Post 3
http://esllanguageschools.suite101.com/article.cfm/teaching-teens-english-as-a-second-language
Tried and True Tips for Getting the Most Out of an ESL Classroom
This was another super article from my RSS feed. I like these articles because they are relevant to my position as a Student Teacher Supervisor. Another positive is that they are short and contain valuable information for busy student teachers. There were several suggestions for enhancing the curriculum. The most important suggestion was to use relevant topics that students would find interesting and would be willing to talk about. Getting teen students to share can be a challenge. Another suggestion was to use popular movies and books to reinforce global acquisition of the language.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Critical Thinking Activities for the Classroom
Post 2
http://esllanguageschools.suite101.com/article.cfm/critical-thinking-activities-for-the-classroom
This article was from my RSS feed. I observe my group of student teachers instructing students several times during the semester. Their lesson plans must contain evidence of higher order questioning or critical thinking activities. This article provided some good examples of critical thinking activities for ESL students. I think we erroneously believe that critical thinking activities should not be incorporated into an ESL classroom because of the students’ limited English proficiency. I liked this article because it contained a variety of methods to teach vocabulary as opposed to simply providing the definition.
http://esllanguageschools.suite101.com/article.cfm/critical-thinking-activities-for-the-classroom
This article was from my RSS feed. I observe my group of student teachers instructing students several times during the semester. Their lesson plans must contain evidence of higher order questioning or critical thinking activities. This article provided some good examples of critical thinking activities for ESL students. I think we erroneously believe that critical thinking activities should not be incorporated into an ESL classroom because of the students’ limited English proficiency. I liked this article because it contained a variety of methods to teach vocabulary as opposed to simply providing the definition.
Differentiation in the ESL classroom
Post 1
http://esllanguageschools.suite101.com/article.cfm/differentiation-in-the-esl-classroom
This article was one of my RSS feeds. Differentiating instruction in the classroom is a difficult task for the novice teacher. A teacher’s first year in a public school can be overwhelming because there is so much to do and so much to learn. This article provides useful information for differentiating instruction for reading groups. Explicit instructions are provided for the following: placing students into reading groups, goals of reading groups, and how to manage reading groups. I recommended this article to my group of student teachers and they found it useful.
http://esllanguageschools.suite101.com/article.cfm/differentiation-in-the-esl-classroom
This article was one of my RSS feeds. Differentiating instruction in the classroom is a difficult task for the novice teacher. A teacher’s first year in a public school can be overwhelming because there is so much to do and so much to learn. This article provides useful information for differentiating instruction for reading groups. Explicit instructions are provided for the following: placing students into reading groups, goals of reading groups, and how to manage reading groups. I recommended this article to my group of student teachers and they found it useful.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Prompt 10
Richardson discussed the annotation feature in Flickr which allows the user to add notes to parts of an image by dragging a box across an area and typing text into a form. This Flickr tool appealed the most to me for use in a language learning classroom. This feature could be used for vocabulary instruction. Students would view a virtual zoo field trip and identify the various animals by adding notes to the images. Illustration of poetry with Flickr images is another excellent idea. Students would select images to represent different parts of speech, or to represent an interpretive view of the poem. I think there is great potential for teacher and student use of Flickr.
I agree with Kern that it is the particular use of technology that affects the learning of language and the efforts of the teacher in coordinating the use of technology. One problem Kern points out is the dynamics of online environment versus face to face interaction. In a K-12 classroom the teacher would have to monitor interaction closely during a Skype session. However, I think telecollaboration is a unique and excellent language learning activity for students. Another consideration is evaluating performance of the students during the online sessions. Expectations and guidelines should be established and made clear to participants before beginning a project. CALL offers students a variety of language learning experiences that educators should incorporate into the curriculum.
I agree with Kern that it is the particular use of technology that affects the learning of language and the efforts of the teacher in coordinating the use of technology. One problem Kern points out is the dynamics of online environment versus face to face interaction. In a K-12 classroom the teacher would have to monitor interaction closely during a Skype session. However, I think telecollaboration is a unique and excellent language learning activity for students. Another consideration is evaluating performance of the students during the online sessions. Expectations and guidelines should be established and made clear to participants before beginning a project. CALL offers students a variety of language learning experiences that educators should incorporate into the curriculum.
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