responses due in class Wednesday, February 25
This article highlights the differences between, and the value of, both peer response groups and tutoring based in a writing center. Both are examples of collaborative learning, which is "dialogue and negotiation" between a reader and a writer. In both, the author retains control and makes all final decisions regarding his or her work, but uses either review process to strengthen the writing and to get a real sense of having an audience.
A peer response group is a group of students centered around a certain class or teacher and focusing on a particular assignment that all members share. Writers take turns reading their own work and then receive commentary from classmates, either verbally, or through written forms or free-write. This experience is closer to what an author might find in the "real world", in which relatively equal working peers review each others' work in academia, or in the scientific or business spheres. This process benefits students because they get practice looking at writing critically and articulating their thoughts, along with the enrichment they get on the particular assignment. Pitfalls include that students are often not skilled or trained enough to give appropriate, helpful criticism, or they are bound by peer protection to keep silent. Class time devoted to appropriate methods of critique and group citizenship is essential.
The tutoring experience, however, is a highly personal activity in which the tutor, who is a "hybrid" of authoritative, knowledgeable teacher and sympathetic, plain-speaking peer, helps the tutee to focus on the underlying weaknesses in his or her writing, and helps him or her to improve confidently over time. Although a student may often just want help on a particular assignment, the tutor must steer away from telling them what to write or "fix" in a certain paper, intead guiding him or her to self-help and discovery by asking meaningful questions. This interaction is often frustrating for both parties, with the student simply wanting to finish the assignment and receive a good grade, and the tutor wanting to promote long lasting improvement on the part of the writer.
This article does not take a diffinitive stance on the useful-ness of either method. Studies provide conflicting views on their benefits. This author, as a writing center proponent and employee, did suggest that collaboration could be very helpful, provided that peer-responders and tutor are appropriately trained and organized.
I found this article interesting in that it looked into the psychology of the relationship between tutor and tutee. It described the delicate balance one often has to walk: not wanting to DO someone's work for them, while knowing that the student mainly wants the assignment done and sees the tutor as the central source of "answers". This is something I have often encountered when tutoring, not just in English.
What do you think about peer response and tutoring? Have you utilized one of these resources; have you been a tutor or a peer respondent? Do you think these services are valuable and should be promoted on campus? If you were a teacher, how would you integrate them into your classroom?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Pronoun -Antecedent Agreement
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreements
Audience: Ninth Grade Students
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreements are similar to subject-verb agreements, but with different rules and/or principles. Pronoun-Antecedent agreements consists of both a pronoun and antecedent agreeing with rules (defined later within context).
Pronoun
A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. It refers to a person, place, thing, or feeling.
Example: The boy hesitantly ran across the street.
Pronoun usage: He hesitantly ran across the street.
Antecedent
An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers to.
Example: Children get nervous when teachers use spiders for experiments.
Antecedent usage: Children get nervous when their teachers use spider for experiements.
The antecedent is the noun before the pronoun. In this case, the noun being children and pronoun their.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement consists of three principles.
- Gender: est. difference between male/female.
- Number: est. difference between singular and plural.
- Person: est. difference between quality of being. (1st, 2nd & 3rd person)
*All principles further explained within today's mini lesson.
- Engage: Students will be engaged by Powerpoint demonstration and visuals of the subject.
- Explore: I will provide students with an introduction for both pronouns and antecedents. Including, their purpose within agreeance.
- Explain: By futhering students comprehension more in-depth, I'll provide the three vital principles for creating pronoun-antecedent agreements. Examples will be available.
- Evaluate: I will evaluate their understanding by going over some in-class examples.
- Expand: I will evalute the students understanding of the topic by an attachment of "Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Quiz" within www.partnerpage.google.grammar300.com
- Esearch: Students will further their knowledge by completing "Big Dog's Grammar Self-Test" on website: http://aliscot.com/bigdog/agrpa_exercise.html
Friday, February 20, 2009
Pronoun Cases
Audience- 8th graders
Types of Pronouns
Personal Pronouns- used as substitutes for proper or common nouns.
Reflexive Pronouns- a personal pronoun compounded with –self to
show the agent's action affects the agent
Examples: I hurt myself.
That man is talking to himself.
They ate all the food themselves.
Reciprocal Pronouns- express mutual action or relationship.
Example: Jane and Helen greeted each other.
Demonstrative Pronouns- identifies and specifies a noun or pronoun.
Examples: This ham is good, but that chicken tastes spoiled.
It was stupid of you to do that.
I wouldn’t recommend those books; these articles contain more
up-to-date information
Indefinite Pronouns- a group of words that generally indicate
quantity or amount
Examples: Each of the members has one vote.
All of the people clapped their hands.
Are all the people happy with their gifts?
3 cases of Pronouns:
Subjective: pronouns used as subject
Objective: Pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions
Possessive: Pronouns which express ownership
1) Explore- Introduction of a pronoun and what case means.
