What Do YOU Want For Christmas?

I asked one of my classes a simple question. "What did you ask Santa for this year?" The responses were genuine & made me smile...

EG is not famous for his sweet nature (because he is normally talking, day-dreaming, or making excuses for himself), but his response melted my heart.

What did I ask Santa for this year? I asked Santa for good time with my family so we can laugh & spend time together.

MC is not known for her selflessness (because she has been displaying a "I'm gonna do what I want & I dare you to try to stop me" mentality lately), so her response caught me off guard.

I'm not asking Santa for nothing! I mean, anything. I'm too old for presents. Uh uh, no no. I don't need all that. We just gonna haaang out & be a crazy family.

I was so surprised, as most of the students at our school have a very thick sense of entitlement that isn't even valid. It was refreshing & wonderful to hear them talk about the holidays.

She's Getting Bossy...And I Like It.

One of my newcomers last year, Angelica, has undoubtedly been one of the biggest joys in my life in the past 1.5 years. She is so hard-working, self-motivated, & is a very kind person. She has learned English so quickly & jumped so many proficiency levels in one year, it's simply shocking.

I would like to brag on her for a moment (as if I haven't already). She says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Well, I've got news for everyone... She's already acting like one in my classroom, and I like it.

Either we share a brain, or she has an uncanny ability to know exactly what I'm thinking, OR all teachers think alike. Which means she's chosen the perfect profession for herself. This girl is becoming more & more vocal as the days go by & her peers are getting used to her (borderline) scolding them, (constructively) correcting them, & asking them questions to check themselves. Sometimes, I feel like I should give her part of my salary. It only seems fair.

Last week, the students took a spelling test & we did a peer check afterwards. Angelica asked me to come over & recheck one of Erik's words because she couldn't read it (ie, his handwriting wasn't his best performance.) As I reviewed the word, Erik became defensive & said, "What?! I write small, ok?! It's right, the word is right, I just write small." Angelica & I both looked at him & as I opened my mouth to respond, this little girl ever-so-slightly raised her voice & said,"Then, you need to write big." Literally, took the words right out of my mouth.

Again, it's simply a joy.

"I Break My Brain"

One of the best things about learning another language is hearing the outcome of of a student translating an expression that is unique to that culture. For example, Coraima, one of my Spanish-speaking students, has screamed out "I'm breaking my brain..." on a couple of different occassions, usually after she's been thinking a lot & working very hard. ;) (The equivalent for us would be, "I'm racking my brain.")

Recently, Coraima had been working hard & another girl in the class looked at her paper, scooted closer to her, & began copying down a response. Coraima slams her fist on the table & bursts out, "Meees! Ugh! I break my brain & then she copies me! It's no right!" It was pretty awesome.

The expression in Spanish is "Me estoy rompiendo mi coco," meaning, "I'm breaking my coconut." I give her credit for changing the word coconut to brain.

A Gentleman & A Lady

2 years ago, an unplanned brainstorm session (about the characteristics of a "gentleman" & a "lady") occurred in one of my classes & I really enjoyed hearing their thoughts. Yesterday, I decided to ask my advisory to think about this same topic for 24 hours & report back to me. This morning, their assignment was to create a T-Chart to outline those qualities. (Below, I have written exactly what was on the poster...)

GENTLEMAN
have good manners.
wears glasses.
Men.
strong :)
nice to ladys.
he is doing jobs.

LADY
wears a dress.
Have a long hair.
women.
wears earings.
she respect other people.
She is sensetive.*

*Sensetive is all they could come up with because the literal translation of the Spanish word they kept saying was "weak" & there was a big argument about how that wasn't what they meant. The word "dainty" is the equivalent to the Spanish word they kept saying, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

Quote of the Week

We read an article about "Developing Healthy Eating Habits," so naturally, that was the title of our Key Topic on our worksheet. The students had to finish the statement, "Developing Healthy Eating Habits is about..."

A Japanese student wrote, "...is about how to fix fat to healthy."

