ASKING QUESTIONS, EXPLORING OPTIONS, CHANGING THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.

School House

I Speak in Two Voices.

Filed Under: , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

I speak in Two Voices

One of my favorite lessons for ESL students is The Two-Voice Poetry. It is a form of poetry written to be performed by two people. The poem is made up of two columns and is read from top to bottom. One takes the left hand part, and the other reader takes the right. The poem is to be read by the two readers at once. Speakers take turns going back and forth between the voices however; some lines are composed to be said out loud together by both speakers.

This is just an innovative way to use the poem with students who can speak more than one language. It is exciting to see and hear the combination of different languages read out-loud. They can sound like a dialogue or even a song. The poem can be used with any language, from Chinese to Arabic. At a WITS Parent Literacy Workshop, I had the opportunity to see parents work with their children combining their mother tongue with English. There were parents who spoke Tamil, Arabic and some Spanish. In the world we live in today were schools have children from around the world, this is just one fun way to showcase both worlds blended into one.

How does this work? How does one set it up?

(more…)

Innovation

The Best Learning Experience.

Filed Under: ,

Posted by:

Last week this time I was saying goodbye to dozens of new found friends in Doha, Qatar. I was one of over 600 participants at the first ever TEDxSummit, a conference for organizers of local TEDx events from around the globe. (TEDx events are independently and locally produced conferences patterned after the well-known TED conferences.) During the informal socializing time between the many conference workshops, I asked just about everyone I met the same two questions: “what was your best learning experience”, “what was your worst learning experience.”

(more…)

School House

Educated Parents, Educated Children.

Filed Under: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

Parents’ expectations influence children’s expectations as well. There are those parents who do not expect their child to be able to write their name in Pre K, and then there are those that wonder why is their child falling behind and not already reading sight words. Some send their children to Kumon Learning Centers or hire a tutor to guarantee their child’s maximum success in school. Others send them to enrichment classes over the weekends. Then, there are those parents that allow their child to sleep in and miss classes because, “It’s no big deal”.

The fact is parent’s expectations as well as their educational and cultural background can have a strong effect on child’s educational outcome. Amy Chua author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother believes that her parents’ high expectations for her, and love were the greatest gifts anyone had given to her. Amy Chua’s perspective has been debated over and over from TV shows and blogs. This is because she strongly believes that in America, parents can and should do the same with their children. They should demand more than what they typically do. I like it when she says that we should assume strength in our children. I believe this to be also a characteristic of a good teacher. My son’s friend who is also Asian-American told him that his parents expect him to get all A’s and that a B is for beating. I have met several Asian-American parents who have their children in enrichment programs. These are children who not only go to school from Monday to Friday but their days are also filled with piano lessons, chess, tennis, as well as advanced Math and Writing tutors. Many Asian-American children like Mrs. Chua’s, have parents who do not allow their children to have sleepovers. My son’s friend couldn’t have an X Box because his parents asked him, “Will an X Box put food on a table?” Just the other day in my writing class at the Chinese School a 12 year old came up to me and said, she was already planning her classes for high school and knew what she needed to do to have a high point score average to be able to enter Baylor Medical school program. When parents have high expectations they teach children to have them for themselves as well. Children learn to plan for their future and believe in their strength to do so.

Social scientists have studied this intergenerational link and believe that a child’s outcome is strongly influenced by their parents’ income, their social class and their parents’ behavior. This is what they have to say.

 

(more…)

School House

Cultural Generation Behavior.

Filed Under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

In my previous Blog on The Millennial generation, I addressed how cultural and social attitudes such as that of our peers are marked by the year we were born in. Millennial students like learning opportunities, they follow honest leaders, and they have a good sense of humor. The Millennial believes it is “beast” to be smart and identify with the values of those of their parents. Millennial are easily mesmerized by new technology, but what are the Millennials like at work?

There are at least four generations that work and live together today.

  1. The Millennial represented by those born in 1982, and are now 30 years old and younger.
  2. The Generation X whose workforce is between the age range of 25 and 47.
  3. The Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964, the oldest are now 66 years old.
  4. Then the one called The Silent Generation whose age range between 67 and 87 years old.

So, how is the environment affected in the workplace when you have groups of people with different values and distinct personalities working together? What is it like to work with individuals with different ideas and ways of getting things done? What are the problems that can arise, from such collision of generations?

(more…)

School House

For The Love Of Teachers.

Filed Under: , ,

Posted by:

In my school district, our PTSA puts on a yearly “Teacher Appreciation Week.” During Teacher Appreciation Week students make cards, art, and other symbols of gratitude for their teachers. I vividly remember this week in elementary school because usually we surprised our teacher with our cards, and so the fun was in keeping the cards a secret until the day when we shocked our teacher with a tower of homemade “Thank You’s”. Teacher Appreciation Week became an expected holiday, much like Easter or President’s Day, until Middle School when it mysteriously disappeared.

Teacher Appreciation Week faded into the abyss of other things students lose when they enter middle school, similar to notes from Mom in your lunch box and field trips. To this day I wonder, why? How?

(more…)