EL

Switching Gears: What To Do When Nothing Works

by Susan Zimmerman-Orozco

Susan is an elementary ESL teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools and consultant with English Learner Portal.

The school year is rolling along as the temperatures drop and the hurricanes move out to sea. Back in the classroom, students of Lucy Calkins have stepped away from narrative writing and moved on to non-fiction or persuasive writing. Except, as it turns out, they haven’t. After two weeks of intense instruction and support, pre-writing planning conversations still went like this, “One day, my dad and I were in the car. Then we saw a dog.” Not non-fiction, not an opinion…a story.

It all started off so promising. Two weeks ago in grade 1 and 2, we wrapped up our narratives with a publishing gallery and tea party. We celebrated!

Then Monday arrived. In Grade 1, with our Content and Language Objectives duly formulated, we prepared children for their adventures in non-fiction, Writing Teaching Books with Independence, with a read-aloud Sharks! Then, we had them think of themselves “teaching” about a topic, and imagining things they were experts at.

However, tasking 6 year-olds to come up with something they know and could teach someone about proved to be challenging for some students and their first efforts tended to be whatever topic their teacher had chosen for the lesson objective. Or, for reasons still not understood, octopuses.

So, the next day we scaffolded strategies for coming up with many things first graders can be experts on. For example, even Mrs. Zimmerman’s grandson EJ, can be an expert!

Once we had topics, we practiced using our fingers to tell what we know. Then we used our fingers to tell our partners all about it!

In Second grade we began our journey into non-fiction and opinion writing by reading The Great Kapock Tree by Lynn Cherry. We learned how good writers use reasons to persuade their readers. Then we explored our own opinions by tasting and choosing our favorite cookies.

We came up with reasons to persuade our partners why our favorite cookie was the best. We practiced talking about it! We even used graphic organizers to help us remember our reasons.

Finally, we chose topics to write about and planned across our fingers. Using our sentence frames and our fingers, we shared with our partners again!

At last, having anticipated our students’ misunderstandings, having formulated both Content and Language Objectives, and having scaffolded their intended language production, we were ready to write. And this is what we heard…

“My dad and I were in the car. We saw a dog…”

And this is what we read…

“My mom said, “ We’re going to the store…”

So, now what?

We picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and started all over again with a mini-review. And then…we LISTENED! We hunkered down with each of our students (something a lot easier to do in a co-teaching situation) and listened to what students were saying and what they thought they were writing. We pointed out confusions, prompted for opinions, gave thumbs up, and moved on to the next child.

Maybe the most challenging aspect of the Lucy Calkins program is that we tend to forget how important student conferencing is. Those of us in highly diverse schools are so caught up in the minutia of scaffolding what good writing should look and sound like that we forget the point of it… “[We] are teaching the writer and not the writing. Our decisions must be guided by ‘what might help this writer’ rather than ‘what might help this writing’” (Lucy Calkins, 1994)

Student conferencing – working one on one with students – is too often a catch-as-catch-can occurrence, when in fact it is one of the most important tools in the LC writer’s toolbox. It needs to be carried out regularly in an an intentional and purposeful way. Good writers make connections with their readers – whether they are telling a story or writing an opinion. Good teachers make connections with their students. As you travel through the changing focus of your writing program throughout the school year, please don’t forget the reason we are teaching writing in the first place: to connect and build relationships with our most important audience, our students.

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Writing with English learners: Why plagiarism is serious business

Frank Bonkowski is an educational writer, English language teacher, and e-learning specialist, passionate about learning and teaching. As a lover of writing, Frank has a twofold mission: to teach English learners to write better and to train language teachers in teaching effective academic writing. He was a teacher trainer at several universities, including McGill, Concordia, and TELUQ, a center of distance education. We are thrilled to have Frank as a member of our online course community at English Learner Portal.

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In today’s post, let’s look at ways you can help learners avoid plagiarism. The text is based on a lecture in Module 3 of my three-credit graduate course in teaching writing.

Why plagiarism is serious business

cartoongirlcomputer In this lecture, we tackle the serious problem of plagiarism. If a learner is caught plagiarizing, it can have serious consequences.

