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Lesson Title: What’s happening in the neighborhood?
Date of Class: 8/01/17
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 2 pm
MC: Benjamin C
DJ: Colleen R
Assistants: Judy
Module: In the Neighborhood
How Many Learners: 9
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): in good shapeSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 4
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 4
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 4
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 4
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 5Total Score: 26
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
This was a great turnout for a very hot day! There were 4 newish learners, 2 advanced and 2 low beginners. All in all it was a good group dynamic. The learners who knew the routine provided a lot of assistance to the new lower level ones. There was quite a bit of Spanish spoken with them to help their understanding. The other new learners were both Russian speakers – in the reflection we talked about asking them to sit apart next time, so they could help others. The dictations were interspersed with short round robins about neighborhood activities: movies in the park and open play swimming. A map of Portland Neighborhood Associations made a good listen and point, as well as practice with cardinal directions – students listened and pointed in the direction of various neighborhoods on the map. We also talked about how we could use that as a good future activity to get up and move around.Lesson Title: What are we doing today?
Date of Class: July 25, 2017
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 6.00 pm
MC: Cecilia
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants: NONEHow Many Learners: 2
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
goodSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 4
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 36
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
This class began with only one learner who had come the previous night for the first time. Her daughter dropped her off and told us that she was very reluctant to try again because she had felt completely over her head the night before and didn’t think the classes were a good fit. Since she was the only learner, we decided to sit at the table with her to make it more relaxed. I spontaneously decided to grab an alphabet sheet and do the listen and point beside her, as a learner. It was great to experience that activity from the learners’ point of view! It doesn’t seem like a challenging activity for a native speaker, but when the pace is fast and the letter sounds are close, it is! We did yell and spell then added writing our first names. During the first dictation, a second learner arrived, who is advanced. He was great to jump right in and provide learner to learner support for the beginning student. The summertime module provided light and interesting content. The energy in this class was good throughout and we were very glad to hear (via her daughter) that she was happy and looked forward to returning.Lesson Title: What are we doing today?
Date of Class: July 25, 2017
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 6.00 pm
MC: Cecilia
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants: NONEHow Many Learners: 2
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
goodSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 4
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 36
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
COMING SOON!Lesson Title: Why aren’t there more black people in Oregon?
Date of Class: June 27, 2017
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 2:00 pm
MC: Zadok
DJ: Colleen
Assistants: Judy, Cam
Module: Race in Oregon
How Many Learners: 7
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): in good shapeSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 2
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) = 8
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 36
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
This class was a great example of the benefit of having some routine activities and an MC/DJ/assistant team for when the MC forgets they are MC’ing! Zadok put together a great lesson less than a half-hour before class. Colleen started with the alphabet listen and point, then Zadok took over with several activities around the title of the lesson: “Why aren’t there more black people in Oregon?” We did a round robin passing Zadok’s phone with pictures of 5 local activists, and a dialogue “This is X…” then a dictation to write their names. A short video and a gap-fill activity brought us back to the lesson title. One learner had her two grade school kids with her and they did everything with us. The 5th grade boy was very involved and helpful to others with dictation. Their involvement was a good example of how to integrate kids into the content instead of having them sit apart doing something on their own. In our reflection, we talked about the fact that there could have been a longer deeper lesson about identity using the phone photos, had there been more prep time to think it through. All in all, this lesson came together well and learners were engaged with the content and with helping each other.Lesson Title: What about pre-existing conditions?
Date of Class: 6/14/17
Day of Class: Wednesday
Time of Class: 6 pm
MC: Ashley
DJ: Colleen
Assistants: Ivy
Module: American Health Care Act
How Many Learners: 14
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
Need card stock to print more attendance cardsSelf 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) = 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) = 6Total Score: 37
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
This class has a solid group of regular learners. Lots of great interaction between students tonight – they helped each other with the writing part of dictations and maintained good energy throughout the whole class. The American Health Care Act module provided a base for some useful medical terminology. Some learners were very interested in knowing the meaning of what they were writing down and made notes alongside their dictation.
