Have you heard about the Golden Records that NASA shot up
into space in 1977? On it contained a library of sounds that symbolize the
diversity of life on earth: babies crying, people laughing, waves, whales,
cars, music for every era, speeches of peace, dictators, wind, rain - you name
it! Stamped onto the gold record are symbols of man, woman, child, symbols that
an intelligent life form might recognize and be able to decode the essence of
Planet Earth.
In talking to some of our colleagues this week about
achieving the aims of the lesson and the success of our students, I asked,
“What is the essence of the lesson? What is the main thing we need to
communicate to the students?”
This week I have had several teachers talk to me about some
of the learning behaviors that are popping up in their classrooms. In some
cases, a negative attitude towards the teacher; in others, the student assumes
a general “laugh it off” behavior. These are all maladaptive coping behaviors that
our young ones have learned to make work for them because they are socially
acceptable, but lucky for them, they are surrounded by adults who see right
through these negative behaviors - teachers that can recognize that every
complaint or misbehavior is just an unspoken request.
Mr. Garcia comes to us from Jack Francioni with a wealth of knowledge. He is currently working the LAT team on making sure all of our EL students take the CEDLT. When he returns, along with our ELD teachers, will be strategically developing support plans for all of our different levels of English Learners.