At college or university level, the least serious penalty could be getting a zero grade on an assignment; a more serious penalty would be failing the course altogether. The most serious penalty would be getting thrown out of the school.

Learners need to be able to properly paraphrase, summarize, and quote the ideas of others when doing research. In doing these things learners avoid plagiarism.

In this lecture, we’ll first look at who is guilty of plagiarism. Then, we’ll review two strategies for helping learners avoid plagiarism: taking notes and paraphrasing.

Who is guilty of plagiarism?

Ask learners if they have ever taken parts of someone’s writing without citing the source.

Ask learners if they have ever used quotations without giving credit.

Inexperienced writers make these mistakes. It’s easy, simple to do, and seems harmless. If learners haven’t mastered the intricacies of English, it may be tempting to plagiarize. This is true for both native and non-native speakers of English alike.

Plagiarism, also called “cyberplagiarism” by McWhorter, has increased dramatically with cartoonlightbulb the widespread use of the Internet (Successful 592).

It can take 3 different forms:

a) “borrowing” information from online sources without acknowledging it,
b) cutting and pasting material directly without citing the source,
c) buying essays or papers online and using them as your own work.

Copying the ideas of others is not new. Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Martial complained about others stealing his poetry.

Plagiarism is not just a violation of another’s writing. it’s also harmful to creators of music, videos, and graphics. For example, here is an interesting anecdote.

Songwriters sometimes commit plagiarism and may get heavy fines if found guilty. In 2014, the Marvin Gaye family was awarded a whopping $ 7.3 million for copyright infringement of a 1977 Gaye song by another singer.

Any way you look at it, plagiarism is theft—the stealing of somebody else’s ideas. Plagiarism is just dumb.

So how can writers avoid plagiarism or be more conscious of it?

The answer is simple. They can learn and practice how to take notes and to paraphrase.

Tip #1 for avoiding plagiarism: Take Notes

nocountryforoldmen Learners need to get into the habit of reading carefully and taking good notes.

Here is a student example using the two-column method (which I explain in another lecture of the online course) presented in an academic English classroom course I teach. The student had to take notes using an online film review.

Film: “No Country for Old Men”

Keyword and questions

Unpredictable narrative
Breathtaking
Sanguinary film
Remarkably
Sharpest

Notes (key ideas and facts) A modern movie
“Remains remarkably grounded in the everyday”
“Sharpest Coen Bros. film in years”
“Excruciating violence to ratchet up the tension”
“Shocks ’round every plot twist”

Summary:

Review by Bob Mondello , art critic: A really great movie and even the best Coen’s Brothers film in a while.

The movie has a surprising narration and is remarkably authentic and realistic.

The violence keeps the tension high and shocks viewers at every turn in the plot.

Tip #2 for avoiding plagiarism: paraphrase

Paraphrasing is a restatement of an original text in the writer’s own words. It could be a restatement of an entire sentence, part of a sentence, or one or more paragraphs, written in about the same length as the original.

It shows that a writer understands clearly the meaning of the original text. Paraphrasing is a useful way for all writers, but particularly non-native speakers of English, to improve their writing skills.

Here is a useful 10-point paraphrasing checklist you can share with your students.

checklist

Sources:

Douglas, Scott Roy. Academic Inquiry: Writing for Post-secondary Success. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.

McWhorter, Kathleen T. Successful College Writing: Skills, Strategies, Learning Styles. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.

Williams, Julia. “Unit 4: Art History.” Academic Connections 4. White Plains: Pearson Education, 2010. 75+. Print.

For more helpful teaching tips, enroll now in Teaching Writing to Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners and earn 3 university credits.

In the next blog post, we will take a look at the SQ3R method based on a lecture in Module 4 of the writing course.

JOIN me on June 28 for a 2-hour online writing workshop

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Cultural responsiveness in the classroom and school community

English Learner Portal welcomes our guest blogger and new online course developer, Sarah Said. Sarah is currently a Director of English Learning in the suburbs of Chicago. She has been an advocate, writer, speaker, and constant learner about English learners for over a decade. Sarah has firm beliefs that all students have the potential to be successful. In July of 2018, Sarah will join the Mawi Learning team as the Director of English Learner Impact where she will have an impact on the education of students worldwide. Sarah’s new online course on cultural responsive teaching and learning will be available through English Learner Portal’s online classroom in September 2018!

