Co-op Blog

Thursday 18th June

 This was the day I was asked to come in and finalize my learning agreement with my supervisor. It has been decided I will be observing 2 ESOL classes, at levels Pre-intermediate and Intermediate 5 times a week and 2 Japanese classes in years 10 and 11 3 times a week. I will begin from the 21st July.

Tuesday 21st July Today marks the first real day for starting my placement, due to my timetable restrictions, I can only do a half day on Tuesday which allows for one ESOL class. This year 11 classes NZQA unit standard will focus on a procedural or skills based lesson for the term, more specifically surrounding the area of obtaining a New Zealand Drivers License. 

The area for testing the understanding of the context will exercise various methods of student checking such as gap fill, true/false/does not say, and justifying answers  through paraphrase. There are several exercises I could employ to practice these areas should any of the students become stuck. However, since this is an intermediate level class, I find it difficult to believe they would not have encountered something like these styles of questioning previously. I think my main purpose of observing this class will be to note how the NZQA system is employed and which areas they aim to target within a procedural based lesson.  

Thursday  23rd July

With my timetable finalized, Thursdays I work with the two, year 10 and 11 Japanese classes. Composed of roughly 14-19 students each, they are currently exercising grammatical points. For the year 11 students, they had their speeches, to be completed in 1 minute about a topic they had been given earlier. From what I could tell, the topics ranged from family, Auckland, and their own hobbies. The year 10 got a chance to practice their conversation skills with visiting Japanese students from Aichiken. 5 minutes in English and 5 minutes in Japanese so each class got a chance to exercise their language skills. Being only year 10, the topics and understanding were fairly limited, however I got the chance to help and exercise my own Japanese language skills in order to help them communicate. 

For the ESOL class I was given the chance to start the class by taking the role and help them with their research into the NZ drivers license procedure. 

Friday 24th July

Reaching another one of my learning outcomes, I attended a staff meeting that takes place every Friday and Monday. It was insightful to see how much goes on behind what any student would witness. The same but major role that teachers have in organizing, preparing and maintaining the school and its programs.  

Looking at the role I was given by the Japanese teacher, I can identify now, whom I might be of help to in regards to tutoring. I will talk more to the teacher about this but she has expressed interest in this idea. For now I shall observe more and do some researching into the standards for all the classes I will be helping. Next week Thursday I will be helping the elementary class with their speeches. 

Tuesday  28th July

Today the 11ESOL2 class had their presentations on getting a New Zealand drivers license. Each did very well with little to no mistakes, and should do well on the procedure test on getting such information and researching. I really need to read the standards for this test to see what exactly the marking schedule is and how each lesson is styled to achieve such outlines. 

For the second period I observed on the English for Academic Purposes class (13EAP) who are in the middle of working towards a reading, skimming and scanning procedure standard. Their tasks surround complex texts of which the student is expected to find, paraphrase and draw their own conclusions and opinions from to answer set questions. I will inquire if I can observe these students further as I imagine these students will more likely to lead onto taking the IELTS examinations of which I have great interest in.

Thursday 30th July

Rutherford is facing a busy night tonight as it is open night, where year 8 students can come and look at the school. This apparently extends into tomorrow so I suspect many of the staff will be exhausted. Working with the year 11 and 10 students I can identify which students might like my help, five boys in one and perhaps two in the other. For the ESOL classes I have expressed my interest to tutor, and my academic supervisor  has suggested 3 students, two in one and one in the other. This will help me with my learning aims and my understanding of the NZQA, which I can then better examine and compare with Cambridge. I will compose a proposal for my supervisor and work from there.

I also got to observe the 9ELL class, an elementary level of around 9 students. They, like the levels above are doing a reading procedure, specifically concerning ancient civilizations. Working towards the Achievement level of gapfill and synonym finding within the text. Tomorrow I will be forgoing my Japanese observations to review the speeches for the elementary level ESOL class. 

Friday 31st July

Today commenced, as all fridays do, with a staff meeting. Mainly to recap over the open evening the occered the night before, the school has no employed a policy that allows year 8 students the ability to visit the classrooms during the day. While this has little to no effect on the department I'm in, its still interesting to note how the school works behind the scenes of such public displays.