Lesson Title: Fairness and equality
Date of Class: June 13, 2017
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 6:00 pm
MC: Cecilia
DJ: Colleen
Assistants:
Module: Race in Oregon
How Many Learners: 2
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
goodSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
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) = 7
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 39
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
We started with just one learner tonight, then a half hour in, a new student arrived. They were quite compatible in their level, which helped with our flow. We had a communication snafu, because Colleen was subbing for Benjamin and didn’t realize it was his night to MC. Cecilia and Colleen communicated same day and Cecilia put together a good lesson plan, with some back-up activities from Colleen. The module, Race in Oregon, has plenty of materials to build on. Cecilia put together activities around Affirmative Action, which provided a lot of useful and relevant vocabulary and the Japanese American Historical Plaza. Both learners expressed appreciation for tonight’s class and plan to return.Lesson Title: The American Health Care Act
Date of Class: May 31, 2017
Day of Class: Wednesday
Time of Class: 6 pm
MC: Ashley Lopez
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants: Ivy
Module: The American Health Care Act
How Many Learners: 18
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
ran out of loyalty cards
Self EvaluationPreparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 4
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 8
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 4
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6Total Score: 35
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Tonight started out very challenging. A previous group had left the table covered with laptop computers; library staff had to come in and pack them up. That chaos coincided with the fact that too many learners showed up and a library staff person said we must comply with fire code. It was very uncomfortable and sad to turn students away. In the end, 4 people had to leave (max capacity 20). We were not able to move to a larger space because it was occupied. Additionally the library systems were down today and Ashley was unable to make copies she had planned to use. She adjusted her lesson plan so that most of the time, aside from regular activities, was spent on dictation.
Despite all this, the energy of the learners was good and they worked very cooperatively tonight. There were great examples of learners helping each other and staying engaged, even when the dictation felt tedious.Lesson Title: Vendors Are Friends, Not Food
Date of Class: May 25, 2017
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 2:00 pm
MC: Ashlyn Teather
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants: Julia
Module: Farmer’s Market
How Many Learners: 6
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
in good shape!
Self EvaluationPreparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
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) = 7
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6Total Score: 40
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Although this was a small group, they were very cohesive – there was good interaction throughout. It was wonderful to see one of the regular learners who usually needs help, assisting some other learners! Ashlyn put together a lesson plan for the 4th week of the Farmer’s Market module that was fresh and engaging. For the more advanced learners, there was some good new vocabulary. Lemonade and apple slices provided for a nice wrap-up and a fun Round Robin following the dictation progression, “Vendors sometimes have free samples!”
Lesson Title: I am thankful for my mom!
Date of Class: 5/16/17
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 6 pm
MC: Cam Coval
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants:
Module: Motherhood
How Many Learners: 13
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
still establishing this site
Self EvaluationPreparation: 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) = 6
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) = 7Total Score: 38
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
Tonight’s group included half the learners from last week and a half-dozen new learners, both men and women, compared to last week’s “ladies night”. Although the class didn’t flow quite as smoothly because the learners arrived in waves, the energy was good throughout. Two men had a much higher level of English than the rest of the group and were very relaxed and happy to help others. Continuing on the Mother’s Day theme, Cam found a short video clip about the history of Mother’s Day, which provided the content for dictation. It worked well to repeat some of last weeks’ activities, since half the group was new and the repetition of saying/spelling their mom’s name was good practice. All in all, a good class with engaged learners!
Lesson Title: “I love you, Mom!”
Date of Class: 5/9/2017
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 6 pm
MC: Cam Coval
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants:
Module: Society & Culture
How Many Learners: 10
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):
need to build a new green box – we had materials for tonight.Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 7
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 8
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 8
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 43
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Tonight was Cam’s dress rehearsal at a new site, HB Lee Middle School in Gresham, a SUN school with lots going on. This class was a great experience in every way! We started out with 3 learners, knowing in advance that a parent meeting would bring in additional learners when it got out. That transition to incorporate a whole group worked ok, since we had just done the “Today’s lesson” dictation. We went back to yell and spell, then continued with the dictation. This group of all women had good rapport and the level of interaction and assistance they gave each other was wonderful. The activity transitions were smooth and Cam’s energy was great! The “Listen and Do” included ‘sing’ and ‘laugh’, which brought happy energy – and real laughter to the lesson. In addition to “Yell and Spell Your Mom”, Cam added a mixer, “Meet my mom”, which got everyone out of their chairs and talking to a variety of learners. It was simple and fun – “Hi Colleen, what’s your mom’s name?”