Engage your School Community and Keep it Warm with Engaging All Cultures: Cultural Responsiveness in the Classroom and the School Community

I grew up in what is proudly today one of the largest Arab and Muslim communities in North America. In my youth, the Bridgeview area was in its prime and growing to become what is now called today “Little Palestine” on Google Maps. We were one of the first groups of families to move into the community thirty years ago. Still today, the community is thriving as the epicenter for the Arab and Muslim communities in the Chicagoland area. As a child in the early nineties, my teachers were just beginning to learn about our culture. When my Grandmother came for Grandparent’s day to eat lunch with me, teachers asked why she covered her hair. In grade school, I quickly learned to remind teachers not to order me sausage pizza and give them an explanation of why I don’t eat pork products. I was well versed in telling adults who were not of the Muslim faith that I couldn’t have jello or marshmallows if I did not know what was in them.

Now, some schools across America have peanut free tables in the lunchroom. My school cafeteria had a different type of table one month out of the year. From second grade on up, I began to practice fasting during the month of Ramadan. To fast during the month of Ramadan means to not have any food or drink from sunup to sundown. At this young of an age, I didn’t practice it to its full extent. Sometimes I fasted half days, other times I completed whole days. The “fasting table” that I shared with my Muslim peers was placed smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria, so the cafeteria ladies could keep an eye on those “fasting Arab kids”. Yes.. I said it.. the fasting kids (who were not eating lunch) sat in the middle of the cafeteria. As we sat, we tried to entertain ourselves with by playing UNO or drawing pictures. It was not easy for a group of kids who chose to fast because they wanted to be a part of their families’ traditions to continue to maintain their fast while watching their peers drink juice boxes, eat sandwiches, and trade bags of chips. Oh how I wanted a Lunchable when I got home and it was sundown! I’ll admit it, there were times where I would not continue to fast because I would want to eat with my friends and enjoy a Snackpack and a bag of Doritos that my mom had packed in case I got hungry and couldn’t handle fasting.

Was there a bad intention here? Not at all, these were great people who did have it in their hearts to care about kids. They thought they were doing the right thing for us, by putting us on our own table. We did need to be supervised after all. However, they really needed more education on appropriately accommodating students culturally. This would have required them to first learn about how culture and a child’s brain activity go hand in hand. They also needed education on the different cultures in the building and their traditions. After gathering all the information, their school leaders really needed a plan on serving the specific population. Yes, thirty years later districts in the Bridgeview area now have plans to accommodate students during the Ramadan holidays. After thirty years of dialogue between our parents’ generation and school officials and then our generation later, districts now have better plans for our children during the Ramadan holiday. There needed to be a bridge built between the community and the schools in order for staff to develop an understanding of our needs. School leaders now see the asset our community is to their school climate.

How Do Culture and a Child’s Brain Activity Go Hand in Hand?

The human brain has the ability to stretch and grow. It adjusts over the time given the environment provided for growth and the circumstances. With that said, it is time to think about the environment that we provide in our classrooms. Some of the questions that we need to ask ourselves are: 1) Am I creating an environment that is safe that makes children feel physically and emotionally safe? 2) Am I creating an environment where children are confident in sharing who they are?

When answering these questions, it is important to think about the science behind them. “The brain’s two prime directives are to stay safe and be happy.” (Hammond 2015) With that said, learning is difficult when a child is preoccupied about their safety. Yes, physically safety is key. But emotionally safety, can also really impact a child’s learning. I attended a school where teachers really did their best to make me feel secure about who I was. With this, I was able to focus on learning because I didn’t feel that my identity put me in jeopardy.

As a teacher and administrator working with English Learners, I have spent years searching for the right strategies to assure my students felt safe in my classroom. As a teacher, I worked mostly with upper grades. I also believed in starting the period off by having students volunteer to share something about their day, something exciting their anticipating, or just something they like. When students are encouraged to share and learn about each other, it really does support a strong classroom climate for all student populations. Our English Learners who may not want to share in the beginning, will eventually share later.

