Thinking Outside of the Box for ELL Learners

 Image courtesy of Master Isolated Images /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Thinking outside the box.  This expression with the commonly understood  meaning of thinking creatively to solve a problem actually has its origin with the 9-dots puzzle which asks that you draw 4 straight lines to cross all of the 9 dots without lifting your pencil:

There are various solutions to this problem which involve having to extend the line (s) outside of the box, thus “think outside of the box” to find the answer.

In terms of paradigms, sometimes you do not even realize you are inside of a particular box and then something twigs a creative thought which blooms into something great.  In the case of the story I am about to share, collaboration with parents, colleagues and the student led to a creative solution to a seemingly difficult problem.

At my school we have many students who are very new to Canada and are learning English as a Second Language.  Wait…second language?  Not always.  Sometimes we assume that the students coming to us are learning English as their second language but in many cases, English is their third or fourth language.  Thus, the term English Language Learner (ELL) is far more à propos.

When we register new ELL students, we automatically put them in our English program in a regular classroom with ELL supports such as:

• the teacher providing adapted learning materials in their subject area for the ELL student, focusing on vocabulary
• having students take an ELL option class with other ELL students and a teacher who works with them on English language skills
• an ELL pull-out during English Language Arts class to work with an Educational Assistant on English language skills, particularly if the student is level 1 or 2 ELL.
• additional ELL time during our Literacy period to work on English language skills on a computer program such as Rosetta Stone

A few months ago when we registered a student whom I will call Bea (not her real name), we set her up with exactly these types of supports.  We also put her in a class with another female student who speaks her first language of Arabic so that they could support each other while learning English.  Fast-forward a couple of weeks to parent conferences and Bea’s parents came in, very concerned about Bea.  We called a meeting which included our LAT/ELL specialist, the school counselor, an Arabic interpreter, the parents, Bea, and myself as the grade administrator for Bea’s grade.  It turned out that the interpreter was not really necessary as Bea’s parents spoke quite fluently in English but the interpreter, as an agent of CARE (an organization which helps new Canadians with settlement and adjustment to Canadian life) did act as a form of support for the family and helped them feel more comfortable approaching the school for help.
 
Bea’s parents were concerned because Bea was coming home from school crying and had reached the point of saying that she didn’t want to go to school anymore.  They told us she was frustrated at how slowly she was learning English and that she was very worried about falling behind academically in school.  Her parents related to us that Bea had been in the top of her class in Tunisia, the country where they had been living before coming to Canada.  Bea’s father was a doctor and her mother was a lawyer in their homeland and they are currently trying to have their education acknowledged in Canada.   So, it became clear to us that academics are important to Bea and her parents and it was easier to understand why she was so frustrated and worried about school. 

As we continued to discuss how things were going for Bea in her classes at our school, I mentioned that I had observed Bea in her French as a Second Language (FSL) option class and that I noticed how strong her French language skills were and that she seemed to enjoy this class.   To this, her parents replied that Bea’s second language is actually French and that she had studied enough French in Tunisia that she is actually quite fluent in French…and so are both of her parents!  As a former French Immersion teacher and current FI administrator in my school, I immediately began a short conversation with Bea and her parents in French and was fairly convinced that we could be meeting Bea’s academic needs in a completely different way than we usually do for ELL students.  My ELL “box” basically ripped open and an idea began to form about what to do to help Bea.  It broke my heart that she was disliking school so much that she didn’t want to come.  So, why couldn’t she become a French Immersion student?  If she took her core classes in French and we maintained all of the ELL supports that we already had in place to help her learn English, then maybe she would enjoy school again!  I mentioned this possibility to her parents who were very intrigued by the idea because they felt they could easily help her with her school work if it were in French.  They asked Bea what she thought about this and she looked at me and asked if it would be possible because she would like that very much.  I told them that we could do some testing and determine her level of French and then see what we could do.

Over the course of the next week, I tested Bea’s reading, writing and listening comprehension and I thought she was pretty fluent but I wanted a second option.  I asked a French Immersion colleague of mine to test her with the DELF materials and he felt that she could definitely handle being a French Immersion student, particularly because of her strong work ethic, desire to do well in school, and parental support. 

