A Short Side-Thought

        By way of a bit of a detour, I wanted to just briefly mention the proponent organization for the work I will be doing.  The military maintains a language institution for the instruction of service members who require language as part of their training.  Many of you may have heard of a part of this organization; the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) in Monterey, California.  I have had the pleasure of attending one of the many schools here on two separate occasions.  I believe that it is one of the finest language training institutions in the world.  Plus, the location is unbelievable.  The facility sits on a site that overlooks Monterey Bay and every day service members are greeted to this fantastic view as they move to class to begin their studies.  But, I digress.  What most people do not know is that DLIFLC has a sister institution whose sole function is to teach English; the Defense Language Institution English Language Center (DLIELC) located in San Antonio, Texas.  It is here that service members who are not functionally fluent in English receive their training before being sent out to serve in the line units of their respective military branches.  However, DLIELC has a second, and perhaps more vital, mission to train foreign military members who are hoping to work with the American military, attend American military schools, or fly military aircraft, (English is the international language for aviation). The main tool to accomplish this task is the American Language Course (ALC).  The ALC is what I will be working with for this upcoming class.  I will provide some thoughts about the ALC in my next post.

        I have included some links here for anyone interested in either part of the Defense Language Institute or its products.

DLIELC  - http://www.dlielc.edu/index.php Check under products to see some of the items/instruction they offer.

DLIFLC - http://www.dliflc.edu/ They have a tab for journals & publications.

Preparing the Class

        As with all new endeavors, I feel that one should take a moment to look around the environment before charging into the fray.  It is the same manner that one might approach entering a new classroom full of eager ELL students.  In the case of my new position both ideas are applicable.  I am about to enter into a new classroom full of students, while at the same time, I will be teaching an entirely new course.  It seems I often find myself in these new places.  I have become sort of a jack-of-all-trades.  In the world of ESOL education one has to be inherently flexible when seeking out job opportunities.  I always believe that I can teach any course, given a bit of preparation.  In this case, I will have a couple weeks to prepare to teach.  This seems like a tremendous amount of time considering other experiences I have had.  I was once asked on a Thursday if I was free to teach a class with a start date of the following Monday.  That was an adventure.

       I wanted to just address how I prepare.  Maybe there is someone out there who might pick up on a useful concept to apply to their own preparation.  I almost always go to the internet and try to do some research on the area where I will be working.  I find that just being able to talk, in general terms, about a place or environment often helps as an icebreaker.  I also like to see what the internet might say about any texts or instructional materials I might be using.  I especially enjoy reading reviews of texts.  In many cases it can help one sort of pre-identify any issues that others may have had with the materials and help to mitigate them as well.  I definitely spend a bit of time testing out my classroom tech and any online sources that I might be planning to use.  URLs, web addresses, and content often change and there is nothing more embarrassing that clicking a link to nowhere.  Also, it is a good idea to do a dry run on the tech support that is in your specific classroom.  Lately, however, I have gotten into the habit of bringing my own.  I found a very nice small, portable projector that I can pair with similarly small speakers which I carry with me everywhere I teach.  I have looked into actually teaching from my tablet as well.  I am certain this will be a next step for me at some point in the future.   Finally I try to time myself while rehearsing a typical lecture I have planned.  This accomplishes two things.  First, it enables me to see where I might need to add or subtract from the material I have prepped and make changes to future lesson plans accordingly.  Second, it gives me a chance to see if I pass the “smell test”, so to speak.  It can validate or invalidate that what I am saying makes sense to me personally.  If I confuse myself, then obviously the students will be lost as well. 

I will leave this post here and prepare a bit to talk about meeting new students in my next effort.

An Adventure Awaits

Greetings!

        I am just back from vacation and have already hit the road for a new adventure.  I recently accepted a position working for the government where I will be teaching English to some Saudi nationals.  I have just started getting set up to teach, but I will hopefully have some exciting and interesting anecdotes to share. I have dealt with students of all types, yet many of you know there are some special issues in dealing with students from the Middle East, especially male students.  Hopefully, I can rely a bit on experience to mitigate any detractors before they develop.  I will be teaching what is known as the American Language Course (ALC).  It has been developed by the Defense Language Institute (DLI).  I have had the pleasure of attending DLI twice and I am always impressed with their curriculum.  I think this will be a great experience and perhaps I can share some tidbits with everyone out there.

