Back From The Future

One of my favorite movies of all time is Back To The Future, especially the first one. I remember going to see it with some friends, not having any idea what the movie was about and being at the edge of my seat the entire showing.  All that time traveling was very entertaining, but I especially loved how having visited the future and changed the present day.

The quote pictured here is one I posted on my board at both schools this week and it generated some wonderful reflection and conversation.  I intended the discussions to be inspirational for my students, but in the end I found myself inspired and motivated not only by the quote, but also by their responses. My high schoolers' as usual were right on target.  They are great group of young people who embrace reflection and dig deep into every quote we discuss. My middle schoolers, on the other hand, usually need a great deal of scaffolding and are not so eager to reflect, but I must say that this week many of them dove right in.

Back in September, I asked each of my middle schoolers to develop a goal plan.  I provided them with sentence starters to help stir their thinking and coached them along the way as they identified a specific goal for the school year and developed a plan for achieving it.  Even for my advanced ELLs, it was challenging as they were not accustomed to all that deep thinking.  When they finished their plans, they published them on their blogs and I let them know we would revisit these plans mid-year to ensure they were staying on track. Well, midyear came and with ACCESS testing underway, we didn't get to them.  None of the students brought up the goal plan - perhaps wishing I had forgotten which I certainly did not.

We are now at the end of the 3rd quarter and I thought this would be an appropriate time to look back.  Because of an adjusted schedule, ESL classes were shortened so it took us two periods to complete the reflections.  First, we read the quote aloud and I asked them the following two questions: (1) How does your past influence your future? (2) How does your future influence your present.  The first question was easy, but number two puzzled them a bit. Some quickly expressed their confusion, while others interpreted it as the present influencing your future. Middle schoolers are not often abstract thinkers - especially when their language skills are lacking - so I was not surprised at their responses. Naturally, since this was their reflection I kept asking questions, answering their questions with more questions until their came to their own answers.  I was also pleased to hear some of them acknowledge how much their writing skills had improved since September. They are still not there but there's certainly evidence of growth.

So, this week as we analyzed and interpreted a quote and applied it to their goals, my students and I embarked on a time machine that took us from the past to the present, then to the future and back to the present.  All that travel made them a little dizzy at times, but in the end we all realized that it's not only the past that affects our present, but it's our future that has the greater impact.  None of them had ever given their goals that much thought up to this point, viewing it as merely an assignment for ESL class. After our discussions, they went "back to the future" and reviewed the goal plans.  Some made a few adjustments, others left the goals as is, but they all realized the importance of goal setting and how those goals influence the choices we make in the present.  

As my students reflected on their goals and aspirations, so did I.  The past is gone and unlike the movie, we cannot travel backward and forward in time.  While we are inevitably impacted by where we've been, it's where we are headed that determines where we are right now.  It's not about where we went but about where we are going.   In order to reach our intended destination, we need to take the right road.  Many of us may get distracted along the way and miss an exit or take the wrong road, but as in any road trip, we can always make a u-turn and get back on track.  Others may need to speed up or slow down, while some will just change their mind and decide to head somewhere else. Regardless of where you choose to go, I think we can all agree that it's our future that indeed has the greatest influence.  It is that destination (our future) that will influence the actions and choices of today. I reflect and learn from my past, but knowing that I have a hope and a future is what makes today and everyday worthwhile.

#BestYearEver

Immigration Stories

One of my high school ESL classes recently read the book New Kids in Town: Oral Histories of Immigrant Teens.  I've raved about this little paperback on an earlier post and perhaps you've already checked it out. If you haven't, please do - especially if you are an ESL teacher and/or have ELLs in your classroom or schools, which essentially includes all of you. It's a short read, leaving time for some constructive conversation. Last year, I read the book with one of my intermediate level ELLs at the high school and he enjoyed it very much.  This is an oldie but goodie, written back in the 1980s. It's no longer in print, but plenty used copies are available for a nominal cost, so I bought a few for my classroom library.

