A student with a teacher's hat on - part 1

Every time I see other people teach, I always wonder about my own teaching style. And I did just that yesterday for the entire period of my Spanish class. Yes, I have decided that it's time to brush up on my rusty-yet-still-there Spanish by taking up an Intermediate class. But since the class was short of students yesterday, I was asked to join the Beginner II class for the day. I was more than happy to do so, since I had little to zero confidence in my ability to say more than "Hola, me llamo Tia." :p

So there I was sitting in a class as a student, listening to the teacher, diligently taking notes, participating in the activities, and doing all the required assignments. But for some reasons, I couldn't stop observing the way the teachers taught (I had a female teacher for the first hour and a male for the second hour). I watched closely how they interacted with us, the students, how they managed the class, how they directed questions and instructions, basically my other half of my brain wanted me to put on my teacher's hat and observe the teachers.

I like to observe other people teach because I know that I could learn from their best (and poor) practices. So yesterday, I took some mental notes of my two teachers and due to my limited brain capacity, I figure that I should write them here.
(Let's just say that the female teacher is Ana, and the male is Manu).

1. First impression matters

Sorry... I've been slacking off

It's been months since I last wrote something here. I've a million reasons for 'missing in action' but mainly it's because I've been writing more in my native language on Facebook (for those who are on my friends list, you know what I'm talking about...).

I'll definitely start writing again since I seriously need to brush up my writing skills for some tests purpose. OK, I know that there are a billion reasons why someone should write more and better, but for me, it's mainly so I get more comfortable writing about different topics in such a short period of time. Oh, I'll definitely share with you what I think about this kind of exam--for sure I can say, it's excruciatingly painful on the brain! :p

Cheers,
-me-

Do you email, text, call or Facebook your parents?

I came across an interesting blog on communications with parents in the digital age. The writer was amazed "how DIFFERENT parent-teacher communications seemed to be for each teacher [...] You’d think that with so many new communications tools available to us in the digital age (from cell phones, to e-mail, to Facebook) it’d be EASIER now for teachers to talk to parents. But it seems like it’s getting HARDER. One parent might prefer the phone. Another might just find e-mail easier. One parent might check their e-mail 10 times a day; another might check it twice a week." (Tyler, 2011). 

Technology doesn't always make life easier for us, and this is true in the case of parent-teacher communication. Some parents are extremely busy that they prefer that teachers communicate via email and have only-call-when-it's-emergency policy. While other parents don't have an access to email 24/7 and prefer that we call them (although they don't always pick up or check their voicemail, so teachers have to continue pressing redial). And surprisingly, some parents want to "friend" teachers on Facebook so there's a more "open" communication! Complicated, isn't it? 

When I grew up, the only way that my teachers could communicate with my parents was via "student diary." It's basically a book where both parents and teachers write comments and notes to each other about homework, upcoming school events, and reminders. Because there were about 40-something kids in my class and there's only 24 hours in a day, my teachers wrote a simple note on the board and asked all of us to manually 'copy-paste' the note onto our student diary. Of course, they reminded us a thousand times to show it to our parents at home! Still complicated, isn't it?

As a homeroom teacher, I asked my parents to identify which mode of communication that worked best for them during parent orientation day. It turned out that the majority favored phone calls to their cellphones and text messages, and only a few mentioned emails. I ended up only calling my parents in the case of emergency because I had to share the only phone available in the teachers room with 15something teachers. Plus we had to go through the school operator to get connected to the outside world. So I learned that sending SMS worked best! My parents were very responsive and replied to 90% of my text messages. On top of that, I had a record of our communication for further purpose. Worked out well, didn't it?

On  the down side, I had to pay all of the expenses of the text messages!

Can't write about it yet...

I don't know... I just can't...

What do you say to students who complain that they don't know what to write about or they can't write anything during your writing class? Well, after many failed attempts to get the students start with their first sentence on a topic, I tell them to write about their feelings when they don't know what to write about... I even tell them to describe what goes on in their head when they run out of ideas to write. Interestingly, it worked! I'm always amazed how depth the students ended up writing about their frustration of "not" being able to write anything in class.

