Boozhoo

Gibagosenimininim waa-ni-gashkitooyeg giizhiikameg gidanokiiwiniwaa :)

I hope you all are doing okay finishing up with your work :) Please keep up the good efforts.

I will see you all very soon at Misi-zaaga'iganing. I will be there a couple of hours early to provide tech support for people who have had troubles, but please know we don't start until 1:00.

Giga-waabamininim wayiiba go!

Ziigwan :)

Boozhoo:

Geget igo ingichi-minwendam, miinawaa imbegosendam i’iw waa-pi-inakamigak ☺. I am feeling wonderful and inspired again ☺. I was at a traditional language conference in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario this last week and was powerfully reminded of the connections between our language, ceremony, and the sacredness of Anishinaabe thought. It was just fantastic. A few of the presenters are fairly serious immersion style teachers and they reaffirmed my absolute faith in this system of education. Hopefully the
upcoming MN Indigenous language symposium can be as inspiring to each of you :).

http://www.d.umn.edu/enigikendaasoyang/symposium/index.html

I expect that Lynn Velander will be providing us with some information on how to register for the credit soon ☺. I will keep us in the know.
Please note that this week we will be working with the Gresczyk text again instead of the Hadley book. I was going to do some Hadley discussion but I think I will save that for our next face to face session – I would rather get people grounded in Gresczyk and have a good solid mini-unit in this regard. Please do check out the text and post in the WIKI and the WIMBA area in Moodle soon.

I also hope the work on the speech is coming along okay. It many ways, it is like the “final essay” you would do in another course. It requires research, and instead of multiple drafts, it may require multiple practice sessions. So please think of it this way ☺. In our next face to face session we will be having some time to practice this together in small feedback groups before we do the “final presentation piece”. This will help us build confidence and give some vital hints beforehand ☺. The speech does not have to be done perfectly – so please don’t worry about that at all. What is important is that you do it. But still, the continual practice will help you tremendously so I encourage you to do this, endaso-giizhig – each day, niibowa endaching – many times!

Okay, so this is more a mini-blog update for today I am going to post the UM Connect session on Grescyzk this evening – but I am feeling a little bad about this as not everyone has had a chance to post on the first few pages yet ☹ . Still, we must move on and I encourage you to catch up as soon as you can.

Mii iw ziigwan noongom :) Booch igo gidaa-miigwechiwendaamin ayaandakiiwang :)

Welcome back :)

I hope you all had a wonderful and restful break. I will be putting out some midterms over today and tomorrow - these are formative - meant to give you an idea of where you are right now :)

As we begin to work with the Grescyzk text we will be exploring some other features of language learning. I am particularly intrigued with the idea of us using BYKI files to go with the Grescyzk text. I will also be posting very short UM Connect sessions each week and posing some topics of interest that may be useful discussion fodder for your blogs ☺. It will be nice to get to work with some actual language and I can’t say enough about how I value our course text.

I truly hope the speech work is going okay for everyone. It really is a long term cumulative kind of project. I would ask everyone if they could try to upload a “draft” version of the speech – at least the parts you want to present – in Moodle by week’s end. And then maybe do the Moodle recording of the speech by the week after that? I think as long as we do these things incrementally it will be okay for people to preset their speeches next session. The key will be to practice them enough. I know the last Cohort found it helpful to practice it with each other using a phone calling tree, and with members of their family. Would the phone calling tree work for this group? Maybe we could make it optional. It really did get people practicing and sharing well in advance of our meeting, and people were then not so shy to present as they had already shared their speech with many in the class. I will create a WIKI in Moodle if people want to share their numbers, and maybe assign some calling tree combinations after that? I think it would be really helpful, and it is fun as well ☺

I think all in all people seemed to have gotten the big ideas so far: everyone has an equal stake and responsibility in community language learning (whether as a first language speaker or second language learner); there are many different ways that languages are learned, and there are many different ways that languages can be taught. We have explored some of these in our discussions in Moodle and in the blogs. Thank you all for for the unique and valuable contributions that have been individually made to the greater collective discussion ☺.


