A one-handed blog about Writing Assessment

Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners Chapter 6: Writing Assessment


Since my class is an advanced placement writing class, I deal with writing assessment more than anything. I can't say that I had a lot of aha's reading the chapter, but I did feel that it was congruent to what I've been taught previously, and very similar to the way I teach and assess writing.

No matter what level writers I have, I always spend time teaching and re-teaching the writing process. I teach my students how scoring rubrics are used, and we use them over and over in different situations. I feel the students must see some exemplars before they are expected to know what proficient writing "looks like." I like doing writing as mini-lessons or workshops. I agree with the chapter that feedback is very important. Also teaching students how to give each other feedback is helpful for improving their own writing skills. Peer feedback/peer conferences seem to really help students with writing.

I love the idea of dialogue journals. I often have this type of "dialogue" with students over e-mail or otherwise, but this would keep the ongoing dialogue in one place, and the student would have a chance to see growth in their writing ability. This is something I'd like to implement next quarter.

Hear you all in class tomorrow!

citation machine

check this out!!

is this cheating?

http://citationmachine.net/

Portfolios

I found this chapter interesting and helpful. I am going to keep my response short & sweet, as my right hand is tired of doing all the work today :)

I have used showcase & collection portfolios in the past---good, but same issues the chapter mentions

"aha" --- I should be moving towards an assessment portfolio that links curriculum/instruction to assessment, and allows students to have input in the criteria. also should involve more student self-assessment

also, i am starting to get some great ideas of how I might use portfolios (newsletter writing samples) and now I need to figure out how to best use student self-assessment, and student selected criteria. I feel like a lot of the examples were geared towards younger students.

in a way i have been using portfolios, but not in a systematic way...i like the ideas for contents page, and page for notes for others (parents, next teachers etc)....i would love to take these ideas and turn it into an electronic portfolio with my class.

i will be getting a new cast tomorrow during class, so think of me!! the best way to reach me this week is via e-mail.

take care, and i hope to talk to you all soon!

Em

The Language Assessment Process: A Multiplism Perspective

According to the author of this article there is a process that must take place for all language assessments. Here are the steps:
1. Determine the purpose of the assessment
2. Define language knowledge to be assessed
3. Selecting the assessment procedure
4. Designing items and tasks
5. Administering the assessment tool(s)
6. Determining the quality of the language sample/answers produced
7. Assessing the quality of the procedures
8. Interpreting the results
9. Reporting the results

To me this list should help a teacher who is struggling with formalizing the process of giving authentic assessments.

When I read the title of the article my first thought was 1) Is Multiplism a word? and 2) What does it mean. The author goes on to say that deciding which assessment tool to use depends on the purpose of the assessment and on how language knowledge is defined. She suggests that the use of a "multiplism" approach to language assessment, whereby multiple options are available at each phase of the assessment process.

The article discusses some of the same things as the test design chapter from the McNamara book---such as discrete point testing, and how the purpose of these assessments measure skills based type of language acquisition, rather than communicative competence. The types of assessments that the author recommends are the same as the authentic assessments we have been reading about.

The phases of assessment that I was particularly interested in learning about were the ones that had to do with what you do after you administer the assessment. Such as the multiple ways you can interpret and report results. I think having an assessment conference is a great idea. I also like the idea of reporting in the form of a narrative, rather than just giving scores or grades etc.

Basically, what I got from reading this article, is that there are some basic processes that should be done when giving assessments, but there are multiple ways of doing these phases that can and should be done depending on the purpose of your assessment.

Designing Authentic Assessment

Approaches to teaching and learning have changed in light of new views on how students learn. Where in the past we thought learning was linear, we now see that learning doesn't necessarily proceed by the accumulation of a common set of basic skills, but can follow multiple strategies and pathways. The view of constructivism believes that all individuals are thought to learn by constructing information about the world and by using active and dynamic mental processes. This newer view on how we learn has implications for how we must assess. Basically, as the author states: "If students construct information as they learn, and apply the information in classroom settings, assessment should provide the students with opportunities to construct responses and to apply their learning to problems that mirror their classroom activities in authentic ways."

The article discusses briefly several types of authentic assessments. It also mentions that many teachers DO use these assessments already, however they do it in such an informal way that it does not provide enough information about student learning, or the goals of instruction.

Here are the list of the authentic assessments the book provides, and a note on whether or not I've used them..

