Collaborating and Mentoring: Thanks Paul!

This term, in Level 3 Reading, we were lucky enough to have a talented practice teacher named Paul join us. Paul is a student in Brock University's TESL certificate program. For two days each week, he helped facilitate the class and then took over teaching lessons.

















I'll admit that initially I felt a bit overwhelmed when Paul joined us, just two weeks into the new term. How was I going to orient this student teacher to the classroom when I had just barely begun to develop rapport with the students myself? And what if he got off tangent with the lessons (time management is one of the biggest challenges of teaching) and we got behind on the curriculum?

The first few weeks I could sense the students wondering "Who the heck is this guy?" and I felt for Paul. He was doing a great job and making a huge effort. I remembered how nervous I'd been during my own practice teaching. Eventually, they had to accept him... I kept hoping!

We found our rhythm, and soon Paul became an important part of our group. I truly enjoyed collaborated weekly, looking over the lesson plan and the long-term plan, and keeping in contact with regular "updates". Together, we found a way to keep on track with lessons, and the students relaxed and seemed to enjoy the weekly change of pace.

The experience was wonderful for me, as I learned a lot observing the class and the students' interactions with Paul. I reflected on my own teaching style - and what I think I do well and what I can improve on. Paul has a huge talent for patience, and made a lot of effort to be sure students understood him. I tend to move along at a quicker pace, and feel that I don't have the same patience at times. I learned a lot watching how the students responded to his patience and kindness.




















In the end, the experience was fantastic. I'd be pleased to collaborate with another teacher in my classroom again. We all miss you, Paul, and look forward to seeing you at our end-of-term party. PS: Did we tell you how much we miss your baking??































A job well done deserves a fantastic home-baked cake!
Leo and Emily enjoy Paul's baking.
















Two deserving students, Joyce & Gary.

Paul's teaching "assessment" day... he was being videotaped by his instructor.

The lesson for the day involved student presentations of activity sheets from a reading about plagiarism and cheating to their classmates. In previous classes they had analyzed assigned paragraphs to identify main ideas and key details; plotted their paragraph on a dramatic story pyramid - (based on Gustav Freytag's five-act dramatic structure); and guessed meaning in context for new vocabulary. The day of Paul's "assessment", the students presented their work on flipchart paper to their classmates. The results were impressive... again...

Deafness books up close and personal...

Here are some more pictures of the fantastic artwork and writing done by Level 3 Reading students. You can read more about the project work in an earlier post.

(Below): Group #1: "Living in a Silent World"
Artists: Emily, Faraj, Young
Writers: Samantha, Jerry, Clara

(Below): Group #2: "A Sound of Soul: I Can't Hear, But I'm Trying"

Artists: Britany, Celia, Leo, Wenbo

Writers: Lee, Joyce

(Below): Group #3: "Living in a World Without Sound"

Voted Best Project by the Class
Artists: Anton, Gary, Kent
Writers: Echo, Maggie, Lily

Read on to learn more about

how these outstanding projects were created...

Connecting art, writing, & deafness... in Level 3 Reading

This term, I have had a great deal of fun with my Intermediate Reading class - bringing art work and writing into the classroom in the preparation of short informational books on the subject of Deafness. Many of the students in the class are talented visual artists and writers, and everyone enjoyed summarizing the ideas from our textbook unit in these special group projects.

(Above): "Living in a Silent World" by Group #3 - Voted the best project by the class.

Artists: Anton, Gary, Kent

Writers: Echo, Maggie, Lily

(Above): "A Sound of Soul: I Can't Hear But I'm Trying" by Group #2

Artists: Britany, Celia, Leo, Wenbo

Writers: Lee, Joyce

(Above): "Living in a Silent World: by Group #1

Artists: Emily, Faraj, Young

Writers: Samantha, Jerry, Clara

This project work was a great opportunity for me to share something of myself with my students. Since my early 20's I have had a mild to moderate "sensori-neural hearing loss" and am considered "hard-of-hearing". I wear two hearing aids, and have developed excellent lip reading and communication skills to compensate for this challenge. My experience managing communication, both as a hard-of-hearing person and a second language speaker (I speak French), have given me an excellent awareness of the challenges that my students face.

We began by reading several articles about Deafness in our textbook, and then expanded on the topic by watching a Canadian Hard of Hearing Association video called "Sound Ideas" (*). In the video, hard-of-hearing adults talk about their communication challenges, and their suggestions for improving communication. After listening, we discussed the ways in which the communication challenges of the deaf and hard-of-hearing are similar to the challenges faced by second language learners. (*) a video I helped to research and write.


































































As an initial assignment, students submitted written reflections on their experiences as second language learners. The writing they produced was exceptional and I was excited to see the connections they made to their own experiences. Next, they produced short informational "books" on the topic... working in 3 groups. For some, it was their first experience participating in a "group" project - and a valuable skill they will need to develop for future university seminar work.

Finally, students presented their work and assessed each others' projects. They chose a winning project, and as you can see from the photos above, all 3 projects were exceptional. The class is so talented!

We had so much fun together. It made me wish I could teach an ESL art/writing class. I want to thank each and every one of my students... Faraj, Clara, Emily, Samantha, Young, Jerry, Wenbo, Leo, Lee, Joyce, Britany, Anton, Kent, Maggie, Gary, Lily and Echo. And, last but not least, my incredible practice teacher, Paul. THANK YOU!!

Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Pig

Chinese New Year Celebration - Hosted by the Brock University Chinese Students' Association.

Performances included punk-style rock, traditional Chinese musicians, skits and acappella singing. A very talented group of students!