Jigsaw #4: Technology

I love technology. I love how they improve the quality of our life, makes a lot of our works easier and more efficient.

But I'm worry. I'm worry that with helps from the technology, no one will want to write with pencil on a paper (thanks to emails and text messages), no one will remember phone numbers, and people will become like ET: big head, fat body, short leg (because did not use it as often), long finger with fat fingertip (result of tapping on smartphone, tablet, computer and other devices) , or become like the humans in the cartoon <Wall-E>. 

Human, Wall-E

ET
Copy Right: Infinite Hollywood

I really worry that one day we might lose technology and we will not be able to go back to the old way as we lost all the life skills (maybe I'm thinking too much). Well, I wish that day will not arrive. 

As educator in the 21st century, we cannot avoid technology, and I think we should include technology and start to build a community with it instead of banned them in school (a lot of the schools still banned the use of smartphone and computer in classroom, at least the last two schools that I went to still are until today.) Jeff Utecht, an international educator and educational technology consultant, made a very good point about this in his TED talk ('Community trumps content') in my school three years ago, he said that a lot of our students (almost all) born in the era that is full of technology, they will not understand what were we doing with our computers when internet was not invented. 

I think it is more challenging for many teachers to get comfortable with technology compare to our students. Many teachers are 'cross-era' teachers, from the old-school style era cross into the high technology era. It is very important for teachers to get familiar with the technology tools, get to comfortable using them, like the article <Exploring the use of iPad for literacy learning> mentioned, teachers should be familiar with the tools before using it in the lesson. Also it is the schools and administrators responsibility to make sure teachers get enough professional development on information and communication technology (ICT) before implementing any technology integration policy into curriculum. 

One common message from all the articles is, teachers should have a clear goal, lesson objectives and outcomes, then choose suitable tools to assist them to deliver the lesson more efficiently. Also choose suitable technology tools to assist students to learn effectively.  

I love technology, but I will try not to rely too much on it. 

Jigsaw #3: Radio Lab -- Language vs Thought

It's a mix feeling after listening the potcasts. I am very glad that Eldofanso finally got the meaning of language, yet I feel sorry for him for loosing the connection with his friends. What I understand about language from the potcasts is: it is the media that helps make connection; it can be verbal or non-verbal, some might driven by human instinct; it's dynamic; it will evolve and it's cultural.

So, was Eldofanso thinking of anything when he was wordless? I think so. From genetic point of view, thinking should happen before language, as language was created by human with their thought base on their needs. As time goes by, the relationship between language has become more complex due to the the change of the environment and vise versa. Maybe Eldofanso's thought back then could not last long and might be just image (just making assumption as his friends able to act out the scene, so there must be images remained inside their head), but definitely there's something happening inside his brain. It is very difficult for any of us, who has the privilege to learn language(s) to even imagine the world without language. I feel so struggle and frustrated that I have to use the language that I'm not good at to express myself, not to mention without words to express. 

I am interested in how language changes the way we think. Each language has their own system and specific meaning that tie to the culture and environment of the culture group. It provides different cognitive experiences and development. Therefore these differences will definitely affect a person's cognition. The example about the concept of block and street in TED talks that Derek Sivers gave, (Weird, or just different?) is a good example of how the differences affect our thought. 

As teacher, a foreign language teacher, I should always be aware of some of the differences and try to bridge the gap of the students' understanding toward learning new language. Sometimes it's really difficult due to my lack of knowledge of the students' language background (e.g. I have no idea how the Koren word works in order to help my students to make connection.) and I know the experiences will not be the same, as I am just using my assumption based on my understanding (which affected by my language) to 'imagine' the way they think (just like you 'imagining' to understand the way Chinese speakers think while they learn English). But I will keep on learning and trying. 

Jigsaw #2: Vocabulary

What does effective vocabulary instruction require and why is vocabulary instruction so important?

Words ~
Copy Right KerGL 2013

Language is the window to the world, to learn a language you have to know the vocabulary. Most of the time, vocabulary is the reason why a lot of the students (even adult) stop learning a language. 
  
All the articles shared in the expert group have a similar theme, bridge the concept/ words to the students' environment, to make the words relevant and meaningful for them. Before all this can happen in the classroom, we should know our lesson, why are we teaching this, and also know our students in order to help them in their learning. 

Learning without clear instruction is like walking in the thick forest without knowing the end point. A little effort to know our students and list down the clear goal before lesson will definitely help teacher in deliver a more effective lesson. I like how Kevin Flanigan and Scott C.Greenwood said in Effective content vocabulary instruction in the middle: Matching Students, purposes, words and strategies :All words are not create equal (P.228) We should not spend equal time in teaching each of the vocabularies on the list. In fact, we should level each words according to their purposes, relation with the lesson and students, then think of the strategies to teach them to students. This is a bit similar to the Understanding by Design framework, know our objectives and work backwards. I really like the idea as it helps both teachers and students focus on tasks. 

