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Class Contract Archived Post 8.12.11

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 , , , , , , , ,

(Originally posted 8/12/11)

A reader asked a number of great questions on a post where I wrote about NOT using participation points. I will try to address some of them here.

How do you get there?
Which system do you have that replaces participation points that works?
How do you deal with discipline (attitude, absences, English)?
Which is the social contract you have with your students and parents?
How did you reach this social contract?
How do you enforce the rules that make daily living (la convivencia) possible?

Below is the contract that I created to address these issues. When I have an administration that requires a signature, I’ll collect that. Our Dean of Students and Principal have a copy. A copy is on my website and a copy is sent home to parents.

The key to this, however, is taking time the first week of school to address each point below:

Your Rights and Responsibilities

1. You have a right to be treated as an individual who interesting, capable, and important.
You have a responsibility to treat others the same way.

2. You have the right to a positive learning environment every day.
You have the responsibility to learn and accomplish something positive every day.

3. You have the right to be informed about the academic and personal goals of this course and your progress towards
those goals.
You have the responsibility to complete the class work and homework designed to help you achieve these goals and to monitor your progress.

4. You have the right to communicate with me in a respectful and appropriate manner about issues that affect you in class or in this building.
You have the responsibility to communicate with me whenever you have a problem, question, or concern about issues in this class, or your achievement in this class.
You have the responsibility to communicate if you, or anyone else, is in danger of physical or emotional harm.

These are posted in the room and referred to as necessary. We address them as “new information”, one per day the first week…IN ENGLISH…along with any number of team-building and get-to-know-you activities in Spanish.

I address infractions to the above immediately and directly…although not always publicly. A one-to-one conversation often goes a long way. The first two are the most important. As the teacher,

I have the final say if there is disagreement on what kind of behavior falls “outside of the lines”. I briefly mention and discuss “boundaries” so that students understand that there is a need to have lines drawn for appropriate/inappropriate behavior.

What we allow, we encourage.

The first few weeks with a new teacher, it is the students’ job to find out exactly what that teacher will allow. For example: talking when the teacher is talking, writing on other students and/or their belongings/desks etc., arriving late to class, not engaging in class activities, pretending to not know anything, sarcasm, mean remarks, making fun of others, inappropriate clothing, not doing homework, passing notes, texting, eating and drinking in class………………………………………..

I don’t take it personally when students test the boundaries. As adolescents, that is what they are wired to do. They want to know how I will handle trouble when it comes. They need to know that they can trust me to keep the classroom a safe place. Ironically, it is the “troublemakers” that need to know this the most. Many of them are extremely bright and knowing where the boundaries are is how they function. Many of them have learned survival skills outside of the classroom and want to know from the beginning which of those skills they will need to survive this venue. Some of them have a reputation to uphold. If I am consistent about the rules, their classmates will not look to them to act up. If I am NOT consistent, then it becomes their role to see what I’ll be like today. They learn by watching adults….and each other. Adults who are inconsistent become playthings and entertainment. I let them know up front that we have other things to do.

So…Step 1: The Rules and Responsibilities

Step 2: Identify the Boundaries and Stand Firm

Step 3: Offer the Better Option….Calmly.

Step 4: “Conduct” the Class

I tell students that this class is much like a band/chorus/orchestra and I’m the Maestro. I literally “conduct” the class. They need to follow my words, facial expressions, gesture etc. and respond appropriately. The first piece we learn is the “Signal” (check out the post below)

Signals

I take my job as Maestro seriously and choose my activities (pieces) carefully based upon the strengths, interests and abilities of the students. From Day 1, I make it clear that I have chosen everything for THEM. Not because it is next in the book, what the other classes are doing, I think it’s cool, it makes me look good or another group liked it. For THEM. I choose activities which I know that my students will enjoy and will be successful at.

Every day for the rest of the year, I keep those rules and responsibilities in mind. I know that we will need to review them regularly.

with love,
Laurie

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Think.Feel.Say.Do Archived Post 8.3.11

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 , , , , ,

(Originally posted 8/3/11)

Here is a key element in our program: Creating readings/stories/conversations around THINK/FEEL/SAY/DO.

