Just for Fun

Here's a word cloud of my blog, as of 4/17/14:

I created this at tagxedo.com, but I also like wordle.com. It's fun to see which words come up again and again... I think they exemplify my focus as a language educator. 

Where I am From Poems

This semester and last semester, the CMU ELI held a poetry competitions for the students. Because I'm on administrative leave this semester, I wasn't able to help students participate. However, last semester, I highly encouraged my students to submit poems. 

Image via parnassusreview.com

Because poetry can feel daunting (if I had a dollar for every time I've heard, "I can't write poetry, I'd be rich!) for anybody, but especially for non-native speakers/writers. The students often said to me, "But I can't even write poetry in my native language! How will I write it in English?" This is valid concern because poetry can be scary. That's why I decided to provide one type of poem that students would be writing. I hoped that it would make poetry more accessible and real to them. That's why I chose "Where I am from" poems. 

Image via thoms8thgradeblog.blogspot.com

For those of you who haven't heard of these before, the lines start with "I am from..." and the poet finishes the line with whatever he or she would like. For example, I am from Michigan, so I could say, "I'm from the Great Lakes" or "I am from corn fields and good manners." The point is that students think about their origins, their identity, how they see themselves, and how they want to be seen. 

My students created beautiful poems that they were proud of, and many of my students won first or second runners up for Level 3. One of my student won the entire competition! I don't have permission to share their poems (I have to remember to get permission next time!), but I will share mine as an example. Please feel free to use it in your class if you'd like to use this excellent form of poetry in your classes. 

I even created a wordle with my poem... I wish I had thought of doing this with my students. How fun!

There are lots of other great examples online, and I've included some links at below if you'd like more resources. If you'd like to see pictures of the ELI poetry competition, we have some on the CMU ELI's Facebook site. I'd love to hear: do you use poetry in your class? What's your favorite type of poem to use? I've heard (clean) limericks can be fun!

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=785

http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

http://www.teenink.com/poetry/free_verse/article/281119/Where-I-am-from/

https://sites.google.com/site/msweisocialstudies/sample-projects-and-assignments/msweiswhereiamfrompoem

TESOL 2014: Successful!

Did you attend the TESOL 2014 convention in Portland, Oregon? What were some of the awesome sessions that you attended? This was my first time attending TESOL, and it was great.  There are so many sessions, and presenters, and attendees that it felt a little overwhelming. I attended some great sessions, including a PCI on Motivation given by Dr. Neil Anderson and his colleagues from BYU. It was fabulous, and I will plan a post summarizing the research that they found. I attended several others on topics including graduate student writing, using TED talks in a listening/speaking class, and using idioms in the ESL classroom.

Image via TESOL.org

Additionally, my colleagues, Danielle Petersen, Alisha Fisher, and I presented on flipped learning. If you're unfamiliar with flipped learning, it's where most of the instruction (through video, audio, or reading) occurs at home and interactive activities happen in class. Here's a short video we shared in our presentation that will give you an idea of what it's all about.

Danielle also created a live binder, which has TONS of great resources to get your started if you're a newbie or to hone your craft if you have experience with this teaching method. 

I traditionally use audio and reading in my flipped classes (I haven't flipped a class for the whole year... it's just one method I employ), but this summer I am looking forward to trying my hand at videos in a couple of grammar classes. 

Have any of you flipped a class or whole course? I'd love to hear what you do!