Every teacher should be emotionally intelligent (Mortiboys 2002). Having primary, secondary and tertiary level English teaching experience gave me insight on the many perplexities ELLs of
all ages suffer when they instinctively use their native language structures and rules as a scaffold when acquiring a second language. A teacher’s lack of emotional intelligence impedes students from a holistic learning experience (Mortiboys 2002). It is common in Belize to witness teachers reprimanding students for using their native language during an English lesson. While we want to encourage students to use the English language, they will occasionally code switch or code slide. Therefore, every English teacher should assist students to acquire the English language while ensuring that only productive and positive
emotions are at play. —-Erica S. Aguilar 1
Just recently the University of Belize made a much needed move to implement an English Placement Test in order to effectively place students in newly created English remediation courses: Pre-College English 1 & 2. In the past, many students automatically took College English 1 as a starter, even though, their level of writing needed remediation. It was because of the much needed remediation, that I had extra class sessions calling those “intervention sessions” with selected students who really needed the scaffolding. Now, the pre-college English 1 & 2 remedial classes are serving their purpose base on clinical research. As a result, instead of providing intervention sessions, I now encourage my student to keep refining their English skills by enrolling in free online English courses that provide Honor Code Certificates—these two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) are: Coursera and edX. Because student already have their own course load to deal with, enrolling in an online class is optional. Those who enroll are constantly monitored and encouraged. Last semester in September to October 2015 a couple students and support staff took the five week course part 1 of “ColWri2.1x: How to Write an Essay” with Ph.D., Instructor Maggie Sokolik & her College Writing 2x Team from the University of California, Berkeley, USA through edX. This January to February 2016 we again began the five week course part 2 “ColWri2.2x-English Grammar and Essay Writing” with same instructor, university and online medium. Initially those enrolling in the course met at a computer lab room; a week after navigating their way online, I decided to just check up on each person’s progress.
This free online learning, and certificate earning opportunity is one we should encourage teenagers and adult ELLs to take. Furthermore, I strongly recommend these courses for high school teachers to enroll and take their students along for the ride! The intention is expose our Belizean students to foreign universities, to the online classroom, and to show that the possibilities are endless—if they truly are hungry for knowledge. These courses are FREE, but if you would like a “Verified Certificate” then it will cost a fee, for it will require identification papers, camera monitoring, and your certificate will be posted to your mailbox. On the other hand, the free certificates are called “Honor Code,” they trust the identification provided, and the assignments are completed with a final score no less than 80% will result with the PDF copy of certificate sent to your e-mail. So far, students who completed courses online present to me their printed certificate with much excitement. Some vividly recounted their thrill of opening e-mails to see their name on a certificate from a foreign university! They wanted me to tell the world about their accomplishment. I have a lot of work, but helping my students and seeing their faces in delight that they accomplished something is rewarding to me. I enjoy their positive energy. These online classes, promote achievements! Most of these students, I am sure, will go on to take online courses on their own because they have trekked this road with my help—it reinforces lifelong learning. Above all, why not take advantage of these opportunities with our ELLs while it is still a free service? Always remember: when it is about learning, and helping others to learn, you are in a rewarding business. —Erica S. Aguilar
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Global warming is real, and as an educator, this concern is always expressed. I got to practice what I preach! I encourage student to try recycling and saving the Earth in big and small ways. Then I realize that having students bind their portfolios at the end of the semester, I was asking them to print lots of papers, spend money on binders and folders—creating a lot of waste. It was after enrolling in the “Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom (free-Software)” with Mr. Dario Vasquez during the second ATLIB workshop held at UB in May 2015 that I learned about the e-portfolio. Since then I switched to having students create their G-mail Google Sites e-portfolios at the beginning of each class session while they keep adding content to it as the semester progress. Yes I have more students who would prefer compiling a hard copy portfolio than to stand up to the challenge of creating an e-portfolio. However, once they get over that daunting hurdle, they fall in love with the creativity their e-portfolio