2) Explain- I will explain the different types of pronoun cases
and how they are used.
3) Evaluate- We will do some practice sentences together for
practice so I am able to see if they are understanding how to
know which pronouns to use.
4) Expand- We will do an online quiz together in class. Here’s
the link to the quiz: http://itech.pjc.edu/writinglab/case.htm
5) E-search- For homework: Look online and pick out any 10
sentences. Then you must circle the pronouns and tell me which
kind category they fall into.
Audience- 8th graders
Types of Pronouns
Personal Pronouns- used as substitutes for proper or common nouns.
Reflexive Pronouns- a personal pronoun compounded with –self to
show the agent's action affects the agent
Examples: I hurt myself.
That man is talking to himself.
They ate all the food themselves.
Reciprocal Pronouns- express mutual action or relationship.
Example: Jane and Helen greeted each other.
Demonstrative Pronouns- identifies and specifies a noun or pronoun.
Examples: This ham is good, but that chicken tastes spoiled.
It was stupid of you to do that.
I wouldn’t recommend those books; these articles contain more
up-to-date information
Indefinite Pronouns- a group of words that generally indicate
quantity or amount
Examples: Each of the members has one vote.
All of the people clapped their hands.
Are all the people happy with their gifts?
3 cases of Pronouns:
Subjective: pronouns used as subject
Objective: Pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions
Possessive: Pronouns which express ownership
1) Explore- Introduction of a pronoun and what case means.
2) Explain- I will explain the different types of pronoun cases
and how they are used.
3) Evaluate- We will do some practice sentences together for
practice so I am able to see if they are understanding how to
know which pronouns to use.
4) Expand- We will do an online quiz together in class. Here’s
the link to the quiz: http://itech.pjc.edu/
5) E-search- For homework: Look online and pick out any 10
sentences. Then you must circle the pronouns and tell me which
kind category they fall into.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Access/Excess, Affect/Effect, Except/Accept
Accept and except are homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings. Some of these homophones are accept/except, access/excess, effect/affect. Today I will give the students the definitions of the words and show them how they are used. They will be shown two sentences. The students will then choose which homophone is used correctly. In class the students will make a sentence for effect and affect, using the words properly. For homework students will take an online quiz and print their results and bring them to the next class period. For homework students are to also bring back to class a list of 25 homophones.
Audience- 7th grade
1) Engage- The students will be visually engaged with the power point and be answering questions.
2) Explore- Students will explore how to use homophones properly by writing their own sentences.
3) Explain- I will explain what the words are and give their definitions. I will also give the meaning of a homophone.
4) Evaluate- The students ill take an online quiz for homework and they will give sentences at the end of the presentation.
5) Expand- Students are to take an online quiz which will include more homophones than those explained in class.
6) E-search- Students will search the web for lists of 25 homophones and bring them back to class.
Audience- 7th grade
1) Engage- The students will be visually engaged with the power point and be answering questions.
2) Explore- Students will explore how to use homophones properly by writing their own sentences.
3) Explain- I will explain what the words are and give their definitions. I will also give the meaning of a homophone.
4) Evaluate- The students ill take an online quiz for homework and they will give sentences at the end of the presentation.
5) Expand- Students are to take an online quiz which will include more homophones than those explained in class.
6) E-search- Students will search the web for lists of 25 homophones and bring them back to class.
SLI
In Formal Features in Impaired Grammars: A Comparison of English and German SLI Children, by Harald Clahsen, Susanne Bartke, and Sandra Göllner, Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is discussed. SLI or developmental dysphasia is a language disorder which can affect expressive and receptive language. In 1901 Albrecht Liebmann discovered this condition in which the subjects’ general intelligence fell within normal range, and they did not have any hearing deficits or emotional or behavioral disturbances. There was no clear non-linguistic cause for their difficulty in acquiring grammar. There are several grammatical theories regarding SLI. One theory we will explore is the grammatical agreement deficit, according to which SLI children are said to have problems establishing grammatical relationships such as case and agreement between different elements of a phrase or clause. For example, in subject-verb agreement, person and number are not primary features of verbs. They are only realized on finite verbs, but provide information about the subject and, in this way, can be said to be controlled by the subject. It is this kind of feature control that is said to be impaired in SLI.
In this article, data from nine English and six German SLI subjects with respect to tense and agreement marking, the feature specifications of DP-subjects, and verb raising were compared. English and German SLI subjects achieve significantly lower scores for subject-verb agreement marking than for past tense or preterit tense marking. English SLI children do not produce any non-NOM subjects, even in sentences with bare
(uninflected) stems. Two kinds of structures which have been reported to be absent from the speech of unimpaired German-speaking children are productively used by SLI children: non-finite verbs raised to second position and root infinitives with fully-specified and case-marked DP subjects.
Before reading this article were you familiar with SLI? If you are familiar with it, have you had any experience with SLI students? As a teacher, what would you do to help SLI students? Do you think it would be a challenge to have SLI students in your class?
