Last night Dr. Mandy Menke challenged my thinking. She stated: "Students who struggle in Reading & oral language in Immersion programs are benefited from having interventions in both their native language as well as the target language." Although there has not been nearly enough research conducted in this area, she did have a couple of studies that substantiated this conclusion. But neither has there been nearly enough research conducted to see if early 2nd language learners are benefitted by having interventions in their target language. Which brings most of us educators to rely on our own experiences (including data on specific students who are struggling in our classrooms) & bias to make decisions.
I have been on the other side of the fence until now, urging, pleading that our K & 1st graders not receive interventions in English until English is re-introduced in the Immersion program; in our school that occurs in the middle of 2nd grade. I have felt strongly about this as I have read about other teacher's challenges, and as I have watched some of my own students' families choose to have their child tutored in English before the 2nd grade English program begins. The results I have seen from this have been that the child does make progress in English, but not in the target language. When the native language thus becomes easier (not necessarily "easy") for students to read & express themselves, the interest and motivation for the target language seems to wane. Resistence sometimes follows, and parents may decide to pull their child out of the Immersion program to avoid further conflict with their child.
When I raised this question/scenario to Dr. Menke, she reminded me that what I am describing is an "Affect" not an "Academic" response, and that there have not been any studies to show how that can effect the immersion student's success in the program. I love getting clarity! I needed that word, affect, to help me align my observations and experiences with what some of these other studies have shown regarding the academic results of this type of intervention.
I'm currently re-reading the book that Dr. Menke assisted on, Struggling Learners & Language Immersion Education, by Tara Fortune with Mandy R. Menke, and I see the struggle that researchers have in nailing down this issue. For example, Fortune states that "decades of research carried out on immersion programs with typically developing language majority children clearly and consistently show that initial literacy development and full (100%) immersion in an L2 do not jeopardize English language or literacy development or subject matter achievement" (Genesee, 1987; Swain & Lapkin,m 1982; Turnbull, Lapkin & Hart, 2001). She goes on to state, "it is argued that if a learner is already struggling to keep pace with the content and language, reducing the amount of instructional time learning through the immersion language by offering intervention in English, may result in the learner falling further and further behind." (p. 81)
However, on a following page, Fortune states, "While there is limited empirical evidence that strongly supports the use of one language or the other, many practitioners recommend that intervention be bilingual if at all possible." (Genesee et al., 2004; Gutiérrez-Clellan, 1999; Kohnert, 2008; Kohnert / Derr, 2004). (p. 83)
So which direction do we choose? I don't mean to write a new thesis here, but I am always open to exploring more intensely and intentionally what the best practice is for our students. I'd love to hear from others of you, too. What has been your experience? If you were at the WMAIE meeting last night, what were you most challenged by?
I will leave you with some final thoughts from Fortune's book, "It is important to remember when considering the intervention plan that choosing one language or another for intervention will not automatically solve the problem. Demers (1994) suggests that learners not only need language remediation but also need to be instructed in 'how to learn' skills and concepts. (p. 83)
Get the book! I don't think it's out in a movie yet!!
~Sheryl René
Friday, November 22, 2013
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Naysayers
I admit that when we are given a new curriculum for our District, I am often one of the first to start saying, "but for Immersion we can't..., or we need to change...." Sometimes these are valid complaints, and sometimes I find myself renegging on that argument after I try it out & find that it DOES work for Immersion students. Of course there are certain absolutes, like, talk to me all day about how important it is for students to learn short vowel words first, but there is no such thing in Spanish, so I won't be teaching that rule for Spanish. However, the Lucy Calkins teaching series for Writing is one change that I have enjoyed teaching this year more than ever! The new emphasis on non-fiction writing is actually a gift for 2nd language learners, as their initial vocabulary has to be very real and concrete.
Teachers aren't the only ones who have to confront new teaching & uncharted waters. Our parents are often called on to help their children at home for a language that they have never studied. I don't even try to argue with them when they tell me "I/We can't"... or "I don't know how..." or "But my child doesn't want to..." But I really appreciate it when they take the recommendation & run with it.
This week I was very inspired by a parent who loves her child (as we all do!), and is willing to at least TRY the teacher recommendation. I recommended that these parents ask their 1st grader to read aloud to their 6th grader (also an Immersion student), and then retell the story in her own words. (The idea being that the 6th grader could understand & help the 1st grader in the retelling process more fluently than the parents). As she related the story to me, this mom said that they had tried that before, but that the younger child had never liked reading to her older sibling. The next part was the part was what grabbed me.."But I told my daughter, you know what? This is Sra. Dalman's homework for you, so we're going to try it! We want you to learn to read & retell even better!" I LOVED THAT! Thank you to all you moms & dads out there who take up that challenge & put in the extra time to help your child achieve the dream!