allows, the frugality of the e-portfolio also encourages them to add content at no extra cost, and the collaborative aspect of the e-portfolio allows them to share the link with me, the teacher, and with friends within the classroom. Some people ask, but why have them create an e-portfolio when they already have Moodle? You are only giving yourself extra work! I always respond that teaching and seeing my students learn and grow is never a lot of work for me; on the contrary, it makes me keep researching and keep working with them. The difference with Moodle is: it is a virtual classroom, but every semester, that virtual classroom for my specific course, is no longer available to that student. The administration unrolls the student from that virtual classroom automatically— if they are no longer enrolled in that particular class. On the other hand, the e-portfolio is the students personal page that keeps records of the student’s reflections for every single assignment, it keeps records of the content, grades, attendance, any document the student uploaded for that class will forever remained in their personal e-portfolio if they don’t deactivate the G-mail account. Therefore, ten years from now, that student can access their e-portfolio and reminisce at all the creative content, essay writing, and most importantly, view their growth in English class as students whose native language is not English. E-portfolios are a metacognitive tool that allow teachers to provide feedback to students within the e-portfolio, it instils the spirit of creating and designing, online publishing and helps student to get rid of the fear of technology. I encourage my students to upload their picture, their introductory journal, design their template as they wish, and most importantly, keep writing reflective journals on each graded assignment in order for them to keep the self assessment process alive. It is obvious that this tool is excellent for not just ELLs, but for every student. I have received wonderful feedback from my student who say, “Mrs. Aguilar, instead of spending time on Facebook on a Sunday afternoon, I now find myself working on my e-portfolio!” A few would mention that they will continue creating e-portfolios for their other courses whether it is a requirement or not. Isn’t this amazing? —Erica S. Aguilar
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anguage xperience pproach (LEA) is a teaching strategy for beginning readers to elementary students’ ability to increase decoding and reading comprehension by Megan Sheakoski produced in April 22, 2008. Beginning readers need instruction and practice in all areas of reading. The Language Experience Approach allows students to interact with text on multiple levels simultaneously. This strategy also allows teachers to teach a variety of language arts lessons using the students’ own words and language. The LEA can be used in kindergarten, first or second grade for whole class reading instruction, in third or fourth grade to work on grammar, punctuation, or language concepts, and for remediation in any grade. The Language Experience Approach begins with a shared class experience; a novel, exciting experience works well when first using the LEA strategy. After the class activity is completed, the teacher asks the students to dictate the story of the experience to her and writes what they say word for word on large chart paper. She reads the sentences back to the class so that the story is written exactly how they have composed it. The teacher reads the final story to the class and then has the class read it with her. As the students read their words about their experience aloud they are building their reading vocabularies. From here the teacher can personalize the lesson to focus on language arts concepts in which the class needs instruction or practice. Materials: Marker, Large chart paper, Large pumpkin, Carving knife, Bowl, Large spoon, Paper towels, Table salt, Cookie Sheet Introduction: The Language Experience Approach begins with the shared experience. Open the reading lesson by carving a pumpkin with the class. Get every student involved by soliciting ideas for the face and allowing everyone a chance to scoop out the middle. Enlist members of the class to separate the seeds from the goop and rinse them off. Have other students place the seeds on a cookie sheet and shake salt onto them. Assign a student to be in charge of the timer and bake the seeds in the oven. After the pumpkin seeds have cooled pass the seeds out for the students to taste and place a small light in the pumpkin so the whole class can see the face. Lesson Body: Have the students take turns telling you sentences to write on the chart paper about carving and eating the pumpkins. If a student gives you only a few words or phrases prompt them to tell it to you in a sentence, otherwise write each student’s exact words on the chart. After you have written the sentence, read it back to the student to make sure that is how he wants it written and make any changes the student requests. Model proper spelling, capitalization and punctuation, but leave word choice and grammar up to the students. This can be the basis of a future lesson if appropriate. After the story is complete read it aloud to the students. Read it aloud again and invite them to read it with you. Continue reading together or have just