I presented my proposal to tutor students to my academic supervisor, whom has indicated the students I would be useful to. I began working with one, who seems receptive and willing to learn with me. From this point on I will be working with them on the reading skills procedure they are currently working on. For now they are composing their own assessment, getting them to focus on the different types of questions and getting them to think about what question is asking from them. 

Instead of going to the Japanese department,I was asked to help moderate some elementary level speeches, which is an entirely new process for me. I was surprised to find that my own assumptions, after briefly reading the marking schedule, matched those of either my supervisor or the teacher. 

The afternoon was taken by offering to help one of the heads of department by setting up the goodbye party for the Japanese students while simultaneously welcoming the new students arriving that night. I got to use some of my Japanese here, though I had wished I had studied more keigo or had time to brush up on my grammar. I try to use my Japanese when I can by fear for using it does seem to be on the rise.  

Tuesday 4th August

 Tuesdays, I only have one class and today they had their assessment on a familiar reading, namely the drivers license acquisition. Watching a NCEA assessment being conducted will contribute greatly towards my comparison between the two dominant examination methods (NCEA or CIE).

Thursday 6th August

I'm getting listless in the Japanese class, mainly because due to the nature of the lessons there is not much I can do other than run minor errands. I'm only in the classroom 3 times a week and try to help the students when they are tasked or are working in pairs. 

For the ESOL class however, I was able to help one of the better Japanese students, situated somewhere between pre and intermediate level English. I think the Japanese students are a little unnerved that I can speak or understand them. Some even coaxing me to prove that I can understand them via basic translation. I only wish to exercise this ability in the ESOL class if it can provide a better understanding of English, not to test out my own abilities when not required. I also got to meet my last student I will be working with, he seems very receptive and willing to learn, but I fear his problem lies with his inability to forgo minor details and therefore runs out of time to answer.

It is the plan for this class to be split between ability, my self working mainly with the lower students to help them improve. For the ESOL3 they will be working towards a presentation of their favorite person (not a family member) in preparation for next year. 

The students are also tasked with choosing their subjects for next year, for these students that is a daunting task as its a collective belief that these subjects will be a pathway to your future career.  While I don't agree with the fear mongering this brings, I understand the purpose for it. Students cling to structure and grow by it, I wish there was a better method for this, but as I see it there are none. I offered my input to answer any questions the students might have concerning AUT or UNITEC to hopefully put their minds at slighter ease, good knows I needed it when I was in their shoes. I think this talk will happen tomorrow.

Friday 7th August

I know one of learning goal was to network, and while I can work with the team surrounding the languages and ESOL departments, the teachers beyond that are highly secretive, like children with cliques. I think that's why I don't take to the staff meetings as well as I should. 

On the one hand, I am working slowly with the Japanese class, who are organizing their restaurant trip. On the other I am working on tutoring 5 students, one I work with next week. In the meantime I act as an intermediate for my supervisor, an extra pair of hands and eyes for the classroom, and sometimes a sounding board. 

The students will be continuing with reading procedures and eventually a presentation assessment in preparation for next year. I gave my talk about university only to be met with dull eyes. I can understand the reasons why, I wish I could bring some relief but as I remember myself at that stage in life, I was much the same. 

For my methodology and theory, I think I will research maintaining student focus. \

Tuesday 11th August

Today I start my work with my first student from Chile, going over her assessment of which she did not pass. Reading over it I could understand her mistakes, her lack of understanding of words leading her to guess but in some cases it was a simple miscommunication of the task. This students weaknesses are not reading the question, synonym identification, connectives and conjunctions, pronoun reference and identifying key words/phrases. I have a feeling she becomes so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of working in thew question she takes a guess at what she is looking for. While working with her on it, it was abundantly clear she understood what the task was asking of her, after reading the entire question or paragraph given. With no doubt some of what we discussed will have to be cemented, and at this point int time I doubt greatly we shall be able to but I might be able to include it in the current task they are doing; the brain questionnaire.

More of the students seem to be seeking my help, which as an acting intermediary for student and teacher is very pleasing. I will be working with a Japanese student next on her synonym identification, this and pronoun reference seem to be unnecessarily difficult for these students to understand. I will be preparing my own material to exercise with, attached (at advanced level).

