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Lesson Title: How Can I Get My Money Back?
Date of Class: 4/9/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 2:00pm
MC: Cecilia
DJ: Sara
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: N/A
Module: Taxes
How Many Learners: 5
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Desperately need more loyalty cards printed and cut out (there are a bunch of DIY ones in the box that may need copied over too). Alphabet and attendance sheets are good, self-eval forms are starting to get low.Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 5
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 7
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 4
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 4
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
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 smaller group of learners than usual today. We began with a Listen & Point activity of the document “11 Ways to Save on Your Taxes This Year” in which we searched for 9 relevant phrases. The majority of the rest of class was spent on a dictation + dialogue about how money spent on healthcare can be used as deductions. It was great writing and speaking practice with relevant information contained. We ended class with a TPR (or Listen & Do) of relevant words (e.g. type, sign, groan).
Lesson Title: But What’s Our History?
Date of Class: 3/19/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 2:00pm
MC: Cecilia
DJ: Sara
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: N/A
Module: DACA – Immigration
How Many Learners: 10
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): About 3 blank loyalty cards left (in the box). Lots of alphabet sheets, medium number of self evaluation forms, and starting to get low on attendance sheets.Self 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) = 4
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 4
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 33
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today Cecilia completed her gentle intervention and did a great job! Along with dictation of some relevant vocabulary, we spent time with the document “A Brief Timeline of U.S. Policy on Immigration and Naturalization”. First, learners found words and phrases followed by choral response. Next, we found specific years then had various students read the associated sentences aloud. We finished the day with a video about deportation policy.
Lesson Title: Facts about Immigration in the United States
Date of Class: 3/12/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 2:00pm
MC: Cecilia
DJ: Sara
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: N/A
Module: DACA – Immigration
How Many Learners: 11
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): One full sheet of blank loyalty cards (uncut)… thank you to whoever printed these out! :)Self 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) = 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) = 6Total Score: 37
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today we had the usual number of learners with a few new faces mixed in. As always with this group, learners were excellent about helping one another and often got into side conversations related to the content.
Cecilia showed a cool video that featured maps of the United States changing across time to reflect the different countries of origin of immigrants in each state. We dictated three sentences from the video (along with choral progressions of each) followed by a re-watching of the clip.
We finished class with a brief dialogue asking if we have ever travelled to other places. Overall a good class!
Lesson Title: A Nation of Immigrants
Date of Class: 2/26/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 2:00pm
MC: Patrik
DJ: Sara
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: N/A
Module: DACA – Immigration History
How Many Learners: 12
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Running low on loyalty cards. Good on alphabet sheets, self-eval forms, and attendance records. (Thank you to whoever restocked them!)Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 4
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) = 8
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 8
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7 (-1 point for this blurb being late) = 6Total Score: 37
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Our group was mostly “regulars” plus one newcomer who was relatively low-proficiency. It was remarkable to see how the learners seated around him rose to the occasion and provided support throughout the class.
Patrik led the group through the usual first three activities followed by a document search of the “Percent of People Who Are Foreign Born” map. He did a slight variation on the activity by calling out state names even though they were not explicitly written. The learners seemed to enjoy the task and it was interesting to see which they knew: for example, several learners mixed up Arizona and Texas. We then did a round of dictation related to the document which gave learners an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the map. We concluded class with a document search of the poem “The New Colossus”, followed by a choral response reading of it bit-by-bit.
A notable moment: towards the end of class while we transitioned between activities, learners broke out into several side conversations. I got to see first-hand a “low engagement, high connection” moment!
Lesson Title: When a Police Officer Pulls You Over
Date of Class: 02/12/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 6:00pm
MC: JessicaWhoLovesLanguages
DJ: SaraCaringLinguist
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: Paul (auditioner)
Module: Know Your Rights
How Many Learners: 3
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): No updates.Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 3
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 32
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
Today was Paul’s dress rehearsal and he did great! His timing was on-point and he was very poised. We kicked off the lesson with a dictation/choral progression + round robin, asking learners to share if they have been pulled over or gotten a speeding ticket. Next, we did a document search with an ACLU handout entitled “Know Your Rights” for common phrases related to this topic. We finished by writing out questions that a police officer may ask when s/he pulls you over and common responses, then practiced saying them around the circle.Lesson Title: One of Us: Sanctuary Cities
Date of Class: 2/5/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 2:00 – 3:30pm
MC: CeciliaGoofyDogOwner
DJ: SaraCaringLinguist
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: Salma (shadower)
Module: Know Your Rights
How Many Learners: 13
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): No updates.Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 4
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 3
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
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: 31
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
We watched a video from the ACLU that revisted concepts introduced in the previous week’s class. (Since we have a high number of “regulars”, this was a nice way to get many of the learners thinking about this topic once again.) Next we dove into the dictation of some important phrases related to the topic (e.g. sanctuary city, federal authorities). This was followed by a Dictation + Round Robin activity discussing what a sanctuary city is and ways in which these cities try to protect undocumented immigrants.
One of the highlights of this class (and this group in general so far) is their shared sense of connection. For example, one learner brought in a stack of cards to pass out to classmates listing resources for filing their taxes. Also, we had a learner-turned-shadower helping us out! She did a great job and we appreciated her input in the after class debrief about possible future module topics that she felt were relevant to this group.
Lesson Title: Am I Being Detained?
Date of Class: 01/29/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 6:00pm
MC: ZadokTóngzhì
DJ: SaraCaringLinguist
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: Paul (shadower)
Module: Know Your Rights
How Many Learners: 3
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): No updates.Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 4
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) = 5
Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7Total Score: 33
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
We had a small group of returning learners for the first day of the new term at this site. This allowed us to give focused feedback, and more importantly, allowed the learners to easily and often work together.The MC tried a new activity this week! We viewed a photo related to the lesson and talked in small groups about what we saw, what we thought was happening, and how we felt about it. Although at times the learners seemed a little confused about the directions, the activity provided lots of opportunities for learners to bring in vocabulary they already knew and create their own meaning.
Another highlight from today’s class was timing ourselves as we recited the sentences from the dictation exercise around the circle. This was a great way to practice fluency as well as recalling important phrases under pressure. Plus we consistently improved our times!
Overall I took a lot away from today’s lesson and so did the learners!
Lesson Title: The Ballot, The Vote, and Your Healthcare
Date of Class: 01/22/2018
Day of Class: Monday
Time of Class: 2:00pm
MC: CeciliaGoofyDogOwner
DJ: SaraCaringLinguist
Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: N/A
Module: Elections
How Many Learners: 10
Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Made 20 copies of the alphabet sheet. Around one sheet of new blank attendance cards cut out. Pens added to the top of the supply box– feel free to give them out/use them!Self Evaluation
Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 3
Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 4
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) = 6Total Score: 27
What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
We had a medium-sized group today. Only one or two learners may have been new– the rest appeared comfortable with the activities and one another. This lead to lots of working together and asking questions. It was great!An opportunity for improvement next week is being mindful of where learners are sitting and redirecting them as needed to better facilitate peer exchange and activity flow.
A highlight from today is that students were interested in the topic– It seems like they felt it was relevant. For example, towards the end of class we had a group conversation about where people could go to vote on Tuesday (initiated by a student question).
Overall, a productive and fun day of learning English!