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Prism Model:

Overcoming this problem is not as simple as it is as firstly, teacher must make sense of the elements of Prism Model to CLD students learning. If teacher fails to address the real issue, it will be out of focus. It is like the wrong prescription is given for students and it is dangerous. CLD students might have problem in language or linguistic, but immersing them into extensive programs of reading might not be a great help as the main concern for them is lack of motivation to attend the reading classes which is related to sociocultural challenges. He/She might be uncomfortable sitting in that reading class due to the fact that reading activities provided specifically focus on individual rather than group works. A sensitive teacher will provide activities that can fit into his/her students biography.

In order for teacher to use Prism Model in order to suit the need of CLD students, teacher can do focus on the aspect of :

Academic Challenges:

Teacher needs to realize that most of academic and concepts can be transferred to second language from CLD students’ first language. Teacher needs to  techniques that can help to smoothen up this transfer during assessment, for example, providing para professional help or translator. It is important as well teacher knows previous education that students receive as teacher will not water down and make it easy too students. They will not be motivated as it is not challenging enough.

Cognitive Development:

Knowing the preferences on students types of intelligences are important as it will help teacher to provide teaching material or activities that can help them boost best their grasp of understanding of teacher’s lessons. For example, preparing lots of graphics and mind maps for virtual learners.

Language Development:

Knowing the language aspect of students in order to help them transferring L1 knowledge to L2 so that students will be able to learn better. For example, the phonemes or phonetics similarities, cognates and etc. I also realize knowing students level of second language acquisition is important too. For example, if the above students is in preproduction stage in his writing but  intermediate fluency stage in his speaking skills, then the teacher must provide lessons/activities that suit his/her level of development.

Socio and Cultural Processes:

I am thinking using text/ assessment that is related to students sociocultural process can help to enhance learning. If students come from a culture that highly collective society might perform better in assessment that use performance based assessment with peer involvements or play based assessment.

Biopsychosial Approach:

Researching about Biopsychosocial Approach, it mentions that in order to understand patient, it is very important to understand the three aspects of them. Biological,Psychological and social aspects of a patient is interrelated and can lead to the wreckage of the whole beings. In relation to Biopsychosocial Approach towards CLD students, teacher will explore these three aspects  in related to CLD students. For example:

a) Bio :

You notice students of yours always ask questions on whatever you write on whiteboard and it is only him rather than the whole class. You might suspect him having problem with his eyesight. First, you might want to ask him to sit in front to see either his eyesight improve or not. If it does not change, you might ask him to see you and interview him asking for clarification. If it is positive, then you might want him to go for a check up.

Anyway, this process of asking him to go to the treatment  will involve other consideration or probability  such as he might not see a optometrist if he comes from a poor family, or a single parent student that need to divide his/her time/money between studying and meeting other financial needs of his/her families.

b)Psych:

Let us take the same case as above, it will affect his performance in class thinking about his inability to follow lessons as he needs to get his eyes checked and it will cost/trouble his mother to find/get money  for him. He will be stress and put him into anxiety and depression.

c) Socio:

Thinking about the problem above, teacher might want to know further by setting up a committee that can look into the student’s problem in order to gather help. A committee might have a social visit to the students house in order to get more information on questions such as:

-        the depth /seriousness of the problem related to family financial capabilities

-        help/aid that they might receive.

-        Access to private practitioner/doctors.

It means both is used to understand what CLD students inside out, its like investigating in order to understand and help teacher to plan instructional design for CLD students.

Pre Assessment Tool: Mind Map of Self

The main idea of having pre assessment tool is to gather information as much as possible  so that teacher can see below the iceberg. This can be done informally by asking them later to discuss and share whatever that they write/draw with classmates. While individual student presents, teacher will jot down the thoughts that students transfer such as their preferences, background knowledge, level of second language acquisition and etc. This can be used to make connection to students’ biography cards/mind maps.

Students will be put randomly in groups and will be given a piece of paper each, individually. It has a mind map that has few branches asking them to them out, information pertaining to themselves that they are willing to share. They are being told that they can draw pictures, or they can write anything that they like. They are given the ideas that they can add the branches by putting anything else that they like on their own. Later they are going to share this with their classmates.

References:

Herrera,S.G.,&Murry,K.G.,& Cabral,R.M Assessment and Accommodations For Classroom Teachers of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Boston, MA, Allyn and Bacon.

