Observations February 1, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. The classroom is very large.

In the front of the room, there is a chalkboard with 15 desks situated around it in a U-shape. In the back, and two the side, there are 6 tables that can seat between 3-7 people, arranged with desks. Off to the side, there is an additional alcove with two tables that each seats 4 people. There are many bookshelves against the walls, filled with books in English, and books about instruction. The period began with Dr. Taddei conferencing with the 5 tutors. Before talking with them, she spoke to one group of students that were seated at the desks, and gave them directions. Many other students were situated throughout the room, and pull out worksheets, etc.

Comments/Reflections/Connections A really sizeable classroom, even though there are a lot of students, it doesnt feel super crowded.

Dr. Taddei only seems to interact with this group of students, I have never even seen her speak with any of the other students situated around the classroom. This is part of the (hidden) curriculum of the classroom. Dr. Taddei focused on the advanced group of students while the others have high school tutors. Jackson (1990) the daily experiences of students in classrooms matter. Students learn lessons about how they are supposed to behave, social stratification, etc. The tutors do not seem to have any formal training. Dr. Taddei mentioned that she put them through a training period, but I do not know how exhaustive it isthey seem like regular students. When Dr. Taddei told me about the tutoring program she spoke a lot about how special the tutors are, and it seemed like she is very invested in this program for instructional purposes. This seems like a lot of personal information to randomly give out to

Conference: Dr. Taddei started talking to the tutors about background of each of the students that they are working with, and their specific progress. Dr. Taddei encouraged the tutors (high school seniors), to give their students frequent quizzes, and to assign homework every night. Julian- Wesley has 3 siblings who often overshadow him, so he should get a lot of one on one attention within the classroom context.

Christine: the three girls she was working with are all in very different places in their work. Anel has a very complicated background because she has a baby, and has missed a lot of school because of that. After the discussion, the tutors moved off with their designated students, while Dr. Taddei returned to the board to work with 9 students. There are a total of 22 students in the classroom, as well as 5 tutors. Dr. Taddei began by outlining the agenda for the day. She asked them, What does objective mean? What does agenda mean? Dr. Taddei. How do you describe a student? Do you use a noun or an adjective? Students use signal cards (red or green), to respond. Tutoring: Miriam was studying for a quiz with four of Aesops fables. She read the stories out loud the mouse and the lion, the tortoise and the hare, and answered some questions about them why does the lion need help? What is the lion trapped under? etc. Tutoring: Anel, Selina, and Magally were speaking in Spanish to each other while working in a vocabulary packet. They are each in different places. Christine, their tutor, knew a few words in Spanish, but the three girls helped each other by translating. They worked consistently, but talk to each other in Spanish throughout. February 1, 2013. Block 2. 80

this group of tutorsas far as I know, they have not signed confidentiality agreements, etc.

Students used various descriptors. It didnt seem like this was a particularly exciting or new lesson for thema couple of students had their cell phones out, and were not taking great pains to hide them

Clearly she has read this story before, and has no trouble answering any of the questions. Deweylearning should be engaging, creative, and culturally relevant. Clearly this is notshe read the story multiple times, and even then, this doesnt seem to engage Miriam at all. Christine did not seem very invested in helping them. She spent a lot of time just sitting there, watching them work. When Anel had questions, she addressed them to Selina in Spanish, rather than to Christine.

minutes. Dr. Taddei spoke to the students at the clustered desksthey had to begin working on learning the vocabulary in the new story. Meeting with the second set of 5 tutors: Frank was working with two boys, teaching them vocabulary from a picture dictionary. He tested them on vocab a few days ago, so it is unnecessary to do it again. Other tutors were continuing with language and vocabulary packets. Dr. Taddei told the tutors that Anel has a two-year-old son, and because of him, she has missed a lot of school. Anel is behind when it comes to learning Spanish, because of her commitments to him. Gino, who is a native Albanian speaker, was talking to Anel and Selina. He told them that another girl in the school, Selma, is the prettiest girl in the school, but she has a boyfriend. Delpitis this the case where the students arent ready for discovery learningbecause of language gaps, etc., they need a lot of direct instruction (skills), before they can engage creatively?