Oral interviews--I've used these, but informally

Story or Text Retelling--Yes I've used this, and developed a rubric (or used rubrics created professionally)

Writing Samples--Yes often, Use 6-traits rubric, and rubrics that align to state writing standards

Projects/Exhibitions--Yes, often develop my own scoring rubrics for these

Experimental/demonstrations--Haven't used

Constructed Response Items--Yes, I do use these for tests for my high schoolers on material that I teach in class

Teacher Observations--YEs, but informally (until I start my research!!)

Portfolios--No, but REALLY want to!! I had a portfolio in high school, and remember thinking it was a fair assessment of my varied skills and talents


If I had to assess myself on my awareness of authentic assessments (which I will do in more detail on the self assessment) I would say that I'm fairly aware of them, and I do use them, however I need to implement a more formal/systematic approach so that I can get more meaningful information from them, as well as use them more in instructional goal setting.

I like how the chapter gives step by step directions for designing authentic assessments--I'm kind of excited to try and work with some teachers (if they can accept me as a teacher, and not a district office spy..lol) and design some authentic assessments particularly for our students' writing. We used to have a writing portfolio as part of our "old" standards and I would love to see that put back in place with some careful designing by LA teachers.

McNamara-Chapter 2 Communication & Test Design

This chapter looks at language test design methods from the past to present. One thing that should be noted is that many of the "old" methods are still in use to some degree.

The first important term the chapter discusses is "test construct" which is basically the aspects of knowledge or skills which are being measured (can be social not psychological). The author says the test construct is determined or influenced by the test creators view of language. So depending on the views of language you may get a pen/paper test vs. a performance assessment.

The chapter talks about discrete point tests, which kind of came about in the 60s (but still can be seen today). These tests were mostly multiple choice, basically tested a person's knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, tested different parts of communication separately (ie: reading, speaking, oral). Even though this type of test is supposed to be outdated, I know that school districts still use them, and most likely other organizations too.

Next the chapter discusses integrative tests which focus more on being able to communicate in a language rather than have knowledge about how the language works. These tests integrated the systematic features of a language.

The article also talks about Pragmatic tests: the ability to integrate grammatical, lexical, contextual, and pragmatic knowledge in test performance . and Communicative tests which have two main features: Performance tests that required assessment
to be carried during extended communication, and Attention to social roles candidates were likely to assume in real world settings.

Something I found important from the Ch.2 powerpoint was this shift of thinking when it comes to Language:

MAJOR SHIFT
Communicative tests represent a shift
from a psychological perspective on
language, which sees language as an
internal phenomenon, to a sociological
one, focusing on the external, social
functions of language.


I find it so interesting that in language testing (same with language teaching in many cases) that we have all this research that shows what methods are ineffective, and yet many schools still use these outdated practices. Do all tests fit into one of these categories in this chapter? I'm assuming that they do, or at least into a combination of categories. It's interesting how the views of what language is can change the method in which we design tests and assess students (or at least should change them!)

Assessment & Accommodations of ELLs--Abedi

This post has been a long time coming :)

I have been very interested in our discussions about assessment accommodations. Sometimes it just gets so hard to deal with giving students tests that we know are not written with them in mind--it feels like a losing battle, like there is just nothing we can do--but if you consider all the accommodations (side note: I hate, HATE, hate typing the word accommodations, because I almost always spell it wrong) that we can make to assist students in getting past the language barrier in testing instructions and test questions we just might make a positive difference for some of our students, and allow them to at least feel some success when it comes to state testing. Anyway, with that said, the Abedi article brings up several issues we must keep in mind when considering what is reported on AYP regarding our ELL students.

The six major issues are as follows:


1. Inconsistency in LEP classification across and within states
2. Sparse LEP population
3. Lack of LEP subgroup stability
4. Measurement quality of AYP instruments of LEP students
5. LEP baseline scores
6. LEP cutoff points



Studies have shown that academic achievement tests (such as the ones that are used to calculate AYP) are constructed and normed for native English speakers, and have lower reliability and validity for LEP populations. Schools/Districts with high LEP population are more likely to fall in the category for "needs improvement." Studies show that tests that are linguistically modified for LEP students produce better test scores for the students taking them.

After reading this article (or after analyzing your own district's AYP reports (which i have now done both) you will see that there are several flaws in the way that LEP data is reported in AYP (as with problems of other subcategories), and it seems like the best we can hope for is that policy makers and other people in power will see the problems that this type of reporting is having on small rural populations with large populations (at least relatively large) of ELL students, and make changes that allow states to determine what type of assessment and reporting should be used for their schools.