Herrera,S.G.,Perez,D.R&Escamilla,K. Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiatied Literacies. Boston,MA, Allyn and Bacon.

Herrera,S.G & Murry,K.G Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods: Differentiated Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse(CLD) Students. Boston,MA,Allyn and Bacon.

Observation:
I found this particular paragraph from a book. It mentions knowledge about reading and writing. The paragraph says: “When a skilled student encounters a word, she or he recognizes it quickly and zeroes in on the appropriate meaning. For instance, in the sentence “The thief lifted the rock from the jewelry case”, a skilled reader likely can tell immediately from the context that the rock refers to a precious gem. Struggling students will make inefficient guesses at the letter-sound, word and meaning level that produce lots of irrelevant associations. They are unable to pare down these associations to make appropriate sense of what they are reading or writing (Pressley, 2006). Not surprisingly, the development of writing relies on many of the same abilities as reading: understanding how letters and sounds work, understanding how letters and sounds work, understanding how letters and words combine into sentences and larger pieces of text and meaning, using vocabulary and prior knowledge, and writing for different purposes (Shanahan,2006). Students who expend all of their effort figuring out letters, words and sentences are limited in ways they are able to attend to the sense or message of what they are writing.”1

Feelings:
Happy
Relief
Confident

Thoughts:
I feel happy after reading these two paragraphs because it validates the four chapters that I have been reading that deals about Literacy or Teaching Reading to English Language Learners. I feel relief because this paragraph summarizes the four chapters that I read. I feel confident as now I can see bigger picture of what I have been reading for the past weeks.

Step One:
I had an assumption that reading skills were easy to grab by students. Everybody could be a good reader as long as he knows the letters of targeted language. I had an assumption students could not become good readers simply because they were lazy. I assumed literacy means literate/being able to read.

Step Two:
For a long time, I believe reading skills are easy to teach to students but in fact, they are not!! Reading involves more than one step process. Motivation and schemata play vital role in assisting reading and understanding too. Not just that, students must be able to make reader- text connection to understand the text. It means reading is not just the ability to decode text like a parrot. It leads me to think that reading is a part of literacy if the reader can derive meanings from the text.

Step Three:
Before, I am convinced that students who recognize the letters in targeted language will not have problem with reading but I was wrong. I believed in that because when I was young, I could read after remembering all the Roman letters. It should not be my bench mark because though I could read at that moment, I realized still I could not make sense of most material that I read. I still need my mom’s explanation to understand Alice in Wonderland’s story and what ever I uttered from the book. I remembered how motivated I was when reading Alice in Wonderland’s story that had pictures. How powerful it was my experiences of reading when I was small could shape my perceptions on reading and literacy.

Applications:
Step One:After reading few chapters on Reading and Literacy, I feel like having lots of new perspectives on the topic. I realize only by understanding what is Literacy and Reading will help me to teach my future students better of the concepts and the applications. I tend to appreciate the complex and dynamic reading process that happen inside my students’ brains and willing to assist them because I realize how difficult it is to nurture the reading skills to them. I feel I have grown personally because after knowing and understanding the reading process, I feel so excited to be an active reader.

Step Two: Reading above paragraph that I put in Observation can reflect my own teaching in many aspects. Firstly, I will set a good example by modeling a good reading habit that reflects my deep understanding of the reading process itself. This can be done by sharing my reading materials with my students the ways it suits them. I must find something that is their preference. Secondly, as reading is a very difficult process, I will not be easily frustrated. I will nurture my students need accordingly as I understand reading and literacy is interactive. I will help my students to have various strategies and help them to adapt accordingly to the strategies that suits them. The main thing is to create opportunities for them to explore literacy so that it is meaningful to them.

References:
1.Conley, M.W. Content Area Literacy : Learners in Context.Boston: Allyn and Bacon,2008.

Event(s)/Behavior(s):

My friend, Sami hearted our his dissatisfaction over his GRE result. He said he wanted to quit studying and went back to Libya. Due to his poor performance, he has to take another GRE so that he can be admitted to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. He told me that in Libya, he did not have to sit for any admission test to get a place in universities there. They depend on his CGPA based on his previous degree. He is so stressed because he thinks that the GRE had no relevance to the major he is taking now and plus he has to pay again for the GRE which is expensive. He explained to me that he has no problem answering Mathematics and Analogical Sections in GRE but what really matter is when he has to write essays and constructing sentences. It is important to mention here that Sami just arrived here 5 months ago and still attending English classes provided by ELP( English Language Center) and one university class.

