Strategies for ELL students in an IBDP CS class

by: Mery Tellez

For my IBDP Computer Science class I will be teaching a unit in Data Representation for students in grade 11. 

The objectives for the unit are:

• Convert positive denary integers into binary and positive binary integers into denary.
• Recognize the use of binary numbers in computer systems.
• Represent integers as hexadecimal numbers
• Show understanding of the reasons for choosing hexadecimal to represent numbers
• Convert positive hexadecimal integers to and from denary
• Convert positive hexadecimal integers to and from binary
• Show understanding of the concept of a byte and how the byte is used to measure memory size.

An example of what students will be asked to do, is to convert numbers between different base number systems, and be able to explain how and why this systems are used in computing, for example understanding the codification system for colors in HTML using RGB colors and hexadecimal numbers.

I work at an International Private School in Beijing, China.  In my classroom I have a variety of ELL students.  The first group I have is formed by a couple of English native speakers, and a couple of students with advanced fluency, who have been studying for a long time in international schools, or are from countries with a strong English language program in their schools.  For this group of students the language I will be speaking (computer science) will be foreign one anyways, so I will always start every unit reminding them that in this class (contrary to others) most of them are being exposed to the material for the first time, I remind them that we are all “newbies” and that not understanding is ok.

With this group of students I will use connection to other academic areas, for example I will ask them to count in decimal system and come up with an algorithm for counting using manipulatives.  I ask them to develop a method to explain how to count to a toddler (ones, tents, hundreds, etc. are brought back to memory), and then I translate their method to the other numeric systems.

Another group of my students are in the beginning fluency stage, I find this to be one of the most difficult stages to deal with, given that my school does not have a formal evaluation process for ELL students, and therefore these students are difficult to identify at first.  Their conversational level is good enough for you to believe they are in another stage, so it is easy to make assumptions of their understanding.  For this group of students one strategy will be to pair them with the advanced fluency ones, so they can help them make the connections they could possible have lost due to lack of vocabulary.  These students will work in pre-arranged pairs of advanced fluency and beginning fluency to create a visual organizer (mind map, table, etc.) to summarize the uses of hexadecimal numbers in computing and explaining the reasons why this encoding is used and the benefits of it.  All CS students are also going to be asked to keep a glossary of terms for themselves.  For students in this level, they will be asked to find formal definitions using appropriate terminology and to keep the glossary with them at all times.  These students will often be target of my open-ended questions, so I can re-phrase their answers with proper grammar or terminology, they will be encouraged to used their glossary when responding to these questions.

I have another student who recently moved to China.  As explained before we don’t have an official way to evaluate his level of English, but given the few conversations I’ve been able to exchange with him, I believe he is in an early production stage.  The textbooks and support material are out of his reading level and his responses are rare and using only very basic sentence structure.  He might be also simply passing through the mute stage of a third culture kid, but while he adjusts, I am planning to ask him to produce a different kind of assignments.  I will be giving him written and will read aloud multiple-choice questions, instead of open ending ones for the beginning of the class.  I will be using a lesson in which I use the students as bits from the computer, and holding white or black cards they will represents the bits being on and off (0 – 1).  It is a very simple way to understand binary numbers, and to explain some of the conversion techniques, and as it is highly visual, is perfectly suited for this level of ELL students.  I would also provide this student with a glossary of terms that I created myself (rather than asking him to create it based on textbook reading), and I will use simpler sentences that he can repeat to define the concepts of the unit.

I have one student only in the Speech emergent stage; her first language is Chinese. In her case, I will use some of the same techniques I am planning to use in the previous case.  Additionally, I will ask her to do her group activities together with one of my Chinese speaking with advanced fluency ELL, so they can switch to Chinese when necessary during group work.  Questions for checking on last lesson topics will be aimed to short answers, and she will as well be provided with a glossary of terms written in a simpler way that she can use as a reference when answering questions.  I will encourage her, to take notes during lectures, and I will illustrate how she can take notes using diagrams and graphics that will later help her to go over the topics covered.

