Snow+Smith

July 22 (Tim Conrad): Snow, you're such a natural teacher, finding just the right book and materials that would work for you students and preparing meaningful lessons for them, listening to their concerns, as well as collaborating with me and the other class members. Your school is lucky to have you! Thank you for your energy and care in all your teaching and class interactions this past month.

July 1, TC: Snow, I think things have been working out in terms of your teaching assignments. Thank you for the important background information about Uksoo. I know we've been talking about things as you've been doing xeroxing and so on. Please feel free to get together with me if you need more input from me about resources or other concerns as you're doing your teaching. I really appreciate all of the ways you're teaching as we get the classes going this summer!

6/20/12 WED. First day potluck for ELL students It was quite a fun experience. After eating, I asked one of the ELLs some questions we discussed to assess the needs of the ELL student, Uksoo, Kang who is from Korea. Uksoo has been in the US for over 2 years. He has been studying English since at a very young age, maybe 4 or 5 years old. The reason he signed up the program is to strengthen his listening and speaking skills. If he had to pick one skill to work on, he will pick listening. He said he had a hard time to understand the conversation when the listening content is very long. Therefore, at this point in the program, he would really love someone to help him with that. Uksoo is planing on using English for his whole life especially at his job. He wants to become an accountant in the US. He also has an ant is living in the US as well. According to my estimate, I believe Uksoo is at Level 5, advanced level. Over all, he can speak and communicate with others very well in the conversation. When it comes to writing, I notice he uses many writing skills and academic words he learned at school. His grammar is often correct. English is my second language, I do not think I will meet Uksoo's needs. Uksoo needs someone who speaks English like breathing. I personally think I would fit better with someone who does not speak English much and not shy. That will motivate them to use English more, and I will fit their needs better.

6/25/12 MON. The first day of the ELL class. Our class’s level is beginning; our class includes Karla and I, and three students, Juan, Sandra, and Vanessa. Today we only had Juan coming in. Even though, we talked about Juan at the instructional planning time; I still thought it would be better we started with getting to know each other and his needs. Juan told us that he would like to learn more conversational English; he wants to communicate better with Americans, especially at his job; he works for PepsiCo. I think we chose the right level material for Juan. It is not too hard and not too easy for him as well. The material provides good speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. I think it meets Juan’s needs well. With writing skill, I also think it is important to teach him formal writing instead of informal or slang writing. Regardless, he wants to learn conversational English. At the end, we talked about if the lesson today met Juan’s needs. I think it is important to check and see if the lesson meets the learner’s needs after every lesson. I noticed Juan took a picture dictionary home. I asked if he wants to pick a topic he likes and learn about the words next time he comes to class. I think expending his vocabulary bank can also help him reach his goal: communicate well with native speakers.

6/27/12 WED. Today only Sandra came to the class. This is first time we had Sandra, so we started with getting to know each other first. Sandra has been in the States for 14 years. Her uncle lives in Utah. Sandra came to the program to improve her speaking, reading and spelling.I found Sandra was not familiar with alphabet. Sandra is confident with her listening. However, I think she can improvement. She seems very self conscious. I think she needs a lot of encouragement. Karla did very well with this part of her needs. I like co-teaching with her; I have learned a lot from her as well. Like always, at the end, we asked Sandra if the lesson today fit her needs. She answered, "Yes," and looked happy.

7/2 /12 MON. This is the second time for both Sandra and Juan. They seemed a lot more relaxed, and when they are relaxed, they use more English. I found that both the learning and the teaching experience were positive today. A good learning environment really makes big difference for the teachers and the students. Creating a good learning environment not only is important for the students but also for the teachers as well. It was a great idea to start with a group activity. The group activity and separation into small groups work out very well for creating a positive learning environment. At the end of the tutoring, I could tell both Juan and Sandra were happy and content. I want to always ask if what we teach is what they need at the end of every lesson. We can also invite them to go home and read something when they have any questions, they can bring it back to the class and we can try to answer their questions. I know most adult students are busy and do not have much time for homework, so I try not to put too much pressure on them. However, I personally believe that giving students some meaningful homework will help them to learn independently, so I still give them something that can easily be done at home. Also, I have learned that it is important to constantly build up adult students’ confidence. Some adults might believe that they are too old to learn, that they do not have time to learn, and so on. It is crucial to build the confidence of adult ELLs. Overall, two keys to success are a good attitude and perseverance. Therefore, my goal is to always remember to encourage them, reassuring them that making mistakes is not a big deal. After all, even native speakers make mistakes when they use English.

7/4/12 WED. NO CLASS.

7/9/12 MON. This time we only had Sandra come to class. Sandra seemed relaxed and enjoyed the class more and more. For me, it was a great sign. Only when students enjoy learning will they make the most of what they learn. At first, I asked about how she spent her 4th of July. She appeared more talkative and not afraid of speaking English to us. I think that’s a really good sign. In the future, I think it will be important to help her speak English to others the way she speaks to us. Speaking English requires a relaxed mind. Afterward, we read and practiced the true story text. This time she seemed more focused on reading than writing. I think it is because she feels more comfortable speaking and reading in front of us. Every class, we have tried to give her opportunities to practice all four skills, reading, speaking, listening, and writing. I think this helps all language learners. It is not a good idea to single out one skill when learning a language. During the class, we also told her about the potluck and hiking ideas for the last community class. She seemed excited about that. She mentioned that sometimes she cannot get a ride to go to the library’s English learning program. I told her there should be a bus that goes by the library; she just had to call and ask the library about the bus information. At the end of the class, we gave her the lesson for next week and told her that if she has time, she can go through it by herself first. She agreed and took it home.

7/11/12 WED Today we did not have any students come in. So I decided to visit other teachers' group and observe their teaching. It was great to see different teaching styles and learn from one another.We all have our own teaching styles and theories. What is most important is that our students are learning. I believe that teachers should always adjust their teaching approach according to their students' different needs. I cannot pick which teaching group that I like the most because I appreciate each different teaching strategy. They are all good when they meet the students' needs. On the contrary, a good teaching strategy can be ineffective when it does not meet the students' needs; for example, a student may need strategies to improve speaking skills, but the teacher focuses too much time on strategies that relate to improving writing skills. Teaching strategies and materials should meet students' learning levels and needs.

7/16/12 MON Again, my students, Sandra and Juan, did not show up. I guess it was the weather. Hopefully we will see them on Wednesday. This time I did not jump around the group. Karla and I teamed up with Connie. I forgot to ask the student's name, but I know she is preparing to take a test. Looking at the student we were helping, I tried to remember how I learned English along the way. I don't recall prepositions ever being a hard topic for me. That subject always seemed clear. The student also asked a lot about slang and conversational English terms. I was glad she was asking a lot of questions. I think she would learn a lot just by continuing to ask questions. Asking questions can help herself and the teacher fulfill the TESOL goals of language ability, academic language, and social and culture factors. At the end, Connie left some time for the student to ask more questions. The student brought her math paper and asked some math questions. I was excited about that. I really like math and enjoy solving math problems. Math itself is a universal language. We did not have too much time to explain the math to her, but I was glad I solved the math problems. She will have to go back and study it herself. I am sure glad everything I learned at school has helped me to be a better person and give me the ability to help more people.

7/18/WED. Ending with a potluck party Great food and good time!

This page is for Snow to post her goodies :D