In this article, data from nine English and six German SLI subjects with respect to tense and agreement marking, the feature specifications of DP-subjects, and verb raising were compared. English and German SLI subjects achieve significantly lower scores for subject-verb agreement marking than for past tense or preterit tense marking. English SLI children do not produce any non-NOM subjects, even in sentences with bare
(uninflected) stems. Two kinds of structures which have been reported to be absent from the speech of unimpaired German-speaking children are productively used by SLI children: non-finite verbs raised to second position and root infinitives with fully-specified and case-marked DP subjects.
Before reading this article were you familiar with SLI? If you are familiar with it, have you had any experience with SLI students? As a teacher, what would you do to help SLI students? Do you think it would be a challenge to have SLI students in your class?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
ASL and Grammar
Responses are due Friday, February 13th, at class time
People who communicate through the use of American Sign Language face many of the same dilemmas in learning SWE (Standard Written English) that other ESL students face. ASL is considered to be a foreign language, just like Japanese, Spanish, or French. ASL “speakers” follow a much different set of guidelines in their language than English speakers. For example, when they are communicating they only use the major words in the sentence – leaving out the articles English speakers are accustomed to. For example, instead of saying “I sit in the chair”, the ASL “speaker” might say “I sit chair”.
This is not the only difference in the two languages. Those you communicate through the use of ASL construct sentences different from what would normally be expected in SWE. When asking somebody a question the ASL “speaker” will typically put the question part of the sentence (such as who, what, when, or where) at the end of the sentence much the way SWE uses a question mark. When stating that something happened in the past ASL “speakers” do not simply change the tense of the verb; they place the word finish before the action. For example:
SWE: I wrote this blog post.
ASL: I finish write this blog post.
When citing a specific time, ASL “speakers” place the time at the beginning. To take the last example a step further:
SWE: I wrote this blog post last night.
ASL: Last night I finish write this blog post.
To take it a step further, ASL requires that the “speaker” perform movements to help the “listener” understand the message. These movements include head movements, holding signs longer, or even raising/lowering their eye brows.
It is nice to know this information but unless it is applied it is only information. It is important to know this because ASL ‘speakers” are required to write in SWE when they write. This means that they are required to take their own words and translate those words into a different language (SWE) every time they must write. To best help the ASL “speaking” student a teacher must understand the dilemmas faced by the student as well as what kind of errors to expect and how to help them fix those mistakes and become better writers.
People who communicate through the use of American Sign Language face many of the same dilemmas in learning SWE (Standard Written English) that other ESL students face. ASL is considered to be a foreign language, just like Japanese, Spanish, or French. ASL “speakers” follow a much different set of guidelines in their language than English speakers. For example, when they are communicating they only use the major words in the sentence – leaving out the articles English speakers are accustomed to. For example, instead of saying “I sit in the chair”, the ASL “speaker” might say “I sit chair”.
This is not the only difference in the two languages. Those you communicate through the use of ASL construct sentences different from what would normally be expected in SWE. When asking somebody a question the ASL “speaker” will typically put the question part of the sentence (such as who, what, when, or where) at the end of the sentence much the way SWE uses a question mark. When stating that something happened in the past ASL “speakers” do not simply change the tense of the verb; they place the word finish before the action. For example:
SWE: I wrote this blog post.
ASL: I finish write this blog post.
When citing a specific time, ASL “speakers” place the time at the beginning. To take the last example a step further:
SWE: I wrote this blog post last night.
ASL: Last night I finish write this blog post.
To take it a step further, ASL requires that the “speaker” perform movements to help the “listener” understand the message. These movements include head movements, holding signs longer, or even raising/lowering their eye brows.
It is nice to know this information but unless it is applied it is only information. It is important to know this because ASL ‘speakers” are required to write in SWE when they write. This means that they are required to take their own words and translate those words into a different language (SWE) every time they must write. To best help the ASL “speaking” student a teacher must understand the dilemmas faced by the student as well as what kind of errors to expect and how to help them fix those mistakes and become better writers.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sentence Diagramming Mini Lesson
Mini Lesson
Fri February 13, 2009.
What's wrong with this picture?
Sentence Diagramming is a complex concept that deserves much practise. Today I will be explaining the basic rules of sentence diagramming. The audience will be 9th graders. The class will only go over the basic principles of sentence diagramming so that they will have time to learn the process. The 9th graders will begin the class by watching a short instructional video on sentence diagramming. As a class we will go further into sentence diagramming by adding more parts of the sentence. The power point will explain the rules of sentence diagramming and will show examples of completed diagrammed sentences. The class will then take a short quiz over the video. The class will be assigned to find 5 sentences online or in a book. The students will diagram these sentences and will bring them to class the following day.
Audience- 9th graders
1) Engage- The students will be engaged by watching a short video on sentence diagramming.
2) Explore- The class will further explore the rules on diagramming more sentence parts.
