Working with the Bookstore

As student enrollment continues to climb, a few departments have been having a hard time finding enough textbooks on the bookstore shelves. Our dept. is one of those hard-hit ones. To solve this problem, the bookstore and our dept. have come to an agreement for spring 2008 textbook ordering.

1. The bookstore will not use its sales history data in ordering our textbooks. Instead, they will order according to the “enrollment estimate” that we list on each order form, a.k.a. textbook course adoption.
2. We will not make changes once a course adoption is ordered.
3. The bookstore will extend our course adoption due date one month later than for other department.
4. Both the bookstore and our dept. will assess the agreement results after spring 08 sales are complete.

Number one above is of particular significance because, as you know, the bookstore has chronically short-ordered our books, citing its historical sales data. Under this agreement, the bookstore will give up that old practice. However, we also now have an added responsibility for giving an accurate estimate of how many books are needed on each order.

The bookstore has also developed a couple of electronic ways for submitting book orders. Monica will soon let the coordinators know which way our dept. will go in ordering our spring 08 books.

Even if no books are required, a book adoption form still has to be filled out in order for the bookstore to offer that information to the students. If a class does not require a textbook, simply write “No Text Required” across the order form.

Frank Mendez, Textbook Manager (ext. 2225), and Juan Serna, Textbook Supervisor (ext. 2223), are still our best contacts in the bookstore. If the future, if a textbook is ever sold out again, please let your coordinator know the exact number still needed, and Frank or Juan will promptly place an order for you after receiving an email from your coordinator.

Concerned with the ever-rising textbook prices, lawmakers at state and federal levels have introduced legislative initiatives to require the prompt posting of textbook lists, among other things.

To find out the pricing information of your textbooks,

1. go to the bookstore’s website at this URL: www.palomar.edu/bookstore/
2. click on “Books” on the red navigational side bar on the left
3. click on “Textbooks” next
4. "select your term" (e.g. Fall 2007)
5. "select your division" (= location of the class; e.g. SM/ONLINE for San Marcos campus, plus all online courses offered by Palomar)
6. "select your department" (= ESL; NESL; or NCTZ)
7. "select your course" (e.g. 003; 034; 098.3, etc.)
8. "select your section" (= 5-digit class number).

Below is a partial screen shot of the current pricing information for ESL 3 (class number 72040) in San Marcos:

This is still without the ISBN numbers, but your students can get those from you. The important thing is that you can tell (or even show) your students how much money they expect to spend at the bookstore on your textbooks.

Grammar Gurus Wanted

This is my first attempt, so if I goof it up, please bear with me.

My MA program focused on communication to the point where it almost excluded grammar. Hence, when I found myself in my first classroom teaching general ESL to an eager Level 6, I found myself woefully unprepared for their questions. And concerned.

As you might imagine, I spent that semester buried in various grammar books trying to stay at least one step ahead as it were. And a strange thing happened. I grew to have quite an interest in the subject. The more I delved the more I realized how little I knew. And the more I wanted to know. I found the stuff fascinating.

At some point, a couple of years later, I decided to "go for it," and actually made a presentation for PD on subject verb agreement. I gave a little quiz to my audience, all English and ESL teachers, and then spent the rest of the time arguing with them about why I'd scored various responses incorrectly. It was a hoot. And I was hooked.

The one grammar class I'd taken in school was taught by a wonderful prof who explained to us the concept of "my grammar" - the idea that you and I might have a different set of linguistic rules in our heads. Most of what she taught was new to me, but that idea really stuck. It was kind and forgiving.

Though no guru by any means, I have come to enjoy grammar more and more, and am always fascinated when I encounter something that seems odd to me. And I've always wanted some place to pose a question. Early on in my career, before I accepted my lot as an adjunct, I envisioned long stimulating discussions with my colleagues over a cup of tea in some ivy covered office. Now, I realize, this BLOG thing may work.