Moving Toward Authentic Assessment--O'Malley

This chapter talks about how obviously multiple choice tests aren't going to cut it for language assessments. The author talks about the trend of moving towards "alternative assessments."

important tidbit: pg.1: Alternative Assessments consists of any method of finding out what a student knows or can do that is intended to show growth and inform instruction, and is an alternative to traditional forms of testing (ie. Multiple choice tests).

The Author goes on to say that alternative assessments are often authentic because they are based on classroom activities and real life setting (and by def are criterion referenced)

The chapter goes on to discuss the need for authentic assessments. The 2 main reasons are 1) to really assess the proficiency of a student, and 2) to be able to plan learning activities according to what the students know/don't know.

The chapter also briefly discusses the purposes of testing ELL students, and also some difficulties ELL test takers face. I have already learned a considerable amount this week because I asked the SPED director from my district to provide me with information regarding support teachers are allowed to provide to ELL Students. Even though I answered this for the other part of the assignment I will go ahead and post a list of some of the things we can do to support our students during standardized testing:

Accommodations that are permissible (According to Alaska EED)

-allowing frequent breaks
-allowing additional time
-administering the test over several days completing on or before the last day of the test window
-administering the test individually or to small groups in a separate location
-administering the test by ESL or native language teacher
-allowing students to ask for clarifications of directions
-clarifying test directions in the native language
-Reading directions in the native language
-simplifying or repeating directions in English
-providing written instructions
-writing helpful verbs from the directions on the board or a separate piece of paper in English or the native language
-repeating or re-reading embedded directions
-proctor or test administrator asking student questions about directions to check for understanding


I feel sort of gipped that no one told me these things before (or maybe I wasn't paying good attention??lol)

So even if the state never does give some "alternative assessments" for EL students, there are some steps we can take to give them a better chance of doing well.

I wonder how many times the word assessment is in this book??? I bet it's A LOT. :)

Language Testing, McNamara Chapter 1

I actually liked the beginning of this chapter because the author starts talking big picture stuff---which really made me think "I have never really thought about how many flippin tests we have in our society." And then I started thinking...well maybe if we have to pass a test to operate a vehicle, maybe we should have to take tests to see if we are fit to be a parent, or other things that a lot of people do poorly, lol. Anyway, it's been a long day and my mind is going in weird directions.

Most of the chapter talked about the design of language tests, including the method and purpose for the test. I think it is clear to most people these days that regular old pen and paper tests are way too restricting to measure whether someone is proficient in a language or not. I, for one, think I would personally do much better on a Yupik pen and paper test than I would on an oral or performance test because 1) I can be good at bs-ing, and 2) I can figure stuff out that is written that I'm not so good at hearing or speaking. There is no way that it would be a valid assessment of my skills in the Yup'ik Language.

I think the chapter actually helped me to understand better what a criterion referenced test is when it comes to language testing. My understanding is that the criterion is the "target performance" or what you would expect competent language speaking/communicating to sound like in real life. The test would be chances for students to demonstrate these criterion.

The author makes the point that in language testing, as with all testing, even "authentic" assessments can never be 100% authentic because they are staged, and or created to test the student. He goes on to talk about the Observer paradox, which I think we can all relate to---when you are observing students do something it almost always changes the way they would normally do it (whether for the better or worse).

I think there are several types of assessments that can be used to effectively test language proficiency, and the important factor becomes the purpose of the test---Why are we testing? Is it to see if the student is proficient in English for Educational reasons? Is it to see if they can get into a secondary school? Is it to be functional in a workplace setting? All of these reasons might warrant different assessments.

The next thing I need to determine is how do I use this information...

Assessment by Pierce

I'm not sure how exactly to react to this article---it's all about the stuff we have to deal with every day as teachers. I don't think any teacher in rural Alaska would say that education is removed from Politics. All of us feel the stresses placed upon us by NCLB. This isn't new information---NCLB creates a lot of problmes with rural Alaskan districts. Schools that don't meet AYP are placed on a level system that supposedly determines whether a school is in "crisis." Schools in crisis are forced to spend time, and money on creating plans for improvement (which isn't a bad idea for all schools), and if they don't improve they are threatened to be taken over by the state (as if that will really happne--I doubt it). Honestly, I'm tired of hearing about NCLB, who knows maybe the next administration in the White House will do something about this flawed act. Until then we just have to do the best we can for our students. Local/District assesments help studnets to be more successful on state tests and can serve as indicators to areas a child might need additional support.
This post is really random, but it's because I have a headache from reading tiny font most likely. K, have a good evening class!!!!!!!!