The Long Road Back

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have been able to write.  I will say it was due to being too busy, but in reality, it was a combination of many things.  Obviously other commitments did slow me down.  However, I do have to acknowledge being lazy and just not really motivated.  As I tell my students, the motivation to learn and produce writing is a key factor in advancing one's fluency.  I am sure that I have mentioned this before.  In my experience adult immigrant students make the best students.  They are so truly motivated to succeed.  I always feel extra pressure to ensure I deliver quality instruction to meet their levels of excitement, passion, and motivation.

I have promised myself to be a more frequent write.  However, I am off on a week-long vacation and then I have some other adventures to embark upon.  I will try to keep everyone posted.

White and Black Time

        I introduced these terms to my EDU students this past week and they were a little perplexed. Obviously, some had not completed their reading assignment.  I just wanted to make a few remarks regarding these terms and their application in education.

        The terms come from the study of "chronemics" which was first introduced in the late 1970s by Thomas Bruneau of Radford University.  Essentially it is the study of human tempo, or in very simple terms how we schedule "time" in our lives.  From a more educational point of view the concept as researched by Edward Hall applies to culture and issues teaching ELL and CLD students.  Most traditional US schools fall into the white time (monochronic) category.  This speaks to the linear and scheduled nature of our school systems.  US schools are run on a clock with distinct periods of time allotted for each phase of study.  There is even more at play than simple scheduling though.  We arrange our curriculum in a very linear manner and many school buildings and classrooms are designed and arranged in monochonic patterns.  One "expert", the teacher is there to present knowledge in a preordained manner; their is little group participation.

        When dealing with ELL and CLD students, teachers, myself included, are forced to understand that their lives, culture, learning style, etc., may be more in tune with black time (polychronic).  This puts them in opposition to all your hard work and lesson planning in the realm of monochronic time. My issues with the apparent laxness of my new students, mentioned in my last blog, is an example of this. These students do value education and are desirous of learning, but they just don't always place the structural emphasis on their schooling as one would want coming from a monochronic background.  Try going to your department chair and telling them you are essentially going to just "wing it" with regard to a syllabus and that maybe your class will end after 20 minutes or it might carry past your allotted 50 minutes.  Who cares if you cause the class following yours to not have a room to meet in as you are still using the room.  One can begin to see the issues that might ensue. And, this is only touching the issues with a schedule.  How does one turn in grades by a due date if the students are not finished with their assignments.

        I like to think that perhaps there is a middle ground ... maybe call it "grey time".  Obviously some compromises have to be made, but the structure has to remain in place due to the bureaucracy of the college campus.  However, maybe a teacher can work a little of the dark into the syllabus and class management style they employ.

Up and Running ... Grammar Class

I got asked to teach a grammar class this semester. I will be the first to admit that grammar is not my strongest skill.  I do well when I look at text written by others, but not so much with my own.  And, if asked to come up with the official term for some grammar points I will probably have to think a bit before giving the answer.  I may know the concept but not the term.  Of course, I am teaching from a syllabus with an associated text and all of the official bits are in the lessons.  Overall I think I will be fine.  I have taught grammar before and I am confident the students will be enriched.

I always learn new things when I meet my ELL students for the first time in a class.  They all have such unique stories. I am sure they think my life is fascinating as well ... err, I hope they do at least. I think the newness or strangeness is what provides the stimulation and interest.  I have seven students from six different countries.  I am looking forward to the semester and learning from them as much as I hope they learn from me.

I do have a few issues with my ELL students that always seem to appear with the new semester as well.  The main issue seems to be the notion of time as fluid.  I always have to take time to really hammer home the point that due dates for assignments are not fluid.  And, it always takes a couple classes before they realize that there is a definite beginning and ending time to the class.  I get the feeling that many ELL students, new to the US, have had to "hustle", so to speak, to get by and that this concept carries over naturally in all aspect of their lives, including school.  Also, it always takes a few class period to work out the tech piece of any class.  Many immigrant/refugee/migrant students may not have had the access to tech that their peers in a college class have had, so it takes some practice before they are comfortable with online school software.

I think as a new instructor, one really has to sort of plan to cover all bases and hope for the best.  I know that even after many years teaching there is always some new issue to overcome, regardless of the students' backgrounds.  Any colleague that I speak with always gets my warning to be prepared to be shocked and amazed by their wonderful ELL students.

Sorry again for the tech issues with my blog and our web page.  Everything seems to be working now.  I hope that you, my few loyal readers, will still visit and read what I write so poorly at times.

Technicalities of life ...

Evidently the server that runs our webpage or stores it, whatever technical term applies, is located in the Houston area.  I have been unable to work the page or anything I linked through there until just today.  I will hopefully be back to blogging again soon.