it after a couple of years of being immersed in an English-speaking environment at school.  The very exceptional ones, are able to make that leap in their first year.

So what does it mean to be fearless?
When learners let go of their fear of being laughed at when they make mistakes in the target language they are learning, progress proceeds at a much faster pace.

Responsibility lies, however, in the educator (or the institution at large), to provide an environment that is challenging but free of fear of insults and/or ridicule from other learners (or from the teacher herself/himself). Because hard as it may seem to believe, but there are teachers feared by students not because they are demanding or strict, but because they seem to find pleasure in picking on their students’ mistakes. Fortunately, in this particular educator’s experience, such individuals are far between.

How can parents support their kids to be fearless?
Being both a parent and an educator gives one glimpses into what empowers children to be better, and what could hold them back from realizing their fullest potential. Having trudged through these two pathways does not give one license to prescribe, but simply, recommend the following:

1. Focus on the positives. When children are told what they are good at, they become bolder to take on more challenges, and are more ready to keep on improving on their strengths. So many great achievers of our times, had at least one parent, one adult, who believed in them.

2. Get involved in your child’s education. Parents need to connect with their children’s teachers and school community, find out what subjects/topics/concepts are your children learning, and find ways to continue the learning at home. Children will pick up on what you consider to be important, and if they themselves ARE of importance to you. When this is in place, they are more likely to put more value in themselves, and eventually, in their own education.

What can teachers do to make their students fearless?
1. Get to know your students. Most of us, seasoned educators, come to the classroom with our curriculum clutched in hand from day one (sometimes literally). Yet, institutional targets won’t mean a thing unless we marry them with what our students want out of their own time in our schools, and in our classrooms.

To find this fine balance, teachers have to spend time to get to know their students, their students’ interests, their goals and dreams, and what they feel they have as tools to reach their success.

2. Set the environment to foster achievement of goals. When the previous recommendation is done, it’s time to set the stage to ensure our students succeed under our watch. A classroom is a working environment, yet it is also a playground at the same time. The right balance between meaningful yet fun learning takes planning. The balance between well-directed and goal-oriented work and interesting and engaging activities demand both expertise on the part of the teacher, as well as commitment.

Oftentimes, watching episodes of The X Factor, a television show in the US (which has different versions in different countries), would give us surprise contestants – those who only come to the stage for the first time, yet look like they have been performing on stage for years for al the confidence, and the FEARLESSNESS they show. There are those in these competitions, who may not be as polished enough to come out on top their first try, but because they show potential, the judges say YES, and they get a chance to get better in the next one, and the next, and the next. And sometimes, when they really work hard at it, and given the other right ingredients for success – looks, the right kind of advises, etc – they win in the end.

English learning, too, is not a matter of luck. It takes hard work, patience, more hard work, and the willingness to appear silly, at first. For like a child learning to walk, we will all stumble at first. But like a child, we get up, and keep on getting up every time we fall, until we finally get it right. Once we understand that the same formula applies to a child walking, to a competitor in the show (e.g. The X Factor), and to a learner of English (in any age), then, we are on our way to achieving what we have set out to do.

We all have to learn to enjoy the show!

That was how it felt like as my colleague – Mr. Dominick – and I went out of the classroom at midday today, still basking in the glow of what felt like a small victory after more than a month of deliberations (and tons of emails, meetings and physically walking back and forth between two buildings at school).Finally, we now have ELL (English Language Learners) – ELD, in our own situation – students who are engaged, involved, speaking up, participating in discussions, taking notes from the board, and actually laughing at something funny the teacher shared in class.

How did we get there?

It was (and wasn’t) easy. I’ll tell you why.

It was easy – because the administration at school was ready to move mountains to give the best to these students, who are all at different levels of their English proficiency. They are from different cultural backgrounds, and the English language experiences are just as varied. We have one student who literally has 7 months of English immersion at school, and probably almost none at home.

It was easy – because the teachers who teach the core subjects at school were more than willing to take on the challenge of teaching them and guiding these ELL/ELD kids towards academic success. Some were giving up lunches to explain Math concepts to students who needed the extra time to absorb class material. Most are modifying material/s to adapt to the English language needs of the students. All were in constant (and continuing) conversation in the cafeteria, in the teacher’s lounges, and even along corridors, as to what works for the kids, what other strategies could be employed to make teaching strategies more effective, and so on.

