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1
ISSUE
02 May 2014
The
BelizeTESOL
Association
Every teacher should be
emotionally intelligent
(Mortiboys 2002). Having
primary, secondary and tertiary
level English teaching
experience gave me insight on
the many perplexities ELLs of
all ages suffer when they
instinctively use their native
language structures and rules
as a scaffold when acquiring a
second language. A teacher’s
lack of emotional intelligence
impedes students from a
holistic learning experience
(Mortiboys 2002). It is common
in Belize to witness teachers
reprimanding students for using
their native language during an
English lesson. While we want
to encourage students to use
the English language, they will
occasionally code switch or
code slide. Therefore, every
English teacher should assist
students to acquire the English
language while ensuring that
only positive and productive
emotions are at play.
—-Erica S. Aguilar
Exploring new ways to teaching English language learners (ELLs) ...
In This Issue:
Newsletter Launching at US Embassy P.1
Belize TESOL on Open Your Eyes P.2
Belize TESOL Presentation at BNTU P.3
Belize TESOL Calendar of Events P.4
Literacy Alive Project P.5
KAINA’s New Development P.6
High School Drop Out—Key Factors P.7
SIOP Instruction & Lesson Planning P.8
Facebook Page & Membership Form P. 9
2
Ever since Ms. Emilia Adams came to the jewel, the pioneers of BelizeTESOL have been doubly
encouraged to make BelizeTESOL a success story. Ably assisted by Ms. Denise Fuller and other officers at
the US Embassy in Belmopan, all efforts have been geared towards this goal. In February, Ms. Jen
McArthur, the Regional Language Officer for Central America visited Belize. Officers of BelizeTESOL met
with Ms. McArthur on February 6th, then met with members of BelizeTESOL on Saturday, February 8,
2014.
Both meetings were extremely informative. Ms. McArthur shared valuable information about her role
as Regional Language Officer, TESOL International and its benefits, the offering of Online Educational
courses in Belize, the role that BelizeTESOL can and will play in Belize, and the necessity of facilitating our
membership in TESOL International. Dr. Silvaana Udz charmed the audience with an interactive and
informative presentation on Kriol Methodology. One of the highlights of the meeting was when Mrs. Erica
Aguilar, editor, designer presented us with the first edition of the first ever Belize TESOL newsletter.
We were positively impacted by Ms. McArthur’s visit and the pioneers of BelizeTESOL, Dr. Alberita
Enriquez, Mrs. Erica Aguilar, Mrs. Margaret Enriquez, our coaches, Ms. Adams and Ms. Fuller, our
supporters Ms. Jennifer Tatum and Ms. Cecile Ramirez have increased their efforts to promote Belize
TESOL.
—-Ethnelda Paulino
First President, BelizeTESOL
Belize TESOL Newsletter Launching
at US Embassy
3
BelizeTESOL on Open Your Eyes
Open Your Eyes is a morning talk show on Channel 5 Belize
news hosted by William Neal and Marleni Cuellar (Left).
Guests were Ms. Ethnelda Paulino, BelizeTESOL President;
Alberita Enriquez, BelizeTESOL Vice President, and Amelia
Adams a USA Embassy Representative and BelizeTESOL
supporter.
Exploring new ways to teaching English language learners (ELLs) ...
4
Belize TESOL Presentation at BNTU
BNTU/ 2 for the Price of 1, BelizeTESOL Membership Drive!
One of the main reasons for promoting a TESOL Association in
Belize is to give support to all Belizean teachers. All Belizean teachers
are teachers of English, whether we care to admit it or not! In the
interest of the learners of Belize, we feel obligated to prepare the
children of today for the lives they will live and the positions they will
hold in the future. The lives of the teachers who are teaching them
today will be in their hands tomorrow. Seriously!
In our effort to increase membership, the president of
BelizeTESOL made a presentation to at the BNTU convention on
Wednesday April 23th, on why Belize should become an affiliate
member and the benefits of TESOL. There was a TESOL membership
drive (2 for the Price of 1, BelizeTESOL Membership Drive). This
fundraising drive was successfully conducted by BelizeTESOL
Treasurer, Mrs. Margaret Enriquez. The membership now stands at 36
persons. Please be reminded that the minimum number for becoming
an affiliate is 50. Join us!!