Also, having students create projects related to content that share information about their identity is key in the classroom. Yes, we do our “star student” and “all about me” projects at the beginning of the year, but we need more depth in how we have our students really express themselves. Lots of teachers are trying something new by having students create “vision boards”. Vision boards not only teach teachers about a student’s background, they also teach teachers about students’ goals. Students can use the vision board later to refer to their own goals. A vision board can take form in any way. It just has to be goal oriented.

This vision board was made on a software called Canva. As you can see, the board is a visual of the student’s future goals and ambitions. This could support the child feeling validated in the environment by their teacher. Continuing to integrate these types of projects into the curriculum could foster a classroom climate that builds student confidence.

In addition to creating projects that truly allow students to express themselves, knowing the type of literature or content that really appeals to the group of students you have is key. If a teacher is teaching English Language Arts, having a diverse selection of titles related to students and their culture is vital. Students need to see role models that look them in order to build their confidence levels in the classroom and outside of the classroom.

When these experiences are being provided in the classroom, it gives the child a pleasant memory of their school experience. Valuing that child goes a long way for a lifetime of confidence in who they are. Going back to brain science, the schema that is built for a child of experiences in the classroom will help reduce anxiety towards future classroom experiences. It will also help the child overcome adversity when they experience it because a teacher helped build a foundation of confidence.

Educating Staff on the Different Cultures in the Building

Teachers and staff need education about the communities they work with. This is not something that can be done in a one time professional development. Yes, professional development on the different cultures in a school community is helpful. Actually, there is now a mandate in Illinois and other states that requires school districts to train staff on understanding the different populations in their district. In addition to professional development that is ongoing, staff really need to engage with the community. It cannot be a one time deal. Some districts hold community dialogues where community members come by to have conversations with school teams about their needs. Again, this is not a just one time event. This needs to be constant.

There are some districts that have teachers visit local festivals and community centers. There teachers learn first hand about the community their students reside in. It’s important for school officials, teachers and staff to really explore the community- shops, places of worship, and attractions. This gives staff a day in the shoes of the students and families that they support.

The most valuable resources in learning about cultures are students who are willing to talk to teachers about where they come from. When I was student teaching about fifteen years ago, I was placed in a neighborhood that I no background on prior to the assignment. I was placed about an hour north of where I grew up in a community called Humboldt Park. I drove around the neighborhood to learn more about it. One day, during a time where we were working students collaboratively in the classroom, I mentioned to a group of ninth graders where I had been and what I learned. Suddenly, this group became very excited with the fact that I wanted to learn more. They then spent ten minutes telling me all about their community. This is a community in Chicago that has a large Puerto Rican population. It was my first exposure to the Puerto Rican community. My conversations with my students taught me so much about traditions. I continued to engage in them. Years later, I ended up working in a Middle School fifteen minutes away in Albany Park that served a large Hispanic community. The school had a significant Puerto Rican population. My conversations a decade prior to that with students helped me build relationships in my new environment as a language arts teacher then later as a Dean of Instruction. Students felt safe with me because I tried to learn their culture and bring it into the school and classroom.

Have A Plan for Working With The Different Communities In Your School

The best way to begin a plan for culturally responsive classrooms and schools is really to develop a survey for your students and stakeholders on the needs of students and families. From there, you can really look at your data to measure where you are strong and where you are weak in fostering students’ identities.

Here are some questions that you can ask:

Parents:

Do you feel that your child is included in school activities? Why? Why not?
Do you feel that your child’s classroom accommodates your home culture?
What are some ways that the school can value your home culture more?

Students:

Do you feel confident in participating in classroom discussions and school activities? Why? Why not?
Do you feel that your classroom values who you are?
What can the school do to value who you are?

The answers to this survey may surprise you. They will also give you a guide to making your school more engaging towards the cultures that are represented in the population.

Some aspects to think about for planning to be more responsive to students needs are dependent on your population and also budget. Finding teachers that the home language is vital for schools with large English Learner populations. If the school can afford paraprofessionals that speak the languages of the majority of English Learners to support them in general education settings, this is key in making students feel engaged. When this is done, it is important to train paraprofessionals with teachers in the various school initiatives. With paraprofessionals they need to be trained to support students in the classroom for language. They should learn to support student agency and give students a rigorous push when needed rather than only translating for students.

