[NIFL-4EFF:2555] RE: Toolkit on line

From: Bonnie Odiorne (bodiorne@c4k.org)
Date: Tue Sep 23 2003 - 13:59:42 EDT


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From: "Bonnie Odiorne" <bodiorne@c4k.org>
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Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2555] RE: Toolkit on line
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I just did a similar activity. One student stated he wanted to do volunteer
work as a thank-you for the help he has been given. We talked about
long-term vs. short term goals, and had initially agreed that other
important goals, such as the (too generic) ones of getting a better job or
learning English, needed to be reached before he could volunteer. Then we
talked about helping people, and we realized that he could do that in his
neighborhood or church before he had met these other more "important" goals.
I'd be interested in the goal worksheet you used.
Bonnie

-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-4eff@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-4eff@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Diane
Gardner
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 1:38 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2554] RE: Toolkit on line


Linda,

Thank you for sharing your experience with this activity.  I hope that
others will respond and provide other examples or connections that might be
useful to you as you build on this information that your learners shared
with you.

Diane Gardner
EFF Professional Development and Certification Coordinator
EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance

At 12:16 PM 9/23/03 -0400, you wrote:
>Wow. I just had one of those classroom experiences where it seemed the
>lesson had fallen flat around an activity that didn't seem to generate
>much interest. After previous discussions of the four purposes, I asked
>my intermediate-level students to fill out individual goal sheets (see
>tools: Naming Role-related Goals) to help identify specific changes
>they'd like to make in 4 areas of their lives: work, family, community,
>and self. I shared my own goals, gave them time to think about and begin
>the task at home, and then encouraged them to complete the goal sheet
>during class. As I circulated, I got an overall sense in the group of
>confusion, hesitation, or reluctance to write. I braced myself for the
>usual generic goals: "to get more English", "to improve my English
>skills", etc.
>
>But when I sat down to read them, my mouth dropped open as I saw the
>depth of thought and feeling evident in their work. Some of the
>responses:
>.       Understand when I talk with the teacher about my son
>.       Talk speech in front of the whole class
>.       Volunteer at school
>.       Volunteer with my neighbor
>.       Be more brave to speak English
>.       Manage money
>.       Learn about opening a child-care business
>.       Meet new friends
>.       Help my church
>.       Volunteer for my son classes
>.       Read the newspaper
>.       I want a change my life
>.       Fill out application
>It seems what I took for hesitation was part of the process, the
>struggle to put their ideas into English. This assignment not only gives
>me a great jumping off point for joint class goals and connections to
>the standards; it is an integral part of the needs assessment process.
>It reveals a lot about students' metacognitive skills, ease of
>expression, and priorities.
>
>I've been dabbling with EFF concepts and materials for a few years, and
>have found them helpful to reflect on and evaluate my own teaching
>practices. But until now I've seldom been satisfied with results in the
>classroom. I happily await more models of instruction and "tried & true"
>tools from this excellent toolkit!
>
>
>Linda Rytterager
>Boise State University
>rytt@mindspring.com

Diane P. Gardner
EFF Professional Development and Certification Coordinator
The University of Tennessee
EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance
Center for Literacy Studies
600 Henley Street, Suite 312
Knoxville, TN 37996-4135
865-974-9949
dgardner@utk.edu



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