WebMaestrex

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 346 through 360 (of 377 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #377
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 11/13/13
    Day of Class: Wed
    PI: Patrik
    SI:
    Assistants:
    Module: Talking with the Boss
    How Many Learners: 8
    Score: 5+4+6+6+5+4=30
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Another in a series of interesting classes that had folks coming quite late, new folks, surprising people not there, all sorts of discombobulation.. )for the first 10 minutes, I was just chatting with two Spanish speakers) but also, a solid community forming – two people know know each other, they’re talking freely. It’s great to know that there are like 5 people from the apartment complex coming now. Big difference from last term. Today’s technique was pretty one dimensional.. I really wanted to focus on past tense short answers.. and so I moved away from language related to work and instead just dictated sentences like “Did you cook a meal today?” “Did you take a walk today” responding with a structured “yes, I did/no, I didn’t”. I had intended to take this further to the do you, have you, did you, will you, are you – but just didn’t have enough time.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #376
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Thursday, 6:00-7:30 pm

    Date of Class: 7 November, 2013
    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Alexander
    SI: Mary Louise
    Assistants:
    Module: Telephone Etiquette
    How Many Learners: 7
    Score: 28 (on the old scoresheet – there were no new ones at the site)
    What happened:
    We yelled and spelled each others names around the bases with ‘called’ or ‘called you’ after. “Ralph, R-A-L-P-H, Ralph, called you.”

    For dictation, we copied a short script that might have been left on voicemail, and then we wrote a short script that might have been a call made from a doctor’s office. both with instructions and phone numbers listed (with a phone prop).

    We did call and response variations of ‘Hey, did anyone call me?” (while I was out) and then, yes, ………….. (neighbor) called to say that …… (bleh bleh)
    We ended with a list of sign language/spoken verbs including those related to telephoning – and used the opportunity to compare combinations of, IE: “I sit” with “she sits” verbs in both spoken language and ASL.
    All people had fun, I believe. Mary Louise and I co-taught well, no learner was left on third. Looking forward to more with phone props next week.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #375
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 11/6/13
    Day of Class: Wed
    PI: Patrik
    SI:
    Assistants: Lorraine
    Module: Talking with the Boss
    How Many Learners: 7
    Score: 6+6+7+7+6+4=36
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): A really nice class, such a good feeling developing here, really nice reception from the property management staff. I liked the activity where we say yes, I can, no you can’t yes I can.. this fits so well into many different things, and it’s very natural. We roll through can, am, have, do, did, was. and then have the group negate it. Very nice.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #374
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 10/31/13
    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Sheila
    SI:
    Assistants: Annie
    Module: Telephone Etiquette
    How Many Learners: 5
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): At first there were only 2 Ss so Alpha L&P was sailing along! Pretty quickly, though, 2 more people came and they were lower level so I slowed it down a bit and narrowed the focus, broadening a little by the end. It seemed to work well and the timing seemed good. After this came Y&S with names and then we went around repeating everyone’s names individually which was darned easy with so few people but still a chance to practice speaking. The last student arrived at this point.

    Then we played some Hangman which is a new activity for me and it went pretty well. I drew the lines and the hangman section on a piece of paper in a notebook with a sharpie and I asked the Ss to put x number of lines on their paper and showed them. I modeled down and asked them to pick a letter. They were a little confused for the first word, but once the first word was revealed, they got it and we were off! They seemed engaged and enjoyed the puzzle. Annie and I switched off being being the hangman.

    Next I dictated the chorus and first verse of “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. Ss wrote it down. We practiced pronunciation. I didn’t think this was really grabbing their attention. Then I volunteered Mr. R. and Annie to model the song for us. Then I asked O. to come and join them and he was acting sort of shy but then he stood up and sang with them! This made B. laugh. Then we all sang it a few times.

    We ended the class with some TPR that morphed into the Hokey Pokey which they seemed to enjoy as they cracked up and sang.

    Mr. R. mentioned a couple of things after class. He thought maybe the 2 LLLs were a little lost at least at the outset of the Hokey Pokey. B. was to my left and O. was directly across from me. I think they were both wondering why we were doing this in an English class and then figured who cares, it’s fun; I say this because we finally got some serious hokey pokey hip action from O. and B. by the end. This might be something the regular PI wants to watch for in case I was wrong and they were just lost. Also Mr. R. mentioned that I asked the group a question and I did. I asked them “shall we sing it?”. I hadn’t considered that this kind of question fell into the -1 category as I wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer, so I didn’t even realize I was doing it! Thank you, Mr. R., for pointing this out in your usual gentle but direct way. :)

    There were no children this evening which did make it more focused. F.’s husband and her kids came in and out twice just to show off their H’ween fashion.

    Nice class and fun group!

