Week 11

Hello everyone!

We are on our second to last meeting for Familia!

After talking to some of you at the debriefing on Friday, it seems that you are doing well with working with your students’ individual needs. What I suggest for tomorrow is to continue doing what you are doing and email me if you need me to help prepare something for you. Maureen-I have Scrabble! Does anyone else want to play?

Some things that we want to start thinking about and talking about with the families tomorrow:

1. What do we want to do for our last meeting? We will have to do some closing interviews and assessments, but we will have time for a celebration or to continue working if they/you would like. Please discuss with your families.
2. How will they (and you) continue their language experience over the summer? Between now and next week I would like for you to have a goals and action plan. For example, you could have them talk to someone in English at least once a week. Or a goal could be to ask a question in English every time they go to the grocery store, or to read a book with their kids or watch 1 hour of tv in English per week....help them to make this list with specific indicators
3. Who will be coming back in the fall?
4. Finishing the scrapbooks—do they want to present them in English to the whole group on the 27th?
   

I’ll have some more information for you tomorrow, but please, if you have a moment, think about these things....

Thanks and have a good Monday, see you tomorrow night.
Carmen
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Feedback !!

From Urbany:

Hey everyone - you guys are doing a great job, it was nice to see everyone in action again last night.

Per Carmen's request, could you please provide feedback by responding to this blog post (hit the little "X Comments" link below and type away). At a minimum provide responses to these questions:

1. What do you like most about the program?
2. What do you like least?
3. What is most helpful to you?
4. What changes would you recommend for next year?

Your feedback might consider: the Sed de Saber machines, dinner, parent tutoring, parents/children working together, HCC students & kid time, individual tutor vs. whole class tutoring, intercambios.

Thanks very much - your feedback will be very important for planning next year's program.

Week 9

Hi everyone!

Just a reminder that Monday there will be cameras on us, so please be on time and ready!

For Monday, I was going to pick up the photos from the disposable cameras given to the families and use the time we have in our program to write narratives about what is happening in the pictures, and then add the whole thing to the albums.

To do this, we must make sure everyone has their photos. Some forgot their cameras, so I asked them to drop them off under my name at the CVS on Western.

Please call your families and remind them to bring their supplies/albums on Monday.
Carmina/Sobieda/Eloisa/Maria all need to be reminded to drop off their cameras before 4 on Monday—if they drop them on Monday they need to ask for 1 hour service (it is not more expensive).

Also, please blog or, at least email me where you are in the all of the packets I’ve given you in the last couple of weeks by Monday at noon. This will help me plan some other activities and know what you are working on and how I can help. If you want to plan your own activities—feel free, but it would help me a lot if you could go back and document your progress. I’m starting to think about planning for fall and I really need your input. I have not been good about blogging either and plan on working on it this weekend too.

Thanks for your time on this, it is very much appreciated. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
Carmen

Week 8 from Carmen

Familia Extendida: Week 8 (Parents and students can be doing the same thing apart)

Topic: Neighborhood resources

1. Please review the packet from last week and complete things that you haven’t finished in regards to directions.

2. Make a list of neighborhood resources. Use the attached template, add some more, and friends and family too. (La Casa de Amistad is a good example of a resource that can be on there).

3. After making the list, draw a map of the family’s neighborhood and put the neighborhood resources on it. Depending on the level of your student, either practice direction words and descriptions or write about the places, what they do there, how they should use them etc. Use the Spanish/English Dictionary.

4. Family routines: Add some places that the family likes to go together to the map and describe them. Ask questions about what they do there. Elicit an explanation from your student.

IN PACT TIME:

Hopefully, I’ll have the pictures developed and you can add them to the scrapbook with descriptions as to what is going on in the pictures. This will probably take two classes.

Next time: Environmental print and continuation of pasting and describing the pictures…

Week 7

This week we went a little backwards. We had family time together first to work on our albums, then we split up into groups to work on directions and maps.

Week 6

This week we had a guest speaker, Hugo Rodriguez, a Latino Community Organizer.

Here is an outline of his speech:

Week 5 from Carmen

Already week 5! I think we’re making great progress.

This week’s activities revolve around food.

I’ll have a thick packet of various worksheets and activities for PACT time for you all to work on this time. The activities vary from straight vocabulary, to going to the grocery store to making recipes. Use what you think may be best for your students’ needs.

Social Hour—please try to talk to your families in Spanglish—this is the time you can try out some Spanish for them! Find out about their weekend and how working with the machine is coming.