In her summary of the entire article, she wrote, "big (fat) is not healthy...eat less oil things."

*The article never said anything about being or becoming big or fat if you did not follow the Healthy Eating Habits. I thought that said a lot about her observations & perceptions.

The Digital Translator

This year I have been blessed with a very diverse group of kids from around the world. There are 4 different continents represented. :)

I have two Japanese students (a brother & sister pair) who each have digital translators that they use throughout the day in all of their classes. It is extremely useful for them!

Last week, in our tutoring session, the three of us began discussing how long it takes them to walk home. The sister said that it took their dad about 25 minutes to walk the route, while it usually takes them about 45 minutes to walk to school. She then explained that it's because her brother walks so slow.

FYI, the entire time we're talking about this, sister & I have our bags on our shoulders (ready to walk out of the room) & are waiting on the brother, who is now taking everything out of his backpack & putting it on the floor. He is looking for his other glove before he goes out into the cold weather that faces him on his bike ride home.

He finally chimed in & simply said, "Yes, I don't do things... Uh...hmmm...I don't....I don't know how to say..."

I kept trying to "help" him by saying, "fast? rapidly? quick?"

He reached into his backpack (which was close to empty at this point) for his translator, as his sister & I continued to figure out the word he was looking for. He scrambled to type out the word so he could show me what he was thinking. When he shows me the screen on the translator, I read the word "hastily."

I started laughing & said, "Yep, you're exactly right!! You don't do anything hastily!! That's a great word. Remember that one." ;)

Quote of the Week

MR is a good student, extremely respectful, & often says very quotable things. The other day he was working on science homework in my class, so I told him to put it away immediately. I reminded him, "Somewhere safe so you don't lose it!"

He replied, "Yes, ok, I'm going. I'm putting it away." I watch him as he folds the paper 2 or 3 times & begins to put it in his pocket.

"Whoa, whoa! Is that somewhere 'safe'?? In your pocket?!"

Manuel looked up at me & said, "Oh. Yes. Ms. S, I don't ... (softer tone) I don't pee on myself."

Quote of the Week

Student: Miss, can...? (Pause)

Me: Yes, sir? What can I help you with?

Student: (Pause) Naw, nevermind. I'm not even gonna tell you...because I know you're just gonna tell me that I can do it myself.

Me: Perfect.

"You Don't Know Frank Sinatra?"

Efren (4th year immigrant from MX) & Araceli (5th year immigrant from MX) are the only two students in 3B. They have been at Kealing for 3 years together; they work well together & are comfortable with each other.

Today, Efren mentioned Frank Sinatra when we were talking about memoirs. He asked Araceli if she knew who he was. She looked confused & said rather enthusiastically, "NO."

Efren freaked out & said, "What? I can't believe you don't know who he is. He's a CLASSIC. Like, he's from the As! Not the Bs or the Cs or the Ds or the Fs!! From the As...a classic." (Note: Efren is a 14 year old boy with a Mexican accent, which made this whole thing about Frank Sinatra that much more entertaining to listen to. He seems to constantly impress me with his cultural diversity. It's refreshing.)

Efren also made sure we knew he listens to Frank all the time on his 8 Track at home & he also has some of Sinatra's songs on his iPod. ;)

To: Iraq, From: Lebanon

I have an Iraqi student this year in my ESL class. She is a refugee who has been in the U.S. for 2 years. The past several days, I've learned so much about her life & I admire her so much.

Earlier this week, I told her I was cooking a Lebanese meal for a few friends & we talked about all the foods I was going to make. She recognized everything & said, "Oh! I know these foods, we have the same in my country." (I love that she says, "in my country..." all the time!)

In my small little mind I thought, "Oh, I wonder if they get to eat traditional middle eastern cuisine very often? Maybe they don't." (Not sure why I thought that. Probably because I wanted to think that.)

I had a brilliant idea! "I'll pack up some leftovers from my Lebanese dinner & bring them to school for her to take home for her & her father!!" :)

I came to school today excited to share my gift with FJ. Enjoy our conversation...