Reflecting on Sami’s experience on GRE, I did take it two years ago. I failed terribly because the questions were very difficult. Anyway, I took it for the sake of accompanying my wife to get her motivated and happy. At least, she would not be so stressed if she got low scores as I would definitely get lower than her. She even told me that GRE is well recognized and internationally standardized examination. Those who do not reach the standard required by university departments/faculties, his/her application will be rejected. That made sense of me because I used that GRE result to apply for Educational Leadership Major which was turned down due to my poor GRE result.

Feelings:

Concern
Pitiful
Empathy

Thoughts:

I feel empathy about Sami especially when he said constructing sentences and essays within limited time is really challenging for him. I realized it was very difficult because when I took the exam, my capacity as an English teacher at that moment did not help me much to score in the GRE essay questions. I feel pitiful on him as I understand his feelings to be accepted as graduate students here as I was on probation period too last semester. He does not want this test to jeopardize every efforts and time coming to United States and at the same time delaying his admittance to the faculty as well. I am concerned towards Sami as I realized it must be very hard for him to attend all the English classes and at the same time, he has to prepare for GRE and doing his assignments that related to his subjects. My concern goes towards his English writing classes as I realized writing is a challenging skill to master because it involves process and product. I couldn’t imagine the difficulties that he faced running against the time completing his essays during GRE and thinking either he would pass or not the exam.

Learnings:

Step One: I had assumption that if anyone fails in GRE, it means he/she won’t be successful in his/her graduate level. I reflected on my GRE result and the questions that were very difficult. I always assumed GRE is a valid test for university graduate student regardless of where he comes from as I notice it is a recognized and established test. When my friend asked what was my GRE’s score, I would not answer his questions as it would show that I am not capable to succeed. It gave me inferiority complex as well.

Step Two: I realized that I was wrong on my assumption. Anyone can be successful as long as he/she has right attitudes for success. I do not pass GRE to be admitted to my major now, but last semester, my result was good. In fact, my department does not even require me taking GRE to be accepted as student here. I just used my TOEFL. Secondly, GRE measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking and analytical writing skills1. However, if students do not get excellent scores in GRE, it does not mean that he/she does not have above skills. What I mean is there are many other assessments,tests and ways to measure them rather than depending solely on GRE results. Next,according to a GRE test taker, there are techniques and formats that need to be familiarized so that the candidates can score and tackle the questions. It does not need them to be knowledgeable inside out to be on the first ranking. Jacobson R.L( 1993) further commented on this by putting GRE as a game that needs to be played well2. My question is if the test does not really measure intelligence, can it stand on its face value anymore? Does it still have validity and reliability?

Step Three: I believed my assumptions are based on sheer ignorant on behalf of me. Combating ignorants needs me to read and understand more the real nature of assessment,testing and evaluation. Reading is good but being able to understand and being critical is better for my future understanding. I made false assumptions of GRE because I see it only on a positive side without realizing that they are as well criticism to it. Failure to see both side of an issue will not help to broaden my horizons.

Applications:

Step One: I am thankful because Sami’s willing to share his feelings with me regarding the test because in a way, it is helping me too because I am able to see from a broaden perspective. I would like to discuss this matter to Sami so that I can clarify my findings on this matter. Sharing and discussing is good to the development of knowledge. Based on my reading, I found out also that:

a) GRE test result can not measure critical skills that are needed for professional and academic development3.
b) As GRE is culturally oriented towards American English culture, it is basically unfair for bilingual students4.

By telling these crucial points to Sami, hopefully it will ease his stress and let him study better. I feel so happy because after knowing this fact, he won’t look down upon himself anymore. I don’t have inferiority complex upon my GRE result as well. For sure, I am willing to help him for his analytical writing for his next GRE.

