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My Life Untranslated

  • When will we value languages?

    If being bilingual was seen as a priority for all students, NYC would see their huge population of ELLs as an asset and would be compelled to allocate funds to maintain their biliteracy. Until then, we will be expected to judge them solely as students who do not yet know [...]
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    Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:50am EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Sign Language in my class

    I told my class on Monday that we’d be learning sign language as our class project and I can’t believe how excited they were and how much initiative some of them took. This is one major part of our curriculum where I really have total control and I’m very excited [...]
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    Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:44pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Incorporating Languages I Don’t Know Into My Teaching

    Number of comments: 1
    As I have mentioned previously, I have 9 students who speak languages in class that I don’t – Indonesian, Chinese, and Bangla. I also have Urdu and Pashto speakers but they have a little more English than the others, much like most of the Spanish speakers in my class of [...]
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    Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:12pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • and i thought the worst was over

    Last week my principal was supposed to come observe me but she never came. She came today and I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. I am feeling so bummed. I had a really great lesson planned that would have pleased her to no end but I didn’t [...]
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    Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:24pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • in-school suspensions?

    Number of comments: 3
    Whose idea was it that students who do things worthy of a suspension should first he “suspended” by having to go to another classroom first? Where teachers become like prison wardens? Even when what the student does is potentially harmful to other students’ health and well-being? Is this a step [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:00pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • what are we in for?

    Layoffs of school aides. Threats of budget cuts. More students crowding into our classrooms. Many of them new to the school or country, thus needing to learn brand new routines and languages. More changes to expectations for classroom teachers’ manner of instruction (such as teaching points) and data collection. Teachers who I [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:40pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • What i like to call the biggest* conundrum that will never be solved

    The massive “poor working conditions” umbrella can bundle many diverse challenges, ranging from furnaces that malfunction in freezing weather to inadequate textbooks to oversized classes to endless after-school meetings. Few of these can be remedied by individual teachers or even administrators. They require no less than a total restructuring of [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 12:12pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • inquiry teams

    Number of comments: 2
    Have any of you ever heard of Inquiry Teams with only one person on them? I was asked to be my own Inquiry Team. Is that as odd as it sounds? Posted in new teacher [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 6:57pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • But the teacher said we could talk!

    Every teacher struggles I think with the types and levels of talking in class. Kids have a tendency for the gift of gab and how well a teacher curbs this is often used as a lithmus test of her strengths as a classroom manager by those observing. Enter my class [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:36pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • more layoffs?

    Number of comments: 4
    Now NYC is reporting more layoffs of city services, including schools. I guess the federal money we got only helped enough for the one year? Ugh. Now I get to worry about my job security again. I hate working twice as hard as some teachers and be at risk [for [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 6:43am EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • social studies and teacher allies

    No one ever told me teaching could be like a season of Survivor with cutthroat allies that move all the time. Someone once even recommended that I watch my back around two people who are now friends with my “warner”. It’s dizzying. Overall I feel grateful to no longer be [...]
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    Posted: November 16, 2009, 4:13pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • online sources for newcomer ELLs?

    I use sites like storylineonline.net with its read alouds done by famous people, raz-kids.com with its leveled books and I have Imagine Learning English in my class. But I am trying to find more online resources that offer other similar read alouds or readers theatre, etc. Any recommendations? Preferably free [...]
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    Posted: November 15, 2009, 11:21pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • New online network for ESL and bilingual teachers

    I just started this network for ESL and bilingual teachers because I have noticed how some of the teachers I know feel really isolated. Some are the only ESL teacher in their school, or are the only self-contained class in their grade, or for whatever other reason they feel totally alone, [...]
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    Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:44pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • this year so far..

    Tomorrow is the fifth grade NY social studies test. I will have hopefully three translators in the room, plus myself. There will be a Chinese, Bengali, and hopefully an Indonesian translator. I will be providing the Spanish. I say hopefully because I don’t know if my school has been able [...]
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    Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:26pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • My first observation and meeting with my principal…

    Ok, so just recently I was observed by my immediate supervisor (Ms. R) in Writers Workshop. Ms. R is the woman I referred to previously. She came in my class as we were working on Realistic Fiction, where the kids are writing fiction stories with characters they created. We were [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 11:10pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • New year… trying out a new theme

    Comments? Posted in new teacher [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2009, 8:10pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • ah the life of an ESL teacher under a new supervisor

    Number of comments: 4
    I thought I was going to teach fourth grade but I was moved to fifth, which I have never done before and kind of scared me. I didn’t know what to expect about the kids I’d get and if they’d be big and cynical or “too cool for school” or [...]
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    Posted: September 10, 2009, 5:00pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Time off?