I asked, "How often do you & your dad get to eat chicken & rice (hashweh)?"
She said, "Oh! A lot. (smile)"
"Oh, really? That's great! What about grape leaves? Dolmas?"
"Yes, we eat those too!"
"WHAT?? Do you cook them yourselves?"
"Yes, my dad cooks a lot. He used to be a chef in Iraq. (smile)"
"Are you kidding me?!?! I don't want to give you the food I cooked!! Y'all are going to think it sucks! Do you even still want it?!" (We're both laughing at this point.)
"Yes! I think I want it. I want to try it."

What just happened? Well, you live. You learn. ;)

The Reunion

I witnessed a reunion that almost made me tear up last week.

I had 2 newcomers last year from Mexico who were sisters. YS & ES. They were VERY different. YS, the older & more mature one is very sweet, loves to laugh, & has a lot of compassion for people. ES, a year younger, is a spaz, loves to dance, gets distracted easily, makes other people laugh (& scream), & always has a good time. They both had to transfer to another district over the summer because they moved. I haven't heard from them since the end of last year, but frequently wonder how they're adjusting & doing.

On Friday last week, I was eating lunch in the staff lounge when 2 students walked in (which is frowned upon) & said, "Ms. Schwarzlose!" I look up to see YS & one of her cousins walking right towards me. Ahhh!

I leapt up & gave her a big hug & lead her into the hallway so we could chat. Hearing her English was even better than when she left us a few months ago made me smile! She is precious.

All of the sudden, the bell rang to go to last period. One of my other students, AA, who was in Language Arts class with YS last year & would help her with translating, walked up in the hall. When she saw YS, she screamed, "WHAT?" & gave her a huge hug. Then, she looked at me with tears in her eyes, gave me a hug & hid her face in my chest because she didn't want anyone to know she was getting emotional about the unexpected "reunion." I traded contact info with YS so we can all keep in touch now!

AA misses YS's friendship this year. They were very close last year & bonded over a lot of different things. It was simply awesome to see that moment last week.

I am constantly reminded that I have a very special job here. I have unique students, from around the world, who are going through different transitions than other students. I have students who create tighter bonds simply because of class size, atmosphere, & vulnerability. :) Which, I wouldn't trade for the world. I am thankful.

Bad hair day?

As the ESL teacher, I have a few different roles on campus. One is to be an inclusion teacher in some of the different classes so I can monitor my ESL students. I go into their math class, for example, & make sure they are using their resources to break down language barriers or to encourage them to raise their hand & participate in their other classes.

Needless to say, I have the privilege of getting to know all the students at Kealing (not just my own). :)

Yesterday I walked into Ms. Lee's math class, just like I do everyday, & I hadn't been in there for 10 seconds before a student sitting behind me whispered, "Ms. S?" I didn't turn around immediately because the teacher was giving instruction. The student whispered again, this time sounding concerned, "Ms. S?"

I turned around to a worried look on the child's face, and he asked, "You havin' a bad hair day or somethin'?"

"Nope, just threw it up on my head in the hallway on the way here, but thanks."

I can't blame him. He was genuinely concerned (or was he?) & it made me laugh. The good news is, his shock proves that I don't wear my hair like this to work very often.

They Know Me Well...

I gave my students an assignment to help them better understand the "elements of fiction." To better define "elements" (or parts), I began an activity where the class pretended it was my birthday. The students had to plan a party for me & they had to think about all of the different "elements" of the party: invitations, decorations, food, games, guest list, presents, Blue Bell icecream, etc. :)

A new student asked, "Ms. S, what kind of presents would you want for your birthday?" I simply replied, "I'm not sure. More Blue Bell at the party?"

Angelica, one of my newcomers last year who didn't speak English when she first arrived, softly said, "She wants a cat," then giggled as she sat there & waited for my reaction. ;)

I loved everything about that moment. My students know things about me. Important things, like, I hate cats. Well played, Angelica. Well played.

