After reading the study done on the international Stanford students and their ability to write and communicate in English, I found it interesting that many of the students decided to choose their majors based on their confidence in learning and applying English to their daily lives. After looking at the results and what the international students were saying about first learning English, I was wonder, is one's confidence in English a major factor in the way that students choose their major?
As I reflect back to people I know at James Madison, I do not see many international students in the Humanities and Social Science fields. I am an IDLS major, and Elementary Education minor, and there are no international students in them. My IDLS courses are a majority of English and writing classes where there have been no international students that I can recall. I find this interesting and never thought about the reasoning behind it until this article. It was fascinating to see the link between one's confidence in English and the decision to choose a science or technology major.
I do believe that a student's confidence affects their choice of major in college. For example, in my family I have two younger sisters. I have always been strong in the English and language arts area of school, while my middle sister, a senior in high school, has always been strong in math. Due to the lack of confidence in English, she has chosen to apply to colleges with the idea of being a biomedical engineer because of her writing skills. She has helped me confirm the idea that confidence in the language does affect your decision in what you will major in for the future, whether you are an international student or not.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Book Club - Embrace Your Insignificance
“I’ve been asked to check the second-year students’ summer homework. They were asked to do a journal page on their vacation. I find myself grading their lives: are they interesting? Are they creative? Are they rich enough to have had an exotic vacation? After reviewing about 30 or so assignments you get a feel for where a class is. I should give them an A, B, or C with a plus or minus…..Most kids have a regimented life. I think I would be quite unresponsive if I had to go through what they go through. This assignment seems to be one of the only assignments I can remember recently where kids could just write whatever they wanted.” (p82)
In this Japanese school that attempting their best to teach Japanese students English, many of the students do not care about learning and opening themselves up to the English language. American English teacher, Bob Gaulke, has been given the struggle to teach these first, second, and third-year students who are learning English in order to advance towards a job, a higher education, etc.
Throughout the book, Gaulke explains his difficulty in trying to grade the Japanese students since many of them disrupt that class and do not put forth the effort in the day-to-day worksheet activities that are planned. After reading the situations he is put in, I believe that he is faced with great difficulty in grading these students. English is an exceptionally hard language to learn because of all the different grammatical rules, spelling, etc. that is enacted into our language. Many times Gaulke wants to give extra points or disregard some of the wrong answers so his students can gain confidence in their English and be motivated to learn.
The reason I found Gaulke’s experience with grading papers on a personal experience so compelling deals with an issue that we have talked about in class. Students take greater pride and are more motivated to engage in writing when they are dealing with situations that they have experienced themselves. Here, Gaulke cannot give the students a grade based on their experiences like he has stated. Instead, he is able to see the students’ identities and maybe can see why many of them are not inspired to learn English. As he states, “students lives are regimented”, which means that day-in and day-out they are doing the same exercises, activities, and learning techniques to learn English, yet they are not understanding it and applying it to things they know. I believe that Gaulke understands the importance of allowing students to free-write every once and a while to see the progress that has been made, and needs to be made in teaching.
Discussion Questions:
1. Analysis: Compare and contrast how Gaulke’s mindset about teaching the students English differs from the other teachers located in his school.
Gaulke differs in many ways from his colleagues in teaching the students English, although he has the same common goal as the other teachers which is to teach the students and help them ready themselves for the future and the tests. Gaulke seems more concerned about the students using English outside of the classroom and in regular conversation and makes more of an effort in going out of his way to talk to the students about things that interest them. He uses activities that will interest the students and making learning English fun, instead of using repetitive worksheets that are fill-in the blanks.
2. Evaluation: Assess Gaulke’s performance as an English teacher for the Japanese students and if there is anything he can fix or improve upon.
Overall, I think that Gaulke was an effective teacher in the Japanese school. At times, he gave up on himself or the ability of his students which disheartened me due to the fact that these students needed a lot of help. However, I think that he cared more about his students than his colleagues did and found ways to engage with students inside and outside of the classroom. He took the time to understand their lives and empathize with them in order to effectively try and teach.
3. Application: Gaulke and the teachers use many different techniques in the classroom to teach the students. What are some techniques and activities that were used that you would find helpful to incorporate in your future classroom?
There were many activities that were used in Gaulke’s classroom and other teacher’s classrooms as well. I really enjoyed the idea of the Haiku poems that were used because I believe that students are able to grasp individual word meanings and can create a simple writing piece that is comprehensive by everyone. For many of the students not understanding English and grasping it, some of the poems were very well done.
In this Japanese school that attempting their best to teach Japanese students English, many of the students do not care about learning and opening themselves up to the English language. American English teacher, Bob Gaulke, has been given the struggle to teach these first, second, and third-year students who are learning English in order to advance towards a job, a higher education, etc.
