ASL Classroom Management

     I have always been fascinated by American Sign Language. It is something I have always wanted to learn, and something that has always clicked with me. In the fall of 2009, at the age of 37, my mom lost her hearing, and was completely deaf in both ears. I watched her struggle through having hearing aids, and through an eventual surgery, that has allowed her to get her hearing back. She always had a hard time, with reading peoples lips, because no one ever made eye contact or talked loud enough for her to get a general idea of what the person was saying to her. While my mother never learned ASL she was able to depend on lip reading and context clues, in order to communicate effectively with others, until she was able to hear again.
       My cousin Emily who is 2 years old, was born with hearing loss, for the first year of her life, Emily couldn't hear and the doctors believed she would never be able to hear again. Emily went into an intensive speech therapy program, because she wasn't making noises or developing her speech because she couldn't hear. The program that Emily was in actually was paid for a ASL teacher to come to their house once a week to teach sign language, as they believed it would be the only way to communicate with Emily. My aunt and uncle invited most of the family, and every week for about 3 months, they spent 2 hours a week learning ASL. While I was not able to attend because I was at school, my mom attended every class. She learned so much, and I remember seeing her on brakes and she would sign things for me and show me what she learned. She was so excited.
     Within the last 6 months, Emily had a turnaround. They put tubes in her ears, and she was able to hear again, but she still has some significant hearing loss. Her cleft palate will also make speech difficult for her, so she still sees a speech pathologist weekly.
   For my family learning ASL was important to us because it directly affected us. Over spring break I was thinking about ASL and being deaf and how it affected my family, and how one day it might affect me personally as well. As my mother's hearing loss was genetic, I have a good chance of developing it at a young age too. I thought about how I could incorporate this in my classroom. Was there a way that I could incorporate sign language into my every day lesson plan? Could I have a little power point with important vocab words of the day, and how to sign them? I decided to do a simple google search, to see what popped up. Within seconds, I was bombarded with links on how to use ASL as a effective classroom management technique.
    The articles talked about using, sign language, to sign things like bathroom, water fountain, or even things like I have a question, or I have a comment, in order to minimize disruptions in the classroom. It would be so easy to have my students just raise their hand with the sign for restroom, and I could easily, direct them, by signing yes or no, without stopping the class or disrupting an activity or lectures. Most of the teachers who wrote about ASL classroom management were elementary or middle school teachers. This is could also be an effective tool in high school, but I am apprehensive because it might not work as well for older students, who might find it petty. Is it too childish? Is it appropriate to use?
     ASL classroom management is an idea I would like to explore further, it seems like if used correctly it could be extremely effective. Not only does it help minimize distractions in my classroom, but it is also teaching my students a new language, that one day they could find useful or helpful in their life.

    Check out this link:
 Sign Language Classroom Management Posters

My beautiful cousin Emily

    
            