Oh, I'll still be defending best practices for Immersion education, and you can hold me to that!
Still learning,
Sheryl René
Teachers aren't the only ones who have to confront new teaching & uncharted waters. Our parents are often called on to help their children at home for a language that they have never studied. I don't even try to argue with them when they tell me "I/We can't"... or "I don't know how..." or "But my child doesn't want to..." But I really appreciate it when they take the recommendation & run with it.
This week I was very inspired by a parent who loves her child (as we all do!), and is willing to at least TRY the teacher recommendation. I recommended that these parents ask their 1st grader to read aloud to their 6th grader (also an Immersion student), and then retell the story in her own words. (The idea being that the 6th grader could understand & help the 1st grader in the retelling process more fluently than the parents). As she related the story to me, this mom said that they had tried that before, but that the younger child had never liked reading to her older sibling. The next part was the part was what grabbed me.."But I told my daughter, you know what? This is Sra. Dalman's homework for you, so we're going to try it! We want you to learn to read & retell even better!" I LOVED THAT! Thank you to all you moms & dads out there who take up that challenge & put in the extra time to help your child achieve the dream!
Oh, I'll still be defending best practices for Immersion education, and you can hold me to that!
Still learning,
Sheryl René
Friday, September 27, 2013
What???
It's Friday, the day is over, the kids have gone home. I'm just finishing cleaning off my desk, packing my bag, and giving the computer one last look, when one of my students, Courtney, enters my room with a big smile & "Hola, Sra. Dalman!" Right behind her is her little brother. She introduces me to her little brother, Casey. Courtney then proceeds to explain why she's back at school so late in the afternoon...her mom wanted her to come look for a couple of sweaters & miscellaneous items that she has left behind. We chat a few minutes, I'm speaking all Spanish to her, of course, and she's doing a mix of English & Spanish. It's still early in the year, so that happens.
A couple of minutes later Courtney's mom enters the room & starts talking to me in English, also explaining why they're back in the classroom at around 4:45 in the afternoon. Because the mom does not speak Spanish, I answer her in English. That's when I get this "What????" as Courtney swings her head around to look at me. "You speak English??????" I immediately answer her in Spanish, explaining that I can only speak to adults in English, (especially if they don't speak Spanish), but that I always speak with her and the rest of the class in Spanish.
It's a quick interchange, and Courtney seems to accept that answer pretty easily, because she knows it's true! I always speak to my students in Spanish, even if it's at the local grocery store, the movies, church. They can always count on Sra. Dalman to engage them in a conversation in Spanish! That's why I love Immersion. It is so real. I hope to always give my students that very real-world experience. Spanish is a language of communication. I communicate to them in the classroom, but I want them to know the conversation that is so common outside the classroom as well.
Pues, sí, Courtney. Te quiero mucho y voy a enseñarte todo lo que hay dentro de mi. ¡Y me encanta que no sabías que yo podía hablar inglés! ¡Hasta mañana! Oh, and goodnight to the rest of you, too.
Sheryl René
A couple of minutes later Courtney's mom enters the room & starts talking to me in English, also explaining why they're back in the classroom at around 4:45 in the afternoon. Because the mom does not speak Spanish, I answer her in English. That's when I get this "What????" as Courtney swings her head around to look at me. "You speak English??????" I immediately answer her in Spanish, explaining that I can only speak to adults in English, (especially if they don't speak Spanish), but that I always speak with her and the rest of the class in Spanish.
It's a quick interchange, and Courtney seems to accept that answer pretty easily, because she knows it's true! I always speak to my students in Spanish, even if it's at the local grocery store, the movies, church. They can always count on Sra. Dalman to engage them in a conversation in Spanish! That's why I love Immersion. It is so real. I hope to always give my students that very real-world experience. Spanish is a language of communication. I communicate to them in the classroom, but I want them to know the conversation that is so common outside the classroom as well.
Pues, sí, Courtney. Te quiero mucho y voy a enseñarte todo lo que hay dentro de mi. ¡Y me encanta que no sabías que yo podía hablar inglés! ¡Hasta mañana! Oh, and goodnight to the rest of you, too.
Sheryl René
Friday, August 30, 2013
C'mon!
