Week 3, Post 1: Twelve Little Indians

Overview
This is not as easy a task as it first appears.  I had to re-read several selections 2-3 times, and even noe, I'm not 100% certain.  Generally, the ear learners have a better command of idiomatic expressions, though they make certain grammatical mistakes (errors?) that ear learners would tend to know sounds "off."  The student in the Introductions appears to be an ear learner, using the language idioms like, "Tell you the truth" and slang like "slacker."  Student I, however, makes awkward vocabulary choices such as, "I eat green-tea every day."  Most likely, this student is an eye learner.

I used a similar means to group the student papers in general.  The "tip off" aspects below are in parentheses, though these are hardly the only identifying features.

Eye  Learners
D (awk. vocab.), E (awk. idioms), G (awk. vocab.), H (awk. idioms), I (awk. idioms)

Ear Learners
"Pot Legal" (false cognates), "Spelling" (slang usage), "Intros" (slang usage), A (idiom usage), B (conversational grammar), C (awk. inflection/first language thinking), D (awk. inflection/first language thinking), F (awk. sentence structure, punctuation and grammar).

 Twelve Divided by Three
 The three categories that seem to require attention are A) Thesis/Structure, B) Argumentative Support and C) Grammare Issues/Sentence Structure/Polishing. The key question for me is one of priority.  If a student needs help with all of the above, where should we begin?  Do you start from scratch with sentence structure?  Or do you focus on the argumentative essay -- Point, Purpose and Argument -- and take care of the finer points later?  For this Blog, I chose to address the argument first; thus, if a student, like F, seems incoherent, my tendency is to brainstorm with him from the start, to be sure he has something to say.

Off Task/Needs Brainstorming/Thesis 
These papers make a nod toward the prompt, then lose focus, failing to form and develop a thesis.

B, E, F, G, I

Need More Argumentative Support
These papers are chiefly on task in addressing the prompt, but they lack sufficient support either defending the thesis, or within the paragraphs.  Again it's a question of focus.
" Pot Legal," A, C,

Grammar Issues/Sentence Structure
These papers were far more sophisticated in structure and tone, but they need help with with sentence structure (ex. D) or proofreading and polishing (ex. "Spelling").
 "Introductions,""Spelling," H, D

Eye/Ear Summary
Clearly, a task that began by corralling eye learners and ear learners in tidy clusters took a sharp left turn when I had to address their skills.  So what is the point of paying attention to such backgrounds at all?  The benefit is that this equips the teacher to deal with each student as an individual, based on experience, talents, learning modalities and needs.  Of course, in a group setting, such a goal may prove more difficult in application than theory, but it's absolutely impossible to achieve without focusing on it from the start.