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Barbieri, Maureen (2002)
"Change my Life Forever,” Giving Voice to English-Language
Learners.
York, Maine: Heinemann.
New learners of the English Language are increasing in number,
and most of them are of school age. City and rural schools all across
the country now welcome immigrant children to classrooms, presenting
new learning opportunities for students and teachers alike. Nowhere
do we see this more than in New York City, where people come from all
over the world. “Change my life forever,” Giving Voice to English-
Language Learners by Maureen Barbieri, chronicles the author’s
two years as a public staff developer in New York’s Chinatown, IS
131, where she primarily helped teachers setting up reading and
writing workshops.
In Chinatown, waves of new families arrive every day, speaking
Mandarin, Cantonese, or any number of Chinese dialects. From these
families, many children that are in sixth, seventh, or eight grade
register in IS131. The author describes her experience in her new
middle school as life changing; she encountered 1400 students who had
stories to tell.
At first, the author knew little about ESL (English as a Second
Language), but did have a strong background in English/Language Arts.
In IS 131, the instructional model was that Limited English
proficient children had separate content instruction in their first
languages, special classes in English language, and
joined the rest of the school population for dance, art, and music.
This was a fluid model; however, too many children struggled with
English every year. The challenge for the students was adapting to a
new culture and new language. The challenge for teachers was helping
diverse students in using English literacy skills to bridge their
memories of China to their hopes for the future as they came to value
both their old and their new cultures.
The author stresses the profound responsibility to help them
participate in their adopted country. The power of literacy came as
an important instrument to change students’ perspectives and give
them hope. The book’s chapters describe the development of the young
adult book club, where students meet twice a month to read books.
Students then learned how to keep track of the stories, writing in
double-entry journals, making charts and graphic organizers. They
were also encouraged to express their dreams through writing and
their feelings with art. Drawings of what they remember from China
are heart wrenching, reminding readers that these children had been
forced to give up much of what was familiar to them to come to
America. To strengthen English language skills, students were taken
on walks around the neighborhood, using visuals to practice English.
Literacy in their first language was also encouraged so that the
students would grow into bilingual adults.
The Chinese students came from families with widely varying
educational backgrounds. Barbieri presents their stories in a way
that allows the reader to get to know them. We learn about their
lives outside of school. Since many parents worked full-time, some
students went home to apartments that were either empty, or crowded -
sometimes 2 or 3 families live in a small apartment. Others went to
the factories where their parents worked, to help out and do homework
there.
The author dedicates one chapter for some of her more memorable
students. Thus, we meet J.J. and we see his first struggling attempts
not to be scared to read out loud in English. He progresses and
enters seventh grade in English-only classes. He becomes an avid
participant in the book club, showing his entries on Strider and
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary, making natural connections between
the books and himself, knowing how this was an important process for
him as a proficient reader. Also we read
about Cong, an avid writer who would impress his classmates and
teachers with his entries. His writing was so fresh and clear,
sometimes funny, and almost always surprising. Intrigued, the author
saves everything he wrote from their earliest days of acquaintance.
Like J.J., Cong moves to heterogeneous classes for seventh grade. We
learn also about Yi’s story, how she uses her writing to express her
memories of China and specific moments of her childhood, to explore
her impressions of New York and American culture. At first, she seems
one of the crowd. She never speaks up. She is serious. But she soon
starts to
enjoy writing the entries in her writer’s notebook. We learn about
her family and her job at the family’s restaurant, where she does her
homework everyday.
This book will certainly help teachers of all English language
learners enhance their students' learning through the power of
literacy. Being an English language-learner myself some years ago, I
found this book very enlightening. I could relate in many ways to
some of the Chinese students’ experiences adapting to this new world,
language and country. Letters and drawings from the students are very
expressive and heart touching. I also found the appendixes very
helpful, listing books for use with middle-level English learners.
Pages: 240
Price: $24.50
ISBN: 0-325-00473-0
Reviewed by Gisela Llamas, Southwest Texas State University
Burke, Jim (2002)
Tools for Thought: Graphic Organizers for Your Classroom.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Every teacher knows the experience of teaching a concept and
hearing students say, “I don’t understand. What do you mean? I
don’t get it”, common phrases students voice when they are frustrated
in the learning process. Discovering how to bridge these gaps and
help learning occur is the mark of a good instructor. Burke, a
teacher of English at Burlingame High School in California, has spent
his teaching career constructing tools, also called graphic
organizers, that assist him in bridging the hurdles of instruction.
