A Social Worker Visiting Alcatraz

5. Social worker’s report. If the events in the novel merit it, write up a report as a social worker would on the conditions in the home and whether or not it’s a good environment for a child. For example, if a social worker went to the McNabs’ house in Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (1990, Little, Brown) how would she describe the home and parenting style of Mr. McNab? What would her recommendations be?

The Flanagan's situation is an interesting one, and it leaves me in a difficult situation. The boy, Moose, is 13 years old, going through a lot of changes in his life as an adolescent. He has reached the age of puberty, he has just moved to an island with convicts, and has a sister with a disability. He seems to be handling the change well enough, but he is not who I am really worried about. While living in such close proximity to convicts is not safe for anyone, it is especially not safe for a child with a disability. Natalie is 16 years old, but is severely disabled and unpredictable. She requires constant attention that her parents are unable to give her. Mrs. Flanagan and Moose attempt to split the babysitting role everyday, but I don't think it's appropriate to leave a 13 year old in charge of her. Moose is very talented and patient with her, but it's a lot of responsibility and there's a lot that could go wrong. For example, one night, Moose fell asleep while watching Natalie, and woke up to the house on fire. She has tantrums that get violent, including physical abuse and throwing objects. She has also snuck off to visit convicts. How is Moose supposed to control that kind of behavior? Even her parents struggle with it, and although her mother has hired a tutor for her, it seems as though she is in denial most of the time. She even tried to convince me her daughter was 10 when I came for the visit. I understand this is hard, but handling the problem in the way she does only creates more tension.

There are a couple positives, however. Natalie has improved since working with her tutor. She can now use pronouns, and her fits have come few and far between. In addition, although her mother may be harsh at times, it is not necessarily poor parenting. Mrs. Flanagan is working on her acceptance of things and does most of what she does out of love. It is because of this that I am not taking the children from this home as of now. I have left the Flanagan's with one month to fulfill my requirements. Moose will need to see a therapist once a week and someone must be hired full time to work with Natalie and watch her. I am not requiring them to relocate, as I know the job is important to Mr. Flanagan, however, if Natalie is in contact with another convict one more time I will make sure the children have a new home. I am hesitant with making this decision, but I feel as though this family has been through a lot together and deserves one last chance.

Exploratory Project (Rough Draft)

Two-Way Dual Immersion - What is it?
Two-way immersion programs take place in schools where half the population is fluent in English, and learning the new target language, while the other half are native speakers of the target language, learning English. These programs take place in all subjects, not just English and foreign language. This means that students will be learning science in two languages, helping them learn a language in a more realistic setting. Meshing two groups of students who speak different languages together in a classroom helps because the students can work together to support one another's learning. They are able to offer their advice in situations that might not normally occur.

Why?
There are two kinds of dual immersion, the other form being one-way immersion. In one-way immersion programs, none of the students have prior experience with the target language. I chose two-way immersion, because I feel as though the students will benefit more from working together, rather than depending on the teacher for all of the new information. In addition to student help, there will be two teachers in the classroom as well. One will be certified to teach in English, and the other, in my scenario, will be licensed in Spanish. All of this available help fosters a healthy and collaborative learning environment. However, you cannot lose with dual immersion. Whichever form you choose, there will be numerous benefits.
Dual immersion allows students to think differently, recognize patterns, and raises their ability to problem solve. Studies have also shown that bilingual speakers have enhanced metalinguistic awareness levels, making them very skilled in manipulating language. This ability is extremely useful.
Dual immersion can also serve as a solution for minimizing the achievement gap. It has been proven that students who speak a native language different than English at home will not succeed in subjects like reading and writing, while native English speakers do. Furthermore, they will be more likely to not graduate from high school and will more likely to not attend college. However, if they participate in a dual immersion program, their academic success can be altered significantly. In one study, dual immersion students were shown to be seven months ahead in their fifth grade reading skills, and ahead by nine months in eighth grade. This sets them far ahead and makes them more likely to succeed.
Dual immersion students succeed in more areas than solely academics as well. One mother spoke about her son's experience at a dual immersion school, and how he was influenced. Being in a dual immersion school allowed him to see the big picture, and he was able to understand diversity in socioeconomic status, race, and culture. In his school, which was split between native English and native Spanish speaker, this individual recognized the school's effort to make kids comfortable with their cultural identities.
Lastly, dual immersion backs you up in the worst case scenarios. A bilingual person has a very strong brain from knowing 2 languages. Due to this strength in certain sections of the brain, it is easier for bilinguals to recover from brain injuries. In addition, it can delay the onset of Alzheimer's and dementia. While this may not be the happiest topic to discuss, it is extremely impressive.