Again, this is a lot of personal information, and although it might be relevant for the tutor that is working with Anel specifically, I think it is quite insensitive to discuss this in a large group. Neither of their tutors tried to quiet these students. In fact, they both tried to use their meager language skills to understand what was going onI ended up translating for them. Jackson (1990)socializing matters. Students learn from these kinds of experiences. What lessons are the students/tutors getting about class work and gossip as a result? This is something really silly to worry aboutAnels spoken English is actually quite good, despite a clear accent. Anel was really trying, but she just couldnt get the word out, and this seemed like a waste. Wileylanguage rights. Historically, immigrants are never understood and appreciated. The accent is stigmatized.

Anel said the word Spanish, but her pronunciation sounds like Espanish. Sheree is really annoyed by this, and she kept on making Anel say the word over and over again, without making any progress.

Sheree was continuously joking around with Gino, who has very good English, and she was not paying close attention to Anel and Selina.

Anel and Selina had a bunch of questions about the emotions packet that they were working on, and I had to help them with a lot of questions, because Sheree wasnt paying any attention, and distracted Gino from his work as well.

February 8, 2013. Block 1 80 minutes. Dr. Taddei gave instructions to the advanced students about opening their vocabulary lists. The tutors talked about a deviant girls behavior (another ELL I havent met). Christine said that her parents would never allow that kind of behavior.

They were talking about a girl who slept around, and used words like slut and whore, and talked about how she had been with other girls boyfriends. Slut shaming is pretty typical in high school. Grantdeviant behavior is highly unacceptable in girls, whereas problem behaviors are more permissible in boys. This creation of attitudes and assumptions, is moralistic, and creates a social hierarchy within the school. The way Christine talks about Anel is really dismissive, and Christine seemed to think that Anel couldnt learn anything. Dr. Taddei was very free with personal information, but she was pretty clear on the fact that a lot of Anels problems come from factors that she could not control, and the most important thing is for her to stay in school and get an education. Esterfirst time in school (age 15), although she is a native Liberian English speakermajor literacy problems.

Dr. Taddei talked to Christine about Anel-provided more background information on her parents. Anel was recently reunited with her parents. She was out of school for several years, and missed out on having a childhood. Magally is too talkative and distracting to Selina and Anel. Anel is far behind, but she is really cooperative, and she does not need constant monitoring. Veronica said that Ester has a lot of trouble paying attention, and she is easily distracted. Dr. Taddei recommended that Veronica give Ester frequent breaks, so she wouldnt become distracting in the class.

Dr. Taddei went to teach the advanced students, and the others split into tutoring groups. Dr. Taddei went over vocab words. She laughed about how easy English is for Spanish and French speakers.

The story they were reading was The Day the Indians Cried.

This seemed a bit dismissive of the language difficulties of students learning English that are fluent in Spanish and French. Clearly there is a closer relationship than there is with Tamil or Punjabi, but that doesnt make their lives easier. The students who are native Spanish and French speakers did not really seem to find this joke funny. Dr. Taddei asked them about their own experiences with immigration, and they were assigned to write a paragraph about those experiences (Compano, 52). Culturally relevant education! Without any consideration for outside circumstances. Students, especially in ELL classrooms have a lot of additional responsibilities that middle class, white students generally do not (i.e. younger sibling care, jobs, etc.) (Compano, 99).

Dr. Taddei reprimanded Julia for not completing the readingJulia just had to keep up. Julia tried to explain, and Dr. Taddei said that she didnt want to hear excuses.

Dr. Taddei asked the students the meaning of different words, and they just called out their answers without raising hands. Tutoring: Ester was re-reading a story out loud, in preparation for the test that her tutor was writing for her. Tutoring: Simon and Greg were using a worksheet to explain emotions. Their tutor asked them, what do you do when you are sad, and they had to respond you cry when you are sad, based on a picture. However, they guessed very few of the emotions correctly, and the tutor told them most of the answers Tutoring: Christine assigned Anel and Selina different homework assignments. Selina wrote down

They are not actually learning to associate, their tutor clearly hasnt learned about the uses of silence, and how long enough pauses can give students the opportunity to find their voices. (Special Ed).