This class really showcased the P-P-T model!Lesson Title: Gardening
Date of Class: 4/6/17
Day of Class: Thursday
Time of Class: 6 pm
MC: Malee
DJ: Colleen
Assistants: Ivy, Reem, Anne, Shea, Rachael
Module: Gardening
How Many Learners: 13
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): goodSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 5
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6Total Score: 32
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): We had a full room, with 13 learners and 4 shadowers, in addition to Malee, Colleen, and Ivy. There was a lot of great interaction among the students and the assistants, making the class lively. The garden theme was fun and had lots of good, useful vocabulary. The first round of dictation sentences were about the importance of bees – the activity was enhanced by passing around The Bee Book, which Ivy managed to run out and borrow from the librarian :) Malee brought gardening gloves, small tools, and seed packets for the passing around activity. There was quite a range of levels in tonight’s group – in our reflection we talked about how to make sure that the advanced learners stay engaged. In the future we will try to have students more evenly blended around the table, so there isn’t a cluster of high or low level all together.
Lesson Title: Renting an apartment in Portland
Date of Class: April 5, 2017
Day of Class: Wednesday
Time of Class: 6 pm
MC: Maureen
DJ: Colleen
Assistants: Ivy
Module: Affordable Housing
How Many Learners: 14
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): in good shapeSelf Evaluation
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) = 5
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) = 7Total Score: 37
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Tonight was Maureen’s first silent class and it was a larger than usual group with 14. We both thought that extra assistants would be helpful for silent classes. Maureen signed the Alphabet Listen and Point and all the learners called out the letters in response, while some also tried signing. We didn’t try to stop them from calling out, though in the reflection we discussed the rationale for silence during listen and point. Before doing the longer dictation, students listened to an OPB interview called “Portland Landlords.” It was very long, around 8 mins, with challenging language – we both felt it was too difficult as a listening activity and most if not all students couldn’t follow. During the dictation, Maureen decided to write the sentences on the board, after giving the students time to begin writing. This helped everyone with spelling and was especially helpful for learners who were struggling with writing, to be able to hear and see the sentences. However, it detracted from the listening skill involved in dictation. Advanced learners were great at helping the lower level students write the words. The final activity was “Housing Bingo”, which brought the energy level back up and ended the class on a good note!
Lesson Title: Please tell us what you think.
Date of Class: 3/29/17
Day of Class: Wednesday
Time of Class: 6-7:30 pm
MC: Ramin Tokhi
DJ: Colleen Richardson
Assistants: Ivy, Reem
Module: Renters Rights
How Many Learners: 8
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): in good shapeSelf Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
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) = 7Total Score: 37
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Ramin saved the day for this class, stepping in for Maureen, because she wasn’t able to attend. The plan for today’s lesson was to use the library survey for all the dictation activities and round robin. It worked very well to give learners the vocabulary before actually filling it out at the end. We didn’t have enough time for the second page, which included open-ended questions, so we may continue with it next week. There was one new learner who came with her English speaking friend, and everyone else seemed at least familiar with each other. Learners were great at supporting each other today!
Lesson Title: You Can Always Go Downtown
Date of Class: 3/14/17
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 2 pm
MC: Megan
DJ: Colleen
Assistants: Judy
Module: Trimet
How Many Learners: 9
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
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) = 8Total Score: 38
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
Today Patrik joined the class for Megan’s “gentle intervention.” Megan did a great job of responding to his suggestions. There wasn’t time for everything in the lesson plan because of extra time spent trying out some of Patrik’s suggestions. Megan’s lesson had some good dictations focused on Trimet vocabulary, as well as a lively song, “Downtown” (original version from 1965) which made up the theme about getting downtown on MAX. Patrik modeled moving students around before a dictation to get low-level learners sitting next to more advanced. The students worked well together and the higher level learners got good practice and guidance for helping others.Lesson Title: Getting on board with Hop Fastpass
Date of Class: 3/7/17
Day of Class: Tuesday
Time of Class: 2 pm
MC: Megan
DJ: Colleen
Assistants: Judy
Module: Trimet
How Many Learners: 8
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 8
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
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) = 9Total Score: 39
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): This was Megan’s second silent class. She had a great lesson plan with varied activities, which all tied in with the bus riding vocabulary. The first two activities were a little bit bumpy, but then everyone got more comfortable with the experience of Megan not talking and Colleen filling in verbally. There were several newcomers today. As the class went on, students began to support each other without prompting. Megan showed a short video about the Trimet fastpass and on the second viewing, students read the headings for the choral response without much direction. The listen and do was a fun energetic activity to end on!