We went back to that inner city Detroit church last weekend. (I'm grateful that Immersion educators are famous for understanding the joy of crossing cultures.) We returned to the same neighborhood, the same streets, to continue cleaning up, cutting waist high weeds, sweeping, raking, boarding up abandoned homes with decorative boards; whatever the pastor asked of us to help make the neighborhood safer and more attractive. About the time that we finished clearing a sizeable lot, along came a city bus. The driver honked his horn & gave us the thumb's up sign to show his appreciation. That encouraged us all so much. Just a small token of appreciation, and we were ready to pull more weeds!
Skip to Sunday morning...I was part of the visiting Praise Team for the Worship service. The pastor had invited us to lead worship that day, because "we don't have any musicians. We just use CDs to sing along with." We didn't exactly have an abundance of musicians in our group that day, 3 to be exact, but we agreed to do what we could. Low and behold, to start off the service here came about 20 singers, plus a choir director, plus a pastor who became sort of the lead singer. They used a CD alright; but they backed it up with so many beautiful voices. It was amazing!
Then we were invited up. The 3 of us. I don't think I was really nervous, inspite of the fact that the guitar player is a Middle Schooler who is still learning his craft, and the other singer has a very soft voice, but we plugged ahead, appealing to the congregation to help us not feel so lonely by singing along with us. We only had 2 songs. As I started the 2nd song, I messed up. I played the right chords, but in the wrong places & confused my guitar player. So I just stopped & said, "Let's start that again." The congregation was very patient with us. And we really appreciated it. But what impacted me most, was, just as I started the chord progression again, one of the young members down front shouted out, "C'mon! You can do it!" And the others of the congregation chimed in, affirming that they too believed in us. We finished the song. We did it! And we didn't feel bummed, discouraged or disappointed in ourselves for the error.
I want to be that young person. I want to be a part of that congregation/community culture. I want every one of you as teachers, administrators, parents, students to feel affirmed, even in your failures. I want you to feel that support as you go about your day, making plans, teaching, listening, facilitating, enabling, releasing...C'mon! You can do it! I want your students and my students to feel that affirmation from the teachers & leaders in their lives. C'mon! You can do it! I want our students to learn to be that kind of support to their peers; help them to break down the barriers of embarrassment; to discontinue the laughing in response to personal errors or failures, and instead to take up the cry of this young person, C'mon! You can do it!
So often at the beginning of a new school year we are so excited about the new ideas we've dreamed up, classes that we've taken, new products to be unveiled in the classroom, new students to get to know, only to get the wind knocked out of us by a critical co-worker, a disgruntled parent, a harsh administrator, a seemingly impossible task just presented to us the week before school starts, that we become discouraged. But this year I'm taking on that affirmation I heard from that young person in Detroit. C'mon! You can do it! C'mon! You can do it! C'mon! You can do it!
I hope you will too. Have a beautiful start to a new year!
Sheryl René
Skip to Sunday morning...I was part of the visiting Praise Team for the Worship service. The pastor had invited us to lead worship that day, because "we don't have any musicians. We just use CDs to sing along with." We didn't exactly have an abundance of musicians in our group that day, 3 to be exact, but we agreed to do what we could. Low and behold, to start off the service here came about 20 singers, plus a choir director, plus a pastor who became sort of the lead singer. They used a CD alright; but they backed it up with so many beautiful voices. It was amazing!
Then we were invited up. The 3 of us. I don't think I was really nervous, inspite of the fact that the guitar player is a Middle Schooler who is still learning his craft, and the other singer has a very soft voice, but we plugged ahead, appealing to the congregation to help us not feel so lonely by singing along with us. We only had 2 songs. As I started the 2nd song, I messed up. I played the right chords, but in the wrong places & confused my guitar player. So I just stopped & said, "Let's start that again." The congregation was very patient with us. And we really appreciated it. But what impacted me most, was, just as I started the chord progression again, one of the young members down front shouted out, "C'mon! You can do it!" And the others of the congregation chimed in, affirming that they too believed in us. We finished the song. We did it! And we didn't feel bummed, discouraged or disappointed in ourselves for the error.
I want to be that young person. I want to be a part of that congregation/community culture. I want every one of you as teachers, administrators, parents, students to feel affirmed, even in your failures. I want you to feel that support as you go about your day, making plans, teaching, listening, facilitating, enabling, releasing...C'mon! You can do it! I want your students and my students to feel that affirmation from the teachers & leaders in their lives. C'mon! You can do it! I want our students to learn to be that kind of support to their peers; help them to break down the barriers of embarrassment; to discontinue the laughing in response to personal errors or failures, and instead to take up the cry of this young person, C'mon! You can do it!