This is a unit that adapts easily to the different English levels of the students, as it is more practical and requires a lot of mathematical and not necessarily verbal or written skills.  I’ve found in the past that explaining this topic with the help of videos, and activities like the ones explained before, works for everybody as it fits a variety of needs not only ELL needs.

References:

Haynes, J. (1998). Stages of Second language acquisition. Retrieved September 16, 2016, from Everything ESL: http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php 

Robertson, K. & Ford, K (2009).  Language Acquisition: an Overview. Retrieved September 16, 2016, from Colorin Colorado: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview#h-stages-of-language-acquisition

Bongolan, R & Moir, E. (2005). Key Strategies for Teachers of English-Language Learners. Retrieved September 15, 2016, from:  https://www.suu.edu/ed/fso/resources/esl-six-key-strategies.pdf

The Referral Process and the Role of Special Education

by: Mery Tellez

In an effort to better understand the special education processes in schools and its role in the students with disabilities, 5 professionals were interviewed from 3 different schools with very different backgrounds and populations.  This posts aims to summarize my findings during the process, accompanied by my own experience as a teacher in 2 out of the three schools, and to make a reflection on how special education could be shaped in the school of the future.

The first set of interviews was given to 1 teacher, 1 IEP manager and 1 special education teacher from a private international school located in Bogotá, Colombia.  These professionals were able to provide a clear image of an inclusive school, with a well structured for special education and a learning center with a long tradition in the country, well recognized by international schools in the Latin American region.  

In regards to the process itself, it is clear that was designed by the school following many of the characteristics of the legally established one from the United States.  Referral processes, IEP meetings, communication with parents, etc.  2 aspects are noticeable; the school has a team of professionals (not related to government or governmental policies whatsoever) who would offer the evaluation required for a formal diagnosis, and the involvement of parents.   Given the school reputation with special education, and some cultural characteristics of the local community; some of the students enrolled will come to the school with a prior evaluation, and will enroll in search for a better, more suited environment for their kids.  But even in those cases in which the students’ disabilities are found within the school classes, parents are in most cases understanding, supportive and responsive to the suggestions given by the school.

In regards to resources and support from administration, it was again impressive to be reminded of the allocation of resources that administration puts into the program.  Special classrooms, specialized staff, resources, and most important, teacher training, are cornerstones of the entire process.

On the other hand, I interviewed an ES teacher and a Special education teacher from 2 different schools both private international schools, located in Beijing, China.  In these schools, the process is exactly the opposite.  One of the schools do have a proper referral process that is newly established (it has been running for less than one school year) and it was only implemented in a part of the school (elementary school) due to restrictions in staffing, and to lack of administrative support.  This school designed its own referral process, based on the United States one, but adapted to the multiple limitations, or better, resistance they face in here.  The process goes walks the same path; parents, teachers or students themselves can make an initial referral, a committee meets, discuss the students’ needs and come up with an intervention plan for the student.  If the plan is not showing the expected results, parents are called for a meeting, and in most of the cases, here is where the first obstacle is found.   Disabilities are still facing a lot of tabu in China, parents don’t want to see their kids labeled as “less intelligent” or capable than others, so their initial reaction will be commonly of denial.

Some may come around and allow for the team to start the intervention, and will even agree to the test and diagnose that needs to be done by an external organization at the expense of the parents.  But some other will deny the support, insist on their kids being just fine, and will stop the process right there. The school administration is sometimes very helpful and supportive, but in some occasions it will not agree to put any kind of pressure on the parents’ decisions.

Learning disorders affect the way our brains receive and process the information it receives, it has no relationship with the intelligence level of a kid.  The fear parents experiment towards a diagnosis of a learning disorder or disability is related to the misconception of the relationship between a disability and the intelligence of a child. Labeling of their child as less intelligent or incapable. 

The strategies the special education teacher has decided to follow in such cases, is to provide the individualized plan and accommodations to the student’s teacher and make a common effort to provide the best learning opportunities possible under the circumstances. 

