Lesson Title: Recycle this, not that !!!
Date of Class: 06 Apr 2019
Time of Class: 11:30 am
MC: EstefaniaVenturera
DJ: BroniagoBioChar
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: Josué
Module: Working, with instruction
How Many Learners: 7
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Loyalty cards at stage critical !!

Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 7
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 4

Two learners arrived early, and they and Estefanía and I had some nice small‐talk and reconnecting, as theses are learners that we both know well. At 11:30, Estefanía led alphabet listen‐and‐point, including some really great work around H‑X‑S that I was surprised to be so challenging for speakers of these learners’ languages. I hope to incorporate more X‑S work when I MC with speakers of these languages in future: thanks Estefanía!! Next, we did yell‐and‐spell, then Estefanía dictated a vocab list of words (and some multi‐word terms [eg curbside pick‐up, can’t remember the others, but only one, two, and three word vocab items]) related to the default waste sorting categories assigned to single family residential Waste Management customers by the City of Portland and available to other Waste Management customers in Portland city limits by property owner’s request: trash, commingled recycling, compost, glass recycling, and motor vehicle motor oil. A family of two learners arrived. We went over names, allowing the new learners to spell their names. One of the names had a consonant cluster which was a challenge to pronounce, which I super enjoyed. Later I was talking to the learners about an English word with five consonants and one vowel, I can’t remember what it was, but it was like trusts. I think all those ‑sts ‑sks ‑exts English word endings are good to have fun with with learners, giving time to develop new muscle memories for the speech apparatus and slowing down to glide between consonants without interveenning vowel sounds. Learning a new sound system after childhood takes So. Much. Time! but it can be so much fun and so rewarding when presented in a fun non‐shaming way. Anyway, we watched a video about what curbside bin to throw things in, which I found very upsetting. Didn’t the City of Portland say we could put those clear hard plastic restaurant clam‐shell take‐out containers in commingled recycling just a couple years ago ? Now this video is saying that is trash, but grain milk cartons can go in commingled, which is great news to me that I didn’t know. So many plastic things have a minimum ounce volume to be acceptable, and the example in the video was labelled in millilitres, but the rules are in ounces ! I think this system is super frustrating and inaccessible !

Three more learners came and had the opportunity to spell their names, including two learners who were friends with each other. Estefanía dictated some more items. Then we did a wordfind on a Waste Management flyer about what is accepted in which bin. Then Josué arrived as a guest and we spelled some names. One of the most recently arrived learners was hardly enraged at all, other than spelling their name, and cajoling their friend, the, learner they came with, to leave. They left after 20 minutes but the friend stayed and was highly engaged, until having to leave a few minutes early to go to work. They were very apologetic for leaving and there was a great warm and strong connection with that learner. Throughout the 90 minutes, both engagement and connection ranged from very very high to almost no engagement and almost no connection, depending on the learner.

As a callback to watching the video twice, we did an activity of Estefanía naming packaging and everyone having a chance to guess if it would go in the curbside trash or the curbside recycling. Then Estefanía dictated a mini‐dialoguegh about what day our recycling is picked‐up curbside in Portland. We went around the room, acting out the dialog, with all facilitators, learners, and our guest both asking and answering all the questions, repeating the dialog twice per person, once as the asker and once as the respondent. Then a learner led a spontaneous conversation about options for plastic film, other than curbside garbage, like collecting plastic bags and taking them to a store that accepts them. The conversation moved to why different drinks have or don’t have Oregon container deposit: carbonated or not, alcoholic or not, real juice or fruit flavored with sugar… The rules change depending on size, for example, small real juice containers have deposit, while a larger container of the same juice wouldn’t. Yet, the same‐sized large container of plain still water would, but that size of uncarbonated fruit‐flavored drink wouldn’t, but add carbonation to the same exact flavor of drink in the same size, and it would. I worry this system is neither very accessible. By this time, it was 1:00, so Estefanía had me take attendance, as we didn’t know where the loyalty cards were. I was able to transfer my notes to the loyalty cards later. I was hoping Josué and the learner who is an amigx of P*P*T could stay for reflection and Spanish learning space, which begins in the same room at 1:00. Our amigx, Josué, Estefanía, the family of two learners, and I all stayed and we all talked about our pluses and deltas for the English time we had had together. Then Estefanía and I made a plan to complete the self eval portion of the reflection over text message as Estefanía was leaving, and I facilitated the Spanish space with our amigx, the family of two, Josué, IanLankyLobo, and myself until 2:00. pretty eventful day