Em

Teacher Suspended for Refusing to Give State Test

What if every teacher in the whole U.S. refused to administer the State tests--they couldn't fire all of us?? Right?
Seriously though, I had mixed feelings about the article. I agree with the teacher that the tests are often not fair and don't produce a lot of positive things for our students, but I think most teachers would agree with that, but yet we have willingly chosen to work for state run (and funded) public education system, and unfortunately it's not always for us to decide a lot of things we might like to decide.

side note: I can't believe that guy only loses $1000 bucks after not working for 9 days!

I had questions to whether the teacher did his part in preparing his students for the mandated testing--I know a lot of districts use data from said tests to determine placement for different things for students. Not to mention that these tests are probably not going to go away soon, and the more exposure students are given the more likely they are to succeed--soooo...did this teacher make his point at the expense of the students?

One other good thing about this article was that it is written in at least size 12 font--made my eyes happy!!

Maori Approaches to Assessment

I needed some inspiration for this post---it's hard to read an article about something that you have no connection with (mental note for teaching my own class). It's also hard to get in the groove of reading when you have to stop and re-read words every so often, but I did get the author's purpose of including the language in her article to emphasize the importance of the Maori values and understandings in this approach to assessment.

My first reaction was I think it's awesome that they developed this method of assessing the students based around the cultural values and important world views of the Maori people. Can you imagine if we were able to develop these sort of authentic assessments for the Yup'ik culture/region/communities we live in, and these were used to determine whether the student would be a contributing member to the society they live in? Instead we are up against state and federal mandated assessments that are so restricting, we have to be very creative in our teaching to embed all the required standards into our lesson plans. We have to get students prepared to test--which is a whole other can of worms.

One quote from the article that I particularly agree with is "Assessment of children should encompass all dimensions of children's learning and development and should see the child as a whole" This is the Maori idea of "Kotahitanga." I've always felt that this is very important, which is another reason high stakes testing is irritating, because it doesn't look at the child as a whole, it is one-dimensional. I think classroom assessments should give students a variety of ways to demonstrate their knowledge/skill/learning so that the teacher does get a complete view of the student.

I think there is much that can be learned from the Maori people in this study, and how we might go about incorporating some of their approaches into developing authentic assessments for our region.

P.S. hi to my class!!! I miss you all :)
p.p.s. Erin--the picture is mainly for you.

Lets go on a webquest!

Dodge, B. (1997). Webquests. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from San Diego State University WebQuest site: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about webquests.html

This article is a brief introduction to what a webquest is, what it involves, and what steps to take to design your own. Basically a webquest is an activity that takes students online to make use of internet resources, often as part of a group project. It's almost like an online scavenger hunt. I recently designed my own webquet (for the first time ever) so I will see how it works this fall. I'm hoping that it will be more effective than simply assigning a topic for students to research. In my webquest I provide resources students can use so they don't have to waste time going through websites. I also clearly state the taks, process, and evaluation tool that will be used. There are some higher level thinking skills that ideally should be included in webquests such as: comparing, classifying, inducing, deducing, analyzing, etc. I think webquests are the new research report.

Peace to all my fans in outerspace. are you out there? does anyone read my blog besides my bf?

Love, mrm




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Emerging Technologies

Before I start this entry I have to say I'm feeling pretty bad about this blog. We just read articles in LING 695 about what makes blogs effective, and I'm pretty sure mine is lacking. Even Erin said the only good thing about my blog is the monkey pictures. This blog is what Knobel and Lankshear call a "structured" blog, so really it's not my fault.



The article I read today talked about several new technologies that are now available online as tools for language learners. The major developments of Web 2.0 are the availability of tools that can be accessed directly on the web, rather that on a users computer. Tools such as photo editing software, text editing software, document storage, document writing, writing feedback and assessment can be used online with any web browser.

The author points out that although Language learning is often more complex than the practice and drills that are available online, there are tools, particularly new tools that can have a positive impact on learning L2. He refers to young people as the social-networking age, and believes that we must find means to help students become more articulated and effective writers in whatever language they choose. I agree with this point of view. Why waste time trying to stop students from participating in these networks they enjoy and feel connected to? Why not spend the time finding ways to use that motivation to benefit the students language learning. This just takes me back to what we talked about in class today. There is so much motivation for students to belong to online communities, so now we just need to figure out how to harness it.

I am very interested in learning more about some of these new Web 2.0 tools. I haven't had much experience with any type of online editing software, but I see some potential uses with my students. The last program the article talks about BonPatron, where the software actually gives writers possible corrections, but makes them have to engage and choose how to correct the writing themselves sounds really good. I think some Yup'ik speakers should start working on a similar program for immersion students, or anyone learning Yup'ik.