One thing I did want to note just a little further include my early comments on errors in speech. It really was said just to let people know that it is okay to make errors in speech – that it is natural and that it happens all the time. The difference I suppose between a fluent speaker and a language learner is that they could intuitively identify the errors, or suggest better speech forms (such as word, ending, or sentence order). Errors in speech are also characteristic of everyday speech – such as a conversation between people. If any of you have ever been interviewed in English and seen a written transcript (or even better listened to the tape) you were in all likelihood a little horrified. Not just because we tend to sound a different on tape, we can also hear (or see) a lot of unflattering speech tendencies we all have. Ie.) pausing, saying ‘okay” or ‘um’ way too much, stuttering, repeating words, making false starts to words, or occasionally staying something which is grammatically incorrect.
Here is an example from an English interview:

Interviewer: So you can u tell me about your experience with Early Childhood Education programming?

Interviewee: Sure can. I guess I have, I mean, um, I have been working er helping with um, these kinds of programs for a darn long time, over about 30 years when I was working at the stupid Department store ad, um, got, uh, laid-off in that, uh, uh, whatchamacallit, recession we had last time. The thing with the assistants or the, sorry, paraprofessionals, is that don’t believe it’s fair she is suppose to have to look after the supervision and instruction too most of the time as they are busy and, uh, don’t have any breaks, and, well, don’t get the respect that a teacher who is certificated has.

Neither the interviewer nor the interviewee heard any mistakes in the interviewee’s response during this interview. Only after whe the interview was written did they stand out. Our language skills filter through these errors and we hear the informational message only.


Here is an example from a 30 minute Ojibwe language interview I did last week. In going over the transcripts there were a lot of little minute errors – most of which either he or I self-corrected – but there were a lot of false-starts and last minute changes we were making as we were talking:

Brian: Gidebwe

Maajiigwaneyaash: Dibishko iwe nake gaa-ateg iwe mazinaabikiwebini… mazinaabikiwebinigan awashime go, awashime go da-ozhichigaade.


Brian: Wa! Mii ganabaj naasaab gaa-kanawaabandamaan igo geniin iwidi. Miigwech, gidebwe sa aapiji, mii ganabaj i'iw iskwaach. Nashke dash, gemaa gaye niizh giishpin giwii-tazhindaman, gwii-tazhindaan, gii-mikwendaman iw apii gaa-kashki'ewiziyan dibishko go 'success' gaa-ayaaman… gemaa gaye inakeyaa aanigodinong gaa-sanagendaman ezhichigeyan.

Maajiigwaneyaash:Ingoding igo aapiji gii-naanaagadawendaman iwe. Amanji igo naa ji-gikendamogwen abinoojiinyag, abinoojiinh, amanji igo naa ji-nisidotawigwen gegoo gaa-kagwe-gikinoo'amawag apane go gegoo wii-izhichigeyaan imaa gii-kikinoo'amaageyaan biinjayi'ii ayi’iing ayi’iing gikinoo'amaadiiwigamigong.





Brian: You so speak the truth there!

Maajiigwaneyaash: Like the way that the word for comput-, computer was put in place more, more need to be created.

Brian: ! I think I saw things happening there in a similar way. Thank you for sharing your experience so openly, this is about the last one. Or perhaps there are two, but if you could be talking about a time,if you could talk about a time, when you remember having success.....or about the times when you may have found yourself struggling with the work you were doing.

Maajiigwaneyaash: At one time I really thought about this. I was not sure if a children, a child was really learning anything, or if they were really understanding me the way that I was trying to teach them, the way that I was going about my instructional practice there in that place, that place, the school.


Please note that these were each taken from larger speech events between two people who were happy and willing participants. The odds are that if you hear a speaker praying or giving a planned Ojibwe lesson then there will be few if any errors. We all have different ‘registers’ of speech, from casual to highly formal. The highly formal discourse we use for instruction or prayer has few errors compared to the talk we have with a friend on a road trip or over coffee. But still, speakers are sensitive to error and try not to make them. You hear that whenever dear Dorthy does her invocations she asks forgiveness “giishpin wanigiizhweyaan” (“if I should make an error in speech”) …this despite being one of the most powerful and strong (and yes, error free) invocation givers I have ever met. Humility - dabasendizowin/ dabasendindizowin – is a wonderful and thing. As important as any of those other values in language revitalization that we talked about in our very first face to face session together.

Hadley and a little more.....

THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2009

Howa! Gigii-nitaawichigem - good job all :)

I will do some more Hadley break down during the break. I want to give those who have not yet posted a chance to respond before we move forward. There fortunately lots of good information being shared here.