This year I wanted to the read the book with a group of high beginner/intermediate level high school ELLs. Instead of having all students read the entire book, I asked each student to read the story of a young person from their native country or from a country that's geographically close to theirs.  The group that read it represents six different countries and some of them had an exact match.  Students from Mexico, India and Dominican Republic each read about a teen from their country. My students from Guatemala, Turkey and Laos read about a teenager from El Salvador, Afghanistan and China, respectively. There was even a story about a young man from Cuba, which we read as a class and I made my own personal connections. Even though I didn't immigrate as a teen, I grew up hearing similar stories from my parents and other family members so I had lots to share as well.  After they read their story, they teamed up with a classmate for some comparing and contrasting.  They later created a Kahoot game with their partner and they each created a Fakebook page of their character. The Fakebook pages were really cool because they brought their imaginations to life as they were to find a photo of someone that looked like how they pictured their character to look like. Then they easily added other characters in the book as "friends" using their classmates' photo selections.  We had lots of fun with this little unit.  They each read one story independently and we read one story as a class, but with all the sharing we read almost the entire book.

The unit culminated with Show & Tell presentations consisting of their own immigration stories. They all did an amazing job and while they each represented a different country, their stories were strikingly similar.  All students agree that they are now glad they live here, but none of them moved willingly. All of them are longing to return for a visit, but all of them intend to remain in the U.S. permanently.  Some of them came after their parents and while some immigrated with their parents.   I must say that while no tears were shed, the mood in the classroom was very nostalgic. These students have been in the U.S. anywhere from six months to three years and they all greatly miss their homeland and friends. Some families were brought here by an employment opportunity while others came for the hope of obtaining employment, but they all came to the United States seeking a better life.

I felt very proud of my students-their improved speaking skills, their courage to openly share their stories and their willingness to listen and learn from one another. With this unit, they learned new vocabulary words, new reading strategies, new tech tools, but most of all they learned about one another and also themselves. These stories brought this group closer because despite the apparent differences they are essentially very much the same.

And aren't we all. No matter what your stance is on this country's current immigration policies, I hope you will not fail to recognize that this is a nation of immigrants.  Unless you are a full-blooded Native American, you are either an immigrant or a descendant of one.  Call it a melting pot, a stew or even a salad, we are all different, but we are so much better together.

Before my students presented, I shared my own immigration story. That picture up at the top - that was me at 17 months. It was the first photo I took after arriving in the United States.

#BestYearEver

Tell Me As Many Details As You Can

I'm approaching the end of ACCESS testing season and while I'm thankful it's gone very well, I'm so 

ready to be done.  For those of you outside the ESL world, ACCESS for ELLs, an acronym for Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners, is an annual language assessment given to ELLs in WIDA states.  In North Carolina, ACCESS determines the level of ESL service and exit status.  It is offered around February 1-March 15 every year to students who have been identified as LEP (Limited English Proficient).  Students dread the test, as they do all assessments, and although I'm not happy about any sort of standardized test the fact that my students' service is interrupted while my schedule is turned upside down drives me nuts. Since my classes are small, my students usually sit in the office or the media center during their regularly scheduled ESL period and work on individual assignments. While I try to make the most of their time, it's certainly not the same level of instruction and support they receive when they are with me. But, oh well, it is what it is. We accept what we cannot change and make the best of it.

ACCESS tests for the most part are administered in groups based on tier and grade level, however, speaking tests are individually administered.  As with any other standardized test, we have an administration script that we must not deviate from.  During the speaking test, students are given stories and/or scenarios and asked follow up questions.  Most of the questions end with the statement, "tell me as many details as you can."  I've said that so often in the last month that I probably recite it in my sleep, but it has also stirred my thinking about writing instruction and prompted this blog post.