Step Two: I don’t have any plan to construct or develop tests/examinations similar or have similar features like GRE for my future students. I don’t want my future students face a stressful situation like what Sami is facing now. Let their affective filters always low5. In fact, for initial step, I plan to read and understand the concept of validity and reliability and its relation to various approaches in assessment. Seriously, I can’t plan many steps yet as firstly, I just started reading about comprehensive and dynamic assessment and secondly, in my country where I come from, it is solely exam oriented. Enough to say here that comprehensive assessment captures my attention because according to John Lewis, it tends to measure student’s performance which he believes is influenced by acculturation,language skills,behavior mode,socioeconomic background and ethnocultural identity6. I really like this idea as this supports every student that comes into my classroom is unique and need to be celebrated and appreciated of what they are. I believe if every teacher has this concept in his/her mind, learning would be fun as the focus will be on everybody, not just on examination results solely.

Footnotes:

1.http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.fab2360b1645a1de9b3a0779f1751509/?vgnextoid=b195e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD accessed on January 29,2009

2.Jacobson, R. L. (1993). “Critics Say Graduate Record Exam does not measure qualities needed for success and is often misused.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, March, pp. 27-28.

3.Enright, M. K. & Gitorner, D. (1989). Toward a description of successful graduate students. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

4.Bornheimer, D.G. (1984). Predicting Success in Graduate School Using GRE and PAEG Aptitude Test Scores. College and University, v. 60 (no. 1) pp. 54-62.

5.Herrera S.G.,Murry K.G,(2005) Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods: Differentiated Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Students. Pearson Education, Inc.,(pg 17-19)

6.Lewis John (1989) Innovative Approaches in Assessment: Assessment and Placement of Minority Students. ISSP.(pg 127-128)

*For footnotes number 2,3 and 4, the main article is taken from http://www.fairtest.org/facts/gre.htm accessed on January 29, 2009.

I have to google what does ISTE/Nets for students and teachers all about because as far as I am concerned, I solely taught English Language in Malaysia without ever involving in this kind of IT project. This idea/parameter is alien to me. I don’t really involve with this parameter because of above reasons. This kind of parameter might exist but it belongs to other departments (Information Science Departments).ISTE/Nets helps and acts as a guidelines/direction for the schools (teachers) to prepare their students on the basic skills on technology before they finish their high school. This paradigm exists to help them to prepare for the job market later which is expanding and evolving ever.¹ Whatever it is, ISTE/Nets will be my guideline and parameter for my future teaching assignments now or when I go back to my country.

We do have English Language Labs, but mainly used for Listening and Speaking practices and Internet. Internet is meant for them to search for information on assigned topics given by their teachers. I mean in our Matriculation English Syllabus, we don’t have IT assignments for students but students use Internet to find information to finish up their assignments.(In fact we prepare our students for MUET and this is our main job). It is important to note here that in Malaysia; most of the students are computer literate since they have to sit for computer classes since at the early age (9-12 yrs old). Anyway, it does not mean that I can’t use computer at all to help my students. We do have English Projects presentation that they have to presents their research findings in power points (including creating and graphing their findings and etc) and assisting my students on how to use Wikipedia as a source of information and references. (Wiki is their main source when it comes to getting definition of any subjects due to the ability to track down where the information coming from on their references and foot notes section).

For Nets Teacher Standards I will put myself into 2^nd category which I believe Internet and Technology is the best place to incorporate all learning styles diversities because it has so many digital tools and resources. I prefer as well to be in 4^th category because getting and having the digital tools and resources do involve sense of responsibilities of ethical net guidance especially when it comes to copyrights, infringements and etc.

I feel comfortable evaluating myself in Core Technology Skills compared to other items (which I am not too familiar with those). I don’t know where to put myself either in Adaptation or Transformation because there are certain features that I have in the later such as changing network settings, managing bookmark files and installing plug ins,(especially when using Mozilla Firefox because it is user friendly) which I can do those easily. I can say I am in the adaptation level as well for Core Technology Skills because most of the times I do need help when to use basic network resources (shared printers, network applications etc).

However, when it comes to Classroom and Instructional Management, I am at the entry level. For example, I don’t really use student information grading system because I recorded them in my portfolio books or put it in files, and I do believe I need specific organizational strategies (what are they actually? How to fully utilize them? Can anyone answer me please!?) to maximize technology resources. It means, when I was a teacher before at my country, sadly, I don’t fully really use Technology in my teaching. I feel backward now. This assessment makes me realize that I do need to learn to improve.

Reference:

Devaney, L (Feb 2007), ISTE Releases Draft of New Tech Standards; Organization seeks feedback on major refresh of its National Educational Technology Standards for Students.

http://www.eschoolnews.com (8/31/2008)