The Minimal Pair

The Minimal Pair: Episode 006

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair

Title: “You don’t know what you

don’t know…”

Episode no: 006

Date recorded: 4/14/14

Topics in Language Learning

Taking care of ourselves as teachers…

Thursday’s TESOL presentation

(that we regrettably were unable to attend): “Keeping ESL Teachers

from Becoming Their Own Worst Enemies,” George Plautz, Korrin

Ebira, Naomi Lee

Stack of Marking (Balance), by

Thomas Starkey http://stackofmarking.wordpress.com

5 tips for finding balance/what we

do now and what we’re going to do…

5. Exercise

4. Quiet time

3. Set boundaries w/ students

2. Let it go!

1. Sacred Time

[PAUSE][19:05]

Methodology

Plagiarism, Paraphrasing, and Citation

Why is it important?

Academic Integrity

Culturalism

Reading comprehension

How do we teach it?

The “why” and the “when”

Resources: Purdue OWL, Easybib

Modeling paraphrasing w/o looking

& paraphrasing vs. “translating”

[PAUSE][35:31]

“Culturally speaking…”

Introducing our new segment (to

alternate w/ “Adjunct Antics”)

“You don’t know what you don’t

know…”

How are you a student?

Classroom dynamic

Group work

Questioning authority

Asking questions

Student-teacher relationships

Addressing each other

Invitations for outside

interaction

Giving/receiving presents

SHOUT OUTS: Brad Bawtinheimer @BradELT

and Allison Roba (thanks for listening!)

Keep it minimal!

The Minimal Pair: Episode 005

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair 

Title: TESOL Recap & Review

Episode no: 5

Date: 4/6/14

Introduction: Overview of our trip to Portland and our experience at TESOL 2014

Congrats to Amy Roither, our colleague from St. Louis Community College, who gave a stellar presentation on student-created podcasts

Thursday 3/27, 11:30—Hear Me Now! Improving Academic Skills with Student-Created Podcasts (Amy Roither)

Thursday 3/27, 10:30am—Mentor Text2: Scaffolding Reading Instruction for Community College ESL (Dr. Sarina C. Molina)

Thursday 3/27, 1:00pm—Flipping the ESL Classroom: Promoting Student Interaction, Engagement, & Learning (Danielle Petersen, Caitlin Hamstra, Alisha Fisher)

Thursday 3/27, 4pm—“Reading to Write” to Sustain University-Level Writing”

(Lori Giles and Kimberly McGrath Moreira)

Thursday 3/27, 3:00pm—Teaching Spoken English: Content and Methodology

(John Campbell-Larsen)

Saturday 3/29, 11:30am—Using Twitter, Storytelling, and Screencasting Apps to Reimagine Your Classroom etc. (Abby Porter and Nathan Soelberg)

Meeting Jennifer ESL

Thursday 3/27, 10:30am—Inquiry-Based ESL Grammar (Darrin Divers)

Thursday 3/27, 2:00pm—Fostering Presentation Competence: Instituting a Comprehensive Presentation Curriculum (Kaitlin Gram and Elizabeth Gould)

Thursday 3/27, 3:00pm—Second Language Writing Assessment—Exploring the Future (Sarah Snyder and Deborah Crusan)

Friday 3/28, 10:30am—Students as Teachers: Exploring Peer-to-Peer Teaching (Rosie Verratti and Nancy Hutchison)

Friday 3/28, 4:00pm—Book Clubs in the Classroom: Developing a Culture of Literacy (Heather Satrom, Sadi Sahbazian, and Jona Colson)

The Minimal Pair: Episode 004

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair 

Title: Less is More

Episode no: 004

Date recorded: 3/24/14

Topics in Language Learning: TESOL 2014

Top priorities

Grammar

Academic writing

Classroom flipping

Pronunciation 

Listening

Technology in the classroom

Cultural/social issues

How do we hope this translates to the classroom? What do we hope to gain?

Stephanie: “I hope to…”

“…have more dynamic sessions in grammar.”

“…walk away with more reading strategies.”

“…see practical uses of flipping the classroom.”

Jean: “I hope to…”

“…gain confidence as a grammar teacher.”

“…find new ways to incorporate technology in the classroom.”

“…give more effective feedback.”

Sessions to see:

Hear Me Now! Improving Academic Skills with Student Created Podcasts (Amy Roither) Thursday at 11:30

Using Twitter, Storytelling, and Screencasting Apps to Reimagine your Classroom (Nathan Soelberg, w/ Abby Porter) Saturday at 11:30

(TESOL in Focus) Becoming a U.S. Citizen: The Naturalization Process (Christine Pool, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USA)

[PAUSE]

Methodology: Feedback

Less is more (Quality over quantity)

Students: write less, edit more (especially in grammar classes)

Teachers: mark less, but give more explanation/strategies

Rubrics

How do we make them? How do we determine categories?

Are they more for us or more for students?

Do we share them with students?

