Task 1:
Pre-Posting – Read all of the Freeman & Freeman, Chapter 4 (How Do People Learn and How Do They Acquire Language?)
Posting – From all of the questions at the end of the chapter (pg 101), Key Points, identify 2 you would most want to explore/take up/discuss. What theories or research supports resonates and could be used to bolster your teaching philosophy? What is your own personal and professional rationale for choosing these questions?
1) Think back to a learning experience where someone helped you to succeed. How does your experience fit in with Vygotsky’s idea of Zone of Proximal Development?
ReplyDeleteVygotsky claims that people learn when instruction is targeted to their zone of proximal development. Vygotsky defines this as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”.
This is a very common practice in physical education. We assess student’s skill level in the beginning of the unit or lesson and then work on modeling and practice to allow the student to grow, feel more confident, and be able to improve on their skill level. Presidential Fitness testing is one that comes to mind. All students are pre tested in the fall in the mile run, sit ups, push-ups, and wall hang or pull ups. Throughout the year the skill practiced on, improved on and in the sprint the students are tested again. Not every student is expected to meet the same level; they are expected to improve on the level they begin at.
2) Cazden describes three types of assistance teachers can provide: direct instruction, modeling, and scaffolding. Think of examples of each that you have done in your teaching or have seen done with second language learners.
Teachers can mediate learning through direct instruction, modeling and scaffolding. Again in physical education modeling and scaffolding are often used. Student need to be shown a model of what the correct way to perform a skill. Where hands should be on the football, how to position your body for a layup are two examples. Scaffolding also comes into play. If a student is on the basketball team they cannot be compared to a person who has never dribbled a basketball. Scaffolding would be done during the practice so students are working on different skill levels.
You make an excellent point about scaffolding in your PE classes. I think this is one of the few content areas where the teacher literally shows your what to do! I can picture you walking around your class and showing students what they need to physically do to improve their skills. I am not sure how comfortable you feel about it, but I am jealous that you are able to do this scaffolding process in such a tangible and real way during your lessons!
DeleteI forgot about the physical fitness tests in P.E! (It's been so long!) But, yes, that's a perfect situation to apply the zone of proximal development to, because it has such a concrete manifestation. I like how you talk about using these tests to assess the student and THEN "work on modeling and practice to allow the student to grow, feel more confident, and be able to improve on their skill level." This is something my gym teachers never did, and I always struggled (hated!) that class because of it. I always felt behind and like a failure because my teachers seemed to have the attitude "You're just not athletic, you'll never be able to do any of this." I'm glad that we will have more positive people like you in the field soon :)
DeleteWhen I think of Vygotsky, I immediately think of scaffolding. This process is so important to do with students in all content areas, but especially literacy instruction. We as teachers need to think critically about the best way to do this for our learners. I think most people believe that ESL teachers will have a harder time teaching with scaffolding to their students because of the language and cultural differences. I personally think that ESL teachers have a huge advantage in this area because they usually work with very small groups of students at one time. The main benefit to this small group size is that the teacher can get to know each of the students on a deeper level. By doing this, the teachers can better understand how each of them learn, directly influencing the types of skills they need to scaffold. Scaffolding can be really great for students that are at the correct level that the scaffolding starts at. If there are students that are way behind or ahead of the class, they are not really benefiting at all from this scaffolding method of instruction. Ideally, this method of instruction works best when all students are at eh same level, or in Vygotsky's case, developmental stage. Even if the ESL teacher has to scaffold in different ways to make sure the students are understanding, it is easier to do with a smaller group of students.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter also mentions a topic that I feel strongly about: the use of different strategies to communicate with a second language. This entire section made me think about a point that I have made in many of my classes this year. I think that some native English speakers try VERY hard to understand what someone else is saying in their best variation of English. I am personally very patient when it comes to tolerating attempts to speak English with me, but this might be because of different reasons that the chapter suggests. I think a lot of us in this country are more willing to understand non-native English because we have experienced a lot of diversity in America. In the school I am volunteering at now, some of the students try to convey certain words or phrases to me that blow right over my head the first time I hear them. With a little scaffolding, I am able to get the student to either rephrase what he or she is trying to say, or ask them to draw a picture, mime it, or ask a friend. There are plenty of ways to communicate what we are trying to say, and the patience and tolerance of difference are my personal two keys to understanding.
I really enjoyed this post because to me 'scaffolding' sounds awesome, but it's such a big and somewhat vague word that I can have difficulty thinking of how it directly applies to my future classroom, or how it would work in practice. Your post above gives a lot of specific examples and realities of how scaffolding word work in an ELL classroom, and I appreciate that. I can tell you put a lot of thought into how you are going to use this theory to your benefit in your future teaching, and I hope to do the same sort of 'scaffolding' in my standard language arts classroom.
DeleteEric,
DeleteIn you second paragraph I can resonate with your comments both at home and at work. At work, I deal with a number of ESL parents wanting to relay information to me and I need to prob questions and can usually come to a common understanding. I also deal with this daily at home with both my son (4) and daughter (2). With my son his brain can process things faster than he can say them so he often takes longer to form the sentence he wants to say. My daughter is just learning the concept of forming phrases so I have to ask her to to "show me" or probe different questions to understand.
Thanks for sharing!
The first point I would like to consider is Fisher and Frey's four stages of teaching, as that concept was newer to me and I enjoyed it. So, they lay out the stages as: focus lessons, guided instruction, collaborative learning, and independent work. As I noted in Erik's post above, sometimes the term 'scaffolding' is too big for me to digest, but I felt like Fisher & Frey's 4 stages are a more broken-down form of scaffolding that I can easily work with. I know how to set up a focused lesson, I know how to then guide the students through my instructions, then set them free to work with classmates, and then let them go on their own. These stages are going to be especially useful in teaching writing - as there are so many small issues that come up in composition which I'll need to cover with my students. A lot of editing comes after mini-lessons (focus lessons) and also peer revision (collaborative learning) can be a great tool if used properly and effectively. It was exciting for me to see how perfectly these stages tie in to the way my mentor teacher works his classroom, and the way I would probably like to in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe second point I'd like to briefly consider and elaborate upon is one Michelle already brought up above - Cazden's idea of the 3 types of instruction teachers can/should provide: direct instruction, modeling, and scaffolding. These are, of course, similar and closely related to Fisher & Frey's four stages, except they are not set up in a specific order. I rather like that they are not set up in order as in the classroom you never know what level your students are going to be at and whether or not you need to switch up the order of the stages you're teaching them. Perhaps modeling should come at the end, if you want students to work through a problem on their own first (I have heard this is a popular method in some other countries like Japan, and has had great success). Or, perhaps if your students are getting overly cocky and not believing any of their work is a challenge anymore you could skip scaffolding for a few weeks to freak them out, and get them interested in improving/understanding again. That may not have been very well explained - but I'm thinking in terms of motivation. Throw someone a really complex problem without any help, and they'll be more apt to WANT to solve it, I think.
Nice break down of Fisher and Frey's. I think that breaking it into these 4 steps makes it more manageable than creating a scaffold plan on your own. I also like that you note that often times we see these stages or scaffolding in a classroom but we don't identify the model or theory behind it!
DeleteYour point about students getting cocky and not feeling challenged was what I was trying to say in my first paragraph. It will be hard for us as teachers to find that perfect area to start the direct instruction, modeling, and scaffolding. Some students might just naturally understand the material, while others need more time than you have allotted. I think the only way to really figure this out it to give it a try and find out what works best for you. The crazy thing is, just when you have figured out your classroom, you get a whole new group of students the next year! AHHHHH haha
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