Your blog entry this week should focus on one of the two following prompts. Please choose ONE and comment on the experience in the comment section. Remember to be specific in your comments and develop your thoughts clearly.
1. What observations, thoughts, or concerns do you have about the ICTC visit? What strengths and weaknesses do you see in such a program?
OR
2. Describe your experience giving your classroom presentation at Indiana High School and reflect on your success in achieving your objectives in that presentation.
1. What observations, thoughts, or concerns do you have about the ICTC visit? What strengths and weaknesses do you see in such a program?
OR
2. Describe your experience giving your classroom presentation at Indiana High School and reflect on your success in achieving your objectives in that presentation.
I did a presentation on Chinese New Year at Indiana High School. It was an exciting experience. My partner teacher is also a teacher coach and I invited her to help me with my lesson plan and asked for her advice in how to make my presentation better. She gave me a few useful suggestions and I get to try out some strategies that I have observed her using in her teaching especially the “think, pair share” strategy and utilizing mini board in her classroom. I did the presentation to two different classes that day and I felt I did a better job at the second presentation after some constructive feedback from Mrs. Dress, my partner teacher.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I used a strategy that I have always used back home in m school and I have seen Mrs. Dress using the same strategy in her lesson a few weeks after the presentation. I truly felt she is a perfect match since we have so many things in common professionally.
One of my objectives in the presentation was to see some cultural exchange happening. I introduced one of the Chinese New Year’s items, “Ang Pow”. It is a red envelope which the elderly people will put cash in and gift it to the younger people who is still single. In Malaysia, this Chinese culture has influenced other races such as Malay and Indians during their festivals and they have modified the “Ang Pow” to their version of envelope with different colors and design that symbolize their cultures. I invited the students to design their version of “Ang Pow” and I enjoyed seeing the Christmas, Halloween, Ground Hog Day and Easter version of Ang Pow. It was a fun lesson and I consider it a success in achieving that objective.
CROSS CULTURE DISCUSSION
ReplyDeleteFirst thanks, for asking this question because its unique for me. I had decided to make my lecture live and Mr. Smith collaborate with me for every step. In our cultural presentation, there are students of USA on one side and students from INDIA are connected to us through skype. We share the screen and the same presentation was going on both side.
We have created a common plate form for both INDIAN and USA students in google forum. Mr. Smith Created the google classroom for the students of USA and I send the URL link to India. And we have huge amounts of questions from the both of side. After survey, we were clear about what the students know and what they want to know.
And after presentation the students of USA interact with the students of India. In initially the students are shying in doing interaction but soon they become comfortable. It was wonderful experience. Thanks to Mr. Smith, all fellow teachers who were present there to motivate me and support me.
On my first day, my partner teacher Mr. Parker Dunlap introduced to the classroom and allowed me to make a brief and general presentation of my country. The following week, I observed my partner teacher with his lessons based on PowerPoint slides presentation and at the end of day we discussed about the presentation of my country and gave me many hints and the cultural aspects that would be more interesting for the students. Then, I prepared my slides and sent them to him for feedbacks. On Wednesday, February 14th, first I proceeded through the KWL (Know-Want-Learned) pattern then I made a general presentation of my country all day long during six periods in two different levels (Grade 10th and 11th). The slides were about the geography, he populations (languages and ethnic groups0, the history, the economy, the transportation, the culture (food, clothes, culture and sport) and specially the education system of Senegal. The classes were lively and students were asking questions slides after slides to discuss about the similarities and the differences between the US and Senegal as far as cultural values, families, school systems and cultural activities (festivals) and the occupations of the students are concerned. The students were too excited about the presentation as they had done some previous research. The only problem was the time, the periods were too short.
ReplyDeleteAfter then the following week, Mr. Dunlap gave me the opportunity to make a game with Kahoot quiz creator to assess the knowledge of the students to distribute a few presents about my culture (bracelets) to the students. To my great surprise, Students had learned a lot about my country. It was a great pleasure to share with the students about my culture and country.
I must admit that I have gained a lot of experience at Indiana Area School District on the teaching strategies, lesson planning and teaching methods from the different classes I have attended. My partner teacher, Mrs Lori Dadson, handles students with disabilities of various kinds: Autism, Down Syndrome among others. I had occasion on the first day at the school to do my presentation on Kenyan culture in comparison with the American. Although the students posed a lot of challenges considering their conditions, I succeeded in demystifying various aspects that they wanted me to clarify. With the assistance of their teacher , the students had lined up a number of questions ranging from the type of clothes that is typically Kenyan, the stable food in Kenya, the Currency used in my country, the time difference between Kenya and the US( Pennsylvania state), geographical features found in Kenya( Kenya is known to be the hot bed of tourism and sports- track events). The presentation was tremendously successful thanks to the preparations that I had made prior to the day. Moreover, I have gotten an opportunity to talk albeit lightly about African literature whereby I shared with the 10th grade students about African writers and their main concerns( themes and styles).For example today we discussed as a class a poem touching on various stylistic devices and subject matters. I truly have gained a corpus of knowledge from the teachers of different subjects and I intend to selectively borrow that which is worth borrowing and applicable back in my country.