3)Explain- Within the power point I will explain the rules of sentence diagramming.
4)Evaluate- The students will take a short quiz over sentence diagramming and the video.
5) Expand- The students will expand their knowledge on sentence diagramming by completing their homework on their own. Many will have to refer to notes or online resources to diagram parts of their chosen sentences.
6)E-search-The students will look for 5 sentences on-line and will diagram their chose sentences. The students will be asked to continue researching sentence diagramming on-line to learn more about it.
Video link: http://www.brainpop.com/english/grammar/diagrammingsentences/
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Are twins delayed in language development?
Responses are due on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at class time.
Also it was not just biological factors, low birth weight and birth order, that separated the twin case studies but that of maternal speech to the child that added into the resulting language delays. So both biological and environmental factors effect the speech of twins. Even with these factors, most twins don't suffer from any sort of language impairment once they've reached early childhood.
The author does state however that there are several flaws in these case studies. One study described that the researchers did not find it necessary to separate the twins with actual learning impairments from the other twins which lowered the overall results of the study. The researchers also did not record birth weight and birth order of the twins, which has been learned to factor in to language delay. The twins also were not observed independently from one another which might have skewed the results as well.
Most research though has come to the conclusion that it is not biological but social factors that leads twins to having more of a language delay than singletons. They believe this is because as a twin you tend to receive less direct parental speech.
The article also concludes with the idea that the more older siblings you have, the lower your IQ. The general sibling situation states that the lower a child's birth position the lower his or her IQ will be. Even more so when it comes to twins because having a twin is the most extreme case possible of having a sibling.
I felt that the article showed so much fault in the studies that I could not really believe in the results. And since the author said no language delays exist after early childhood, that it really is not fair to single out twins as having language development issues.
In the assigned article, the author summarizes several different case studies performed with the intention of discerning whether or not there was a language delay in twins. One early study in particular found that twins usually either spoke in shorter sentences or not very much at all compared to a person of single birth. There was also a slight difference in a twin's vocabulary than that of a singleton.
There is a pervasive assumption in the twin and language development literature that twins are somewhat delayed in language development and more prone to language disabilities.
Also it was not just biological factors, low birth weight and birth order, that separated the twin case studies but that of maternal speech to the child that added into the resulting language delays. So both biological and environmental factors effect the speech of twins. Even with these factors, most twins don't suffer from any sort of language impairment once they've reached early childhood.
The author does state however that there are several flaws in these case studies. One study described that the researchers did not find it necessary to separate the twins with actual learning impairments from the other twins which lowered the overall results of the study. The researchers also did not record birth weight and birth order of the twins, which has been learned to factor in to language delay. The twins also were not observed independently from one another which might have skewed the results as well.
Most research though has come to the conclusion that it is not biological but social factors that leads twins to having more of a language delay than singletons. They believe this is because as a twin you tend to receive less direct parental speech.
The article also concludes with the idea that the more older siblings you have, the lower your IQ. The general sibling situation states that the lower a child's birth position the lower his or her IQ will be. Even more so when it comes to twins because having a twin is the most extreme case possible of having a sibling.
I felt that the article showed so much fault in the studies that I could not really believe in the results. And since the author said no language delays exist after early childhood, that it really is not fair to single out twins as having language development issues.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Use of Nonword Repetition as a Test of Phonological memory in Children with Down Syndrome
Responses are due on Monday, Feb. 9, at class time.
This article discusses findings from research done on Down syndrome. It is quite extensive and articulate. Before talking about the findings of the article it is first necessary to understand the subject. Downs syndrome, formally referred to as Trisomy 21, is a disorder affecting children from birth. It has many characteristics, but the focus of this article is the learning disabilities of the children.
Since learning to speak is vital to a growing child, it is understandable that children with Downs syndrome experience difficulty later in life. Mainly because these children could not gain these necessary tools because of their impairment. Children with this disorder also have poor short term memory, which is studied alongside the language impairments of these specific children. In the article the term nonword is used often; it is just that, a nonword. Simply syllables thrown together to study the memory retention of Down syndrome kids. The Nonword Repetition Test was devised by Gathercole and Baddely and incorporated 33 children, ages 5-18. The study would place one of these children where the mouth movements of the speaker could not be seen, and after hearing a nonword or word the child would be ask to repeat what he or she heard. This was set up to measure verbal short term.
Most of the information on the development of Downs syndrome is based off of the Nonword Repetition Test. Although, most information is based of this it is, "far from a clear picture, with many contradictory results." Within the article, many correlations were made. Whether between age and memory, or nonword and age, there was a contradiction. Nothing was precise, or clear. Overall, children with Downs syndrome scored poorer on recall of auditory information, but also in memory of it. Poor memory would contribute to a reduced vocabulary, but yet the vocabulary leads to a better grammatical understanding. Although there are many contradictions, any research needs to consider a child's reading ability, for this accounts for a lot of the results.