Christine started asking me questions about college while Selina and Anel were working. I wanted to

Anels homework assignment in Anels notebook. Anel has been in the US for 3 years, and she is from Mexico. Selina has been here for 3 months, and she is from Guatemala. February 8, 2013. Block 2 80 minutes. Dr. Taddei began the class by reminding students that they were continuing with ACCESS testing. The tutors talked to each other about how they think it is best that they do not speak the native languages of the tutees.

be nice and helpful, but this really seemed like the wrong time to be having that conversation.

All the tutors seem to agree that monolingual instruction is best, and it is important for the ELL students to exclusively hear Englishthey even discourage speaking native languages among friends. Wileythe students have the RIGHT to education in their native languagesbut the tutors assume that they know best in this situation. Monolingualism is discriminatory, and dismissive of the students native cultures.

Tutor Meeting: Dr. Taddei talked about the fact that Anel is much better at speaking English, but Selina is doing significantly better academically. Magally was distracting the two other girls from the group, so she was removed from their study group. ACCESS testing: Before beginning the test, Dr. Taddei reminded everyone how important it is for them to do really well that they have spent a lot of time preparing for the exam, and it is their responsibility. ACCESS testing: Dr. Taddei complained that the students spend so much time taking standardized tests, they have few opportunities to

Teaching to the Test (class presentation on Standards Education). Standardized testing puts so much pressure on ELL, English only/NCLB standards has to become the language policy (Menken, 2006, LME).

really learn, which hinders their academic progress. Dr. Taddei: The sheltered biology class is disadvantageous to really bright students, because it is basically just dumbed down biology, instead of quality education with more language accessibility.

Moses (2001)academic success in core topics can be hugely impactful in crossing social and racial barriers, but because of their language differences, students in ELL classes arent given the same level of education that the general education students have. They are prevented from achieving the same level of success.

February 22, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. Conference with tutors: Christine was giving Selina and Anel an oral exam, in two different sections. Frank was working on irregular verbs with his two students. There are two new brothers in the class, who just arrived in the US a few days ago. Tutoring: Kathleen was supposed to be working with Ester, Magally, and the two new brothers. However, Ester started being really stubborn, and she refused to pull out her packet and start working. Dr. Taddei came over and yelled at her. Dr. Taddei said that Ester can either stay and work with the group, or she can work by herselfbut she has to be working.

Grantagain, behavioral problems in a girl are considered unacceptable. The racial dynamics of this classroom are really interesting because there are no white students. Rather, the model group, tends to be Vietnamese/Chinese students, because they are high academic achievers. Dr. Taddei also really likes some of her West African students because they have strong educational backgrounds (former French colonies). What she hates are students who dont seem to value education, or their families dont. Memorization is not particularly

Dr. Taddei was working with her advanced students, they are doing

reading for concepts. Dr. Taddei handed them a list of similes that they will have to learn. Dr. Taddei tested me on a bunch of them: light as a _______ to show the students how commonly these are used. Students pulled out their selfevaluation formshave to give themselves credit for homework and class participation.

useful as a learning techniquealso, my demonstration of skills was kind of silly.

Self evaluationself efficacy (Ed Psych). I didnt get a chance to see these, but I wonder about how similar or different they are to the evaluation forms the students in Soundings usedsame goal?

Dr. Taddei left her group of students for a few minutes, and went over to talk to the two new boys. Tutoring: Anel and Selina were both Memorization, again. working on vocabulary packets. Anel borrowed one of Selinas old packets, in order to get the answers. Christine gave Selina an oral exam about baking. There are a lot of questions that Selina could not answer, so Christine looked up words on her phone, to translate them into Spanish. Dr. Taddei talked to the two new brothers in the class. Their first day in the US was earlier that week, and yesterday was their first day of school. They are from Nigeria, they lived with their grandmother, and both their parents are deceased. They speak English and mostly have literacy problems, but the school no longer has a program to support those learning needs.