ReplyDeleteI thank first IUP/ILEP for giving us the opportunity to observe teaching procedures at Indiana Area Senior High school.
ReplyDeleteI am also pleased to be given the opportunity to present a lesson on my country.
My presentation was a successful one for many reasons. First, prior to my arrival in the United States, my partner teacher Mrs. Kayla Stewart had her students prepare and present a project on Senegal. Upon my arrival, I attended all their presentations, which were well done.
Later on, when I had to present, it was a good idea to start with a KWL chart. Students were very responsive at this point, and even later with the slides presentations and comments. I was planned to make one presentation for each period in five grades. What is amazing is that in one grade, the students' questions were so numerous that we could not cover all in one period. So Mrs. Stewart was kind enough to allow me to continue and finish my presentation the following week.
Last but not least, some students promise to try to convince their parents to allow them to come and visit Senegal.
Allow me, in recognition to my partner teacher's availability and openness to dedicate her the acrostic poem below:
Know that I learned a lot from you
About lesson planning and teaching strategies
You really inspired me as regards classroom management
Let me thank you for the new input
And I praise your openness and availability
Students whom you teach are lucky enough
To benefit from your rich experience in teaching
English through reading instruction.
What drew my attention is how
Attentionate and caring you are to them!
Respect and obedience are what they owe you
To be able to become proficient readers.
Written by Mansour Sy Ndiaye, 2017 Senegalese ILEP Fellow at IUP, USA.
My visit to ICTC introduced to a feature of school education, which was not altogether new to me as we do have such type of institutes where students are given vocational training at very early stage of their life. In India we have Industrial Training Institutes and Poly technical institutes where students go for early vocational training in different trades. I think the trades are many more and diverse in our country but the infrastructure is not so big as in ICTC.
ReplyDeleteI was quite impressed the way students were engaged in real life projects ranging from masonry to digital laboratories. I think such type of ventures give students and their parents an option at an early age to decide for their careers.
My only concern was that students have to switch between regular schools and their Technological training, which brings both the things in conflict . They can not focus on either of them properly. It would have been far better that such training would have been given only after they acquire certain grades in regular school. Shifting between two streams puts them in a dilemma whether to follow a regular education or vocational one. I feel the students should acquire a certain level of basic education in regular school and then decide in consonance with their teacher which line of vocational training suit them. After that they should follow the thorough and whole day training over there. This will clearly prepare them for a proper trade or vocation. Moving between twp stream will put lot of doubts and apprehension about their careers.
The field experience at IASD has been an enriching exposure. The first few days were filled with anxiety;A new place for me and not knowing what to expect from the students and for the students, a new person and wanting to know more about my country and my culture.
ReplyDeleteThe first two weeks I used them for familiarization and ice breaking moments.I just observed the lessons/classes and afterwards, I asked my partner teacher pertinent questions with regard to IASD and also asked him to provide the students with index cards for them to ask questions about anything they would want to know about my country. Thereafter, I was given time to answer the questions.One thing was very clear to me from these class interactions. Majority of the students do not know much about the outside world and stereotypes exist too. I asked one of the students why and they said History and Geography are electives and perhaps this explains why.I found out that I always took much time answering their questions and I was always caught up with time. I decided, after consultation with my partner teacher, to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about Kenya to enhance understanding with the sole objective that by the end of the presentation, all of them should be able to describe Kenya whenever asked to do so.With PowerPoint presentation, many students could be able to understand and the delivery of this information was effective(Words and Pictures). This proved a success in ensuring that the cultural exchange is complete and fruitful.
I asked them questions too and they were open to share what they know and it was also a learning experience for me. They were always calm, receptive and willing to learn!
One thing I would say was also good is the use of technology for instruction. I was able to use the computer to set up my lesson as well as use the interactive promethean boards which for me was 'instruction at another level'.
