Should I Use This Frame or That One? - by Lindell Long

How do you decide between two things? Usually you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of one over the other. In other words, you compare and contrast. Is this one better than the other, looks expensive, fits better, I look good in it, I can afford it, while this one looks cheap, makes me look fat, I look awful in it, I can't afford it. 

Students are often asked to compare and contrast findings on research, ideology, characters in a novel or historical incidents the list is extensive. An ESOL student may find this to be a daunting task. Sentence frames to the rescue!

By comparison it is ___(a good choice)__. 

They are similar because ____( both are from  Norway)________________.

Both are the same/different because ___(they are in the tropics).

The differences between ___(the antagonist)____ and the_(protagonist)__ are_(selfishness/ selflessness)_.

A distinction between ____(Kim)__ and __(Dave)___ might be ___(intelligence)___.

It is the __(big)-est of all of them.

They are different because ___(Ellie)__ is __(cautious) and _(Janie)__is _( a daredevil)_____.

Neither __(France_)___ nor__(Spain)___ have/contain/demonstrate/show ___(elephants)__.

Depending upon the subject and level of language acquisition, these frames can be expanded upon to make more complex sentences. Comparative vocabulary such as big, bigger, biggest can be taught prior and then worked into the frame. Once again, word banks may be added to help the student demonstrate understanding of the terms or simply supply the vocabulary necessary to complete the assignment.

Lindell Long teaches ESOL at Clover Middle and High Schools in Clover, South Carolina, a position she’s held for the last 18 years. She’s married with 4 children and so many pets her family fears she’ll bring home a stray yak one day.

What Do Our Students Need? by Andrew Jobson

What do our students need?

Like most teachers, I would think, I have pondered endlessly the question of what my students most need.  Of course (I say) they need to read and write well, and of course they need to understand the past of our nation and our world, both to understand why our country functions as it does and to learn from the successes and mistakes of our forebears.

The list keeps getting longer, though.  I have seen a few different articles recently that reinforce this concern.  While it’s not a new issue, I came across an article in our local paper about the need for “soft skills” among today’s students—simple things like the importance of showing up on time and meeting deadlines, of attitude and dependability.  The article mentioned prospective employees who had absolutely no idea how to manage an interview successfully, who showed up in pajamas or wearing clothing with controversial images like marijuana leaves.  I think my school does a good job in some of these areas, but there is more that can be done.  Having recently been appointed to the self-study committee for our re-accreditation, I intend to raise this issue for our future planning.

There is yet another issue that was more surprising to me.  A fellow teacher, preparing to teach Shakespeare’s As You Like It to a group of senior boys, found an article on the “hook-up culture” that has emerged and dominated millennials (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/the-end-of-courtship.html).  Essentially the writer argues that young men either don’t know how to date or don’t see the need for it.  

“Dates” have been replaced by “hanging out,” usually with minimal advance notice or planning.  While I think I was vaguely aware of this, I was appalled by the lack of respect indicated toward young women and dismayed that so many of them seem to have accepted the new circumstances.  I understand that women are more financially independent and that times are tough, but I would still expect men to follow the courteous rules of courtship—even the rejection I experienced at times was a good learning experience.  I would like to think that fathers are training their own sons in this, but I’m not sure I did enough with my own 19-year-old, and I know there are plenty of boys whose fathers are physically or emotionally absent and won’t be able to provide this perspective.

I sometimes criticize myself for straying “off-topic” in class, for taking a few minutes to diverge from the course material and focus on how the ideas have affected my own life or can affect theirs—but I think more and more that this is where the “real” education happens.  They may not remember Sonnet 75 or the Wade-Davis Bill, but I know a lot remember life lessons; they’ve come back to tell me so.  While I am striving to build good writers and readers, my primary duty is to build good men.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends.  Once more.”

An educator of 22 years, Andy Jobson has taught government, economics, and U.S. History. Currently teaching English literature at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, GA, he’s also been an administrator, a STAR teacher twice, and taught elementary school with Teach for America.

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People, Power & Prosperity!!

As seen on public television!!!

Developing nations turn on the power! 

Electricity is so much a part of our daily routine in the developed world that it’s hard to imagine life without it. It’s much more than just lights and television, or the internet...electricity plays a factor in health and well-being. 

Travel to Issidan Izdar, a tiny village in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco to see what life is like without power. Then visit the neighboring village of Tamayousst, which connected to a power grid several years ago, to see what a difference electric makes in daily life for those in developing parts of world. 

Some fear this increased demand for energy will harm the planet. But what about the harm to people who live without it? Can we object to the developing world’s rise out of poverty and increased standard of living? 

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