So those of you who I talk to regularly hear all about how my students can totally and completely drive me insane. And it is no lie that my third graders are hands down my favorite class. BUT: at the very end of the day...I still do love all of (most of) my students.
Recently I have been tweaking my classroom management plan to benefit my sanity. I've been trying many different techniques to find something that works....and this past week, I finally discovered a strategy that is absolutely PERFECT. My students have turned into angels, and I am in HEAVEN when I teach them. I can't believe it has taken me until mid-Novemeber to discover this idea that seemed to be in face all along. ANYWAY, I will not explain in detail exactly my plan because I just do not feel like typing it all out right now and you'd get bored reading it....but if you are interested in knowing what I discovered works with my barely English speaking 6-9 year olds...send me an e-mail.
However I will tell you that a rule I added is "Absolutely NO Russian in my class. At all. Not even a whisper to your neighbor. You can only speak English in my class." All along I have encouraged them to speak English, of course. But, if a student seemed to be totally lost, I would allow another student who knows more English to translate what I said to the confused child in Russian. I have decided, that really if the confused child would just pay more attention to me as I explained and modeled the already simple directions, he would not be confused. I pantomime ALL of my directions like a clown...if confused child would just wake up and smell the coffee, then there is no excuse to be confused. Period.
Many children were annoyed and angry with this "harsh" new rule. To those children I just think "well just cry me a river, build a bridge, and get the heck over it, you big baby." Here is the thing (which I told them, and they understood about 50%) : If I can roam about Moscow every single day, not knowing much Russian and still get by, then they can try their best with English for my 45 minute class. Harsh, I know...I'm such a meanie.
With all of that said...I will be the first to tell you how much credit I give to those children! English is so hard! It can be frustrating not understanding everything said to you (trust me, it's my daily life). So that 45 minutes in my class is brutal to some kids. But I hope that they are learning from me (like I am learning from them..and this whole country): PATIENCE.
Watch this video on how English sounds to non-English speakers. Must be what I sound like to many of my students!
....and my guess is that this video is about an unstable couple celebrating the fourth of July in Hawaii....? Dirty looks....pineapple cake....flirty looks....sparklers.....?
In my third grade craft lesson, after the "No Russian" rule was explained, the room was pin drop silent as they were crafting. I told them "You are allowed to talk! In English!" As they are learning names of rooms and objects in a house in conversation class...here is an example of an English conversation I heard from them:
Sasha: Hello, Alena.
Alena: Hello, Sasha.
Sasha: Do you have a house?
Alena: Yes!
Sasha: Do you have basement?
Alena: Yes! Do YOU have basement?
Sasha: I have basement. Do you have swimming room?
Alena: Yes!
Sasha: Do you have cinema room?
....so basically this went on until Sasha inquired about every room in Alena's house.
It is very difficult for me not to crack up as I eavesdrop on these oh so engaging discussions....but I am so pleased to hear them practice what they are learning! Ugh, they can be so gosh darn adorable!!!!
OK so here is the Thanksgiving part of the post...justifying the fact that I titled this post "Thanksgiving":
As you know, Thanksgiving is on Thursday! Also as you know (hopefully)...Russia does not celebrate Thanksgiving, or really know much about it. I decided to share some American culture with my third graders yesterday, and did a lesson on Thanksgiving. I kept it simple and talked about traditional foods that we eat. I showed pictures, and asked if they knew what any of them were. Here are some responses which I received. Enjoy:
Recently I have been tweaking my classroom management plan to benefit my sanity. I've been trying many different techniques to find something that works....and this past week, I finally discovered a strategy that is absolutely PERFECT. My students have turned into angels, and I am in HEAVEN when I teach them. I can't believe it has taken me until mid-Novemeber to discover this idea that seemed to be in face all along. ANYWAY, I will not explain in detail exactly my plan because I just do not feel like typing it all out right now and you'd get bored reading it....but if you are interested in knowing what I discovered works with my barely English speaking 6-9 year olds...send me an e-mail.
However I will tell you that a rule I added is "Absolutely NO Russian in my class. At all. Not even a whisper to your neighbor. You can only speak English in my class." All along I have encouraged them to speak English, of course. But, if a student seemed to be totally lost, I would allow another student who knows more English to translate what I said to the confused child in Russian. I have decided, that really if the confused child would just pay more attention to me as I explained and modeled the already simple directions, he would not be confused. I pantomime ALL of my directions like a clown...if confused child would just wake up and smell the coffee, then there is no excuse to be confused. Period.
Many children were annoyed and angry with this "harsh" new rule. To those children I just think "well just cry me a river, build a bridge, and get the heck over it, you big baby." Here is the thing (which I told them, and they understood about 50%) : If I can roam about Moscow every single day, not knowing much Russian and still get by, then they can try their best with English for my 45 minute class. Harsh, I know...I'm such a meanie.
With all of that said...I will be the first to tell you how much credit I give to those children! English is so hard! It can be frustrating not understanding everything said to you (trust me, it's my daily life). So that 45 minutes in my class is brutal to some kids. But I hope that they are learning from me (like I am learning from them..and this whole country): PATIENCE.
Watch this video on how English sounds to non-English speakers. Must be what I sound like to many of my students!
In my third grade craft lesson, after the "No Russian" rule was explained, the room was pin drop silent as they were crafting. I told them "You are allowed to talk! In English!" As they are learning names of rooms and objects in a house in conversation class...here is an example of an English conversation I heard from them:
Sasha: Hello, Alena.
Alena: Hello, Sasha.
Sasha: Do you have a house?
Alena: Yes!
Sasha: Do you have basement?
Alena: Yes! Do YOU have basement?
Sasha: I have basement. Do you have swimming room?
Alena: Yes!
Sasha: Do you have cinema room?
....so basically this went on until Sasha inquired about every room in Alena's house.
It is very difficult for me not to crack up as I eavesdrop on these oh so engaging discussions....but I am so pleased to hear them practice what they are learning! Ugh, they can be so gosh darn adorable!!!!
OK so here is the Thanksgiving part of the post...justifying the fact that I titled this post "Thanksgiving":
As you know, Thanksgiving is on Thursday! Also as you know (hopefully)...Russia does not celebrate Thanksgiving, or really know much about it. I decided to share some American culture with my third graders yesterday, and did a lesson on Thanksgiving. I kept it simple and talked about traditional foods that we eat. I showed pictures, and asked if they knew what any of them were. Here are some responses which I received. Enjoy:
"This is chicken!"
"This is popcorn"
"This is strawberry jam"
"This bread, and chicken, and tomato sauce"
.......?
"This is ice cream"
and
"This is brown sauce"
So if I did not correct them after each guess....Russian third graders would run around believing that Americans get together on the last Thursday of November to have a feast complete with: Chicken, popcorn, strawberry jam, some bread- chicken- ketchup concoction, and ice cream with brown sauce.
Do you know what is a fun word to have my students say?
Refrigerator.
I get "re-farge-a-dator".
HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!
-Gina
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