It is obvious that I'm a huge supporter of technology in education. I have read several times that most of the jobs that school age children will have when they grow up don't even exist yet--that is exciting and scary. To me it means we can't simply teach children how to use computer programs, but we need to teach them how to be learners, how to access resources, and how to use the Internet as a tool.

Favorite acronym of the article: wysiwyg

Godwin-Jones, R. (2008). Emerging technologies web-writing 2.0: Enabling, documenting, and assessing writing online, 12 (2), 7-13.

Au revoir,
fmrm


srmrvilyvm

The Laptops are coming! The Laptops are coming!

At Kuspuk we have the same one-to-one laptop program the author talks about in this article. I actually know a couple teachers who would or could write this exact article. Basically, the author feels there are some serious downfalls to the program. Every point she brings up I have heard before, and I believe that the root of these problems is that many of the teachers have not been trained to teach in a way that takes advantage of these laptops as a tool for learning. Teacher training is essential to making this program work. It isn't necessary that teachers know how to use every program on the computers, but they do need a new set of classroom management skills, so that they can effectively use the laptops without spending their precious class time monitoring students to make sure they aren't playing games and goofing off. One misconception about the one-to-one program is that the kids need to have the laptops in use for every class assignment or project. Also, just because every student has their own laptop does not mean that students can't work together. The idea behind the one-to-one program is not that the computers will take over and become the only method of education, but it should be viewed as an extremely powerful tool for learning. Part of my research is to discover methods of teaching, using computers, that are effective so that I can share them with teachers in my district. As with any major change it will take time for the program to produce the type of results it is capable of. I personally feel more connected to many of my students thanks to Internet, e-mail, and social networking. It is all about how you use the tools you are given.

McFarlane, S. (2008). The laptops are coming! The laptops are coming!, Rethinking Schools, 22, 22-26

Rethinking Myspace

I could easily connect with this article. I myself use myspace, and I do have several of my students (and other students from my town) as friends. However, I have never used myspace as an extension of my class. The way the teacher uses myspace in the article is very similar to how I use e-mail with my students. My particular setting lends itself very nicely to communication via cmc. All of my students e-mail me almost daily to either turn in assignments and ask clarifying questions etc. I am still amazed at the type of connection I am able to make with my students using the medium of e-mail. It seems like I get to know my students on a more personal level, than when I just communicate with them during class. Currently, our district blocks sites such as myspace, and facebook because of all the potential dangers, and the distraction factor. Yet, I am still convinced that by integrating more of these types of networks and technologies students will become more engaged, and hopefully more succesfull. I will definitely share this article with my technology director, who is often torn about the issue.

Garcia, A. (2008). Rethinking myspace, Rethinking Schools, 22, 27-29

New Technologies and Additional Language Learning

Good evening faithful blog fans, you are in for a treat tonight--not only will I comment on this article by Steven Thorne, but two additional articles (Thanks Sabine!!) for your reading enjoyment. On a personal side note, I couldn't be more excited for 10 days and 21 hours to pass by :)
On with the article..

Reading this article was no piece of cake, as Mr. Thorne likes to use a lot of technical sounding big words, but reading it slowly enough, and more than once helped to understand what he was talking about. What I found most exciting about this article is that it reviewed research that is very similar to some of the things that I would like to research such as: using networked communication tools to increase motivation, participation, more language production overall, more opportunity for language expression, and using cross-modal transfer. The article gave me a plethora of new sources/references to use for my own research and thesis. Also, on page 15 I was happy to read the following sentence, "There is currently very little research on the use of these tools for L2 learning, presenting an obvious opportunity for future work," which is good for me, and makes me feel like my own research could actually be quite useful in this age of new technologies like wikis, blogs, and chat rooms.

The first part of the article focuses on synchronous cmc (real time computer mediated communication), in other words online chat. In a nutshell, so far it seems that the use of chat in language learning environments can be very effective. The article looks at using chat with several different pedagogical methods. The interactionist approach is designed for analysis of negotiation of meaning in oral interaction. In some of the research findings L2 learners found that using chat in pairs prompted an increase in corrective feedback and negotiation in all levels of discourse, in turn prompting learners to produce form-focused modifications to their turns. Another framework that has been used with L2 learners and chat is the sociacultural theory. One study found that L2 learners using chat were able to appropriate the chat environment to produce a personally meaningful, highly intersubjective discourse community.

