All entries for Wednesday 19 January 2011

EAL trip, and meeting Jester and Minnie!

So back at complimentary placement today after a visit to President Kennedy yesterday to help collect EAL evidence. Finally have a free period to chill, and write a blog entry!

Firstly, I want to say I was thoroughly impressed with the day to be honest. For a school to take in a load of students and organise some worthwhile seminars and also getting some experience practically too. I was assigned to a student for a couple of lessons, spending one with him in a Geography lesson, acting as a TA, and also working one-to-one with him working through some BTec Science.

It was good to firstly experience first hand the role the TA plays. The teacher there was great, explaining exactly what the lesson was about and quickly showing me the resources she was going to use so I could familiarise myself with the lesson beforehand. The EAL student I was with is still in the early stages of learning the language, with limited conversational skills (probably more a lack of confidence than understanding). His ability to copy down work was great, and his handwriting skills are fine. But it became immediately apparent he was unable to access much of the lesson because he could not grasp some key words here or there. The lesson was based on the differences between developed and developing countries, and as he was from India, I was able to discuss some differences. Hopefully he met the first couple of learning objectives.....

In the second lesson, I was asked to help him complete some BTEC coursework. Explaining the EM Spectrum to a student who is hardly fluent was difficult. However we made a massive breakthrough when I asked him to explain what we used microwaves for...... he could say it, but he was able to draw it. So, using my best Rolf Harris impression, he managed to complete the assignment on using waves to communicate. It turned out he was a Liverpool fan too, so perhaps his EAL troubles will continue if he is trying to learn scouse....

After the day, I met two very lovely cats, Jester and Minnie, who unfortunately live at Alison's house. A cat that plays 'fetch' is rare I guess, but Jester was pretty funny!

Back to planning...............

Steve Essex : 19 Jan 2011 11:40 |  Tags: Cats Communication Pictures |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem