Blog Post 3: Klarissa Guillen
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Blogger: Klarissa Guillen
Typing from: My Mac book & on the living room couch w/my dogs :)
I think after watching the episode and reading the readings on disciplinary literacies I can definitely split my discipline in half.
As I teach Spanish as a foreign language I do see the divide in teaching my students through global communicators or communication in general to then also teaching grammar, punctuation, and language rules they have to work on all skills simultaneously.
I think the best image to include for this blog post is the ladder of language proficiency Journey map I often refer to when teaching my students.
When we put rigor, hard work, identities, meaning-making, identities, disciplinary thinking, etc. in one subject it is very overwhelming. I have come to reflect on these articles because it seems like no matter what subject or disciple is being taught, the end goal for each one is to master something. But even mastering anythings buts a pressure on it just my using the work "mastering".
The reason why I am including this journey map is because we as learners and educators thrive off of an example, mentor, guide, goal, call it whatever you want but we want to reach something. Yet, we also juggle different identities and influential factors. Whether we want them to or not they affect everything in our lives. In the episode I connected the athletes life to a lot of what I read in the articles. That drive to want to push harder in fencing because he thought he needed to prove himself to others, his parents, and sister. The drive to make his country proud in the olympics. The drive to want to take advantage of the scholarship they gave him after his sister got one to fence. All of this is coming from discipline to finish through a certain skill or task.
Its exhausting. So yes the question remains unanswered for me in my own discipline. The specific question of How should I think about supporting disciplinary practices and disciplinary thinking in my classroom? and also the question of What literacies support meaning-making in my discipline?
These two questions make me reflect a lot on the journey map of proficiency because
I also as a language teacher struggle with how each ladder in this journey map is placed. The rigor change in each step up is slightly different from the previous, this makes it feel like not much has changed but also what really makes you move onto the next step? Within Parrot, Survivor, and Storyteller each sub-category is vastly different from the previous yet they are divided in three and then another three? I think this weeks readings and episode made me reflect on the way I speak to my students when I teach. I kept going back to what I always say in class to my students, I say "I can teach you everything I know, show you every resource and reference for our subject, you can listen to, write, and watch every piece of literature in Spanish, but if you yourself don't make connections, practice the pronunciation, or try to challenge the embarrassment, fear, and uncertainty, it will never stick.".
It's about learning how to fuel that inner-drive and push for doing more for themselves as students. So I'll pose the question to you all, how can we as educators guide our students into healthy disciplinary skills for life and not just in education to get through school?
I always enjoyed having students generate what they were interested and why, then incorporating those into lessons. For Spanish, you could give lists of countries where Spanish is spoken, then having them explore different countries they're interested in. Once you have information on what interests them about those places, you can continue teaching content and the language as it relates to their interests.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest thing I struggled with in high school and even now in college is learning how to ask for help, and not only asking, but understanding that asking for help is a normal thing to do in and out of the classroom. I think educators can help students by creating an environment where struggling is not seen as a failure. Students should feel comfortable asking questions and making mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this so relevant to thinking about our identities and how they shape not only us but the way we learn and behave in different instances. I loved that you thought about the way you talk to students because this is so formative to how students think not only of themselves but also to the limits of their capabilities. I think learning a language can be hard if you are constantly being put down by your teacher for pronunciation. Like how is it okay that even if you are correct and trying/ practicing, is not good enough? How are you supposed to build that interest if you have a negative experience with the scaffolding to learn the language
ReplyDeleteTo answer you question, I think this is hard to answer because I think about it all the time! I think the way to build a healthy environment first where students feel understood, represented and like their opinions matter. I think students should push the boundaries and ask as many questions as they need. I think the healthy environment also means that you do your best to help students build confidence.
I think of it the way that okay, even if I pronounce everything in this language wrong I am confident that I am being understood and that I am communicating okay.
I think that maybe that's what matters most, that students aren't afraid to fail and to try their best
I really liked your post. I agree that learning can feel like a lot because students have to learn many things at the same time. I also liked what you said about students making their own connections. Teachers can teach and help students, but students also need to practice and try things on their own.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that students can feel pressure when they think they need to be perfect. How can teachers help students learn without making them feel too much pressure? Do you think giving students more choices can help them feel more confident? Also, what can teachers do to help students who are scared of making mistakes in front of others?
I agree that there can be a lot of pressure around the idea of "mastering" something, especially when students are all coming from different backgrounds and learning at different speeds. I also l apreciate what you said about students needing to make their own connections. As teachers, we can give them the resources and guidance, but they still have to be willing to practice and push themselves. I think helping students feel comfortable making mistakes and learning from them is a big part of developing skills that they can actually carry with them outside of the classroom too.
ReplyDeleteKlarissa, I loved reading your blog post, and the language proficiency journey you included attracted me, and made me think about where I am within the languages I speak. It's interesting.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question you posed, you remind me of what I have tried so far in my EFL class. As a teacher, I try my best to understand that English is not our first language, so it's totally OK if they pronounce words wrong or if their sentences are not perfect. My English is not perfect either, but I am showing them that I am still learning it because I know this learning is a process of mastering it. What matters more to me is that they are practicing and trying even though there are so many giggles and blushes. I also love asking them to connect their interests with their future goals, and how learning English will help them communicate with and connect with more people all over the world, as English is a lingua franca.
I think its very important to put students in a position where they can challenge themselves or others to push themselves to retain and expand upon the knowledge they've gained and in order to actually do that we also need to create an environment where students feel comfortable to put themselves out there and take those perceived risks. Because we can't learn by staying passive and standing idly by, we have to be active learning participants and encourage that behavior.
ReplyDeleteKlarissa! I really enjoy your blog post, I think that what you said about all of us wanting to reach something is very true. We all have our goals and more or less know how we want to achieve them Students may feel overwhelmed with how to achieve their goals and being afraid to take risks. I think the best thing we can do is give them the support they need, encourage them to try and ask questions.
ReplyDeleteHello, I like the statement that you made that “it's about learning how to fuel that inner-drive and push for doing more for themselves as students.” It is important for the student to be motivated and engage in the topic that they are learning so that they can grow their knowledge. I think for some students it is difficult to stay motivated to learn a topic if they are not interested. This reminded me about the Universal Design for Learning that I learned in a class from last semester. I liked how this framework explains that when a student is not motivated to learn it is because the design of the lesson and environment has flaws. I think as teachers we can use evidence based practices that will help us better facilitate learning that help students be motivated to learn.
ReplyDelete