Tutoring time: use the packet and the machines—focus on book 2, 3, 6 related to food: book 2, pg 7 book 6 pp8-9 book 3: 14-15

Ask the parents about their experiences at the grocery stores, foods from their homelands, special recipes that they know...discuss some of yours. The vegetarian thing seemed of great interest to the parents!

PACT time: Are you all making your albums? I’ll call around to make sure they remember their materials...I want to see them! I want to see photos and recipes. I’m going to give each family disposable cameras to take home, and have some catalogs to cut out pictures. The students will bring something related to food and collages to add to the book.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Carmen

Week 4

Hello everyone, time for week four! We are now more than halfway through. We have a guest speaker this week!

I know that some of you have participated in intercambios. If you have not, please do…get together with your family and have a little Spanish time.

Relationship building between student/teacher can be the biggest factor in the progress of a student, though this is hard to document. For the class I am taking in my graduate program, I was assigned an article about a volunteer who completed a summer tutoring program for high school students who had flunked English and checked back with his 18 yr old student 15 months later. The purpose of the article was to describe methods given to the student to help with reading comprehension. The conclusions were a bit different from reading comprehension…the books and topics that the tutor had found in the interest of his student rather than the strategies and the encouragement he had given him had spurred a change in the mindset of the student and aided him in advancing his career and education. I assume that as MBA’s, networking is a big part of your education. The same should be true in the Education field. It is amazing how relationships between teacher and student can make a huge difference in learning! The article is attached, if you have time and are interested.

I feel that I see progress in the comfort level and feedback from the families, but WE REALLY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU! Please use the blog function, as it will be very helpful. I’ll also have a sheet for you to fill out tomorrow.

Week 4: Guest Speaker, and let’s catch up!

5:00–5:30 Social time:
Please get your food and sit down with your family or another family to talk about the week.

· Review what you did last week in conversation.

· Make an effort to speak a little Spanish or "Spanglish" so that they can see that you can relate to communication difficulties.

· Ask the families what literacy activities they did at home with their children. Did they complete their recipes, read the books? Did they enjoy the time? Did they see learning and conversation with their children about their home recipes and traditions?

5:30-6:30 We have a guest speaker this week!
Hugo Rodriguez, a Spanish/English interpreter and community organizer for the Latino community in Northern IN, (who also happens to be my uncle), will speak on the importance of literacy & learning English with the children in mind, and he will share information on resources available to Latinos in the area from $ to healthcare to educational programming.

Tutoring Time: 6:30-7:00
Because I’m not sure where you are in your progress, I’m assuming that we need some catch up time, especially after the guest speaker
· Take a moment to discuss the guest speaker. (You may need to use Spanglish here) Please take notes for me (sheet provided) Did they find the information helpful? Why or why not?

· Review vocabulary from the last couple of weeks, try and get a feel for how they are doing and what they want to practice more. If you need to, take the time to go back and practice. (5-10 min.)

· Make sure that they have the following for their albums:
1. autobiography
2. family tree, with descriptions of each person in the family
3. a family story or tradition
4. a family food
Please work on editing, adding and improving to these things in the album
If time, work on the Book 6 of the Sed de Saber Materials—weekend plans. They can add a page to the book about things that there families like to do together.

7:00-7:30 PACT Time (Parents And Children Together):

1. The parents explain what they have added to the albums and the kids will have an autobiographical collage to share. Try to have them practice English together.

Homework: They will have to write out a story or description about family activities.

Sed de Saber Video - Santa Ana School District

Have a look at the impact of language training in Santa Ana and elsewhere.

Link --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn81eZDWsVs

Week 3 Plan from Carmen

Familia Extendida: Week 3

Hello Everyone!

Heather and I thought that things went very well last week, and it seems that you and your families are warming up to each other well. You seemed to be enjoying yourselves. It would be very helpful if you would take a moment to blog for us what you think went well, or didn't go well. Please email me if you have specific questions, requests, needs or concerns.

Another reminder: We provide the Sed de Saber machines and some handouts to be used as guides for your studies with families. The purpose of allowing for individual tutors is for you to meet individual needs that work best for your teaching style and the needs of your student. Please use the instructions as guidelines and let us know how we can support you. It seems that all of you are doing a great job with this. For example, one of you made flashcards with your family.

Now, it is time for week 3: this week's theme is food and family celebrations. You will receive a packet in your box on Monday, so please stop by and get it before you come to our program. I've also attached some helpful tips from the great website Heather found last week.

WEEK 3: FOOD

FIRST OF ALL, IF YOU HAVE ANY OLD CATALOGS OR MAGAZINES AT HOME THAT WE CAN USE WITH THE KIDS. PLEASE BRING THEM MONDAY.