Thursday 13th August

Today the Japanese teacher was absent, so myself, the reliever and the other Japanese student teacher had to take the year 11 and 10 Japanese classes. I found within the year 10 class was a student who has only just begun to study Japanese, struggling with learning Hiragana, so I opted to help her while the other teacher tasked the students with a worksheet. I later learned this student is in the EL2 class which I see once a week. This class is in the process of reading The Rabbit Proof Fence and will be writing a response to this. After the brain assessment, EL3 will be working towards a presentation on a news event in their country, and possibly a person they admire surrounding that news event. 

Friday 14th August

Today the students are focusing on their brain assessments and developing personal responses. These responses can be to an article or film but must be at a certain academic level. The students must react to and think about responses to these texts while using correct grammar, complex and compound sentences, examples fro their personal lives and a final recommendation. I read one from a Japanese student who struggles greatly with grammar patterns and the differences between Japanese and English. Thankfully I could draw on some of my own to help demonstrate the differences between the adjectives. I've also been tasked with marking the students brain assessments in the meantime. By formulating their own questions they learn exactly what the assessment is tasking them and therefore improve their ability to identify and answer the questions more efficiently. Next Friday is Rutherford Day, so networking will be the primary focus. 

Tuesday 18th August

Today the students had their driving procedure assessment to do, which usually takes two or more periods and have to be stretched over the day. While I couldn't be present for the second half, during the time I observed and am now under full understanding of how an NCEA examination works for the ESOL department. The next assessment will require them to write a personal response to an article or news event or piece of text or multimedia. I had the chance to review one last week which reflected on an earthquake in Japan, these ones (all done by one student) were very clear and exercised almost perfect grammar. 

Thursday 20th August

 Today I got to learn a bit more about the students I'm working with, some wish to become nurses and others doctors. I got to understand where some of them want to go in life and I think that will help me in helping them achieve their goals. I'm working more closely with one particular student in the Japanese class in building the basics of Japanese, including greeting and basic words and sentences. 

Friday 21st August

Today marked the celebration that is Rutherford day, where it is spent with the first two periods shortened and the day doing speeches and networking with other staff. So its a day for fun, so I got to play kahoot with the Japanese class, it was good to see the Japanese students getting involved with the class for a change. Then I got to work with the ESOL students, working on their personal responses, especially with one student who seems to struggle with Japanese to English grammar. That afternoon I watched the principal give a speech which surprisingly had acknowledgment for its audience, and a guest speaker who was really interesting and down to earth. Then I had to talk with other members of staff, and I still find that networking is not for me.  

Tuesday 25th August

 Half day today as I worked with a Japanese student on her final personal response. She seems to get confused with the order English presents itself but she is clear on her intentions on what she wants to convey. She will get there with more practice I'm sure.

Thursday 27th August

Today I was working with a very competent Japanese student who seems to have gotten a bit lost on the structure of the personal response, which is strange since she had been producing excellent work prior to this final piece. After some discussion she has re-written the piece which is much better but still requires some minor clarification and relation to outside events. The other Japanese student is working towards a presentation on Global Warming, but requires some help to formulate her sentences. Finally the Chilean student, she had opted to do a presentation but changed her mind to continue with personal responses to texts. 

In the Japanese class, as a reward they watched Waterboys

Friday 28th August

Today I was working with a Chilean student who is working on their personal response to 5 news articles and one novel. We spent our time choosing articles and reviewing her strategies when dealing with questions. Her speaking is affluent but her writing and reading seems to be weaknesses, especially the ability to identify what is being asked of her. In the meantime other students are working on presentations to be given in term 4. 

Today was also the last day for the Aichiken students to which we had a shared lunch!

Tuesday 1st September

Tuesday was a bit of a change for me, since I am now on holiday I was able to stay and help my supervisor as she was the only one in the office today. It was a strange experience, and I opted not to venture to the Japanese class as they had no knowledge I was there and is not my general routine. This time I worked with a Chinese male student working toward his personal response, finding conflicts between the English and the Chinese news regarding the explosion that occurred recently. This was later highlighted by a Japanese female student when comparing the Japanese and English news.