In a story characters will THINK, FEEL, SAY AND DO things. The first structure is something that Earl SAYS, “I need to tell you something.” The beauty of it is that it immediately implies a feeling. Earl NEEDS to. AND a future action: TELL. This is a seriously powerful structure.Not all structures are this powerful…especially in the lower levels. For example, I choose the structure “wants to eat”. That is what Earl FEELS. It will help things flow if my next structure is not about feeling. So I could choose….

Earl wants to eat.

If I need to park on “wants to” I can stay there for a long long time…but if I want to move on (for any number of reasons) I need to pick another structure.

THINK Earl thinks about his favorite food………….or

FEEL Earl is really hungry………..or

DO Earl goes to SuperWalmart……….

ALL of which are now connected to the first structure and make sense. Truthfully, teaching beginning students is such a challenge. Their language pool is pretty shallow…it’s hard to dive in deep!! Using the THINK, FEEL, SAY, DO model really helps.

with love,
Laurie

All content of this website ©Hearts For Teaching and/or original authors. Unauthorized use or distribution of materials without express and written consent of the owners/authors is strictly prohibited. Examples and links may be used as long as clear and direct reference to the site and original authors is clearly established.

A Theme Emerges Archived Post 4.1.11

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 , ,

(Originally posted 4/1/11)

My goal this year was to incorporate aspects of the U.N. document of Human Rights. What emerged was an unexpected theme. When “planning” this year, I have tried to think in terms of 10 week marking periods instead of units. It has really helped me to pull things together and yet provides some latitude for playing with the language. At this point, nearly three-quarters of the way through the year, I am looking back to see where we have been, and where I would like us to go:

The first marking period my student teacher (¡Hola Famoso!) and I centered on the theme of work. We started with what they knew how to discuss: school work, sports practice, music practice, play practice. This helped us to get to know what the students were involved with this fall. Here are a few of the structures that we worked on: had to, had the desire to, forgot to, will, planned to, therefore, Because this group is old enough to have had summer jobs, we then carried over the structures and dove into the work world.

We did this using stories in class and using the book El Trabajo de Roberto. I liked the fact that Roberto’s story also dealt with family relationships which a) is always a part of what we deal with and b) made the story more than one-dimensional. It will be a couple of years before I really like what I am doing with that book, but so far, so good.

In the midst of the marking period we got caught up in the story of the Chilean miners. It gave us so much to work with!!!! We could touch on types of work, worker safety, co-workers, working conditions and so much more. I actually had songs on tap, readings on tap, articles on tap….all of which got set aside because of the amount of great stuff available!! What emerged this marking period was an idea about working hard and never giving up. (cue the Luis Fonsi music please: Yo

No Me Doy Por Vencido)Early in the fall I found the Discovery Channel Amazing Race. ..perfect for the Travel focus I was hoping for for the second marking period. Truthfully, I could have easily built and entire year on that piece….the segments had my students riveted!! Little by little they got hooked on the adventure and most of all the couples and their relationships. The father and son team of Edison y Edison was the favorite and we all practically went into mourning and refused to watch the rest when they were eliminated!!! From a teaching perspective, everything you could ever want was available to talk about: losing passports, planes, trains and automobiles (taxis, trams and metros), hotels and tourist attractions.

And the unexpected theme persisted: Face your obstacles and never give up!

This marking period we have been focusing on the environment. There is just so much information out there for us to read and use that it has been hard to narrow it down. Because I work better with an organizational structure of some kind, I chose to bring in a project. Now projects are tricky. Projects tend to be output-motivated. So my challenge was to pour as much input to the output as I could. The project has been to create a book about an environmental Superhéroe.

I’ve tied in a series of stories about our Science department and their secret identities (the League of SuperScientists), several songs (El Progreso by Roberto Carlos is my favorite), articles from Econoticias.com and have danced around field trips, assemblies and the like. One level watched

The Tale of Desperaux (the hero theme AND the upcoming food theme) and the other group is about to see Fern Gully. The creation of the book has been a input then output activity (but that is another post…) So now we have a bulletin board full of books to read about a Superhero, a Supervillian and an adventure. And the theme continues: Earth matters….so treat it right andnever give up!!

