Another Day, Another Dram

It's Friday morning, and we are going to do three lessons today: third grade, sixth grade, and eleventh grade. I hadn't realized this but the younger kids get English lessons three times each week. Seventh grade is when it's reduced to twice/wk. I think it really makes a difference, as the kids in those classes participate so much more eagerly. Certainly, there's something to be said about the enthusiasm of elementary school students, but it's more than that.
I didn't get to teach the third graders earlier this week because the principal had them taking a writing test that no one knew about ahead of time. It's not like the school has email or even a PA system. The teachers don't have mailboxes or much access to computers. I haven't seen a printer, and there is no xerox machine. Every classroom has a small chalkboard, maybe 30% the size of my whiteboard, and there are only little nubs of chalk.
When Sara asked me to bring school supplies, I prompted her to be more specific because I really didn't know if she meant chalk and pencils or flash drives and dry erase markers. I brought a lot of materials she is happy to have, but I wish I had known more before I came about the specific teaching environment. I would have brought chalk and pencils.
Today I will do the lesson with the third graders that I had planned for Wednesday. I hope they like it. I am using the vocabulary they were working on Tuesday. I'm going to have them pair movements with the words; there are two purposes I have in mind, reaching the kinesthetic learners and making class FUN. (That does not seem to be a priority here, and I just don't get it.)
With the sixth graders, I am going to have them act out a dialogue they learned for homework. Since it's between a mother and son, I am going to bring in a shawl and handbag and have the mother be in costume. Again, a little silliness never hurt anyone. Then we are going to continue with the pages in their workbook, and I am still brainstorming how to make it more interactive. I do my best thinking over coffee, and it's almost time for the water to turn on!! Yay! (My sleeping schedule is totally off; it's hard to tell since these blog posts are time-stamped on LA time, which is 12 hours behind.)
The eleventh graders are going to build on the lesson we began Wednesday. I gave them each one of the "WHEN/WHERE/WHO/WHAT" charts that my seventh graders filled out. (The kids chose five random times during an average day and wrote where they would be, with whom, and what they'd be doing. BTW, my kids are totally awesome and adorable, and I learned more about them from reading these charts--like who has ballet practice and who plays club soccer; I'm telling you, I don't know how these busy seventh graders manage to keep up with their schoolwork! They are amazing!! The teahers here really liked the charts as well, and were particularly horrified by two things: first, going to school as early as 8:00am and staying as late as 3:30 is positively inhumane to them and second, too many of my students are allowed to have "terrible hand-writing"--they don't realize I weeded out the worst hand-writing!)
I handed out highlighters and had the eleventh graders highlight all the words they understood. It was great that they had times as reference points, and my students embellished their charts with drawings, which was extremely helpful. Still, the students struggled to comprehend. They did, however, really like trying to figure it out. Then I had them practice using "similar" and "different" by writing sentences comparing their lives with my kids'. This was a struggle. Finally, I handed out blank charts for them to fill in--part in class and part as homework. A boy, who had been trying for the first half of class not to be engaged, broke down and went in search of someone who would loan him a pen or pencil. I gave him one of my green pens and he seemed very surprised to have the teacher solve this problem; it's true, I'm an enabler of the disorganized...!
Sara told me after class that she was very surprised that everyone was writing, and she thinks the idea that the papers will come back to LA to be read by my students was very motivating for them.
Today, I will build on the chart activity by having the kids write dialogues (based on their workbook reading called "The Changing Face of Television") using the W-words.
This teaching language thing is totally new to me. Except for grammar, I'm not used to his, but I'm catching on. And here's a shout-out to all the Oakwood language teachers whose classes I've observed and who've shared what they do in class. I'm doing my best to channel Susanna...!
Okay, fingers crossed there's water and I can take a shower!