Lesson Title: A Visit to the Pharmacy
Date of Class: 4 Sept 2018
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 18:00 (6 pm)
MC: Claire
DJ: Bron Santiago
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: N/a
Module: At the Doctor
How Many Learners: 8
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): I (Bronigo) have stocked this place to the gills! We need more blank loyalty card sheets and a mini stapler for this site.

Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 4
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 3
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 5
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 3
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6
Total Score: 27

Claire text me running late with traffic. Rocky start to listen and point, though I tried to start at the drop of 6 pm. Listen and point about 6:10 to 6:40. Then yell and spell. Then calling of the lesson. Then dictation about how pharmacies, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications work. Then this is an apple with prescription and non prescription bottles that Claire and I had brought from home. A learner pointed out that it is important to take Vitamin D in Oregon (which I have a prescription for) because we receive very little solar radiation. All but one learner were in the 80th percentile of engagement, in my opinion. Connection was even higher, in my opinion, like in the 85th percentile. I had lots of little side banter with Claire and various learners, and the learners were having great banter between then. The learners told lots of jokes about me, and there was a lot of laughing for that and many many other reasons. The other learner was very dissatisfied with the length of the names plus adjectives in This Is an Apple and length of the words during the dictation. A shadower arrived 15 early (before Claire was there), when I was the only person there, but felt sick and left before Claire or any learners arrived.

I am very happy that this group is starting to show up early and being ready to English at 6 pm !

Lesson Title: I like eating & drinking outdoors
Date of Class: 16 May 2018
Day of Class: Wednesday
Time of Class: 2 pm
MC: May Thitichaya
DJ: Bron Santiago
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
Module: The Great Outdoors
How Many Learners: 2
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): I need to get those sharpened pencils back to Rockwood ! plenty of everything else

Self Evaluation

Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 8
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 7
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 7
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7

Total Score: 42

The two learners were slightly more engaged than an average P*P*T session. We had fun with a this is an apple with colour photos of national dishes of lots of countries that Thitichaya made with master’s student printing allowance (paid for out of annual student fee).

We also had fun writing our given and family names in a lot of writing systems: Thai and Hebrew and some others. Thitichaya always puts great twists on familiar P*P*T activities.

I arrived at 2:03 pm and never texted Thitichaya to say where I was or when I would arrive. I feel super bad about that. My devices are in grave disrepair. Many pigs were despondent, as their flights were scrubbed due to the administrative delays caused by my decrepit gadgetry.

Lesson Title: What I can do
Date of Class: 9 May 2018
Day of Class: Wednesday
Time of Class: 2 pm
MC: Thitichaya
DJ: Bron Santiago
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: Sasha (2nd Shadow)
Module: The Great Outdoors
How Many Learners: 2
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): I really need to sharpen those pencils. Everything else is Rad.

Self Evaluation

Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 8
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7

Total Score: 40

I arrived 4 minutes late. Thitichaya and Sasha were there doing alphabet listen and point. Thitichaya did five letter combos. Then we did yell and spell first and last names. It was great !

Thitichaya and Sasha both brought great energy to all the activities, and Sasha brought thespian skills to saying phrases in English. Thitichaya brought amazing colour photographs for “This is an Apple” and color printouts for two different document searches. Thitichaya put really fun interesting twists on “This is an Apple” and “Listen and Do”. Thitichaya gave the photographs to different people every time, and they could pick which direction to pass the the “This is an Apple” around the table.

We ended with a game where Sasha and I had to do the “do”‘s from the “listen and do, and we each had a teammate who was a learner, and we were racing to have the learner teammate say the outdoor activity that Sasha and I were doing charades for. It was like a Password TV gameshow race, and it was super fun.