—Ethnelda Paulino
First President, BelizeTESOL
5
Belize TESOL Calendar of Events
6
Literacy Alive Project with Ms. Martinez
The Literacy Alive Project began in September 2012 as a Rotary district program. The partners are
Rotary District 5370, the rotary club of San Ignacio, Lion’s club partnering with the Literacy Alive and also
with Saturday intervention classes which is continuous throughout the year every Saturday from 9:00am -
12:00am and the Ministry of Education. This program provides professional development for teachers in
Belize, in the areas of: Language Arts, Math and Science.
The objectives of the program are: Professional development for teachers. Establishment and
maintenance of technical and communication capacity to improve teachers support in teaching methods.
To improve the educational experience in Belizean schools. Reduce the student dropout rate by 100% and
student passes on national exam. To create a highly motivate teacher with print rich positive attitude
classroom. To have children read to their reading level.
Since its induction the Literacy Alive project has hosted many educational and fun-filled activities such
as: (1) Literacy parade, whereby the children from the St. Martin’s Government School participated in the
literacy parade under the theme Literacy for Peace. (2) Belize literacy unit testing, done in October and
post-test was done in May in three schools. The results for the pre test was discuss with schools before the
post test was given. Our lady of Fatima got the highest results followed by St. Martin’s and followed by
Valley of Peace. (3) Culture Day, Mrs. Emily did a special presentation to implement the food, attire,
customs and beliefs, music etc. of the culture. Children had to read, research, write and presentation on
the Garifuna culture. (4) Intervention workshop, The teachers at St. Martin school were given a workshop
reviewing the Mico and how to implement intervention s strategies. (5) CPD’s - Continuous Development
Workshop for teacher in San Ignacio and Belmopan. (6) Literacy Alive Summer Program. (7) Parents and
students literacy night. (8) Field trip to Placencia. The field was to Placencia and the purpose of the field
trip was to reward the children as well as to create a friendly community spirit in families in Belmopan, it’s a
form of uniting families and also to develop experiences in children that they can read and write about their
experiences.
There is so much going on in Belmopan! If you wish to join this educational and fulfilling endeavor,
please contact Ms. Emily Martinez at 630-0572 or e-mail her at: [email protected].
Ms. Emily Martinez
Literacy Alive Project Coach
7
KAINA’s New Developments
Kaina Online High School is the first online high school of Belize. It is the brainchild of Ethnelda Ramirez
Paulino. The name, Kaina is the name of the founder’s mother. Dr. Rita Enriquez is the co-founder of the
Kaina Online High School.
Kaina Online High School will offer courses taught in regular high schools. It requires internet access.
It will, for example eliminate the expenses of purchasing costly foot wear, uniforms, and providing money
for transportation, lunch, and books. It will offer the four years of high School; upon successful completion,
a person will earn a high school diploma, thereby enabling that person to access college and university
education.
The school accepts persons who want to do four years of high school and persons who wish to
complete high school. For example, if someone successfully completed 2nd form, then he /she will be
accepted into 3rd form and so on. Such a person needs to submit a high school transcript. A prospective
form one student needs to submit his/her last report card or Primary School leaving Certificate.
students for ATLIB. Kaina Online will also offer electives like agriculture, clothing and textiles, as well as
non-traditional subjects like grooming (barbering, pedicure, manicure, hair processing).
There will be a Face to Face orientation in order to teach students how to work online. Teachers will
chat online, accept calls, text messages, and e-mails, as we progress. They will also require a few Face to
Face Sessions as the need arises and when students request it.
The registration fee is a non-refundable 25BZD per year and the fees are $300 per semester. A
student can pay the 300.00 in full or pay $350.00 in installments. Each year, there will be two semesters.
This is the plan. We decided that we need at least 10 students per class. So, you are free to invite
others to apply. Although we intend to start later this month we may even begin a little later since it takes a
while for new ideas to catch on. The good thing about online is that we can begin anytime.