In our school we have two types of French Immersion classes: early immersion (students who have taken FI since kindergarten) and late immersion (students who began FI in grade 6).  Bea is in grade 8 so the decision we had to make was whether to put her in the late immersion class with students who have been learning French for only 3 years or early immersion with students who have been learning  French for 9 years.  It was an interesting conversation with my colleagues about where she would fit best, with her French being not quite as accomplished as the early FI students but probably a little more advanced than the late FI students.  Some other considerations included the fact that the late class was sitting at 29 students and the early classes were 24 and 25 students.  Also, the teachers felt that the late class tended to help themselves understand French by switching over to English a lot more than the early students and this would not be advantageous to a level 1 ELL student.
 
We decided to put Bea in an early immersion class and it has been wonderful to see her transformation.  Bea tells me that she loves it and is very happy with her new classes.  Her parents came in the other day to say thank you for seeing a way to help Bea to have academic success and that she enjoys coming to school and is happy again.

I know that the expression “thinking outside the box” is probably overused and the meaning over generalized but in this case it was an apt metaphor for the process of collaborating which led to a change in thinking  about how we meet the needs of certain ELL students.

One Billion and One Rising: why this is about all of us

As a Canadian woman, living in a medium-sized city I could easily ignore the recent news coverage on the One Billion Rising movement.  They say that 1 in 3 women in the world will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.  There is a global movement to end violence against women which gained a lot of press this past week on Valentine’s Day as groups of women and men all over the world gathered in public places to peacefully and joyfully protest this violence through dance and song.  I could easily brush off this movement thinking that the women rising up together are fighting a problem in India or Somalia or Afghanistan or some other place very far away.  Sure, there is violence against women in my country, in my city.  As a school administrator in a school situated across the street from a women's  shelter, I know that this violence exists.  We often take in students temporarily who are staying in the women's  shelter with their mothers.  But again, this violence doesn't directly touch me so why would I rise up to fight violence against women?

Here is one reason why...

I like to run.  I am currently training for half-marathons in March and May.  I run with a group of ladies who have become good friends.  As we run we chat about our lives and I have come to regard these runs as my time just for me, a break from work and family commitments where I can bond with my girlfriends, get fit and de-stress while working toward various running goals.  

Yesterday, as I was running a 20 km training run with two of my friends along the trails in the river valley of our city, at about kilometre 15, we were spread out slightly with the faster lady of our group of three about 50 meters ahead of us.  Suddenly, she turned around and was running back to us and when we joined up again, she said that up ahead on the trail was a man walking alone and she didn't feel comfortable passing him alone.  Several seconds later, running all together, we passed this man and could see he was just a man out for a walk on a Sunday afternoon.  He could have been one of our brothers or husbands.  Up close he was not threatening at all, but this is what I was thinking as the three of us ran past him together.  I know that if I had been running alone, I would not have felt so brave.  I have run alone before and I have to admit that I never feel completely safe when doing so.  I realized that I do not just run with friends for camaraderie.  I run with my friends to feel safe.  Here I am, living in a city and country with solid, uncorrupted police and justice systems (unlike many of the countries I have read about such as India and Mexico for example) and yet I am afraid of any situation where I may be isolated with a man I do not know.  If that man walking on the trail ahead of my friend had been a woman instead, I know that she would not have felt the need to turn around.  

One Billion Rising is not just about the third world.  It is not just about war-torn countries and buses in India.  It is about women feeling safe wherever they are.  It is for women working a late shift at the hospital who need a security escort to their cars.  It is for women alone at a bus stop.  It is for women who feel they need to lock their car door when driving.  It is for women walking or running alone.  And it is also about the bad image that all men get because of violence against women by the few.  Obviously not all men are violent and not all men are to be feared.  

This is why I do need to rise up to fight violence against women. This is why we ALL need to rise up, women and men together, to say that violence against women is not acceptable and we will not continue to ignore it or think that it is someone else's problem.

There is an active hashtag on Twitter: #1BillionRising and many regions, cities and countries are creating their own Twitter accounts to let us know when and where Rising events are taking place.

A very good place to start is by following One Billion Rising founder, Eve Ensler.

Here is a short film about One Billion Rising by EveEnsler and Tony Stroebel

6 Excellent Reasons To Attend Redcamp13

photo from www.reddeerkiwanis.org

Redcamp13…Red Deer’s first #edcamp is set to happen on May 11, 2013 at Glendale Sciences and Technology School.  We are excited to see a number of people signed up and as we’ve been chatting with people about it, it is very clear the buzz is growing, kind of like that flashmob thing.