When should we start?
As soon as possible! It's true what they say about kids brains being sponges - they learn super fast! Sure, my program would be implemented into a middle school, where it would succeed, but why not start earlier? Not only will it be easier for a child to learn a language at a younger age, but it will prove to have even more benefits later on!

Sources:
American Councils for International Education “WHY THE DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION APPROACH WILL CHANGE ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.” American Councils for International Education, www.americancouncils.org/news/why-dual-language-immersion-approach-will-change-achievement-american-public-schools.

Language and Identity in a Dual Immersion School

Potowski, Kim. Language and Identity in a Dual Immersion School, Multilingual Matters, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/smcvt/detail.action?docID=282690.

School District of Beloit

“Dual Language Immersion Programs.” School District of Beloit News, 19 Aug. 2013, beloitschools.org/dual-language-immersion-programs/.

The Unique Skills and Traits of Principals in One-Way and Two-Way Dual Immersion Schools

Rocque, Ryan, et al. “The Unique Skills and Traits of Principals in One-Way and Two-Way Dual Immersion Schools.” EBSCO Discovery Service, 1 Dec. 2016,

Windom Dual Immersion School “Benefits of Dual Immersion.” Windom Dual Immersion School, windom.mpls.k12.mn.us/benefits_of_spanish_dual_immersion.

Epsteins Framework of Involvement

Epsteins Framework of Involvement includes six ways that the educational environment can be more involved with their outside community. Of the six, there are two that really grab my attention. I think learning at home and collaborating with the community could serve as two phenomenal involvement techniques.

In my team, we discussed giving parents packets at the beginning of each unit with information on what would be covered in the classroom. In addition, a schedule would be attached with the outline of the curriculum and its assignments. The packet would include information that would help educate parents on the subject matter, hopefully in a way that allows the parent to be a resource for their children. Having an "expert" in their house would make learning a lot more individualized and accessible. It could also result in more class time for learning new material, as some questions and concerns that would come up in class could be answered at home.

However, I do think that problems can arise when bringing school to the home. We as teachers cannot always be sure of what students go home to every day. It might be a single parent household, with that parent working multiple jobs to make ends meet. It may be to parents who do not really care too much about their children's achievement, and decide to brush the added responsibility off. Or, it may be a parent who is too enthusiastic about having a teaching role in their child's life to the point that they may become overbearing and have a negative impact on their child's view of education. In any case, we cannot predict what awaits them. Therefore, some may ask is it really a good idea to put this responsibility on the parent? I think that if teachers introduce this role to parents explaining that they are acting more as a resource rather than a teacher, this would help clear confusion. In addition, I think that it would be a good idea to outline what is expected of the parent, so there are no issues with lines being crossed.

As for collaborating with the community, I would really like to offer an after school program with senior citizens someday. When I was in fifth grade, I took a knitting course with a senior citizen living in my town. The school partnered with the council on aging to organize programs like this. Even after finishing the knitting course, I kept in contact with the woman. We wrote letters for awhile, and sometimes I visited her house to have a snack and check in. It was an unexpected friendship, and I was very sad when she passed away. I think we grew so close because of that shared experience in knitting class. It was nice to have someone so skilled to teach me something, and to have someone who wanted to connect. Senior citizens can be so lonely, as they don't have a lot of friends around anymore, so I think giving them a platform to communicate with others is really great. It is also good for the children. They also have something to look forward to, a new skill to learn, and a new friend.

Connecting with senior citizens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1RoUUMkCkk

An issue that I could see arising would be the possibility that there wouldn't be too many activities that senior citizens could engage in. It could be possible that something they used to be very good at is no longer in their capabilities, whether it be from their change in athleticism, or arthritis causing them to be a little more shaky. As a solution, I would offer this interaction with senior citizens to be a two way street. If the senior is no longer able to teach a kid how to play catch, maybe the student could teach them how to play their favorite board game. This would put the student in the leadership position, and they might really enjoy teaching someone about something they like.

As a future teacher, I commit to being openminded in my classroom. I want to hear what students think will be best for their learning, and what programs/activities interest them. I can implement these into the classroom in order to spark engagement and curiosity. I want my students to get the best education possible, and in order to do that, learning needs to be fun.