I have had a wonderful experience at Indiana High School, and I can confidently say that I have now a holistic and exhaustive idea about the American educational system thanks to various opportunities of observing different classes we have had till now. Indiana High School has also been a space to share our knowledge and culture with teachers as well as students. I presented already on Morocco stressing the fact that it is an example of cultural richness, diversity and variety. My main objective was to equip students with necessary information about my country and to somehow virtually bring Morocco to their classroom by delving into the distinct cultural elements that Morocco is endowed with. Therefore, my focus was diverse and the components of my presentation were so varied: food, languages, clothes, crafts, ceremonies, education, monuments, heritage, etc. I started my presentation by asking students several question about Morocco including location, religion, climate, etc. I was honestly surprised to notice that students knew almost nothing about the country. However, that was not really a problem as my major objective was to teach them about Morocco. Students were actually so motivated and asked various questions about several elements in the Moroccan culture, mainly about things that seemed so strange or different from the American environment. I was so happy to answer their questions and to give them more information about the country. My last question to them was always the same: Did I succeed in giving you a holistic idea about Morocco? Their “YESES” marked my experience with a sense of achievement, and their sudden expressed desire to visit Morocco in the future revealed the success of my experience with them.
ReplyDeleteI will be teaching about women, politics and immigration in Morocco this Wednesday, I have been preparing for it the whole week because I know that students have constructed an idea about my country and they will be willing to know more and more about the role of women in society, the political system in the country, and also about problems of immigration in Morocco. My second presentation is actually based on their concerns, interests and questions. Teaching well-disciplined and amazingly curious students has always been a pleasure for me, and sharing my culture with others is one of the greatest accomplishments we may have in life.
I could see one of your presentations, and I myself got excited about your culture and your country, it was very interesting for me to learn about this especial culture!Thank you!!
DeleteI made my presentation for the students of several levels by sharing with them my culture. My partner teacher is a Spanish teacher; she was very excited to share that with her students. I prepared my presentation on Prezi that I appreciated very much by working with the technology using the interactive board and network which I do with my students but not regularly.
ReplyDeleteLike any situation of encounter, a first course requires the establishment of a pleasant contact between protagonists. As much as the teacher and the students have to gain to know each other so that a climate of work is created, a confidence and a reciprocal respect. From the weeks that I spent with my partner teacher in class, reacting with them as I speak Spanish in many classroom’s activities; it helped me a lot to share with them my presentation.
This first impression passes as much through the attitude, the look, as by the content of the message that you have to pass. Because students are not stingy when it comes to talking to each other about what they think of the teachers and the courses they follow or have taken. So, I tried to touch everything on my content that I saw that can be interesting and will attract the attention of the students.
There was an interaction that they asked several questions about my country, the educational system in Morocco, my personal life, about my students ...
At the end, most of them were motivated to try traditional dresses from my home country; Morocco.
It was a great experience that I loved and this adventure didn’t finish yet because I will do it again next week at the junior high school with other students by using other language.
I think it wasn’t a big deal to do it, maybe because I have a modest experience in teaching, it was a new experience with another language, new tool, new students…
Amazing Zineb! I loved reading about your experience, thanks for sharing!
DeleteThank you Gicelma for replying, I would have liked to have a presentation for all the countries that are here in IUP, I mean ILEPers because since we have been here for two months, most of us don't really have any clear ideas about other cultures, Is true that it will be the case on the day of Unity day but we should have done at least in the common room friendly!!!
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ReplyDeleteTwo weeks ago, my partner teacher Mr. Dykun gave the opportunity to make a presentation about my country: Senegal. Prior to the presentation, he had students write their questions on index cards which he handed me over. That night, I reviewed them and realized they were insightful and matched perfectly with the aspects I intended to deal with such as location, history, cultural etiquettes, food, religion etc.... I used them to build the slides of my PowerPoint presentation.
ReplyDeleteTo allow them to better understand, I wrote some simple sentences in French, illustrated each slide with relevant pictures and used both French and English in my presentation. Thus, they remained focused, and as I interacted with them, they asked additional questions.
As a follow-up, Mr. Dykun had them write the bits of information they had jotted down during the presentation on the board outside the classroom to share their knowledge about Senegal with their peers. I received a positive feedback from my peers who attended the presentation and my partner teacher as well. This week, his colleague, Mr. Denault, invited me to have the same presentation for his classes at the Indiana Area Junior High School.
Hello, I present twice in Indiana High School. First it was the result of a conversation between me and the teacher, we came up with cultural aspects that it was important to show to them. She told me about what the previous Ileper have presented and we got our ideas from there.
ReplyDeleteThe students liked it very much, and we uploaded the entire presentation to them on their google classroom, so they could access from home too.
My objectives with that presentation was to show them cultural aspects of my state in comparison to United States, and they could see that we are not different after all.
Later I did other presentation based on the questions they came up with in the previous one. So it was a more focused presentation.
By the end of my experience in Indiana High school me and the teacher invested in independent student´s research and let them work in a power point presentation about my city comparing similarities and differences between both, such as government system, role of the women in/and the family, natural wonders and etc.
The students could not visualize different aspects of culture and geography that they were not aware before. I consider the activities we developed as a successful partnership, and I could implement semi-circle during their presentation and change the looks of the classroom.
Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteI’d like to share a little bit about my experience at IAHS. Aside from observing different classes, my partner teacher and I decided to do something that could be useful for me and my students in Brasil, and also for the American students since they could be somehow involved by and with the Portuguese Language.
At first, we talked and came out with the main subjects I should talk to the students. To make things even more democratic I’ve decided to give them the opportunity to ask me about their main curiosities/interest relating to Brasil, they did it one week before my presentation so, I could read all of their questions summarize them and prepare the answers. I did my presentation in two parts, the first one was focused in answering half of their questions, and it was made for five periods. The second one was also about their questions and I could have their participation in a game I have prepared about general information of Brasil, they tried to guess the right answers. It was awesome, especially because, for the first time, they got involved giving their opinion.
Me and Ms. Julie Steve, my partner teacher, developed a short project on Multiple Meaning Words, where we planned together. We prepared the assignment and also some rubrics for the assessment. For me it was very meaningful as I could see that it was exactly what we are doing in our PDM classes, I realized that it’s just a kind of follow-up the steps pre-defined according to your lesson theme and objectives. Now, I have an academic production, and I will teach my students with an authentic material produced for native speakers with the objective to clarify one of the bottlenecks they face when learning English.
I had the opportunity to present about my country, Malaysia twice in Indiana High School. One of my objectives is to share about Malaysia and see encourage students to interact and response actively about a different country and culture. The first activity that I did was asking the U.S students to fill in a simple poll in nearpod poll about Malaysia . The question was “Do you know how to locate Malaysia on the world mapt?’ and the second question was “What do you want to know about Malaysia?” Students took some time to make their choices and during discussion, even though most of them have never heard about Malaysia, it is interesting to see that students really think about their reasons for the second question.
ReplyDeleteThe second activity that I did using nearpod was the web content feature. A youtube video about Malaysia was attached in nearpod and students were able to watch it using their own chrome book. This visual was able to catch all of their attention to the clip. They were able to write a feedback about my country based on the video.
The third activity was asking students to collaborate by giving their opinions about their choices. “If you have the opportunity to travel around the world for free, would you visit Malaysia and why?” Every student wrote a short response and everyone got to see their friends’ responses without knowing who wrote the response because I was able to hide students’ name by clicking a button in nearpod. In the end, all of them combined their response and produced one paragraph of response. At the end of the lesson, I tested students’ general knowledge about Malaysia based on the activities in the class using nearpod, many of them were able to answer the questions correctly. I believe that by using nearpod, I am able to achieve my objectives which is to make a lesson and presentation interactive , which is in line with my PDM topic.
My experience with IAHS was totally enriching because I learned a lot from the Wednesday classes observations. The varied exposures gave me so much ideas that led me to a lot of reflections as a teacher. My exposures do not limit only to science observations but gave me the opportunity to peep through classes of students with special needs. My US partner teacher has been very supportive with my specialization though he is a Spanish teacher. He sees to it that I have what I need in this field experience.
ReplyDeleteMy presentation was done in his 5 classes. I was asked to present Spanish influence in the Culture of the Filipinos which highlighted the Spanish language. Am a bit nervous thinking of the presentation because it is my first time to have it with American students plus it would be in language. During the presentation, the students were so attentive for I found out they do not know about the Philippines. They were curious on what Philippines be like and some of the students didn’t even know that there is Philippines. I presented a little of the history of the Philippines, to geography down to different cultures that we got from Spanish colonization for 333 years.
The highlight of my presentation was on Spanish language that we used in the Philippines which is the “chavacano” it is a Spanish creole where there is a certain place in the Philippines that speak this language. It is a broken Spanish or wrong grammar Spanish. Though my parents speak “chavacano” but I never had the chance to speak it fluently and I understand only a little. The students were really interested with the language and they enjoy the interactive part translating “chavacano” to Spanish then English. They enjoyed discovering the similarities of the 2 languages plus the prizes they got if they answered it correctly.
The cultural presentation ended with all the reflections that through this program they learned from us and we learned from them. We may be of different cultures, colors, language and values but one thing is for sure when we understand each other all will blend beautifully.
ICTC, a place i have dreamt about for a long time. The way they have integrated their schools with these vocational centers is out of ordinary. You can see high school students working in these Digital Media Technology labs, Masonry labs, Welding, Machining Labs, Cosmetology labs, Auto Technology labs and so many other labs. I was astonished to see Carpentry students (boys as well as girls) even building a house😃😃.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, to add grace to this place, I could see how these students fix cars of their own community without charging any service fee or so. Really a wonderful experience to see how education is connected to every practical aspects of life.
All the ILEP Fellows can take a cue from this visit and try to motivate our communities for such initiatives. One of the best experiences so far!!
I wish I get an opportunity to discuss, plan and implement such an integrated model of vocational studies in my home country.