Disconnect

   It has been almost two weeks since I have seen my student. We are in the midst of public school break, and we will only have one day to meet before my spring break starts too. It feels as if there is some disconnect. My student, whom Im supposed to be tutoring and learning from seems farther away than normal. I feel like I have missed so much, in the span of two weeks. And when we meet again this Friday, I know I'm going to be so lost, because projects and assignments are ever changing.
   If I feel lost, and I don't even have assignments to do, I can only imagine how the absence of a high school student affects their learning. What is absence doing to our students?
   Growing up, I NEVER missed school. Actually, I was the rare type who hated missing school, for fear of missing something important. Do our students have this same outlook? or was I just an odd one.
      I am not sure how many days out of the week, my student attends school, but every Tuesday and Friday morning when I am there, he is there. While absence might not affect my student directly, it's a topic that I feel I should make an effort to know a little more about.
     John Hopkins School of Education in partnership with Center for Social Organization of Schools, did a case study on Chronic Absenteeism in the United States. This study focused on 6 key states including, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska and Rhode Island as key points of data.
     The case study defines Chronic Absenteeism as missing 10% of the entire school year; or 18 or more days. "The six states reported chronic absentee rates from 6 percent to 23 percent, with high poverty urban areas reporting up to one-third of students chronically absent."
     This study suggests that high Chronic Absenteeism is most prominently found with low-income students; and is not based on gender or race, but simply socio-economic status. The students who need school the most are the ones who absent. The case sums this up perfectly by saying,
       "Because students reared in poverty benefit the most from being in school, one of the most effective strategies for providing pathways out of poverty is to do what it takes to get these students in school every day. This alone, even without improvements in the American education system, will drive up achievement, high school graduation, and college attainment rates." 
     Missing school matters because school is an opportunity for students to thrive despite the odds that have been put against them, no one can take away your knowledge and that is why school is so important. 
       The study suggests that 5-7.5 million American students enrolled in public schools are not attending school regularly each year. The study concludes by reiterating that there is a strong correlation between absenteeism and academic achievement. To tie into this, poverty is also a huge factor in chronic absenteeism. The study ends with saying that the most effective way to close the achievement gap, "will be a concerted effort to enable and ensure that high-poverty students  attend school regularly from pre-k to grade 12."
     While this does sound like a lot to ask, I know it is not entirely impossible. The study suggest a few ways that schools have done this, but on that struck me was the simple idea of rewarding good attendance. It sounds silly, and it may not have a initial affect,  but rather one over time, but doesn't that makes sense. Students like to be recognized for their successes, and attendance should be one of these because it is something that is very important and crucial to our students overall achievement.
    I'm not sure if this is a problem that can be solved right away but with engaged teachers and administrators it can be a problem that is easily  fixed. I am eager to see how the future education system changes and whether or not absenteeism will be taken seriously in our schools that are struggling with chronic absenteeism.


Link to the study:  http://new.every1graduates.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/FINALChronicAbsenteeismReport_May16.pdf

SBHS ELL Departement

      As I have been working with S, I have realized the importance of a good and cohesive ELL department to support students in transitioning into the United States school system.
      On a logistical and realistic level, SBHS is following federal education standards, in their ELL program. The federal government has given the school a special formula title 3 grant in order to create an up to standard ELL program. While the school's ELL population is only 2%, the resources they do have are impeccable.
   On the South Burlington High School webpage there is a page specifically for the English Language Learners Department. On the page, their personal mission statement reads as follows:   
    “The South Burlington School District is a diverse community with students and families from many countries and around the world. It is our belief that through knowledge and a commitment to understanding and getting to know each other, our lives are enriched as well as community. To acknowledge, utilize and promote these value inherent in this diversity, and to best serve all students, we have developed this resource guide. We encourage students, staff, families and community members to learn more about our South Burlington School Community and the many ways we can support each other’s learning.”
     The page also includes contact information for the two ELL teachers who work at SBHS as well as a link to “Can Do Booklet” and “Resources for English Language Learners.”
     The WIDA Can Do booklet has in depth information on the different WIDA levels standards to work towards, performance definitions, and Can Do Descriptors for grades 9-12. For Example, An ELL students who shows a level 3 (developing) ability in Listening will be able to:



       -          Evaluate information in social and academic conversation



       -          Distinguish main ideas from supporting points in Oral Conversation.



       -          Content related discourse



      -          Use  learning strategies to describe orally



      -          Categorize content based examples, described orally.

Here are the links:

Can-Do Booklet: https://www.sbschools.net/cms/lib/VT01819219/Centricity/Domain/81/CanDoBooklet9-12.pdf



Resources for English Language Learners: https://vt01819219.schoolwires.net/cms/lib/VT01819219/Centricity/domain/81/ell_resources/ELL_Resources.html

  By working with S on every Tuesday and Friday morning I am also able to interact with the ELL teachers, mostly Mrs. W. Mrs. W’s strategies and calm coaxing with the students. When I tutor S, Mrs. W has a class in the same classroom at the same time. She is always calm and composed. She always has a clear and concise agenda of the activities for the day. She is also very hands on with her students. When she hands back assignments she goes over everything with them individually. She points out the things they did well on, and where the students need to improve. 

      She also, uses her body to act out difficult concepts that are hard to understand just by explaining verbally. I remember she was describing how when our bodies are in motion, it makes energy for the cells and she was running around the room.   