Kealing Idol!!

I'm sorry I'm just now getting this blog published, but it's well worth the wait. :)

For the past 4 years, Kealing's AVID program has hosted Kealing Idol. Our version of a cross between America's Got Talent & American Idol. Imagine the possibilities!!

Well, the students are not the only performers, that's for sure. Every year, the teachers surprise the students with a performance at the end of the show. My first year at Kealing in May 2010, we did a LIVE performance of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. It was truly awe-inspiring. ;) We dressed up in torn, dirty clothing, with white & green makeup on our faces, & hair all nastified, in order to resemble zombies. We did not disappoint as we creeped, crawled, & slowly dragged our way into our positions to begin dancing on stage. The students were screaming & pointing...we were so proud of ourselves. Unfortunately, not a single person got a video of that performance. :*(

BUT, I do have the most recent Kealing Idol's teacher performance to show you from May 2011. This time we showed a "pre-made" video at the show. You've probably seen the Evolution of Dance videos on YouTube, but if you haven't, they are very entertaining.

Well, we made our own, just for the students...

KEALING IDOL EVOLUTION OF DANCE!


"Yours truly" is the first performer on the video. I have another appearance later in the video. Trust me, ya can't miss it! ;)

For further enjoyment, here are a couple of Kealing Idol performances from the students in past years. I love this school...
Kealing Idol 2008
Kealing Idol 2010 (Marchelle was the winner that year & she is an AVID student!! Yea!!)

ESL Spelling Bee!!

On May 20, 2011 I was honored to take 9 of my students to the First Annual District-Wide ESL Spelling Bee at Fulmore Middle School. My director suggested we walk up to Homeslice Pizza on South Congress after the Bee so the kids could experience a new neighborhood & they could practice ordering food in English, etc. It was a day to remember!

What mode of transportation did we take to S. Congress, you may be asking? The Austin Metro. What I didn't realize is that my "mom" side would come out at the bus stops. :) Long story short, a man started giving my boys some "advice" that happened to include the F word a few times. I quickly walked right up to him & said, "Excuse me, sir, but you need to know that these kids are 12-14 years old & I do NOT appreciate you using that language around them. We work pretty hard to provide an uplifting & healthy environment for them in & out of school, so please watch how you speak in front of them." He was respectful & apologized to me & the boys. :)

I was SO PROUD of my students the ENTIRE day. I was blown away by their maturity, encouragement for one another, & their excitement/anxiety about spelling words infront of people they didn't know. Yea! It just so happens that our very own CESAR was the district CHAMPION!!! He spelled better than about 35 other ESL students in the district. Yea yea yea!

Homeslice Pizza was amazing!! They asked each of our students to spell a certain word & if they spelled it correctly, they got 10% off their order. Thank you, Homeslice!!

Another Joke, Courtesy of the Brazilian

"What is green and has 4 wheels?"

...

(I guessed "John Deere," but that wasn't it.)

...

"Do you give up? Come on, take a guess..."

...

"Ok, Ok. GRASS. I was lying about the wheels!"
** Please note, he laughed harder than anyone else right after he said the punchline. ;)

That's Karma.

There are 4 newcomers from Mexico in my last period class. It's actually really hard for me to believe they are still considered "newcomers" because they are fast learners & they've acquired so much English already.

Sidenote, 2 of the 4 of these students are extremely nosy & are ALWAYS wondering what the other students' grades are & if they did better or worse on something.

Last week, the students were making posters about how to conjugate a verb & they each had their own verb to turn in. One student (CD - the only male in the class, poor thing) was showing me his poster & asking me a questions about the correct conjugation, when another student (YS) made a sassy comment about his work. She was joking, but nonetheless...

Not 1 minute later did we hear YS say "Oh no!! I made the...I need the H...I did it wrooong!"

CD, without even looking up, quietly said, "That's karma."

How do they hear these phrases & how do they know what they mean & when to apply them?! I laughed a lot. This was one of my favorites.

