[ola] Re: Student pushback and English use
- From: Eric Briggs <ericb6.02@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ola <ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 15:34:39 -0800
Ruth, thanks so much for that attachment. I am a first year teacher and am
always on the look out for ways to improve student engagement and
behaviors. As I looked at the descriptions ranging from authoritarian to
attraction I spotted several tactics that I use in the classroom. However
the framework of negative vs positive (desisting vs winning) attention as
well as authoritarian vs attraction I found very useful. It can help me to
choose more consistently positive tactics and those that have more
potential to elicit positive behaviors. Just as certain things "click" with
our students this chart clicked for me as it appeals to my form of logic.
Thanks so much for sharing.
- Eric
*Eric Briggs*
*Español/ELD*
*Eagle Point H.S*
On Sun, Nov 16, 2014 at 2:02 PM, Ruth Whalen Crockett <rwhalen@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> COlin,
>
> I have been thinking a great deal about your questions and challenges.
> These aren’t uncommon ones, really something all of us face in our
> practice. One thing I want to encourage you to do is consider that all kids
> are different and their needs vary tremendously. Some respond to
> consequences, others are more motived by positive responses. Others simply
> need to understand fully the goal. How you vary your responses to children
> when they resort to English will depend on how well you understand your
> students as learners. It is hard to figure out what motives each child.
> This is what makes teaching so very tricky.
>
> I have attached a page from the Skillful Teacher. It is a graphic I
> often share with teachers who want to talk about classroom discipline. The
> continuum is helpful as it helps teacher identify how their moves in the
> classroom are instrumental in eliciting the behavior and work they want
> from their students. What I often encourage my colleagues to do is try a
> bunch of different responses and take careful note of the results. The more
> I teach the more I realize that it is the smallest things that can change
> the entire demeanor and behavior of a class. I sometimes hear my students
> talking about getting “the look” from me. It took me years to develop “the
> look” and since starting OWL, I use it a lot less, but it happens to be my
> way of reminding kids that I expect better behavior. Now I find myself
> using so much more praise and enthusiasm. At the end of the day this makes
> me feel like a much better teacher and human being.
>
> Good luck. Keep these interesting questions coming. This is at the
> heart of instructional practice.
>
> Ruthie
>
>
>
> On Nov 16, 2014, at 4:12 PM, Heidi Hewitt <heidihewitt13@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> At a workshop with Annie, she did a really cool thing to address English
> speakers. She would train the class to "ataca el inglés" (attack English),
> which ends up becoming just "ataca!" (with the action of course). I have
> been using it in my classes and it brings in a little bit of silliness
> rather than just yelling at them with "no inglés!" I've had to remind some
> classes that it's an imaginary attack as they really like to punch each
> other, oops!
>
> Have you tried writing E S P A Ñ O L on the board and erasing a letter
> from the end with each time English is heard? Then when the E is gone, dun
> dun dunnnnn - mystery consequence, "test", or something else. This was very
> effective in my problematic class last year.
>
> Keep on keepin' on, this is a hard time of year for me too. Seems to
> always happen around this time. <3
>
> On Friday, November 14, 2014, Colin Oriard <coriard@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Thanks Jonathan. We also recite that poem very class and then go
> around thanking each other for being here...
>
> What do you do when you hear English in the class? How do you address it?
>
>
>
> Colin Oriard
> Profesor de español 1/2 & 3/4
> Grant High School
> Room 112
> Phone extension - 75612
> ------------------------------
> *From:* ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of
> Jonathan Irish <isolicious@xxxxxxxxx>
> *Sent:* Friday, November 14, 2014 9:52 AM
> *To:* ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [ola] Re: Student pushback and English use
>
> I teach a group of sophomores that at times can break into English. I
> was worried about it yesterday because I gave them a good chunk of time to
> practice their Spanish plays. I was thinking that 30 minutes of "alone"
> time would mean English, especially for one group. At the start of class I
> tried to be as up front as possible. Why do we speak in Spanish, why are
> we here? We recited la ke'ch:
> *Tú eres mi otro yo.*
> You are my other me.
> *Si te hago daño a ti,*
> If I do harm to you,
> *Me hago daño a mi mismo.*
> I do harm to myself.
> *Si te amo y respeto,*
> If I love and respect you,
> *Me amo y respeto yo.*
> I love and respect myself.
> We do this a lot but it is important to review. So class went well and
> they maintained pretty good focus during the practice. Students can handle
> high standards, they just need to be reminded of it from time to time.
> Suerte, El Jota
>
> 2014-11-14 6:33 GMT-08:00 Colin Oriard <coriard@xxxxxxx>:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Thank you to so many for writing me back with words of encouragement and
> ideas around my struggles. I really appreciate it!
>
> To further my reflective inquiry, I was wondering if more people would be
> willing to weigh in how they handle English use in the classroom? Do you
> have consequences for English use? Is there a progression of consequences
> if it continues? Discipline is definitely not one of my strengths, and I
> had hoped that expressing the importance of the immersion environment and
> then giving reminders and call-outs when students use English would be
> enough, but it is not. I need to tweak something.
>
> I teach first and second year (NL-NH/IL) at a high school that is
> predominantly white (about 70%). There is 33% poverty, internet access for
> about 90% of my students.
>
> My tentative plan to implement starting next week is that when a student
> uses English, I will ask them to do 5 vocabulary words with the class to
> get them refocused on using Spanish, and then some class applause to
> appreciate their efforts. Then I'm thinking that on a second offense, they
> will need to sit on the sidelines and answer 5 essay questions in English
> about our language learning environment to get them to reflect deeper on
> their choices in our class and hopefully get them to regulate themselves
> better. Once they finish the 5 questions they can rejoin the group. If
> they still can't participate according to the rules of the class I will
> give them a written activity to work on.
>
> I'm very open to suggestions and improvements on all of this. Absolutely
> every student has the right to learn, but I'm finding I need to draw the
> line when a student is taking away other student's rights to learn.
>
> Any feedback on this, and how you handle English use would be greatly
> appreciated. Thanks
>
>
>
> Colin Oriard
> Profesor de español 1/2 & 3/4
> Grant High School
> Room 112
> Phone extension - 75612
>
>
>
>
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