So often at the beginning of a new school year we are so excited about the new ideas we've dreamed up, classes that we've taken, new products to be unveiled in the classroom, new students to get to know, only to get the wind knocked out of us by a critical co-worker, a disgruntled parent, a harsh administrator, a seemingly impossible task just presented to us the week before school starts, that we become discouraged. But this year I'm taking on that affirmation I heard from that young person in Detroit. C'mon! You can do it! C'mon! You can do it! C'mon! You can do it!
I hope you will too. Have a beautiful start to a new year!
Sheryl René
Sunday, August 4, 2013
A little help?
I am amazed at how quickly many of you teachers & authors get new materials ready for new challenges. I've been reading Lucy Calkins' updated curriculum for writing this summer to prepare for the Common Core State Standards. How in the world did she get that curriculum written, tested, revised, samples gathered, teachers trained to assist in her research, students to observe & confer with, and have it all published in time for the new season? I am very thankful for her leadership gifts and her willingness to share them with our profession!
As I pore over the many templates and charts she has produced, I'm wondering once again, why is it so necessary to "lock" everything up? As an immersion teacher, I know from the "get-go" that I will have to revise, translate & adapt any charts or templates that I find in the curriculum. I would think that by now publishers would also be aware of the many immersion and bilingual programs that are out there, so why not just unlock these templates & chart samples so we can download them and start editing them for our classrooms? Being a digital immigrant, I do not always relish having to copy the idea, but start from scratch to make the worksheets. I know my traditional peers will be able to just download, print & voila! have a template ready to go for day 1.
So I went to option #2: See if my school's technology allows me to change PDFs to Word documents so that I can quickly & easily edit the templates & be ready to go "in a jiff!" Alas, we teachers do not have that privilege. It was purchased for a few administrators, but not for teachers. If I would like I could purchase it myself for the school's price of $60, then I could have access to these helps. It was also recommended that I put it on a more public computer so that other teachers could take advantage of my purchase as well. I'm all about sharing, but in a day and age where both technological savvy and immersion education are highly valued, (not to mention you'll be evaluated on these during the school year) why would you not make this available to your staff?
What did I do? I bought the program for my personal laptop for $20. And now I begin the process of editing, adapting, and printing templates and charts that will be totally in line with the curriculum, and totally usable for my immersion classroom! Win-win! But really, publishers & administrators, let's start planning better so that all of our teachers will be able to start the new school year with all the materials they need, in the language they need them!
~Sheryl René
As I pore over the many templates and charts she has produced, I'm wondering once again, why is it so necessary to "lock" everything up? As an immersion teacher, I know from the "get-go" that I will have to revise, translate & adapt any charts or templates that I find in the curriculum. I would think that by now publishers would also be aware of the many immersion and bilingual programs that are out there, so why not just unlock these templates & chart samples so we can download them and start editing them for our classrooms? Being a digital immigrant, I do not always relish having to copy the idea, but start from scratch to make the worksheets. I know my traditional peers will be able to just download, print & voila! have a template ready to go for day 1.
So I went to option #2: See if my school's technology allows me to change PDFs to Word documents so that I can quickly & easily edit the templates & be ready to go "in a jiff!" Alas, we teachers do not have that privilege. It was purchased for a few administrators, but not for teachers. If I would like I could purchase it myself for the school's price of $60, then I could have access to these helps. It was also recommended that I put it on a more public computer so that other teachers could take advantage of my purchase as well. I'm all about sharing, but in a day and age where both technological savvy and immersion education are highly valued, (not to mention you'll be evaluated on these during the school year) why would you not make this available to your staff?
What did I do? I bought the program for my personal laptop for $20. And now I begin the process of editing, adapting, and printing templates and charts that will be totally in line with the curriculum, and totally usable for my immersion classroom! Win-win! But really, publishers & administrators, let's start planning better so that all of our teachers will be able to start the new school year with all the materials they need, in the language they need them!
~Sheryl René
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Making Connections
Making Connections...that's one of the Reading strategies that we teach our students: connections to self, connections to another book, connections to another author, connections to our world. I'm making some connections today as I am reading, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, by Ruby K. Payne, PhD. I don't currently teach in a district with widespread poverty, but I find that as an Immersion educator I often make connections to books or authors who would otherwise be unconnected. In this case, the book is not about Immersion education, though it would certainly apply to Immersion schools in impoverished districts. But the author, Dr. Payne, helps me to understand what some of the issues are that hinder a student's learning abilities, even if for a short while. Many of the strategies that are used to help a student who is impeded by social, emotional or financial stressors are also adaptable & applicable to students who are learning through their 2nd language, regardless of their financial situation!