the class read or even have volunteers take turns reading the story. Conclusion: Use the dictation to provide the basis for your lesson. You may choose to work on topics such as word families, punctuation, or vocabulary depending on the instructional needs of your class. The language arts topic you choose will now be easier for the students to learn because it is more meaningful to them; using their words and their experience facilitates a greater understanding of any lesson. The Language Experience Approach strengthens all areas of reading. Novice readers may be able to read whole sentences for the first time. Students with decoding deficits will benefit from the repeated readings and gain help from the context of the words. Comprehension of the shared experience topic will be increased while increasing the students’ ability to work with text. The sky really is the limit with an LEA- try this strategy with your students today! 4
BELIZETESOL (Belize Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) March: National Teacher s’ Convention: BelizeTESOL Booth/Massive Membership Recruitment Drive/ invitations to newsletter contributions; educational news from your regions, games, teaching tips, pedagogy, andragogy, language teaching (all Belizean languages and how they are related to the teaching of English), etc. April: BelizeTESOL’s general meeting: Thursday of Week 3, Call for Participation, Venue: TBA Time:TBA April: 2016 TESOL Pr ofessional Development April 5-8: Inter national Convention & English Language Expo, Venue: Baltimor e Mar yland, USA; http://www.tesol.org/convention2016 May: Nor ther n Regional Pr ofessional Development Confer ence , Coordinator: Nor ther n zone, Venue, Time & Date: TBA (With Pr ofessional Development Cr edits) –Call for Participation Included in the programme: Recruitment Drive and Northern Regional Wall of Fame June: GOB Pr ofessional Development for Teacher s July: GOB Pr ofessional Development for Teacher s August: GOB Professional Development for Teachers September: Centr al Regional Pr ofessional Development Confer ence (San Ignacio): Wester n Regional Coordinator –Call for Participation (Included in the programme): Recruitment Drive , Northern Regional Wall of Fame, Burns Avenue story telling session entitled: Every Man has a story to tell; every woman has a story to tell – include videotaping/ to create a teaching tool-to be infused into second language classes October: Belize Teacher s’ Open Discussion Forum and Country Wide Recruitment Drive November: Souther n Regional Pr ofessional Development Confer ence. Included in the pr ogr amme: Souther n Regional Wall of Fame, Barranco: in or near the Museum December: Belize Teachers Expo – Belize Teachers showcasing self-made teaching apparatus, stellar lessons and methodologies, Date & Venue: TBA
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When a student does not know how to recognize errors and is not able to clearly understand the differences between his or her lingua franca and Standard English, that student's performance in English may be adversely affected. It is reasonable then to deduce that students’ inability to identify, analyze and correct errors is a major contribution to the difficulties they face with the writing of Standard English. Clearly, the writing of idiomatic expression of English is troublesome for speakers of second languages. They may have problems with the following:
My one for mine: I am a Spanish speak ing; you are a Spanish; instead of adding the wor d, per son.
Inaccurate use of preposition: W hy I am saying that it is easy to learn is because…; at our environment; acquainted to; communicate for each other;
Spelling: Y ou are a M aya dissent;
Subject-verb agreement: You are a student who do not understand anything in the English language; They learnt English and was comfortable; he/she have; too much confident
Questions: What did you saw?
Number: They did not know what their mistakes was. They lear nt English and was comfor table.
Omission of auxiliary verbs: I bor n in Belize -In this statement, the writer omits the verb, was).
Two types of errors are common in scripts: Er r or s in the ver b categor y and er r or s in wor d or der . The scr ipts indicate that numerous sentences are direct translations from mother tongues.
Common problems are the lack of subject verb agreement, especially, missing ver bs, the missing ‘s’ on simple present tense, the missing ‘ed’ from past tense verbs, and proper use of the verb “is’.
Errors in the Use of Nouns and Pronouns: For example, the use of mines instead of mine and ‘my one’, ‘their self’, ‘they self ‘and ‘ himself’.
Problems with nouns are mainly the inappropriate use of s on nouns like children or on child, or guesses for guests. In many cases the errors are similar and appear to be caused by language interference. The following are only a few examples:
This is what have cause them to hurt their self. -1) Dis da weh kaaz deh fu hert dehn self
I didn’ hear nothing about… Double negatives are used in Kriol: 2) Ah neva hyaa notn.
He have… perfectly legitimate in Kriol: 3) Hihn hav;
Couldn’t say nothing -double negatives: Used in Kriol: 4) I am here sake of my friend them: sayka means because of
These are my choice: 5) Deh ya da mi choice dehm:
I advise all Belizean 6) Ah advais aal deh Beleezyan;
Where our weakness are 7)…weh wi we weekness deh.