The other day, I found myself with just such a question. Taking my cue from the dramatic weather change over the last couple of weeks, I had written a paragraph about the weather on the board leaving the spaces for the verbs blank, a sort of cloze exercise. The students were to fill them in. After several sentences like "It _________ cloudy today," I wrote, "I hope it ____________ tomorrow."

Then I stood back and thought. I wanted the students to put "rains" in the blank, but I could not explain - even to myself - why I didn't like "will rain." What say you?

If you are a guru and would like to respond, please be kind. If you aren't, and you find yourself with a question now and then, maybe we could discuss it.

Language Acquisition and Language Extinction

Typically, on the first day of school when I give a pep talk about the need to speak English, I sometimes ask my students to think about how many hours a day they use English. And then I ask them to “see” those hours up on the wall as they look around and imagine that the four-wall perimeter of our classroom represents a 24-hour day. Sadly, for quite a few students, that English section of the wall turns out to be pretty small. After that realization, when I announce my classroom rule of speaking as much English as possible, heads immediately nod up and down in agreement.

Can the same “speak English” rule be extended to homes? Whenever such a proposition is expressed by an authority figure or in the media, a controversy ensues. The latest example in the area is here.

Many factors contribute to the acquisition of a new language or the lack of it. For example, my passion for languages in general and for English in particular may explain my lifelong love affair with the language. On the other hand, if a new immigrant is financially hard-pressed, he or she may put learning English on a back burner for a while and join the ranks of day laborers for jobs that require little English. Age and language environment play a role, obviously. My son immigrated at the tender age of 6, received all his formal education here, and now uses English as well as a native-born American.

Even though there may be political reasons for acquiring or losing a language, pragmatically, like many other skills and abilities in life, if you don’t use a language, you will lose it. My son has practically lost his ability to recognize written Chinese because he stopped learning/using it a long time ago. This is regrettable for an individual or an individual family, but imagine the loss of a language for all of its speakers.

According to a research report released last week, half of the world’s 7,000 languages will disappear in this century. (See the story in San Diego Union Tribune here.) A group of caring experts are working hard to try to maintain some dying languages. You might enjoy watching this brief film clip on their finding an Australian language thought to be extinct.

Is saving an aboriginal language as important as teaching English to our students? Leave your comments below.

The Fallbrook Center Computer Lab

The Fallbrook Lab is up and running. With the recent addition of a data projector, we are looking good! Currently, the lab is used before class as a lounge (refrigerator and coffee pot) for all instructors at the Fallbrook site.

We have sixteen Dell computers with flat screens, which are more than enough to allow each instructor a chance to use the Internet. Once classes begin at 6:30 pm, the lounge becomes a computer lab for the VESL students who are working on their keyboarding skills. At break time, it becomes a lounge again.

We plan on conducting ESL Compass testing in the lab. One set-back to this plan, though, is the slowness of the Internet connection. The Internet version of Compass demands a lot of bandwidth. Unfortunately, we do not yet have an optic fiber line that would allow a quick response time in testing with 16 computers simultaneously. But we will do our best until the optic fiber arrives – hopefully by the end of the year.

The lab and I are still learning about each other, so I envision more creative uses of the space in the near future.

Basic Skills Initiative

We all know the need to provide basic skills, and by extension ESL, education to students under-prepared for college-level work. A system-wide Basic Skills Initiative has been in the works for some time in order to identify and apply best practices for basic skills education across the whole community college system up and down the state of California.

This Initiative provides statewide training and support to address the professional development needs of community college administrators, faculty, and staff in the areas of basic skills and ESL instruction as well as address both credit and noncredit instruction as they apply to the broad basic skills area, including ESL instruction.

To provide the foundation to develop this training, Foothill-De Anza Community College District has contracted with the Academic Senate and the Center for Student Success to create resource materials for use at the colleges. Colleges will begin with a self-assessment tool that helps to identify strengths and weaknesses in basic skills instruction. With the results of the self-assessment in hand, colleges will turn to materials that outline the general principles and processes that work to help ensure student success in basic skills success courses. Colleges will be provided with a “menu-based” approach of course sequences and other institutional improvements to address the unique needs of their students, faculty, and instructional programming. In addition, colleges will be apprised of available “alternative” career-related math and English courses to meet the upcoming graduation requirements (e.g. "Math for Health Careers" instead of "Intermediate Algebra").

