Listening

Listening doesn't just happen with our ears, but also with our eyes and through body language, and movement. I believe educators to inherently be sociologists, always considering the parts of the person and immediate culture and nature of the student.

Lately, I am realizing, really realizing, that the more I observe and listen to patterns of behavior of children/students, that they are telling me/us what they need and often in other ways than words.

Perhaps the more we listen to the translated effects and demonstrations of need for a child/person beyond words, the more we can facilitate students to recognize and name their emotions through this guidance and, in turn, know themselves (their learning and interest affinities) and better support what they need as a person and learner.

The need for this self-awareness with advocacy is especially important in the very vocal-based American classroom (for representation and expression) and societal context, this all-the-more of a needed awareness of teachers, parents and other mentors and the developing persons (aren't we all one of those?) they guide.

I have taught for roughly over a decade and in that past decade, I have observed many instances of children being able to name their feelings and needs that is often guided to be learned and I know was not as strongly guided in the past in comparison with mine and other older generations of those learning differently/with learning disabilities (to be specific).

I am noticing a directional shift and integration of themes such as the following that answer to  contemporary need in teaching and learning  methodology:

-Guiding students to name their feelings--Self-knowledge/awareness, self-advocacy, consent

 -Practice of problem solving, anger management

-Ways of peaceful dialogue, research methods, evidential support

There is a lot within each of the briefly mentioned trends above, but I am noticing these intentional themes addressed and appearing for many contemporary young learners and these are ways of empowering the individual and, in turn, modeling and expanding the possibilities of our communities small and large.

-Also in practice are various experiential (multiple sensory modality) and authentic application teaching and learning methods in education (for instance, with community interaction), which support various kinds of learners that classify with learning styles, affinities and interests.

I look forward to expanding on the mentioned themes over time through my observation, reflection and research.

Stay tuned!

 

Puppetry with Intercultural and Linguistic Exchange 

 (Pictured here: Work from projects in Mexico & S. Korea)

 

 

(Bag) Lady 

 

 

Gallo/Rooster (sock)

 

 

 

A fox with a fable (from Aesop's Fox and the Grapes fable) would like to introduce himself to you...

 

Relation to Learning

   The linguist Stephen Krashen says that, “Language acquisition proceeds best when the input is not just comprehensible, but really interesting, even compelling; so interesting that you forget you are listening to or reading another language.” (Krashen in Fotheringham, 2015). It is a staple of my teaching philosophy that my English language learning students learn best through two major factors: the method of how information is taken in (input) and students’ meaningful relationship to the material.


   The arts provide a multi-sensory enhancement of teaching and learning practices through visual and experiential approaches (Gardner, 2006) that also support learning needs across not just individual variations such as these, but across content areas as well. In recent years, while teaching in the visual and performing arts and English as a second language (ESL) settings, I have attempted to create a comfortable atmosphere to what I had experienced as a student in my own transformational process(es) being shy and through arts practices, finding a sense of confidence to take chances and make mistakes in educational endeavors toward refinement. As a teacher, I strive to facilitate a comfortable and supportive learning context that allows for reflection and sharing in an engaged, authentic way.




Resources:

Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons. New York, NY: Basic.

Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. New York;
     London; Longman.

Krashen, S. (2015). Interview with Stephen Krashen: Linguist, Researcher and Education Activist/Interviewer: John Fotheringham [transcript]. Language Mastery. l2mastery.com/blog/linguistics-and-education/.../stephen-krashen/‎