Even though Downs syndrome children have learning impairments they can still learn new language all the way to adulthood. It is beneficial to them to have the most advanced vocabulary possible, as well as frequently exposed to reading, and speaking. It has been shown that a teacher's adapted methods can play a large role in the learning abilities of children with Downs syndrome.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
Understanding the difference between passive and active voice is quite simple. You will remember the difference between these two if you remember that :
- In sentences written in active voice, the verb is acted on, and
-sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action.
Here are two examples of sentences written in active voice:
1. The dog bit the boy.
2.Michelle will present her research at the conference.
Here are two examples of sentences written in passive voice:
1. The boy was bitten by the the dog.
2.Research will be presented by Michelle at the conference.
Audience : 8th grade students
1. I will explain to the students the difference between active and passive voice.
2. I will engage students by showing examples and having them to participate.
3. The students will be asked to take out a sheet of paper and write two of the same sentences that show the difference between passive and active voice.
4. The students will be told to go home and write five sentences in passive and active voice.
5. I will give them a really cool website to visit .
- In sentences written in active voice, the verb is acted on, and
-sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action.
Here are two examples of sentences written in active voice:
1. The dog bit the boy.
2.Michelle will present her research at the conference.
Here are two examples of sentences written in passive voice:
1. The boy was bitten by the the dog.
2.Research will be presented by Michelle at the conference.
Audience : 8th grade students
1. I will explain to the students the difference between active and passive voice.
2. I will engage students by showing examples and having them to participate.
3. The students will be asked to take out a sheet of paper and write two of the same sentences that show the difference between passive and active voice.
4. The students will be told to go home and write five sentences in passive and active voice.
5. I will give them a really cool website to visit .
Sit/Set, Lie/Lay, Rise/Raise
Sit and Set
Sit and set are often confused. You will not make mistakes with these two verbs if you remember two facts about them:
Sit means to rest in an upright position, while set means to put or place something.
-Let's sit under the tree.
-Let's set the bookcase here.
Lie and Lay
Like sit, lie has to do with resting. Lay is like set because it means to put something down.
-My cat loves to lie in the tall grass behind our house.
-We need to lay down some rugs in the basement.
Rise and Raise
The verb rise means “to go up” or “to get up.” Rise, like lie, never has an object. Raise, which means “to lift up” or “to cause to rise.”
-My neighbors rise very early in the morning.
-Every morning they raise their shades to the sunlight in.
Audience: 8th grade students
1. I will explain to the students the basics of Sit/Set, Lie/Lay, and Rise/Raise.
2. To engage the students, I will show them several examples of how the words are to be used.
3. The students will be asked to take a out a sheet of paper and write one or two sentences that correctly use any of the three. They will be asked to read their sentences to their neighbor seated next to them.
4. The students will the be given a short worksheet to be completed as homework.
5. The students will be encouraged to visit the following link:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/605/01/
Sit and set are often confused. You will not make mistakes with these two verbs if you remember two facts about them:
Sit means to rest in an upright position, while set means to put or place something.
-Let's sit under the tree.
-Let's set the bookcase here.
Lie and Lay
Like sit, lie has to do with resting. Lay is like set because it means to put something down.
-My cat loves to lie in the tall grass behind our house.
-We need to lay down some rugs in the basement.
Rise and Raise
The verb rise means “to go up” or “to get up.” Rise, like lie, never has an object. Raise, which means “to lift up” or “to cause to rise.”
-My neighbors rise very early in the morning.
-Every morning they raise their shades to the sunlight in.
Audience: 8th grade students
1. I will explain to the students the basics of Sit/Set, Lie/Lay, and Rise/Raise.
2. To engage the students, I will show them several examples of how the words are to be used.
3. The students will be asked to take a out a sheet of paper and write one or two sentences that correctly use any of the three. They will be asked to read their sentences to their neighbor seated next to them.
4. The students will the be given a short worksheet to be completed as homework.
5. The students will be encouraged to visit the following link:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/605/01/
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Our Survey Topics
Below are our survey topics for test-taking of the surveys on Wednesday, Feb. 11th.
INSTRUCTIONS for in-class activity on Wed., Feb. 11th:
We are taking each other's surveys, to make sure everything works!!!
Before you start, open the SURVEY GRADING RUBRIC posted on livetext in the "evaluation" section. Fill it in, and attach it to the comment emails to your peers. You will assign the authors of the surveys you are taking a final grade for their surveys.
1) Each student has to test-take the three surveys following his or her name on the list below. The last student on the list skips to the first three names from the list! (If you don't finish in class, test-take them from home. Deadline for test-taking and comment emails to peers and me is Wednesday, Feb. 11th, at midnight, because the survey authors need at least one day to fix their surveys which are due Friday, Feb. 13th.)
