In an earlier post, I recommended Thinglink as a creative tool for both teachers and students. It definitely has potential in education and the creators are realising that they will need to cater to teachers and students. So the tech people will be producing something specifically for the classroom. Hurrah!
My partner in GIS, Vipula Sharma and I had planned an INSET for our professional learning community on both Thinglink and Bookpress. These two apps are free and can be adapted to any subject.
Here I would like to upload a document I co-created with Vipula which we used as material for our INSET for teachers.
If you are interested in these apps, please take a browse here.
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5- Step Planning Process
It was a strange afternoon when the faculty get together and contemplate on whether technology would make us teachers obsolete. Would we want to make ourselves obsolete and leave a SIRI hologram version of ourselves in classrooms to answer questions?
Naturally, such a conversation can only end in a quick discussion on the human factor and spontaneity which teachers bring to a lesson... which leads up to lesson planning.
What do teachers do? Ideally in an outstanding lesson, we should personalise learning and know our students: their personalities, interests, abilities and learning styles, all of which make them the unique people they are - just as we are.
So, lesson planning needs to bring out the best in everybody. Hence the 5-step planning process which I will upload here, the outcome of our in-service training with Joe Dale. Vipula Sharma designed the initial document with suggestions on a variety of pedagogy such as flipped lessons and carousel as strategies.
I added changes to highlight planning for differentiation and key guiding questions. Today, this document will be reviewed and improved upon. We hope to use it for lessons later.
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"Every teacher is a language teacher": Language Learning in Content Areas:
Adapting the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (Anna Uhl Chamot and J. Michael O'Malley)
Part of my job as an ESL leader of learning is training teachers in subject areas to teach ESL students or ELL their subject content.
As I try to emphasise that every teacher is a language teacher, I need to offer teachers effective strategies which work for every student and offer the right level of support and challenge. Tall order! But entirely doable.
I was first introduced to CALLA by a mentor when I attended an autumn ESL teacher's training in Punahou School, Hawaii in 2001 organised by the Wo Foundation. It was an eye opening experience and has motivated me to improve ESL practice in my school.
If you are interested in helping students navigate language in the content classroom, as a starting point, do purchase Chamot and O'Malley's book called "The CALLA Handbook" as it has reproducibles and sample lessons for all subjects.
I have since found another great book which extends strategies used in Chamot's and O'Malley's. But I'll add more on that later.
Since 2001, after discussion with subject teachers, some themes emerge time and again which an EAL/ESL teacher will have to be prepared for:
- Reading strategies,
- Exam questions and comprehension thereof,
- Writing for subject genre,
- Using keywords : "Brick" and "Mortar" words,
- Register: Formality of Language,
- Understanding subject specific command words and their requirements. Eg. "plot, explain, describe, justify..."
- Structuring a Point-Evidence-Elaboration/Explanation+Link paragraph.
Undoubtedly, learning in another language is challenging but when the EAL/ELL/ESL learner begins learning English in the school context, they are, in effect, learning a myriad 'Englishes', all with their unique terminology, structure and genre. It's a tough journey.
In my next post, I will expand more on some key resources you can use in your collaboration with subject teachers. Also, I will talk about my favourite go-to book on strategies.
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