But true authenticity comes from the activities we use during class time, leaving an impact on the communicative skills of our students.
Use the language proficiency site developed by UTexas to gain access to native Spanish speakers talking about a variety of themes. These are conveniently divided into proficiency levels.
I tried this activity by having each group research then report about an Arabic speaking country of their choice and the activity was a great success. They seemed to have had a lot of fun, presented short clear sentences (for the most part) that also provided factual and relevant material, and it opened the door for some spontaneous cultural themes and relevant dicussions.
I've used some of the videos from UTexas. Some of the novice level videos are still too difficult for my middle schoolers though! I have to give lot's of scaffolding and support.
remember these rules when selecting activities:
They must be authentic.
They should always be engaging.
Activities should be varied.
They need to be focused around the unit theme.
Perhaps most importantly, they should force students to use the target language.
Plickers might be interesting for quick multiple choice responses.
giving them opportunities to contribute to a class blog or something where their classmates will get to see their hearts and minds in this other forum. I think that really opens things up.
If the kid is perfectly happy the way they are, they need to get the message that the way they are is cool.
Our most important institutions, like schools and workplaces, are designed for extroverts,
why is it that kids who prefer to go off by themselves or to work alone are seen as outliers?
How about the very definition of “class participation?”
how best to cultivate the talent of those students.
a student who has one or two or three friends, and prefers to go deep with their friendships instead of being one of a big gang, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, in terms of it being a predictor for adulthood.
But Cain particularly feels for one group of introverts: the quiet kids in a classroom.
make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read.
Apps that allow students to contribute to class discussions, sometimes anonymously and sometimes not.
less group work in general.
do more work in pairs, which is a way that both introverts and extroverts can thrive.
challenge teachers to rethink what they mean by class participation and start thinking of it as classroom engagement instead.
account the research of Anders Ericsson, who invented the concept of “deliberate practice.”
tools that allow students to participate through their electronic devices as opposed to raising their hand.
I agree this statement of "Number one would be to make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read."
Question: As a classroom teacher, I am with my students 42 minutes per day, how can I take almost half of this time for reading? Shouldn't this issue be addressed as a whole school wide??
I agree with you Diane - that would be way too much time for reading in just your class. In some classes, I do a 5 - 10 minute "free-writing" exercise that is individual. It seems like you'd need to scale the time so that it's appropriate for your class.
A lot of students who might be reticent at first will feel emboldened by having first discussed it with a partner.
Wow, just imagine how much calmer the world could be if classrooms were set up to allow for multiple temperaments as well as learning styles?!
Also, the think-pair-share concept is fantastic; I've been using the "alone-paired-large group" sequence for language learners in groups since I got my CELTA certification and it's been hugely successful. Nobody wants to be wrong in public, and when learners have a chance to discuss it with a partner first, they are more likely to share their ideas.
Matt writes: "I was introduced to a new twist on an old way of planning lessons this weekend at CUE BOLD, billed as "The Premiere Lesson Design Event for the West Coast."
Includes links to 30 lessons and their slide decks.
The idea: let's build lessons that utilize technology through the framework of the Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan."
I'm still learning about all of the features of MS Teams, but this one surprised me. I can imagine it being a good tool for synchronous and asynchronous language learning - not just video conferencing.
App Integrations
I love this feature: When you need to take things up a notch, you can use some of the most popular apps in education right inside the Teams environment, including Kahoot!, Nearpod, Quizlet, and Flipgrid. If a particular app will be used frequently by a group, you can add a designated tab to a channel just for that app, so users can get to it quickly.
I agree that app integrations is the best feature. We are using Canvas for our classes at my institution but we are also using Teams for university wide communication. Both are new but the experience so far has been positive. I may follow up on the advise to start a small project on Teams to learn more about its best features in building a collaborative classroom. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for posting this, Jordan, and reminding me that here at UofL we've got MS Teams as an additional resource! I've just check to see if there's the possibility of integration with Blackboard and it appears there is. (I'm glad to have the option for synchronous class meetings, since I've always found Blackboard Collaborate to be a little baroque in its layout....)
Thanks for the tip @greghutcheson ! It hadn't occurred to me to look for Teams/Blackboard compatibility. I'm not sure yet if I prefer Teams over Blackboard Collaborate, but if one runs more smoothly than the other, that would be my pick!
I'm a little embarrassed to confess I actually didn't know what Flipped Classroom was... If someone had the same problem here's a video that explains it nicely:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCIxikOq73Q