Group items tagged

Week 7: Margarita Lugo and Erika Eason This journal article is accessible through the link given above by accessing the UMUC library. This article focuses on the "multiple intelligence theory" and its application for foreign language teachers and their classrooms as a way to actively and authentically engage students in learning in all subject areas (however, this article does emphasize foreign language). This theory says that content can be taught in a variety of ways and recommends that teachers should design lessons, projects, homework, and assessments while thinking of students' learning preferences and styles. Specifically, the article goes through Gardner's theory and illustrates how it can be applied to Spanish classroom. Our SMART goal is that "By the end of the numbers unit, 60% of students in the Special Education program in MS Spanish 1A - Period 2 will achieve 80% or higher on each formative assessment including listening, speaking and writing assessments". This article can help me achieve this goal by giving me new insight on differentiating instruction and assessments for my SPED students who struggle in one or more areas of communication. References: Anders, L., & Willen, W. (2005/2006). Differentiating instruction in the Spanish as a foreign language course using multiple intelligence theory. International Journal of Learning, 12(6), 9-14. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database. (Accession No. 25089780)

Week 9 - This article by Leonore Ganschow and Elke Schneiderm provide an excellent description of students who struggle with learning a foreign language, yet they provide excellent strategies to assess and accomplish such task. The articles provides a summary of research findings with regards to at-risk students and foreign language learning, what administrators can do, and recommendations for the study of a foreign language. From the website: LD OnLine is the leading website on learning disabilities, learning disorders and differences. Parents and teachers of learning disabled children will find authoritative guidance on attention deficit disorder, ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, reading difficulties, speech and related disorders. LD OnLine works in association with Learning Disabilities Association of America, International Dyslexia Association, Council for Exceptional Children, Schwab Foundation for Learning, and the Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities.

Group 3: Erika Eason, Margarita Lugo, Frances Parker Week 8: This journal article is accessible through the link given above by accessing the UMUC library. Description: Students with learning disabilities commonly either avoided or have been discouraged from taking World Language classes. This article describes "multi-sensory approaches" and the kind of instructional strategies, informed by brain-based research, that can help students with learning disabilities succeed in learning Spanish or another second language. The article focuses on how to create meaningful inclusion and skill building in Spanish courses through general accommodations, existing resources, and learning strategies. The article also references the relative lack of scholarly research on this topic and how that negatively impacts wider knowledge of ways to help students with learning disabilities learn a foreign language. This article was of interest to our group because the SMART goal is directly tied to improving the performance of special education students in Spanish class. The goal of the world languages department is for every student to learn one of the languages taught, yet that is not always possible since special education students who are not meeting the reading goals are frequently pulled from language classes to get reading support. Implementing strategies and other instructional moves that might keep the students in language class, are of interest to the teachers. While several of the multisensory strategies discussed were already known, there were a couple that reinforced practices that have already been implemented as a result of our group's data action plan and at least one new idea that our practicing teacher would like to try. This article would be particularly useful for Spanish teachers who are learning to differentiate their instruction and assessment for the first time and who need ideas about how to involve more Citation: Tolbert, J. B.,

This article describes the incorporation of web conferencing in a foreign language classroom with the purpose of improving listening and speaking skills. Although the number of students in the study is small, the authors provide very specific recommendations for the implementation of this technology in the classroom. This technology allows students more time to practice and interact with their L2 since the conferencing can be done outside of the classroom.

In this blog, Dr. Gianfranco Conti, Phd., founder of The Language Gym, discusses Schmidt's "Noticing Hypothesis" - noticing the gap between the first and second language. Noticing the gap and the similarities between the L1 and L2 is an important piece of language acquisition. Benefits to implementing this strategy include improving reading, pronunciation, grammar instruction, spelling, and essay writing.

Our data group for EDTC 615 is focusing on developing better speaking skills in the Chinese as a Foreign Language classroom. This article describes a structured process for reviewing textbooks to ensure that they provide explicit strategy instruction for listening and speaking. Using this method my group could review the explicit instruction that is currently in use in our classroom and decide if any modifications need to be made to improve student learning.

This article proves that teachers and students can benefit from the integration of technology in a foreign language classroom. As a world language teacher, I wanted to find an article that offers tools/ideas that could help me bridge the gap between the output and the input in world language class.

While a bit long (10 pages, including the reference list), this article provides ideas and strategies to help students with learning differences (LD) be more successful in Spanish classrooms. It references recent brain research and also reminds readers that students with LD do not have diminished intellectual capacity. The first part of the article gives background on LD, latter sections give suggestions about things Spanish teachers can do to help their students with LD be more successful in their classes.

