Dear Teacher Zee: How can I teach my child vocabulary at home?

A parent asked me this question so, here is my answer.

First, we have to accept two things: one is that language is knowledge and the second one is, we use language as knowledge that we know. Applying these concepts to how the child is learning may indicate that she is acquiring knowledge and making use of language as she experiences it from her interaction with the world, in general. What can help your child, I think, is to see how words can take on different meaning depending on context and culture.

In our class, I always begin with what the student knows. By mining the existing and prior knowledge, the student and I form a baseline for the definition of words. We then move to the use of words, especially new ones, in a sentence and in the entire paragraph. I often ask my students what idea do you have of the “new” word.

I also prepare vocabulary exercise for them because we have completed knowing the meaning of words as used in the sentence and in the paragraph. We will verify and validate the meaning of these words in the dictionary. 

This will be followed by a writing exercise with a focus on using the new words we have defined in 3 different ways and from different sources. It is my objective to see if the knowledge of a word changed or transformed.

entirety = eternity

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Alamin Natin: Ang Pagkukuwento at Pagsusulat ng Alamat at Kuwentong Bayan

 

Alamin Natin! by ZarahG

Refelctions: Art and Music Jam with Ouie Badelles

 

The BA Library Newsletter August 2022

BA_Lib_August 2022_v2 by ZarahG

MIL Skills Instruction: Is Wikipedia Trash or Treasure?

 Are you still wary of Wikipedia as a credible reference or source? Well, it is online and very much accessible so, we might as well understand it a little bit more. 

Here is how I read, teach and instruct my student in using Wikipedia as a reference and source for a research topic.

1. Introduce the idea of knowlege sharing in in-person learning and online learning. Experts, scholars and academicians, as well as the regular person have knowledge to share and communicate. Forums, Online Groups, Tweeter Moots and Spaces are examples. Long before these online communities came about, there was Wikipedia, a space in the digital world where anyone can share his/her knowledge about a topic. It is open and open source. It is an example of a digital learning commons.

A hyperlink to an article in The New York Times

2. Wikipedia is a hyperdocument. The links function as leads or, in itself references to more sources of information. It offers opportunities to check the topic or content as valuable or limited depending on the reader or user's purpose. Do take note that the links can lead the reader or the researcher astray. It can be a distraction. So, before using Wikipedia or any online and electronic reosurce that has hyperlinks, the goal and objectives of a research task is one's anchor or beacon of light.

This article from The New York Times is preserved in a digital archive.

3. It is advisable to read laterally on Wikipedia. This means, the reading of websites and online sources from Wikipedia is important to assess the credibility and richness of its contents. Lateral Reading is another topic and skill worthy of learning. More on lateral reading in future posts. 

4. Take note of the footnotes and bibliography. It will lead you to the basic and original references used by the authors and contributors of the topic or subject. From here, you can build your own reference and source list.

Even the definitions of important words are "clickable".

There are many ways to read online articles, sources and documents. Wikipedia is only one of many. There are, however, threads common to these online texts - images and graphics, included, that has to be evaluated and understood before taking a deep dive into the content that it offers.

Welcome Back! Welcome Home, Griffins!

 

BALibrary_2022-23_v2 by ZarahG

Step by Step with Teacher Zee: Learning Vocabulary

 I have been teaching literacy skills and language acquisition for students in the middle grades upto college levels for a while now. One of the many hats I wear. My one-on-one sessions and tutorials are areas where I gather experiences that enrich my instruction and pedagogy. Most importantly, I learn from my students. Their responses and engagement with the materials I plan and design fuel my desire to become a better literacy skills teacher.

Allow me to share a teaching practice I apply with my students in learning new words or vocabulary.

First, I select words that I deem important in comprehending the selected article or text. My student and I read the words individually and then, together. At times when a student has difficulty pronouncing the words, I help him/her syllabicate. We chunk the word as to how it is pronounced, for example: bio/mi/mi/cry (bio-me-meek-ree).

Second, I ask the student if the words are familiar to him or her. Where has he/she heard or read the words? We connect them to bigger subject or branches of knowledge. I then emphasize that the words we are encountering are often used in a specirfic subject or area of knowledge. 

In the example above, our main area of knowledge of Science and its sub-areas are biology and nature, engineering, robotics and technology. My student identified these branches of Science.

The third step is to introduce the article or the text, its author and the source from where I took it from.

The fourth step is for us to understand the meaning of the words used in context. So, we read.

We look for clues in the text that inform us of the meaning of the word. We do not go to the dictionary right away. I use the dictionary as a reference tool to verify the author's use of the words in context and to validate our guesses and our own understanding of the words. 

This is another activity for learning the use of reference materials, such as the dictionary. Also, it is a way of planting curiosity, cross checking and documentation. These are habits and traits necessary for research skills in the upper gardes or in high school.

Along the way, we meet important information about the topic we are reading. We take note of it and rewrite the information in our own words. In a way we are paraphrasing without the in-text citation yet. What is important here is our responses to the text and the way we express or communicate them in writing. Then, I tell him/her to review his/her writing for errors or mistakes.

Taking notes is a strategy I teach my students at the beginning of our unit or sessions.

What I enjoy about this strategy in teaching new words is the modeling and explicit instruction happening simultaneously. The brain is a network and it can think fast and slow. An awareness of thinking processes and monitoring the steps to reach a goal are valuable in reading comprehension. 

Watch out for the next Step by Step with me, Teacher Zee!

Pathways to God

After two postponements, the Magis Deo Youth Art and Music Jam with Mr. Jose "Ouie" Badelles pushed trhough.

