Hi Mark, 

I teach Algebra II as well, and I see the same strengths and weaknesses in my students. In particular, they are really great at retaining chunks of information in their short-term memory.  Many students tell me they find their homework each night easy, but they can't understand why they aren't doing well on tests.  I'm constantly looking for ways to help students retain information in their long-term memory and synthesize information learned in small, manageable chunks. 

Hi George, 

Thanks for your post. It's interesting that your students learned English academically and therefore they can analyze spelling and grammar very well, but are struggling with some of these other microskills. I chose to interview an immigrant for my final project, and he described having the same difficulties when he learned English. His knowledge was very textbook and formal, but he struggled with learning conversational English language. 

I teach high school mathematics including Algebra II, Honors Algebra II, and AP Calculus AB. I teach students of all grade levels (9^th-12^th). I find the my students have the following strengths and weaknesses:

 Strengths

1. Retain chunks of language in short-term memory.
2. Process speech containing pauses, errors, corrections, and other performance variables '
3. Produce chunks of language of different lengths
4. Produce English stress patterns
5. Use an adequate number of words to accomplish purpose, monitor oral production and use strategic devices.

My students excel at retaining information in short-term memory. Mathematics is taught in small, manageable chunks of information. I find when I teach a new topic, most students are able to complete homework that same night with relative ease.

I never really thought about how much students have to process speech containing pauses, errors, and corrections. I'm constantly pausing to make sure students have enough time to write down notes. I'm pausing to give students time to think and answer questions. Also, when students answer questions in class they are not always correct; therefore, students have to process those wrong answers and listen for the corrected response. That would be a lot of work for a student who is just learning to speak English!

Weaknesses

1. Develop means of retaining information
2. Use appropriate registers and conventions in conversation

As mentioned in my discussion post this week, I have a lot of trouble with finding ways to help students retain information. I describe to them a lot of different study strategies, but I still find students struggling to recall and synthesize information on a test. In particular, they struggle with problem recognition.

Also, when students speak mathematically, they struggle with using the proper vocabulary and naming conventions. For example, when I teach function notation it takes a lot of time for students to properly read as "f of x" instead of "f times x."

Addressing Microskills

There are several microskills that I do not address because my students are not English Language Learners. For example, all of the speaking strengths I listed do not need to be addressed because my students have been speaking English since they were born. I would like to better addresses the weaknesses I've listed. It's not that I don't address these things, but I think I can do a lot more to scaffold these skills to help students build the skills they need. I have some ideas of how I can use technology to help me accomplish these goals. I'm excited to write (and use) my mini lesson!

Sorry for the last minute post. It's been a crazy holiday weekend filled with traveling and spending time with family. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!