The next part of the article is about Internet-mediated Intercultural L2 Education, or ICL2E (yikes these acronyms are getting complicated). In this type of learning the Internet is used to move learners away from simulated classroom-based texts and toward actual interaction with expert speakers of the language they are studying. I think this concept is very cool, especially if you were studying a foreign language like French, Spanish, or German. I've been trying to think of how I might be able to use this type of learning with my own class. If my goal is to get them reading and writing in formal English, should i have them participating in some sort of network with English Scholars, lol? Is chatting or conversing via cmc with me enough? Definitely some things I will be considering. The ideal behind intercultural competence is that if a student has it, they will be able to mediate multiple cultural identities and situations (which I feel like I definitely already do going from Aniak, to college, to Oregon to visit my family is just a couple examples). It was interesting reading about the student trying to learn French by instant messaging with a French boy her own age. I found the following statement amusing: "this student required interpersonal mediation, specifically, from a desirable age-peer.." Does that suggest we would all learn better if our teachers were our age and good looking? That's a whole other avenue of research (I think Erin might be interested in looking into it..)


The end of the article focuses on technologies more familiar to me--wikis, blogs, games, and virtual environments. It suggest that not enough research has been done, yet there is a lot of great potential, which I happen to agree with very much. It even suggest social networks such as myspace as a possible learning tool, which I would definitely like to look into. I believe if we can mirror some of these things like social networks, in our teaching students are going to produce more language because these are the type of environments they are used to and feel comforable with. I haven't spent much time looking at virtual environments, and that is another area I'd be interested in exploring to see the possible classroom uses for my students. In the authors final points he makes another comment that I agree with: "Education generally, and language education particularly, will need to accommodate emerging communication tools and their attendant communicative genres that are, and have been for some years, everyday dimensions of competent social and professional activity."

Thorn, S. (2006). New technologies and additional language learning. CALPER Working Paper Series, 1-26

that's all for this especially special article!
adios,
mrm


IAARMRVLVR

Week One

This has been an interesting week of class for me, as much of what we have read and discussed pertains to my job as literacy coordinator. I think something that still stands out in my mind was looking at the assumptions about teaching language that were made in the 60's--things like language is all about learning vocabulary and grammar, all learners have the same needs, and the process of learning language is determined by the textbook. As educators we know these assumptions are not true, yet even now curriculum and instruction sometimes falls into these categories. It really opened my eyes, and made we want to take a closer look at the curriculum we are implementing in Kuspuk. The chapters on materials and evaluation were also very interesting to me, and I felt that both would be good resources. I'm really interested in designing my syllabus for my course this year using an integrated method and really thinking about the things we read in Chapter 6 before I just base my year on content/topics. I guess the questions emerging for me, is how do I address some of the needs and challenges we have been discussing. What can I do at Kuspuk to begin to change some of the "problems" we have identified in our discussions? How can I share what I've learned about course planning with my colleagues?

Chapters 1-2 Erben, Sarieva

All you night owls are in for a treat, I decided to stay up and do a late night post rather than go to sleep...

Chapter one in CALLing all foreign language teachers: computer assisted learning in the classroom is basically just an introduction to and explanation of the book. First off, I have to say that my tech director in Kuspuk would probably give Sabine a high five for giving us a book with activities aligned with the ISTE standards, since it is something we are trying to incorporate more of in our schools next year. Just flipping through the book I see a lot of activities I would love to share with teachers in my district. Second of all, I would personally like to give Sabine a high five for giving us this book, as I can definitely use a chapter or two for my research! This book sounds like it is full of tech-related activities, as well as advice on how to effectively teach a foreign language with tech (and how not to).

Erben T. (2008). Introduction : CALLing all foreign language teachers. In T. Erben & I. Sarieva (Eds), CALLing all foreign language teachers: Computer-assisted language learning in the classroom. (pp. 1-5). New York: Eyes On Education, Inc.

Chapter 2:
What can I say, this chapter had me from Vygotsky. I am all about mediated learning--I believe students learn through active engagement and interaction with materials, their peers, and their teachers. Teachers need to facilitate this learning by providing meaningful opportunities for students. Using technology to enhance language instruction is an excellent way to get students actively engaged in their learning. I like the term electronic literacy and I think the authors make a good point with how important this type of literacy will be to our student's futures. Many of the jobs today's students will have might not even exist yet, so it is important that teachers empower students with the skills to become lifelong learners. Personally I'm very excited to get into this book more, and get some new ideas on how to effectively integrate technology into my course.

Erben T., & Zoran, A. (2008). Guiding principles: Second langauge acquisition, instructional technology, and the constructivist framework. In T. Erben & I. Sarieva (Eds), CALLing all foreign language teachers: Computer-assisted language learning in the classroom. (pp. 7-11). New York: Eyes On Education, Inc.

