S4E20: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! Seattle Colleges Intensive English Instructor Kevin O’Connor

In this our twentieth (20th) episode of Season 4, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews Seattle Colleges Intensive English instructor Kevin O'Connor about his role in helping students learn English and about the Intensive English program at Seattle Colleges. 

1:17 - Introducing Kevin!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich  0:05  
Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show Conversations with! where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us, and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu.

Evan Franulovich  1:09  
Hey everybody. Welcome back to Seattle Colleges Conversations with! here at Seattle Central College. I'm here today with staff, which is very cool, and specifically with a very special guest, because he's like, the voice, really, of this program that we're just going to get into. How you doing? 

Kevin O'Connor  1:28  
Great. Yeah. My name is Kevin O'Connor. I'm an instructor with SCIE. I'm also the voice of the MC. Every quarter at the end, we have this celebration, and it's a celebration of your work at 10 weeks being in our program, and then we have a little party. The food is amazing, and I get a chance to announce the top students for each quarter. So yeah, happy to be here on your show today.

Evan Franulovich  1:51  
Yeah, glad to have you. We haven't had someone from the English, the Intensive English Program, for quite a while. So glad you're here. We want to maybe go back through what it's all about, and then, you know, talk about getting from the start to that graduation that you guys do, which is really cool. But before we do, let's just get to know you a little bit. 

Kevin O'Connor  2:12  
All right. 

Evan Franulovich  2:13  
I mean, you and I run into each other all the time, but I don't really know much about your background. Can you tell us where you went to school as a youngster, like where you did your primary and secondary school?

Kevin O'Connor  2:24  
Yeah, I'm from the Bay Area, which, if from California, you know, would be San Francisco Bay area. I grew up in the Silicon Valley, kind of before, before some of the Google and the world of high tech has been down there. I loved it. But when I went to college, like a lot of you were thinking. I left my home and never went back after, when I was 19, I left and went off to college in Oregon, where you know that this journey continues, you know. 

Evan Franulovich  2:54  
Sure.

Kevin O'Connor  2:54  
So I went to College and University of Oregon, went to school, went to basically, Willamette University. University coming up here, University of Washington.

Evan Franulovich  3:05  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  3:05  
Yeah. But you know, the point being that I landed in Seattle and it became my home, and it became the place where I started my my career, my profession, which is teaching.

Evan Franulovich  3:16  
Right on. Okay, so I want to go back. So you went from California to the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Kevin O'Connor  3:22  
University of Oregon, and also Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

Evan Franulovich  3:26  
So did you transfer from Oregon to Willamette? Or did you do like, a quarter or two in Oregon and then move? 

Kevin O'Connor  3:32  
Yeah, I was wanting to be a runner. Wanted to be track and field. Yeah, and mainly did both at both schools, but I couldn't really keep the competitive spirit up there at U of O, so I was at Willamette.

Evan Franulovich  3:44  
Okay.

Kevin O'Connor  3:44  
I got to be in track and field and cross country for four years. Got to go across the nation as part of their national team. 

Evan Franulovich  3:51  
That's very cool.

Kevin O'Connor  3:52  
Very fun. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  3:53  
Yeah. 

Kevin O'Connor  3:53  
So got my airplane tickets when I was pretty, pretty, pretty young. 

Evan Franulovich  3:57  
So you actually have your bachelor's degree from Willamette, not from UW.

Kevin O'Connor  4:02  
Yeah, you got it.

Evan Franulovich  4:03  
Well, very cool. Willamette is in Salem, Oregon. Great little school. I don't know if you heard but just recently, there's talks about Willamette and.

Kevin O'Connor  4:13  
Pacific?

Evan Franulovich  4:14  
Pacific? 

Kevin O'Connor  4:15  
Yep, Pacific.

Evan Franulovich  4:15  
That they're going to merge into a university of Northwest.

Kevin O'Connor  4:19  
Become kind of like an Oxford or Cambridge idea of having smaller colleges, colleges that represent certain areas.

Evan Franulovich  4:27  
Yeah, yeah.

Kevin O'Connor  4:28  
And yeah, it's, I think it's a, you know, an idea that it might work for them. Yeah, Willamette was a great place liberal arts. But also, and I had a history and English background, those are the two majors I was involved and my love for culture became there because I had a lot of international students at school. So I got to meet some of them. And yeah, you know, one thing led to another, and, you know, ended up here, like I said, in Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  4:33  
All right, so when you say you majored in English, did you major in English Lit, did you major In English writing, did you do journalism? What did you do exactly?

Kevin O'Connor  4:54  
Yeah, and that's a good question, because, yeah, composition is what I did major in.

Evan Franulovich  5:08  
Okay.

Kevin O'Connor  5:08  
Writing, and the focus being that I had two kind of heavy reading focuses. So history, that was a lot of reading, you know. So I did intellectual history, American intellectual, but the course load had a ton of textbooks, lots of reading, and to do that along with a literature background in English, was just a little too much. So I didn't emphasize more on the writing component, which really helps, because that's what I do in, you know, what I teach.

Evan Franulovich  5:36  
Sure.

Kevin O'Connor  5:37  
And help the students, you know, improve in their writing especially. So, yeah, that's, that's how it worked there. 

Evan Franulovich  5:42  
Cool. So after you got your bachelor's degree, did you go right into a master's, or did you work for a while? What did you do?

