Category: Blogs and Musings

Digital Portfolio Project Purpose: The purpose of creating and maintaining an electronic portfolio is for Touro Bilingual Pupil Personnel Services candidates to reflect on the course of study at Touro College, Graduate School of Education, New York. The portfolio should include a statement of the candidates’ goals, philosophy of providing services to traditionally underserved populations, case studies, behavior interventions, culturally appropriate assessments,  and files that showcase the candidates’ best work. The work selected by the Bilingual Pupil Personnel Services candidates for the electronic portfolio should be organized and reflected upon.

Artifacts: The electronic portfolio shows examples of different kinds of work such as PowerPoint presentations, Excel files, photograph examples, and Word documents.

Touro Candidate Noelia Feliz, M.A.: Bilingual Pupil Personnel Services Digital Portfolio Project

This assignment focuses on Touro TESOL candidates enrolled in Methods and Materials for Teaching English as a Second Language to make well-informed decisions of ELL materials that feature equity, enrichment, engagement, and empowerment. 

Michael Kollmer received his bachelor’s degree at SUNY Cortland in Physical Education. He is currently enrolled as a graduate student at the TESOL and Bilingual PRogram at Touro College to pursue his Masters in TESOL. “This is my first year working as a physical education teacher in an elementary school and I plan on taking what I learn at Touro and applying my knowledge into my lessons to ensure all of my students have the greatest opportunity to learn.”

Students background:

For the purpose of this assignment, I chose a group of five ELL students to focus on. The five students attend the Mount Sinai School District. The five student’s native language is Spanish. Three of the ELLs are on level 3, transitioning, and the other two ELLs are on level 4, expanding. All five students are in the fourth grade. The three ELLs on the transitioning level receive both push-in and pull out services, while the two ELLs on the expanding level just receive push-in services. All five ELLs are able to communicate with their peers in English. The five ELLs communicate with each other in both English and Spanish. All five students were born here in the United States and all speak just Spanish at home. Their goals are to become better immersed in the English language and to be able to function in the classroom with less assistance from the ENL teacher. I have all five students in my gym class and when observing them in a more relaxed environment, they are very outgoing with their peers and always want to help demonstrate the rules of the games being played. While observing them in the classroom, it was like I was seeing totally different students. They are shyer and tend not to participate in discussions unless they are called upon to share. Their affective filter is much lower in the gym where the environment is more relaxed whereas their affective filter is much higher in the classroom where their English skills are put on the spot in front of their peers and teachers. They prefer group work where all five are in the same group and tend to use their L1 when the teacher is not listening. All five students are performing at grade level. They utilize the use of guided notes, graphic organizers, and sentence starters to enhance their writing organization, skills, and comprehension. They also use visual aids around the classroom to help with comprehension during content lessons. All five students have excellent BICS skills and can communicate with their teachers and peers with ease. The students are working on their CALPS and need assistance with new vocabulary in content areas. The ENL teacher pushes in during the social studies and science block during the day. The teacher pulls all five students to a back table to work together during these content-area lessons. The two students at the expanding level are stronger in reading and speaking in their L2, while the three students at the transitioning level are stronger in listening and reading in their L2.

“Neema’s Reason to Smile” by Patricia Newman

The book I chose was recommended to me by an ENL student’s fourth-grade teacher. The book is called “Neema’s Reason to Smile” by Patricia Newman. This book is about a young Kenyan girl named Neema who dreams of one day being able to afford to go to school. Throughout the book, Neema and her mother come up with a plan to save money and make Neema’s dream come true. Eventually, Neema goes to school in a red skirt and white shirt and dreams of all the occupations she could have.

With this book, I created a lesson with the objective:

Students will be able to compare and contrast the daily tasks of school in another country to the daily task of school here in Mount Sinai.

In groups, students will pick a country to focus on and research what school is like for students in that country. A list of countries will be provided to the students. To do the research, students can use the school library to check out books, the geography section of the classroom library, or use Myon or Epic! on their Chromebooks to find books about their country of choice. To start this lesson, I will first read the whole class text, “Neema’s Reason to Smile”. Next, I will model how to record the important information, what school was like for Neema in Kenya, on a graphic organizer. The graphic organizer will be on chart paper and left up for the remainder of the project for students to look back at during their independent research work. Students will need to use the skill of recording important information when they are researching and recording their own information within their groups. After the “I do” portion of the mini-lesson, as a class, we will fill out the “we do” portion. This consists of filling out a second graphic organizer as a class on what school is like for us here in Mount Sinai. The students will help me fill out the class graphic organizer, as well as filling in their own graphic organizer. This graphic organizer will be part of the student’s final project since they all attend the same school, in the same class. Next is the “you do” portion of the lesson. This is when the students will break off into the teacher assigned groups to research their country of choice and find out how school is similar and different from their own school day. Each group will have a mix of ELLs and non-ELLs.

