Karla+Barrow

This page is for Karla to post her goodies :D

Reflections

Thursday, after watching the film, I spent a lot of time reflecting. This film and the experience of working with others to opened my eyes to a reality that I didn’t recognize exists. Realistically, I knew that places like Hoover Elementary school existed but I think the film brought it to life. I was so impressed with the young girl (Maria?) that was interviewed. I was impressed with her passion to learn in spite of the political unrest around her. I was impressed with her resilience and desire to help other Latinos when she got older. I was impressed with her goal of becoming a lawyer so she could facilitate important changes in the lives of others. As I watched the interview with the six young people I was touched by their pride in their culture. I was appalled at what they had seen, five out of six having witnessed a murder. These children had learned to stand up for what they believe in. They were attentive to events that would affect their future and were not afraid to confront someone that might be a threat to their right to experience life in America. I could identify with the two teachers that were in the film, the one that made the film and the one that donated so much of her time to the community in the parent center. Both of these teachers were passionate about their teaching. They were like many teachers that I know that want the best for their students and will go out of their way to make sure they are giving their best. When the teacher filming expressed her anger at (Maria’s) absence from school when she left for Mexico it made me feel justified for the times I have been upset for the very same thing. This probably told me more than anything that she cared for her student. I thought she might be more understanding since she was Latino. I pondered what it would be like to be so invested in a culture being attacked, both politically and socially. As I watched and listened to the comments made in their faculty meetings I wondered which side of the #|fence I would be on. I thought about the teacher that admitted to voting for 187 and I could understand why she might do that. On the other hand I had so much empathy for the students and their families; their way of life, their fear of rejection, the possibility of not being able to attend school, the fear of any authority figure…I can’t imagine living among so much uncertainty. I have thought of the Latino woman that also voted for 187. As I listened to her talking about the decay of the neighborhood and the difference in the way people act I can’t help but wonder is the difference attributed to only the illegal immigrants or is it due to deterioration in society itself. Throughout my reflections this weekend I keep coming back to the experience that I have had working with Juan and Sandra. Although they are from the same city their perspectives are different. We read a story about a person that lived a very frugal life and when he died he donated over a million dollars to the school he worked with. When asked what he would do if he had a million dollars Juan said that he would go back home because the money would be worth so much more in Mexico. When asked the same question Sandra said that she would stay in America because life is better here. She also said that there was nothing to go back home for. Both of these students want to #|learn English better so they can get better #|jobs and provide a better life for their families. This isn’t any different from what most people in this country want. I think it goes back to the film and the different point of view expressed by the people involved in the film. They all wanted things to improve. They wanted to be safe. They wanted what was best for their families and neighborhoods. All of them not only believed in but wanted to live “the American dream”.

July 16 No students again today. Since they weren't here I sat in with Connie and Madahi. It was interesting to work with someone that had a higher language skill. Madahi had some vocabulary she had heard at work and wanted clarification with. One of the phrases that we discussed was the phrase "I swear". She tried to compare this phrase with the word 'oath'. It was fun to see her making connections with vocabulary and being able to explain the differences in the words and phrases. We also worked with her on prepositions. She did quite well but had some difficulty distinguishing when she should use "for" or "about".

July 11 Sandra and Juan were not here today. I had prepared an presentation using the iPad and Splice for them to review. Juan had mentioned that he had difficulty telling the difference between the words bear, beer, beard, and bird. The presentation was meant for them to listen to these words and practice saying them correctly. Snow also had prepared a reading, listening, speaking, and writing activity.

July 9 Only Sandra was here today. She really wants to learn how to pronounce the words correctly and works so hard with the difficult English sounds. Many of them she is able to get in isolation but has a difficult time putting them into words. Today I wrote a simple story that I was going to dictate for her because she has talked about working on spelling. She took my notebook and said, "Let me. You tell me when I wrong." She read the sentences and did a pretty good job. I was impressed that she got the punchline of the story. When we finished we told her about the picnic/hike for the last day of school. Sandra began talking about what she might bring and we discussed recipes and restaurants that we like. She is a lot of fun to talk to. I appreciate her and her effort to improve her English. It has given me some insight into what many of the parents of my students might be going through as they struggle to be involved in their children's #|education.

July 7 (Tim Conrad): One evaluation check that can be very informative: is the teacher having a good time? If not, if it feels like the experience is draining and like "pulling teeth," then probably adjustments need to be made. You seem very happy as teacher/tutor :) Tell me if there's anything I can do to help out in any way or find materials/resources.

July 3 Yesterday we worked with Juan and Sandra. I put together a set of sentences that i dictated and had them write. It lead to quite a discussion about gardens and cooking. I loved that we had a "natural" conversation that I would have with peers. It was fun to hear their opinions and help them pronounce words correctly or find the #|English vocabulary that they were trying to express. I'm beginning to see Sandra relax and open up more. I think if we can help her with her confidence in expressing herself she will improve her English skills faster.

July 1 TC: It's great to have you teaching in our little community #|ESL class! You're already involved in so many important aspects of language teaching: conversation skills, grammar, writing, and vocabulary. Feel free to bring up some of these issues in class as we share ideas for helping our students learn what they feel they need or find interesting to them.

June 27 Today Snow and I worked with Sandra. She missed class on Monday so I just met her today. She told us that she wants to improve her conversational skills as well as her writing and spelling. As we were working with her from a worksheet she asked if she was going to be doing any writing. We had her look at some pictures and write what she saw. She came up with some good sentences for many of the pictures. She does need some help with spelling and grammatical issues but she has great ideas. I was impressed with how hard she worked at writing. As I worked with her there were times that I felt that I needed to find a better way to help her with her writing skills. I want to do something that is more meaningful to her than a drill. I want her to feel some success. I also want to feel that I made a difference for her.

June 26 I met Juan for the first time today. Snow and I talked to him about where he was from and what brought him to Utah. He is from Mexico and has been in the States for over twenty years. It was interesting to me that after being here for so long he has chosen to find a place to improve his English skills. He mentioned that he wanted to learn the language so he could have more effective conversations with others. He also felt that if his English skills were better he might be able to get a job as a supervisor. As we worked with him he commented on some words that have multiple meanings such as "leaves". While reading he also mentioned that sometimes "too" had only one "o" in it and wanted to know why. I thought he had some interesting insights into the language.