Kevin O'Connor  5:49  
Right. So in when my career started, the bachelor's idea as an end, was an end. And when I thought about teaching, I decided, where would I be best suited? And I went up to the University of Washington, and I wanted to get started on that masters. But instead, I ended up getting my endorsements instead. And the reason I did that is I wanted to get in there and teach as soon as possible, so they didn't have, like, a fifth year or master's program when I first started. So instead, what I did is I got 11 years of high school teaching, and I went to Seattle Pacific University to get those endorsements. And the endorsements came through them. We had some student teaching that I did. I worked in two incredible school districts right here in the Seattle area. So when I hear students who come here who are now over in, let's say Bellevue, I'm familiar with that district because I was in that area, or if they were in the north end, like in the shoreline area, or something. I was in North Shore school district Seattle at the time, was also available to me, but kind of a closed district, because they had so many teachers when I first started. But anyway, yeah, that was my first, you know, I got started with that.

Evan Franulovich  7:00  
And so you were teaching English to domestic English. You weren't teaching English as a second language, correct?

Kevin O'Connor  7:07  
Yeah, and stories come from that as well, of course, because what do teachers do that are maybe a nine month contract, which is a great contract for all of you that are thinking of becoming teachers. If you work in the colleges, unless you are tenured, you get a contract every quarter or every semester based on enrollment, you know, factors like that.

Evan Franulovich  7:27  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  7:28  
But for a high school, or any kind of K 12 setting, you get a full year contract. And that makes sense. The students want to, you know, see, you're going to work with them and their parents the whole year. So I did that, and that was what was really helpful for me, is that I had the summer to then switch and go to the University of Washington and work with the international programs.

Evan Franulovich  7:49  
Cool. 

Kevin O'Connor  7:49  
What I did there, of course, is work with the short-term improving their English programs. They would come over for the summer, for sometimes three weeks, sometimes six weeks. They would be usually staying in dorms. And then they would have teachers like myself, and I would work with them with their English. We would also go on tours like the Pike Place Market. We went over to Mount Rainier on a regular basis. Oh, really tough assignments, right? You know, we'd create, you know, listening assignments, speaking assignments. It was really fun. And that's where I found my love for international and I went ahead and got my master's later. That's how that kind of that spark got started.

Evan Franulovich  8:26  
Right, so at what year did you leave teaching in the U.S. high schools for teaching at the college?

Kevin O'Connor  8:35  
Yeah, well, and that gives you a sense of how long I've been involved in it. So it was in the late 90s. 

Evan Franulovich  8:40  
Oh.

Kevin O'Connor  8:40  
and I made the break, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  8:42  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  8:42  
And then I've been ever since, been in the kind of the college system, and I've been at a few of the community colleges here in the area. We call them community now. They're full blown four-year colleges. They have great programs. I also included in that the University of Washington, where I did get a chance to teach for a while, it was some really great experiences and finding Seattle Colleges being kind of my home now for the last 10 years, this is definitely my place. I've been here with a really good program with what I call, we call it SCIE, which is our Intensive English Program. Students can be, as you have interviewed before, students can be at one of three campuses. I teach at all three of the campuses have familiarity with North and with South, and where Evan and I do most of our meeting is here at Seattle Central.

Evan Franulovich  9:35  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  9:36  
And that's where the majority of our students are going to be. And hey, I've been working here and love it, and again, that's what I do now.

Evan Franulovich  9:43  
Right. So for you guys to clarify, the Institute of English, where there's five levels, that is housed here at our central campus. So what are you doing at South and North, what are you teaching there?

Kevin O'Connor  9:56  
Yeah, so sometimes we get enough International students that are already at the proficiency to go right into college classes. 

Evan Franulovich  10:05  
Oh, yeah.

Kevin O'Connor  10:06  
So what I've been able to do with those two campuses is work with their intro to college, classes for students who are international students.

Evan Franulovich  10:14  
Right, and this is the ISD 200?

Kevin O'Connor  10:16  
ISD 200 class, and it's a great opportunity for them to have one last moment of, hey, this really is a bit different than what it was like back home. They can talk to each other, they have some similarities and saying, yeah, I also feel like this is a great opportunity, but it's real different than what I had back home. So they will share some of what their maybe challenges are, and then we kind of pump them up and say, 'you can do this, look what you've done already'. And in my opinion, it's one of the best ways for them to start college, because it gives them this, like last minute opportunity from an international instructor, myself, a teacher, and others in that program, to say, let's work on your note taking. Let's make sure your library research assignments are going to be solid. Let's make sure you meet some of those services that are available that will help you as you kind of navigate being in classes with domestic students. And a domestic student is the student who grew up here, went to school, went to high school, maybe elementary, high school, and really has kind of the cultural side already inside of them. And so this is an opportunity for you to learn a little bit more.

Evan Franulovich  11:03  
Sure, yeah.

Kevin O'Connor  11:23  
So I want to say one other thing. At North I had a great experience with in the evenings, a lot of people can take additional classes. The intensive program, you're so busy with your classes, you have a lot of work to do. You're trying to get through your programs fairly quickly so you can get on to your college classes. I did teach, though, a group of students who were international that wanted to shout out to, were au pairs. I worked with the program. It's called continuing education at North Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  12:48  
Sure.