In this highly practical volume, Burke shares with teachers the
hands-on instruments he has developed, with the assistance of
students and colleagues, to enhance classroom instruction. Burke
calls them tools, “I use them for so many different purposes, in so
many different ways, I can only understand them as tools, for they do
not only organize” (p. xix). Section one of this text consists of
the tools Burke has created with detailed descriptions and examples
on how he has used them in the classroom. Section two contains the
forms that teachers can reproduce for their own classrooms.
By using these tools, Burke has successfully reinforced
instruction in both regular and special education classrooms. His
techniques allow students of all learning styles to probe deeper into
learning as they evaluate, identify, organize, explain and synthesize
the information presented. A veteran classroom teacher, Burke has
authored several books and is the recipient of many awards, including
the NCTE’s 2000 Exemplary English Leadership Award.
Among the tools listed are Idea Cards. More than simple Flash
Cards, Idea Cards allow students to see the relationships between
characters in a novel or understand the forces behind a historical
event. Students write the various components of a concept, event or
idea on the cards and then manipulate the cards to show the
relationships. Time Line Notes, another tool presented, are used to
sequence events. Story Notes, Venn Diagram, and Think in Threes are
some of the other tools discussed.
Geared toward the classroom teacher, Tools for Thought
offers teachers new means for reaching their students. Those who want
to try Burke’s techniques will find that implementation requires time
and energy, but the potential payoff of increased learning makes the
effort worthwhile. Includes photographs, charts and graphs.
Recommended.
Pages: 184
Price: $21.50
ISBN: 0-325-00464-1
Reviewed by Stephanie Davis, Spring Arbor University
Cimera, Robert E. (2002)
Making ADHD a Gift: Teaching Superman How to Fly.
Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow
Education.
How you teach children about ADHD could set the tone for
the rest of their lives. You’ll have to paint an honest picture of
the condition but also be very positive .… Talk to them about their
favorite superhero…. Bring up the fact that each superhero has
different abilities…. Then explain that people in real life are a lot
like superheroes-everybody has different abilities.… The super
abilities of kids with ADHD include having a lot of energy and being
able to run around a lot without getting tired. They can also be very
creative and intelligent. The purpose of school and IEPs is to get
children with ADHD to control and utilize their super abilities for
“The Good”… You are teaching Superman how to fly (p.
97).
This is the gift of this book. Robert E. Cimera is an assistant
professor at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh who was diagnosed
with ADHD-C as an adult. He views ADHD as a positive ability. Each
chapter begins with a chapter outline; a case study, illustrating
elements that will be addressed in the chapter; questions for
consideration, for understanding the case study; and a discussion of
underlying elements, concerns and strategies. The information is
conveyed in a conversational style suitable for the layperson or
student educator.
In the first chapter he gives an overview of definitions and
diagnoses of the four types of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder): ADHD-I (Inattentive), ADHD-HI (Hyperactive-Impulsive),
ADHD-C (Combined), ADHD-NOS (Not Otherwise Specified). This
information serves as a basis for understanding the case studies and
discussions that follow. Each chapter gently carries the reader
through a critical thinking process of application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation.
In the chapters that follow, the author covers the topics of:
inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, social skills, educational
programs, and strategies for ADHD children, adolescents and adults.
Cimera also has the reader consider the possibility of other
conditions or situations that could mistakenly be diagnosed as ADHD.
The last chapter contains resources for individuals with ADHD and
resources for their teachers and parents. It includes booklists,
periodicals, videotapes, contact information for organizations and
support groups and an annotated list of Internet sites. Most of the
materials had imprints from the early nineties and late eighties.
Only one of the websites mentioned was not currently accessible. The
website annotations were quite pertinent to their content with the
exception of the U.S. Department of Education site, which has been
drastically revised since the publication of this book. Although
there is a very detailed table of contents, there is no index. The
addition of an index would have been useful.