I'm going through the same thing here. I'm sure everyone has some stuff that they have a hard time  talking about, and for some reason for me those are issues related to teacher evaluation and teacher appreciation. I find it difficult to get my thoughts together on these topics. Perhaps it's because of my
unpleasant experiences with these two things... Had I written my entries on papers, a lot of trees would have gone to waste as I tried to write.

I'm not a good writer and I don't know how a writer's mind really works. I was once told that I should put my heart and soul into my writing so my voices will be heard. Unfortunately, for these two topics, too much emotions are involved that stop me from finishing an entry... I have tried to ask myself several questions to start off my writing, like how to fairly evaluate teachers, what kinds of evaluations will teachers benefit from, and how teachers should be appreciated accordingly. But as I look for the answers to these questions, all I can think of are my very-bitter and semi-bitter memories of being evaluated as a teacher which inevitably bring back the disappointment that I long to forget...

Who knows, perhaps one day I can stop being so resentful and share with you about my thoughts and experiences on this topic. But for now, all I can say is "I can't write about it yet, so I'll just write WHY I can't write about it...

28 students, 5 students, 1 student--no problem!

Today I seriously had a hard time waking up. Last night I set my alarm clock to 7:00 am. Surprisingly I managed to be half-awake at 6:59am and reset the clock to 8:00 am (which I then woke up at 7:59 am), yet it still wasn't enough for me but my conscience dragged me out of bed into the shower and out the door in 30 minutes. After taking the first few steps in today's below-30-degree-freezing-weather, I said to myself, "There better be more than one student today or..." I somehow didn't finish my thought and kept on walking to the bus stop.

You might be wondering what kind of class operates with only 1 student... Every other Friday or so, I teach English at a drop-in conversation class for adults at East Liberty. Well, the title of the class says it all--people drop in to study English and the number of people showing up for class really depends on many things. The harsh cold weather certainly affects the class' attendance. For the past 2 Fridays, it happened to be snowing and icy, and I had no more than 2 students in each class...

Lesson Plan - Part 2: Help please...

I once received an email from my supervisor regarding lesson planning. She complimented a teacher for writing his lesson plan in detail where he provided her with a lot of information about the activities that his group does. Maybe due to my over-sensitivity, I felt a little offended by her comments because I'm the exact opposite--I write just enough in the prescribed lesson plan form, and once in awhile I write in great detail.

In my previous entry about lesson plan, I mentioned how writing a lesson plan can be an utter burden to a teacher as supposed to a guiding tool especially when he/she sees it as a mere unavoidable task for a teacher. Don't get me wrong... I'm all for lesson planning, in fact I think life goes smoothly when well-planning is done. But when writing a lesson plan becomes a "must-do-or-else" task for a teacher, the purpose of a lesson plan gets lost.

I understand the whole accountability of what's happening in the classroom, and a way for supervisors like program coordinators or departments heads to know the day-to-day of a teacher is by reading the lesson plans. That's a good start... But shouldn't there be a follow up or some sort of Q&A on the quality of the lesson plan? It shouldn't stop at "I have received your lesson plan. Thank you." email.

If you had a supervisor who comes to you with your lesson plan scribbled all over with comments, you're one lucky teacher! If you got called for a meeting with your supervisor regarding your lesson plan, you would be on your way to becoming a better teacher! I bet it's frustrating and annoying  because it might feel as if someone is constantly criticizing you... But hey, isn't that what helps you be more aware of how you are as a teacher, thus later makes you a better teacher? I call this kind of person a "superb supervisor!"

Kids love games! - Part 2: Bingo is B-I-N-G-O

A reader asked me about a game that she/he can play in their English class with 4th and 5th grade students, and I immediately thought of a game called BINGO...

Who doesn't like playing BINGO? I think it's one of those games that never gets old and boring because of that one moment when someone calls out, "BINGO!" and everybody cheers! :) It's a game that can be played across age groups with as little as 2 people, and incorporate any topics.

I usually play BINGO at the end of a unit to review materials, although sometimes I do it at the beginning to assess my students' prior knowledge and to start a discussion about the connection between the words. You can play BINGO using any kinds of topics, and it's very easy to prepare.

How you can play BINGO in class (click to see samples): 

1. English : review topic-specific vocabulary e.g. occupations, body parts, kitchen items; grammar-related vocabulary e.g. homonyms, prepositions
2. Math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, shapes, and many more... Your students won't realize that they're learning their times table! 

Do you mind substituting for Mr. XYZ today? Oooohhh...

How many times has somebody come up to you in the morning and asked you this question, "Excuse me, Ms. ABC... Could you substitute for Mr. XYZ today after recess?" Hopefully not too often...
Now, how many times have you said, "No?" Hhmm...

As much as we'd like to stay on schedule and be with our students, some things are just out of our control--bad cough, sudden fever, sick child, unpaid water bills, car wreck, and many more (hopefully not because of plain laziness to get up and drive to school, hehehhe...). When this happens to a colleague, somebody has to step up and still make things happen in class. That's where a substitute teacher comes in...

In some schools, they have designated substitute teachers on call, but in other places, they have to rely on each other. Every now and then, I get asked to substitute for a teacher. Now, I generally don't have a problem with being a substitute teacher, if and only if, I know the students and the materials. But often you get asked to substitute in a class that is known for its oddly annoying behaviors and is insanely rowdy, right? And to top that off, the absent teacher leaves no materials for the kids. So, what to do now?

I often hear that students don't respect a substitute teacher and it can be a nightmare for teacher. So the first thing I'd do is to get the students' respect first and foremost!

• I always carry these items with me to the class I substitute: a marker, something to write with, and a quiet chime!

Who to blame when students say "I don't like studying!"?

I've been telling many people that I'd like to go back to school one day. There's something about being in school that I miss... But I'm not going to lie, the moment I realize how much work I'd have to do when I start wearing my "student" hat, laziness kicks in--I don't like studying that much... :p

As an adult who has had a taste of school both as a student and as a teacher, I cant agree more with my students when they say that studying is hard! Whenever I said to my parents that things were getting too hard and confusing at school, they always said "Well, if studying is easy, what's there to challenge you? It'll be boring! Life isn't easy, you know... So toughen up!" Ok, just like many wisdom words said by my parents, I agree... Life is hard, and being in school was like being a boot camp to prepare me to face the hardship of life.

What bothers me the most is when I hear students say that they don't like studying! Why do students say this to us?

Teaching prop - Part 1: Things I must carry to class

I can never understand how a teacher can ONLY bring a textbook and a marker to their classroom, because that will never be me! Ask anybody who has seen me in action, they'll say that I should have a trolley to replace my enormous tote bags full of papers, markers, magnets, pens, and many more...

When I go to class, here are the things that I must carry:

• My one and only folder where I keep my lesson plans, notes where I scribble down ideas, my teaching schedule that I personalize, and class lists,
• A copy of whatever textbooks my class is using,
• Color-coded folders designated for each class I teach. In each of these folders, I keep all worksheets and other students' work. Every time I make copies of worksheets, I immediately separate them into the-many-number-of-classes-I-have and put them in their respective folder. And since they're color-coded, I won't have any trouble identifying which folder to bring to class! 

Reviewing materials for exams - Part 1: Soccer match in class!

My students always ask that we play games in class to review materials prior to exam week. Basically, they'd like to do something fun, involves little writing, yet helps them review the materials. Thanks to the creative and generous teachers out there, I have made some review games using Microsoft Power Point. However, I often became one of those unlucky one teachers and didn't get an LCD projector so there goes my plan on playing games I spent hours making...

Using the same review questions, my students and I had a fun "Soccer Match" in the class, and here's what to do:

You need:

• a dice (preferably the fuzzy dice so won't rolled away easily when thrown around in the class)
• a picture of a soccer field drawn on the board (see example-1)
• a magnet (I like to paste a picture of a soccer ball onto the magnet so it feels like a "real" soccer match)
• small pieces of papers with numbers (as many as the number of students in one team x 3 sets)
• a list of review questions. I usually make questions that elicit short answers (definitions, examples, list of reasons/characteristics, etc.)

Kids love games - Part 1: Conversation Cards

How many times have you played Human Bingo on the first day of class? I think Human Bingo is a quick and simple way to get the ball rolling as it allows students to get to know each other and lets them move around to get rid of some of the nervousness.