For example, One of the cognitive issues that students from poverty deal with is "Impaired verbal tools". These students lack "the vocabulary necessary to deal with the cognitive tasks." (p. 92) A response to this deficit is to "use appropriate and accurate labels, that is, to use very precise words & vocabulary to identify and explain." (p.95) My connection radar jumps to rapid beeping at this point! Every time I read a new publication of some terrific strategies for teaching Reading or Writing, I am overwhelmed by all the cutsie "jingle" type language that is used to provide a "hook" to the concept being taught. That kind of language is not easily translated to a 2nd language, and almost never then is able to utilize the rhyme, acronym, etc. that was used in the original explanation, which made it such a good hook to begin with. So, what do I do? I strain out most of the extraneous, cutsie language & go for the heart of the concept. I look for a possible rhyme, acronym etc. in the 2nd language, but if it's not available, I move on to describing the concept in very simple, concrete, literal language. I label the task, procedure and process so that the students can remember and repeat the task, procedure and process in their next work.
Dr. Payne describes many other strategies to help students build conceptual frameworks. One
that jumped out at me today was to use rubrics. As a first grade teacher I have struggled with
designing a rubric that is simple enough for our 2nd language learners to use without taking up
several days to explain the vocabulary of the rubric. Too often I just
give up in frustration & tell the students if a work is correct or not & how to correct it.
But as I was reading this book today, I was inspired to create a visual rubric for my students.
My first idea was to have a Handwriting rubric. From a 1 to a 4, there would be a sample of
the different levels of handwriting posted below each number. The students could then
compare their handwriting with the various ones posted. I could explain the various levels,
and what the goal is, and then model to the students how to compare their writing to theexamples posted. I think they might just get that! And I would not have to go into all the
explanations at the beginning of the year of what the words, big curve, little curve, tall letters,
lower case, upper case, etc. mean. That will come throughout the year as I teach handwriting.
Then my next rubric could be on writing a sentence. Again, I would post 4 different samples of
what a sentence looks like, including incomplete sentences. I would model how to write and
then compare my sample to the examples. The students could then see where they stand on
the proficiency scale & see exactly what they need to do to become more proficient.
Where will all these rubrics lead? Hopefully to more understanding and proficient students,
and to a less frustrated teacher! You should check out Framework for Understanding Poverty,
by Ruby K. Payne, PhD. You might just find some great new inspiration for success in
Immersion education as well!
Enjoy your summer! Read a lot, rest a lot, and see what kind of new connections you come
back with in the Fall!
Sheryl René
Monday, May 13, 2013
Face to face
I was sitting in the bleachers watching the JV baseball game. Just a couple of rows below me a family of 4 was enjoying watching their older son at bat, but with them in the bleachers were 2 darling children. They were around 5-6 years old, and so well behaved. The little girl had brought her scooter and her bicycle to keep her occupied during the game. She spent the morning zooming down the sidewalk and then checking back in with Mom & Dad to make sure they were watching. When she grew tired of biking, she came back again to her parents, and cuddled close to her mom, under the blankets. (You know how this year's Spring has been!)
What happened next was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing extraordinary, but it gave me pause to re-evaluate how I could be a better teacher. I witnessed the Mother holding her daughter's face between her loving hands, and talking, teasing, and laughing with her daughter. What struck a chord with me was how articulate the 5 year old was. She was having a delightful conversation with her mom: complete sentences, mostly correct grammar, a sense of humor, with a total understanding of everything being said to her! Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing extraordinary. But I know my 1st graders at the end of their first grade year in Spanish Immersion cannot carry on that kind of spontaneous conversation in Spanish.
Because I teach and converse only in Spanish with my students, I often forget how articulate they can be in their first language. It would be fun to hear all of that, but my job is to bring them to this point in their 2nd language. What could I do to help them grow closer to this level of language proficiency? There is no way that I would have time to hold each child close & have such personalized and intimate conversations with each of my 27 students. But maybe, just maybe I could do a better job of utilizing those 27 students to give each other some of that personalized, intimate time.
I'm thinking of those strategies such as "Pair share", "Turn & talk", etc. I use those frequently, but what if I amped that up? What if every time I call on a student to share something, I invite the entire class to respond to that child by repeating, "It's your turn, Suzy". Or if after Suzy speaks, I immediately invite the rest of the class to repeat to their partner just what Suzy said. What if I give Suzy a prompt such as, "I think.......(and she tells what she thinks), but I'd like to hear what Johnny thinks."? And then Johnny continues the pattern. What if my students always have a partner for whole class time, and every time I give instructions, I break it up into bite-sized pieces, then have one of each of the partners tell the other partner what I just said? And then we practice asking questions when they don't understand the instructions.