Yours in Education,
Ethnelda Ramirez Paulino
8
SIOP Instruction
Approach for ELLs
On January 7th and 8th 2013, Dr. Hale, a fulbright scholar from Boise State University, in partnership
with the University of Belize, held a two-day workshop at the University of Belize, Belmopan Campus. FEA
faculty members were given training on the “Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model,” this
pedagogical tool consists of eight components that must be present within each lesson plan, especially
formulated for teachers of English learners (ELs).
In efforts to also train primary school teachers, with the assistance of UB lecturers: myself (Erica
Aguilar), Ms. Cecile Ramirez and Ms. Kimberly Stuart, Dr. Hale extended her workshop sessions to Kuxlin
Ha Government School. This three day workshop proved useful and the teachers were excited to present
their own mini lessons using the SIOP Model; however, the teachers expressed their discontent in having to
constantly adjust to the many variations of lesson plans existing in almost every school. Some of these
teachers, are current UB FEA students, while some are newly transferred teachers, therefore, their major
assertion is that there should be only one lesson plan used by both the University of Belize and in every
school in Belize. The SIOP Model is yet another model for lesson planning they need to adjust to. While
standardization is certainly necessary for lesson plans teachers use in Government schools, the components
in the SIOP lesson plan are similar, worded differently, but synonymous to those found in the UB lesson
plan and Kuxlin Ha’s Lesson plan. The SIOP lesson plan calls for both “content objectives” and “language
objectives” to be clearly and specifically written. Nevertheless, after explaining the similarity and differences
between the UB lesson plan the SIOP lesson plan-the workshop was productive.
As educators we should all know that over 98% of our students, at all levels, are ELs. In essence, we
need to teach these students accordingly; we have already began testing this model within the Belizean
context. This model is for all subject areas- not just English class. Because it is important to cater for our
ELs, you will soon be reading about our research progress using the SIOP Model within the Belizean
classroom. Ms. Stuart and I have been observing bi-weekly lessons using the SIOP Model since
February 3, 2014 at Kuxlin Ha and St. Martin’s Government school-we will keep you informed.
—- Erica S. Aguilar M.Sc.
English/TESOL Facilitator at the University of Belize
Dr. Hale Summer Workshop at Kuxlin Ha-Introduction to the SIOP Model
9
SIOP Instruction
What Is It?
The SIOP Model is a USA based lesson planning model-a product of a collaborated effort among
American educational stakeholders. This Model emerged as the end product of a research project
sponsored by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE); CREDE is a national
research center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, to support the USA’s ELs demographic,
inclusive of those at risk of educational failure (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2004).
The lesson planning model consists of eight components: preparation, building background, compre-
hensible input, strategies, interaction, practice/application, lesson delivery, and review/assessment. The
SIOP features for preparation include: clearly defined content and language objectives, content concepts
appropriate for age and level, supplemental materials used to make lesson effective, adaptation of content
to all levels of student proficiency, meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts with language
practice opportunities for all four language learning skills. The SIOP features for Building Background focus
on: concepts explicitly linked to students’ background experiences, learning new concepts and key
vocabulary emphasized. The SIOP features of comprehensible input highlights speech appropriateness for
students’ proficiency levels; clear explanation of academic tasks and techniques used to make content
concepts clear. The SIOP features for strategies encompasses the ample opportunities for students to use
strategies, consistent use of scaffolding techniques throughout lesson, assisting and supporting student
understanding, and usage of question types, including those that promote higher order thinking-throughout
lesson. The SIOP feature of Interaction speaks to ensuring frequent opportunities for student-teacher and
student-student interactions is encouraged, group configurations that suppose language and content
objectives of lesson, sufficient wait time is frequently given to students contribution, and ensuring ample
opportunities is given for students to clarify key concepts in L1 as needed with aide, peer, etc. The SIOP
feature of practice and application illustrates the hands-on materials and/or manipulative for students to
practice using their new content and language knowledge in the classroom, and uses activities that
integrate all four language skills. Almost there, the SIOP feature of lesson delivery evaluates whether
content and language objectives are clearly supported by the lesson, whether it engaged the entire class,
and is appropriate for students’ ability. Finally, the SIOP feature of review/assessment mentions review of
vocabulary, key content concepts,
regularly provided feedback on
students’ input, conducting
assessment of students’
understanding and learning of all
objectives throughout lesson
(Echevarria, & Vogt, 2005).