Yeah, it all sounds so cheesy…but really, it’s not.

Because if we looked back to where we were in the beginning, we would all be proud of ourselves at all the work that was done, and all the ideas that were contributed towards having the kind of program we now have set as an institution for the students we serve.

It wasn’t easy – because of the myriad needs of the students, the varied backgrounds, and the fact that it was all new to everyone – to teachers, to students, to parents, and to the school as a whole.

It wasn’t easy – because nobody wanted to give the students just something to satisfy a check mark on somebody’s log book. Nobody was saying, “Yeah, let’s just do this so we can say we’ve done that.” There was none of that. Oh, it’s not to say that it’s all perfect, or that WE have the BEST program in the world. Not so.

But what we have, is something that WORKS. It works for the students we are serving (they are learning, they are engaged and involved, AND happy doing so). It works in the school situation we are a part of. And best of all, it works because the program, the set-up, has the desired results – it’s moving students towards learning, strengthening language skills as well as confidence, while learning the concepts, at a pace that is neither too slow nor too challenging.

In simple terms, “IT WORKS”!

For those who have not had the privilege yet of sitting through one of Dr. Feldman’s talks/seminars/workshops, you can get some gist about what I’m talking about by visiting the organization he is a part of, at www.scoe.org (where Dr. Kevin Feldman serves as the Reading and Intervention Consultant) .

To make things very simple, let’s crunch a few hours of work with Dr. Feldman into 3 very basic (we all know these), yet easily forgotten (or ignored) areas of education, particularly, the education of young minds. Two of which, came from Dr. Feldman himself. The last one, is something I’ve always used to start the year these last couple of years – something synthesized from all those hours sitting through numerous professional development seminars on what it means to be an effective educator, and even more hours poring through books to gain more knowledge about the field of education.

The first word we need to wrap our thoughts around is, STUDENT ENGAGEMENT. With all the distractions brought on by technological tools (which, when used well, do make tasks faster and easier to do) and the surging demand made by social media on our students’ already short attention span, many in the field of education point to the lack of engagement in the classroom on the part of our students. And it gets worse as the students progress in age towards adolescence.

Most, if not all, who have been in the field of education, would attest to having had students who simply CHOOSE to perform below their level of capabilities. And the scary part is, we, who are supposed to push them towards “better”, have, consciously or unconsciously, allowed such a bad habit to be ingrained among our students.

So what are we to do about this?

Dr. Feldman has this short simple sentence for teachers to use and enforce in class, to make sure every student stays engaged in the classroom – “EVERYONE DOES EVERYTHING”. Leaving no time to waste, I promptly had a banner made with these words the very next day, and it is now the very first thing my students see when they look at my whiteboard.

The second idea I thought was also powerful from Dr. Feldman’s presentation was this – “SMART is something you get, not something you are.” I also have two banners of that made – one’s outside the classroom door, and the other is at the topmost part of one of the bulletin boards in class.

However, just having banners posted up, and talking about these ideas, are not going to cut it. The third, but probably the most important piece of the puzzle here, is the students’ ownership of these words, these concepts, these ideas. And such ownership can never happen, if talk around what students actually are working towards – their goals, their dreams, their desires – were not brought to the forefront of discussions. For our students, most likely, come from all different walks of life, from different socioeconomic backgrounds, have different family/cultural priorities, and so on.

So, here’s an hour’s worth of lesson I’ve designed for the following purposes:
• Establish an effective work atmosphere in class on day 1 in my high school classes.
• Use students’ deepest desires/life goals to drive their enthusiasm towards class work and engagement in all class activities.
• Connect students’ lives to the lived lived/being lived by leadership icons of today and from recent history.

Activities:
1. Using the Powerpoint presentation I had prepared for another talk I did the weekend before, I showed slides with pictures of the following personalities : David Beckham, Michael Jordan, Gandhi, Barack Obama, Mother Teresa, Adele, and Steve Jobs.
The students’ task was to write down who all these people were. If they do not know their names, they could write words these people are famous for/associated with. The two questions I posted for them to answer were:
a. Who were these people?
b. What do they all have in common?