Kevin O'Connor  11:54  
And they had a program where au pairs could continue to stay here and work with their visa for up to two years, but they needed something, and many of them wanted. What did they want? They wanted to improve their conversational skills. They wanted to work with some of their grammar and techniques of how to be able to communicate better with the kids and with the parents. So hey, I had a great experience, and I met more students from certain countries being with the students from the au pair program, then I do an international and that's just the basic fact of life, that people come for different reasons and they go through the pipeline a little differently. The best thing I can share there a little story, is I've met now students who were once au pairs, who went into our international program, have now been top students in our international program, and now we're continuing on to get a four-year degree, and that's like the best kind of student I think I've ever had a chance to meet. What an inspiration that is.

Evan Franulovich  12:49  
Right, right. Yeah, so you guys are kind of clear on what he's talking about. Continuing Education really isn't available so much to our international students. If you're an international student and you come here on an F1 visa. You'll be placed in the Institute of English. If your English proficiency scores are under a certain threshold, you might start in the intermediate classes, like levels three or four. Maybe you'll be in level five more advanced. Maybe if you're a real beginner, you'll be in levels one or two. One thing to note, and we'll talk about this, is, in levels three through five, you can also take some college classes at the same time that you're doing English instruction. And one of those classes he just talked about is this ISD 200 so I'm really glad that you're here, because I've not really explored fully what they are going to expect. You will have to take this class as an international student. You'll probably take it fairly early on. Usually, if it's your first quarter that you're here, you'll just be enrolled automatically. So let's talk about this ISD 200 and then go back to English because ISD 200 is every international student goes through it. What kinds of things you talked about, note taking, you kind of but let's just talk about, it's a whole quarter, right? What kinds of things do you guys explore during that time?

Kevin O'Connor  14:15  
Yeah, well, that's it's always evolving because of the students needs and also the college's needs, we've noticed a lot of students want to get additional help with their writing so they can write personal statements that provide them an opportunity to get scholarships. Those scholarships are really possible for international students only in a few ways, and one of the ways is through the Seattle Foundation, there's a program that allows international students to apply and have really good success rates. So one of the things a lot of the instructors like to do is focus in on a purpose statement or why you wanted to study in a American college. 

Evan Franulovich  14:58  
Right 

Kevin O'Connor  14:58  
Seattle Colleges. And so we will, you know, kind of guide them with that. We we give them, like, I always call it like a little taste of all of what they'll get in college. We don't go through the full process of doing a full note taking one on one class, because we are only in it for a couple hours a week. But what we do is we navigate through some of the things that every student as they are going to college, how registration works, how the library, the registration part, I will say you folks in our program that you always have advisors here because you're international students. So it's more or less that we make sure they know more about the campus, know more about all of the programs, the counseling that we have here. We also have an incredible wellness program, and counseling is attracted to some where needs are around just managing your stress levels. But when I really want to get to is this wellness idea, and wellness here in the colleges is a big deal now for every student. And what we have is we have an incredible gymnasium at all three schools. It's a court where you can work out in so many ways with kind of like fitness equipment you would see at, and it's all part of your tuition. 

Evan Franulovich  16:11  
Great. 

Kevin O'Connor  16:12  
Yeah, they have two full basketball courts inside. Some of these places have the up to a track you can run inside. We're in the in the winter time is where you're talking right now. You know, it's great having that there's, like I said, the weight rooms for dance. We have a couple of studios where you can practice individually, or if you have a group that want to practice some routines, we got dance. And then a big shout out for the ping pong, and pool. There's a pool table, not the swimming pool. Duck in the pool with the eight ball and a slam in it. And it's really fun, because students usually will hook up with other international students.

Evan Franulovich  16:36  
Exactly.

Kevin O'Connor  16:39  
But they're speaking English, typically, because it's not gonna be like at home. Everyone has the variety of people, but it doesn't matter what country you're from or what background. I kind of want to try ping pong. I want to get a little better at it, and you might be paired up with somebody from another place.

Evan Franulovich  17:11  
For sure. 

Kevin O'Connor  17:11  
So that's what I like about it. So wellness programs are something I always bring them on over. They have a great leadership program. So we always typically have somebody from leadership also talk to them about how to get involved. So everyone, just realize that in your skill development classes, in your English classes that you will be taking, and in the classes that was also mentioned about these electives that are available to you. The skill is and the the building is about going full into those things and do it correctly and deep into it. But what we do in ISD is we give you, where else I can I go? Where's the tutoring centers? Where is the area that I can go if I need a computer, the computer center. And then we also bring in guest speakers. And the guest speakers will mention that as part of it, how's your health? How you've doing with your public health, how you doing with making sure that you're, you know, feeling healthy enough to be able to be a good college student? Also around the areas of like, just security and safety. We work with people on the, you know, we have an incredible safe campuses, but there's always that opportunity to learn more about how to be safe in the evening, or if you are in the weekends, and you are with some people, but you know, end up needing the idea of how to keep keep yourself in a good place. So these are ISD topics. These are ISD things, and we do it, and you're in a class with, you know, and it's a fun class, because it's a variety of students from all over the world.

Evan Franulovich  18:45  
That's true.

