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Don Doehla

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

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    "The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment,[1] abbreviated as CEFR, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries (for example, Colombia and the Philippines). It was put together by the Council of Europe as the main part of the project "Language Learning for European Citizenship" between 1989 and 1996. Its main aim is to provide a method of learning, teaching and assessing which applies to all languages in Europe. In November 2001 a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability. The six reference levels (see below) are becoming widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual's language proficiency."
Don Doehla

Language Shift: From Learning to Acquisition | AIMing for Multiliteracy - 1 views

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    How can language educators effectively transition students from language "learning" to language "acquisition"? This is a question to focus on as all language educators try to create classroom experiences that meet the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL) guidelines. ACTFL is calling for a shift in all language classes. Students and teachers need to use the second language (L2) at least 90% of the time. This amount of target language (TL) use will only create success for students if the teacher uses Comprehensible Input (CI). L2, TL and CI are three must-know acronyms for language educators today. Language "acquisition" is a key concept to our journey towards using research-based methods to update our language teaching practices.
Sharin Tebo

Using texts | frenchteacher.net - 0 views

  • Apart from being a source of reading, structures and vocabulary, the text is a starting point for grammar practice, listening work, pronunciation and intonation practice and discussion. If you accept that comprehension is the source of all real second language acquisition, then reading texts is fundamental.
  • Texts need not be completely authentic. After all, they are primarily a tool for teaching the language, so you may need to adapt the source text to suit the group in front of you
  • Texts which relate to students’ own experience (leisure, new technologies, television, internet, shopping, school, film etc) can be good as they may well encourage students to talk more.
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  • What to do with texts Here is a check-list of ways you can exploit texts together with a justification or comment for each task. You could add to these with your own.
  • Prepare the ground. To prepare students for the text they are going to read it is a good idea to ask a few questions or give a brief introduction to the topic.
  • Skim reading. This helps students develop their skills of reading quickly for gist or specific details.
  • Read the text aloud or play a recording of the text. This allows students to hear correct pronunciation and encourages them to read slowly and carefully since they have to go at the pace of the reader.
  • Get students to read aloud.
  • Practising intonation. Reading aloud allows the teacher to work on stress and intonation.
  • Vocabulary brainstorming. This could be done before the text is read or, better, at a later stage.
  • Filling in tables. You can design a grid or table
  • Jigsaw reading
  • look for ones where there is a clear development from one point to the next and where there are clear links from paragraph to paragraph.
  • Match headlines to paragraphs. To show grasp of meaning and structure
  • Match summaries with paragraphs.
  • “Find the French/Spanish/German for”. This simple task, best done in the early stages of looking at a text, simply involves getting students to pick out vocabulary via translation. It can be done orally, or perhaps better in writing as then all students are definitely involved in the task.
  • Bilingual vocabulary list completion.
  • Finding cognates.
  • Underlining parts of speech.
  • Questions in the target language. This is the most traditional activity of all, but one which should not be underrated. Good questioning technique (oral and written) allows the teacher to practise grammar points, vocabulary, comprehension and speaking skills.
  • Defining words or phrases.
  • Making up questions in the target language.
  • Give the answer, they make up the question.
  • Questions in English. Although this has the disadvantage of moving away from the target language, it should not be ignored. It does focus entirely on meaning and with harder texts it can be a way of getting into the text before other tasks in the target language are carried out. It is also an entirely authentic real-life task.
  • Give false statements.
  • Matching tasks.
  • Completing sentences.
  • Multiple-choice. This is a good for allowing students to show a fine grasp of meaning. Multiple choice tasks should give at least three options and can take the form of a question with three answers or a sentence start with three different completions. These are quite fun to design and can be adapted to the level of the class.
  • Gap-filling. You can blank out words, phrases or whole sentences from the original text
  • Summarising from memory.
  • Written summary in the target language.
  • Changing the point of view.
  • Dictation. This is a high level activity, but is easily adaptable to different levels. It works best with French, where the sound to orthography relationship is more difficult than with Spanish or German
  • Paired dictation. For this you give students a series of sentences of different lengths. One student has to read the shortest sentence to their partner. The partner has to repeat the sentence precisely out loud.
  • Texts may be entered into an online tool such as Textivate, where students can do a variety of text manipulation exercises.
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    How to use Texts in Language Teaching--Strategies for pre, during and post reading
Don Doehla

ISTE | Digital Storytelling Guide for Educators By Midge Frazel - 1 views

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    Storytelling is an age-old art form. With Web 2.0 and the tools already available on most computers, students can use text, music, sound effects, videos, and more to create a multimedia presentation that links them to the world beyond the classroom. Storytelling has the potential to unleash creativity, engage, and motivate. Applicable across the curriculum, digital storytelling teaches students to work collaboratively and use new technologies, skills they will be required to have in the workforce of the future. This book offers an overview of digital storytelling as well as its variations, including e-portfolios, digital photo essays, and scrapblogs. The many recommendations, overviews, and explanations of digital storytelling tools, along with lists of additional digital storytelling resources, will help educators to apply this exciting technology in their classrooms. Educators will also discover the ways digital storytelling can be used for their own professional development. Digital Storytelling Guide for Educators provides detailed directions to preparation, production, and presentation, and rounds out with a discussion on creating rubrics and evaluating student work. Readers will come away with an understanding of digital stories and the tools needed to create them.
Don Doehla

A platform of resources - 0 views

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    After producing reference documents such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages taught as "foreign" languages, the Council of Europe's Language Policy Unit proposes a new instrument, in the form of this Platform, enabling member states to benefit from the experience and expertise of other member states in formulating their programmes relating to languages of schooling and all language teaching.
Don Doehla

