San Marcos Teachers Met

The 4:30 General ESL Program and the 7:00 General ESL Program in San Marcos have a tradition of meeting during the first or second weekend of a semester.

Thirteen colleagues met yesterday afternoon for the fall 2008 semester. After a word puzzle game as a warm-up, the participants discussed their respective classes and issues that had come up during the first two weeks of the new semester.

It was emphasized and agreed upon once again that a student can be recommended for another level only because (and after) a class diagnostic shows he or she is obviously misplaced, and not because of such non-academic factors as friends, lack of confidence, etc.

All in attendance went on the Internet to go through several important places such as the "Staff Only" section of our dept. web page and the "eServices" and "Online Students" sections on Palomar's home page.

Angela shared a video-enhanced teaching method that she had presented at CATESOL State Conference in March. The video clips were all very chosen, and the accompanying language-learning activities well planned. The show was well received and Angela planned to distribute her materials to the audience.

The participants also reviewed and shared their knowledge of the ways to handle various scenarios such as a noncredit student showing up whose name is not on the roster; students wanting to learn more without telling the teacher directly; and using the whole lab session for typing practicie.

Several great suggestions were offered by the participants regarding our lab usage and computer literacy curriculum, for example, the need to offer more PD training to inform and prepare teachers, the need to eliminate the swipe-in-and-swipe-out processes for the night classes using the lab, and the need to add more interactive software for low-level learners.

New and upcoming matters, such as the pay-to-print system and COMPASS consequential validity study, were explained.

In the end, the colleagues at the meeting reviewed a classic article on seven principles for undergraduate education and each wrote down a specific goal for improvement for this semester. They put that written plan in a sealed, self-addressed envelope, which their supervisor will return to them at the closing of the semester so that they can check to see if they have achieved the goal or if they need to make adjustments for their future continuous improvement. All in all, the gathering was a productive meeting of like-minded professionals who are dedicated to the success of the students and the programs alike.