This lesson will be student-driven with me as the facilitator. Within the gym, I have noticed that most, if not all, students enjoy student-driven lessons. They have more responsibilities and are in charge of their own learning. They get out of the lesson what they put into it. With this being said, I feel like the students would also enjoy being in charge of their own learning within a classroom setting. By being a facilitator in this lesson, the students will look to me for support and guidance when needed. While students are working in their groups conducting their research, I will be walking around the classroom monitoring for progress. If I come across a group that seems to be struggling, I will pull that group aside and conference with them. If groups are struggling with recording important information about schools in a different country, I will refer back to the mini-lesson and the whole class text to help the students out.

The techniques being utilized in the lesson advocate for achieving the state’s objectives most effectively. This is because students are being supported and guided through their learning with the “I do, we do, you do” model and with me being the facilitator. The students will be working on the state standard of compare and contrast schools in another country to school in their own country. They will be supplied with texts that have visuals, as well as it is similar to their own lives when applicable.  During the “I do” part of the lesson, students are shown and taught the important skills they will use when it is time for them to research their own country. The students will also be prompted and provided materials that will help them succeed during this lesson. These materials include graphic organizers, teacher conferences, materials in the classroom library, materials in the school library, materials on student Chromebooks, and the help of student’s peers. With the students being in charge of their own learning, this will help with student engagement in the lesson. With me being in the facilitator role, the students will have more independence throughout the lesson and will then have to advocate for themselves and their group.

The techniques being utilized during this lesson is appropriate for all types of learners. The lesson will be modeled using the “I do, you do, we do” method with checks for understanding and appropriate wait time for all students. The materials and graphic organizers will be left up in the front of the classroom along with the whole class text for the students to refer back to. Also, graphic organizers can be easily adapted to fit the needs of my ELLs. I will provide them with a copy of the class graphic organizer, and I will also provide them with a graphic organizer specific to the country they choose to research. The ELLs will be provided with guided notes and sentence starters, along with vocabulary cards with pictures of the words and the words in their native language. This method is appropriate to the situation in the classroom because these students enjoy working in groups and enjoy the responsibility being placed on them. With the students working in groups, this allows me to be in the facilitator role and check-in with students when needed to monitor their progress.

Key Vocabulary:

            Different, Similar, Country, Savanna, Mango, Government School

TESOL Standard:

Key Ideas and Details

Standard 2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Text Types and Purposes

Standard 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Bloom’s Knowledge Matrix

The Digital Portfolio Project Purpose: The purpose of creating and maintaining an electronic portfolio is for Touro GSE BILINGUAL PUPIL PERSONNEL SERVICES – PSGN 698 candidates to reflect on the course of study at Touro College.

Edelin Mateo’s Website includes a wealth of information for The Bilingual School Psychologist showcasing her outstanding work in her field.

Please visit our Candidates website for resources:

Touro College, GSE Candidate Edelin Mateo’s Website: The Bilingual School Psychologist M.A., NCSP

by Jasmin Cowin, Assistant Professor and Practicum Coordinator, Touro College, GSE

Adjusting to COVID19: Flexibility, strength, and resilience at the Touro TESOL and Bilingual Department. I think of resilience as having both strength and flexibility, which allows one to adapt to change without catastrophizing about the unique circumstances. My TESOL and Bilingual teacher candidates rose to the challenge!

For the Methods & Materials Teaching English as a 2nd  Language Touro TESOL candidates planed and videotaped themselves instead of delivering and in-class session,  giving a 5 to 10 min mini-lesson in a specifically designed approach to language learning found in the Richards and Rodgers text, i.e. Communicative Language Learning, Total Physical Response, etc.  They also submitted a SIOP lesson plan. Any content area could be selected to demonstrate the lesson and supplemental videos, PowerPoint, materials, and realia were used as needed.

Carmen Montoya is a career changer, who recently earned an Initial Certification in Childhood Education and Special Education, Grades 1-6, from the Touro Graduate School of Education. She is currently pursuing a TESOL Advanced Certificate for grades K-12 at Touro, due to be completed by Fall of 2020. “I hope to ultimately become an effective ESL teacher who can help and encourage students at various grade levels along their unique journeys.”