Kevin O'Connor  18:46  
And their English is at a point where everyone is communicating in English or not, at the beginning level that was mentioned, but kind of that intermediate and more advanced level. So you really are working with your professor and your teacher and with the guest speakers. You can ask those questions that you have, you can use our discussion links that we have in our canvas, and we do a lot of sharing in those classes. So it's good. I think, like you said, I think it's one of the better things that the college expects students to be a part of. Because honestly, the other teachers that are teaching you really know their subject matter. They know their accounting techniques for you know, if you're going that route, or if you're going into some area of business, they're going to know their econ really well. But when it comes to other services, you know, that isn't their area of expertise. Some might have it, but ISD we feel like that's where we can help the international student, you know, because American students already probably know about that. They already went to schools that had all of these things that I just mentioned, but maybe it's new to you so, so I look forward to seeing you in those classes.

Evan Franulovich  19:53  
Yeah, there are quite a few different classes available, right? Different times of the day.

Kevin O'Connor  19:59  
Yeah, yeah, and a lot of our, you know, our teachers that are in the program, we've offered it in the morning. Typically, it's offered in the early afternoon, right after one of your morning classes is over, you might have lunch here with your friends, and then we're right after that.

Evan Franulovich  20:13  
Oh, cool.

Kevin O'Connor  20:13  
yeah. So it's, I don't think it's offered in the evening, but definitely an afternoon and sometimes in the morning.

Evan Franulovich  20:18  
Right, right. One of the things I was a little confused about for ISD 200, it says in the catalog that it's one to three credits, but I thought it was two credits. How much is it?

Kevin O'Connor  20:31  
Yeah, and I think it's, it's changing again, evolving on that there might be special three credit programs for people. And I'm not able to give you the answer that.

Evan Franulovich  20:42  
Okay.

Kevin O'Connor  20:42  
I don't have it yet, but I know that for us, we speed, you know, I think it's two credits. We spend a couple hours a week with it, and two days a week. And yeah, we do also do a little bit on using the hybrid model, because a lot of our classes now are more moving that way when it comes to it, so being familiar with Zoom and working with students in a online capacity, and then we have an in-person component. We do a great presentation. One thing before I maybe move on if at some point to the next topics or whatever, there is this wonderful topic that all of us agree really is the shining moment for our students, and that's called the out of school final project. What they've been, what we've created in the ISD 200 is we've allowed students to know that although you're spending so much of your efforts in school, as we expect and you want.

Evan Franulovich  21:37  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  21:37  
And your families are also excited for that. We also know this area has a lot to offer that provides you with a kind of a wellness and a well rounded feeling of being a full student. So within this area of the college is what we were at North, South and here at Seattle Central, there are some wonderful parks. So we ask you to go and experience one of our wonderful outdoor parks. Any time of year, there's going to be families there. There's going to be opportunities. Sometimes there's museums in the park, great sculptures that are created, that are in the park. And then just being out in nature and watching this last fall, all my students kept mentioning to see the color of those trees and those leaves changing and then falling in the experience of being not over and on a computer and just focus on the library at all times, it's great. So we also ask them to go to a museum.

Evan Franulovich  22:29  
Oh.

Kevin O'Connor  22:29  
Yeah, and in that museum, we offer them the opportunity to learn more about the artistic side of this country, the cultural sides that are might be there. Some of them also go to the Natural History Museum over by the University of Washington, learn more about archeology, maybe avenues they hadn't really thought of as possibly something in their career or in the future. And that's been a big highlight. Another one for all of you that are into technology, we go to the Boeing Flight Museum. They have a great museum. A lot of my students really love going there. They learn about the astronauts and some of the Blue Angels. So they have jet fighters, they've got space information, and they have some of those earlier planes, kind of historic stuff. And that's down by Boeing Field, very interesting museum. They also have to go into a neighborhood. So Seattle Colleges is right in the middle of a really happening part of Seattle. It never stops up here and see what's called Capitol Hill. But if, hey, if you want to move over to Fremont, or if you want to go down to Columbia City, those are places where people like myself are living, we're living in these communities where we have restaurants. We might be out at night go to a coffee shop. You know, these are places that you want to explore too. So we ask you to go check one out. And that's part of that final project. And the last thing is, they kind of do an activity. They take a group of students, maybe one or two, and they go to a cafe, they get a bubble tea, they hang out, they talk a little bit, or they go to an event. I went out there. A lot of students went to the mariners, we have a baseball, professional baseball team. They go get the $10 seats, they go and have a great time. That's an event that they can count towards this final project. So an activity that brings them, that Seattle is much more than just get your college and move on. It is a city you want to get to know, and it'll make you, I think, a better all around student, because the students that will come around you and say, 'Hey, let's go to a coffee shop and study'. Let's do this. Let's go to the museum, because in the museum, we might be to get some inspiration for the project. This is the kind of stuff that once you know a little bit more about it, you won't be hesitant, you won't think twice. You will go, yes, I'm part of this class. This is what we do, and that's why we wanted to do that. So the final project has always been and as professors, you know teachers, we get to hear and see places that in a new kind of light, because you're experiencing it and sharing your experience, and we hear it, and it's been really enjoyable part of the class.

Evan Franulovich  22:29  
Yeah, if you're from a more traditional academic background in you home country, this is definitely going to be different for you. Yeah, and I think, I think most of our students love it. So, yeah.

Kevin O'Connor  23:27  
Yeah very exciting. 

Evan Franulovich  23:28  
Well, I'm glad you had a chance to talk about that. I appreciate that. One thing you mentioned, though, was canvas. A lot of students are coming from other countries. They've probably never heard of this. What is Canvas and how will they be using it as a student?

