Monthly Archives: January 2019

Day by Day in the Classroom

Woe! What if EVERYTHING in the English Room “Sparks Joy”? A Comment

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Joy in the classroom!
Figures by Yankol. Naomi’s Photos.

I was delighted to read Chia Suan Chong’s useful and inspiring post “Tidying my ELT mess with the KonMari Method™  .   

“ELT mess”… the phrase resonates with me. My EFL classroom /learning center caters to Deaf and hard of hearing students at every possible level. In addition, I’ve been teaching for a long long time… As you can imagine, the classroom closet is PACKED! It’s not chaotic, I’m not ashamed to open its doors in front of visitors, but it is way too full to be useful! It is also harder to keep organized when it is so full.

Just like everyone else, I’ve encountered Marie Kondo’s tidying up method. My sock drawer says “thank you, Marie”! Yet I had no idea how to apply the method, even partially, in the classroom. If the basis of the method is “Sparking Joy” – how does that relate to classroom materials?

Not only does Chia Suan Chong present the reader with some practical advice on applying this organizational method specifically for ELT teachers, but the author also explains how to relate the term “spark joy” to ELT teaching materials.

So off I went to utilize some non-consecutive free periods and declutter that classroom closet”!

There seems to be a problem…
Naomi’s Photos

I ran into trouble pretty quickly.

Sigh.

For one thing, it seems you can’t skip stages.

Placing the stationery items back into their designated little plastic containers is not a problem to do during a free period. I do that from time to time anyway (staplers start migrating to the glue box, markers end up with the scissors, you know what I mean).

No problem. Well done!

But I can’t possibly take out all the books in the closet all at once and make a big pile. I need to teach in a classroom that doesn’t look like a big mess and I can’t deal with all the books in 45 minutes!

So, I decided to begin looking at the books on the top shelf on the right side of the closet, where I keep the books that I don’t use regularly. The plan was to start from left to right and to pull out the books that I can either give away or recycle. Then I would be able to work in small bites.

ALL THOSE BOOKS “SPARK JOY”!

Naomi’s Photos

Each and everyone might be just the book I might need for a certain student, who knows? I have proof, too!  Just a month ago a passage from a book I hadn’t touched for at least 10 years had just the right type of short text with pictures that I needed for a student who had to get an individually tailored task.

I don’t want to part with a copy of the national curriculum from the 1980s, and I certainly don’t want to part with other books from the 1980s that had marvelous stories and passages in them. Every year I plan on creating wonderful activities with selected sections…. (I know, I know. The fact that it hasn’t happened yet is a bad sign).  I have a slew of grammar books for many levels and age groups, with different kinds of explanations.  Surely I need all of that, right? Then there are the “exam books”. The format of the matriculation (“Bagrut”) exams has changed many times yet it seems wise to keep the old books as some of the reading comprehension texts there could be very useful.

Did I mention that there are the new books coming in, and don’t forget the many binders full of worksheets…

And more…

Perhaps I had better wait till June to attempt this formidable task again!

What’s your strategy for dealing with the ELT classroom closet?

 

 

 

Books I enjoy!

Belated Saturday’s Book: “A Place Called Peculiar” by Gallant

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Who are you calling peculiar?! Naomi’s Photos

The complete title of the book is: “A Place Called Peculiar: Stories About Unusual American Place-Names”.

This is the kind of book that is fun to read parts of when you are with a group of people who can share your wonder, disbelief and a good laugh at the really unusual names of places one can find in the United States. Sadly, the rest of the time this book can sit, untouched, for years on a shelf. There’s a chapter for every state and frankly, there are only so many weird place names one can examine at a time.

When reading (or flipping through) this book you’ll encounter place names such as “Coin”, “Tea” or even one called “In Between”. And yes, there’s a town called “Peculiar” like the title of the book! Paradise (California) may (or may not) have inherited its name from a saloon called ” a pair o dice” , you can read about it (there are several other additional places called “Paradise” in the US, did you know that?).