    Number of comments: 5
    So, this is my first summer experiencing a true summer vacation – ie., not teaching summer school – although I am taking a class required for my MA. I am enjoying it, but whoever thinks that teachers are, like, totally “off” for the summer are wrong. My brain thinks all [...]
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    Posted: July 11, 2009, 4:39pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • We’re Here Already?

    I can’t believe it – the last week of school. I honestly did not think this year would go as fast as it did. I have been assigned to teach fourth grade next year, which means I am looping with two of my students, and the rest are beginner ELLs [...]
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    Posted: June 22, 2009, 10:54pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • school closed

    Number of comments: 1
    As a precaution, our school is closed until Tuesday because an unusually high number of students went home with fevers, sore throats and other flu symptoms. Posted in new teacher [...]
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    Posted: May 18, 2009, 10:17pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • middle of may

    Sometimes I wish I knew what to say to my one student whose desires to move up to a J reading level (when P is where they really ought to be) are so great but his ability is just not there. I feel like I fail him every day. He [...]
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    Posted: May 13, 2009, 9:55am EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • 10 Weeks Left

    It’s so hard to believe this school year is almost over. The weather was a first sign that we were entering our final stretch. I’m not sure what to think at the moment. I am happy that I have accomplished a lot with my students but I’m already reflecting on [...]
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    Posted: April 20, 2009, 5:19pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Your language, your way of being… Imagine it gone.

    Here’s a video I’d like to share about some of the things I’ve been thinking about over the break.. And if he doesn’t move you, read this (from two years ago). Posted in new teacher [...]
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    Posted: April 19, 2009, 12:53pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • New Word

    It’s no surprise that technology is such a hotbed for new words… Check out “vook”. Posted in new words [...]
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    Posted: April 06, 2009, 9:49pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • brown skin + Foreign Birth automatically means ELL?!

    I got a new student yesterday. He had been living in Mississippi for two years and before that had grown up in Saipan, an island north of Guam, where he was born. He was placed in my self-contained ESL class because, as I was told, “he hasn’t been tested yet.” [...]
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    Posted: March 31, 2009, 5:04pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • A handy site if you write in other languages..

    http://spanish.typeit.org/ Posted in new teacher [...]
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    Posted: March 23, 2009, 6:59pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Halfway there…

    So, 56% of my students are “approaching grade level” in reading (according to the Teachers College Readers Assessment Project), 5 are at grade level, and 5 are considered “in need of support”.  As most readers know, I teach a self-contained ESL classroom, so while there are grade-level benchmarks, my students [...]
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    Posted: March 23, 2009, 5:21pm EDT
    by Ms. Flecha

  • post observation scheduled

    Number of comments: 4
    So my post-observation is scheduled for monday and she has asked to see all reading logs, conference notes and running records for a student who just happens to be my biggest challenge. Luck or she has some kind of teacher-weakness radar? His issues are more that he has difficulty with [...]
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    Posted: February 24, 2009, 4:30pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • feeling intensely certain and uncertain

    Number of comments: 9
    Lately I have realized that my insatiable passion for languages is heightened when learning about linguistics. The scientific viewpoints, polemical debates, necessity to document and defend endangered languages, the whole unanswered question about the origins of language. I am loving it immensely. My professor has been encouraging about my curiosities [...]
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    Posted: February 23, 2009, 3:40pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • tear it down! dismantle it!

    Number of comments: 1
    My supervisor and I are on a similar wavelength right now and I’m really liking her approach and vision. Aside from being so helpful with problem solving, she trusts my instinct. Which is bizarre since I am so new and my instinct is in its embryonic stage. Today we were [...]
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    Posted: February 11, 2009, 3:30pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • formally observed and i survived

    Number of comments: 4
    “Ms.Flecha? The principal is coming. Please don’t start your minilesson yet.” I hang up my phone and get my outer-calm, inner-panic act together and tell the kids who know to get their game faces on. I didn’t know what that would look like until I was in the middle of it. [...]
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    Posted: February 09, 2009, 10:25pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Linguistics

    Enclosure: [download]
    I am taking a linguistics class right now - sort of a “linguistics for teachers” course for my MA and I’m feeling so excited, rejuvenated and totally loving it. I have to read this New Yorker article and was just so entirely inspired by it — it makes me think [...]
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    Posted: February 08, 2009, 11:01am EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Randi

    Randi Weingarten is going to be at my school this week for a we-support-the-stimulus-pkg photo op. Why my school? Posted in new teacher Tagged: UFT [...]
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    Posted: February 08, 2009, 10:57am EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Exactly what I feared..