Kevin O'Connor  25:19  
It's our platform, every class uses it. It's a platform for your classes information to be put on. So every day, you could have an assignment, that if you forgot about on your phone and on your computer, you would have reminder that, 'hey, maybe Sure, this assignment that you're doing for this class'. It's a way for you to keep track of your classes, and also a place for you to turn in your assignments. It's also the place where, yes, indeed, you can find out your grade.

Evan Franulovich  25:48  
Cool.

Kevin O'Connor  25:48  
You don't have to worry about the advisors or talking with them, or you know, or living in fear that you're not going to know until the end of the year. You can follow every week, we post new assignments. Some of the teachers in the programs that we're here have it lined up, we call modules. So every week we have different activities. We have in class activities. We have strictly online activities. We have some mixtures. We have things that are turned in both ways. So Canvas is what we use, and it would be something the minute you get your student ID. It's a one of the first things that when you type in that wonderful password, it says Seattle Colleges, boom, you're going to see something that shows your classes. And that thing is called Canvas. 

Evan Franulovich  26:32  
And don't panic. We'll walk you through it from the time you arrive to the time you get really on your feet. 

Kevin O'Connor  26:40  
Yep, and that's where we have great resources that are people who can help you in the world. In our computer center and our tutoring world, as well as each instructor. We'll go over extensively how to use it and how to benefit from it. It helps you because the minute you know what's expected, you can be better informed but also do the best you can on your assignments.

Evan Franulovich  27:02  
Yeah, it's a great way to stay focused, stay organized. So you said there's an app. It's a Canvas app?

Kevin O'Connor  27:10  
Yeah. Oh yeah, a lot of the students. We'll put it down on their app and it's something that, again, it's part of their college tuition. It'll be part of their, you know, way of knowing about everything that's available. Yeah, so a lot of them, do you know, I'd like to say that, using our resources, again, we mentioned the Wellness Center, where we have all these gymnasium and all the all the equipment. We have this library and we have a computer center, both which have incredible computers here. So all of you, you don't need your top computers here, because ours are always backed up. They have the best security. I always tell my students that is that, are you worried about having yours, you know, with all the latest, you know, software, but that's or the threats that come through. The college has the biggest and the best of all, because they have so many students, so they're going to have the best softwares, the ways to keep those things safe, and people there to help you. I asked my students to on the final projects to use a couple of different presentation formats. One of them is a brand new one that's very technical, and it's called Canva. It's not Canvas, but Canva and my students really would, you know, rise to the occasion. They really showed their their talents and creativity. We use a traditional PowerPoint, one of the Office programs with Microsoft. Students do great with that as well. But the point is, if you needed some additional help, you can help from your colleague, from your your classmates, students that are in your classes. But if you work at a computer center, they have classes. They can help you with that. They can show you all the latest. It's pretty cool.

Evan Franulovich  28:49  
Yeah, it's really cool. So no tests, it's just the final project. Throughout the quarter, will they have like exams? 

Kevin O'Connor  28:58  
They have quizzes that are more like, did you go and when you learned about some of these wellness programs, did you, they might have little quizzes.

Evan Franulovich  29:06  
Okay.

Kevin O'Connor  29:07  
That build towards the final project. Final Project is sort of like a college, either final exam, or we would call it a project they've worked on from the beginning of the class. So it's built on each week, they have more time to get out and do things. So they learn about it in the third week, about 10 week program, and they start working towards that final project, and so it feels like, like a final kind of, you know, something you would show that you've worked on, learn throughout the quarter.

Evan Franulovich  29:31  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  29:36  
But, yeah, luckily, no, you'll have plenty in other classes, but we don't do a traditional exam, but you're writing classes in some of the other ones, where you do have midterms and finals, but we definitely have these quizzes and ways for them to see that they're going.

Evan Franulovich  29:53  
Show what they're doing. Quarters are, we have four quarters here at Seattle Colleges. Not all of them are equal length. You're saying 10 weeks. But I was under the impression, like, fall, winter, spring,those are 12 week, but they're actually 10 weeks?

Kevin O'Connor  30:08  
Yeah, I sometimes, and I might be corrected by the finals week. So 10 weeks, 11 weeks, eventually, yeah, and the 12th week is typically, the 11th and 12th weeks are finals. The 10th week would be, in a lot of our classes we do finals in that last week, but then during the traditional finals week. Now ISD 200 we do do that 11th week, or we do that finals during the time when the colleges, college students would be taking finals. 

Evan Franulovich  30:38  
Okay.

Kevin O'Connor  30:39  
So it's for the students that are in both programs, they're in our kind of intensive skill improvement program. They might go to my celebration and have that great food, but we always call them back. Remember, ISD one more week for you, and they know that, they never miss it. I mean, they're fine. By then they kind of know what to expect.

Evan Franulovich  30:41  
Sure.

Kevin O'Connor  30:43  
But some of the other students who their friends, might be done and they might feel a little sad, but they're soon enough, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  31:07  
Okay, well, let's go back. So is ISD the only non English speaking or, sorry, the non English class that you teach, or do you teach anything else?

Kevin O'Connor  31:18  
You mean, the one that's credit classes?

Evan Franulovich  31:21  
Yeah.