I can imagine this would slow down my morning meeting time a bit, but I'm wondering if after a couple of months I might not have more verbal students, a closer knit group of students, and students who are more independent earlier in the year as a result. I'm wondering if I might be listening to whole stories from my students in the target language by Christmas! What if I continue this practice, adding in more depth as the year goes on, so that by this time next year, we might be able to experience some of those unincumbered, personalized, intimate conversations just like this little girl at the ballpark? How cool would that be??!!!
Those are my thoughts today. What do you think? Where are your students in their language development? Where do you want them to be this time next year?
Wishing us all more face to face time,
Sheryl René
What happened next was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing extraordinary, but it gave me pause to re-evaluate how I could be a better teacher. I witnessed the Mother holding her daughter's face between her loving hands, and talking, teasing, and laughing with her daughter. What struck a chord with me was how articulate the 5 year old was. She was having a delightful conversation with her mom: complete sentences, mostly correct grammar, a sense of humor, with a total understanding of everything being said to her! Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing extraordinary. But I know my 1st graders at the end of their first grade year in Spanish Immersion cannot carry on that kind of spontaneous conversation in Spanish.
Because I teach and converse only in Spanish with my students, I often forget how articulate they can be in their first language. It would be fun to hear all of that, but my job is to bring them to this point in their 2nd language. What could I do to help them grow closer to this level of language proficiency? There is no way that I would have time to hold each child close & have such personalized and intimate conversations with each of my 27 students. But maybe, just maybe I could do a better job of utilizing those 27 students to give each other some of that personalized, intimate time.
I'm thinking of those strategies such as "Pair share", "Turn & talk", etc. I use those frequently, but what if I amped that up? What if every time I call on a student to share something, I invite the entire class to respond to that child by repeating, "It's your turn, Suzy". Or if after Suzy speaks, I immediately invite the rest of the class to repeat to their partner just what Suzy said. What if I give Suzy a prompt such as, "I think.......(and she tells what she thinks), but I'd like to hear what Johnny thinks."? And then Johnny continues the pattern. What if my students always have a partner for whole class time, and every time I give instructions, I break it up into bite-sized pieces, then have one of each of the partners tell the other partner what I just said? And then we practice asking questions when they don't understand the instructions.
I can imagine this would slow down my morning meeting time a bit, but I'm wondering if after a couple of months I might not have more verbal students, a closer knit group of students, and students who are more independent earlier in the year as a result. I'm wondering if I might be listening to whole stories from my students in the target language by Christmas! What if I continue this practice, adding in more depth as the year goes on, so that by this time next year, we might be able to experience some of those unincumbered, personalized, intimate conversations just like this little girl at the ballpark? How cool would that be??!!!
Those are my thoughts today. What do you think? Where are your students in their language development? Where do you want them to be this time next year?
Wishing us all more face to face time,
Sheryl René
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Cheerleaders
April 25th marked 6 years since my mother died. I miss her. She was an outstanding listener & could empathize with almost anyone in any situation. She had a very quick wit, and she & I would often play off each other with our witty remarks. She worked outside the home, and was our only parent from Monday to Friday, as our dad was a traveling salesman. The hours that she was home she was "ours".
One of her qualities that I appreciate most was her ability to cheer us on in all our endeavors. She made it possible for me to attend sewing classes the summer after my 5th grade year (though she knew very little about sewing). She made sure I got to take piano lessons, though her specialty was the flute. She was proud of everything we ever did. I remember telling friends in the past few years that there are probably things I'm actually crappy at, but I believe I'm good at simply because my mom thought I was great! Ha!ha!
You who are parents of an Immersion student, I want to encourage you to (continue to) be your child's most enthusiastic cheerleader. I know you're torn sometimes between wanting to help & tutor your child in their 2nd language, but often feel grossly inadequate if you don't know the language they are studying or never had to deal with being immersed in a 2nd language. Heck, I'm torn sometimes as the teacher! Should I ask you to tutor your child at home, trying to send home some guidelines for the non-Spanish speaker? Should I not send home extra work, trying to eliminate that frustration for you at home? Should I encourage you to help your child with pronunciation even if I know you're "doing it all wrong"? Should I just let my concerns go to the wind, believing that your enthusiasm will overcome the errors? Should I stop being so "picky"?
Here's what I usually say to our parents, at Open House night & throughout the year. The best way to help your child (especially if you do not speak the language they are studying) is to be their most enthusiastic cheerleader! Because really, isn't it amazing that our Kindergartners & 1st graders have no fear to speak whatever they can, with all the natural errors of associating one language with another, and yet are able to communicate their ideas???? Every child from the struggler to the stereotypical bell curve kid, to the overachiever loves to hear praise from you, their most beloved person in the world.
