In the following notes, we are going to share several technology examples we found instrumental to foster students’ learning.

 

After the second week, I started to have a down-and-up trajectory. I realized that the “going back-and-forth” indicated that not all things were going smoothly. The biggest challenge in working with the four-field model is that you always need to be alert and creative. It also takes time. For the differentiation, as I mentioned earlier, I modified the book according to their needs, which cost me a lot of time. And in order to give more flexible and student-centered practices to students, bilingual teachers should always learn to adapt their teaching based on students current learning status. For instance, in my second round teaching, when students were not doing so well at their first round trying on the Group Sort activity, I gave them a second a chance to play it around with my scaffolding. These were also the things that worked very well. In terms of those went departed from my plan, the first one was the rigid practices of the ten facts. In order to solve it, I believe teachers should come up with ways to build students interest in math, and maybe try a different method, such as simulated math game, to give students a more authentic learning experience. 

 

For me, it is very different to be in each of the quadrant in the four-field model. I have never been in the first and third quadrant, which means I always remember to give differentiation to my students. To me, differentiation is essential in the classroom. In terms of the second and fourth quadrant, I do not necessarily believe that the second quadrant was the best one compared to the others. In some practices, teachers need to give a little drills to let students familiar with certain sequence. However, in most scenarios, bilingual teachers should be in the second quadrant. Although there is a long way to go, keep thinking about how I move up to the quadrant will be a good reminder of improving myself. 

The program emphasizes exploration, play, and positive reinforcement—encouraging children to become confident and intrinsically motivated. Starfall is an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children and is especially effective for special education, homeschooling, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL). It is widely used in schools that serve children with special needs and learning difficulties.

Link: https://www.starfall.com/h/index-grades123.php?mg=g

 

From the very beginning of the semester, students have engaged in many vocabulary-learning, game-based activities with songs, videos, and movements, such as the game of hiding and seeking cards, guessing cards, matching. Students were all interested in such activities and also had a chance to practice their Chinese vocabulary. As the day progressed, students were more comfortable and willing to give responses and communicate in full Chinese sentences.  In doing so, the students also got the chance to learn about their situated environment and community. Students managed to learn vocabulary about their surroundings and community (family, friends, school) and were capable of using them in daily conversation, hence student-centered learning.

 

When we were under the reviewing unit, the students were able to better recognize and practice words after a hook game of finding the differences. Then they played a game where they would pick cards from piles out of their own choices and organize them in order as to how they would describe people in full sentences in Chinese with the teacher as a facilitator. Then in the following games, students did a great job in describing themselves, their friends and families, and cartoon characters. In the worksheet, they managed to find traits of the person they would like to describe and describe them in full sentences. 

Apart from the whole-class instruction, students also got the chance to do peer work and individualized learning. In individual work, we can better focus on and cater to students’ needs. Although we had a small-sized class, differentiated learning is still crucial as every student has his/her unique personality and learning style, allowing students to progress at different paces while still demonstrating their knowledge. “Product also expects and requires students’ active engagement in classrooms in which they are working on the same content with varying tasks at different levels” (Santamaria, 2009, p.219). I tried to prompt students to compete more with their own past performances than with others. For example, when working on the worksheet, they could choose how they write down the sentences we learned in class. Student A chose to write down Pinyin and had characters pasted below while student B chose to write down both Pinyin and characters by herself with teachers’ help, hence the differentiated process and product of learning.  Through activities, students have gradually gained agency to engage in flexible and student-centered practices. 
Overall, based on our narratives and empirical and anecdotal evidence, we would say that it can be situated in the first quadrant (both fits flexible and student-centered practices and differentiation) in our four-field model. 

Santamaria, L. J. (2009). Culturally responsive differentiated instruction: Narrowing gaps between best pedagogical practices benefiting all learners. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 214-247.

The use of iPads in class can really draw students’ attention and highlight the teaching and learning content. When I taught how to describe people in Chinese , I used iPad to hold an online game of finding differences. They were intrigued immediately, played well with Chinese utterances, and even wanted to play again.  Later, I also used the iPad as a mirror to show their own images when students had difficulty describing themselves. It shows how use different devices like iPads properly can facilitate teaching and learning.

Plus, teachers should provide students with flexible choices about the content they study to meet the objective.

With process differentiation, teachers differentiate how students learn and what they need. We can vary the way concepts are taught: through visual, auditory, or kinesthetic lessons like our Chinese language, art, and music class. Teachers can also offer various ways for students of working on products.

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