Produced by Ethnelda Ramirez Paulino
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Kaina Marches on… Kaina Online High School is the first online high school of Belize. It is the brainchild of Ethnelda Ramirez Paulino. The name, Kaina is the name of the founder’s mother. Dr. Rita Enriquez is the co-founder of the Kaina Online High School. The foregoing lines have now been relegated to the annals of Belizean, Central American and Caribbean History. Kaina Online High School opened its portals on March 10, 2013. The online high school offers everything mainstream high schools do – except that it eliminates worries about costly footwear, uniforms, books, lunch, bus fares, and all the other expenses, incidents/accidents/anxieties that occur when one travels. A graduate of kaina High School earns a high school diploma, thereby enabling that person to access college and university education. The school accepts persons who want to do four years of high school and persons who wish to complete high school. For example, if someone successfully completed 2nd form, then he /she will be accepted into 3rd form and so on. Such a person needs to submit a high school transcript. A prospective form one student needs to submit his/her last report card or Primary School leaving Certificate. Kaina Online…prepares students for ATLIB (Association of Tertiary Level Institutions of Belize) and Examinations and Caribbean Council of Secondary Education Examinations. One elective per semester is offered to Form One and Form Two students. Form Three students select two (2) electives for their remaining years in high school. Kaina Online also offers electives like agriculture, clothing and textiles, as well as non-traditional subjects like grooming (barbering, pedicure, manicure, hair processing) if enough students select these subjects. A Face to Face Orientation is conducted at the beginning of each school year in order to teach students how to work online. Teachers chat online; accept calls, text messages, and e-mails, as we progress. They also require a few Face to Face (F2F) Sessions as the need arises. The Students can request F2F sessions. The registration fee is a non-refundable 25BZD per year and the fees are $300 per semester. A student can pay the 300.00 in full or pay $350.00 in installments. Each year, there will be two semesters. At the end of 2015 Semester, we had 80 active students. Form One’s enrollment was 26, Form Two (2) was 13, Form Three (3) 14 and Form Four (4), 26. Regrettably, we lost 3 of our students during this school year. May their souls rest in peace. Kaina has had its share of malicious incidents. People have hacked into the system, a small group of students have attempted to contaminate our pure intentions to educate our fellow Belizeans by using our forums as Social Media and that is disappointing. These efforts to sabotage a worthy cause have been both financially and emotionally expensive. However, we have been blessed with loyal and dedicated teachers. Our students do very well in the core subjects and we pray that they will begin to do well in the subjects with which they constantly struggle. To address the above problem, Kaina instructors have requested a Professional Development Workshop on Online Mentoring, Teaching and Preparation. Path light International has graciously agreed to conduct the Workshop in June 2016 and for that we are grateful. Our third graduation is scheduled for June 26, 2016. Kaina Yours in Education, Ethnelda Ramirez Paulino
Marches on…
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Formula for Success: The Magic of the Five-Point Lesson Plan Lesson planning should be an outlet for both inventive and pragmatic teaching solutions. Using the five point lesson plan takes the guess work out of planning, and leads you straight to that magic solution you have been looking for. Try out the five point lesson planning system for continued success. The five point lesson plan system provides teachers with a template for how to structure lessons and organize the very precious classroom time. The approximate timing for each point is based upon a ninety minute class. What is the five point lesson plan system? 1. The Warm-Up: The idea of a warm-up is not a new one, but this plan stresses what an important role it plays in each and every class. Every lesson should begin with a light-hearted activity with the purpose of getting students revved up for class, and might even get them up out of their chairs. The warm-up should be concise—limited to no more than ten minutes. It also should focus on the practice of anything the students have recently been exposed to, whether it be from the last lesson, or from a month ago. This technique helps ensure that previously studied material doesn't get left behind or forgotten. Introducing it in a fresh, energetic way will inspire students to participate and give them confidence. The last guideline for the warm-up is that is should be simple to introduce and easy to carry out. The warm-up is not the place to launch into a complicated game with a lot of directions. The point of the warm-up is to keep it light and airy and allow students to get moving with their bodies and more importantly, natural language skills. 