     As an ELL teacher it is Mrs. W’s job to make sure that her students continue to improve their WIDA scores and their overall understanding of the English Language.  I specifically remember Mrs. W, talking to S about his Lab Report. While his sentence structure is improving, he always forgets the letter S. For example S, would write “He wait for the bus.” When it fact it should be, “He waits for the bus.” In this instance Mrs. W had to give S some tough love. While she knows S is very smart and she knows he understands the topics, his writing and grammar skills need to improve in order for his work to truly show how capable S is as a student.

More Thought's On Our Approach To English Language Learners

                I have already posted a few blog posts about ELL's but I feel as if its a topic that isn't talked about often enough. For a class reading we were assigned 2 articles, Preparing English Language Learners for Academic Success, and Teaching English Language Learners: What does Research Tell Us?. (I will post links to both articles below. I encourage you to give them a read.) As I read these articles, it was coming apparent that I myself didn't have a lot of knowledge about how the programs for ELL students are being cultivated and what they actually need to be successful. I imagine that majority of these students don't attend top private schools, so I was really entrigued to see how schools are helping ELL's be successful. While these articles give a general overview, I would like to do more research on my own into what  resources schools actually have.
        
           According to a study there are over 3.4 million ELL students, in our schools right now, and ELL students represent 6% of all school aged children. 79% of these students come from Spanish households and 2/3rds of ELLs come from low income families. When reading the article about Preparing ELLS for Academic Success, I was a little shocked to find out that there is no common benchmark for English Language proficiency. I guess I was so taken aback because ELL students make up a huge part of the student body of America. The government has always been very gungho about common core standards, so I was confused when they didn't really have a plan for ELLs.
  
         The types programs that are available to our students is probably the most crucial to their success. While there are many different methods that our used. The articles seem to suggest that bi-lingual programs work the best, and is most helpful for students trying to learn a new language. On average it takes students about 3-5 years to be proficient in oral English and 5-7 to be proficient in Academic English. The law however only gives up to 4 years, to get a student up "full proficiency." To me this seems a little ridiculous, how do we expect students to learn a new language proficiently in the matter of three years? I doubt that any average American Student could learn a new language "proficiently" that quickly either. I guess it just doesn't seem quite fair to put such a time constraint on something that is clearly very important. A 2015 study in Washington found that on average it takes Spanish Speaking Learners a little over 4 years to be completely proficient in the English Language.
 
     I don't know how to fix the problems, or how to make things more cohesive for our ELL students but I can see that we are making the right strides. As of 2015 , More than 45 States in the US, use 1 out of 2 of the English-Language proficiency test, in order to gauge student's success. Researchers believe that by using these assessments they will be able to gather some clearer data in regards to what is working and what is and how we can better help our students.







          Articles:

       Preparing English Language Learners for Academic Success,
         
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Instruction/What-research-says-about-English-language-learners-At-a-glance/Preparing-English-language-learners-for-academic-success.html


   Teaching English Language Learners: What does Research Tell Us?

  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/05/11/teaching-english-language-learners-what-does-the-research.html

            

Thoughts on a Single Story

 

 Danger of a Single Story by Ngozi Chimamanda :

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
     

                In Chimamanda Ngozi’s Ted Talk, she talks about her struggle as a writer and an African author, and the different perceptions that people have based on the story they s see. I think as a college student, one thing that I can take from Ngozi’s speech is that we tend to have only one perception of someone or something, and to look beyond that perception and realize that there are more stories than just the one we see. Often when we watch the news we only get one story.  Ngozi described how her first American college roommate’s perception of her was based on the things she had seen about Africa, Africa as a poor, third world country. Which was not how Ngozi grew up at all. By knowing the whole story, and ALL the stories we are able to have a better understanding of not only ourselves but others.
           As a teacher, I think this means to look at our students as individuals, and understand that the way they might act in the classroom is not the only definition of who they are. As a teacher it is our responsibility to not only teach but open up our eyes to the struggles that our students are facing not only inside of the classroom but outside of the classroom too. There’s always something more to it than just what we see, and being aware and open to everyone's stories is a way of helping our students, but also benefitting ourselves. Not to look down on them and pity if they are struggling, but instead we should say, “How can I help you?”and accept some of the humility. Chimamanda reflected on the fact that she only saw the young boy who worked for her family as poor and she could not see his abilities. Let me be a teacher who sees ability in my students and not the things that are holding them back.