Carmen M Method PresentationMigration_Obstacles

Video of Carmen Montoya’s Method Presentation

Carmen M Method Presentation

 

BILINGUAL PUPIL PERSONNEL SERVICES at Touro College, Graduate School of Education is for school counselors, social workers, and psychologists, who want to work with bilingual students.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Each certificate includes coursework and a practicum which emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural context for child development and learning, and for effective assessment and delivery of services. Depending on your certification focus, you might examine various theories and classroom approaches, review case studies and explore how home life and community impact youth education, or learn about dynamic assessment, how to work with various disabilities, and effectivestrategies for teaching native language literacy. In all our courses our goal is always to increase your multicultural and linguistic fluency so you can provide the best possible service and education to all students.

Touro Candidate Noelia Feliz is a second-generation immigrant of Hispanic descent. As a school psychologist for Yonkers Public Schools, she proudly serves underprivileged communities and families by aiding them in receiving and obtaining the best service possible. Noelia is currently working towards her bilingual extension at Touro College because she wants to be able to work with a broader population and serve as an advocate and voice for families who are often underserved.

Counseling Case – a Practicum Assignment for PSGN 698 Field Experiences in Bilingual Pupil Personnel Services

Referral Question:

• Pupil Support Team (PST) received a referral for a bilingual student (English & Spanish) with declining grades, appearing very lethargic in class, and was disengaging from social activity. It was later noted, by teacher, that the student’s parent had made contact with the teacher at the instructor’s residence to discuss concerns of aggressive and reclusive behavior.

Background and Context:

Student is a 14-year-old, Hispanic male born in The Bronx, NY and moved to Yonkers at 8 years old. He currently resides with his mother, father, and younger sister. Student and his family moved to a new home in Yonkers this year which the student describes as being “too big” and feels “bigger homes separate families”. Student expresses that he speaks in Spanish with both his parents and family members from El Salvador but feels more comfortable expressing himself in English. Historically, Student has maintained adequate grades in academics. Presently, Student’s science and math grades have declined. Student suddenly stopped attending basketball practice and later on quit the team. Student notes that he only has one good friend, but because of Student’s recent behavior, he feels the relationship is irreparable.  Student reported that, within the past 6 months, there has been a lot of confrontation with his mother. Student shared that he becomes angry when he is given a task by his mother, but then she doesn’t hold up the agreement that was purposed. Additionally, Student reports being romantically involved with a female from another state who he was able to meet over the past summer as agreed upon by both parties’ mothers.

Description of Problem:

Overall, Student shared that he would like to control his aggression, make better choices, improve upon his grades, have a better relationship with parents/peers, and better self-esteem. Student and counselor have set a goal for himself. He shares that he wants to get help because someday he wishes to have a family of his own and make better choices. He shared with this counselor that he really appreciated having someone to talk to because he never had an opportunity like this before.

• Student mentions that he is always tired in school because he stays up until 3-4 a.m. talking to his significant other. His reason for doing so is, “because if I don’t talk to her, she will get mad and she said she would kill herself…I’m scared she might do it.” He also shares that he loves her but doesn’t feel happy because she treats him very wrong. Furthermore, Student states he can’t leave her because if he does, he will have no one then.
• Student mentions that mom just wants to make him mad and argue with him. He shares that he feels mom is trying to be a mother now, but she didn’t care in the past. “She doesn’t know how to raise a child.” “Why does she care now?”
• Student has avoided coming to school because of incomplete work. He doesn’t want to seem dumb. He adds, “if I don’t come in, I can have more time to do the work and won’t penalized for being sick”
• Teacher says he has potential, but his behavior is affecting his work.
• Student mentioned having one friend who he thought was a good friend until he noticed he was trying to get him to use drugs. Student admits to smoking marijuana but has stopped since his ex-friend tried to force him to try other kinds of drugs. When student refused, the perpetrator stole $200 dollars and has not been seen since. Student has ceased and refrained from using any and all drug paraphernalia since that occurrence. Student mentioned that he never wants to make a bad decision like that again.
• Student shares that he is nervous and has no clue how to engage in social activities or maintain a healthy relationship. He feels that people can stab you in the back, but admits it is his negative thinking. He states he wants to interact with people but does not know how to.

Goal: Student will develop enhanced skills designed to help his aggression, develop social skills, and how to better communicate with his family.