Kevin O'Connor  31:21  
So I work with a great group of instructors that we all teach variety classes each quarter. It might change, but typically the other ones are done by the people in those departments. So there's other credit classes, like in psychology, or they might teach a math class, if you hit that level three, four or five, with those levels of proficiency, the electives that are offered through advising. So you folks that are over, there's a variety of where your interests might lie. So you might want to go towards the more business side, or the more mathematics side, or you might want to go towards more of a sociology kind of just an overall view of things about human nature. So you're going to go more psychology side, whatever sides you're going to go to. There might be some electives that you can shoot from. There aren't too many, but there are some, and some students choose to do that as another way to start their college experience. But what we do is typically teach only then, levels one, two, and then those levels three, four and five. Those classes are broken into basically two big areas, reading and writing and listening and speaking.

Evan Franulovich  32:35  
Gotcha.

Kevin O'Connor  32:36  
And those are the classes that, if we want to chat about those, or those are areas that, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  32:40  
That's what I want to talk about, so now we're getting into the Intensive English Program itself. So as you mentioned, five levels. Levels one and two, all you're doing is English. Three through five, a little bit of both college classes and English, intensive English. I like the way you have it split. What levels do you personally teach?

Kevin O'Connor  32:58  
Personally, I've taught all. 

Evan Franulovich  33:00  
Oh, you have done them all.

Kevin O'Connor  33:01  
Yeah, yeah. And I would say, when I said myself, and I mentioned, I'm representing a group of instructors that work. We all will move from different classes to and it's healthy for us, because we see the skill levels then of our students. So we get one particular class really, we're really good at, but we then don't see, oh, what they doing in level four to make them so ready for that personal statement they're going to do at level five. The essays that are working on at level five, there's three essays they might need to complete at level five. What? What kind of writing skills would be helpful for them at three and four, sometimes we'll, you know, we'll bring ourselves down and do those classes so that we're good, and then we'll be better at teaching our level five. Because, oh yeah, you're level three this area, maybe you didn't do that, thiswill help you a little bit with level five.

Evan Franulovich  33:51  
Gotcha.

Kevin O'Connor  33:51  
Yeah, there is so I can explain that in the levels that are the beginning levels, a lot of students are eager to jump through levels as quick as possible. The levels one, two and three can have a listening and speaking component that I really want them to know is, that's an area that, if they improve quickly, they will see that the biggest concerns for most of us is your written skill. So in by four that component or that class will go away. That's where that ISD or some elective, other kind of college class comes in. But what I recommend is by then, you should be really focused on speaking English on campus, meeting up with friends that are from other countries who English would be your mode of communication. But in those first couple of classes, we really want you to focus on listening and speaking in the afternoon, and so we have a group of instructors that are really encouraging you to be more expressive speaking and helping you with your grammar that makes it sound like you are really asking the questions that you want. You want them to be able to be asked in a way that the students around you, the teachers around you, you know, know. Okay, yeah, you're an international student, but the only thing that we're having a hard time with, maybe a little accent, right? Meaning that it's just a little hard to hear you because you have an accent, that's okay, but the grammar piece, the correct way of asking those questions, the correct way to communicate orally by speaking, those things we can teach intensively, very quickly, and you will be then so much more prepared. Some of our students will never see that, they're going to jump in because of their placement. They might not be in a class where they get that extra speaking and listening. So if you are a student that is getting the higher level classes, means you only have a few classes that we'll have here, in the classes that we teach before you go to college. I definitely want you to know it's so important then on your shoulders, as well as your academic work, is you've got to reach out to others that are also speaking English, because that will be, I think, the best way for you to be successful in your other classes as you get further along. So, anyway, we are a one quarter. You could move up every quarter depending on how the reading and the writing. You know, experience goes. Sometimes we do ask students to continue, to continue to improve. We are very interested in them, of course, to master the skills that we have for each each level. We have worked with the college English instructors to say, what would it take for them to be successful? So we have a really good understanding of what this level five outcome will give you ,you should be and typically, this is what's exciting. Most of the English 101 teachers, they say that the students who come through the international program, through the SCIE program, their skills, are at the top of their classes.

Evan Franulovich  37:10  
Better than domestic students.

Kevin O'Connor  37:11  
And it doesn't, you know, really makes us feel good, but it also shows that some of the high school students that come in, they also have to, you know, finish this 101 requirement. Just because they grew up here doesn't mean they, you know, write really well, and so there is sometimes a challenge for them. And our international students that have had a level four, level five, and even our level three students, those students have gotten some of the skills to be better at a topic sentence, know how and how to create a convincing argument in their writing so you know, and that makes them also available for better chances at scholarships, because they do work, they work hard with that. 

