Ice Breaker Module 2

I am Adria Arafat.  The Adria part is my name given to me by my mother – Adrienne.  Her name was given to her by my grandfather – Adrian.  I, of course, named my daughter wait for it….Adrienna.  The Arafat part is from my wonderful husband of almost 30 years, Aiman.  Yes, I married a Palestinian named Arafat back when it was one of the most recognizable names in the world.  And no we aren’t related.  We have four lovely children and two grandchildren.  My two oldest live in the U.S. with their children, so I don’t get to see them much.  My two youngest are here – one at Sharjah University, and one at Raha International school. 

I was born and raised in a very small town in Utah, U.S.A.  I had never been east of Denver, and then moved to the Middle East.  I have taught ESL in the U.S., Palestine, Oman, Egypt, and most recently UAE. 

I was reminded while reading the other postings that I have always been curious.  I was always the one my family asked to ‘fix’ things.  My father would go for days not knowing what time it was because he could never figure out his digital watch and would wait for me to come home from college and reset it.  My parents were founding members of the flashing 12 club (think VCR’s a while back).  My father used to say he wasn’t on the information super highway, he was on the information cul-de-sac.  I am just the opposite.  I can’t get enough of the internet, gadgets, widgets, music, movies, etc.  I played with an Ipad at an educational conference, and had to get one the next day. 

Having said all that, I am pretty low tech in my class.  I try not to use any more than is necessary.  The key word is necessary. What do my students have, and what do they need. 

I teach foundation English.  The key word there is foundation.  My students aren’t ready for academic classes yet.  It is my job to get them ready.  You know the one about you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink?  Well, I feel my students are a lot like that.  I can lead them down the road, but if they aren’t willing to do the work (I gave a homework assignment – only 1 out of 18 did it) then I must try something different.  I won’t give up, but reaching these students is proving very difficult.  I try to make my classes interesting, exciting, lively, but at the end of the day, my classes are still the basics.  We were supposed to be “reviewing” the present continuous and most of the class acted like they had never seen it before in their life!  I ended up ‘teaching’ it.  

I would love to “flip” my classroom, but fundamentally I know that this would a)not be practical, b)not be allowed by the powers that be, c)not be accepted by my peers, and mostly d)not be accepted by the students!  The students would never watch the videos.  Not because they aren’t interesting, but because they just don’t spend any time outside of class doing any school work.  I don’t want to become the ‘teacher that shows videos’ just so I don’t have to teach.  That isn’t my goal.  I want to show videos because they are entertaining, and educational – edutainment. 

I have a lot of ideas in my head, it’s the implementation of these that I have problems with.  I look forward to the module and reading all of your stories, ideas, and insights.  

Students on thinking

I have come to appreciate “meta-cognitive’ thinking.  If we are a full participant in our own learning, we cannot but learn something. 

I took this idea to my class room.  Specifically, my reading classroom.  I haven’t taught reading for a long time, so I needed a refresher course.  I stumbled upon “clicking, and clunking.”  To some, this may be very old, but for me, it was new. 

I have a class of mixed – some coming from level 2 to level 3, and some repeating level 3.  For the new ones, the material will be new.  For the old ones, the material will have already been done, and done poorly.  I needed something that was interesting, but easy.  Something they could get their head around, but useful.

I put the students into groups after giving a brief explanation of what they were to do.  This was after a class in which I had explained clicking and clunking. 

To me, this was magic.  I had groups actually talking about the reading with understanding.  They were helping each other, but not in a bad way – just giving the answers.  They were helping their fellow student to understand! 

 This was a very small group, and they were higher level than before, but it was a 'teaching' moment. 

Thinking on thinking

   It is not enough to "know" anymore.  A 21st century student must have a set of skills to succeed in the modern work place.  These skills are being able to use technology in such a way as to make one more productive, more creative, ultimately more flexible than others.  Technology is a useful to, but as with all tools - is only as good as the user.
     I loved that formal assessments "in no way correlate to how productive students will be in the workforce."  The key to success is "high productivity.'  To me this is because if you are productive it is because you a) understand, b) are able to apply knowledge to new situations, c) adapt this knowledge to fit your situation so of course your productivity will increase.  The opposite is also true:  if you don't understand, you can't apply, adapt, or produce anything.  You are stuck in an endless loop of frustration.
     The ideal situation would be to have a class where students are in Krashen's I+1.  But we all know the difference between the ideal and reality is as big as the grand canyon.  I see my roll as trying to find out where students are, and then trying to help them move forward.  This is not always easy or feasible given all the exterior influences and pressures.
     But I will try, and maybe that' the key.  To keep trying until we figure what works?

Practical Teaching Theory

We are products of our experiences - I am sure I teach in ways that I was taught.  But, I am also sure that I have made conscious choices to not teach how I was taught as well.  Whether I put formal labels on it or not, I do have a belief system in how students learn.  I have made some assumptions and it is these assumptions and my observations that have shaped and molded my teaching.
I have struggled before to put my teaching theory into a neat category.  It didn't work perfectly.  I have definite leanings, but I am very eclectic.  I use what I need to help students succeed.  After obtaining my MEd, I learned that I am a constructivist and a cognitivist.  Having said that, I am also a pragmatist.  I teach Foundation English.  My students need me to help them gain 'fundamentals.'  I try to be constructivist in my approaches, but let's face it - foundations is pretty prescriptive.
My biggest push right now is using technology in my classes.  I see tech as a way for students to interact with English.  I see it as a way for them to construct their own English reality.  That's my theory anyway.
I will conclude this thought with a metaphor....Teaching is like a newspaper - it changes everyday within set parameters and I learn something new everyday!  

I have another great site to share. I guess I'm in a sharing mood today.
Link: http://www.funzug.com/index.php/informative-zone/a-peacock-in-the-land-of-penguins.html

My husband sent me this link... Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDVECWcYtjc&feature=player_embedded

This is my hope....

This is my dream....

This is why I teach....

Learning to Drive in Egypt

I have been driving a vehicle since I was 4 years old. I grew up in rural Utah, USA. I drove my fathers old truck to school. I learned to drive a stick shift before I drove an automatic. In other words I feel comfortable behind the wheel. I moved to Egypt. I got a job teaching in a high school and rode the bus to school every day. The bus was full of screaming children, the seats were to small, and I got there just before school was to start, not to mention the fact that I had to ride on this noise machine for an hour more on the ride home. All in all, not an ideal situation. I got a silver car for my silver wedding anniversary. There was just one problem. This was Egypt. I'm not sure if you've ever visited Egypt, but driving and obeying the rules of driving are unknown there.

I had been out riding with my husband. On the odd occasion, I had even driven to the market area in the gated community where we lived. I had a flash back to high school when my father had gotten into the pick-up truck and said drive. That is basically what my husband said, "This is your car, you need to learn to drive it."

I distinctly remember driving my first time on the ring road by myself. I had to consciously breathe. I was that scared. The ring road in Egypt is that scary! But I did it. I was going to give an English Lesson and didn't want my husband to have to wait for me for two hours. Going back was just as scary as by now it was dark. The cars there flash their headlight too, but some even drive with no lights!

What I remember most is my sense of independence. My sense that I can tackle anything! My sense of accomplishment. I don't want to sound like my husband wasn't supportive. Actually, I couldn't have done it without him, but I was all alone on the road; just me and my car. If I am faced with problems or a task that seems to big, I just remember my little silver car and that road. I can do anything!