2) When you test-take your peers' surveys, take a piece of paper and write comments on it (which bullets make no sense, which "default section" headline was not changed to a meaningful title, which header was not filled in completely with research topic and deadline, which words were misspelled, which question should be re-formulated, which options need additions, whether it was customer-friendly, etc.), and then email these comments to the author of the survey you took. You all know each other's email addresses ;-)
3) Email your three "comment emails" to me as cc, for credit!
4) DEADLINE for our audiences to take the survey is Monday, Feb. 23rd, by 10:00 a.m. Type this into your header.
5) As soon as you have received your 3 peer-feedback emails with the comments, go ahead and repair your survey accordingly! The repaired survey version is due on Friday, Feb. 13th, for grading by me. EMAIL me the link of your final (repaired) survey. CAREFUL: it is NOT the link you see in the "menu list" on your screen (this one leads only to the surveymonkey.com login page). Here is the path how to create the link:
go to "My Survey" --> go to "Collect" --> put the bullet in "Create a link to send in your own email message or to place on a webpage --> click on "Next Step" --> copy the URL you see under "Sending Survey Link in an Email" --> put this URL in an email you send to me on Friday, Feb. 13th, by class time!
If you want to see how I am grading the surveys, go to "Evaluations" in our livetext profile, and look at the "Survey Grading Rubric."
6) EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY:
If you've missed more than three classes (= allowed sick days) unexcused in the past, you can make up for ONE day by taking THREE extra surveys (from home, since there won't be enough time in class). Deadline for taking them is tonight, Wednesday 10th, at midnight, too. Pick ANY surveys you would like to take. You need to send your three peers the comment email with your suggestions and the grading rubric, and EMAIL ME AS cc, writing in the header "make-up for missed day," including the date for the missed day.
You can make up as many missed blog comments as you want by taking an additional survey for each! Proceed as above (email me the grading rubrics and comments, and say for which blog topic you're making up)!!!
SURVEY TOPICS:
1. Lila Adkins: Ebonics
2. Shaya Barnett: Ebonics
3. Michara Canty: Diversity & Language
4. Jordan Glodich: Grammar
5. Cristina Hernandez: Internet Lingo in College Students
6. Samantha Jolly: Technology Lingo
7. Christopher Lacy: The Impact of Music on the Way we Speak
8. Logan Malloy: Reading, Media, & Grammar
9. Danielle McCarty: Technology Lingo
10. Ashley McGillis: Grammar Knowledge
11. Laura Melfi: Private School
12.Anna Sanders: Internet Slang
13. Stephanie Schofield: Internet & Electronic Slang
14. Heather Schultz: Foreign Languages
15. Dana Stute: Beliefs about Southern Illinois Dialect
16. Liza Tressler: Everyday Grammar
17. Rosalind Whitley: Diversity Teaching Methods
18. Angela Wille: Ebonics
19. Eric Yearian: Texting & Instant Messaging Lingo
20. Twangie Holman: Elderly People and Grammar
21. Courtney Shelby: Grammar Knowledge of 12th Grade High School Students
22. JoAnna Rutledge: Ebonics
23. Stefani Pittman: Ebonics
ATTENTION:
You are NOT sending your surveys out yet!!!!!!
We are taking them in class first, then I'll grade them, then we'll compose an introductory letter, and only when you have MY WRITTEN APPROVAL you can email them out to a list of at least 20 people!!!!!!!!!
INSTRUCTIONS for in-class activity on Wed., Feb. 11th:
We are taking each other's surveys, to make sure everything works!!!
Before you start, open the SURVEY GRADING RUBRIC posted on livetext in the "evaluation" section. Fill it in, and attach it to the comment emails to your peers. You will assign the authors of the surveys you are taking a final grade for their surveys.
1) Each student has to test-take the three surveys following his or her name on the list below. The last student on the list skips to the first three names from the list! (If you don't finish in class, test-take them from home. Deadline for test-taking and comment emails to peers and me is Wednesday, Feb. 11th, at midnight, because the survey authors need at least one day to fix their surveys which are due Friday, Feb. 13th.)
2) When you test-take your peers' surveys, take a piece of paper and write comments on it (which bullets make no sense, which "default section" headline was not changed to a meaningful title, which header was not filled in completely with research topic and deadline, which words were misspelled, which question should be re-formulated, which options need additions, whether it was customer-friendly, etc.), and then email these comments to the author of the survey you took. You all know each other's email addresses ;-)
3) Email your three "comment emails" to me as cc, for credit!
4) DEADLINE for our audiences to take the survey is Monday, Feb. 23rd, by 10:00 a.m. Type this into your header.
5) As soon as you have received your 3 peer-feedback emails with the comments, go ahead and repair your survey accordingly! The repaired survey version is due on Friday, Feb. 13th, for grading by me. EMAIL me the link of your final (repaired) survey. CAREFUL: it is NOT the link you see in the "menu list" on your screen (this one leads only to the surveymonkey.com login page). Here is the path how to create the link:
go to "My Survey" --> go to "Collect" --> put the bullet in "Create a link to send in your own email message or to place on a webpage --> click on "Next Step" --> copy the URL you see under "Sending Survey Link in an Email" --> put this URL in an email you send to me on Friday, Feb. 13th, by class time!
