At 10:08 AM 6/26/2006, you wrote:

>Hi Everyone,

>

>I want to welcome our guest this week, Hal Beder, who will join us to

>discuss his

>recent FOB article: "Shaping and Sustaining Learner Engagement in

>Individualized Group Instruction Classrooms".

>

>You can find the article at this link:

>http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=1106

>

>Hal is a professor at Rutgers University and has studied adult literacy

>for more than 30 years. He is the project director for NCSALL at Rutgers

>and for the National Labsite for Adult Literacy Education. We are very

>pleased to have him with us.

>

>I am going to open up the discussion with a few questions for you:

>

>How many of you teach individualized group instruction?


Until reading Hal's article, I'd have answered yes to this without 
hesitation. However, reading his article, I'm going to have to say, 
that it's probably a combination of group and individual instruction. 
All students are pre tested and placed based on their scores.  My 
students are predominantly on the higher end of the TABE scale - but 
not always. Students are all individually assessed to see where they 
are in terms of actual GED readiness and then together we work on a 
plan of individual lessons. In addition to that, I incorporate group 
activities such as oral reading, current events and critical thinking 
skills into the classroom.



>How do  you find that the three factors discussed in the article

>(instructional system, teachers' roles, and classroom norms) affect your

>learners?


With regards to the Instructional System: for me, this comes down to 
understanding my student needs. Some of my students can easily work 
on their own and at their own pace and only need me when they hit a 
wall, or need clarification. On the other hand, some of my students 
can't function this way. They need a dialogue and as they put it, 
they "want someone to instruct them."  For example, I was out the 
first week of this new summer session which began on May 22. I had a 
new student who came in during that time. She was very much put off 
by what she did not deem as helpful. She returned 2 weeks ago, in the 
middle of the class time when as we were doing an oral reading 
assignment on the novel Miracle's Boys. She waited patiently and I 
could read the excitement on her face. She was smiling from ear to 
ear. She looked at me and said "This is what I'm looking for. I want 
someone that's going to involve me, and teach me." I explained that 
the class wasn't like what she walked in all the time...that there 
was a balance. She's returned every day since.  I don't think there 
is any ONE instructional system that works for all students and I 
think instructors have to be flexible and adapt to the needs of the 
student.  I think this relates directly to the teacher's role. I 
think the teacher's role is to facilitate learning - provide access 
to learning and in some cases be a bridge between the "life" skills a 
student brings with them and the "academic" skills a student is 
trying to attain. Some of our students don't need to find the same 
"school" like environment in our adult classrooms that one would find 
in the public school system - at the same time, some of our students 
do. They are looking for structure in what is sometimes a very 
chaotic life. The instructor is there to give guidance and support 
and that can many, many forms - whether it's an in depth lesson on 
how to add fractions with unlike denominators or if it's a discussion 
on current events in the town they live in. Teachers are there to 
open the doors and in some cases help students find the right path or 
at least show them the options they have available. Teachers are 
sometimes the only helping hand a student might have.

Classroom norms is the area I struggle with. I would love it if my 
students all came in with the "Stick to business" attitude. Some do 
and some don't. Those that don't are often a distraction for those 
that do. It's a constant battle and one I'm not sure how to win, if 
winning is the right word. Those students that don't come in with 
that attitude are the ones that want to be finished yesterday but who 
aren't willing to do any of the work. School and the classroom are a 
social time. We do have rules and a policy of writing them up if the 
offense is bad enough - such as cursing at the instructor or 
repeatedly being late to class after break.  For the students who 
don't have the "stick to business" attitude, I can honestly say based 
on my class this semester, they just don't care about the rules. 
Personally, I'd like to know how the classes observed in the article 
got to a point where "engaging and maintaining engagement for the 
entire class was a commonly accepted behavior of the class. It was so 
ingrained that it hardly ever needed to be enforced."




>What other factors affect your learners' engagement?


Distractions from their outside of school life: fear of losing their 
job, fear of losing their daycare, how they're going to put gas in 
their car, pay for daycare, pay for the utilities, keep their food 
from spoiling in the heat, get their car fixed, what they're going to 
do on Friday night, relationship issues with boyfriend/girlfriend or 
mom and dad etc.



>I look forward to hearing from you!

>

>Julie

>

>

>

>Julie McKinney

>Discussion List Moderator

>World Education/NCSALL

>jmckinney at worlded.org

>

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