Feedback on free writes & less formal assignments

Positive feedback vs. negative: finding a balance

Grade grubbing

[PAUSE]

Adjunct Antics: Unions

NPR, All Things Considered: “Part-time Professors Demand Higher Pay; Will Colleges Listen?” by Claudio Sanchez (aired on 2/3/14 at 4 pm)

76% of all college instructors are part-time

Published poet w/ Master’s Degree has been an adjunct for 20 years; the most she’s ever made in a year? $21,000 

One sold her plasma; another moon-lights in a deli

Institutions avoid hiring full-time tenured professors because they believe the cost of education would go up between 30-40% and the public would not accept this

Adjuncts average $25-$27,000 per year

One adjunct figured she made about $8 an hour

SEIU (Service Employees International Union)

22% of adjuncts (nationwide) are now in unions

Inside Higher Ed. “Union Raises for Adjuncts” by Colleen Flaherty 7/26/13

“Kezar said research comparing the working conditions of unionized and non-unionized adjuncts shows that those with collective bargaining power have better salaries and benefits and are more likely to have paid office hours, opportunities for paid professional development and guaranteed participation in governance and other faculty domains.” 

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/26/adjunct-union-contracts-ensure-real-gains-including-better-pay#ixzz2ww63ccXh 

“Adjuncts with union representation also were more likely to have access to certain health and retirement benefits and had greater access to institutional support. For example, 18 percent of adjuncts on unionized campuses said they were paid for course cancellations, compared to 10 percent of their non-union peers. Fifteen percent of unionized campus adjuncts had paid office hours, compared to 4 percent of other adjuncts, and 20 percent union adjuncts said they had some kind of job security – something only 4 percent of their non-union counterparts reported enjoying.” 

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/26/adjunct-union-contracts-ensure-real-gains-including-better-pay#ixzz2ww5ph9DW 

SHOUT OUTS: Amy Roither and Nathan Soelberg and @NewbieCELTA

TESOL COUNT DOWN: 2 days

Keep it minimal!

The Minimal Pair: Episode 003

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair 

Title: When Saying Yes is Saying No

Episode no: 003

Date: 03/12/2014

Topics in Language Learning: L1/L2 Literacy

Interrupted education

Frequent displacement

Refugee camps

Child laborers

Using multiple languages (simultaneously or sequentially)

Countries that have been colonized (native vs. official language)

Frequent displacement (learning a new language with each move)

Shared L1 (help or hinder?)

Language gaps (in one or more language)

Consequences: how do each of these things affect classroom dynamic?

[PAUSE]

Methodology: Using video in the language learning

Homework:

Listening & Pronunciation Journals

“Listening Journals”

In-class

Lectures (from textbook, TED, and videos on demand)

Read book, then watch movie (i.e. Girl with a Pearl Earring)

Videos that correspond with semester theme (i.e. Waiting for Superman, Sicko!, Clarkston special report, Luma speaking,…)

Grammar, Parts of Speech Review with “School House Rocks”

Presentation skills class: watch lectures (YouTube, Jennifer ESL, TED, etc.) to critique “attention-getter,” mechanics, emphasis & building redundancy, thought groups, etc.

Assessment

“Live Journals”

Lecture/note-taking tests (build schema, review vocabulary, make predictions, listen twice, answer comprehension questions)

Presentation skills: videotaping their speeches to listen to later and uploading to Dropbox for them to listen/practice at home…

[PAUSE]

Adjunct Antics: Schedule issues

Coordinating schedules between different campuses

Different coordinators contact us about “next semester” at different points in the “current semester,” so it’s hard to plan/commit

“Saying yes is saying no”

Maximizing income by choosing classes by credit hour, school, etc.

Scheduling classes at different times at different schools (allowing time for travel)

Classes making

Picking classes strategically: which is most likely to make? Why?

Saying no to one class because you have committed to another, only to have that one get canceled (then you have nothing!)

Saying yes to too much, assuming something won’t make, and ending up overloaded

Preparing for a class, only to have it get canceled

Scrambling to plan a class at the last minute because someone gave it up or they had to open another section to meet registration needs

TESOL COUNT DOWN: Two Weeks!

Keep it minimal!

Keywords:

ESL, ELT, TESOL, English as a second language, The Minimal Pair, L1, L2, literacy, edtech, technology in the classroom, CALL, videos, adjuncts, scheduling

The Minimal Pair: Episode 2

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair

Title: Midterms Cometh

Episode no: 002

Date: February 24, 2014

Introduction: Hello and thanks for

listening. This is Episode 2 of The Minimal Pair, recorded on Monday

February 14th, 2014 in St. Louis, MO.

Believe it or not, the semester is

almost halfway over! I don’t know about you, but between MLK Day,

President’s Day, and all the snow days, I’m feeling the pressure

to get everything covered in time!

Topics in Language Learning

Midterms

What kinds of classes we have…

What we do for midterm assessment

(in each class)…

What’s worked and what hasn’t…

Conferences (how effective are

they?)

Midterm grades

Time management at midterm and

other strategies to get stuff done!

[PAUSE]

Methodology

Vocabulary

Teaching vocab. in different kinds

of classes (reading/writing vs. listening/speaking)

Intermediate-level journals (word, POS,

definition) vs. advanced-level class journals (word, POS, definition, sentence)

Listening and note-taking vocab. logs and tests

(matching, writing sentences, fill-in the blank) to target

different learning types

Advanced-level Essay prep: complete the

chart by finding examples of how the character is…list of

adjectives)

Parts of Speech & word form

issues

[PAUSE]

Adjunct Antics

Resources

Access to course materials

Curriculum design & collaboration (Dropbox, shared

syllabi, BB forum)

Different libraries

Blackboard, email, grade input,

etc. is different everywhere

SHOUT OUTS: English Expressions & Rolls off the Tongue

TESOL COUNT DOWN: 30 days until we

leave!

Keep it minimal!

The Minimal Pair Episode 1