Data Collection:

• Weekly check-in: 2-3 times per week
• Risk assessment
• Student/Parent Interview Questions
• Teacher feedback/Consultation
• Self-Disclosure affect
• Academic observations
• Power School records

Appendix on Information Technology:

• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Power School
• Yonkers Public Schools- Internal website forms:
  • Power School – Internet-based student information system
  • Guidelines and procedures for Students in Crisis

Counseling Plan:

• The type of therapy chosen was a Cognitive Behavioral Approach. Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a form that might have served well, but I chose to take a CBT approach. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach. Its goal is to solve problems regarding behaviors, cognitions, and dysfunctional emotions through a goal-oriented, methodical procedure. There is empirical evidence that CBT is effective for the treatment of a variety of problems, including mood, anxiety, personality, eating, substance abuse, and psychotic disorders. This is effective especially since time is very important in a school system (Butler, Chapman, & Forman, 2006). CBT can be used in individual therapy as well as group settings, and the techniques are often adapted for self-help applications. It focuses on the “here and now”, and on alleviating symptoms. This can allow evaluation of efficacy and effectiveness, especially for the present trend of evidence-based treatment (Butler, Chapman, & Forman, 2006).
• CBT is an efficient means of treating mental health conditions with Hispanics, much like this particular student. Studies do propose that usual CBT with no cultural adaptations can harvest some positive outcomes for Hispanics (Benuto & O’Donohue, 2015). Researchers studied the effectiveness of a “culturally modified” treatment with Hispanics either with an alternative treatment or a control group to regulate if the culturally delicate treatment had greater effects. Cultural variations of CBT do not show probable homogeneity concerning cultural tailoring, signifying that the construct of Hispanic culture is inadequately understood. (Benuto & O’Donohue, 2015). There are various methods we can use to improve the cultural sensitivity of common factors of CBT for anxiety. Although a lot of the advocates are particular to CBT, there are others that are correlated to the process elements pertinent to a slew of therapeutic methods. Particularly, clinicians can start to come up with ways to develop a general therapeutic stance that incorporates the understanding and appreciation of the difficulties of clients’ experiences (Graham, Sorenson, & Hayes-Skelton, 2015).
• Student has agreed to attempt to engage in pro-social activities. Student was to come up with hypothetical situations and would role-play with counselor on how to effectively engage and maintain appropriate conversation. Skills to focus on: eye contact, context of conversation, initiation of conversation, and effective ways of ending conversation (Corey, 2009). Student was encouraged to take chances and even if an attempted failed, it would server to be a learning experience instead of a defeat. Student agreed to join Anime club and participate in the eco-club in order to try and make connections with peers. Student expressed that he really doesn’t feel like he knows anyone well enough in school except for one friend.
• Student was to give weekly reports of relations within the home environment, significant other, self-worth, and counseling. Student would rate how he feels on a scale (1 very bad – 10 very good) relationships are developing. Student was to develop plans on how to engage in conversations with parents as he felt it was almost imposable to do so. Student would develop what he would think to be an appropriate and effective way of sharing information with parents in order to regain a good level of rapport with parents.
• A safety plan was constructed with student that addressed relaxation techniques, contacting of individuals when in crisis, appropriate plans of action to take when feeling hopeless, locations to go to in and out of school etc. A copy was made for parents, student, and one to remain in school. Student is to carry this with him at all times in his wallet and refer to it in times of distress.
• Due to Student’s self-injury behavior (superficial cutting) and information regarding his romantic relationship with an older individual, a call to emergency psychiatric services was made. After the clinician evaluated Student, she agreed that he was safe to return home. An additional Safety plan was drafted and signed by parents and Student. Student and family were provided with home support counseling by the clinician once a week for 12 weeks. The clinician will follow up with this counselor on progress and meet in 6 weeks for up-to-date information and check-in on Student’s progress in school.
• At-risk counseling took place in the school for 6 weeks once a week for 30 mins a day.

Evaluation of Counseling based on weekly rating scales:

Initial/Intake session

Counselor got to know who the student was even more. Introduced him to what to expect from counseling. Introduced CBT, expectations, and goal setting. Explained confidentially and breaking that in severe or extreme circumstances of hurting self or others.

1/06/2020

Student was very guarded. He was very worried others would find out. He mentioned that he would like to keep secrets because he does not want others judging him. Student and counselor worked on continuing to goal setting, and techniques he could use to learn to express his emotions in a more positive way (journaling) (Corey, 2009).

