Working in Education through the Language Lens

   So a while ago I asked my PLN and FaceBook community these two very serious (tongue in cheek) research questions. Q1: If you are asked to wear a name badge, what do you write?  Title and last name (Dr. Delahunty) Full name (Geniene P. Delahunty) First name only (Geniene)  or fake name (Sally McWenton - made that up while typing). Q2: what stickers/decals are are on your car? I was quite surprised with the number of people who said fake names (I won't blow your cover here FB friends). The most common response was: it depends on the function. First name with friends/Title and last name with strangers. So why is that? What wall do we think we are putting up by leaving out our first name. Doesn't providing strangers with our last name in fact share more than what we should be comfortable with. Does our first name assume such intimacy that we reserve it only for friends? Late in the summer I remember a conversation as school planning was underway about h...

How about love..........? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvyHuse6buY https://40.media.tumblr.com/15076e176eefe1a2a7138caee69fa67f/tumblr_mlfd1gBlnw1qad707o1_500.jpg One of my ALL TIME favorite musicals - RENT! As this year draws to an end I have to reflect back on HOW I chose to measure this year: it's successes - it's failures, it's moments that have brought me to tears or to uncontrollable laughter. I know for sure that the number of cups of coffee have kept a certain (cough cough K cup company in business). For the first time as an ELL specialist I have had the privilege to work with High School students - which have been my highlight of my day (most days). They have inquired about language, life and have invited me into their homes. The family dynamic has never been so important to me as an educator, after meeting these students - and their families. Isn't that ironic - as we usually see 'hands off' attitudes on either side of the partnership at...

We always have many firsts! As we get older our chances of doing things for the first time seem to diminish - by our own choosing. We get comfortable (some may even say complacent) and our opportunities to engage in 'first time' experiences. I always love giving my students a 'first time' opportunity. If taken for granted students could miss out on these on a daily basis by merely assuming that their background/life experience mirror our own, or those of the majority. So my second grade pullout  group investigated the smells, texture and tastes of pumpkin pie for almost 20 minutes. We engaged our senses, our food enthusiasm and tapped into our bravery centers of the brain. Do you remember the last time you tasted something new/different? Or did you automatically reject the experience with 'no thanks'. Last night my husband and I watched an episode of "An Idiot Abroad" where poor Carl is constantly put in first time situations. Last...

1) Don't cheat and scroll down first! 2) Promise to stop and watch the youtube videos to take in the full effect of this written message! *** promise??*** ok! THERE COMES A TIME in everyone's life - heck sometimes daily when we make this decision. Almost like "flight or fight?" except I like to name it Anchor down/Anchors away? I came to terms with a lot of identity issues for myself this past year (as it was my 40th year). I also had a serious conversation with myself during my times of reflection about being authentic .  My PLN knows more about me from our conversations and heart felt communication during the course of the past 6 months than some of my co-workers of 4 years. And you know what? No one is to blame but me. I can't hold it against them if I chose not to 'show my skin' - pun intended.  There are layers of facade that we all put up - especially in education. We feel this need to create a barrier between personal and...

A recent poll of 43 friends/colleagues left me with a data cluster. I simply asked, "what is your favorite day of the week and why?" I have my favorite (even though I've been told not to play favorites) - but I do! I'll share my favorite at the end (no scrolling down). So what prompted this question? Glad you asked- As I near my birthday and a seemingly more reflective time of the year for me both personally and professionally, I have wondered why people seem to place a lot of value on one day of the week over another. It's rather simple really - and I could have predicted the results - perhaps not the reasons behind the results. What we find value in, where we find most pleasure - is reflected in our 'day' of choice. Following up election day last week, I've been reflective over the value we put on numbers and percentages - which led into a conversation with my PLN about ranking and student data. That conversation ironically had the sam...

For a few weeks now I've had a somewhat skewed outlook on the world. Literally! My wipers were not performing well and during this rainy fall season here in Northern Kentucky, their lack of performance has proven a tad dangerous. I finally made the time to stop by my husbands shop and have him change them out.  Unclip - whack - clip - fwop!  2 minutes later and I'm looking out of an incredibly clear window. We always have these options when we see something: a) look away and ignore b) look away and think about it c) look and do nothing d) look and react e) look with a open mind f) look with a changed mindset So let's play with this scenario - (insert your own here)  This is an actual scenario that happened while stopping in Mt. Washington, Maryland to meet a friend from our PTcamp, from this past summer, and has extended to an amazing PLN (connected through voxer). We stopped at a light at an offramp into a neighborhood, a rather busy intersection ...

It's Fall festival week and teachers have gone all out decorating their doorways for our upcoming fall festival. Unfortunately I cannot attend this year - however I wanted to use the opportunity to have my pullout students set up an interactive door! I LOVE cognates. I find them fascinating - and a good transition lesson in teaching Idioms which are such a slippery slope (see what I did there?!) Before you attempt your own uses with the "orange words": the following sentences are by my 2nd graders: *Let's fall in love! (my model) * I fell down the stairs. *Falling into a leaf pile *I fell over a bunch of apples. *When the leaves fall off and they start to change color. *When I was sleeping, I fell out of bed. My fourth grader contributed this idiom: *I took a test, my score is 95%, and I fell short of my goal of 100%.

NO - not the whole stork carrying the baby story! How did I end up in education - teaching ELL - aspiring to be an administrator - and connected to some of the best educators and advocates for education that I've ever known? Would it surprise you if I said I've always loved school? Yes, I was the teachers pet - not because I sought out attention, but because I loved being on task. This holds true today, in that I hate having my time wasted. I dislike doing things that have little effect. A pivotal point in my young journey as a learner occurred near the end of 10th grade. My sister had just graduated high school and I had been following in her footsteps since first grade. "Oh you're Marcelle's sister?.......... you don't look very much like her!..........I hope you're as good as a student as she is!" - were very familiar greeting from teachers. I had had enough of being in her illustrious academic and sports shadow. She would captain the A team,...

Have you considered how the culture of your students, plays into the school culture and your expectations? Have you investigated collective versus individual cultures? Here's a snippet from an  interesting article on how individualist cultures "behave" differently from collective ones.  Collectivist Individualist Students speak up in class only when sanctioned by the group Students are expected to individually speak up in class The purpose of education is learning how to do The purpose of education is learning how to learn Diplomas provide entry to higher-status groups Diplomas increase economic worth and/or self-respect http://outwardlooking.com/how-do-individualist-cultures-behave-differently-to-collective-ones/ So what does that have to do with the work I do - we do? (I'm so glad you asked) Your culture and identity cannot be checked out as you enter your workplace/school. However, you can create, build and sustain dual identities. If you know ...