Writing is especially challenging for ELLs and for many of them it is the skill that keeps them from exiting the program.  Many of the transitional students have excellent listening, speaking and reading skills and may no longer even be eligible to receive testing accommodations, but the writing gets them year after year. That's why this year I've stepped up my writing instruction and implemented blogging for all students, even beginners.  Some of them take great pride in their blogging and I've seen impressive gains, but others put forth very little effort and only do what's least expected - which kills me because it's not reflective of what they are capable of producing.  One area that I drill in them is the need for details. Just like fine print on a contract, it's those details that keep getting them, but many of them don't quite get it.  

I recently found this wonderful and free lesson on Teacher Created Resources titled "Show Don't Tell".  This lesson brought to life the importance of details by teaching the art of elaborating using vivid adjectives and specific verbs. While I found it a little too close to ACCESS testing to perhaps make a difference in this year's scores, I will keep this handy for future use and want to encourage my readers to use it as well. It's not an ESL lesson, but I found it ideal for my ELLs at both high school and middle school and it can be easily adapted for any grade level. If you teach writing, whether it be in English Language Arts, ESL or any other content area, I encourage you to check it out. 

Aside from syntax errors, much of their writing is simply weak because it's lacking details.  "The devil is in the details", I tell them.  They cringe when I say that, even after explaining dozens of times that it's just an idiom and am in no way insinuating that the devil is in their mistakes.  They don't say that but the looks I get from some of them seem to give me that message.  As I googled the saying so I could prove it to one of my students, I learned that there's also the idiom,  "God is in the details".   According to Grammarist.com, it's older and slightly more common, but until now I had never heard of it and neither had any of the colleagues I've asked. It means that small details can have big rewards and are therefore significant. Just as I've been preaching all year long, rather than being bogged down by details, we are redeemed by them (no pun intended).  

I now feel challenged to take a positive twist to my writing instruction and am determined to find ways to engage my students in their writing so that instead of producing the bare minimum, they will be motivated to go above and beyond.  Perhaps I might hear them asking "can I write more?"  Okay, maybe they won't utter those words, but it doesn't hurt to dream a little. I'm sure that no matter how exciting my writing instruction will be and  how engaged they become, they will likely continue to ask, "How long does it have to be?" to which I will simply reply as I do on the ACCESS speaking test, "Tell me as many details as you can".

Until next time.....#BestYearEver

Compassion: What It's Not

Image Credit: photosforclass.com

To piggyback off my last post about creating a culture of charity in our schools by teaching compassion and respect for our fellow man, perhaps we need to consider if and how compassion can be taught.

Sometimes the best way to comprehend a term or idea is to identify what is it not.  I find myself doing this all the time in ESL class.  As I teach my English learners new words and phrases, I also illustrate and explain the antonyms so that they gain a richer understanding and learn them in context. Just like a rubric describes the expectations of a final product, it also clearly illustrates the levels of quality from excellent to poor so we understand what it is and what it isn't. Back when I was a business education teacher, I gave both good and bad examples of a finished project, so students were clear on what they should avoid doing. It also saved me from having to explain to a young person that what they thought was really cool was actually, well, tacky.

So what is compassion not? According to thesaurus.com the antonym that best helps define compassion is "indifference".Just as I teach definitions by providing synonyms and antonyms, I think we need to learn what we need not to do, in order to be compassionate human beings.  It's pretty clear that animosity, ill will, cruelty, meanness and hatred are all polar opposites of compassion, but one might perceive indifference as rather neutral.  That one word has made me rethink compassion altogether.  I consider myself a pretty loving and caring person, but there are so many times when I have turned a blind eye and/or a deaf ear to someone in need because I'm busy fulfilling my essential duties. How often have I missed an opportunity to stop and lend a listening ear to someone who's having a miserable day simply because I'm focused on my planned activities or just don't think I have the time.

So, can compassion be taught? Well, I think so, but what we must learn is what it is not. We can't be compassionate if we are disconnected and disengaged from our surroundings. By teaching our young people (and ourselves) to slow down and not be indifferent, we are teaching compassion and it is then that we will make a difference in our world.

