I observed Sally who arrived to her class after having visited her sister (age 74) in PA. I knew that Carol Russo, the Literacy Contact, would not have a chance to tell Sally that I was coming, but b/c I could not make it to the class for another 2-3 weeks, I decided to make the visit today anyway. At any rate, the class today that I observed was well-attended and really very good. The energy was good and the rapport that the teacher had with the students was every good. It could be called a "model class" for anyone wanting to see a good example of how to work with older learners. There were eventually 11 learners in all, housed in an attractive but small classroom with windows on one side, looking out into the library.
Sally herself is a retired English college professor. She is not fluent in any other languages but she did have a great high school Spanish teacher in the 1950s.
Most all the learners were over 40, with the exception of one woman, age 24. The next youngest was female 44. The youngest male learner was 58. The oldest learner was 73, a very sharp Colombian man. However, one female, Meyda, did not put her age down. Six were Colombian, one Guatemalan, one Peruvian, and one Venezuelan (Meyda did not put her country down or her age). C0ny was age 65, and was pretty talkative and could have made a good participant. But I need to follow my sampling criteria...Rene from Guatemala, age 58, could have participated, but he did volunteer. He was there when I described the study. I actually didn't have the attendance sheet for about 45 minutes of the class, so I did not know anyone's age until the last few minutes. I missed identifying Rene because of that and also a couple of women students came up to me while I was also trying to speak with Sally before she too left the class.
It shows how it is better to arrange and announce my visit before I come to the class, in order to properly explain its purpose.
First, this is the first class where there was coffee made by one of the students, Meyda. Students got up on their own to get it (no scheduled break in the class) once it was made, and returned for more if desired (SUPPORT). Meyda even gave a cup to the teacher, which was a nice gesture and sign of a warm and positive rapport between these students and the teacher. Getting up and down to help themselves once the coffee was ready resulted in some tight maneuvering, but all in all, everyone seemed to manage. There are positives to be said about meeting in a smaller room such as this for older learners, such as it creates close proximity between the learners and their teacher (SUPPORTS).
I noticed that every student in the class had a notebook. I would have loved to ask Sally (had she granted me an interview) if this is one of her requirements and if she has taught them how to take notes. Two had electronic spellers and two had paperback Spanish-English dictionaries.
The teacher brought in her own portable whiteboard. Name tents were used in class,much like WR.
Overall, this class had a high level of oral language practice and teacher-student dialogue. She was also good at reviewing key vocabulary and grammar points after she had just introduced them--a very good technique for older learners. The teacher's rate of speech was also adequately modulated for ELLs. She used humor and teasing to help students loosen up and to create laughter and fun in the learning process. Mid-way through the class, she introduced each learner by name and she highlighted one aspect about them, e.g., Rafael likes museums and culture and Isabel has two young sons. This showed a focus on the learners and their own experience (Knowles).
The teacher began by sharing a story about her trip to PA to honor her sister on her 75th birthday. As she told them the story, she wrote down key vocabulary. Next, she reviewed the words; meanings. I thought that this was a well-supported way to teach language; however, at several points, she also gave them synonyms. This seemed to be too much for one lesson. I know how easy it is to do this b/c I have done so myself, but "targeting" only several key teaching objectives is better than trying to do too much in one lesson.
The second part of her lesson was having the learners share orally with the class what they did in the twoo weeks that there was no class. Rafael spoke up and talked about three movies he had watched o his computer, as well as a dominoes game he enjoyed with his pals (his words although he mispronounced 'pals' and didn't use the correct tense for 'enjoy'). The teacher corrected his verb usage and then offered synonyms for 'pals' on the board.
As part of the same LEA lesson, she had them orally practice the new vocabulary, each taking a turn, using the vocabulary she had introduced in sentences of their own. My suggestion to her would be to tighten up the lesson by only focusing on two skills per class. At least two students were getting overwhelmed and saying, "English is too difficult" (Cony & Carolina). I realize that not all students attend every week, and that a lesson almost has to be 'just for the day' or 'for the students of the moment.' Or, perhaps the teachers in this program can work on six key things (grammar and pronunciation-related)which they review in class each time, and then the rest is 'open conversation' about current events and health care topics.
The teacher did have a sense, from working with them over time, that they need help with certain things (See Ann). For example, with helping verbs; with the pronunciation of /i/ which is not /e/ and /s/ which is not /es/; with the present continuous verb tense; overuse of the verb /to do or make/--hacer in Spanish.
"Negative Part":
I'm not sure what this really was about, but Sally did not want to come back for any interview with me. I asked her if she was willing to stay for an hour right after class and she agreed to it (but a bit disgruntingly). M first question to her was what support did she need from the library if anything? And she replied that this was the most disorganized and basically kooky library she'd beeb affiliated with. Perhaps she was responding to the fact that she was not told about my visit (which is really my fault). Or perhaps, this is just one instance of many other failed attempts to coordinate her schedule and/or communicate her needs to the library. She said that she had taught in the English Cafe at this branch for three years. She said she enjoyed the students and the teaching very much, but that she wanted nothing to do with completing any paperwork. She had afterall had her share of it as a working career woman teaching at the college level. She reflected Myra's comments about why she enjoys teaching in this class so much. And it is also less encumbering than teaching in the adult community school setting.
So all in all, I am glad I did not pursue interviewing her any further there in the library. She would not have completed the take-home portion of the interview, I am sure.
She did accompany me out to the car. On our way out, she veered over to check on Rafael who was shopping for videos at the library's gift shop. We talked to Rafael about any good movies we could recommend from the cart. Then she and I walked out together while she shared about a few of her students and some of their issues.
We started with Abraham, a 67 year old Venezuelan dentist whom sally said is hard for her to deal with. Heis a know-it-all and sometimes gives the wrong answers to students in class. Heis also very macho and speaks much more than the others.
She spoke about Dilia, a 70 year Colombian woman, whose sister-in-laws whom she lives with, does not want her taking the bus to come to the English Cafe. It seems, according to Sally, that the sister-in-law is very fearful and doesn't think the world is a very safe place for a 70 year old woman who travels independently on public transportation. SEE CELINA.
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