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Report from the Field – Margarita Perez Garcia
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7 thoughts on “Report from the Field – Margarita Perez Garcia”
…I asked them to stand up and come near me….
When you saw that they weren’t engaged, you dismantled the seating and in that moment it all became more human. Shuffling the deck like that was a stroke of genius. I wish I had heard about it years ago. That was an act of courage, an invitation to become real, a challenge to accept something else in school than the same old same old.
The other classes will hear about that one class, no doubt, and ask for the same. Don’t give it to them. Make them earn stories. Tell them that you only did that in the other class because you thought that that group could handle the rules and requirements necessary for storytelling.
And don’t give too many to the Dirty Room class either. Let them know who is in the driver’s seat and be pre-emptive by demanding that they follow the rules to the number before you perhaps give them a little OWI/CWB at the end of class as a reward for good behavior. If their behavior during a story is less than stellar tomorrow, and it will be, stop what you are doing cold and do something boring. Use the Classroom Rules like little hammers and use stories like treats. Make them feel fortunate that they got maybe ten minutes worth of CI on a CWB card at the end of class. Did you have the quiz and story writers and artist working on Friday? Are you doing a reading tomorrow?
Great report, Margarita. If you are doing this now in your first year, imagine what is coming down the road. If you are like the rest of us, it won’t all be perfect all the time. You will always have that one class that never gets it. Look at Lori’s statement that things are just starting to even out for her now after three years. This is not game for the fainthearted. But the results far outweigh the struggle, as you experienced last week.
Congratulations and thank you and keep these reports coming! Curious minds want to know how it’s going. Know that we have your back.
Margarita,
When you say that you had the students stand up and come near…did they sit on the floor?
Ben and Leigh
RE: seating and “Asking the students to come near me…” standing or sitting over tables in half circle around me, the board with the words and the two boys actors. They were at about one meter distance, so very close and no one standing behind someone else.
In the school seating is carefully controlled. In some classes you have to keep bad boy X apart from very bad boy Y. Also teachers in the school advise the use of rows and students seating “2 by 2” to better control behaviour.
I would love that they seat on the floor like they do in AIM classes, but I am afraid of what can possibly happen when they seating instead of standing. One of the rules of the school is “keep hand and feet to yourself” so you can imagine!
RE: after-story activities. We told location #2 yesterday. Again nice and super engaged and I asked them to retell/rebuild the story in 7 minutes with the support of the words in the board, like a freewrite but with support. Some managed to write write 70 to 90 words in 7 minutes fairly accurate 3 only less than 2 words per minute. Perhaps bad behaviour is just lack of competence and confidence nurtured by years of grammar teaching in English?
As a homework they had to read the story, draft and draw a portrait of ‘Gertrudis’ using “era, estaba, tenía”. Tomorrow, I will divide the class into 4 ability groups: group 1 listen only to the story of the third location and group 2 read only the same story, then they will word together in a retell. Group 3 will do a running dictation and Group 4, the lowest ability, will read, annotate with translations, hide and rewrite, check, hide and rewrite!
Today I am teaching two groups of very tough boys and outrageously rude girls in Year 9. They are 13 years old. No stories for them but a variety of “Reading & Do” activities: a) read in silence, peer translate, log the information in a grid, discuss, and “finger read” (I read out lod and they follow with they finger); b) read again two very similar passages using common structures, compare and find out the differences; c) read again and draw a comic. Not a single story there. The challenge is to be able to maintain a learning environment.
…perhaps bad behaviour is just lack of competence and confidence nurtured by years of grammar teaching in English?…
I would say that this is certainly true.
…tomorrow, I will divide the class into 4 ability groups….
This may not work well. We maintain discipline by the common focus of the group as a whole on our comprehension based instruction. We enforce discipline via the Classroom Rules, jGR, frequent quick quizzes and parent contacts. Please report back on how dividing the class up works today.
…the challenge is to be able to maintain a learning environment….
That non-story class sounds just miserable. If you can tame them with CI, it would be a major accomplishment. Please keep us posted. You are doing very important work. Using CI with motivated learners is one thing; using it with angry and hurt kids is entirely another. You are to be acknowledged for this work you are doing right now. Please keep the reports coming.
Margarita, here’s an idea: Have them show you comprehension by illustrating. I ask for DDD: Dark (ink) so it shows up on the opaque/elmo projector, Detailed, and with Dialogue (thought bubbles and speech bubbles). My wiggle worms love to draw, of course, and it’s an oppty for the unrecognized but super-talented artists to show off and get some strikes. These illustrations can be of one scene of the story or a 4 panel sequence… They’re so useful for re-tells, and kids love love having their great work up on the screen. If you don’t have an opaque projector you could scan the illustrations (delay) or just hold them up, or provide large paper for large illustrations?
Idea #2: Really really restrict the amount of new vocab. Don’t do 3 new structures. Do 1 or 2 tops (plus easy cognates which make kids feel smart). Go for mastery first, which will boost the good feeling in the room, then give ’em another new structure. As the good feeling in the room builds the kids will hopefully keep each other in check bc they want to have fun.
Glad you found your way to our PLC! Ben Lev
I agree that drawing is a good thing for squirrely classes, and that showing the drawings and discussing them (or giving T/F questions about them if you want a quiz) is also great stuff!
Ditto what Ben said, Margarita. Let us know if you want any details on how to do those drawings. They are big time CI strategies. Thank you Ben.