Kozolin Camden the schools are falling apart, and there is no money to fix them. Meanwhile, in nearby schools in Cherry Hill, there is tons of money, and the schools are great. This high school is not nearly as bad, but there are serious funding issues, and a lot of funds have been taken out of servicing the needs of ELL/immigrant students, because their learning needs are not a top priority. Dr. Taddei said that the school knows they are all going to fail the standardized tests anyway, so it isnt worth the money, investing in proper educative programs.

February 22, 2013. Block 2. 80 minutes. Dr. Taddei went to talk to the advanced students, giving them a do now assignment.

Not appropriate. Although it is fine if she felt that way, she needed to deal with that with Dr. Taddei in private, rather than just gossiping about it.

Sheree was talking about how Gino makes her uncomfortable she wants to avoid him. She talked about this pretty loudly, so some of the students could hear. Dr. Taddei was showing a movie based on a book they just read. She stopped it very frequently, in order to explain what is going on in the classroom. Sheree was working with Heather. Ridiculous. She told Heather, as she was grading the test, in the directions it says underline. If you do checks, I wont give you credit for your workthats the way it is in college or trade school. Dr. Taddei put all of the students names into a baggy. As she pulled out their names, they each have to recite Robert Frost. Anel and Selina worked together Surprisingly hard working without (their tutor was out today). Anel supervision. explained her worksheet to me, and they worked together to get the work done. March 4, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. Conference with tutors: Talking about some of the students. MarvinFrank said that he doesnt like the introduction of the book he is now working on (about communication). There is an attached workbook. Dr. Taddei says that it is a challenge, and to push

through it. Selinashe had a lot of MAP testing. She was also late to school for a few days, so she is really behind on where Dr. Taddei wants her to be. Dr. Taddei said that she is a very bright girl, and will catch up. Dr. Taddei with the advanced students: they are filling out a worksheet on John Steinbeck. She asked them leading questions, and they use signal cards as a response mechanism. While they are answering questions independently, Dr. Taddei came to talk to me (sitting 5 feet away from the students). She said that Freddy has a disability (no specifics). He and his family are not part of the culture his parents dont work, and they only watch Spanish television. They have been in the US for 2 years, but Freddys progress is very slow. Mary is good at English, because it is her native languageshe is from Liberia. However, she never learned to read before coming to the US, so she really struggles. Winter is 17 and also has a disability. She has some issues in school, which is surprising to Dr. Taddei because most West African students do really wellFrench schools from colonialism. Dr. Taddei makes her advanced students learn/memorize idiomatic similes, i.e. cute as a button, stiff as a board, etc. Dr. Taddei also wrote down sentences, and students had to identify the words being used

metaphorically. Christine was tutoring Anel and Selina while they went through a packet. Both work independently, and consulted with each other for help. Christine was sitting watching them, writing their next test. They had tests two weeks in a row. Anel and Selina were unhappy about the situation. They talked to each other about it in Spanish, and Christine seemed completely oblivious to it. Mark and Michael were working through a packet having to do with sentence construction. Every time they finished a page, Randy rewarded them with candy. For Language Minority Education, I did an interview with Selina, so that I could develop a more detailed picture of one student. She told me about her familyher dad is a cook, and she has a younger brother and sister. Her father speaks Spanish and English, although she only speaks Spanish at home and in her neighborhood. In Guatemala, she lived in a small town, and went to school consistently for 9 years. Her favorite class is math, because it is similar to what she learned in Guatemala, even though it is challenging because of the language barrier. Between classes, Dr. Taddei was really interested in my conference with Selina. Although there are background forms, Dr. Taddei

Ancessforming caring relationships is critical to school success, especially for students that have struggled to make it through school.

doesnt know anything about Selinas personal history.

