Action Research: Not So Scary!!

We just completed our action research projects for our fieldwork ESL class. I have a little confession to make...I have actually fallen in love with the concept of action research. When I first started this class, I was a little intimidating at the notion of observing my own class and scrutinizing my own teaching for anything more formal than my own random thoughts. However, now I think the format and concept of action research as we used it were very easy to follow and so helpful. In the past, my experience with self-evaluation was often contained to our formal evaluations by administrators. In the teacher evaluation process the self-evaluations are often very broad. Action research is a great way for us to get more focused and look at questions that are relevant to our individual learning environments and students.

For my project I looked at the idea that ESL preschoolers are developing BICS and CALP, interpersonal and academic language, simultaneously. Because my classroom is not a contained ESL environment, I had to look at how I could present the material to both ESL and non-ESL students. One way I found was to supplement my typical teaching practice with more ESL specific strategies. For example, when doing our morning meeting, several of my ESL students have a hard time focusing. For those not in the early elementary world, a morning meeting (sometimes called circle time) is just the time when the whole class comes together for instruction. Because of the age and attention span of little ones, this meeting time is usually minimal and the rest of the learning occurs in smaller group settings. The action research has prompted me to start presenting some of the morning meeting material a second time in a smaller, more intimate setting with my ESL students. I really think this provides less distraction and allows students to shine who usually let the more gregarious and confident students lead the class discussions.

As a result of this research, I'm also playing around with my instructional groups. Most of the time I group based on academic level, but I'm making a conscious effort to group based on communication skills and language levels. I think this is especially important in the first semester of the Pre-K year because so much of the academic growth actually occurs in the second semester of the year. We, of course, are teaching it all along, but the students really bloom after the Winter holiday. If I can strengthen language skills and the confidence of my students now, they will be more ready to learn and absorb the material in the second semester. 

My advice to other ESL professionals is to not be afraid to scrutinize your own teaching and learning environment. What works with one group won't always work with the next bunch, so constantly monitoring the environment is key for student success. If something is not working, don't be afraid to stop midstream. It's better to move forward and try new things than to continue doing something you know for sure is not working! :-)

Classroom Observations, Post 2

At first it's a little odd to "observe" your own classroom. Teachers are, of course, more than used to evaluations and observations. We observe and evaluate our students constantly, and we, in turn, are being observed and evaluated by principals, department of education representatives, directors and central office staff every time we turn around. In fact, I think many teachers are sick of the word "evaluation" as we hear it constantly. :-) Part of our yearly evaluations include self-evaluations, but looking at my classroom environment with ESL eyes is a bit different. It's actually been very illuminating, and I'm grateful for the process that has unfolded in this graduate class because I'm getting input from students that I would not have gotten otherwise.

There are a few issues and problems that seem to arise with Pre-K ESL students. If I look at my current class and also reflect on previous years, I see that I have a huge challenge with the group of students that is timid and ELL. What a challenge! Even though I am bilingual, with a select few students, I cannot even get a non-verbal response to questions/comments/activities!!!! Is this just part of the silent period, or is this timidity and introversion colluding to challenge the teacher even more?! This becomes an issue because it is difficult to engage the students in some learning activities, and it can be extremely difficult to assess what the child knows.

Another pressing issue in Pre-K is language level and acquisition. For many of my students, this is their first year in a school setting and most have not before been to a daycare. For these ESL students, this is their first intense and prolonged exposure to English. Therefore, my focus has to be on developing BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) with my students. While we also introduce and discuss content-specific vocabulary, my first goal is to build the social vocabulary of my students. Pre-K is a language-rich, social environment, so it is, in my opinion, the perfect environment to plant the English language seed and watch it grow. My challenge comes in teaching the necessary content while working with students who are still acquiring BICS.

I feel so lucky to be able to work with my two favorite populations--early childhood and ESL. It's not always easy, but it is always rewarding!!!!