#BestYearEver

Culture of Charity

It's been a long time since I've been a student, but for the life of me, I can't remember having so many fundraisers.  I teach at two schools and my kids attend two different schools. There are months when we will have one or more school or charity fundraisers per week, most of them involving food. While it's great to get a break from cooking, it's hard on the budget and the waistline, but we support our schools and/or our favorite charities as much as possible.

My kids were barely talking when they learned the phrase "sharing is caring".  Well, let me restate that, my husband and I taught them the phrase, but even though they are now 9 and 11, the learning process is still underway.  My husband and I are children of Cuban immigrants and didn't exactly enjoy a life of privilege.  We both remember having everything we needed, not really feeling poor, but we were keenly aware that our resources weren't exactly plentiful.  Furthermore, not only did our parents have limited English language skills, they also were not college educated in their homeland, so they had to take up low paying jobs and often work extremely hard for those menial wages. Regardless of their circumstances, our parents taught and modeled a strong work ethic and enabled us to stand on their shoulders so we could achieve what they could not. They also made sure that we didn't forget where we came from and instilled in us a sense of charity and generosity.  Our parents drilled into us that we are blessed to be a blessing and not entitled to anything. And that, my friends, is a message I remind my children and my students of every day.

Continuing with February's #reflectiveteacher community's theme of kindness and caring, last week's question was "How can we create a culture of charity in our schools/classroom?"  Although I wrote this question, I found myself totally stumped when it came to writing about it.  What will it take to create a culture of charity in our schools? More service projects, charity fundraisers, blood drives - do those activities create a culture of charity?  Does it make us less indifferent to those in need? I believe today we have more fundraisers and service projects that I remember in my own school experience, yet with each passing year, I witness an increasing sense of entitlement among our young people.  We give more than ever, but yet we spend countless instructional hours teaching kids not to bully or tease one another.  With all the giving and sharing, I'm concerned that the message is not reaching their hearts and much less creating a culture of charity in our schools.

So what is it going to take to create that "culture of charity"?   Let's take a look at the definition of school culture according to The Glossary of Education Reform.  "The term school culture refers to the beliefs, perceptions, relationships, attitudes and written and unwritten rules that shape and influence every aspect of how a school functions, but the term also encompasses more concrete issues such as the physical and emotional safety, the orderliness of classrooms and public spaces, or the degree to which a school embraces and celebrates racial, ethnic, linguistic or cultural diversity."  (edglossary.org, 2013)

I believe that in order to create that culture of charity, we must begin with the attitudes of compassion and respect toward our fellow man.  Charity is indeed about helping those in need, those less fortunate, but sometimes those needs and misfortunes are not obvious and/or are misconstrued.  That rich kid who is lonely and depressed is also a person in need.  The new kid in school who needs a friend to have lunch with doesn't feel very fortunate. There are groups of folks who are obviously in need but let's not overlook the small opportunities to help one another.

I'm not sure exactly what's needed to create that culture of charity, but I know that we need to go beyond the obvious and start small.  I think we need to teach - and most importantly model - that charity is so much more than donating money or clothing.  Charity is humbly giving of ourselves because it is in giving that we receive.

#BestYearEver

Paying It Forward

Pay It Forward - a favorite movie for many folks.  Not for me. It's a great movie, has great actors, but I strongly disliked the ending. One thing I really enjoyed was that the main characters are a teacher and a student which is the reason I was interested in watching it. If you've never watched it, here's a spoiler alert. The movie is amazingly inspiring right up until the very end.  As a hopeless romantic and optimist, I was crushed when the boy didn't get what he deserved.  I was not only disappointed, I was devastated. 

As I pondered on this week's question - "How can we teach students to pay kindness forward - to give expecting nothing in return?"- I couldn't help but think about the film.  Honestly, I am still so heartbroken by that ending that I hate to even use that phrase, but the reality is that life is just like that.  True generosity is not about giving expecting to receive or giving back what's deserved but it's about giving expecting nothing in return.  Furthermore, we can't expect our generosity to always be returned and sometimes may not even be recognized.  As I began to ponder on this week's question, I realized that perhaps my disappointment lies in my inability to accept life's reality.