Sword (Or Is It S-word?)

Don't you remember how popular MadLibs were when we were younger? The more random your words were, the better story it made. Even if you didn't realize it, MadLibs might be the sole reason you know exactly what nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or verbs are. :) Well played, inventor of MadLibs.

In one of my classes we were playing a MadLib online. It's a little different because it had pre-chosen words (ie, verbs or nouns or adjectives) flying all over the screen & you chose from that group of words which one you wanted in the story. The motion of the words just makes choosing the word a little more challenging & fun for the kids.

It was time for MC to choose a noun from the computer screen that was being projected onto my wall. She was looking up on the wall, scrambling to choose one of the words flying & jumping across the screen.

All of the sudden I hear, "S-WORD."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"S-WORD! Or whatever!"
"OHHH! Sword. Good one."

I couldn't stop laughing when I realized how awesome this was. It reminded of the Jeopardy skit on Saturday Night Live with the Sean Connery character changed all the categories to sound like something else. "Appetite" to "Ape tit" and "S-words" to "Swords," etc.

Here's the final product from the story we made. So silly...

Gone On Vacation?

Today, my class was not moving as quickly as I wanted them to. I turned to one student & asked, "Come on, where is your pen or pencil? Let's go..."

As he reached down to pick something up, he said "My pen or pencil went on vacation, but it's back now... I'm ready."

This is what I'm working with. :)

Classic Joke from the Brazilian

AL was uber excited to tell me a joke the other day. He couldn't wait to tell the class & thought it was so so funny. I was more excited to hear it because there's usually some sort of language barrier that confuses the person telling the joke or myself right at the punch line. :) Enjoy this one...

There was an egg & a sausage being fried in a pan. All of the sudden, the sausage says, "Oh my, it's so hot in here!!!" and the egg jumps up & screams, "OH MY GOD, a talking sausage!!!" ;)

Yep, that's it. That's the whole joke. Awesome.

Confessions Create Tears of Joy

One of my students confessed that he rides in a "car seat" in his dad's car because he "can't see."

I tried not to for at least 15 seconds, but eventually, I began silently laughing...a lot. I couldn't help it. A 12 year old boy was telling me he rode in a car seat so he could see while riding in the car.

When I asked him to clarify, he reassured me it wasn't "the one with the high back on it, but the one that's more just like a seat." A booster seat. Still, so awesome.

I continued to laugh as he explained things further & I my eyes were welling up with tears. Another student looked at me & shouted, "You made Ms. S cry!!!"

FN replied, "So?! Those are TEARS OF JOY!"

Yes, yes they were.

I Don't Know What to Think...

One student, S1, walked into my room yesterday morning for advisory & was ecstatic to show me his new cell phone. He told me how much it cost & that he got it with "his" tax refund money.

I honestly don't have the energy to tell you how I feel about "Generation Me," their sense of entitlement, & the fact that the majority of my students know about April 14th because their parents give the 12 year-old children "their" portion of the tax refund because the parents claimed the children as dependents, therefore the children "deserve" that money. I can't talk about it because it makes me so mad that I start to curse.

Please note that the student I've mentioned above is the same student who refers to the topic about "food stamps" below.

I will not comment on the discourse below, I will simply outline the conversation I witnessed this morning in my advisory between three African American students, one of which was S1. Please know that I only highlight the race of the students (S1, S2, S3) so you can better understand my shock.

S1 (male): Mmm, we got candy at home in our cabinets right now. We got it with our food stamps. Yeah. Ooh, food stamps are good for that.
S2 (female): What are food stamps?
S3 (female): (burst out laughing) What? Are you serious? (Looks at S1 & rolls her eyes) She aint BLACK!

What do you say to that? In case anyone was wondering how I handled that... I looked at S2 & said, "Excuse me. How sad that you are putting yourself & every other black person in a box. Yes, she's black, but just so you know, not every black person is on Welfare. How sad that you think that. On top of that, there are Whites, Asians, & Latinos are on Welfare too, so there's no reason to discriminate. I am actually proud of her for asking what food stamps were since she didn't know because it shows she cares about learning, which leaves less room for ASSUMING things."

Smacking Intolerance

I don't have a high tolerance for smacking. Not the kind of smacking that happens when people are eating (which I don't have a tolerance for either - close your mouth), but the "smack" that students do when they don't agree with something.

It's begins as a lip pucker, then a quick release of the pucker to an open mouth, creating a "smack" sound. It's not only rude, it's annoying that it has quickly become the default reaction of most students...in any situation.

The smack is commonly used instead of verbalizing phrases such as, "Pardon me, madame?" "That's not exactly true," & "I'm frustrated, please help me." ;)

Today, FN realized he had a subconscious problem of not being able to communicate without smacking. I pointed it out, which helped. I was so frustrated that he continuously smacked that I told him for each smack, he owed me $0.25.

I began a tally chart of how many times he smacked in the last 10 minutes of class. (Note: he put his hand over his mouth for 4 of those minutes, if THAT tells you anything.)

FN now owes me $8.25 (easiest $8.25 ever made in 10 minutes). I told him he had to pay & I'd put that money towards our class's Invisible Children Bracelet Campaign fund. He was ok with it, knowing it was going to a good cause, however, at the end of class he claimed, "Now, you're rich & I'm broke!"

My response: "This wouldn't happen if you'd practice using your words." Life is hard.

Two for Two

Today was a successful day in terms of student quotes. There are two stories in particular that made me laugh & I'd like to share them.

Thank you, Martin Luther King (aka, MLK)
YG is my mentee. We were chatting for awhile in my room today & I asked her what her plans were for this weekend. I reminded her, "It's a long weekend. There's no school on Monday, thanks to MLK." She replied, "Oh, I don't know what I'm gonna do, BUT when I told my mom we didn't have school on Monday, she didn't believe me. She asked me why & I told her it was Milk Day."

I died laughing. Don't worry, I used it as a teachable moment (after I laughed) & she now realizes that MLK are the initials of the extremely influential black man in history who she has seen, heard, & learned about SEVERAL times before. She gets how it all relates now. :)

Superheroes in Labor
In 6th grade ELA today, we were discussing a Green Lantern poster in the room (seen left). We pointed out that the animators use colors to represent certain emotions or qualities found in each character. Near the end of the explanation, one student raised his hand & asked, "Does it still hurt superheroes if they have babies? Or do they not feel the pain?" I had to clarify to my co-teacher that the student was referring to childbirth. My co-teacher had the wisdom to say, "That's a good question..." Was it? Was it even on topic? No. But nonetheless, good question.

Eleven Knees???

One of our spelling words this week was "allusion."

Before their test today, we reviewed each word's meaning. An allusion is "a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication."

I gave the class an example. "FN has Hercules-like strength." When I asked the class for an example of an allusion, AZ said, "Ms. Schwarzlose is pretty like Shakira." (I can't complain about that compliment, can I?)

When I said, "Well, thank you. Shakira is half Lebanese too, actually," one student yelled out, "WHAT? SHE HAVE ELEVEN KNEES?? She can bend her leg in all kinds of directions!!"

Ahh, the joy of working with ESL students. :) Today was also a culture lesson on how people from Lebanon are called "Lebanese" and how subject/verb agreement is very important! She HAS eleven knees. ;)

Place of sadness

Yesterday was the first day back for the students after Christmas break.

First period, my ESL students came to my classroom for advisory & we were reviewing their new schedules for this semester.

AL (Brazilian kid - ie, drama king) was looking over his schedule & he couldn't stop talking about how miserable he was going to be this semester because he didn't want to have these classes. I, of course, was laughing because I can never take him seriously.

Near the end of advisory, I asked all the students as a class, "Ok, so is everyone comfortable & they know where they are going today?"

AL dropped his head & replied rather dismally, "To a place of sadness."

:)