Lesson Title: It is polite not to write in ALL “Caps for Sale” copies.
Date of Class: 26 April 2018
Day of Class: Thursday
Time of Class: 2 pm
MC: Patrik
DJ: Santiago
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
Module: Religions of the world
How Many Learners: 5
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Everything is so great! More pencils could be sharpened, but so many are sharpened already!

Self Evaluation

Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 1
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 1

Total Score: 27

Wew baby, was it hot outside ! The MAX trains did not seem to like this and were running well behind schedule. Patrik and I were both taking MAX to Rockwood and texting each other as we went. I was changing colours of MAX at Gateway. We ended up on the same train, but in different cars. We discovered this through text. After a few stops, I changed to the car Patrik was in. Patrik had their bike but, to my horror, no helmet. Patrik rode fast from the SE 181st Ave MAX Station to the library, and I walked fast. Patrik arrived at the meeting room around 1:58 pm and I arrived at 2:03 pm.

Before I arrived, one of the learners had told Patrik they should wear a hat. Patrik thought they meant wear a helmet, because bicycling without a helmet has the potential to put a strain on all of society, but they meant a hat for the sun. (Did I mention it was a hot day?) We spent the whole class doing dictations about hats, helmets, my hat, and the Jewish Rabbis. Then we had a great conversation about the three Abrahamic traditions (and some non-Abrahamic traditions), and a learner said that all people of the world are one people, which I thought might have been an expression of abrogationism, but Patrik thought was really cool. At some point, the clock struck 3:30, and we stopped Englishing.

I asked Patrik if they had facilitated 999 P*P*T English sessions less prepared than this. They said yes emphatically. I remain less than credulous, though it also remains not my my place to question the self-evaluation of an MC. Factors that contribute to the low preparation score include arriving less than 4 minutes before the session began and having no lesson plan whatsoever in their head until we began an making it up as we went along.

Lesson Title: Seasons and activities
Date of Class: 12 April 2018
Day of Class: Thursday
Time of Class: 11 am
MC: Abdi
DJ: Santi
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
Module: Calendar
How Many Learners: 10
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): This site does not use loyalty cards. Yikes !

Self Evaluation

Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 5
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 8
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 1

Total Score: 33

Abdi was still printing and photocopying when I arrived, so I started with the alphabet sheet right at 11 am. I gave my impression of an anglo pronouncing the letters p and b, complete with devoicing the vowel in the name of the letter p to emphasize the voiceless nature of the name of p in contrast to the name of b. The learners found this hilarious. I think they learned a lot a about what differentiates the /p/ phoneme from the /b/ phoneme in English. Then we did yell and spell names, and I modeled “What’s her name?”/”What’s his name?”, which they have now been using at this site. I used gestures to illustrate the you spell, I ask dynamic of that activity, which the learners again found hilarious.

By this time, Abdi was ready with the printouts and making copies of an activity sheet. We wrote down the calling of the lesson. Then we did a round robin (maybe I am naming this wrong) with “What season is it right now?” and “Spring”. Then Abdi handed out the activity sheets, and learners wrote what they like to do in Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. Then we passed a mini dialogue around the table of learners, asking “What do you like to do in the Spring?” and generating spontaneous responses.

We ended with me doing a document search with the activity sheet that Abdi had made and handed out, I intended to only have the higher-English learners pick things, but it ended-up that the learners decided to pass it around the whole table. Everyone got to pick something on the document and we all pointed to it.

There was tons of laughter throughout the class. Abdi was excited that a learner, who is low-verbal in her native language said some words and letters in English. This learner was practicing writing Latin letters in a notebook throughout the class, and had great audio exposure to a bunch of spoken English. I tried to include them as much as possible in the activities, but they declined very often. Abdi was very happy that they did not decline every time this day. I really enjoyed meeting these learners and visiting this site for the first time.

I don’t remember why Abdi gave us a 1 for the reflection, but that is what he said, and I have not downgraded it for my lateness in posting.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BroniagoBioChar.