We know that there are more people out there who have never experienced an edcamp and are on the fence about registering.  This has inspired the following list of reasons why YOU should come to Redcamp13:

How Edcamp Is Like A Flash Mob

(Photo from Flickr: Artberri)

I am currently working on planning Red Deer's first edcamp, dubbed REdcamp13 (pretty cool play on words thanks to @EbertsR and since I love flash mobs, I was struck by the similarities.  I have to admit that I have never been to an edcamp but am so impressed with #edcamp talk on Twitter that I was inspired to help bring one to my city.   Here, in my humble opinion, is how edcamp is like a flash mob.  Feel free to agree or disagree, particularly if you have edcamp experience!  :)


How Edcamp is like a Flash Mob:

1.  Flashmobs, like edcamps start with one or two people, moving to a beat, dancing to what appears to be their own drummer…at first.  The moves soon catch on and others are joining in the fun.  Edcamp, a relatively new concept in professional development for educators where the participants guide the learning, is gaining momentum.  My REdcamp13 colleagues and I know that the edcamp idea is little known or understood around these parts but we intend to shake it, boogie, learn some new moves and have fun in hopes that it will catch on with our fellow Albertans (Saskatchewanites? British Columbians?) who dare to come to our first edcamp in May, 2013.

2.  Flashmobs, like edcamps start with a little preparation by a core group of interested individuals who have a desire to share their passion (a song, a dance, a happy feeling) with the world and then amazing, spontaneous things happen.  One of the original flashmobs in a train station in Belgium which was choreographed to the Sound of Music’s Do-Re-Mi held only two practice sessions before taking it live.  The result was inspiring.

Edcamp Philly started very small, as described by Kristen Swanson  and the concept has spread all over North America and even Europe.

3.  Flashmobs, like edcamps, are done because people WANT to.  They are not driven by money or celebrity.  People do flash mobs, like Mila Kunis’ character says in the film Friends with Benefits, because it’s fun!

Educators do edcamps because…well, maybe those who have attended edcamps in the past can comment on why they attend edcamps??  I’m sure fun has something to do with it but I’m guessing the deep learning and meaningful conversations that encourage professional growth also are driving factors.

In Drive, Daniel Pink writes about the importance of autonomy as a factor in what motivates people.  He says that people want autonomy over task, time, team and technique.  Edcamps provide learners with plenty of autonomy over what you learn, when you learn it, with whom you are learning and how you are learning.  If this is something that also motivates you, perhaps you should attend REdcamp13 in Red Deer, Alberta on May 11, 2013.   We would LOVE to have you!  And who knows, maybe we’ll break into a flashmob at lunchtime!  ;)

(couldn't resist adding in just one more flash mob - Bazinga!)

The Burnt Cookie: letting go of mistakes

A new year always gives one pause to reflect on how the past year rolled out and time to consider how things will unfold in the next twelve months.  Over the Christmas break, my kids and I were invited over to a friend and colleague’s house to skate on their home-made backyard hockey rink.  My friend’s son is the same age as my middle son and her daughter is a student at the school where I am vice-principal.  The kids had a great time skating and playing outside and then it was time to come in and have a snack.  My friend’s daughter, I’ll call her Sophie (not her real name) decided to warm up her chocolate chip cookie in the microwave.  Beep, beep, beep went the microwave as we all continued talking and snacking.

Sophie opened the microwave to a billow of smoke and a completely burnt cookie.  Any other 12-year old might have become upset or have been completely mortified at her 1-minute mistake.  Though I later heard from her mom that she said, “I can’t believe I burnt a cookie in front of my vice-principal!”, in the midst of billowing smoke Sophie laughed, waved the smoke with her arms, ran to the door to open it, and continued to giggle at her mistake.  I was so impressed with her grace and composure.

As I think about how my year as a vice-principal in a busy middle school went last year, I know there were lots of great things that happened and that I was a part of and there were also a few burnt cookies.  I am the type of person who, if I allow myself to, will ruminate over and worry about my mistakes and wonder what people are thinking about what I did. I need to learn how to be more like Sophie and laugh at myself, learn from my mistakes and move on.  I have heard lots of great things about Carol Dweck’s Mindset and have put it on my reading list for this year.  I hope I can use my burnt cookies to create a growth mindset as I work on improving my skills as a school administrator.