My family and I actually visited “Chicken” Alaska and heard a slightly different version of the origin of the name. In the version we know,  the people who survived the harsh winter thanks to the ptarmigan, wanted to name the tiny TINY place in its honor. However, they couldn’t spell ptarmigan! But they could spell chicken…

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“Matura”, Please Meet the “Bagrut”! Accomodations on EFL Matriculation Exams from Two Countries

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Spot the differences…
Epstein Family Photos

For anyone who teaches English as a foreign language in a school system, matriculation exams are a big deal. We spend a lot of time learning the intricacies of the exams so that we can spend a lot of time preparing our students for them.

However, how often do we have the opportunity to take a look at what matriculation exams in other countries are like? Do they divide them into sections? Are there levels? Do they allow their students to use a dictionary during the exam?

Now take this one step further.

How often does a teacher of English as a foreign language to Deaf and hard of hearing students have the opportunity to compare accommodations on matriculation exams between countries?

The answer would probably be “ZERO OPPORTUNITIES ” if I hadn’t had this blog.

Out of reach…
Naomi’s Photos

Thanks to this blog I met the amazing Beata Gulati from Poland, who introduced me to Professor Ewa Domagała-Zyśk (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland) and to other members of the research group on the topic of teaching English to this population.

Naturally, I asked everyone lots of questions about matriculation exams. I was fascinated to learn that while there are certainly similarities between different EFL matriculation exams in other countries, there are significant differences in the structures of the exams for the general population and in the accommodations given to Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.

Curious?

Take a seat and check this out!

Naomi’s Photos

I’m pleased to announce that Professor Ewa Domagała-Zyśka and I have written a joint article: “EFL Matriculation Exams for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students – Polish and Israeli Experiences” in which we presented the issue of teaching this population in the context of the Polish “Matura” exam vs the Israeli “Bagrut” exam.  The article was published in “Multicolors: An International Journal of Educational Theory and Research”.  

Such collaborations serve as an “eye opener” and as a reminder – no one in education has a monopoly on “the right way” to teach and assess students. Such comparisons can serve to enrich and enhance our teaching methods.

Here’s to reading, learning, and blogging!

Day by Day in the Classroom

Counting Re-Entry of Vocabulary Items – “Thank You, Ma’am”

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Plenty to count!
Naomi’s Photos

One of the stories that my Deaf and hard of hearing students like the most is “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes.

I’ve just begun teaching it to a new group of 10th graders so I was very motivated to update my materials for this particular story first. As I explained in my previous post, since vocabulary acquisition often requires significantly more explicit instruction with my weaker students, I want to make sure that I highlight vocabulary that appears on the Ministry of Education’s vocabulary list for high – school students (known here as “Band Three).

I was delighted to see that there is no need to update my pre-reading exercise. I designed it to highlight the higher order thinking skill that we teach with this story  -“Uncovering Motives”. Not only have I been happy with the exercise with previous classes, but the word “motive” is also on the word list!

To download the pre-reading activity click on the title below.

Gift-of-time-pre-reading-Mam-p218o7-1e53wc3

Many ways to highlight one thing!
Naomi’s Photos

However, changes were made to the next part. Due to my students’ hearing problems, we can’t discuss the story properly in spoken English in class. Everything must have a written component.  A worksheet of “Open Questions” help me ensure that the students have achieved a basic understanding of the story (analysis and interpretation come later).

Here is the updated worksheet. Click on the title below to download it. The words that appear on the official list are in “bold”. I highlighted them with a colored marker after printing – they didn’t show up as “bold” after the photocopying machine was done with them.

Thank You Ma’am Open Questions-2ktog3e

Smile!
Naomi’s Photos

I’ve created a Quizlet list of the words I’m focusing on at the moment while teaching this particular story.  I may be updating it as I teach.  See link below.

https://quizlet.com/352417392/thank-you-maam-updated-version-flash-cards/

I’ll let you know!

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