Although I often have problems with Dr. Taddeis methods and opinions, it is clear that she is really invested in Dr. Taddei mentioned that this year Anels education, and is willing to do is the first time that Anel has been in a lot to get her through school. When school for five years, and through I asked Anel, she said that Dr. Taddei the year, she has been missing fewer is her favorite teacher, because she days. works 1-on-1 with Anel during a different periodthere is a very strong relationship there. March 4, 2013. Block 2. 80 minutes. Dr. Taddei told her students to take out the short story that they have been reading, and to start answering several discussion questions she put up on the board. Pre-conference: tutors talked about how instead of learning more vocabulary, the students should learn sentence structure. Conference: 1 student has been absent for several days in a row. This happened last year as well. Dr. Taddei wanted Sheree to talk to her other tuteeto find out more about his previous school experiences. He was struggling with a lot of the reading, because he did not understand the context of a lot of the stories he was reading. Tutoring: Hallie was reading Hard Times out loud to her tutee. She read out loud very slowly. After that, she asked him what he understood multiple times.

She was super impatient and bitchy.

GarciaDeficit perspective on language acquisition. People that see multi-language use as a problem, and assume a lack of understanding. I didnt say read, I said what did you Hallie is incredibly impatient, and get? doesnt seem to care about giving Jeffrith opportunities for learning. In the middle of class, a Marine I was really not ok with this, and it recruiter came into the class, and seemed completely inappropriate in

talked to the students about how joining the military can be a great way to get citizenship. Julian was working through a packet with the assistance of his pocket translator. Kira, his tutor, was reading Catcher in the Rye while he worked. April 5, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. Conference: Frank talked about Marvin. Marvin was working on grammarconjugation, present continuous. Magally was placed into a new group, and holding her own. MichelleSelina is doing very well. Selina was going best with the Stories+ series of packets. Dr. Taddei gave me a copy of the ELL handbook for tutoring, that she gives to each of the student tutors. During the meeting, all of the students had their work out. Two French-speaking students spoke to each other across the room. Advanced group: They were reading Oliver Twist. Dr. Taddei told her students that reading the story would good preparation for college. She told them that there are 3,800 colleges in the US, and that all of them could go to college if they wanted to. Safiyatu told everyone that her sister is visiting from Nigeria. Her sister has a job there. They read and discussed Oliver Twist, and Dr. Taddei talked about

the context of an ELL classroom, where probably at least several students are undocumented.

how he is an excellent worker. Gabrielle did not have the right color highlighter she had a pink highlighter and Dr. Taddei requires yellow. Dr. Taddei reprimanded her, and made Gabrielle borrow a highlighter from someone else. Advanced: they went through the vocabulary words for chapter three. Everyone read silently, to answer Dr. Taddei about what one of the metaphors meant. Dr. Taddei told them that Oliver was upset because other people made fun of his mother. She told them that a boy should want to beat someone else up, if that person said something bad about his mother. Kelly went through Marvins spelling test with him. He got 22.5/25 on the test. She needed to calculate the percentage on her phone. Michelle was working with Magally. Michelle said, que estudiaste?, and Magally thought she had to explain what she studied in Guatemala. I told Michelle that estudiaste is the past tense, and Michelle got upset. She responded, Im just trying to do whatever I can. I said to Magally, que vas a estudiar, and she immediately understood what the question meant. Later, Michelle said, but thanks. Magally applied to college (she isnt sure where she applied) she wants

to become a doctor. April 5, 2013. Block 2. 80 minutes. While Dr. Taddei talked to the students, the tutors talked about their relationships with their tutees. Veronica is frustrated with Anel, because she is always trying to get out of doing her work, Veronica calls Anel a bad girl. Veronica resents Anels other tutor Christine, because Christine always gives Anel tons of tests, without letting Veronica have input on what Anel needs to know/be tested on. Anel was teaching Veronica some Spanish. Simple words, and Anel corrected Veronicas Spanish grammar. Advanced: Dr. Taddei talked to her students about attending colleges.