If you want to see how I am grading the surveys, go to "Evaluations" in our livetext profile, and look at the "Survey Grading Rubric."
6) EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY:
If you've missed more than three classes (= allowed sick days) unexcused in the past, you can make up for ONE day by taking THREE extra surveys (from home, since there won't be enough time in class). Deadline for taking them is tonight, Wednesday 10th, at midnight, too. Pick ANY surveys you would like to take. You need to send your three peers the comment email with your suggestions and the grading rubric, and EMAIL ME AS cc, writing in the header "make-up for missed day," including the date for the missed day.
You can make up as many missed blog comments as you want by taking an additional survey for each! Proceed as above (email me the grading rubrics and comments, and say for which blog topic you're making up)!!!
SURVEY TOPICS:
1. Lila Adkins: Ebonics
2. Shaya Barnett: Ebonics
3. Michara Canty: Diversity & Language
4. Jordan Glodich: Grammar
5. Cristina Hernandez: Internet Lingo in College Students
6. Samantha Jolly: Technology Lingo
7. Christopher Lacy: The Impact of Music on the Way we Speak
8. Logan Malloy: Reading, Media, & Grammar
9. Danielle McCarty: Technology Lingo
10. Ashley McGillis: Grammar Knowledge
11. Laura Melfi: Private School
12.Anna Sanders: Internet Slang
13. Stephanie Schofield: Internet & Electronic Slang
14. Heather Schultz: Foreign Languages
15. Dana Stute: Beliefs about Southern Illinois Dialect
16. Liza Tressler: Everyday Grammar
17. Rosalind Whitley: Diversity Teaching Methods
18. Angela Wille: Ebonics
19. Eric Yearian: Texting & Instant Messaging Lingo
20. Twangie Holman: Elderly People and Grammar
21. Courtney Shelby: Grammar Knowledge of 12th Grade High School Students
22. JoAnna Rutledge: Ebonics
23. Stefani Pittman: Ebonics
ATTENTION:
You are NOT sending your surveys out yet!!!!!!
We are taking them in class first, then I'll grade them, then we'll compose an introductory letter, and only when you have MY WRITTEN APPROVAL you can email them out to a list of at least 20 people!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Teaching Standard English as a Foreign Language to Ebonics Speakers
Responses are due on Friday, Feb. 6th, at class time.
__________________________________
*Post from Jan 30th due to snow days*
Article
This article is adapted from an interview with Carrie Secret, a fifth-grade teacher at Prescott Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District. Prescott had been the only school in the system where a majority of teachers voluntarily agreed to adopt the Standard English Proficiency program, a statewide initiative which acknowledges the systematic, rule-governed nature of "Black English" while helping children to learn Standard English.
Carrie Secret instills a very hands-on approach to teaching English as a Second Language to her students. Although she promotes a strong push to use standard English in her classroom, she accepts that Ebonics and other languages are the students "home" or native languages. She allows them to interact in the language that they are most comfortable speaking in. Critics of this approach attest that allowing Ebonics to be used in the classroom will prolong the switch to English. Carrie argues that "If you are concerned about children using Ebonics in the classroom, you will spend the whole day saying, "Translate, translate, translate." So you have to pick times when you are particularly attuned to and calling for English translation." I believe that this method of teaching proper English will be most effective. It reminds the students to embrace their cultural roots, but become mindful of the goal of learning English.
Carrie teaches the students through active listening; making the students read and write in proper English and listening to proper English being spoken. She emphasizes hearing proper English at a young age before habits become too much to overcome. She still reads to her 5th grade students to reinforce proper speaking techniques. She also incorporates black literature into her teaching methods to show students that their own people did wonderful things with standard English.
__________________________________
*Post from Jan 30th due to snow days*
Article
This article is adapted from an interview with Carrie Secret, a fifth-grade teacher at Prescott Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District. Prescott had been the only school in the system where a majority of teachers voluntarily agreed to adopt the Standard English Proficiency program, a statewide initiative which acknowledges the systematic, rule-governed nature of "Black English" while helping children to learn Standard English.
Carrie Secret instills a very hands-on approach to teaching English as a Second Language to her students. Although she promotes a strong push to use standard English in her classroom, she accepts that Ebonics and other languages are the students "home" or native languages. She allows them to interact in the language that they are most comfortable speaking in. Critics of this approach attest that allowing Ebonics to be used in the classroom will prolong the switch to English. Carrie argues that "If you are concerned about children using Ebonics in the classroom, you will spend the whole day saying, "Translate, translate, translate." So you have to pick times when you are particularly attuned to and calling for English translation." I believe that this method of teaching proper English will be most effective. It reminds the students to embrace their cultural roots, but become mindful of the goal of learning English.