Now here comes marking period number four. My original plan was for Food!! I figured that this was a topic sure to hold their attention even as the sun appeared. And it will…it would…but let’s see what develops…nothing has really played out as I originally planned so far…so I know that there are still unexpected and wonderful things ahead for the last few weeks.

And then there is that underlying and every-emerging theme: Never Give Up. I’m not seeing the food connection right now but I’m sure that it will come. Now how has that theme become a planning tool?

1. Vocab and structures:

a. Verb phrases like these: try to_______, should________, must_________, has to_______, refuse to _______________, plan to_____________, realize that___________,stop ___________ing, ___________again, able to overcome, has just survived, etc..

b. Adverbial phrases like this: without stopping, without a doubt, with courage, with hope, carefully, Un/fortunately, without knowing the reason, upon arriving at the scene, according to the victim, etc.

c. Key vocabulary like this: challenge, goal, decision, development, leader, partner, skill, ability, achievement/accomplishment, support, let go, change, surrender, vanquish, conquer, etc..

2. Material choice:

When I see a video, hear a song, read an article, choose a book etc. I keep the Never Give Up theme in mind. How does this connect? What lessons does it hold for students?

3. History and Culture:

There is so much out there to choose from. Having a theme has really helped me to narrow in on pieces that fit the theme. It makes the art/music/event more memorable for the students. The bishop did not believe at first that Juan Diego had actually spoken with The Virgen. Why would Frida Kahlo paint so many self-portraits? Why did Justo pursue a career singing to students? How can immigrants overcome prejudice? How many different tunnels did the Chileans try to drill?

4. Grammar goals:

Depending on your needs, there are many, many ways to go here (if you need to do that for your district, yourself, your students): I’ve spent a lot of time this year working with the past tenses….we have used so many stories! There have been repeated opportunities to use the future and conditional tenses…and it naturally leads to use of the subjunctive as well. Many of the“focus” verbs have reflexive forms so students have gotten a lot of practice in that regard as well.

Now I just have to keep the theme in mind as we roll towards the end of the year!!! Never Give Up!!

With love,
Laurie

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Are They Ready? Archived Post 4.1.11

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 ,

(Originally posted 4/1/11)

I am trying to step back and take a look at how the Level 2/3 curriculum has evolved this year. Did it center itself around a theme or concept? Were the students able to connect with the activities intellectually and emotionally? Was I able to utilize enough high frequency structures? How well did the students acquire them? Was I able to meet the varied needs of the students? Are they confident in their growing language skills? And yes….how will they do on the NYS Regents exam?

I’ll start with what I know about the last one first. Both the 2s and the 3s took a Regents exam for the Listening/Reading sections of the (Writing is not one of my worries!) midterm. I did not modify the Level 3 exam at all. Everyone passed. The majority scored at the mastery level. Unless they have a really bad day or the test is horrific, there should be no need to worry on that account. The

Level 2 exam was modified in the following way: The long reading passages were chosen because they were similar to topics that this group was familiar with. I also restructured the set up so that the multiple choice questions were located directly under the associated paragraph . Usually all of the questions are located at the end of the 4-6 paragraph( 1-1/2 page) reading. All of the students who have been our program for at least a year passed the midterm as well, with more than half scoring above an 85.

I try not to fret too much about the vocabulary. (okay…try is the operative word there!!) I’ve been going over tests and looking at vocabulary that tends to reoccur. I want to include these words when I can without teaching to the test….

This month the Level 3s and I will be working with the Speaking section. The truth is that in regular, natural conversation the kids are fine. I want to be sure that they understand the rules of the Regents Speaking “game” and how to play to win. I’ll try to keep you posted.

I can take very little credit for the success of this group. They were Patty R’s students for Level 2 and came so prepared to Level 3!! I can only hope every one of the signs up for Level 4…I really enjoy them!!

with love,
Laurie

All content of this website ©Hearts For Teaching and/or original authors. Unauthorized use or distribution of materials without express and written consent of the owners/authors is strictly prohibited. Examples and links may be used as long as clear and direct reference to the site and original authors is clearly established.