ECML/CELV > Home - 0 views

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    "The ECML is a Council of Europe institution based in Graz, Austria. In cooperation with the Language Policy Division of the Council the Centre functions as a catalyst for reform in the teaching and learning of languages.  "
Don Doehla

Use of the Target Language in the Classroom | American Council on The Teaching of Forei... - 1 views

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    ACTFL's position statement on 90% rule
Don Doehla

The Power of Digital Story | Edutopia - 0 views

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    Telling our story is an essential part of our humanness. It allows us to feel part of the community that knows our story, and it fosters empathy for those that surround us. Story is a powerful force in shaping mental models, motivating and persuading others, and teaching the lessons of life. Telling story extends back to a time when oral history dominated the tools of communication. And now the flood of technology tools that allow for instant communication has spun us back into a golden age where story again dominates the media landscape.
Don Doehla

Sra. Spanglish: AAPPL Measures and IPAS - 1 views

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    AAPPL Measures and IPAS I think tests are stupid. A test can't tell you how well I do my job or live my life--or anything you really need to know about me. Now, I'm really good at taking tests, and if you were to look at various test scores I've accumulated in my life, I daresay you'd be impressed with me. But do you know how much bearing the ACT, SAT, or GRE has had on any of my roles since college or grad school application time? Do you know how much impact that Issues in Teaching Foreign Languages or  Masterpieces of Hispanic Art and Literature exam has had on me as a teacher, mother, wife, or friend--or even as a speaker of Spanish?
Don Doehla

The 8 Elements of Project Based Learning: A Model Project | Bianca Hewes - 0 views

  • The students were confronted with a number of opportunties to engage in critical thinking and problem-solving during this project.
  • open-ended
  • use of a KWL table
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  • considering cliche, stereotypes and prejudice in relation to the ‘emo’ sub-culture
  • collaborated online via edmodo and face-to-face in class
  • collaborate on the podcast
  • Lots of problem-solving went into this part of the project!
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    As most of you know, the uber gods of PBL are BIE. I was first introduced to the BIE PBL 'model' from mate Dean Groom who handed me over what I still refer to as my 'PBL Bible' - a ring-binder full of the BIE Freebies that help teachers plan effective projects and keep students on track as they move through the different phases of each project. The cool thing is that you can use as much or as little as you want … PBL is a very personal process that (like all good teaching) should be tailored to the expertise and needs of the teacher and students. However, there are 8 Elements of Project Based Learning that can be called the 'essential elements' of PBL … keeping an eye on these and 'testing' your project design based on them can help you determine if what you're creating isn't just a 'project'. I really like this statement from BIE contrasting PBL and traditional 'projects':

    A typical unit with a "project" add-on begins by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once gained, giving students the opportunity to apply them. Project Based Learning begins with the vision of an end product or presentation. This creates a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.
Don Doehla

UnBoxed: online What does it mean to think like a teacher? - 0 views

  • What does it mean to “think like a teacher?”
  • Is education a discipline? Or is it a “meta-discipline,”
  • Once teachers begin thinking this way, project-based learning becomes second nature, and inquiry, student agency and application to the world beyond the classroom become deeply rooted in meaningful curriculum created by teams of teachers engaging in their own meangful work.
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  • This cultural moment, this paradigm shift we are experiencing in education, is a confluence of evolving factors, including constructivism, brain research, inquiry-based education, and the ubiquity of knowledge in the digital age. All of that is for naught if we cannot interrupt the cultural stranglehold of our habits and mindsets. The correlation of Gardner’s theory with Stigler and Heibert’s findings leads us to profound insight into the necessity of invoking prior knowledge and understandings as we continue to learn how to teach and learn in this new paradigm.
  • As generalists first, we are, as Sizer noted, engaged in the process of teaching kids to “use their minds well.” This does not preclude being thoroughly versed in one or more subject areas, even in imagining—in partnership with our students—new and trans-disciplinary subject areas. We too, have an imperative to “use our minds well.” As we fearlessly invoke our own prior knowledge and deeply held understandings in order to challenge and disrupt them, we ask ourselves fundamental questions—what is school, homework, rigor? Why do they matter? Do they matter?—we are reinventing schools and reinventing ourselves. We are thinking like teachers.
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    At any given moment, the disciplines represent the most well-honed efforts of human beings to approach questions and concerns of importance in a systematic and reliable way. (Howard Gardner, The Disciplined Mind, p. 144)

    What they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four and three, and two, and one. (Sandra Cisneros, "Eleven," from The House on Mango Street)
Don Doehla

What the Heck Is Project-Based Learning? | Edutopia - 0 views

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    You know the hardest thing about teaching with project-based learning? Explaining it to someone. It seems to me that whenever I asked someone the definition of PBL, the description was always so complicated that my eyes would begin to glaze over immediately. So to help you in your own musings, I've devised an elevator speech to help you clearly see what's it all about.
Don Doehla

Curriculum21 - 0 views

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    Heidi Hayes Jacobs Curriculum 21 website.
Don Doehla

Think. Learn. Innovate. | Getting Smart - 0 views

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    The website which accompanies Tom Vander Ark's book and explores further areas of inquiry.
Laura Sexton

Badges | - 0 views

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    Descriptions of Lafayette College's different badges
Laura Sexton

The Keys to Assessing Language Performance | American Council on The Teaching of Foreig... - 0 views

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    Suggested book by Paul Sandrock
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