To present these resources, a partnership of the Academic Senate and the statewide organizations of the Chief Instructional Officers, the Chief Student Services Officers, the Center for Student Success, and the System Office Action Plan Group have been conducting training for all 109 California Community Colleges at statewide conferences and several regional workshops.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Governor Schwarzenegger “set aside” the $33.1 million earmarked for the BSI efforts, pending legislative reform, when he signed the state budget on 8/24. The CCC System Office and the Administration then engaged in a lengthy, constructive dialogue regarding the reasons for the governor’s de factor veto and the options for restoring the funds. Many people working in the community colleges also wrote letters to state legislators to voice their concern and urge the restoration of the Basic Skills money.

Last Monday, the State Legislature approved AB 194 (Committee on Budget), legislation which restored the $33.1 million to the community college budget in ESL and Basic Skills. Contained within the money is $1.6 million for faculty and staff development to improve curriculum, instruction, student services, and program practices in basic skills and ESL programs. The remaining $31.5 million will be used for program and curriculum planning and development, student assessment, advisement and counseling services, supplemental instruction and tutoring, articulation, instructional materials and equipment, and any other purpose directly related to the enhancement of basic skills, ESL instruction and related student programs.

The Governor has until 10/14 to sign the bill, which will then go into effect immediately, according to the text of the bill.

Here at our college, a Basic Skills Work Group has been busy at work as part of the broader Basic Skills Initiative. As a long-time member of that group, Marty Furch has represented our dept. single-handedly and superbly. The group will next discuss a plan for completing a self-assessment and the proposed “Success Centers” in Escondido and San Marcos. After reviewing the relevant information, if you have concrete ideas for our department to increase its say and share in this whole BSI effor at our college, please send them to Marty or me as soon as you can. You can also leave your comments below.

Resources:

Introductory information about the Basic Skills Initiative: http://www.cccbsi.org/

26 effective practices in four categories: http://www.cccbsi.org/effective-practices

10 effective instructional practices: http://www.cccbsi.org/instructional-practices

111 pages of literature review regarding effective instructional practices: http://www.cccbsi.org/Websites/basicskills/Images/InstructionalPractices.pdf

Relevant state budget update: http://www.ccleague.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3320

The text of the amended bill: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0151-0200/ab_194_bill_20070907_amended_sen_v98.html

Anne of the Golden Heart

When the ESL Non-Credit Matriculation Project was presented to the Governing Board in late 1998, the person Dean Garlow, then our dept. chair, called upon to give the presentation was Anne Stadler, who, along with Jose Luis Ramirez, still manages the non-credit matriculation program, which attempts to provide as many portions of the credit matriculation programs aimed at retention and student success as possible.

Over the years, the allocation for the Non-Credit Matriculation has funded many needed positions and projects in our dept., the latest being the remodeling of our Fallbrook facilities.

Another program in our dept. that Anne founded--and still manages as a volunteer--is the INEA (Instituto Nacional de la Educacion para los Adultos) program. This is a Spanish adult ed program providing literacy, elementary, and middle-school level education (alfabetizacion, primaria, y secundaria) to the large Hispanic population in our district who need to learn how to read and write in their first language before moving on to learning English successfully with us. For the last seven years, Anne, along with Jose Luis, recruited qualified INEA teachers, a few of whom are our former ESL students. She also didn’t hesitate to hire someone who represents the culture of the people we serve. Her passion for doing the best job she could to help the poor and the underserved Hispanics in our district has resulted in the growth of the INEA program into a current year-round operation in locations throughout our district. If you open this semester’s class schedule book to page 175, you can see these 13 N ABED (Non-Credit Adult Basic Education) classes, each with two course titles--N ABED 201 and N ABED 202--because presumably in each classroom there are students working on the primaria materials and students completing the secundaria curriculum. It goes without saying that Anne’s effort to bring INEA to students in our district typifies what a community college is about.

