grade school to grad school tesol p point 2007 barratt latham lobo
TRANSCRIPT
Students Mentoring Students
from Grade School to Grad
School
Kathy Lobo (grade school)
Melissa Latham (high school)
Leslie Barratt (grad school)
• This presentation demonstrates the potential
of student mentoring programs to provide a
venue for authentic communication and
increased social integration for language
learners.
• Three models of mentoring at middle school
(grades 5-8), high school, and university
were implemented.
• Language is acquired through authentic
interactions
• Many of our students may be isolated and
have a small/limited social network
• Fostering social networking and authentic
communication can in turn foster language
development and greater academic success
• Student mentoring programs provide both a
venue for authentic communication and
increased social integration for language
learners
Mentoring in “Grade School”
• Lunch groups held on a frequent basis
-opportunity for students in the same
grade to meet and interact
• Special Events for English Language
Learners held several times a year
-opportunity for students across grade
levels to meet and interact
What the lunches look like:
What we do to get the ball
rolling. . .
Activities and Games
Cultural Connections
After school activities include
Apple picking
Carving pumpkins
Making holiday decorations
Making cards
Making gifts
Visiting museums
Attending concerts
Community service projects
Connecting to Community
Making things-cards and gifts
Connecting to the Wider
Community• Museums often have free admission
hours
• Students and families can use public transportation
• Free events at local libraries, music schools, churches, town halls. . .
• Historical reenactments. . .annual events. . .
Annual Sundae Event
Venue to Cultivate
Relationships
High School Demographics
• 2% of high school students are LEP
• 96% of high school students plan to attend
college
• The native languages spoken by students in
the ELE program or FLEP monitoring in the
2008-2009 school year included Korean (14),
Mandarin Chinese (11), Spanish (6),
Cantonese Chinese (2), Russian (2), German
(2), Armenian (2), Nepali (1), French (1),
Albanian (1), Gujarati (1), Hebrew (1), Haitian
Creole (1) and Japanese (1)
High School Student Voices
“Well there‟s four [Spanish-speaking students], 3,
4…have been here for a long time, like their whole lives,
so they‟re really comfortable with it. And they can use it
anytime they want and move it around and express
themselves very well and, yeah, it‟s basically their first
language. They have two first languages because they
were raised here so they can use it very well. Then,
there‟s like three groups, that and then there‟s a middle
group where I put myself where we‟re still learning but
have like a basic English…we can talk to people and
express ourselves, but we still need more. We‟re
comfortable but we could use more.
And then there‟s the people who are
learning now and still feel awkward when
they try to speak and it gets
uncomfortable. I don‟t know. Every time
I‟m with them I try to speak in Spanish
half the time and in English half the time
to get…in their heads somehow…how I
learned. One of my friends helped me
that speaks Spanish. It‟s like three
different groups.” (Al, 17, from Chile, 2.5
years in the US)
High School Student Voices
“I want to say when I first came to here, I
felt everyone was so unfriendly because
when I asked them something they didn‟t
respond, but until now I feel like so many
kids are nice and they‟re all good kids
and then because I communicate with
them…It‟s like I gave them something
and then they gave me back.” (Yu, 15,
from China, 1 year in the US)
High School Student Voices
“It was really difficult. Kind of difficult. In the first time,
the first class was History class, and Mr. S., when I was
a freshman and everyone know each other, but I didn‟t
know who was my classmate. Mr. S. let us to know the
people‟s name, just memorize the name, and I failed
because it was kind of unfamiliar to me. English name,
and I can‟t really understand what they saying. My turn,
it was something. It was Peter…I don‟t know…but I
failed. I feel really awkward because everybody know
each other, but I don‟t know. It was kind of awkward.
Yeah, six months, I know each other. It‟s getting better.
Yeah. It‟s getting better.” (Yoon, 18, from Korea, 2
years in the US)
High School Student Voices
“And also, Buyee, you know her? She was crying in the
office of my drawing/painting teacher, and then I asked
her why and she said, she feel so sad because…her
Algebra teacher so mean, and then she was like, she
feels it is so hard for us to come here because she was
a great student in Korea, but in here her grade went
down so much because of the language and the
teacher didn‟t understand her and then like said
something so mean about her. So she was so…and I
had that same experience before. And we were crying
in the office and…it‟s always hard for foreigners to
come to a country that they don‟t know before.” (Yu, 15,
from China, 1 year in the US).
Mentor Program
• Two versions
– One-on-one: Students were paired with
another student and met once a week.
Whole group meeting at the end of the
month. („08-‟09)
– Whole group: Students met in a large
group once a term. (‟09-‟10)
One-on-One
• Mentor was a student who had already
spent one academic year in the school.
• Mentee was a new student that year.
• Mentor received service hours.
• Pros: some pairs met a lot, helped with
school work, friendships
• Cons: some pairs had a hard time
connecting, more mentors than
mentees
Logo Design Contest
International Food Party
Whole Group
• Mentors were students who had already
spent one academic year in the school.
• Mentees were new students that year.
• Mentors received service hours.
• Pros: Eliminated problem of pairs
connecting, all mentors could participate
• Cons: Fewer meetings, fewer individual
connections, less collaboration on
school work
Scavenger Hunt1 What is the title of the book under the call number: 523.89
REY
2 What are the names of the three secretaries in the main
office?
3 What are three ways you can receive gym credit at BHS?
4 What is the BHS mascot?
5 What Shakespearean play is the English director reading?
(HINT: It is on her desk!)
6 What five pictures are on Mr. Millington‟s door?
7 Where is the lost and found?
8 Who teaches in room 114?
9 What are the four languages taught in the Foreign Language
Department?
10 What department does Ms. Lints teach in?
Questions for Consideration
• My mentors were very motivated to
participate. The mentees didn‟t seem to
have as much buy-in. How can the
program be more useful to mentees?
• Should the program look different
depending on the needs of the population
in a given year?
• How should students be matched? Is
native language/cultural background
important? Age group?
Mentoring at the Graduate
Level
• Pairs with current students and
incoming students (via email)
• Pairs with first- and second-year TAs
• M.A. Mentoring Groups
• Ph.D. Mentoring Group
• Mentoring across groups –
LinkingLanguageLearners organization
Current and Incoming
• Incoming students are asked if they
would like to correspond with a current
student.
• Current student chosen based on
various factors: time, enthusiasm,
similar situation, sometimes country or
culture.
M.A. Mentoring Groups
• 3-6 M.A. students
• 1st and 2nd-year M.A. students
• NEST and NNEST students
• Students of several countries/languages
• At least one student with a car
Group Tasks
• Social events – cooking together for
department events
• Member support – for English or studies
• Collaboration on Professional task
– bulletin boards
– Language games
– Other service project
M.A. Group Bulletin Boards
M.A. Feedback
Students liked
getting to know other students and their
cultures.
Cooking and language games.
Participation is a challenge.
Benefits vary depending on the student.
help with assignments
teamwork experience
Social support
Ph.D. Mentoring Group
• All students in Language Education
concentration
• Monthly meetings for students to
– report progress on dissertations/proposals
– get feedback from others
– Pre-candidate students get advice on
classes and topics
Mentoring across Levels
• LinkingLanguageLearners student
organization plans events
• M.A. Mentoring Groups (as well as
others) bring their games and teach
them
• Students at all levels help plan and run
events
Annual Language Game Day
Now it‟s your turn for a
mentoring task…