Racial stereotypes!?!?!?!?!??!?! It seems like Dr. Taddei really wants to help, but she has a lot of really She told them that when she had a antiquated ideas, and she is kind of lot of Chinese and Vietnamese racist, which I find troubling in her students, they would all go to college classroom context. at Penn, and at other really top universitiesthose students were particularly good at math. However, her current students dont need to do thatthey could go to community colleges and still succeed. Advanced: All of the students were writing paragraphs, after reading the Gettysburg Address, and MLKJs I Have a Dream speech. They all had to memorize the Gettysburg Address. Dr. Taddei talked to them about which words are good connector

words between sentences and paragraphs. Many of the students in the class were preparing for graduation, so a lot of them spent time putting together their senior portfolios. Dr. Taddei told me, that the reason the school does the senior portfolios is to ask the students to be a bit reflective of their time at the school. They have to put together their best work from their years, in different fields. April 12, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. Conference: Michelle wrote a test for Selina, covering synonyms, antonyms, irregular past verbs, and questions about stories that she has read. Dr. Taddei looked over it, and told Michelle it is really good. In the beginning of the class, Selina spent 20 minutes tutoring another student, who just arrived in the US. Marvin is taking a French placement testhe might take honors of AP exam. He will take this class with general education classroom. Jennyshe is also an ELL, but a much more advanced student. She helped Selina and Anel . Dr. Taddei urged her to go to college and become a teacherDr. Taddei told Jenny that she is a natural.

Senior students continued working on their portfolios. Dr. Taddei assigned each of them to write an essay on a holiday that is celebrated in their native country. One student asked to write about a holiday in the US, and Dr. Taddei said, in YOUR country. Students were writing students about India, the Ivory Coast, Mexico, Ecuador, Liberia, and Nigeria. Two brothers were working through a listening activitywith written and oral components. Singular and plural. Their tutor corrected all the mistakes, without explaining why they were wrong. Anel was working with Christine. She was reading a story packet. First, she read the story out loud in English, and then she translated the whole thing into Spanish. Christine asked Selina to listen in, and check Anels Spanish grammar. April 12, 2013. Block 2. 80 minutes. During the break: I told Dr. Taddei about the methods that Christine used with Anel, basically using a bilingual approach. There is a new student in the class, Jeffrith. During one of the other periods, Anel was helping Jeffrith with English speaking. Chat in the hallway: Dr. Taddei told me that Spanish families are very strong, but they do not value education.

Dr. Taddei is kind of racist, and believes in stereotypes!!!!!!!!! Nieto (1996)cultural issues in learning. Latino students get a lower

French speaking Haitians and African students often take AP or honors French (integrated with general education students)because their parents send them to private school Spanish students cannot do that poor educational past. The advanced students during the second period are working at almost the same level as a general education literature class. Writing is more difficult for them, but they have made a lot of progress through the semester. Jeffrith is the new student. He came to the US from Honduras in February. He can already speak English pretty well. He was practicing an oral packethe didnt have trouble with verb conjugation. April 19, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. Frank was working with Marvin. Marvin had a bad test, and since then, he had been much more focused. Dr. Taddei told Frank to give Marvin a long test, to see how he is progressing. Dr. Taddei called Marvins mother, to let her know that he didnt study for a testnow he will take work more seriously. Dr. Taddei said that although Selina is making a lot of progress, she is shy, and doesnt have a lot of confidence in her speaking abilities she needs support. Jackie said that Martin is not careful when he does his work. He seems

quality of education. Dr. Taddeis assumptions about the cultural learning context of Latino students, probably leads her to give them a less strong quality education.