    Number of comments: 1
    Extremely worthwhile post from Miss Brave on grading the ELA. Reminds me of my experience grading the NYSESLAT, except we were grading our own students. Tests by ELLs really ought to be graded by teachers familiar with ELLs. Posted in new teacher [...]
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    Posted: February 02, 2009, 9:01pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Countdown

    2/2 Principal did not come today to observe me and is at a meeting Thursday so that leaves tomorrow, Wednesday, and Friday of this week to be observed, or I get to bite my nails all weekend for next week. Update as of 2/5 Principal nearly came to me yesterday - the secretary [...]
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    Posted: February 02, 2009, 7:04pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • rudderless

    Number of comments: 5
    I haven’t written in a while and I am expecting to be observed some time in the next two weeks, so I don’t have time now either, but I felt neglectful and had to drop by. Last week was pretty intense — aside from finding out I’m soon to be [...]
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    Posted: February 01, 2009, 8:14pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • street photo

    Posted in show and tell [...]
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    Posted: January 19, 2009, 1:30pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • NYCTF: Not What Most Teachers Seem to Think

    Number of comments: 3
    Whether it is on someone’s blog or a TESOL listserv, I always seem to find myself having to defend the NYCTF. It’s not an enviable position, especially when half the time it’s not to dig into actual flaws of the Fellowship, but to dispel rumors and myth! How exhausting to [...]
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    Posted: January 19, 2009, 11:28am EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Favorite quote at the moment

    I just read A Primate’s Memoir: A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert Sapolsky; a brilliant, hilarious, insightful, and deeply-moving memoir that makes you simultaneously fall in love with both Sapolsky and baboons. I have very many favorite quotes and moments and characterizations from the book that I [...]
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    Posted: January 18, 2009, 9:42pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Sick days

    Number of comments: 1
    It doesn’t matter how sick I am, if I take a day off I feel wretchedly guilty and disconnected; like I have lost my job, my place in time,… or like I won’t remember how to get there once I walk out my door. Posted in new teacher       [...]
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    Posted: January 18, 2009, 9:22pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • plane crash in Hudson

    Number of comments: 2
    I am so glad everyone survived the crash. I almost stayed home and would have had a bird’s eye view of it all (pun not intended). I won’t be home until late, which is good because I can’t imagine how long it would take me if I was going now. [...]
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    Posted: January 15, 2009, 4:36pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • And as a student..

    Number of comments: 1
    I am now trying to decide if I want to take just one or two classes this semester. My husband is starting college for the first time, taking three classes and working full-time. I know if I’m not able to find the time to support him, and contribute to taking [...]
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    Posted: January 14, 2009, 9:14pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Temporary theme change

    Number of comments: 2
    makes it easier to read the posts, no? Posted in new teacher       [...]
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    Posted: January 12, 2009, 9:32pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • pre- and post-big day worries

    Tomorrow is it. The beginning of the end of the ELA. I don’t know if, even as a new teacher, I have done all I could for them. I am sure I could have done better - all the “shoulda” and “if only” phrases run around now in my pre-test [...]
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    Posted: January 12, 2009, 8:57pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Breathing the biggest sigh of relief

    Number of comments: 1
    I know it can be dangerous to email a superior - you could come across too casual, to assuming, too frank, or whatever. But email is often my preferred way of approaching my supervisor when I’m worried about her assessment of me or what-have-you. So, in the aftermath of my panic [...]
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    Posted: January 11, 2009, 6:25pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • This week HAS to be better

    Number of comments: 2
    A grueling week, despite good advice about not staying late every week (thanks Jonathan/jd2718). First of all,I got a new student on Tuesday from another school - one week before the ELA - and she is a beginner ELL who reads a level C, far below where any of my lowest [...]
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    Posted: January 11, 2009, 10:50am EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • oh my

    Number of comments: 2
    For the first time since I was a push-in, I left work right after dismissing the kids and sat at a Starbucks to enjoy the book I am reading. Of course, in the process I forgot a bunch of stuff to bring home and have left myself in an oddly-relaxed-ignorant-bliss-yet [...]
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    Posted: January 05, 2009, 4:58pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Most crucial language lesson

    “We screw up royally by making people feel they don’t have a mighty important role in contributing to their children’s education,” she says. “Don’t do it by assimilating children into a language in such a way that they’ve got to put aside their native language to succeed in school. We [...]
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    Posted: January 03, 2009, 11:07pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Taylor Mali - “What Teachers Make”

    Number of comments: 1
    Inspiration before going back to work more about "Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make"", posted with vodpod Posted in new teacher   Tagged: elementary, ESL, fears, hopes, teacher, teaching, test prep, tests    [...]
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    Posted: January 03, 2009, 7:38pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha

  • Going back…

    I used to look forward to lesson planning and making charts, even if it was aggravating and I would put it off. But now I can barely bring myself to start getting ready to plan and prep for next week! I keep telling myself, “just another 20 minutes of reading,” or [...]
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    Posted: January 02, 2009, 12:17pm EST
    by Ms. Flecha
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