Ciao,
mrm

cw2berv

Chapter 9 Richards

Well, lets not monkey around, and get right to the point here: Chapter 9 is all about evaluating curriculum. Some people might find this chapter a little dull, but not me--I spend many hours a year analyzing and evaluating literacy programs in our district, so this stuff is right up my alley. Reflecting and Evaluating are essential to designing a successful program. The chapter covers three types of evaluations: Formative, Illuminative, and Summative.

Formative evaluations are ones that take place as part of an on-going process, so that if weaknesses are noticed they can be fixed, and the program will be strengthened as you go. Our district uses these type of evaluations to monitor programs, especially those that are newly implemented, by gaining feedback from teachers primarily through video-conferences, and e-mail correspondence. District staff, such as the curriculum director, and myself also make site visits and work with teachers throughout the year as a way to evaluate how programs are working.

The second type of evaluation is Illuminative. This type of evaluation is looking at specific aspects of a program, to see how they are being implemented, and if they are effective. This type of evaluation is probably more common in a classroom level. Teachers might want to see how a specific part of their reading or writing program are working--are they meeting the district standards? Are students able to demonstrate proficiency in that area?

The third type of evaluation the chapter talks about is Summative Evaluation. This is where a program is evaluated after it has been implemented to determine whether it was effective, efficient, and acceptable. This is the type of evaluation I have to do for the reporting required for the grants I monitor. I have to do annual performance reports and determine whether our programs have met the objectives that were set.

The rest of the chapter gives a John Deere Loader full of short summaries of procedures that can be used in conducting evaluations (a handy chapter for someone designing a research project), and tells the advantages and disadvantages of each. Overall, I found that this chapter is another good resource--something I can use not only for designing my research activities, but something I could refer to when planning out my evaluations for curriculum and programs next year.

Richards, Jack, C. (2001). Approaches to evaluation. In Curriculum development in language teaching. (pp.286-309). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Cordially yours,
Ms. R M

ILRMRVVVVM

Chapter 8 Richards

Howdy Pardners! Tonight I'm going to reflect on Chapter 8, all about instructional materials. I actually found this chapter to be quite informative as much of what I do pertains to curriculum, and choosing (and sometimes designing) instructional materials. As Literacy Coordinator I get to make decisions as to what materials to select to make available for teachers (which is interesting, because I am also a teacher, so I try to be sensitive to my needs lol), and I work closely with the curriculum director to decide what created materials will be best for our district.

The chapter starts out by comparing and contrasting the advantages of authentic materials vs. created materials. The author refers to authentic materials refers to the use in teaching of texts, photographs, and other teaching resources that were not specially prepared for teaching purposes. Some advantages of these type of materials are: They provide cultural information about the target culture, provide exposure to real language, they relate more closely to learners' needs, and they support a more creative approach to teaching. As a teacher I tend to agree that there are a lot of advantages to using authentic materials, none as important as the fact you are able to choose things for your specific group of students depending on their interests, needs, background etc. I find that I primarily use authentic materials in my teaching, especially for my Publication's class as we look at a lot of media and information from the Web. However, as Literacy Coordinator, and someone responsible for selecting materials for the district it would not be practical to expect all teachers could create or provide authentic materials for their students with no other materials in place, which is why created materials are also an essential part of the curriculum. The author refers to created materials as textbooks, and other specially developed instructional resources.

Although created materials don't have the same flexibility as choosing authentic materials there are a lot of advantages to having created materials such as: they can be motivating (the latest textbooks are pretty fun and flashy looking), they are built around a graded syllabus, provide systematic coverage of teaching items, created by experts, help to standardize instruction, can help train teachers, and are all ready created!

I know when I was teaching 5th/6th grade I was thankful to have created materials to use as a resource for myself, and as practice for my students. Who has time to create or find authentic materials for 10 content areas for 20 students on all different levels? It is important that districts used methods such as the ones in this chapter for choose materials that will best fit the needs of the district, but with the understanding that created materials are not, and should not be stand alone instructional materials.

The hard part about providing materials to teachers is to help them understand that although we have materials created for certain subjects, it's still okay to supplement with authentic materials, and that good teachers do provide authentic materials for the students. As the author points out in this chapter, "no commercial textbook will ever be a perfect fit for a language classroom."

I really liked the section on adapting textbooks on page 260. I think a session based on this page would be great for the new teacher in-service in the fall. The materials our district has adopted for reading and writing are really strong, however, they MUSt be adapted to meet the needs of the diverse learners in our schools.

