Observations of an Observation

On Tuesday, I was given the opportunity to observe a classmate’s work during their conversation club. I like this idea of students at the university being able to practice their conversational English in a lower stress environment than their ELI classes. This also provides them with an opportunity to meet other ELLs at UTA that they may not otherwise interact with.
The leader/instructor/facilitator/teacher of this group was Yujeong. I am glad that I was able to observe her class because I know that she has some teaching experience (I was one of those students) and was looking forward to stealing some of her ideas. What I would rather have is her seemingly unshakeable ease when she is interacting with her class. Unfortunately, personality is not as easy to steal as ideas.
First, the class began with a game of twenty questions. One person stepped into the hall while the class decided on a verb. This person then came back into the room and had to ask yes/no questions in order to ascertain what verb had been chosen. This was a fun game that had the class laughing, but increasing levels of frustration put a damper on the mood. The second participant to guess grew more unsure of himself and flustered after about the fifth question. At the same time, some of the class was growing increasingly impatient with the seeming inability of the participant to guess the correct verb. In the end, everyone was excited when he finally guessed “talk.”
Second, the class played a “hot potato” game. After an initial word was said, a ball was thrown to someone else in the circle. The person who caught the ball then had to say a word that began with the last letter of the previous word. (Ex. ball-light-toy-young-game, etc.) During the game I noticed a few issues that came up regularly. Several people seemed to try to avoid catching the ball when it came near them. Others became a little confused about ending letters versus ending sounds. It was also difficult to understand what words people said sometimes with all the excitement of the game. All in all, the students really seemed to enjoy it.
Lastly, the class got into two small groups and discussed garage sales. A handout was provided with some guide questions to hopefully keep the conversation going. Unfortunately, Yujeong was only able to be in one group, so the other one seemed to get off topic several times. On the other hand, this is a conversation club, so all they really have to do is converse, and they certainly did that. Both groups definitely seemed able to keep talking, and were sad when it was six o’clock and time to leave.

Let's do the time warp again

Rocío decided she wanted to try something new on Tuesday. She changed the groups from intermediate and advanced to Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers. She said that it was because she wanted to work on translation exercises and that translation is going to be very helpful in those students learning English grammar. So I guess we are going to warp through time and live in the era of the grammar-translation method.
I just don’t know if I agree with splitting the groups up in this manner. In my group, which now consists of Vietnamese, Chinese, Laos, and Farsi speakers, we picked up right where they left off in the “intermediate” book. Unfortunately, a couple of the non-Spanish speaking students were previously in the more advanced group and became increasingly bored today because the subject matter we were covering was too basic for their skill level.
One of the biggest issues that I have been struggling with involves translation. I just don’t think, especially at an advanced level, that words and concepts should be translated into the L1. It was incredibly helpful when I was in a Spanish language class where the teacher only spoke in Spanish. What I find interesting is that I haven’t had nearly as big of a problem with the students constantly translating for each other in my new group. It may have to do with the relatively small number of same-language speakers, but I am not sure.
I do know that when my group consisted of about 90% Spanish-speakers, that other 10% felt left out at times. The look on those excluded students’ faces made me sad and frustrated at the same time. I have no desire to exclude any student from learning, and I think that by having “private” conversations (during class) in non-English, that is exactly what has been happening.

Got spare change?

A strange thing happened last Tuesday. Students showed up. People that I haven’t seen in weeks or months came for class. One guy had a reasonable excuse, he broke his wrist at work. To be honest, I guess I don’t really care about why people stop coming to class. I just want them to show up. What kills me the most is that I am guilty of the same thing. What a hypocrite I have turned out to be.
When only two or three students have shown up by 8:30am, I think about how good it will be for those who actually came to class. Then, more students start strolling in later and later. It drives me crazy when students are late, but in pure hypocritical fashion, I shouldn’t expect them to. The truth is, I don’t always start class at 8:30am. So, why should I assume that people will keep showing up for the beginning of class at 8:30 when it doesn’t always actually start at 8:30?
I have also found it to be more difficult to show up for my own classes at UTA. I have come to realize this semester that taking classes four nights a week is not for me. In the same vein, I think that the students who show up for ESL Monday through Thursday and computer class on Friday get burnt out after a certain number of weeks of the same thing. Having to get up every single weekday morning and be somewhere ready to go at 8:30am may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
I know that people are going to occasionally miss class due to illness or car trouble, etc., but as the instructor I feel that if they miss class then they are missing an opportunity to learn more English. While I know that is true, a desire to learn isn’t the only component needed. A counselor once told me that in order to change, there are four necessary elements:

1. Acknowledge that a change needs to be made
2. Seeing the “post-change” potential
3. Knowing the steps needed to fulfill that potential
4. The willingness to complete those steps

The final one is definitely the most difficult. It certainly has been for me. I know I need to go to class more often. I know that I would understand the material better if I went to class. The trouble is, when it is time to leave for class, the will is hard to come by.

My legal(istic) issues

I can’t believe I have never thought about this before. I don’t know if it was naiveté, ignorance, denial, wishful thinking, or some combination of these. Perhaps I preferred to not know the truth so that I wouldn’t have to deal with that knowledge. Illegal immigrants have infiltrated my ESL class. Now I don’t know what to do. I actually spoke with someone who happens to be an attorney, she told me that they don’t really have many options to become legal citizens. I have even done some additional research online and the information that I have found indicates approximately a 0.0001% chance to become a legal resident if you are an illegal immigrant.
My own feelings on illegal immigration are hazy at best. Building a wall is a stupid idea, that’s for sure, just look at Germany. Although, if it had been built centuries ago (like the one in China) then it would be a landmark rather than a “solution” to illegal immigration. To be honest, I am really struggling with trying to figure out what is the “right” thing to do.
All of these questions keep rolling around in my head. Should I turn them in? How can I turn them in? How many do I not know about? Would I even still be able to get a job teaching ESL if there weren’t illegal immigrants? How can I best help them? What can I do to help them become legal residents? Where do I draw the line?
My wife, Angie, works at an elementary school. She has come home a number of times with stories about a family being torn apart because the dad was deported. Earlier this week she told me that two kids that went to her school won’t be returning because both of their parents got deported. It is sad to think about how those kids lives have changed. (Unless, of course, the family is able to sneak back in. They did it once already, right?)
I don’t think I have ever been this torn up about something. I am truly of two minds about this. I am so confused.