I have been responding to pretty much everyone’s blogs - making a comment per entry. I am so grateful that others also use the comment section. It is a good way of affirming to each other that what we are writing is important. I also know that not everyone reads everyone else’s comments (and nor do you have too). But I do think that some of the points in the comments are valuable to the course learning so I will be writing some “summative” posts in which I address various things from people’s postings.

At the onset I have to affirm how proud I am of everyone for sticking with it and getting into Hadley. Geget zanagad! It is not an easy task, and at times sleep inducing but the once you have worked through it, you have worked through it. It opens up doors that could have otherwise been closed. Somehow it seems, mired behind the mysterious and oversized words, are some cool ideas. But they are encrypted in the language of scholarship that does take deciphering. In some ways it is almost like learning another language!

It is great that people are really finding some good value in the various hypotheses presented. They are all different, and it seems people are finding at least one that they can relate to. Do these point to changes in how language is taught? For the most part, yes. Whether it is an instructor engaging students more in reciprocal dialogue (ie. active questioning and leading rather than answering and following), incorporating more authentic cultural activities, to scaffolding or setting students up for success (to build more confidence) there are many good and positive suggestions. It is important that all teachers (gekinoo'amaagejig) – our language teachers especially – be familiar and responsive to the varied learning needs of our students (gikinoo'amaaganag). I wonder if there are things past instructors could have done differently – in your personal experience – to have made your personal learning experience better.

One thing I have noticed people reacting to in a strange way– and rightly so, is the use of the term “foreign language.” I agree that for Indigenous people, this does need to be reversed. The term “native” language does not work well either, as the majority of Anishinaabe people do not speak their Native language as their native language. A term that may be a little more neutral is the “target” language, as the language we are learning is always our “target”. Maybe this helps? But I appreciate the sentiments about the words we are trying to use and learn. I guess in our terms, anishinaabemowin, ojibwemowin, or using the words for language or sound (inwewin) we could say gidinwewininaan (our language).

The topic of culture comes up a lot in these chapters. Language taught in a contextually relevant way would indeed be culture. However, what happens when the cultural framework we are teaching (ie. ricing, anishinaabe values, legends, maybe even ceremony) is not the “culture” of the children we are teaching? So is there is there a “target” culture we are also teaching with the “target” language?

I so appreciated people’s sentiments that the best way to learn Ojibwe would be in a language and cultural immersion environment. They are certainly far and few between these days, and while there are language events and ceremonies always taking place these can never replace the kind of Ojibwe speaking home that Gabe writes about. This is the reason we need to have discussion about how to more effectively learn and teach Ojibwe to fill the spaces in between where we can hear Ojibwe spoken at ceremony or language camp. This also speaks to the need to CREATE more of these speaking communities. Language doesn’t just seem to happen on its own anymore, so we need to endeavor, plan, think about, and MAKE it happen.
I must say I also appreciate how everyone is trying so hard to use the technology, and looking for the benefits. The fact that we can get unlimited repeats or “say agains” is really helpful ☺ It was also mentioned that is good that we can practice on our own, and develop confidence to go forward and practice then with real speakers. Interesting and good thoughts in this regard ☺ I am hoping now that after the experience of using this technology in a consistent way, every day (or almost every day) for the past week or so is really helping and that people are seeing and hearing and experiencing a difference . This can be steadily improving test scores, or just a noticeable difference in being familiar with the words. Can anyone think of any other ways we can account for our success without relying on the test scores alone?

The technology – while interesting and good - is not perfect though. I know that I have been annoyed when I forgot a capital or made one tiny misspelling and I got it wrong ☹ I wish it was a little more accommodating of different forms of words (while not allowing for obvious mistakes). Still, I know it is only a beginning and that kind of intelligent and adaptive system may be in the works one day soon?