In some other cases, more severe situations will require for the parents to provide the companion of an external assistant teacher to work on an individualized plan with the student.

One important aspect that I wanted to cover during this experience was to gather information regarding ways to identify special education needs students.  The process is thorough in both places, after the referrals, observations and evaluations are conducted.  In the first school, all the teachers are consulted to look for patterns in strategies that have previously worked with a specific student. 

One aspect that needs to be considered for both these schools, and that was mentioned by the special ed teacher in the school in China, refers to misdiagnosed cases of students with language issues (second language learners) that can easily be confused for students with a learning disability.  Her recommendation was simple:  teachers need to talk to each other.  The Chinese teacher can bring a lot of light into a case of a misdiagnosed student, but they need to be asked.

The report by the UNESCO on ICT and access to information for people with disabilities reminds us how in the United States more than a million kindergarten students have been misdiagnosed with ADHD, because they were placed in a grade level not adequate for their age.

Some of the disabilities are caused due to inadequate school environments, such is the case with students misplaced in the wrong class (too young for the grade level), or second language learners or TCK (third culture kids) who may express their confusion, frustration, or on the other hand may not express much due to their special situation, to later be misdiagnosed or confused for a student with a disability.

For international schools the risk is then doubled. The student population in most international schools is in its majority composed by second or third language learners, and/or third culture kids where teachers tend to forget that this particular group of students may go through a series of symptoms related to their language learning process or to their adapting to a new culture process, that may seem similar to those of a student with disability but that have nothing to do with it.

Misdiagnosis is a big issue that needs to be considered in any special ed program.  Lets take a commonly diagnosed disability as an example:  Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), defined as a disorder presented by a child who presents an excessive defiance towards authority and is disobedient and even hostile.  It is said that is particularly difficult to diagnose, given that in the majority of the cases, this attitudes are only addressed to one person or under one particular environment.  My question is: what is excessive and how can a teacher that is being defied objectively judge this?  Who draws the line between a strong character and a disorder?  Any third culture kid, passing through a denial stage in his process could present an attitude exactly as the one described above, and could easily be misdiagnosed with a disability and labeled for the rest of his/her life.

Labeling a student is a serious business, and it definitively should not be taken lightly.  It is our responsibility as educators to be conscious of the reality of misdiagnosis, and the similarities of behaviors related to language learning difficulties or third culture processes.

After going to this process and going back to my own practice, I restate once more the importance of knowing my students and developing relationships with them. Getting to know them goes a long way, and in my personal experience, far beyond what any IEP could possible give me.

Another important conclusion that I draw from this experience, relates to what is required for us to shift the current models of education, and to get closer of what an inclusive, designed for all school should be in the future.  And that is teachers who communicate and work together. Particularly in MS and HS years where students are covered by many different teachers, communication and the possibility to talk and share perspectives on an specific student is crucial to get to know the best way to help him/her.  In my current situation here in China in which IEP teams, and special ed teachers are not necessarily a reality, awareness of what they would do is important, because there are things that we can do by ourselves to help these students despite the lack of support, resources, or legislation. 

Bottom line, my reflection goes back to the importance of a teacher who cares, even in the most complex situation, caring will be the key for our students’ success, it is on us to be informed, and to get together, and to plan for that special student with all the potential to succeed.

Sources

Fahey, S., & Martinez, M. (2010). Special Education in China. PRC Ministry of Education.

Opening New Avenues for Empowerment – ICTs to Access Information and Knowledge for Persons with Disabilities (2013). UNESCO Global Report. Retrieved from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002197/219767e.pdf

Michele Hancock, M.S., P.P.S -  (2015).  Understanding Special Education.  Retrieved from: http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/about-us.html

Child Mind Institute (2014) Oppositional Defiant Disorder.  Retrieved from:

http://childmind.org/guide/oppositional-defiant-disorder/other-disorders/

Interviews transcripts and recording available at:

http://teachnowprogram.com/resources/downloadfile/id/112745

https://platform-user-content.s3.amazonaws.com/submission_files/2996/589/Inteview_report_-_Mery_Tellez.docx