So let's go parents! Finish out the year re-energized to help your child be the best he or she can be. I leave you with one of my mom's favorite cheers (she was actually a cheerleader in High School):
Happy cheering, parents!
Sheryl René
One of her qualities that I appreciate most was her ability to cheer us on in all our endeavors. She made it possible for me to attend sewing classes the summer after my 5th grade year (though she knew very little about sewing). She made sure I got to take piano lessons, though her specialty was the flute. She was proud of everything we ever did. I remember telling friends in the past few years that there are probably things I'm actually crappy at, but I believe I'm good at simply because my mom thought I was great! Ha!ha!
You who are parents of an Immersion student, I want to encourage you to (continue to) be your child's most enthusiastic cheerleader. I know you're torn sometimes between wanting to help & tutor your child in their 2nd language, but often feel grossly inadequate if you don't know the language they are studying or never had to deal with being immersed in a 2nd language. Heck, I'm torn sometimes as the teacher! Should I ask you to tutor your child at home, trying to send home some guidelines for the non-Spanish speaker? Should I not send home extra work, trying to eliminate that frustration for you at home? Should I encourage you to help your child with pronunciation even if I know you're "doing it all wrong"? Should I just let my concerns go to the wind, believing that your enthusiasm will overcome the errors? Should I stop being so "picky"?
Here's what I usually say to our parents, at Open House night & throughout the year. The best way to help your child (especially if you do not speak the language they are studying) is to be their most enthusiastic cheerleader! Because really, isn't it amazing that our Kindergartners & 1st graders have no fear to speak whatever they can, with all the natural errors of associating one language with another, and yet are able to communicate their ideas???? Every child from the struggler to the stereotypical bell curve kid, to the overachiever loves to hear praise from you, their most beloved person in the world.
So let's go parents! Finish out the year re-energized to help your child be the best he or she can be. I leave you with one of my mom's favorite cheers (she was actually a cheerleader in High School):
"RAH, RAH, REE. KICK 'EM IN THE KNEE!
RAH, RAH, RAS. KICK 'EM IN THE OTHER KNEE!"
Happy cheering, parents!
Sheryl René
Monday, April 8, 2013
Theodore Roosevelt
IT was colder than normal for D.C. in April, and after riding up & down the Potomac River staring at bare branched cherry trees, my daughter, Ashley, decided to take me to the Theodore Roosevelt Island. It's just a small island in the middle of the Potomac River, that was dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt in memory of his conservationist actions. As we crossed the footbridge, and climbed the slope to the memorial, the looming statue of our former president stood squarely between many other monuments that were inscribed with some of President Roosevelt's famous quotes. As we read the many quotes on conservationism, statesmanship, liberty, etc. I was struck by one quote in particular:
"A great democracy has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy."
I immediately reworded the quote in to read in my world,
"A great Immersion program has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or Immersion."
Whoa! What a thought! While most of us work in Districts that offer many opportunities for professional development, it is the rarer District that understands how important it is for the immersion teachers to continue to look for more training, trading of ideas, observations, conferences and grad classes specifically dedicated to immersion classrooms. I LOVE the immersion classroom! I LOVE the teachers I work with! We are all working hard to make the immersion experience the best educational experience our students will ever have. But love alone is not enough. We need to be always striving to be on the cutting edge of immersion education.
While every school is in different stages of their growth, we all need to be looking toward the next step to make our immersion programs even more successful. What are your current challenges? What lessons are you getting bored with? How are you addressing the grammatical errors that are occurring? How are you deciding if the program is not right for some students? Where are you finding your new teachers? What are the most important qualities in an Immersion administrator? When are we going to start seeing bilingual educators in the Resource Room, Speech Path, Social Worker, Psychologist & Reading Specialist positions? How are our local colleges responding to the needs of the Immersion education programs?
"A great Immersion program has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or Immersion."
Keep asking the questions. Keep pushing the envelope. Keep on rethinking how we "do" Immersion!
Your Immersion colleague,
Sheryl René
"A great democracy has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy."
I immediately reworded the quote in to read in my world,
"A great Immersion program has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or Immersion."
Whoa! What a thought! While most of us work in Districts that offer many opportunities for professional development, it is the rarer District that understands how important it is for the immersion teachers to continue to look for more training, trading of ideas, observations, conferences and grad classes specifically dedicated to immersion classrooms. I LOVE the immersion classroom! I LOVE the teachers I work with! We are all working hard to make the immersion experience the best educational experience our students will ever have. But love alone is not enough. We need to be always striving to be on the cutting edge of immersion education.