Throughout the book, Gaulke explains his difficulty in trying to grade the Japanese students since many of them disrupt that class and do not put forth the effort in the day-to-day worksheet activities that are planned. After reading the situations he is put in, I believe that he is faced with great difficulty in grading these students. English is an exceptionally hard language to learn because of all the different grammatical rules, spelling, etc. that is enacted into our language. Many times Gaulke wants to give extra points or disregard some of the wrong answers so his students can gain confidence in their English and be motivated to learn.
The reason I found Gaulke’s experience with grading papers on a personal experience so compelling deals with an issue that we have talked about in class. Students take greater pride and are more motivated to engage in writing when they are dealing with situations that they have experienced themselves. Here, Gaulke cannot give the students a grade based on their experiences like he has stated. Instead, he is able to see the students’ identities and maybe can see why many of them are not inspired to learn English. As he states, “students lives are regimented”, which means that day-in and day-out they are doing the same exercises, activities, and learning techniques to learn English, yet they are not understanding it and applying it to things they know. I believe that Gaulke understands the importance of allowing students to free-write every once and a while to see the progress that has been made, and needs to be made in teaching.
Discussion Questions:
1. Analysis: Compare and contrast how Gaulke’s mindset about teaching the students English differs from the other teachers located in his school.
Gaulke differs in many ways from his colleagues in teaching the students English, although he has the same common goal as the other teachers which is to teach the students and help them ready themselves for the future and the tests. Gaulke seems more concerned about the students using English outside of the classroom and in regular conversation and makes more of an effort in going out of his way to talk to the students about things that interest them. He uses activities that will interest the students and making learning English fun, instead of using repetitive worksheets that are fill-in the blanks.
2. Evaluation: Assess Gaulke’s performance as an English teacher for the Japanese students and if there is anything he can fix or improve upon.
Overall, I think that Gaulke was an effective teacher in the Japanese school. At times, he gave up on himself or the ability of his students which disheartened me due to the fact that these students needed a lot of help. However, I think that he cared more about his students than his colleagues did and found ways to engage with students inside and outside of the classroom. He took the time to understand their lives and empathize with them in order to effectively try and teach.
3. Application: Gaulke and the teachers use many different techniques in the classroom to teach the students. What are some techniques and activities that were used that you would find helpful to incorporate in your future classroom?
There were many activities that were used in Gaulke’s classroom and other teacher’s classrooms as well. I really enjoyed the idea of the Haiku poems that were used because I believe that students are able to grasp individual word meanings and can create a simple writing piece that is comprehensive by everyone. For many of the students not understanding English and grasping it, some of the poems were very well done.
Monday, March 1, 2010
"Enhancing Adolescent Literacy Achievement Through Integration of Technology in the Classroom"
In this scholarly article written by Betty Sternberg, Karen Kaplan, and Jennifer Borck, they talk about the use of technology in the classroom in order to improve students' literacy skills. The primary grades focused on are fourth through twelfth, and the identify that more than eight million students are identified as struggling readers. What the writers state is that in the state of Connecticut, they are continuing to explore key elements in specific programs that will help with the improvement of literacy. They believe that by incorporating technology in the classroom, it will greatly improve the struggling readers due to the fact that technology "plays in increasingly central role in our society".
There are seven different areas in which technology can be used to inform the future practice. The majority of them deal with the students; however, teachers and parents also have the ability to engage and promote literacy through technology for their students and/or children. Many states are involving online school into their school districts because it has the benefit of targeting students' specific needs and provide flexibility in pacing and scheduling. Students also are engaging in communication tools and word processing that provide the use of today's technology and use of it out of school and into the classrooms. As for teachers, involving technology into the classroom to achieve literacy helps them to enhance their professional development because they too are able to use the technology to go and communicate with other teachers, mentors, etc. and find new practices and advice to bring into the classroom. By providing technology in the classroom, students, teachers, and parents are all benefiting as the lack of literacy in students becomes improved and achievable.
Sternberg, B.J., Kaplan, K.A., & Borck, J.E. (2007). Enhancing adolescent literacy and achievement through integration of technology in the classroom. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(3), p. 416-420. doi: 1598/0814146767
There are seven different areas in which technology can be used to inform the future practice. The majority of them deal with the students; however, teachers and parents also have the ability to engage and promote literacy through technology for their students and/or children. Many states are involving online school into their school districts because it has the benefit of targeting students' specific needs and provide flexibility in pacing and scheduling. Students also are engaging in communication tools and word processing that provide the use of today's technology and use of it out of school and into the classrooms. As for teachers, involving technology into the classroom to achieve literacy helps them to enhance their professional development because they too are able to use the technology to go and communicate with other teachers, mentors, etc. and find new practices and advice to bring into the classroom. By providing technology in the classroom, students, teachers, and parents are all benefiting as the lack of literacy in students becomes improved and achievable.
Sternberg, B.J., Kaplan, K.A., & Borck, J.E. (2007). Enhancing adolescent literacy and achievement through integration of technology in the classroom. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(3), p. 416-420. doi: 1598/0814146767
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