Students Mentoring Students from Grade School to Grad

School

Kathy Lobo (grade school)

Melissa Latham (high school)

Leslie Barratt (grad school)

• This presentation demonstrates the potential of student mentoring programs to provide a venue for authentic communication and increased social integration for language learners.

• Three models of mentoring at middle school (grades 5-8), high school, and university were implemented.

• Language is acquired through authentic interactions

• Many of our students may be isolated and have a small/limited social network

• Fostering social networking and authentic communication can in turn foster language development and greater academic success

• Student mentoring programs provide both a venue for authentic communication and increased social integration for language learners

Mentoring in “Grade School”

• Lunch groups held on a frequent basis -opportunity for students in the same grade to meet and interact

• Special Events for English Language Learners held several times a year -opportunity for students across grade levels to meet and interact

What the lunches look like:

What we do to get the ball rolling. . .

Activities and Games

Cultural Connections

After school activities include

Apple picking

Carving pumpkins

Making holiday decorations

Making cards

Making gifts

Visiting museums

Attending concerts

Community service projects

Connecting to Community

Making things-cards and gifts

Connecting to the Wider Community

• Museums often have free admission hours

• Students and families can use public transportation

• Free events at local libraries, music schools, churches, town halls. . .

• Historical reenactments. . .annual events. . .

Annual Sundae Event

Venue to Cultivate Relationships

High School Demographics• 2% of high school students are LEP• 96% of high school students plan to attend college• The native languages spoken by students in the

ELE program or FLEP monitoring in the 2008-2009 school year included Korean (14), Mandarin Chinese (11), Spanish (6), Cantonese Chinese (2), Russian (2), German (2), Armenian (2), Nepali (1), French (1), Albanian (1), Gujarati (1), Hebrew (1), Haitian Creole (1) and Japanese (1)

High School Student Voices“Well there’s four [Spanish-speaking students], 3, 4…have been here for a long time, like their whole lives, so they’re really comfortable with it. And they can use it anytime they want and move it around and express themselves very well and, yeah, it’s basically their first language. They have two first languages because they were raised here so they can use it very well. Then, there’s like three groups, that and then there’s a middle group where I put myself where we’re still learning but have like a basic English…we can talk to people and express ourselves, but we still need more. We’re comfortable but we could use more.

And then there’s the people who are learning now and still feel awkward when they try to speak and it gets uncomfortable. I don’t know. Every time I’m with them I try to speak in Spanish half the time and in English half the time to get…in their heads somehow…how I learned. One of my friends helped me that speaks Spanish. It’s like three different groups.” (Al, 17, from Chile, 2.5 years in the US)

High School Student Voices

“I want to say when I first came to here, I felt everyone was so unfriendly because when I asked them something they didn’t respond, but until now I feel like so many kids are nice and they’re all good kids and then because I communicate with them…It’s like I gave them something and then they gave me back.” (Yu, 15, from China, 1 year in the US)

High School Student Voices

“It was really difficult. Kind of difficult. In the first time, the first class was History class, and Mr. S., when I was a freshman and everyone know each other, but I didn’t know who was my classmate. Mr. S. let us to know the people’s name, just memorize the name, and I failed because it was kind of unfamiliar to me. English name, and I can’t really understand what they saying. My turn, it was something. It was Peter…I don’t know…but I failed. I feel really awkward because everybody know each other, but I don’t know. It was kind of awkward. Yeah, six months, I know each other. It’s getting better. Yeah. It’s getting better.” (Yoon, 18, from Korea, 2 years in the US)

High School Student Voices“And also, Buyee, you know her? She was crying in the office of my drawing/painting teacher, and then I asked her why and she said, she feel so sad because…her Algebra teacher so mean, and then she was like, she feels it is so hard for us to come here because she was a great student in Korea, but in here her grade went down so much because of the language and the teacher didn’t understand her and then like said something so mean about her. So she was so…and I had that same experience before. And we were crying in the office and…it’s always hard for foreigners to come to a country that they don’t know before.” (Yu, 15, from China, 1 year in the US).

Mentor Program

• Two versions– One-on-one: Students were paired with

another student and met once a week. Whole group meeting at the end of the month. (‘08-’09)

– Whole group: Students met in a large group once a term. (’09-’10)

One-on-One• Mentor was a student who had already

spent one academic year in the school.

• Mentee was a new student that year.

• Mentor received service hours.

• Pros: some pairs met a lot, helped with school work, friendships

• Cons: some pairs had a hard time connecting, more mentors than mentees

Logo Design Contest

International Food Party

Whole Group

• Mentors were students who had already spent one academic year in the school.

• Mentees were new students that year.

• Mentors received service hours.

• Pros: Eliminated problem of pairs connecting, all mentors could participate

• Cons: Fewer meetings, fewer individual connections, less collaboration on school work

Scavenger Hunt1 What is the title of the book under the call number: 523.89 REY

2 What are the names of the three secretaries in the main office?

3 What are three ways you can receive gym credit at BHS?

4 What is the BHS mascot?

5 What Shakespearean play is the English director reading? (HINT: It is on her desk!)

6 What five pictures are on Mr. Millington’s door?

7 Where is the lost and found?

8 Who teaches in room 114?

9 What are the four languages taught in the Foreign Language Department?

10 What department does Ms. Lints teach in?

Questions for Consideration

• My mentors were very motivated to participate. The mentees didn’t seem to have as much buy-in. How can the program be more useful to mentees?

• Should the program look different depending on the needs of the population in a given year?

• How should students be matched? Is native language/cultural background important? Age group?

Mentoring at the Graduate Level

• Pairs with current students and incoming students (via email)

• Pairs with first- and second-year TAs

• M.A. Mentoring Groups

• Ph.D. Mentoring Group

• Mentoring across groups – LinkingLanguageLearners organization

Current and Incoming

• Incoming students are asked if they would like to correspond with a current student.

• Current student chosen based on various factors: time, enthusiasm, similar situation, sometimes country or culture.

M.A. Mentoring Groups

• 3-6 M.A. students

• 1st and 2nd-year M.A. students

• NEST and NNEST students

• Students of several countries/languages

• At least one student with a car

Group Tasks

• Social events – cooking together for department events

• Member support – for English or studies

• Collaboration on Professional task – bulletin boards– Language games– Other service project

M.A. Group Bulletin Boards

M.A. Feedback

Students liked getting to know other students and their

cultures.Cooking and language games.

Participation is a challenge.Benefits vary depending on the student.

help with assignmentsteamwork experienceSocial support

Ph.D. Mentoring Group

• All students in Language Education concentration

• Monthly meetings for students to– report progress on dissertations/proposals– get feedback from others– Pre-candidate students get advice on

classes and topics

Mentoring across Levels

• LinkingLanguageLearners student organization plans events

• M.A. Mentoring Groups (as well as others) bring their games and teach them

• Students at all levels help plan and run events

Annual Language Game Day

Now it’s your turn for a mentoring task…