5:00–5:30 Social time:
Please get your food and sit down with your family or another family to talk about the week.

· Review what you did last week in conversation.

· Make an effort to speak a little Spanish or "Spanglish" so that they can see that you can relate to communication difficulties.

· Ask the families what literacy activities they did at home with their children. Did they read the books? Did they enjoy them?


5:30-6:30 Tutoring Time:
· Review vocabulary from the last couple of weeks, try and get a feel for how they are doing and what they want to practice more. If you need to, take the time to go back and practice. (5-10 min.)

· Work on the food section of the sed de saber materials. Use the Oxford Picture Dictonary to help. (approx 30min)

o Level 1 will need straight vocabulary words to identify foods.

You can start with asking what their favorite foods are, what the ingredients are and how to make it.

Also, find out if they need phrases to use in the grocery store such as "how much" and "is this on sale" or perhaps cooking verbs or useful phrases if they work in food service such as "do you want me to wash that" "can I help you" "where do I put this"?

o Level 2 can work on verbs, directions for making something, looking for food words they don't know, and more advanced phrases that they may need to know for the grocery store or the work place. Such as, "Where are the corn tortillas (whole milk, black beans, etc)?

Or This needs to cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. The oxford dictionary has a good verb section to use.

· Discuss family traditions and foods made for these occasions. Have the parents describe their favorite tradition and meal. Help them develop the vocabulary they need. Ask questions to understand the tradition. Share you own. Help them to write down a description of their favorite traditon and/or meal. This is in preparation for the work that they will do with their children. (15-20 min)

6:30-7:30 PACT Time (Parents And Children Together):

1. The parents should've rehearsed a little about their favorite tradition/food with you. Now it is time to share with their children—in English. The children will have worked on this themselves and be ready to share with the parents as well. After discussing these things in English with each other, they can write it down and illustrate their favorite foods and traditions to put it into the scrapbook. They will also need a little time to glue their pictures into their scrapbook from last week and finish their autobiographies and family trees. Since there is so much to do, there may be less time for reading together. Please do this at the end. Pick a story from the Carmen Lomas Garza book about food. Ask questions to connect their experience with the story.


Homework: They will have to write out their favorite recipe to bring for next time. I will have a sheet to hand out to them on which to put the recipe(s) and with directions. I will encourage them to bring their favorite dish next time if they can.

Week 2 Plan from Heather

Today is all about family stories-- I have handouts to guide you that I found from a great literacy support website (so please excuse the headings on the worksheets). I have attached them to this email and will have hard copies available to you tonight.

Time with Parents:
You can warm up with talking about movies and books and then move into discussions about describing people (i.e. family members) and even types of clothing. Then you can move to Sed de Saber and review descriptions (book 1) and/or work through book 5 (especially talking about weekend plans and celebrating holidays). You can begin working on Autobiographies of the parents if there is still time

Time with Parents and Children:
We are still going to read together and then work on the La Familia albums (they will be handed out tonight). The first few pages will include autobiographies of each member (we will take pictures of them individually and as a family to put in the albums). The family tree will also be added and we will begin working on an illustrated family story (which will be completed for homework)

You are welcome to adjust this lesson plan to best fit the needs of the family you are working with.
I appreciate all of you hard work and patience as we continue to make this program better.... I found a great free online course for you (if you have time) that deal with adult literacy. Check out http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/Thinkfinity-Literacy-Network-H.10.0.html then scroll down on the right you will see free online courses then select "principles of adult learning" and set up a free account.
I would love to know what you think of this and if it should be added as a part of orientation next time around.

If you have any questions/concerns, please let me know. Also, feedback will be digital from now on (we have way too many papers). Make notes of your evening and I will send out a form tomorrow. In the future, perhaps we can make a survey sheet that is more user friendly and you can just log in and comment... what do you all think?

Best,
Heather

New York Times on the Catholic School Crisis

A current perspective on the challenges being faced by Catholic schools is captured in this recent New York Times article. The Notre Dame Task Force report is cited. Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/education/18catholic.html

Volunteers, How did Week 1 Go?

Hit the "COMMENTS" link immediately below and let us know how your volunteer experience went Monday night (Jan. 26).

Week 1 Addendum from Heather

I have placed "getting to know you" materials in your mailboxes (except for Devon's). If you want to use these materials for tomorrow night, please bring them with you as they will not be made available at St. Adalbert's. If you would prefer not to have them placed in your mailbox (i.e. you want me to bring them to the school, please let me know). The worksheets are for your use and to assist with your conversations with your family. Some of the sheets have pictures on them if you are unable to give descriptions in words and gestures, but I would encourage you to use pictures only after you have attempted other forms of communication.