2. After going through the slides twice, students were asked to share what they know about the people in the photos. The teacher offered some information about these people, moving students towards these important facts: all these people are winners and leaders, all of them are “rich” but not necessarily of money, and all of them have experienced setbacks/challenges/failures in life, yet all of them moved on, persevered, and eventually triumphed in whatever field they chose to excel in.

3. Then, move the students towards thinking about their own “deepest desires”. Ask students to write 10 dreams/life goals they have. But emphasize that before writing their 10, they are to think that money and time (or age) were of no consequence.

So “if they had all the money and time in the world, and age was not a challenge for them, what would they like to do, where would the like to be, and/or who is the person they would like to become?”

After they are done with their 10, they should pick out their number one and write WHY.

4. Students then pick out one person in the room to share ONE of the ten goals they have written down. They can choose to either tell their partner why, or not.

5. Then tell students these : that in order for them to reach their dreams, their goals in life, they have to learn all they can in school, in class. (Because after all, don’t grades matter when they apply for the university of their choice?) And that it won’t work if ONLY the teacher is working hard so they learn all they can in class. They too, have to do their part. They too, have to choose to get involved, to be engaged, and to OWN their learning.

6. Finally, I told the students I only have three rules in my class. And they are:
*Everyone does everything.
*Speak English (since my students are all LAE – Learners of Academic English).
*Respect my time, respect one another, but most especially yourself (so don’t waste my time by ‘chilling out’ in my class, do not laugh at other people’s attempts to get ‘better’, and most of all, pay respect to your dreams and goals by doing and participating in all the class activities.

Going back to our title, “begin with the end in mind” – our end result as educators, in reality, is to make sure our students reach their highest potentials as individuals with different gifts and abilities. From the students’ perspective, their end in mind, are those deepest desires (which are sometimes hidden because of fear of ridicule from peers) they have about who or what they want to be in the future. And so, in my experience teaching students from kindergarten to adults in 17 years altogether, taking time to think about those very essentials, will move everyone towards more purposeful learning, and would even strengthen those very ideas Dr. Feldman spent time talking to us – engagement and what is “smart’ all about.

What to do? What to do?

Well, we didn’t have much time. So a drama performance was out, though the kids were very much ready for it, and it would have gone well (if we didn’t have the time constraints, that is). Singing was out of the question (the students themselves kidded each other about their lack of talent in that area).

So, the other logical option was just to do short speeches. Then came the question – speeches on what? What can we possibly come up with that hasn’t been done already, when we are nearly at the end of the school year?

Think. Think. Think.

Taking stock, well, we have our debates coming the week after, and that’s all the kids can seem to think or talk about. There’s a spark of something there. But then, we had to consider the younger kids, because knowing what kind of vocabulary the High School debaters will be throwing out there, the whole presentation will just go over their heads, and they won’t have a clue what was going on.
Solution – we could frame the whole debate within a story.

So we started with the introductory message:
Good morning, School!
This morning, I want to tell you a story of a teacher and her students…

And the rest of the vision of the whole performance came into place:
 we could use my husband’s photography to produce pictures to show the meaning of certain vocabulary that would be hard for the younger students to understand. That way, they also get some pieces of the whole presentation, if not the whole.
 For lack of time to get the actual students I teach to pose for the photos we needed, we made use of my own kids) – Tyra, 10 and Tyrone, 7. They were very willing actors. In fact, when we actually started taking photos, our 7-year-old came right out with, “Ok, what’s the first expression”, while getting out of his pajamas into school uniforms for the shoot.
 Since my husband has been talking about starting on stock photography projects, this whole school assembly performance contributed to his project too. It was a win-win for us both!
 And since our small school is unifying with our bigger sister school, the students thought of adding their “thank you’s” to their teachers in their speeches, too. This was even better than the first original idea of just letting them speak about their experiences preparing for their debates.
 And while the script was being written, a bonus was added in – a talk about one of our recent graduates’ accomplishments. She sent a message a week ago, telling about her success in university entrance requirements (she has gotten acceptance from all 3 universities she applied to – University of California Berkeley, UCLA, and University of California San Diego – all universities quite difficult to get into for the average student, let alone one to whom English was a foreign language. It was quite a feat, and it was something exciting to add into the spiel).

 And the clincher : thanking teachers and asking them to be proud because the school they are a part of has produced wonderful students. Some of them even grow up, to be among the best in the world!