Carrie teaches the students through active listening; making the students read and write in proper English and listening to proper English being spoken. She emphasizes hearing proper English at a young age before habits become too much to overcome. She still reads to her 5th grade students to reinforce proper speaking techniques. She also incorporates black literature into her teaching methods to show students that their own people did wonderful things with standard English.
Tourette’s syndrome
Responses are due on Friday, Feb. 6th, at class time.
___________________________________
In Speeded processing of grammar and tool knowledge in Tourette’s syndrome, a study published by Matthew Walenski, Stewart H. Mostofsky, and Michael T. Ullman; the writers attempted to enrich the understanding of speaking aspect of Tourette’s syndrome by studying idiosyncratic and rule-governed knowledge. The study did not focus on the facial and verbal tics, rather only on the use of tenses and word usage. In the study, it was found that although both Tourette's and non-tourette patients scored similarly in declarative memory, people with Tourette's had abnormal levels of procedural memory retention. It went on to show documents from case-studies and concluded that "the study reported here suggests that the processing of previously-acquired procedural but not declarative knowledge is particularly speeded in Tourette’s syndrome."
People suffering from Tourettes have a hard time switching to past tense verbs and sometimes had excessive endings such as doubling "ed" in words like "groundeded" . This was linked to other disorders that affect the basal ganglia, such as Huntington's disease. The data gained from this experiment concluded the disorder will not only have tics but can also be attributed to the unsuppressed and rapid behaviors but will also affect the cognitive processing of rule-governed language and procedural knowledge.
I felt this reading was too scientific and hard to read. I worked as a teachers assistant at a school for troubled teens and many suffered from Tourette's syndrome. I found that once the child was aware of their surroundings and was in a relaxed environment, they had less trouble with facial tics and/or speech. While the scientific findings are helpful in analyzing a disorder, they offer little or no help with how to cope with it.
___________________________________
In Speeded processing of grammar and tool knowledge in Tourette’s syndrome, a study published by Matthew Walenski, Stewart H. Mostofsky, and Michael T. Ullman; the writers attempted to enrich the understanding of speaking aspect of Tourette’s syndrome by studying idiosyncratic and rule-governed knowledge. The study did not focus on the facial and verbal tics, rather only on the use of tenses and word usage. In the study, it was found that although both Tourette's and non-tourette patients scored similarly in declarative memory, people with Tourette's had abnormal levels of procedural memory retention. It went on to show documents from case-studies and concluded that "the study reported here suggests that the processing of previously-acquired procedural but not declarative knowledge is particularly speeded in Tourette’s syndrome."
People suffering from Tourettes have a hard time switching to past tense verbs and sometimes had excessive endings such as doubling "ed" in words like "groundeded" . This was linked to other disorders that affect the basal ganglia, such as Huntington's disease. The data gained from this experiment concluded the disorder will not only have tics but can also be attributed to the unsuppressed and rapid behaviors but will also affect the cognitive processing of rule-governed language and procedural knowledge.
I felt this reading was too scientific and hard to read. I worked as a teachers assistant at a school for troubled teens and many suffered from Tourette's syndrome. I found that once the child was aware of their surroundings and was in a relaxed environment, they had less trouble with facial tics and/or speech. While the scientific findings are helpful in analyzing a disorder, they offer little or no help with how to cope with it.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Autism
Before watching video “In My Language” I decided to do some background information on Autism. I didn’t really know much about Autism except that its becoming more common. Autism is a "brain developmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication, and by restricted and receptive behavior" (wikapedia). After watching Amanda Baggs in her video “In My Language”, I can honestly say I was shocked by the definition this website gave me. The definition of “impaired communication” does not fit what Amanda Baggs did in her video.
The beginning of the video starts out with Amanda interacting with different objects around her. To the “average” person, it looks like Amanda is doing nothing but banging and hitting random objects. But as Amanda points out, this is her form of communication. She states that she is in “constant conversation with her surroundings.” Who are we to judge this just because it’s not the “typical” way to communicate?
The second part of her video, “A Translation”, is where Amanda uses a computerized voice to actually speak out what she is trying to say. Amanda states that the beginning of the movie was in her “native” language. She goes on to describe the differences of her “native” language. She states that not every image from the first part of the movie has a meaning. She is saying that her language is to interact with the world in a different way than most people think. She is being judged on the fact that she can not physically speak. However, when you take a closer look, she is full or words, just with not sound.
The video goes on with Amanda explaining how others judge Amanda on being “different” when she is really just reacting in her own language. She states, “They judge my existence, awareness, and personhood or even visualization.” However, she goes on to explain how she can sing, smell, and taste. All which are forms of communication. But people don’t think of them as such.
In the end I feel that just because Amanda’s “Native Language” is not the norm, it still shouldn’t be considered a language. This video sends a powerful message of how hard Autistic people have it. How helpless they can feel having of conform to a language that is not their own. I feel that this topic ties right in with AAE and teaching Asian Students English. All of these are examples of “languages” most are not used to.
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