With that being said, here is a list of what I hope to work on this year…resolutions so to speak.  Some professional, some personal.

Resolutions:

1. Be out of the office a LOT more and in classrooms working with kids and teachers.  I think this is the number one way I can improve as an administrator and know what is going on in the school.  It also goes along with relationship building which is essential to my role.


2. Prioritize better – this includes getting better at using my i-phone calendar.  The alert function is fantastic and essential for me.


3. Thank people more – this means making an effort to notice and acknowledge people.  I know I appreciate when people notice what I am doing well.


4. Listen more – this is part of my admin growth plan where I want to improve my communication skills.  In an effort to connect with what someone is saying I know that I sometimes I talk too much about my personal experience and stop listening.


5. Focus on family – with Masters coursework now complete I should be spending more time playing with my kids, not thinking about school and work.


6. Focus on health – I have signed up for 2 half-marathons, a 12 km and the Mud Hero (a run combined with obstacles and mud…crazy right?)  I now need to align my diet with my running goals.


7. Care more about the world – I have a keen interest in social justice and follow the news but feel that I am often just an observer.  I would like to volunteer more, give more and strange as this sounds, donate blood.  I have never done that.

Finally, I resolve to go easy on myself when things do not go well.  I plan to take Sophie’s burnt cookie with me throughout the year (figuratively, of course!) and remember what she taught me about grace, the ability to laugh at oneself and how to let go of mistakes and move on.

Why Twitter?

Back a couple of months ago, I presented to my staff on the glories of Twitter.  Some have since checked it out and have become true twitter fans, others not so much.  As someone who is a self-admitted twit-a-holic (My name is Diane, a.k.a. @robertsdrb and…I tweet…a lot) I find it difficult to understand why everyone has not jumped on the Twitter shuttle to the Twitterverse of enlightenment.

So in an attempt to convince more people to join and engage with Twitter, here is a list of reasons why I get so much out of it:

• Personal Learning Network – I create my PLN by choosing who I want to follow.  When someone posts something that is interesting or useful to me, I follow them.  Contrarily, if they are posting things that do not serve my learning purpose, I don’t follow them.  Simple.  In this way, Twitter becomes differentiated professional development for each individual.


• Twitter chats – This is where connections occur and my thinking is pushed to new places with people from all over.  Twitter chats such as #satchat (administrator chat on Saturday mornings) or #educoach (educational coaching chat on Wednesday evenings) connect me to people who are progressive thinkers and sharers within these domains.  I can also pose a question throughout the week with these hashtags and will get a response from someone else who follows these topics.


• Learning new things – every day I come across an article, list, blog post or quote that teaches me something new.  The word plethora does not begin to explain the wide variety and depth of “stuff” out there on Twitter for educators.


• Feedback – I can post a question or let people know that there is something I am searching for and someone will inevitably give me an answer.  When I post to my blog, people read it and respond...this blew my mind at first and it was nerve-wracking to have others read my thoughts but now I look forward to the comments - good and not so good.


• Inspiration for blog posts – The things I read about on Twitter not only get me thinking, they inspire me to write about my thoughts on educational topics in my blog which is proving to be another way to deepen my thinking and help me reflect on my practice.  By the way, I did not have a blog until after I joined Twitter and began reading all the amazing educator blogs out there which I connected to via Twitter.  It was only a matter of time before I found that 140 characters are great for communicating brief thoughts on various topics but if I want to really delve into something, the blog is where I can get it all out in one place.

The more I use Twitter, the more I WANT to keep coming back…addiction?  Maybe.  But it is getting me connected with other educators and thinking more about my practice as a teacher and as an administrator.  Other addicts go to meetings to talk about their addictions (e.g. AA), Twitter addicts just learn more, reflect more and connect more.  In the words of Amy Winehouse: If they try to make me go to rehab, I won’t go, go, go.


P.S.  I made the above Wordle with text from my Twitter feed.

The Ripple Effect of Administrator Growth: my own growth goal

In an earlier post, I wrote about the kick-off to my school district's administrator growth project.  In this post, I will share my goal for growth this year and reflect on how it is going so far...