According to Wikipedia, the expression "pay it forward" simply refers to paying a good deed to someone other than the person who was good to you.  It is also a legal term which means paying a debt forward to a third party instead of paying it back to the original creditor (see the Wikipedia link).  But aside from the acts of kindness, I believe paying it forward is more about attitude than about actions. If your heart isn't right, the deeds can be tarnished. Gifts don't have to be tangible and deeds can be as simple as a smile or a genuine compliment, but when our motives are pure, there's an undeniable magic that may be unspoken but its impact is huge. 

Okay, so back to the original question.  How can I teach my students to pay kindness forward - to give expecting nothing in return?  In my humble opinion, this is one of those soft skills that must be modeled.  In order for my students (and my own children) to be able to learn to pay it forward, they must see it in me.  Sure, I can develop service learning projects, charity fundraisers for sick children and canned goods drives for the less fortunate, I can do that and so much more and still may not be paying it forward.  Kids are watching closely even when it seems they are not looking. Opportunities to pay it forward come all day long.  They may not always seem very significant, but they are there and if we seize the moment, we are teaching them by our actions.

Life is hard and our good deeds are not always returned. There are always those negative, difficult people that embitter our lives no matter how hard we try to make peace with them.  We don't always get what we want or think we deserve, we don't always win no matter how hard we try and we don't always live happily ever after.  But, we can live for the moment and make it as bright and beautiful as we possibly can.

This post has made me reflect on my own attitude and made me realize that I need to be more attentive to all those opportunities to pay it forward because in attempting to bless that one person I may be able to change the world.

#BestYearEver

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Once again I sit down to write a blog post and another retro song pops into my mind. This time it's the song "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner.  I have to say that I'm not a big fan of Tina Turner and while it was a catchy tune, I'm not really a fan of that song either.  No offense to any fans out there, but love is for certain not "a second hand emotion" and most certainly not limited to romanticism. 

This month's #reflectiveteacher blogging theme is "Kindness and Caring" and I had the privilege of helping write our prompts, together with Penny Christensen (@Pen63).  For me personally, February is the month of Love and Compassion and you can't be loving and compassionate without being kind and caring so I'm really excited about this month's theme.  This week's prompt is "How can we demonstrate love while maintaining healthy (legal) boundaries?"


I think we need to start with the definition of love.  For me, the perfect definition of love is found not in Webster, but in 1 Corinthians 13.  

Regardless of your religious persuasion, or lack thereof, these words can be embraced by any kind and caring individual.  So if you are not inclined to read the Holy Bible, please know that this post is not intended to convert you to Christianity. Rather it is a very fitting description of love that if lived out will enable teachers to demonstrate love in their classrooms and foster a climate of kindness and caring. 

So back to the prompt, how can I demonstrate love to my students?  If I am patient and kind, not envious, boastful or proud, if I'm humble, not arrogant or self-seeking, not easily angered and not resentful, I am demonstrating love.  If I celebrate success, even with those that probably don't deserve it, if I protect, trust, persevere and never lose hope in my students, I am demonstrating love.  I don't need to hug them or tell them I love them - I know some elementary teachers do lots of that, but at the secondary level there are not too many "I love you's" thrown around and it's probably better that way. The love felt in our classes is rarely verbalized, but it's there. Undeniably it's difficult to love the unlovable, but we can't capture kids' hearts and minds if teachers and administrators don't initiate and model kindness and caring. Like any human being, I'm not perfect and I have my days, but I set out to look beyond the external and search for the soft heart that is so often well hidden. I have found that many times when I seek to find that good, I find it.

Actions always speak louder than words and I find that keeping those verses written so long ago in my heart helps me to shine my light even in the darkest moments.While I wouldn't post those bible verses in my room, I think most of my blog's readers are tolerant adults and I trust you will find yourself inspired by those words.

What's love got to do with teaching?  Everything.  

#BestYearEver