Ago, Ame...Umoja

There is always something new to learn from fellow teachers. And this picture is my testament for doing exactly that. This is a unique way of getting students' attention in Swahili, an African language. (correction: as a reader has pointed out, only "Umoja" is in Swahili. The "Ago, Ame" parts are still unconfirmed as to what language they are at this point. Further investigation will be pursued with my original source.) It involves both calling & response, as well as movements. I learned this from my talented colleague, Mahea.

teacher says: "Ago" (Can I have your attention?)
students respond: "Ame" (Yes, you can have my attention.)

This can go back and forth once or twice, but if the teacher has to ask for the students' attention 3 times, that means the students are really not ready to refocus. Therefore, after the students' 3rd response of "Ame", everybody must clap 3 times, pad 3 times on shoulders with arms crossed, pop collar 3 times, and draw a circle with two palms moving outwards and reuniting in front of the heart while saying "Umoja" (unity). This signifies everyone is now ready to pay attention again!

Makeup blog

So I lied. I didn't get a chance to come back and post my thoughts after the first day of club yesterday as I had planned. I know this is probably not a good sign for starting off the blog, but I got home pretty late and still had to finish reading the gigantic ELD articles for Urban Ed class and write and post my reading reflections online before bed, and also go to my friends', Eddie & Chelle, going away dinner between 8 & 10. By the end of the reading reflections, I was way too tired and grouchy to come back here and post any happy thoughts.

But late is still better than never, so this is the makeup part from yesterday.

I must confess, when the Club first started, I felt a little unsure about what was happening in terms of having 3 different teachers, myself included, in the classroom. There were moments within the first 10 to 20 minutes that I thought, and probably the other two also thought, our interactions and attempts to give directions all at the same time were a bit unsmooth. But as the time went on, we flowed better together.

As unfamiliar as the three of us teachers felt working together for the first time, I'm sure most students shared similar feelings. One student, however, was particularly shy. For whatever the reason, he was reluctant to participate in some of the activities. After talking to the other two teachers about his behaviors, we decided to give him a little time to get comfortable with the group and also give him more support. Overall, I think the first day went pretty well. I do sense that we might need to add a little more action into our lesson plans to make things more exciting. We'll see.

1st Day of ELD Club

I'm about to leave for my first day of ELD Club, an after school class geared for English Language Development at an Oakland public elementary school. This is the program that inspired me to start this blog. I want to use this place as a forum for me, my students and my fellow teachers to keep track of all the significant and not-so-significant details of our everyday interactions in the classroom. Hopefully through time, all of us will begin to appreciate the snapshots of life that will help us capture the drops of minute details that make our lives so unique and cherishable.

I'm feeling a little nervous about going into the classroom again after a whole winter of not being a teacher. I am also feeling cautiously nervous about sharing the classroom with 2 other student teachers like myself. I'll tell you more when I come back in a few hours. And hopefully by then, I will also have some pictures to share. :) ciao for now...