A New Start

Hi everyone, I'm back! Today may seem like any other "LBN Day," but I'm so excited AND nervous to try out the strategies Margaret suggested 2 days ago. I really hope they will work and Karl will benefit from these new ways of teaching! With no further to do, let's get to my journal!

Journal #7- Oct, 28 2020

Karl entered the breakout room. Perhaps because it's Monday, he seemed really uninterested and bored. He was snacking on chips when his camera turned on, so I initiated a conversation about chips. I got to learn that he likes ketchup chips (me too haha), but the conversation died there. After the usual breathing exercise, I introduced the book Margaret recommended, "Ichiro Suzuki." Here's where things got a little "tacky". He wouldn't listen to me when I was talking. I constantly called his name to grab his attention as he kept talking and peering at his family members (I assume) behind his device. I had a difficult time grasping and holding his attention. 

As for the whiteboard method, he realized that he just needs to say the same word over and over, so instead of reading each word only when my cursor hovers above it, he just repeated the same word by himself in a very bored tone. The sentences I ask him to make are simple and in some cases, I can't tell if the grammar is exactly correct.  Though I'm confident that those strategies are effective, they won't help him unless he pays attention. During this time, Margaret was here and she noticed how frequent I had to call his name. She stepped in and asked him what's distracting him. He said nothing, but she told him that he seemed very distracted. At last, she told him to finish up his chips and focus for the rest of the session. To me, she really had the vibe of a teacher (even though she really was a reading teacher). I realized to deal with children, you can't be too nice😅. Like Margaret, you have to make your instructions and expectations clear. It is also necessary to speak loud with a hint of firmness in your voice. 

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Karl concentrated way better after the pep talk, so we went back on track to read "Ichiro Suzuki." Karl tends to pause in between words, so his reading is quite jerky. Since we are already going at a very slow pace and I don't want him to feel sick and tired of this already, I would let it go as long as he read all the words correctly.

Before:

However, Margaret insisted that we want our buddies to be so perfect that they not only need to pronounce words correctly, but they must also be fluent. I watched and absorbed her way of teaching as she told Karl to not pause between each word, and instead, only stop at periods. She also did a demonstration where she read the sentence smoothly and with expression. I sat there, nodding and smiling like a fool😅. Karl read the same sentence after her demonstration and it improved a little bit. I thought that would be enough, but she said one more time with no pauses between words. He repeated the sentence and this time, he did even better. The cycle repeated itself until Karl could say the sentence without taking another breath. I was pleasantly shocked to see him improve right in front of my eyes so quickly. 

After:

The rest of the session went alright! I made a Quizlet of words that Karl mispronounced today and sent it to his parents' email. Though the strategies that I tried today weren't as effective as I anticipated them to be, they were definitely useful. Margaret gave me a hand during this session for quite a bit of time, but I no longer feel guilty or uncomfortable. What can this mean...? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

📊   -----ANALYSIS-----   📊

Problems: ❗❓

• Very distracted, wasn't paying attention

• Too busy eating chips, talking to people around him, mom translating our instructions to Japanese for him (?)

• Ex. I would tell him to read paragraph 2, but he wouldn't hear and would read whatever 

• He was bored with my new strategies

• Jerky reading

Solutions:✅ unlike usual, most of these problems resolved in the same session thanks to Margaret's help!

• Must be somewhat firm (can't be too nice or else he wouldn't feel the need to listen to you)

• Ask what's happening/ why he's so distracted

• If he denies it, tell him he seems very distracted

• Tell him to finish up his chips and concentrate from now on

• Speak loud and clear

• Show you're someone he should listen to

• Be clear and concise with my instructions and expectations

• Don't be afraid to have him reread sentences until the fluency is satisfactory

And that's it for today! See you guys soon and hope next session will be even better!