2. Introduction: The introduction is the only part of the lesson that might be constituted as lecture. It consists of a short explanation of either a new grammar point, or a review of the last grammar point that needs continuation. The introduction often includes some board work or handouts to provide the students with some reference materials. The introduction should also be fairly brief—no more than 15 minutes--because it is really the only time when the teacher is presenting material to students. With that said, it is important to present the information in a student-centered way wherein the students can ask questions, and comprehension checks play a role in the introduction before you move on to practice. 3. Practice: The practice section gets the bulk of attention and time in your lesson. The practice is the follow-up to the introduction, so therefore should focus on practicing whatever was explained. It is a good idea to have two to three practice activities lined up, and to make sure that you account time for the set-up of activities. Practice should be thorough and last about 30 to 40 minutes. This is the creative section of your lesson plan, and should contain a lot of varied practice that focuses on incorporating the four language skills. Grammar doesn't do anyone any good until it can be used for practical application. Bring in real-world practice, and utilize games, technology, rounds, and any other method you can think of to keep students engaged and actively practicing language. 8
4. Homework Correction Activity: Sometimes it is easy to overlook homework or hard to find time to correct it. If you make it a point to spend time reviewing homework in your plan, you will be more mindful when you give assignments. It is imperative that students do some kind of homework after every lesson. Even if it is something simple like writing three sentences or doing a quick page of fill in the blanks. It is important to give them something to take home to reflect upon the lesson and draw out possible problem areas or questions. This fourth point is wonderful because it asks the teacher to look at homework correction creatively. Make it an experience. Turn it into a game, or assign points. However you choose to make it interactive, it has to be more than just reading out answers for check marks. This section shouldn't be more than 10-15 minutes and many times this section can be moved to point number two to jump start your review.
5. The Wrap-Up The wrap-up is the conclusion of the lesson. A few elements need to be covered at the end of the class, and by building it into your plan, you will never again be hollering a homework assignment to students as they are running out the door to the next class. The wrap up has a few elements in it, and should only be 5-10 minutes long. First, it should contain a homework assignment and explanation of that assignment. Within the explanation should be clear directions written on the board and reviewed verbally. Following that should be at least two examples done as a class. After that reiterate when it is due and what pages or sections will be covered. If you know that you are going to have students do something interactive with their homework, try to alert them ahead of time so that they come to class prepared. There is nothing worse than half of the class blowing off the homework, so the brilliant activity you designed to cover it, falls flat. The wrap-up should give students one last element to walk away with. Whether it is going back to your first example or asking them to consider a question about grammar, end on a high note.
Retrieved from: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/Formula%20for%20Success_%20The%20Magic%20of%20the% 20Five-Point%20Lesson%20Plan.html
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These courses already began; however, you can still sign up for the next time they will be offered.
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Using Pictures for Storytelling On February 2016 Reading Rockets, released an article in their “Monthly Tips for Parents” entitled: “Sharing Wordless Picture Books” illustrating how these wordless pictures can stimulate “an opportunity for literacy-rich conversations” in children. Teachers, at the primary and secondary level can also wield this, not so new, but effective and not so widely used tool for ELLs. As the article summarizes, using wordless books will enhance a child’s listening, vocabulary, comprehension, writing skills, as well as creates awareness of story structures. Here are the tips when sharing wordless picture books with a child/student: 1.
There are no ‘”right” or “wrong” ways to read a wordless book: the child/student creates his/ her own story or stories from the same picture or pictures.
2.
Spend time looking & talking about the cover and book’s title: have students make predictions about cover picture and title of book.
3.
Take a “picture walk” through entire book: point to and enjoy the illustrations; notice specific details such as color choice, facial expressions, setting, and discuss to stimulate creativity and storytelling.
4.
Start the book a second time: adults can listen to the story, or they can tell their own story first. When reading for children use distinct voices, onomatopoeia, and interesting vocabulary.
5.
Encourage storytelling in a “reading” format: Listen to word choice, help correct mispronounced words, expand his/her sentences or thoughts by asking who? When? Where? Why?
6.
Finalize your wordless book by asking a few questions: What was your favorite part? Did you have similar experiences like this before? What pictures help you tell the story the most?
Reference: Reading Rockets. (2016). “Sharing Wordless Picture Books” Retrieved from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/sharing-wordless-picture-books
BelizeTESOL Association Issue 04, March 2016 12