1/13/2020

A call to his mother was made to gain more background information. Student mentions he lost 40 lbs over the year from what he believed to be a combination of depression and exercise. He mentions his concerns about his current relationship and social interactions. He shears that he thinks she is bi-polar and needs help. He does not want to leave her because he loves her. Counselor tried to help student understand the thoughts and emotions behind the problem. Counselor and student created a plan on how he could respond differently to his situation with his peers. What are methods he could use to reframe now the way he is currently approaching peers.

1/20/2020

Students showed superficial cuts and begs counselor not to tell anyone. After explanation and review of safety, a call is made to Mother and Emergency. A clinician from St. Joseph’s conducted a risk assessment and evaluation. Mother is called to be a part of the planning process. Safety plan was drafted with student and mother. Outsides services were provided; Student with parent agreed to the intervention plan and techniques.

1/27/2020

Student’s scars healing well after medical treatment. Student reports things improving all around except for romantic relationship. Academically, grades have improved, and homework is being completed. Student mentions that he still doesn’t feel he is good looking enough or can maintain friendships.

2/3/2020

Student talked about his Girlfriend. Student mentions he broke up with her over the weekend. He says that she is “controlling and I’m sick of it!” “She doesn’t do anything for me and all she does is make me feel bad about myself to the point I don’t want to even be who I am” She has called him numerous times and threatened to take her life if he did not say he loves her. Overall, he says “I just want this ‘B.S.’ to stop…I wish she would be a better person, because I do love her”. Counselor and Student went over interfering thoughts and reasonable responses he could use to take its place. For example, “My friends will judge me so I will stay home”, to “If I stay home I have no chance of interacting at the basketball game if I go, who knows what happens?”

2/10/2020

Mother called this counselor inquiring if Student had come to school because he had walked out of the house after an argument at home. Student had left saying he would go to school but decided to walk around instead for a few hours. Mother stated that she noticed a change in Student because he did not yell or punch a wall but instead has been using breathing techniques to calm down. Despite progress, student still left the house and gave no indication as to where he was truly going. Student’s father had taken his cell phone that morning and scanned all his text, which appeared to set Student off. Once Student returned to school the next day he told counselor and explained what he did and why. Student and counselor were able to identify his negative thinking towards the situation and reshape it. Despite being in trouble he was still able to rate how he was doing and relations with others.

2/17/2020

Student told story of leaving home. Student also mentioned that he did not want to come to school because he wasn’t finished with a project for physics. Lastly, student mentions that he would like to try to keep a relationship since the individual has agreed to change and has done so thus far. Student said he will further use skills learned to apply in daily life.

Description and Critique of Counseling Process Issues:

Overall, I feel the trajectory of the time spent with Student is of a positive one. From the first-time meeting to the present I have noticed a difference. He has more color to his face than when we first met. His demeanor in class has improved and his appearance is better. I have noticed him trying to engage in more social conversations than he used to. There is more of a balance in conversation than there used to be. At first, I was the one to talk more, but now Student can describe feelings and emotions in more detail. Additionally, I’m very excited to see that he now starts to think more positively as well as advocating for himself.

Unfortunately, he is attempting to maintain a relationship with an individual that is not healthy for him. Hopefully, he will continue to make better future decisions. I share that from time to time I will share overall progress with his parents as they are concerned and he is fully understanding of this. I do not feel as if any rapport is lost. I make him aware of all that I do and explain to him why I feel that it is important to do so. For example, he begged me not to tell anyone about his cuts, but I explained to him what a mandated reporter is and why I would have to take appropriate actions to ensure he was safe. I explained what would happen and possible outcomes. Additionally, I asked for his feedback on how he felt about the process and if he had a different perspective on why and what I was about to do. This mutuality was important to our time spent together. He expressed on a few occasions how thankful he was just having someone hear him out without judging him.

References

Benuto, L. T., & O’Donohue, W. (2015). Is Culturally Sensitive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy an Empirically Supported Treatment?: The Case for Hispanics. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 15(3), 405–421.

Butler AC, Chapman JE, Forman EM, Beck AT (January 2006). “The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses”. Clin Psychol Rev 26 (1): 17–31.

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, Eighth Edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education.

Graham, J. R., Sorenson, S., & Hayes-Skelton, S. H. (2013). Enhancing the Cultural Sensitivity of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Anxiety in Diverse Populations. Behav Ther (N Y N Y), 35(5), 101–108.