Mission accomplished! Everyone is happy.

Implications to Teachers and/or Parents:
If you get stuck with school assembly ideas, it is best to brainstorm (with students, preferably) ideas using what is currently going on at the school, or in the local and/or global society. Chances are, you will stumble upon a few gems in the process, and chances are, they will be well-received by your audience because the ideas would be current and run close to home.

Here’s the script:
Good morning, School!
This morning, I want to tell you a story. It’s a story of a teacher at IS2 and her students.

The first time this teacher heard she was going to teach English to High School students, she felt very nervous. At that time, she thought high School students were very scary.

They talk back, they fight back…and boy, they really do tell you when they do not like the way you teach. (LOL)

The first group of students she had did not speak much English at all. But later, she realized, they were just as scared as she was!

So, together with all the other IS2 teachers, she taught them English. When they graduated from IS2, they DID become very scary! They had opinions, they would argue and boy, a lot of times, their ideas were good, or right!

This year, this same teacher is having her grade 10 class debate against each other. Here’s 10-1 to talk about what they’ve learned in debating, and say “thanks” to some of their teachers.

After the students deliver their spiels, continue with…

Another round of applause please, for 10-1.
They also wish to thank all those who teach them now and those who have taught them over the years. Their success in this year’s debates, is your success as well.

Finally, going back to our story, can you now guess who was that teacher I was talking about in the beginning?

Yes, it was ME!

But now, I’m no longer scared of my High School students. In fact, I am very proud of them. Just last week, I got a message from one of our graduates – Mar – Sally’s big sister, who is in America.
She said she got accepted to all 3 universities she applied to – UCBerkeley, UCLA and UCSD! These are all difficult schools to get into. Mari said she has chosen to go to UCBerkeley because “its Art History department received the 1st place among the world’s universities”. And she adds, “This success could not be accomplished without my valuable experiences in my high school. Nothing, but my high school, made my fundamental base.”

So students, admin, teachers and staff at IS2, be proud, as we come to a close, because this school has produced wonderful students – some of them grow up…to be among the best in the world!

Good morning!!!

Not only is the movie great because it’s based on a true story, and revolves around an important issue in the history of America, and of mankind, in general. But it’s also rich in vocabulary, and is highly engaging. There is a lot of material to sustain lengthy discussions on referential meaning, and because the actors play their part so well, more often than not, high school and older adult students find it worth their while to pay attention to the story.

So, if you are looking for something that would spark interest, jump start your unit on Debate, or something to do with an ethical issue that’s rich in vocabulary and content that could drive lively discussions, you can not go wrong on showing your students the movie, The Great Debaters.

So far, in my experience, it has been one of the best choices I’ve ever made in terms of meaningful education.

For starters, I had the chance to be a language learner again this weekend. Our workshop presenter (who is awesome at his topic!), asked some volunteers from the group to sit through a crash course in Turkish. I volunteered simply because it’s always good to get into the nitty gritty of things when you attend these PD (professional development) days, to get the most of your time. And I find it always to be of value to put oneself in our learners’ shoes, and gain some perspective into what they must go through every single day they are under our care at school.

My reward for the volunteer work was this: exhaustion!

But it was good that I went through that experience, because it helps me remind myself just how difficult it is to be learning a language. As I was sitting through that 10 minutes or so of Turkish, these were the things I was processing:

1. What words the teacher were saying, and how he was saying them.
2. How to sound out the words so I can say them correctly later on.
3. What the words meant in English.
4. The instructions the teacher was giving about the activities that follow to practice the language.
5. How to interact with my partner to practice the language.
6. How the language relate to the visuals the teacher provided to practice the language.
7. And all the while, I was nervous about forgetting the words when it comes time to practice them, wondering whether I was saying them right at all, etc. etc.

And that is but a snapshot of what our language learners go through in the classroom. And they are at it 5 days a week, for about 8 hours each day, more if there’s homework to be done.
If, as teachers, the only language we know is English, it would be quite hard to appreciate all the struggles our learners go through. And I think, to be effective at what we do, we have to put ourselves in that zone of discomfort, where we become like children again, and grow as one – one step at a time.

At this workshop with Jon Nordmeyer, it has been great to revisit the old, to gain more insight to take on the challenges of the new.

(Written on February 18th, in Kao Hsiung, Taiwan)