I will bring the family tree forms for the families with me, so you will not have to worry about that.

Also, we will be taking pictures tomorrow and throughout the program so the families can put them in their scrapbook (they will each receive a binder with page protectors to help them document their experience). If you want duplicate pictures, please let me know.

Finally, I have included volunteer reflection forms in your mailboxes and will bring more with me tomorrow. As we mentioned in the orientation, Carmen and I want your feedback and want to help you help this family to the best of your ability, so we need to know what is and is not working. I would like you each to take a moment after the program ends tomorrow night to fill out the form and hand it to me or Carmen before you leave.

Thanks so much for your help! Also, Lauren Fischer has been kind enough to lend her talents to designing our logo, so I will send it to your when it is complete.

Have a great night!

Best, Heather

Week 1 Plan from Carmen ... If you have Questions ... Hit the Comment Link Below and Post

Hi everyone!
As promised, here is our plan for Monday [ Jan. 26, 2009 ] and the format for the future meetings.
Keep in mind that we can’t and won’t give you an exact script because we want you to go at the pace of your families.
We will provide you with enough curriculum to keep you busy, options, and support on Monday nights.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you!
Carmen

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La Familia Extendida: Format
Please note: this is a very flexible curriculum as we are tailoring to the families needs and will base the curriculum on their progress. Feel free to be creative! Carmen and Heather will visit each of you to provide support.
5–5:30 Social time/food
5:30–5:45 Talk about the week, how the homework went, questions, concerns, review last week.
5:45–6:15 Practice with Sed de Saber Program
6:15–6:30 Live tutoring conversation, extension activities, homework
6:30-7:30 PACT (Parents And Children Together) Tim

Week 1: January 26, 2009 Theme: Getting to know each other, Introductions

5–5:30 Social time/food

5:30–5:45 Introductions.

My name is… My family is…wife, son ,daughter, etc. Tell them where you are from. Repeat- Repeat- Gesture ! Get them talking! Don’t over-correct, especially the first day. This is your chance to get comfortable and start forming your tutoring relationship. Their comfort level will be essential to the amount of learning they will be able to accomplish. It is okay to spend a little time doing this, and it will be awkward at first. It is okay!

You will be provided with a packet that has questions to practice asking and answering and pictures that you can point to in order to convey meaning. This is also an opportunity to confirm a list of who will be coming every week.

5:45–6:15 Practice with Sed de Saber Program Help them to manipulate the machine. Go through the things they know quickly and spend more time on what is new. Make a note of where they are.

6:15–6:30 Live tutoring conversation, extension activities, homework.
This is your chance to tell them what they did well, what they need to practice, and to send them home with vocabulary words or phrases to practice. You will both fill out a short evaluation of the first day so we can help you with the curriculum for the next week.

6:30-7:30 PACT (Parents And Children Together) Time
Read aloud: Mi familia/my family
Create autobiographies, begin work on a family tree. Take pictures and demonstrate by creating your own autobiography and family tree.

Depending upon the levels of the parents kids, you can:

Level 1: concentrate on the pictures and simple vocabulary such as my name is, my wife is, my son is, my occupation/age, etc…
Level 2: Add adjectives and descriptions. I am tall, I have dark hair, etc.
Level 3: Write a paragraph including likes/dislikes, etc…
Homework: finish autobiography and family tree to bring next time.

Devon: Carmina wants to practice writing essays, how to write bibliographies, etc. I’ll have something separate for you on Monday.

Week Two Theme: Family Stories

Week Three Theme: Family Recipes

Week Four Theme: Food/$/Groceries

Week Five Theme: Health Care guest speaker from community agency

Week Six: Health Care/plan celebration

A brief introduction

The decline in Catholic school enrollment (from 5.2 million in the mid-1960's to 2.2 million today) has many causes. One big challenge has been in figuring out ways to help acculturate new immigrant populations. The natural focus has been on changing or adapting the schools. This project is about a different approach: helping the families themselves to change and grow, in a way that enhances children's academic performance and builds the school's value proposition.

Hence, the premise as written by Heather Burns, Notre Dame MBA:

La Familia Extendida is designed to provide English language training to every member of the Hispanic elementary student’s family to include parents and siblings. This program will take place at St. Adalbert’s school and will place them as the “extended family” that is central to Hispanic culture. The goal of this program is to enhance the schools value proposition for the family; building trust and improving student performance and achievement.