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #373
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 10/30/13
    Day of Class: Wednesday
    PI: Patrik
    SI:
    Assistants: Hussein, Sabah, Eduardo
    Module: Talking with the Boss
    How Many Learners: 9
    Score: 5+3+5+5+7+5=29
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Such an interesting day! There was a big community meeting at the Office because of the new locked gate. But, our Egyptian Arabic speakers were late, and one got lost.. but two of them came. The group was there in full force, though, and Eduardo disappeared and brought a new person with him. This counts as an extraordinary circumstance for sure. And considering, it went very well. I had Eduardo help out a little bit with the alphabet, which was cool. I think Hussein and Sabah were very impressed at the end, and we spent some time chatting about program possibilities afterwards, which made me give myself a decent score for reflection, even though I was a day late updating the website.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #372
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 24 October

    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Alexander
    SI: 0
    Assistants:0
    Module: Money
    How Many Learners: 12
    Score:32
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    That there were so many students on my first solo night night overworked my deodorant. The class went well; the flow was consistent. Everyone was engaged. He lesson plan filled the time, and did not rush nor bore students. We had two couples of new students. Activities were successful, for the most part but still need revision to be terrific. All were attended to, and we worked an arc that ended with a crescendo of sign language verbs. People laughed. Kids played.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #371
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 10/23/13
    Day of Class: Wednesday
    PI: Patrik
    SI:
    Assistants:
    Module: At The Doctor
    How Many Learners: 8
    Score: 3+4+6+6+5+4= 28
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today I was exhausted but it was a very sweet, sizeable class. Off the cuff, I decided to work with insurance – only one person had insurance, and she had her insurance card with her, so we used it to ask “what’s your group plan number?” One of the learners also came in and I said “where are the kids?” and she said “with father” and then asked, how do I say that.. she’s really getting the practicality part, and it even took me a minute to realize what she was needing from me.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #370
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 17 October, 2013
    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Alexander
    SI: Sheila
    Assistants: Sarah, Ramin
    Module: Money, Money
    How Many Learners: 9
    Score: 31
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    I/we followed the lesson plan, except for one or two deviations. Energy was high; the class was active, engaged. Alexander, replete with butterflies, moved a little too quickly through some of the sections. With fifteen minutes to go, the lesson plan was over, at least on paper, and so we went back to Dictation, which worked out beautifully and we actually went over about five minutes.

    The learners were all in the boat. No one was left on the pier. We laughed, we sang, we learned some sign language (verbs).

    Observer Sarah, from PSU, became assistant Sarah, and will return next week.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #369
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 10/16/13
    Day of Class: Wed, 6pm
    PI: Julie
    SI: n/a
    Assistants: n/a
    Module: At The Doctor
    How Many Learners: 4
    Score: 3.5, 4, 4, 3.5, 3 = 18

    Great class last night! I did TPR twice, once right after yell & spell (wiggle your ear, point to your nose, etc), and then we did TPR again to close the class singing head, shoulders knees & toes. Even though I was on my own, the small class size made it much easier to assist folks with dictation & dialogue (working on describing symptoms). There was abundant laughing, folks of all levels helping each other, lots of mutual support & camaraderie. I’m excited to see a couple of the lower level participants’ skills increasing! One who couldn’t spell her name when she started is now able to do so without help, and another who often struggles with confidence in spelling, was doing a great job last night improving speed and accuracy. I’m going to miss this group!

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #368
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 10/9/13
    Day of Class: Wed, 6pm
    PI: Julie
    SI: n/a
    Assistants: n/a
    Module: At The Doctor
    How Many Learners: 8
    Score: 3, 3.5, 3.25, 3.5, 3 = 16.25

    We had a great class on Wed, and I finally stopped explaining activities/concepts! (though I did point to body parts & acted out some illness during dictation). Folks really enjoyed TPR today singing “head, shoulders, knees, & toes”. TONS of laughing, and by the 3rd time, they sang it while I just pointed at body parts as we went. While still standing, we did some “point & say”, where I pointed to body parts and the group named them based on our earlier dictation. Then we did some dialogue dictation about not feeling well & making an appointment. Lots of multilevel engagement helping with spelling and explaining the body parts/illnesses to each other.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #367
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 10/10/13
    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Sheila G
    SI: Alexander
    Assistants: 0
    Module: Money
    How Many Learners: 4
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Only F. was there for the alpha listen & point and she rocked it. Then the last 3 Ss arrived so we went over the loyalty cards. This took some time. Everybody filled them out but each had different issues with it. For example, T. didn’t know her address and V. couldn’t fit everything he wanted to write on one side of the card.

    Then we did the mutual number dictation. We gave each S a page from a phone book and asked them to choose a phone number, then explained each person would read a number and then write it down. This is a very proactive group, though, so they were very concerned with locating a suitable number on their page and it was difficult at first to get them to concentrate on writing. Eventually, they got it and we had some fun repeating the numbers in the different ways we do it here.

