On My Mind: My Parent Involvement Stinks!

Over the past two years, I have spent a lot of time studying parent engagement and researching ways to improve the home-school connection.  I can give you a bazillion reason from the TEACHER'S perspective as to why family involvement in a student's education is essential.

This fall, I became the PARENT of a student and gained a new perspective.  My daughter started taking weekly drawing classes.  Before the classes began, I received an email from the teacher listing the supplies my child would need.  Although the list was in English, I had no idea what some of the items were like a flare pen or an art portfolio.  Thankfully, the teacher purchased all of the supplies and I just had to write a check.  

After the first day of class, my five-year-old walked to the car with a grocery sack of supplies and a very large one of these:

This is an art portfolio!  Can you tell I never took drawing classes growing up?

The teacher had mentioned previously that there would be weekly sketch assignments so, on our way home, I asked my daughter about her homework.  She didn't remember hearing anything about homework.

And I believed her.  

I thought about emailing the teacher to ask but I had already asked about what to do with the supplies in the grocery bag and I didn't want to be one of "those parents" that constantly bug the teacher.

In subsequent weeks, my daughter remembered her homework assignments most of the time.  Every week, I reminded her to do her homework (typically the day/night before drawing class).  She would do the sketching in our living room or kitchen while I cooked dinner or worked on the computer.  I would praise her efforts but did not intervene because I really had no idea what she was learning in class.  At times, I thought about sitting down with her and drawing my own sketch alongside her but then decided against it.  After all, I'm not the teacher!  I figured it was better for her to do her own work and let the teacher see what she could really do on her own.

Every Monday, I helped her strap on her backpack with supplies and I carried that large, brown portfolio to the door of her class.  Not once did it occur to me to open that portfolio...

Yes, I'm a horrible parent!  I'm sure it would have occurred to you!  Well, sometime in mid-November, I grew curious about what might be in that large brown thing that spent the week propped against the wall in my laundry room.  I opened it up and discovered several sheets of paper.  One of those sheets of paper was a list of the weekly homework assignments FOR THE YEAR!  Yep, I'm pretty sure the teacher had put that there the first week of school.

My excuse?  Drawing classes are a new world to me.  I didn't know that the portfolio was really just a very large "Take Home Folder".

Do I want my child to be able to draw well?  Of course!  That is why I put her in those classes with an expert!

And this is where I start to appreciate in a new way the perspectives of the parents that do not seem involved in their child's education...

Strategy: Making Anchor Charts Meaningful

Anchor charts are a big deal these days and I love them.  They were an effective way to leave "tracks of our thinking" (Stepanie Harvey) when I was in the classroom and I continue to see teachers use them effectively in the classrooms that I visit and support.

There's just one thing that worries me.  For all the love I have for Pinterest, it seems that sometimes it causes our focus to be on the CUTENESS of the chart rather than its value as a reference for students.  I LIKE cute.  I like chevron stripes, fun fonts, and lots of color BUT those aren't the attributes of an effective anchor chart!

When I am doing a campus visit, I walk into every classroom and look at the walls.  I see a lot of chart paper on the walls but the charts that cause me to take a second look are the ones like these from a recent visit to a school district in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A few things things stand out to me in the charts above:

• The charts were obviously created WITH the students.  
• The basic information on the charts is DIGESTIBLE and can be captured with a quick glance.  They pack a big punch but do not overwhelm!  Anchor charts represent MINI-lessons.  If there is too much information for my grown-up eyes and brain, there is definitely too much information for an elementary student.
• The teachers were INTENTIONAL about using nonlinguistic representations that would create meaning for the students LONG AFTER the original lesson was over.  Think Vygotsky's mediators!

As you prepare your instruction for this week, consider whether your anchor charts will merit a second glance by your students, especially your second language learners.  DON'T worry about the artistic quality of your drawings but DO explain your thinking behind them as you draw them.  If you are at a loss about how to convey a particularly abstract concept, ask your students for suggestions that would connect to their background knowledge.

Consider this quote from the chapter titled "Nonlinguistic Representations" in Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners by Jane D. Hill and Kathleen M. Flynn.

Knowledge is stored in two ways:  linguistically and nonlingustically.  Teachers mainly present new knowledge linguistically in the classroom, as they often ask students to listen to or read new information.  Think of knowledge presented linguistically as actual sentences stored in long-term memory.  Knowledge that is presented nonlinguistically is stored in the form of mental pictures or physical sensations such as sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and movement.  Using both linguistic and nonlinguistic methods of learning helps students recall and think about information.  Because ELLs cannot rely solely on linguistic ability to learn ad retain knowledge in a new language, nonlinguistic methods of learning are particularly important for them.

Have a great start to your semana and feel free to send me pictures of your nonlinguistic representations (bloomingbilinguals at gmail.com)!

Did you know about...the Spanish Random Number CD?

This review was not compensated or sponsored in any way.  I just love this resource and wanted to share because I think you will too!

My favorite resources for the classroom are the ones that have unlimited potential and that is why I am so excited to share about Creative Mathematics Spanish Random Number CD.  It is a tool for the math classroom that I used practically every day!  

The CD contains four songs with numbers 0-9 and 0-12 in Spanish at eight second intervals, four songs with numbers 0-9 and 0-12 in Spanish at 5-second intervals, and two songs with numbers 0- 12 in Spanish at two-second intervals.  Each "song" includes fun instrumentals with a man saying numbers in Spanish every few seconds.  You can hear a sample of the audio at this link.So, you may be asking what on earth is so fabulous about a CD with a man saying random numbers?  Well, let me ask you this.  Would your students benefit from a few minutes of practice with...?