INEA is a win-win for all. The college certainly appreciates the non-credit funding that these classes have been bringing from the state. The Mexican federal government, which provides INEA curriculum and free teaching materials, also appreciates Anne’s hard work. Two weeks ago, she and Jose Luis were invited to Mexico City to give a presentation on our INEA program to about 50 participants from the US and Mexico. The report was very well received. Last Thursday, Jose Luis, representing Anne, presented to a different group and received appreciation from the Mexican government. The press was present to document the successes of our INEA program and others in the US.

Speaking fluent Spanish and working full-time as our college’s EOP&S/CARE/CalWORKs Director, Anne still finds time to do volunteer work in Mexico, be it helping translate for medical workers or assisting burn victims. Anne’s lived life as a care giver. Because of that, I’ll always be a fan.

Data for September 15 Hispanic Month

ESL Faculty --

(This is my first attempt at a memo, and it's with a link, and I'm doing it "my way," so I hope it gets through.)

The link below gives enormous relevant and current data on Hispanic population in U.S. re Hispanic Month this September 15.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/010327.html

KenS

Professional Development Opportunities

Since everybody’s proposed PD contract is due in two weeks--by 9/15 to be exact, I would like to write about PD in this post.

Palomar is unique in that it doesn’t just offer PD in a flex-day format, like many other community college do. Instead, the PD Office arranges coded activities for faculty to take part in throughout the semester. Although some might argue that these “train as you go” events make it hard for the institution to launch a focused training campaign, these activities are nonetheless both robust and diverse, ranging from faculty plenary sessions that take place just before the start of a new school year to monthly fitness seminars hosted by the PE Dept.

But it is the activities not planned by the PD Office that have had folks everywhere hail Palomar’s PD program as truly faculty driven. In a nutshell, if you can match a self-designed activity with a code in one of the three categories listed here (http://www.palomar.edu/pd/SelfDesignedDetails.pdf), you can enter it on your PD contract and claim the hours you spend on it.

For example, the faculty in the Evening General ESL Programs in San Marcos met for three hours last weekend to review the new curriculum and revise their grammar exit tests. They were then able to claim three hours of PD using code “2i”—“examine educational/academic issues…in small groups on campus...”

Other codes for self-designed PD activities might be of particular interest to you, such as:

• 1d: write for publication
• 1c: create or learn to use computer-assisted instruction
• 2f: develop computer software skills
• 2p: develop instructional media
• 1b: attend professional conferences and workshops
• 1a: prepare for conference and workshop presentations
• 1f: acquire foreign language skills
• 2o: observe a colleague’s teaching to learn successful teaching techniques

So there should not be any shortage of PD activities that you can choose to undertake or design for yourself.

To make planning your PD even easier for you, let me list a few useful resources here in closing:

• Activities pre-planned by the PD Office for this semester: http://www.palomar.edu/pd/Fall_%202007_Calendar.htm
• Training provided by Academic Technology this semester:
  http://www.palomar.edu/atrc/attraining.htm
• Our first dept. meeting this semester: Friday, 9/7, from 9:30 to 11:30 in A-15
• Deadline to submit a presentation proposal for CATESOL 2007 San Diego Regional Conference: Friday, 9/7:
  http://www.catesol.org/regional.html
• Application for Rick Sullivan Stipend towards CATESOL 2008 State Conference expenses:
  http://www.catesol.org/08ricksullivan.pdf
• Application for limited travel funds now available for faculty--“first come, first served”:
  http://www.palomar.edu/fiscal_services/Travel/Forms/TravelRequest_Claim_2007.pdf
• Faculty eServices where you enter and revise your PD contract: https://pccdpswb01.palomar.edu/servlets/iclientservlet/pals8prdfaculty/?cmd=login

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!