Social Cultural Foundations
To blog or not to blog...why is it technology capabilities have advanced the way we get our messages to our students but the practices have not kept up. Some of our structures are 20th Century, it's like having a GPS on a model T Ford. As I reflect on my career over the past 33 years it amazes me how I've moved from a plan book to Google Classroom. I welcome these advances and enjoy incorporating them into my classroom routines and culture. Flexible seating, station rotation, and circle time are practices that provide a space for communication amongst students which is so very important for our MLL's. Building a sense of community and belonging is paramount, where all students from different backgrounds come together, where every voice is heard.
This leads me to the first of the Five Standards of Effective Pedagogy, Joint Productive Activity (JBA), indicator 3, states arrange classroom seating to accommodate students' individual and group needs to communicate and work jointly. Going with my 21st century theme brings me to the use of desks and flexible seating. MLL students need to be able to have conversations to listen and practice their L2. This is a great way for students to change their seats, whether it's standing, rocking, rolling on a bouncy ball seat or sitting in a regular desk, whatever helps that student stay focused.
The next standard I wish to emphasis is Language Development. Indicator 1, listen to students talk about familiar topics such as home and community This is beneficial to all students but especially the MLL students. Opportunities for such a practice can happen during circle time, which is a check-in each day with the goal for a time to talk and build community. We've used all sorts of artifacts as the talking piece, a silver plastic ball, sculptures I've found at Marshalls and even an etch-a-sketch per request of the students. Once they got over the fascination of the relic toy it became a favorite in the rotation of talking pieces. Some students jump right in while others' are more reserved, often a sentence stem or topic is selected to focus the conversation. This is a wonderful way to start the day and a great way to make that home-school connection.
Challenging Activities states, students at risk of educational failure require instruction that is cognitively challenging; that is instruction that requires thinking and analysis, not only rote, repetitive, detail level drills. This is where my latest 21st century accomplishment comes in, Google Classroom. This is where the work for the day lives, it is the central location where the objectives for the lessons, whether it be Math or ELA, the assignments, the station rotation procedures and groups. We begin as whole group, break off into groups, sometimes homogenous or heterogenous depending on the lesson, and then end with a debrief where we chart What Worked and Not Yet. This allows the students autonomy with lots of support and also an opportunity to work together, where talking to one another is the norm. This practice also allows time for small group instruction with the teacher as it states in the standard Instructional Conversations, indicator 1, arrange the classroom to accommodate conversation between the teacher and a small group of students on a regular and frequent basis. While the students are moving from station to station it allows the time to work on power goals in ARC or during the Math block reviewing the lesson from Eureka.
What we should strive for is to pull forward the best of the 20th Century and enhance it with modern technology, pedagogy and understanding of the MLL student to create an environment that honors their past, supports their present and brightens their future.
Kathleen, it does indeed feel like in teaching, esp where we teach, we are using outdated structures in a modern world! I love how you describe the different ways that you bring 21st century into your classroom. It is so important for kids to feel a sense of ownership and choice- like being able to choose the bouncy ball seats (in my classroom, I have low stools and papasan chairs they can choose to use- precovid). Being a secondary school teacher, I've never really thought about bringing in an object or artifact for the kids to share ideas about- what a creative way to get kids talking! I bet I could do something similar at my level- like if we are reading The Kite Runner, the kite is an important symbol in the book- I never thought to bring in a kite and see what the students come up with in discussion- having the object there to stimulate conversation, especially if I have MLL students who maybe have never used one before. We could even use an artifact as a jumping point for writing. I do use pictures a lot- usually in some way related to what we are reading, and that usually stimulates lots of conversation. Finally, peer conversations are everything, as we've heard over and over again from our three professors this summer. I like how you say that you not only put them into groups for discussion, but you always end with a debrief. It is so important to do that- give students time to reflect. That's the part of my lessons that always gets pushed aside due to time. For MLL students, I can see how this might be challenging, but if you do it together, that would help because you and their peers would be modeling it. I would try to also give them the opportunity to use drawing and visual representations of what worked for them and what didn't. I love that we get to have these small glimpses into each others' classrooms! Thanks for sharing.- Stephanie
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