While every school is in different stages of their growth, we all need to be looking toward the next step to make our immersion programs even more successful. What are your current challenges? What lessons are you getting bored with? How are you addressing the grammatical errors that are occurring? How are you deciding if the program is not right for some students? Where are you finding your new teachers? What are the most important qualities in an Immersion administrator? When are we going to start seeing bilingual educators in the Resource Room, Speech Path, Social Worker, Psychologist & Reading Specialist positions? How are our local colleges responding to the needs of the Immersion education programs?
"A great Immersion program has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or Immersion."
Keep asking the questions. Keep pushing the envelope. Keep on rethinking how we "do" Immersion!
Your Immersion colleague,
Sheryl René
Saturday, January 12, 2013
El puente
So, we were on the rug; we had just finished calendar time, and I said, "I have a great little story for you today." The title of the book was "Yo creo que puedo" (I think I can). No, it was not The Little Train that Could! It's actually much less dramatic than The Little Train that Could, but very appropriate for the day. That day, Wednesday, January 9, 2013, our first graders were preparing to walk across a small footbridge in our gym, declaring their commitment to use only Spanish from now on! Until this day we SI teachers have always spoken Spanish with the students, helped them learn new vocabulary in Spanish, but allowed them to speak English to their friends. Now the bar was being raised. They're nervous. Some students think they'll never speak at school again because they don't know enough Spanish to communicate! I know, because I've been doing this for a long time.
But to get back to the book, I read aloud each scenario of when a child declared, "I think I can ......" (ride a bike, make a basehit, play a new song on the piano, etc.). At the end of the book the students were invited to add something that they think they can do this year. I heard a lot of good answers, but one little girl thrilled me to no end when she said, "I think I can speak Spanish!" I let out a big shrill, "¡YUUUUUPPPIIIIIIIII!" The kids looked at me in shock, then started laughing and saying "Sra. Dalman, you're funny!" I know I am pretty funny, but I was so excited that I didn't have to plant this idea on the class. At least one of my students was moved to declare, "I think I can speak Spanish!" And I wholeheartedly concur, or else I wouldn't be teaching in a Spanish Immersion school!
That afternoon the students walked proudly across that bridge, receiving their "Yo hablo español" t-shirt as they arrived on the other side, much as they will receive their diploma when they graduate from High School. As the students & parents wandered off to enjoy the cookies & juice reception, I spoke with the mother of the student who made her "I think I can speak Spanish" declaration. She was surprised, because she said that lately her daughter had been doubting her academic abilities. What a wonderful turnaround! What a great motto to have hanging in our classrooms, or our homes! "I think I can... "
Parents and Teachers, maybe we all need to put up our own "I think I can" poster as well. Mine might read something like, "I think I can. . . laugh more with my students", or "I think I can . . . give more words of encouragement to my colleagues", "I think I can do more to help the newer Immersion schools in West Michigan." What might your's be?
Go ahead, step across "el puente!"
~Sheryl René
But to get back to the book, I read aloud each scenario of when a child declared, "I think I can ......" (ride a bike, make a basehit, play a new song on the piano, etc.). At the end of the book the students were invited to add something that they think they can do this year. I heard a lot of good answers, but one little girl thrilled me to no end when she said, "I think I can speak Spanish!" I let out a big shrill, "¡YUUUUUPPPIIIIIIIII!" The kids looked at me in shock, then started laughing and saying "Sra. Dalman, you're funny!" I know I am pretty funny, but I was so excited that I didn't have to plant this idea on the class. At least one of my students was moved to declare, "I think I can speak Spanish!" And I wholeheartedly concur, or else I wouldn't be teaching in a Spanish Immersion school!
That afternoon the students walked proudly across that bridge, receiving their "Yo hablo español" t-shirt as they arrived on the other side, much as they will receive their diploma when they graduate from High School. As the students & parents wandered off to enjoy the cookies & juice reception, I spoke with the mother of the student who made her "I think I can speak Spanish" declaration. She was surprised, because she said that lately her daughter had been doubting her academic abilities. What a wonderful turnaround! What a great motto to have hanging in our classrooms, or our homes! "I think I can... "
Parents and Teachers, maybe we all need to put up our own "I think I can" poster as well. Mine might read something like, "I think I can. . . laugh more with my students", or "I think I can . . . give more words of encouragement to my colleagues", "I think I can do more to help the newer Immersion schools in West Michigan." What might your's be?
Go ahead, step across "el puente!"
~Sheryl René
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