Certainly a lot to consider
when planning a lesson. Kudos to
our teachers! We will keep you
informed with more on the SIOP
Model.
10
Belize TESOL’s New
Facebook Page!
The Belize TESOL Association opened its Facebook page on April 29, 2014. Nevertheless, weeks
later, on May 23rd, we switched to our current Belize TESOL Facebook fan page. Personally, I am a
Facebook user, log on approximately five times a week, but like many, I only bothered to know the basics.
Thanks to Ms. Emilia Adams over at the US Embassy, Ms. Denise Fuller and Marci, they have been kind
to us in offering tutoring sessions on the administrative side to Facebook-it is amazing to learn something
new!
Currently we are at a 277 likes and counting! This initiative is of highest importance to the Belize
TESOL Association, for our prime objective is to have paying members countrywide. Our dream is to have
every single Belizean teacher as a member and every person who is an educational stakeholder. Together
united, we believe, we can reform and transform the way we teach our Belizean students. Currently there
are many opportunities we are considering to have member benefit and enjoy, such as, discounts at your
local school supply stores, tailored summer workshops in specific areas demanded by teachers, travel
opportunities to attend conferences hosted by TESOL international. The next TESOL international
conference is in September, 2014 to be held in Panama.
Nevertheless, first things first, considering that the administrative members of Belize TESOL all hold
their own 8-5 jobs, at this stage, we implore that you join the Belize TESOL Association—we need to meet
a certain criteria in regards to members in order to gain international recognition. JOIN US TODAY!
11
Dr. Alberita Enriquez, Educator
and Co-founder of Kaina Online
High School.
Belize TESOL’s
Membership Form
12
TESOL Activities Using Prepositions Preposiciones-Prepositions can be tricky for English language learners (ELLs), especially native Spanish
speakers of all levels. There are many reasons why ELLs have difficulty with prepositions- a discussion for
another time. Consequently, it is important to use Dolch’s sight words list, and lots of pronoun related
activities to promote ELLs’ confidence when using prepositions at the Kindergarten level and up. However,
you don’t have to wait for a topic under preposition to use these activities; use these activities after lessons.
Thanks to the article, “On Your Marks: 7 Super Easy Activities for Teaching Prepositions of Location” by
Busy Teacher. Highlighted below are four of these activities, some of which I have done with my four year
old daughter prior to reading this article, most of them can be modified to suit your students’ age level.
Have fun with your students in class or with you child at home! -Erica Aguilar
1. Where is it? Have each students bring their own special item from home. They will each take turns
hiding the item and then have the class guess where it is using prepositions.
2. Draw a picture: this pair work activity requires one student to listening and draw, while the other
student give instructions using a list of pronouns provided by teacher- switch roles.
3. A Messy Room: Kindergarteners may have a messy section in their classroom use it! Have them
clean up the room ensuring to use prepositions. To ensure each student participate in an orderly
fashion, call by name asking them to do a task, e.g., Tsunade, hang the dress on the wall please.
4. Egg Hunt: is my favorite because children love playing with plastic Easter eggs all year round!
Something about plastic eggs! Hide eggs, have students take turns looking for the egg, once they find
it, they need to give one sentence stating where they found the egg, e.g., I found the egg in teacher
Valerie’s cup. Optional-reward them by inserting a treat inside the egg.
Reference: Busy Teacher. (2014). On Your Marks: 7 Super Easy Activities for Teaching Prepositions of
Location. Retrieved from: http://busyteacher.org/13962-how-to-teach-prepositions-of-location-7-super.html
BelizeTESOL Association
Issue 02, May 2014
Newsletter Editor/Organizer:
Erica S. Aguilar ([email protected])
To contact the BelizeTESOL Association please call:
501-601-8081