He is very excited about school, and seemingly everything.

content to stay at a level, lazy. He went to private school in Haiti, and he has been in the US for several weeks. All the students in the advanced class were working independently, while Dr. Taddei talked to me. She showed me a new progress report method from the Danielson GroupPAETEP, standards for teaching. She got ranked proficient for the different sections, and excellent for one. Advanced: they were still reading Oliver Twist. Dr. Taddei was asking them questions about the plot. Tutoring: Three students were all working on their worksheets. Helen (their tutor) was sitting at the table, but she wasnt talking to the students, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep. Michelle told Selina to erase her work and rewrite it, because Selina had made some spelling mistakes. Anel was working on her own packet independently. Conversation practice. April 19, 2013. Block 2. 80 minutes. Conference: Gino and Brandon usually work together, but they egg each other on, and tease others. Dr. Taddei is unwilling to give either of them a female tutorMichelle used to work with Gino, and he made her really uncomfortable. Anel was working with Veronica. Veronica started the tutoring section by asking Anel what homework the first tutor had assigned. She looked

at the homework, and said it was completely ridiculous. She asked Anel which part she wanted to work on first, and they started working on a packet. Hannah was grading Jeffriths assignment. She was giggling, and pointing out object pronouns. Sheree used a phone translator to explain a story to the students she was working with. In the hallway, Gino and Brandon were working with Leonard. They were not studying very hard, but there was a significant improvement. April 22, 2013. Block 1. 80 minutes. They were reading an adapted version of Oliver Twist. Dr. Taddei starts the class by reminding her advanced students of how far they have come during this year. They are reading about criminals being sent to Australiaas a tie in to Oliver Twist The Charlie and Matt read to themselves, while their tutor watched. Charlie finished work way before Matt, and doodled on his packet. After Charlie finished, Jeff reread the story out loud to themvery slowly, and asked if they had any questions about the vocabulary. Marvin worked one-on-one with Gabby. He said that he didnt do his homework because he didnt have time to do it between practicing for music and other work.

He has a test on Friday that he needed to study for. The test will be on sentence structurespast, present, future, etc. He didnt bring in his French dictionary that day, so Gabby had to look a lot of words up on her phone. Alex and Henry, both French/Creole speakers, worked on their past tense packet. They answered questions independently, and then James checked their work. James speaks some French, so he translated some vocabulary words for them. Alex was farther ahead then Henry, and started doing the next worksheet before Henry even started. April 22, 2013. Block 2. 80 minutes. The advanced reading class is reading and ELL abridged Jane Eyre. Conference: Dr. Taddei decided to move Pierre and Marvin up to her class because they were easily distracted, and she wanted to have her eye on them. They were not up to level with the other studentsbut they would hopefully be able to listen and understand. Advanced students: Dr. Taddei explained to her students how to write a 3-paragraph essay, using transitional words. Using although in the beginning of the topic sentence connecting paragraphs 2

and 3. And so=as a result. While they were working on writing connecting sentences, Dr. Taddei came over to talk to me. She told me that failing schools are a myth. She doesnt think that everyone needs to go to college. The problem is that Latino families do not take education seriously. Gino moved up to this level because all of the tutors found him impossible to deal with. The advanced group is about 5 levels above where he is, but Dr. Taddei needed to keep her eyes on him. 5 minute civics lessonmany of the students are in the process of becoming citizens. Dr. Taddei teased them about failing the citizenship exam. Dr. Taddei talked to them about racism and inequality in the US! Tutoring: Anel went through a list of vocabulary words, and then read a story that used those words in English. First, she defined each word in SpanishVeronica confirmed with her phone. After reading the story, she had to answer some questions, but Veronica ended up giving her almost all the answers Marvin read a very short story about the sun and windthey tried to figure out how to get a man to take off his coat. He read the story very slowly out loud. Advanced: Dr. Taddei introduced Les Miserables to the class. They will read selections from the abridged

It seems that Anel is moving too fast through the packetsit is unclear if she really understands any of the packets, or work she is going through.

Bruner, Toward a Theory of Instruction. With regards to the order of how learning is optimized. The

version. Dr. Taddei told them that Marie Antoinette is famous for saying let them eat cake, because she didnt care about poor people in France during the revolution.

advanced students are at the point where they can work with symbolic representation. In the reading for concepts books, they talk about the underlying meaning of their reading, and connect the reading to larger social issues.