But back to culture. I sure appreciated some of the dialogue about connecting with the spirit of the language in this learning. That is so important to the journey, and of course must never be forgotten. This is so hard to forget when we have the privilege of such a wonderful Elder like Dorothy opening our sessions (or wonderful classmates like Gabe or Brian). But could our language somehow be “decontextualized” from the Spirit in using technology? I mean, even with the video on tobacco offering (there are a couple like this in the series – which is another issue altogether I suppose) could someone potentially use the whole set of modules, read a lot of the online texts, and not connect legitimately with the language without the cultural teachings of the language? Gosh, we sure hope not! I do hope we learn what we should or can not record and make available so easily. I remember Albert Churchill telling me years ago about the danger or writing certain things, or singing out of context, and Dorthy (in our first session) was also encouraging us to be determined but yet cautious as the spirits are always listening to us and our language. Reassuring but also reminding me of the good balance of care we need. We are sooooo very lucky to have the guidance of these Elders, providing us the cultural contexts (which yes, can include the ‘dos and don’ts) of language and how to use it (which is what we are starting to get more into as we go).

I also wanted to welcome people to include any Ojibwe words of phrases in their posts. It is good to get those flashes of language here and there don't you all think? I know that I might say - if I were to walk into the Bad River Casino tomorrow – niwii-miikwa’aanan midaaswaak gezhibaabidegin (thank for that Tree).

Anyhow, this is good for now. Thank you for the good work and keep it up ☺

Gimiigwechiwigoo wiikwajitooyeg :)

Eko-nising

Aaniin gakina endashiyeg :)

I hope you are all doing well. I am so enjoying reading everyone's blogs and learning about the tech journeys of Tribal IV.

I hope the movies project work is going okay for everyone. If you have any problems using or accessing the technology please do email me and we can try to trouble shoot. You are also able to call me at 218-726-7772. I am here in my office a lot, and keep regular office hours Mon. Tues and Wed from 11:00 to 12:00. I will also happily phone you if you would like to go through any technologies with me as a "phone tutor". I also can email instructions for anything as needed. I also keep "office hours" virtually using a Chat Program, and I can show you how to use this next meeting :)

I am really looking forward to hearing about everyone's experience with this first Unit of the Movies project. The learning will be all over the board with our group. What you know coming in to this determines a lot about the learning you will do. For some it may be about hearing a few familiar words, and getting more accustomed to the "sound" of the language. Others may actually know all of the words being used but may be interested in differences in how the words are used from what they know, the accenting, or the dialect of the speakers. Some of you are familiar with the double vowel writing system while others are just learning how to write the language for the first time (or from a different spelling system like the kinds Basil Johnston, Larry Smallwood, or others respectively use). It will be so interesting to hear how language knowledge grew from simply watching the movies the first week to trying some of the activities during your second week.

It has been wonderful when people have been able to incorporate language in their posts - even just words or phrases are so helpful :) There is no 'correct' or 'better' way to write the language - we are going to go with the double vowel system as it is what UMD uses and provides you with access to many many many resources out there (including the movies project and the Gresczyk texts).

Please don't worry too much for now about the language requirements for this course. I have some good ideas that will let everyone grow and not feel to pressured to learn too much. We will go over that during our next face to face session :) I am going to keep the tech requirements limited to the blogs, WIKIS (only the two of them) and the movies project until we see other again. We can go over the other applications at that time :)

Please keep up the wonderful work.

Brian.

Mii iw eko-niizhing

Okay, for my second blog attempt I am going to make sure I save this first in MS WORD and then cut and paste it into my Blog.

I just wanted to say what a pleasure it was to visit with everyone again. Thank you all for hanging in there that afternoon, and for bearing with me as I went through so much on the technology end. I hope it didn't seem too overwhelming. It was simply an introduction to everything we will be doing throughout the semester. Everything that didn't seem clear will get clearer - I can safely promise that :)

I mailed out CDs of the programs this morning to all of you who did not have your computer, or whose installation didn't seem to take. I am truly hoping they arrive by the end of the week for everyone.

My hope is that you are all enjoying working with the first module (Visiting an Elder) in the Movies Project. This first week is all about watching the video, and reading the text that is there. So in essence, becoming familiar with the scenario. Please watch this / use this with your family or friends. It might make the learning that much more enjoyable if it is a "social event". My hope? That everyone could watch it at least twice, and practice reading the lines. The more the better :) Part of language learning is the consistency, so doing a little (or a lot) every day - endaso-giizhig - will help. My friend Dennis Jones always says "Endaso-giizhig, gabe-giizhig" - "Every day, all day". He is right, but for those of us who may only have "Endaso-giizhig...ajina go (just a little while)", let's see how far this can take us :)

Mii iw eko-nitamising.