As usual I am procrastinating. I should be doing BTSA, homework, planning, grading, or working on my action research, but I'm not doing any of those things. Well I kink of am planning. I'm reviewing what we are going to do this week. My kids are going to start reading Anne Frank. This is a bit ambitious seeing how my kids are ESL. However, I know my kids can do it with a lot of scaffolding and structure.
As usual i'm watching television on my computer. I'm checking out Roswell. I just finished watching the first season of Jericho, which is a really good show. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Friday Night Lights will get picked up for a third season. Obviously i'm a little obsessed with television at the moment. I have just gotten to the point that I'm not interested in doing very much. I don't feel like reading even though I am reading. Movies are too predictable and that bores me, so i've become obsessed with television.
I have learned something about myself this last year. I love good stories. That is why I have read regularly since I was a child. That is why I love movies. That is why I loooove television. I also realize that I like that in people. Good storytellers are hard to come by. I don't think i'm a good storyteller, but I am a good listener. What is the point of saying this? To justify my love of television.
Anyways, my district is currently in the midst of budget cuts, meaning that I may be layed off next school year. I'm not worried for myself, but for my students who already do not receive the services that they are entitled to. Our district does not have a strong ESL department. There seems to be inadequate resources to address a population of students that can place a school in program improvement. Before anyone says "Well it shouldn't be that hard to learn a new language." Think about the fact that they have to learn a new language, adjust to a new culture, be ridiculed because of their native language and learn the necessary curriculum for them to be assessed and gain the credits for graduation. I think i'm annoyed with other countries that do not make compulsory education a priority. Basic reading and writing should be mandatory. Literacy in the native language guarantees the necessary skills to become literate in a foreign language. I'm also annoyed with a government that has difficulty comming to an agreement with a program that will benefit this population. I have read the research that shows the "sink or swim" method works. I have also read about how bilingual education is a better method. We are currently somewhere in between those two methods. And for whatever reason we assume that these students should be able to go into mainstream classes after one year of ESL instruction. If they can't then it is my faulty. I acknowledge that i'm a teacher who is learing how to teach in an ESL format, but I also work hard to make contenct accessible to my students. I work hard to use materials that students can use in other classes. I know that in my room my students feel comfortable practicing their English skills without the fear of ridicule. I make sure that they understand that how wonderful their native language is it is a necessity for them to learn English. Lawmakers are not truly concerned with ensuring education equality for all students, they are only concerned with pointing out the faults of all the work that teachers do.
Yes I procrastinate, but my mind is constantly on what i'm going to be doing with my students.
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1 comment:
Hi Norma, I can certainly understand your frustration. The Fed wants higher test scores, more technology in instruction, and passing Cahsee scores. I had all of the above in my little Charter school, and you would think someone would reach out and try to save a program that was working, that someone would come in and make sure the finances were available to a school that was doing everything that was being asked of it. But that didn't happen. And even if it had, would I have received a pink slip because I am a second year teacher, regardless of the goals I had reached with my students? And what about the students, now they are being thrown into schools where they are made to feel like outsiders. What about their education. They may be the geeks and nerds, but they are very social and are being shut out at their new schools. I'm sure they would have empathy for your students who have something as essential as language as a barrier to academic success, as well as social success. We want them to be responsible individuals, but what happens when society is not responsible for their children? I am very frustrated as well. In Lisa's world Spanish would be taught from K through 5 at the very least. There would be more total immersion schools for languages. I told my daughter in law that she should only speak to my grandson in Japanese, and he will learn English from my son. She has agreed and it is widely known in this kind of home culture my grandson will be fully bi-lingual by age 5. I really hate when society has individuals who are in positions of leadership who feel that America should consist of one culture. I would ask "and which culture should that be since we have never in the existance of this country been comprised of one culture, or one language, or one dialect or one color". Blast it Norma now I'm angry and meaner than before. But I'll probably be that way as long as there is one person in a position of power that cannot grasp the value and beauty of multi-culturalism in this country. Enough ranting for one comment.
I had back surgery again, and I find myself watching more television. I really love "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery channel. Don't ask me why, but it is my guilty pleasure. But my husband got on to me for not reading more. Maybe Bernie was right about technology moving people away from reading. I'm at this computer often enough. I think for now it is just uncomfortable to read a book with this neck brace on. Oh and my former students asked me to open up a Myspace page so I did. I get to keep contact with them that way. It's nice. One of them asked me to write him a letter of recommendation for a school project today. I am enjoying that. I had a real nice interview with the VP from Mount Miguel at a job fair. He told me to hang in there that I would be a good candidate for that district, and that jobs would be opening up. I really liked him, he seemed very devoted to the students. He said he would put my resume and the interview results straight through to the hiring commitee. So send good thoughts my way and I'll do the same for you and your students. Don't give up. You just have to plant the seed, something that exists within the student will cause the growth. I used to think that just one successful student would satisfy me, but I was wrong. I want them all to make it. Take care Norma, the Meanster
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