    Then we did the count off activity except we stood in a line with Alexander at one end and me at the other and we counted off, sometimes switching by what (by 5s, by 10s, backwards, etc.). It eventually worked pretty well, but even though Alexander and I modeled it, we really needed a 3rd or 4th to do it right. They eventually “got” it though.

    Alexander took over on the coin grab. That’s always a big hit. Everyone enjoys pawing money!

    I don’t feel like I was as in sync with Alexander as I have been in the past. I directed him at points but not always quickly enough. At least 3 of the 4 students were engaged all the time, but there were a couple of times when J. and T. were not 100% involved. I spent time putting the lesson plan together but now feel like I should go back to spending a lot more time planning a lesson.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #366
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date: 10/2/13
    PI: Ryon
    SI: Julie
    Assistants: None
    Module: At the Doctor
    How Many Learners: 6
    Score: 18.5
    What Did I Learn: well, I learned that being unprepared forces you to improvise. I need to do a better job of organizing the lessons so I can execute the modules properly. For not having the appropriate lesson plan though (having forgotten my notes with Patrik), Julie and I pulled off a very engaging and enjoyable hour and a half full if educational material, mostly relating to our body parts. I also learned that I need to take my time more, to make sure the students are getting it. More rote, if you will.

    in reply to: Rockwood Station (Rockwood Cluster) – Fall 2013 #365
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date: 10/03/13 (Rockwood Station)
    PI: Sheila G
    SI: None
    Assistants: Alexander
    Module: Money
    How Many Learners: 9
    What Did I Learn: My first time up at bat with this module and it went pretty darned well – scores almost all between 3.5 and 4 – I marked myself down for arriving at 6pm on the dot. Also had a little extraordinary circumstance as F’s 4-y.o. ran out of the clubhouse into the carpark. He got snatched up safely but his little sister was inconsolable while mom and big bro were out of the building. Also we had 9 Ss and 7 kids so that was interesting. Poise was the name of the game and we sallied forth.

    We had fun and lots of laughter with counting and coinage. I dumped all the coins in the middle of one table when there were 3 tables being used. Since the kids were in the other room playing, i got rid of one table and we started the activity of counting with Alexander to model it. Well, even though I told them 3 times that it was only going to be Alexander, the Ss at the money table kept counting out the change with him while the Ss at the other table had no change so could only watch. This went on for about a minute and then I quickly put half the coins on the other table so everyone could play. Alexander worked with one table and I worked with the other. From then on, the activity went pretty smoothly.

    Lastly, we did a dictation about a woman who buys her mother a $50,000 bird for her birthday, and when the daughter called her up to ask her how she liked it, the mom said it was delicious. Ss laughed – some got it right off and the others got it explained to them.

    Pretty fun class – far from perfect but better than average.

    in reply to: Lynch Meadow School (Centennial Cluster) – Fall 2013 #362
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 12/12/13
    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Jacob
    SI: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Happy Holidays
    How Many Learners: 5
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):

    Solid class tonight, I think. We had 5 people (though most of them came a little late), and one brought some delicious champurrado as a thank you.

    We did the usual introduction, and then jumped straight into the meat of it. I downloaded The Ronettes’ version of Frosty the Snowman (for no particular reason) on to my laptop, and used that to dictate the first few verses.

    This actually ended up being pretty much the entire class, but I did get them to sing, and I think they had a lot of fun. I certainly did.

    in reply to: Lynch Meadow School (Centennial Cluster) – Fall 2013 #361
    WebMaestrex
    Keymaster

    Date of Class: 12/5/13
    Day of Class: Thursday
    PI: Jacob
    SI: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Happy Holidays
    How Many Learners: 5
    Score: 32
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):

    Solid class today! We had the usual 4 people show up, plus one returning student from near the beginning of the term.

    I developed a little bit in that I am pretty keyed in to the individual skill levels of this group, so I had an idea of how I should place them, but it was really difficult, especially because one of the students has a daughter that HAS to sit next to her mom. So with that in mind, I think I managed to give everyone the support they needed, and get on with the lesson.

    The same student with the child also happens to be the lowest level student in the class, and she often expresses frustration at this fact. I’m not really sure how to manage that, but I just try to be as supportive as possible, and cheerful when she gets things right. That night, we were dictating “Frosty the Snowman,” and she managed to spell “soul” correctly before anyone else did. She was absolutely shocked! I think this made her really happy.

    I also screwed up a little by telling everyone this was the last class. We have one more, but some of the students brought food anyway. The food was delicious, but we didn’t have a lot of time to eat it. I said I should have ended class early — Patrik advised that I could have made the food part of the class, and next time I will, if it comes up.

Viewing 15 posts - 346 through 360 (of 377 total)