Overall, Cimera provides a positive, supportive and informative
voice on the subject of ADHD. I found the examples of students and
their goals (pp.130-131) especially illuminating in exploding my own
preconceived attitudes toward ADHD. Special education students,
classroom teachers, parents and adult individuals with ADHD could
find valuable information and insights in this book. It provides an
accessible introduction to the condition and provides the reader with
the educational, environmental and behavioral accommodations and
strategies that can help ADHD students, their parents, teachers and
classmates create supportive scaffolding for success.
Pages: 157
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 0810843188
Reviewed by Sheila Kirven, New Jersey City University
Carl Glickman continues to set the standard for school
administrators in his thirteenth book focused on democratic education
and school improvement. In Leadership for Learning, he takes a
closer look at structures for classroom assistance and observations,
approaches to working closely with teachers, criteria for assessing
teacher competence and growth, peer coaching, and a collegial force
for school renewal.
Glickman begins by looking at the role of the teacher. He claims
that successful teachers continue to question existing practices.
They seek feedback from their students, observe other adults as they
teach, attend workshops, read professional literature, have
individualized professional development plans focused on classroom
change, and analyze their work reflectively.
Successful teachers need administrative support. According to
Glickman, some of the structures for classroom assistance that are
most effective in schools are: Clinical supervision, peer coaching,
critical friends, and action research/study teams. Schools seeking
improvement review their common goals, establish their own research
agenda to study, create their own individual classroom action plans,
collect student data to determine the progress being made, and make
progress reports on individual work to the group. Collegial support
and time are both crucial in these plans. Peer coaching and critical
friends both involve a willingness on the part of the teacher to
accept criticism from other professionals, as well as a willingness
to open up to one another and share best practices.
Administrators must view their role as an instructional leader
rather than a manager. Instructional leadership approaches and
behaviors include: active listening, clarifying statements,
encouraging one another, reflecting on and presenting original ideas
about the issue being discussed, and collective problem solving.
Other aspects of instructional leadership involve negotiating
probable solutions to problem solving, directing others to possible
choices, and reinforcing others with positive praise.
Glickman discusses three possible approaches to leadership
available to administrators: The collaborative interpersonal
approach, the directive-informational interpersonal approach, and the
directive-control interpersonal approach.
In the collaborative interpersonal approach, the control over the
decision to be made is shared by all. The leader uses nondirective
behaviors, and seeks negotiation and problem solving from all parties
involved. In the directive-informational approach, the leader is the
major source of information and directs teachers on options from
which they can choose. The directive-control interpersonal approach
involves the leader directing teachers in what will be done while the
leader clearly determines the actions for the teachers to follow.
The directive-control approach maintains that the leader
clarifies the teacher’s problem, presents his or her own ideas,
directs the teacher, demonstrates the desirable teacher behavior,
sets the standard for improvement, and reinforces the behavior by
using incentives. This type of leadership should be used minimally by
the administrator to push for more active participation from the
teacher. This strategy may be effective in emergency type
situations. The collaborative approach, on the other hand, involves
the leader and the teacher actively negotiating a plan for action.
This nondirective approach is based on the fact that some teachers
are capable of analyzing and solving their own problems. It is the
approach most desired by schools of choice and is best used when the
teacher has a better understanding of their teaching than the leader.
Successful teachers know their subjects and content field well;
they use a variety of teaching strategies, understand the
developmental needs of their students, and actively reflect on their
ongoing professional development. Although successful, they know
that they must constantly be learning how to become better. Their
aim is toward more autonomy in achieving collective learning goals.
These teachers challenge students to achieve a life valued beyond
what others may have planned for them or limitations placed on them
due to socioeconomic hardship.
Teachers must view development as essential to personal and
professional growth. Glickman describes two factors in teacher
development: Commitment and level of abstraction. Commitment refers
to the time and enthusiasm spent on the job. Abstraction refers to
the ability to think about problems from many perspectives, generate
alternative solutions, and judge possible problems that might arise.
From those two factors Carl Glickman summarizes four basic types of
teachers.