• writing numbers

• comparing numbers

• adding and subtracting numbers fluently

• decomposing numbers

• determining odd and even

• multiplying and dividing numbers fluently

• identifying and extending number patterns (skip counting, multiples, factors, etc.)

• recognizing place value- mental math

I first received the English version of this CD along with a book titled Math Drills to Thrill at a conference with Creative Mathematics guru Kim Sutton over twelve years ago.  She is AMAZING and so much fun! Her book is full of generic blackline masters to work on the skills listed above in a fast and effective way.  You can even differentiate by providing students with different blacklines so they are working on different skills at the same time with the same numbers .  The blacklines are in English but mainly have numbers and math symbols and very little language.  Now that the Spanish CD is available, you could use these whether English or Spanish is your target language of instruction! 


As we aim for biliteracy with our students, we can't neglect NUMERACY and its importance in helping our students be successful problem solvers in both languages.  I credit this resource for helping my students to be flexible and fluent with numbers in a way I had never seen in previous years of teaching.  It is definitely worth the $10 cost!  Check it out!  If you already have it, please share what you think and how you use it!

Studying Spanish en mi casa: For real this time!

I'm sure every parent has a long list of endings to the phrase "Before I had kids, I thought..."  Well, here is one of mine: "Before I had kids, I thought I would organize our days at home just like they had been in my classroom.  On certain days of the week, I would speak in Spanish and other days in English."  Simple as that!  It was a grand plan!

Until my first child was born...
and I realized as a sleep-deprived, bewildered new mother that my "heart language" was English and it was very hard to speak "motherese" in a language that was not spoken to me by my own mother as a child.  It just didn't feel right for those first few months.

Nine months later...
I wanted a means to communicate with this little person and sign language seemed to be the best tool to do so.  Over the next six months, she learned the signs for more, milk, eat, all done, please, and thank you.  

Nine months later...
my little girl began to use actual words in English.  I went to show her off to my bilingual teacher friends and they asked why she didn't speak any Spanish.  Oops!  We got in the car and I began speaking in Spanish to my little one in an attempt to reclaim my pre-parenthood goal.  Needless to say, it didn't go over very well with my precious Type-A, doesn't like surprises little girl.  Besides, we were nearing the "Terrible Twos" with baby #2 on the way and I needed real communication.  Once again, I quickly abandoned speaking Spanish for sake of MY greater good.

Two years later...
my oldest was almost four-years-old and my youngest was almost two.  They began to accompany me for filming with ReadyRosie and heard me speak in a language they didn't understand.  I would overhear them speaking "Spanish" (aka "blah-blah-blah...blah-blah...blah, etc.") during pretend play.  Playing at the local park, filming with ReadyRosie, and hanging out with bilingual friends, I began to sense more of a curiosity in them about Spanish.  I attempted to introduce a word or two but with little retention.  I was discouraged and felt like a failure!

Two years later (one week ago)...
after Thanksgiving dinner, I heard my five-year-old niece counting to 20 in Spanish as she had learned in a once-a-week enrichment class at her school.  Upon returning home from the holiday, I decided to give it another try.  This time, I'm not giving up!  I think they are ready and so am I!

Stay tuned on Saturdays to hear about what we are doing and how it is going!  In the meantime, here is a peek at how my oldest is doing after a few days:

What's Hot: Advocating for ELLs

On most Monday nights, you will find me tucking my girls in by 7:45 so I can join my colleagues around the country on my couch on #ELLCHAT from 8-9 pm CT.  

This past week, the discussion was about advocating for English language learners.  Author and consultant Diane Staehr Fenner joined the chat to lend her expertise.  She has recently written the book Advocating for English Learners: A Guide for Educators and she authored this article on Colorin Colorado titled "Your Role in the Common Core:  Advocating for ELLs."  In this article, she poses some great questions for schools and districts to consider such as "Are teachers aware of the demands of CCSS assessments for ELLs & adjusting instruction? Are they using effective accommodations with ELLs in instruction and assessment?"

I have found that advocating for English language learners is equal parts speaking up for the needs of our students AND doing the work on my end to see that those needs are met to the best of my ability.  I think it also helps our case to refer to resources and organizations that are well-regarded by administrators and curriculum specialists like the International Reading Association or the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  Did you know that these organizations have position statements supporting native language instruction?

This is an excerpt from the International Reading Association:
Research has shown that literacy learning is easiest when initial instruction in the child’s home language is provided. Literacy skills in the home language can then be applied to learning to read and write in the language dominant in school. At the same time, however, some parents may prefer initial instruction to be delivered in the school’s dominant language. Policies and resources may make home-language instruction impossible.

This is an excerpt from National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:
Mathematics teachers must attend to all students, including those who speak a first language other than English or have related cultural differences, and ensure that all have access and opportunities to learn mathematics and to reveal what they know. Every student’s cultural and linguistic heritage should be respected and celebrated for the diversity that it contributes to the learning environment. Expanded learning opportunities and instructional accommodations should be available to English language learners (ELLs) who need them to develop mathematical understanding and proficiency.

That is powerful stuff!  If you are looking for a quick dose of insight and info into ways you can better advocate for your students, be sure to join #ELLCHAT on Twitter on Monday nights at 8 pm CT!  Hope to see you there!