Evan Franulovich  37:51  
Hey, I just want to clarify for you listeners, in case you're a little confused, when we say College, he's used the word college a few times. I always tell people that I'm talking to when I'm overseas ,that for all intensive purposes, college and university are synonymous. They mean the same thing for all intensive purposes. And there's a few small things, but basically, if I say I'm going to college next year, it just means I'm going to go get started on university. So when he says College, all that means is university work. So if you're a parent out there and you're a little confused, don't worry too much. We are called a community college in the United States. You have basically two ways to go and get a university degree, bachelor's degree. You can either go to a four-year institution like the University of Washington, you do all four years there, and then at the end of that, usually you get a bachelor's degree. The other way to do it and almost half of all Americans do this. It's what I did. Did you go to a community, you didn't go to community college? Most Americans like me, half of all Americans, they started a community college. All that means is you do, usually, your first two years of university work at a community college, and then you transfer to do your last two years somewhere else. So I just want to make sure you guys are clear on that. So, yeah, cool. One of the things that we run into as recruiters, you know, we're out there talking to people, getting them interested in community colleges, coming to Seattle, Seattle Colleges. You know, they are a little bit stressed out about taking an English proficiency test if they're from a non English speaking country. Like, if you're from South Africa or, you know, Ghana, don't worry about taking English proficiency tests, because your method of instruction is usually in English. But if you're coming from, say, a Francophone country like Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, you'll have to take an English proficiency test, like Duolingo or IELTS or TOEFL, or many other ways you can show it. We use those scores not to weed you out, but to just figure out where we're going to place you when you begin your academic journey here. So those tests are not always 100% correct, so just do your best. And then we'll use those scores, we'll place you somewhere. My question, is a long lead up to my question. My question is, you get somebody in your class within the first week, it's obvious that they're in the wrong level. Maybe they're struggling, or maybe they're just so good that they really need to be in another level. How do you guys address that?

Kevin O'Connor  40:20  
Yeah, we do address that, and we see that. And it does happen. It doesn't happen very often, and that's because these tests, yeah, these tests are, again, they are all, all are welcome, every one of you are welcome and will be put in a class that will provide you with improvement possibilities. You will move intensive possibilities, mean move fast as well, because we put in the homework, we put in the activities in the class. Now in the first week, that's our time when we test everyone again, we in our as instructors. The first test that's done could be done in country, could be done in a situation where programs provide the score to Seattle Colleges that provides them the way through. Okay, this is what we normally put a level three or a level four student. When they come here, we allow them this one more opportunity to say that was a tough day for me back home, or that's been a tough day with me when I first arrived in Seattle, whatever, wherever I took the test, or whenever I did. So we see that again. So there's a possibility that sometimes we do misplace or miscalculate that. Typically, that would be to your advantage, because, again, it allows you this opportunity to either go up or if it's something that, hey, this looks really, I still understand maybe a little bit lower. It can go either way. But again, all are welcome, and your improvement is going to be based on then when you're here, week one becomes week two. In week two, you're going to get into this routine that you then will follow for the next seven, eight weeks, that I think really shows success, that you moving towards being more confident, better in English. And again, believe it or not, this is the thing I love working with international students, is you will be then proficient to work in your country or around the world using a language that is the business language of the world, the scientific language of the world, the technology level that you will have in your skills if you can do it both in English and in a first second. Maybe some of you three different languages, folks, that's why we are here. We want to see you be proficient. We want to see you be successful. The first week is a very important week. Some of you are jet lagged. Some of you are really.

Evan Franulovich  42:41  
Right, you always get off the plane.

Kevin O'Connor  42:43  
Yeah. And, you know, we understand that, so we get that as well. Main thing is, once you're in that week two, I say, you know that fast in your seat belt, if you don't usually have seat belts, just get ready, because we're in for a ride. That is going to really help you.

Evan Franulovich  42:58  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  43:00  
And again, you're all welcome too, for sure.

Evan Franulovich  43:02  
So we would, yeah, so you will maybe, depending in that first time, you'll be assessed in some way that might change, but generally, they do a pretty good job. 

Kevin O'Connor  43:11  
Yeah. It's good. 

Evan Franulovich  43:13  
Very cool. Well, we talked about this earlier, time is flying. We talked about it earlier. At the end of the quarter, there's usually a celebration that the Intensive English Program does, which I have been to many of them. I really love it, because I get to see all these international students that came here and have started in the program. They all gather. There's usually food.

Kevin O'Connor  43:35  
Yeah, always.

Evan Franulovich  43:35  
Do you want to tell them about this event and what it kind of is about?

Kevin O'Connor  43:40  
Absolutely now this event is for the faculty, the instructors, for the students and for staff that have helped them. So we invite advising, so you'll see us all together in one place. Now, before you get to that, which is, you know, the end of the quarter, you might be asked by international students to go on some field trips, which would be international in focus, meaning you would be with the other international students. Like this time of year, we might go up to the snow. We might go up and goes tobogganing. Usually you won't see a lot of faculty at those and again, it's not something that you're graduating from. It's just a fun event. And I recommend those as well. 

Evan Franulovich  44:19  
Absolutely. 

Kevin O'Connor  44:19  
This one is different in the only reason it's different is that we're going to celebrate your proficiency, your accomplishments, and it's for every one of the students. So a lot of you will maybe be awarded two per class. Typically will get an award for, how well they are, either most improved in the class, or really top scorers, stellar attendance. Attendance is how you're going to do it here is by going to class, being in your classes. Both of those things are, all three of those things are going to be focused on, but we're going to look around at this stage because we're in this wonderful theater. We have a smaller theater on campus that we will provide a sound system. We'll hear your voice. You get up, you get the photo for your family. All those students that are in the background also helped you get there, and they're there cheering you on. But the food is excellent. It's usually going to be from one of the restaurants that's in the area that we have heard from students saying, Oh, I really like this food. We've had Thai food, we've had Chinese food, we've had foods from well, we've had American style food for years. We've had these incredible pizza parties. Which pizza, when you get an American style it can be all up and down.

Evan Franulovich  45:34  
Right.