(Week 8: Margarita, Erika, Frances) Article originally posted in Diigo. An additional source is here: http://www.academypublication.com/ojs/index.php/tpls/article/view/tpls0502225234/64 This article describes "multi-sensory approaches" and the kind of instructional strategies, informed by brain-based research, that can help students with learning disabilities succeed in learning Spanish or another second language. The article focuses on how to create meaningful inclusion and skill building in Spanish courses through general accommodations, existing resources, and learning strategies. The article also references the relative lack of scholarly research on this topic and how that negatively impacts wider knowledge of ways to help students with learning disabilities learn a foreign language. This article was of interest to our group because the SMART goal is directly tied to improving the performance of special education students in Spanish class. In some schools, special education students are often pulled from language classes to get reading support, so implementing strategies that might keep the students in language class are of interest to the Spanish teachers. While several of the strategies discussed were already known, there were a couple that reinforced practices that have already been implemented as a result of our group's data action plan and at least one new idea that our practicing teacher would like to try. Reference Tolbert, J. B., Killu, K., & Lazarus, B. D. (2015). A framework for supporting students with learning disabilities in Spanish courses: connecting learning characteristics and instructional methods. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(2), 225-234. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0502.01

(I tried to edit my previous comment with some corrected info, but the changes wouldn't stick, so I am just reposting again) (Week 8: Margarita, Erika, Frances) The original link for this article was to a standalone PDF link. An additional source is here: http://www.academypublication.com/ojs/index.php/tpls/article/view/tpls0502225234/64 Students with learning disabilities commonly either avoided or have been discouraged from taking World Language classes. This article describes "multi-sensory approaches" and the kind of instructional strategies, informed by brain-based research, that can help students with learning disabilities succeed in learning Spanish or another second language. The article focuses on how to create meaningful inclusion and skill building in Spanish courses through general accommodations, existing resources, and learning strategies. The article also references the relative lack of scholarly research on this topic and how that negatively impacts wider knowledge of ways to help students with learning disabilities learn a foreign language. This article was of interest to our group because the SMART goal is directly tied to improving the performance of special education students in Spanish class. The goal of the world languages department is for every student to learn one of the languages taught, yet that is not always possible since special education students who are not meeting the reading goals are frequently pulled from language classes to get reading support. Implementing strategies and other instructional moves that might keep the students in language class, are of interest to the teachers. While several of the multisensory strategies discussed were already known, there were a couple that reinforced practices that have already been implemented as a result of our gr

Week 9: Margarita Lugo, Erika Eason, Frances Parker This journal article is accessible through the link given above by accessing the UMUC library Description: This article takes a closer look the the kinds of accommodations in place for students with learning disabilities in math, science and world language class. Even though these accommodations are created and determined by learning and special education specialists, there is little research existing about which accommodations are recommended and effective for math, science, and world language courses. The author chose to focus on accommodations in these courses because of the lack of research of the effectiveness of accommodations in these courses as well as the documented struggle for students with learning disabilities in these courses. Smart goal: Our SMART goal is that "By the end of the numbers unit, 60% of students in the Special Education program in MS Spanish 1A - Period 2 will achieve 80% or higher on each formative assessment including listening, speaking and writing assessments". This article can help me achieve this goal by giving me new insight on the documented effectiveness of accommodations in the world language classroom. Framing Question: What kinds of accommodations would be most effective in the world language classroom? Which accommodations have been proved to be the most effective in the world language classroom? Citation: Ofiesh, N. S. (2007). Math, science, and foreign language: evidence-based accommodation decision making at the postsecondary level. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(4), 237-245.

This paper gives a broad overview of key historical and current theories to language development and learning. It provides a nice overview and review of various approaches and schools of thought. The author's premise is that teachers should look both collectively and uniquely at these in order to make informed instructional decisions when teaching students who are learning a second language, either English as a second language or another foreign language. While the information is not new, it is a well-presented consolidation of information that educators can use to diversify their instructional approach to promote language development in their students.

This article describes an innovative technique for teaching foreign language teaching skills. The researchers used interactive videos and webcams to capture their students responding to video prompts and capturing their responses for future review. The method also allows students to review their responses and create a digital portfolio of their speaking skills.

Good explanation of different ACTFL standards.

This article focuses on simple things that teachers should keep in mind when trying to close the achievement gap. It reminds teachers that they don't need to make grand, sweeping changes; just doing some small things can have a major impact in terms of both the instructional and achievement gaps. The steps include using data more effectively, reflecting on your own choices in the classroom with a purpose, staying open-minded and avoiding assumptions, ensuring that the class is academically and culturally relevant, and developing positive relationships with parents. These are not necessarily ground-breaking ideas, but they are small enough that they can be effectively implemented relatively quickly and then fostered more to help close those gaps for students.

I enjoyed this article as it gives very simple ways that teachers can do a better job. It also confirms what I've known to help by making more culturally friendly lessons that students are more accustomed to as we try to scaffold concepts that are foreign.

This article from The Language Educator discusses how to differentiate instruction in the language classroom through the use of stations, complex instruction, orbital studies, centers, and tiered activities. The article showcases the success of differentiating instruction at a German immersion school and and a district-wide implementation of differentiated. Included are addresses to challenges with differentiating instruction in the language classroom.

This article makes a very good argument for incorporating e-mail into the classroom to improve student writing. The author explains how students are often bored with traditional writing assignments and editing/revising sessions using Microsoft Word (even though this is technology, it is less interactive). The author explains how having a second party on the other end of the email who will be reading their work encourages students to carefully proofread and make edits/revisions as necessary on their own before sending the e-mails. Students were also more interesting in the authentic writing tasks that e-mail communication allowed (such as writing to professionals in their fields of study/interest and receiving real responses). The author gives a plethora of ideas for utilizing e-mail to improve student writing in various content classes, including Language Arts, Math, Foreign Language, and Social Studies. Kristine and I found this article and are hoping to work in this strategy/component into our Data Action Plan (although we previously did not list it as a strategy to help with our SMART goals). WEEK 7