Overall, chapter eight was great--not like a page-turner or anything, but it did pertain to my job, and I think I will refer back to this chapter during work next school year.

Richards, Jack, C. (2001). The role and design of instructional materials. In Curriculum development in language teaching. (pp. 251-284). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sincerely,
MRM

Ch. 5 & 6 Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

Good evening ladies and gentleman. I have just finished reading chapters 5 and 6 from my curriculum development book, and now I'm ready to give my two cents on the topics of planning goals and learning outcomes, as well as course planning and syllabus design.

Let me begin by discussing my thoughts on Chapter 5:

I have to start by saying that I do agree with most of the key assumptions when it comes to goals and the curriculum approach to educational planning. I believe that people are motivated by specific goals (take me for instance, 3 years ago I wrote down the goal, " want to start a master's program before I turn 30," and here I am today). I also believe the use of goals in teaching improves the effectiveness of teaching and learning. If you don't know or understand what you are trying to accomplish it is much easier to get lost along the way. Not to say that every learning experience must be 100% goal driven, but if you don't have that purpose in mind it is hard to plan sound educational activities.

I found this chapter very interesting---What is the point of teaching a second language? What is the purpose? I agree these questions need to be answered before one can plan the goals of the course. The author examines 5 curriculum perspectives and I will comment on each briefly. First, in academic rationalism the goal is mastery of content just for the instrinsic value of the subject matter and its role in developing the learner's intellect, humanistic values, and rationality---now wait right there--I think my high school French teacher prescribed to this line of thinking, and I believe she sucessfully planned our courses in this very manner. In the second perspective, social and economic efficiency, it makes sense to me that adult language learners would benefit from this type of curriculum, as they are most likely learning a second language at an adult age for either social or economic purposes, and it would make sense that they would want to learn in a way that they would obtain knowledge and skills useful to their every day lives. In the learner-centeredness perspective the individual needs of the learner are stressed. Supporters of this perspective believe that active construction, and reworking of knowledge and skills is necessary for student learning. The author says that growth through experience is the key concept. This makes me think of Individual Learning plans that both teachers and students cooperatively develop---which I believe to be a powerful method of teaching, however I am not convinced that this method could be used to develop an entire course just because it would be leaving so much open to whatever students you might have that you wouldn't really be able to plan ahead. I would rather see a framework in place that can be modified to meet the needs of learners. The 4th perspective, social reconstructionism, from what I gather, basically emphasizes that curriculum should play a role in addressing social injustices and inequality--I guess I don't understand this perspective as much, I mean I could see this perspective making sense for a course based on socialism, or even social studies in general, but not for the entire basis of a language course. Finally, Cultural Pluralism is the perspective that makes most sense to me of why language classes should be taught in our region (and others). I think people do need to develop cross cultural competency, and participate in different cultures not just the dominant culture---this perspective advocates for bilingualism which is what I am hoping will be a possiblity in the future at Kuspuk. I think a bilingual program would really do a lot for the people and culture of our region.

The rest of the chapter talks about aims (which I still see as goals) and objectives. This part of the chapter was pretty straightforward, and easy to understand because I have written many goals and objectives in my life. I found it interesting that there was a lot of criticism about objectives, and that competencies are seen as entirely different than objectives. I understand that competencies are observable behaviors, but I believe that objectives can be too. I guess i'm a little confused at the difference, other than objectives are more specific and measurable. The chapter very briefly touches on Standards, which is categorized under competencies.

The non-language outcome stuff was a little dry...but I think with most courses there are going to these kind of outcomes such as thinking skills, learning skills, etc. They are kind of like bonus material :)

Okay, on to Chapter 6:

This chapter was more of a how-to on planning a course and syllabus--I actually found this very interesting and helpful and would like to attempt to plan my course for next year using these sort of processes (also understanding that I may have to alter things drastically down the line). I can't decide if my class would be better off with a topical syllabus (which i usually use) or or one of the other options. Although this chapter is all about creating syllabus for a "language" course, and my course isn't a typical language course, I feel I could still use several of the processes. I have never written a true course rationale before---the closest I have come is to write a course description, but to write out a rationale as the chapter describes would be much more beneficial to myself and students. It would really help me focus the syllabus and plan the course. I guess I will try to add another entry after I do some course planning!

Well, it's time for bed! Goodnight blogreaders of America!

Yours truly,
Miss Rally Munkey

Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Planning goals and
learning outcomes (pp. 112-197). New York: Cambridge University Press.