After sharing in the expert group, I concluded that knowing the students' background (which stage is the student in learning alphabets, Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension), use different strategies to make connection to the concept and real life (Vocabulary Self Collection), provide them with choices and empower them to help themselves (Bumping in to spicy, tasty words that catch your tongue) will contribute to a more effective vocabulary instruction. 

The vocabulary instruction will help bridge the students background knowledge to the content/ concept that we want them to learn. It will help us to access to the students' prior knowledge in a systematic way. Not only the teachers have a sense of control over the students learning by providing clear instruction that align with the goals of the lesson, the students too will have a sense of responsible to their own learning. We don't want to be like the jungle guide, Bill in one of the article, wondering around the thick forest without considering the people following behind him. Teaching for me is like getting the students from point A to point B, there are various route to get to point B with different kind of transportation depends on the students' interest, ability, choices and etc. A clear and well planned vocabulary instructions will help different students get to point B in different ways.    

Effective means the students learn the words, use the words, and remember the words. (When Kids can't read, P.178) If a school do have a planned vertical curriculum on vocabulary instruction, it will definitely help the students in learning vocabulary in a more effective way. 

Jigsaw #1: Motivation

What is the role of motivation in literacy development? 

Motivation
Copy Right Ker GL 2012

Motivation is the force that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to take action. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature. (Theories of Motivation: A Closer Look at Some Important Theories of Motivation, Kendra Cherry)

Motivation definitely play an significantly important role in literacy development. A lack of motivation in students is at the ROOT of many of the problems the teachers face in teaching. (What teachers can learn about reading motivation through conversations with children, Edmunds and Bauserman, p.414). Therefore, in order to get the students start to read, we have to stimulate the main factors with a right method. 

The articles that shared by other classmates have the same theme, control and connection. Edmunds and Bauserman talk about few main factors that get students excited about reading including personal interest, choices, knowledge gain, characteristic of the book and etc. If we would take all these factors into consideration, definitely will give the students a sense of control of they want to read, and they will be more motivated to pick up a book. 

The factors can be due biological differences (boys's literacy skills are lower than girls due to biological differences), or might be because of positive/ negative reinforcements, for example rewards/ punishment. Each students are a different individual, way to motivate students definitely need to think of the age group, gender, cultural background and etc. Some of the factors that mentioned in those articles are more suitable for primary year students, for example involve parents in reading club one a month (Edmunds and Bauserman). However this might not work well for middle year and high school students. What drives them to read might come from other aspect, for example their peers and emotion. 

Everything happen for a reason. It is very important for us as a teacher, to be aware of all these factors and differences between each students before jump into any conclusion/ judgement about the students' ability.  

Literary History

I grew up reading mangas (comics) at my neighbor's who open a bookstore. My family wasn't very wealthy, my parents couldn't afford to buy us any extra story books, not to mention manga, the so call unhealthy readings according to my father. My neighbor was really nice to my brothers and I, he just let us read whatever we like in his store for free, without telling my father. Sometimes we will help him a bit at the store but most of the time we were just immerse in the world of manga. I do not understand a lot of the words in the manga, but my brothers will always discuss the stories with his friends, that's when I start to connect the pieces that I pick up from the manga and try to make sense of it. I strongly believe that was the time that my imagination and creativity starts to develop. Still remain a big fan of manga.  =)

Although I did not get any pocket money to buy the story books that I like, but for some reason, there was a big bookshelf that full of books at home. Those were the books left behind by my uncles, aunties, some belonged to my parents and sister. Finished reading all the books in that shelf was my one of my childhood goals, not too sure if I eventually achieve it, but I definitely read a lot from there. Whenever I had words that I do not understand, I'll go to everyone in the family to look for answer. One day, my father had enough from me, and decided to teach me how to use the dictionary, I was about 7. Since then, I become a more independent reader. 

<The Stories of the Sahara> by Sanmao, 1974

After reading <The stories of the Sahara>, a semi- autobiographical account of the life of Sanmao, the author, while she was in the Sahara Desert during the early 70's. Her stories   full of love and pain in life, expressed in a sense of humour and sensibility inspired me to start writing. With the help from the dictionary, I will not have problem with difficult words. 

Reading and writing habits continue through my schooling life. Born and grew up in Malaysia, a multiethnic country, I am very fortunate to be able to study in my mother tongue, went through traditional Chinese education with many supports, especially in terms of materials, e.g. books, magazines, newspapers, radio broadcast etc. For some reason, the Chinese newspaper in Malaysia uses the mix of Traditional Chinese font and Simplified Chinese font. That makes me very comfortable reading and writing using both fonts and eventually help me a lot in my current teaching. I can easily read and translate the texts from Taiwan or Hong Kong (mainly Traditional Chinese font) to Simplified Chinese font that suit the China students (who use Simplified Chinese font).     

Look back at these experiences, the society that I grew up and my families give me great opportunities to explore into literacy and develop literacy skills. These have become one of the life skills that I most appreciate and wish to pass them to my student.

Day 1 activity in Content Area Literacy course 2013 Summer