Kuya Val led the group of 18 participants, comprised of four Titas and Tito of Magis Deo, one guest speaker and thirteen members of Magis Deo Teens and Young Adults in the opening song and music jam. Singing to Sunrise by Ben and Ben, Kuya Val kicked off the session on a positive and reassuirng note. This was followed by a reflection activity by Tita Zarahon the Examen. As a priming activity to Mr. Badelles' talk, she showed a video presentation about an artist, Makoto Fujimura who found God through art.

In Mr. Badelles' session, he shared his creative process and the sacred spaces of reflection one can carve out in the act of creation. By doing and demonstrating an art activity to capture feelings and memory, one is able to appreciate living in the moment. He also presented his art journal as a way to nurture the self and express his ideas, feelings and sense of being. 

The one hour session spent listening and watching Mr. Badelles was akin to viewing Bob Ross on YouTube. However, with Mr. Badelles, participants got to ask questions about his technique, to identifying medium and materials suitable for the artist, making a decision to pursue art as a career cjoice, to overcoming a period of Black Swan - that dryness in an artist's creative journey. He encouraged everyone pursuing a creative endeavor to just keep giong. It is in facing one's fears where in we become better versions of ourselves. 

When a Magis Deo Youth participant asked him for a description of the afternoon session and the object he will draw to represent it, he was quick to say "sunshine with clouds dispersing."

Thank you Mr. Badelles for being an inspiration to us all! As one Magis Deo Tita said after the session, "art and music are powerful pathways to God!"

What Keeps Us Going in the Academy

 

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The Lighthouse Diary #42: Welcome Home, Griffins!

We welcomed back our Griffins this week. We welcomed them back home.

We are in the middle of our Foundation Day this week and the nervous excitement is palpable. We are all coming out of the pandemic with mixed feelings. One thing is for sure, we are ready to teach, to learn and to grow depsite the loss and the trauma brought by COVID-19. Meeting the students on the first day back, especially my advisees was bittersweet. I have had two library orientations since yesterday and man, I missed it so much! Tomorrow, I will be giving another session with the grade 10s plus, a scavenger hunt! 

So far, the most challemging to monitor of the health protocols is the social distancing among students. Teachers need to be the models of this specific rule. Our Disaster and Risk Management Team had to re-arrange the common rooms' furniture and the available open spaces where students can hangout in observance of social distancing. With masks on at all times, I now have a better sense of the challenges medical front liners face.

While there is no assurance that I will not get re-infected, there is also no way but to move forward in these trying times. I am putting my faith on the universe. On the innate goodness of humanity. On God.

I cannot say completely that the anxiety will leave me alone. I find myself trust rests on people whom I call family.

Library Bulletin Board: I do believe your galaxy

 

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Book Review: There Are No Bad People in the World

The rains are back. 

Summer has ended. 

But with climate change, where do you draw the line between the seasons? I retreat to books and reading to find a constant. I'm sharing a review of one of the books I read this summer.

“There Are No Bad People in the World” by Jae Woon-Hon, translated by Ma. Kristina Carla Rico and Kyung Min Bae (Apop, 2021).

It’s a tender and thought provoking take on the little moments of everyday. The ordinary is elevated unto the divine. The simple joys make life worth living.

There are big life changing questions being asked in each story rendered unassumingly and with care. The stories will comfort you and inspire you to be brave.

Therein lies the charm of the book.

Apparently, BTS member, Jhope read this book too and it is referenced in STOP, the 4th track in his new album, Jack in the Box. Like the book, Stop questions and reflects on the chaos and conflict wrapped around the world today. Like the book, it keeps hope afloat through lyrics that show the inherent goodness of people.

BA In-service: Reading List Rocks!

Who else finds reading lists exciting? If you do start one for your learning community! In ours, we value the creation and curation of reading lists most especially of books and resources found in our library's collection.

Last week, as our school community prepared for the opening of classes, I presented the new library OPAC to the faculty. Powered by Koha and supported by Tulong Aklatan, the OPAC has a clean design making the navigation easier for users to search, locate and access information on sources. One of the features of the Koha-BALibOPAC is the "Your List" that allows readers to make one - and more! After creating an account, teachers explored the new OPAC and created reading lists. 

Here is the line up of reading lists made public on our OPAC.

Teachers creating reading lists for their classes have many advantages.

1. Library resources are being promoted to readers which are the students.

2. The reading list reflects the course work or the unit of the subject for a given semester. This serves as reference to students who need guidance in their reading and study of the topics in the unit at hand.

3. Reading lists makes us see connections and integration of concepts accross subject areas.

4. This is a validation of  how the library collection, resources and instructional materials acquired by the library supports the curricular offering.

5. Creating a reading list is a strategy to manage knowledge. Knowledge is fluid, dynamic and constantly challenged by truths and changing beliefs.

I am such a library nerd!

Pandemic Poetry: What Fuels Faith

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BA Library OPAC-Koha: How to Create a Reading List

 One of the contents of our new Users Guide for our OPAC which is powered by Koha, is the steps in creating a Reading List.

Book Launch: Sulatan sa Panahon ng Pandemya

I was down with very bad diarrhea on Saturday last week I thought I would miss the book launch of Sulatan sa Panahon ng Pandemya (Gantala Press, 2022). It is a book project that took a year to complete. Edited by Merlinda Bobis, Joi Barrios LeBlanc and Mailin Paterno, it is a collection of letters by women and of women living through and surviving with grace and wonder during the pandemic. 

So glad my tummy and this aging body cooperated. 

Please go to the IG account of Gantala Press and have a look at this work of love.

Congratulations to Gantala Press, the editors and the women who opened and shared their stories. Thank you so much to ADHIKA, Inc. and Likhaan Creative Writing Foundation.

I am proud to be part of this book project at the same time, I am humbled to be among the roster of these wonder women, mga kababaihang Pilipina!

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