Since Human Bingo is only designed to be a starter, I was looking for an activity where students can have extended conversations and learn about their classmates in greater depth. I wanted to do something fun, yet well-structured at the same time while giving plenty opportunity for the students to talk and listen to each other.

I thought of typing a list of questions, print them on small index cards, and randomly assigned the cards to the students, but I have done that too often by now. So using the same idea, I decided to use a deck of cards as a tool!

I call it: Conversation cards

• Depending on the grade level of the students and time allotment, make a list of questions consisting of min. of 13 questions (# of cards in a suit) for your students to ask each other.
• Assign each question to the cards in the deck (see example of questions). You could make as little as 13 questions and as many as 52 questions. 

Student: We're like passengers here...

I couldn't stop thinking what my student said this morning, that she thought that they're (students) like passengers of a bus--"We don't stay here for long because someday we get off and move on..."
Is that so?

For the past couple of meetings, my students and I have been talking about the tentative times of when they would return to their country. I might have mentioned this in my previous note, at the moment I am teaching a group of spouses of graduate students of UPitt and CMU as well as wives of employees of multi-national companies in Pittsburgh. One of them has decided her departure date and I can tell that she has mixed emotions about leaving.

These spouses, including myself, know that living in Pittsburgh has never been a permanent thing, at least not for now. And we all know that someday, we all have to pack and say goodbye to Pittsburgh, a place where we all learned how to survive away from our family and close friends.

Lesson Plan - Part 1: Essential? Important? Burden? Waste of time?

Lesson Plan, or known as LP in my previous school, is something that every teacher is familiar with. No day of teaching can pass by without mentioning the word "Lesson Plan."

I was introduced to this when I did a semester of student teaching in a New York City Public School. Back then, it meant sitting down with an academic calendar in front of you, scribbling down some notes here and there in your planner, and flipping through some textbooks hoping to find appropriate activities for your class. Knowing what you'll be doing with the kids is very important.

The next time I encountered the concept of Lesson Planning was during a teacher training program in New York. Then I learned that there are a gazillion ways of creating a lesson plan. Basically choose a template that you're comfortable with and use it to guide you through the day or week, so long as you have the same components: objectives of the lesson, materials/tools, procedures, means of assessment and reflection. Be prepared!

Where's Superman?

What do you do when you feel helpless?
Cry?
Yell at... the person next to you or the innocent TV?
Sleep till you don't hear the sound of the rooster?
Secretly waiting for Superman to come for a rescue?
Well, when I feel helpless I stare at the ceiling wishing that I had a superpower to teleport--to transport across space and distance instantly (said a dictionary)

This morning I woke up just to see a message from a former student of mine crying out for help because she failed one of her exams which happened to be of the subject that I taught. Had this message been from students I don't know, I probably would care less, but this is from a student who is smart, responsible and cares for her academic performance. I immediately sense that something was wrong...

And everything went downhill from there...

A present from students

I bet you teachers have a box at home or a designated corner at your desk to display presents you receive from students. I used to dedicate a wall to put up cards and pictures I got from my little friends. I still have a card from a little girl whom I taught in my first year of teaching--a picture of a woman wearing a crown and a girl rope-jumping with the huge colorful writing that says "Ms. Wulansari and Skye." :)

Well, having moved around so much, I couldn't always bring those treasures with me. When I was packing my stuff to bring to the States, I seriously wish I could compress the gifts in one of those vacuum traveled plastic bags :p

Due to the stupid immigration law of the States, I am not allowed to work. So here I am, school-less since I moved to Pittsburgh. I was pretty upset at the beginning, but I got over it as soon as I discovered different opportunities where I don't have to be student-less.

Since several weeks ago, I started tutoring at a night adult class where adults learn math, english and some other subjects to get their high school diploma. This organization that I work for is open to any adult who is interested in pursuing further education. They come at night to do self-study on topics that they have to work on for that week and a tutor is there to help--that's me! Some people come everyday, while others show up depending on their work schedule and family stuff. So far, I really enjoy this particular tutoring experience because I am required to know "everything"--one minute I might be studying fraction with a student, the next minute I would be helping a student with her reading comprehension, and at the end of the class time, I would end up with a student trying to polish her creative writing piece.

Ok back to the present topic...