Thursday 3rd September

Today I worked with Chilean and Chinese students who are working toward their personal responses and recount responses. The Chinese student was highlighted to me earlier in the program but since herself and another Chinese student work together I have little space to work with them. Her grammar and vocabulary is sorely lacking, relying heavily on her translator, I think she struggles with the systems in place at Rutherford and lacks to see the point in them. I will be working with her to develop her recount on her trip to the Hamilton Gardens. In the Japanese class I have found a stronger desire to use my Japanese, speaking with the Japanese students in Japanese class and helping the students, a young male particularly, when I can.

Friday 4th September

Today I worked with Tuvalu student, reviewing her inability to slow down and read the question, opting to give general answers. He abilities are great and I gave her some tips to reading and understanding the questions which I have listed as evidence for tutoring. On the other hand I got to read and comment on a response from a Japanese male student who has a great capacity for humor but lacks in speech communication, much like myself I suspect. In the Japanese class I worked with a Malaysian student on her Japanese and helped the native Japanese students with their year 11 and 13 biology. This has become an extended part of my placement, since I took these subjects myself over 5 years ago, while I did not pursue these as a career I would be lying to say I did not enjoy them, with the majority of the students opting to study in the medical field I offered my services and recommendations as a former student in order to further aid these students into achieving their goals. Next week will mark my last week at my placement.

Tuesday 8th September

Today was another half day as I worked with the Chilean and the Japanese students. The Chilean student seemed too tired to absorbs anything and despite their exams beginning tomorrow she has done zero amount of study. I'm quite sure she suffers from being over tested and from the material being of higher level than she is able to understand. On the other hand I'm helping a Japanese student create her presentation on Global warming, she seems to suffer from problems of grammatical structure, unsure where to place words despite having them in correct tense and spelling most of the time. She needs to slow down and formulate her sentences before writing them down, or at least write down key words then formulating the correct sentence structure.  

Thursday 10th September

The students have started their examinations, and as the ESOL classes run with the students tested on their ability not their age, most of the senior school was missing from their lessons, leaving 5 junior students to practice updating their classmates on what they had missed while they were taking exams. Each of them would take the class to present a piece of information, not unlike a teacher would. Improving their confidence and stage manner.
This same student is the one I help with Japanese and with her English lessons, correcting her speech on first home ownership. For the Japanese I had done as much as I can with the time I have had, giving her review sheets I have constructed myself occupying the spacing effect with her lessons. However as she is in a year 11 class, she had to step in to learn transport, which was a nice thing to observe, as she is usually unable to follow the lesson.Here she was capable and followed the vocabulary lesson and played the game very well with her classmates.
In the meantime I helped the seniors who had come and built a fort in the classroom for studying, asking questions and trying to absorb all they had learn. The Japanese student I got to help with her biology (ribosomes) seemed to finally understand the science. She is very bright so I have no doubt she will do well in the field however I will not lie, the terminology may be a bit of a challenge.

In a last minute situation I was also given the challenge to moderate some writing pieces by the elementary students on various documentaries and films they had seen and their responses to such visual texts, overall I agreed with most but there were some that I disagreed on, I had my supervisor look over them as well to see what her opinion would be.

 

Friday 11th September

Meeting is always the way to start a Friday, since the principal is in China there wasn't much to say. However the day did start with a wake up call, two in fact, fire drills for the examination students. Much fun, much noise.

From there I got to holding an exam, well babysit one, the recount and description papers for the students who arrived later in the year. Overall they did very well, but there was one of the Chinese students I wish I could have worked a little closer with needed some extra work, however he is very bright and I am sure he is in good hands.
To pass the time I read their responses and marked them, they are very capable students and I sure most of them passed, although one was asked to repeat their work as it was believed they could achieve more.
After this my supervisor and I decided to review my feedback form for my placement, all was good. By this point the students had to into their afternoon exams so they said goodbye to me and gave me a cake!
From this point I helped that student I wish I could have spent more time with, working on his mind map for his next recount writing on a trip to the beach, he relies heavily on his translator but after encouraging him to draw pictures or describe the thing we often reached an understanding and thus increased his vocabulary. Shell, Eggplant, L and P

Leading on from lunch where myself and the Cambodian student who I studied Japanese, ESOL and English with I helped her with her presentation power point to aid her English speech, very nice student. 
Finally I got to help the Japanese student with her interview at a Japanese University which will be held in English, she will do very well but the English level they require is quite complicated, nevertheless I have faith and her attitude will get her very far.