Kevin O'Connor  45:35  
You know, we got all kinds. But the main thing is, it's a celebration for all the students. It's at the end of the quarter, and everyone who goes, I think, feels more like you're part of a program that cares about you and allows you to say, I did it and celebrate it, you know. So I think it's important. And the only reason I want to say as MC, I've seen names and I've seen you in the classes, right, but then I see in the hallways, and it's been a joy, because you come up to me and say, you know, thank you for being a part of this program. It means a lot to us too, that you recognize the efforts that we all are putting in, because you come with some talents, and we want those talents to flourish here, and it will flourish. I think if you have a focus in international programs, has this program called SCIE, and why we are here is to make sure that your experience in college, wherever you end up, has something of us in it that makes it the best, right? 

Evan Franulovich  46:35  
Yeah, we want to set you up for success for sure. And we're definitely going to teach you about adverbs and nouns, and, you know, have you write some papers or whatever? But I think one of the things that's really great about these classes is the friends that you make. And you know, I talk to a lot of international students that sometimes are a little shy, so this gives them a great opportunity to create a new family, you're 1000s of miles from your home, not just with your fellow classmates, but also with instructors, which is going to feel very different culturally for a lot of you. A lot of you, you know, teachers are up here, and you guys are down there. United States, that's not always necessarily, you were more on equal footing. We want you to be a part of the family, and yeah.

Kevin O'Connor  47:17  
So I always love going to those events and appreciate you guys, including us, we're happy to have and we take some great photos. So those photos are shared through international programs, different ways you get hold of those. But it's great. Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Evan Franulovich  47:30  
In the awards are nice too. If you are fortunate enough to win one of those awards, there's nice put on your resume. A lot of students, sometimes they don't know, I don't do anything. What do I put on my resume? This is a way for you to start building onto that resume. So that's a really cool thing. 

Kevin O'Connor  47:44  
That's true. 

Evan Franulovich  47:45  
Wow, we've learned a lot about ISD 200, we've learned a lot about SCIE. We could talk for hours more, I'm pretty sure. But I gotta wrap this up, unfortunately. So always so great to talk to you. Good Energy. I love it. Yeah, feel free to come back down the road.

Kevin O'Connor  48:01  
My pleasure.

Evan Franulovich  48:02  
And we will, we'll definitely want to include you guys in further discussions about SCIE, because there really is a lot to it. Yeah, we're just scratching some of the surface here. But you know, I always give you an opportunity to my guests to offer words of wisdom. You get to meet so many international students that are just arriving and are here, getting their thing, you know, advice you can give to students or parents that are still overseas, that are still thinking about coming to the United States. Maybe they're considering a community college. Maybe they're considering Seattle Colleges. They don't know much about Seattle. What kind of advice can you give these guys in helping them make some decisions?

Kevin O'Connor  48:43  
Yeah, the advice from my years of working with international students, it maybe has changed over the years, but I would say in today's world, the idea of being present in the time that you are in the room and in the moment of the class, and that means to our our world has given us too many things to jump out at and grab, to allow us to have our mind elsewhere. I would like you to know that our class should and will be a place where you can get some focus in your time, and the focus that will help you is to learn a language, and to learn that language with people who have learned how to teach it, have lived overseas, so have a sense of that culture and the shock of coming to somewhere new, something we didn't really speak about, but all of us as instructors have been on the other side as students learning as we too are thrilled by learning about language. We teach it, but we also have learned our own different languages. But the point being for you as parents, but most important for you as students is, when you come here. I've just told you about so many great things to focus on that include improving your wellness, improving your academics by being involved in the clubs that are here and being involved with other students who come from other countries. I'm giving you ideas, the ways to focus, but the final thing is to every morning, please give yourself a sense of what am I going to do today? What's going to make me a better person? What is going to make me and my family proud that I have been in a place that allows me to be my best? I think that's why people come to maybe America sometimes, is that they think that there's an opportunity here. I'd say the people who make it are the people who focus. But they go for it because they know how to focus. And the best way to focus sometimes is to let those distractions sometimes move away. And really, you've come here to improve your skills by improving your English, you will become better in your English if you do something like that. So my advice would be, think of that focus, think about improving yourself and really inside of yourself. That is, be present. Be present.

Evan Franulovich  51:17  
It's a tough skill.

Kevin O'Connor  51:18  
Yeah, it's, but that's my that's and that's changed for me, but it's also changed in my students that I've seen over the years. So I wish you all the best, because I really am excited to meet you. I want you to come up to me if you do ever come and see from this video, man. But also just say that this place is really welcoming. With this kind of podcast, we are so fortunate to bring Seattle to you. We want you to come to Seattle because I think it's a great place. 

Evan Franulovich  51:44  
Yeah, it is a great place. We hope you'll join us. Yeah, don't forget to join us every Wednesday right here. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe. Seattle Colleges conversations with!. Guys we're closing in on 100,000 subscribers. Please tell everyone you know to subscribe. We want to get to that level. We want your help on that. Thanks for being on the show. Appreciate it. Have a happy holiday. 

Kevin O'Connor  52:09  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  52:10  
It's December now and.

Kevin O'Connor  52:11  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  52:11  
We're gonna soon be breaking for a couple weeks, and then classes start again. What the fifth?

Kevin O'Connor  52:17  
Yeah, January 5th. Yeah, coming right up. Coming right up. Yeah, Happy Holidays to everyone as well.

Evan Franulovich  52:23  
All right, take care, guys. Bye, bye.

Evan Franulovich  52:27  
Conversations with! is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me, Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all the shows here on Conversations with! Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.