In addition to paraprofessionals, family engagement personnel that speak the home languages are needed for language groups larger populations. They can support parents at IEP meetings and parent conferences. They can also be a resource for school leaders to understand different populations and parents to understand a school environment. They could hold trainings for parents who need more support from the school in the home language.

In developing a plan, leaders need to assure that teachers are also involved in creating it. Teachers know what their students need because they are the ones who encounter them daily. Teachers are on the forefront for communicating with families and realizing their needs. They want to assure that schools are serving the child in the best manner.

All students matter in school environments. It is important for a school to malleable in adjusting to needs of all learners. When developing plans on the wider scale for school and district wide engagement or targeting key classroom practices all students needed to be considered. Think of it this way, your school is a quilt, every piece helps shape its design and the structure of the fabric. Without each shape, the quilt falls apart. Engage your school and keep it warm with engaging all cultures!

Citation:
Hammond, Zaretta. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin, Inc.

For further reading on this topic:
Asgedom, Mawi. Even, Johanna. Empowering English Learners For Classroom Success: 6 Keys to Academic and Social-Emotional Growth. Elmhurst, IL. Mawi Learning, Inc.
Delpit, L. D. (2006). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.

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10 Possible Alternatives to “International Night”

Today’s blog is written by Laura Gardner. Laura has 16 years of experience working in public education, refugee resettlement, and social work. While in public education, she worked as a district level manager for immigrant family and community engagement as well as a school social worker. Learn more about Laura on our English Learner Portal website.

Many schools across the U.S. host international or multicultural nights each year. At intnight these events, students and/or their families typically set up tables to highlight their countries and cultures and the rest of the students and families walk from table to table sampling food and looking at artifacts and maps. While organizers of these events have good intentions and aim to honor their students’ cultural backgrounds, sometimes these events can seem tokenistic. How can we build family comfort in schools throughout the school year? With 79% of teachers in the U.S. being white* and 25% of students being children of immigrants, getting to know the cultural backgrounds of students requires a deeper dive.

There are often two goals of international nights. The first is for students to learn more about other cultures and the second is for teachers to learn more about the backgrounds of their students and their families. With those goals in mind, what are 10 possible alternatives to international night?

Invite immigrant parents or community members to speak in your class about their background and culture or a particular topic (i.e. a Vietnamese refugee could speak to students who are learning about the Vietnam war, etc.).
Invite immigrant parents or community members to come to the classroom and share a story from their home country.
Visit the main places your students and their families spend their time (places of worship, stores, community centers, neighborhoods, etc.).
Travel as much as possible outside of the United States, particularly to the home countries of your students. Talk with students and their families about your experiences.
Conduct an immigrant parent panel. For this professional learning opportunity, invite 3-6 immigrant parents to form a panel. Have one educator ask questions to each parent such as “Can you tell us about schools in your home country?” and so on. Be sure to provide teachers in the audience with an opportunity to ask their own questions.
Invite immigrant parents to provide input on the rules and values that are practiced at school. Discuss any “cultural mismatches” between home and school.
Take an interest in immigrant parents’ approach to raising their children. Ask questions about their family life.
Ask immigrant parents or community members for information needed. Every time you seek background information on something from another country or culture, ask a parent from that culture (or student, if appropriate) to tell you what they know about that topic. For example, if you have a lesson on Chinese New Year, find a Chinese parent in your school or community leader to talk to for more information and/or invite the person to speak directly with your students. Resist the urge to Google for lesson plans when you have direct sources of information nearby.
Invite immigrant parents or community members to provide input on the curriculum.
Help students make connections between what they’re studying and the immigrant communities in their own town. For example, an IB (International Baccalaureate) class studying India could visit a local Indian organization rather than visiting the Indian embassy.

When you are ready to plan your schedule of parent/community events, please visit the English Learner Portal Resource Center for a free “Planning Checklist for ELL Family Nights”. You will find this document in the Family Engagement folder.

*https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf

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Why plagiarism is serious business

Who is guilty of plagiarism?

Tip #1 for avoiding plagiarism: Take Notes

Tip #2 for avoiding plagiarism: paraphrase

Citation: Hammond, Zaretta. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin, Inc.

*https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf

Citation:
Hammond, Zaretta. (2015) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin, Inc.