The first group is dubbed “teacher dropouts.” These teachers have
a low level of commitment to the profession and cannot think
abstractly about their teaching because they do not see any reasons
for improvement. This type of teacher usually blames causes of
difficulty on others and quits the profession after a few years. The
second group is called “unfocused workers.” These have a higher level
of commitment than the dropouts, but maintain a low level of abstract
thinking. Their good intentions are never brought to action because
of their lack of ability to think problems through and then act on
them. The third group includes the “analytical thinkers.” These have
a low level of commitment, but a high level of abstraction.
Intelligent and highly verbal, they are willing to discuss ideas with
others. But their ideas never amount to anything because they are
unwilling to commit any time or care to carry out the plan. The
final group is what Glickman calls “professionals.” This group has a
high level of commitment, as well as abstraction. These teachers
think about and consider options for improvement, make rational
choices, develop and carry out plans of action. They are actively
involved in continual improvement and create a lifelong love of
learning in their chosen profession.
Glickman argues that every aspect of school revolves around
student learning. Administrators and teachers must build collegial
relationships and work together. Because of our need to continually
improve and meet the challenges set before us, school leaders should
strive for a nondirective collaborative approach to leadership.
Principals should be involved in helping create time for teachers to
participate in peer coaching activities, actively participating in
critical friends groups, and sharing authority with all groups of
teachers, students, and the community. Teachers must open themselves
up to the constructive criticism of others and effectively evaluate
progress toward meeting common goals.
School improvement is a cycle of constant change, creating new
ways of thinking about how students learn. It involves professionals
with a desire to become actively involved in sustaining a better
learning environment. It involves school leaders who are better
prepared with leadership styles to help teachers succeed.
A nondirective collaborative approach is the best strategy for an
administrator to use when dealing professionally with faculty and
staff. Those who are competent, caring, and committed not only want
to be there, but want to make a difference in serving others. This
type of teacher deserves respect and should be trusted with
additional opportunities for self directed learning and avenues for
shared leadership. Glickman’s view of professional development as an
ongoing investment in oneself is right on target. When administered
appropriately, Glickman’s strategies can be used by democratic
thinkers who value change and excellence.
Pages: 141
Price: $23.95
ISBN: 0-87120-596-3
Reviewed by Jennifer Evers, University of Oklahoma
Sweeney, Diane (2003)
Learning Along the Way: Professional Development by and for
Teachers.
Portland, Maine: Stenhouse
Publishers.
Diane Sweeney’s intent in this book is to “encourage you
[teachers] to be creative when you rethink how your school offers
professional development”(p. 102). She stresses that because we know
a great deal about student learning we should transfer that knowledge
to teachers; thus, she emphasizes hands-on learning for adults. This,
naturally, means that we must tailor professional development to the
individual teacher’s needs, recognizing the failure of typical one-
shot in-service offerings.
Sweeney was a 5th and 6th grade teacher for five years in an
economically deprived Denver school that was 76% Hispanic and 21%
African-American, then she became an instructional coach at that
school and now is a consultant for Denver’s Public Education and
Business Coalition (PEBC), a non-profit organization supporting
teacher quality. She describes her experience at Harrington School in
nine chapters, divided into three broad categories. In Modeling and
Observation, she considers study groups, observation, and coaching.
Under Guided Practice she emphasizes linking professional development
to individual teacher’s needs and still focusing on students’ work at
the same time. In Independence she considers both principal
leadership and teaching leadership, and a summation of all that is
meant by the gradual release continuum in a school now known for
supporting teacher learning.
There are two annotated appendices, one on books and videos for
study groups, the other on literature to use in teacher book clubs.
There is also an extensive bibliography and an index.
This is a relatively short book, written conversationally as from
a colleague to a fellow teacher, offering encouragement to anyone
considering professional development and showing that it has worked
in a difficult context and could well work, even in a different
format, in other contexts as well. The title and sub-title are
unusually apt descriptions of the contents. Her advice is not for
teacher trainees, but for the working teacher, at any level of
experience, wondering how his or her school might encourage continued
learning and development among teachers as much or more than it does
among students. As such it belongs in personal collections and school
libraries more than in academic collections, although it would have a
place in graduate collections where students already would have
teaching experience.
Pages: 121
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 1571103430
Reviewed by Roland Person, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
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