This won't be a tech specific post, but more of a reflective piece.
This coming year my school is piloting AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination. I will try to give a brief synopsis of what I see it as, but if that is not enough check it out for yourself.www.avid.org
Many of the parts that we are being trained I have seen before, but it seems to be integrated together in one smooth package.
I participated in the Science 1 Track. AVID does a great job of integrating actual science class content within the content system.
The best example of this is the interactive notebook. A main component of the AVID system is organization. That is a key component of the interactive notebook. A great job was done showing how Cornell Notes could be used in the INB including in the lab/inquiry setting. I will try to upload example of this later. From this institute I plan to be sure that my students spend time process the data and procedures. The Cornell Notes give a spot for questions/processing on the left 1/3. I will require my students to write their own upper level questions that correspond to the procedures and data collected. I feel following this steategy my students will gain more from each activity done in class. Also I plan on having the students do a "Left Side" processing activity for each activity or notes. When I was first trained in INBs, I got away from it since doing this was difficult for me and the kids complained about doing them. I am resolved to start this up again. I just need to remember that if it is hard then that just makes it more worth doing, and the INB is for the students to learn and process.
The second main piece I pulled from the institute was the need to teach critical reading skills. Several activities were done to show this could be done in the classroom. The best example of this was marking the text. Numbering the paragraphs, circling the key terms and underlining main ideas were things have never directly taught my students. These are texchniques that I learned in college, but only after struggles. The AVID idea is go ahead and teach these students, that we are supporting advancement to college, with the skill necessary to succeed. After the text has been marked, students can then draw lines to make connections in the text, create upper level questions or summarize their reading. Paragraphs can also be divided out by groups in the class, students in each group can discuss the different parts that were read in a quick 3-4 main topic overview. Vocabulary development, finding main ideas, summarizing and inferencing can all be developed while critically reading the text.
Ala in all in was a good institute that I think if our school whole-heartedly buys in will help in increasing the number of our students that will go to college, and be successful while they are there.
I will try to post later on how this is going in my school, and my thoughts throughout the year.
As always, keep asking questions.
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Embrace the Tech
The other day I was in a PD for sheltered instruction, and a discussion started about technology in the classroom. Many of those in attendence did not see a need for technology in the classroom. This is what inspired me to write my first post. I figured start off with tools that could be used for the ESL student. Here is a quick list of tools that I have found useful in my classroom.
Google Translate - I find this best place to start. If your school is BYOD, 1:1, none of the above. If a student doesn't understand what you are asking of them, why not give them a tool to succeed. Voki - According to what I have learned, an English language learner is able to write and read, before they will want to or even can speak English. Why not give them a tool to give a voice to what they are writing? Educreations (web/app) / Explain Everything - Both of the are not the same, but I group them together. This tools give the student the ability to practice reading, writing, and speaking. A assignment could be done as a reflective piece explaining what was learned in class. If a student doesn't know a word that they are trying to explain about, they could always say the word in their native language and just input a picture of the word. I like Educreations because not only is it free but it can also be web-based instead of an app. Socrative/Polleverywhere - I know these are different ideas behind them, but they can both serve the same purpose. I like to put up a free response question up, and allow students to answer at their will. I have found that many of my ESL students are hesitant to talk, but giving them an anonymous voice breaks down that affective factor. Other options that could be used are places like Today's Meet or Chatzy(from Wes Fryer). Both of those are back channels, and I haven't in a specific classroom setting only during PD times. Infuse Learning - This is another service that is a lot like Socrative or Polleverywhere, but why I give it its own section is because of the draw feature. Many of my beginner, intermediate, and even some advanced writers cannot always express what they are thinking in written form. Infuse Learning gives them another option. Using the Infuse Draw option, a student can express their answer as a drawn picture, or the teacher could send out the answer choices as pictures with the words below them and then the student could circle the correct answer. This site does not like Internet Explorer, so Chrome is highly recommended. Aurasma - This app I haven't specifically used in my classes, but I am excited to try this year. I first learned of this app from the great Erin Klein from a blog post concerning Augmented Reality (AR). AR is a new type of technology that delivers a more interactive experience from normally not interactive materials. The idea I want to try is from Erin's blog post that suggest using the word wall cards, and making them interactive. The students, using the app, could make videos, images, or animations that explain each of the words in a more fun and engaging manner. Say for instance the word was photosynthesis, a student could add an "aura" to the word that was a quick video. Or the word was DNA, the "aura" could be an interactive image of DNA could be turned, manipulated, and possible taken apart. Another thought I had, was for my ESL students to create "auras" in their native language. This could benefit both the ESL student, but also the native English speaker helping them learn a new language. That could inspire a conversation on cognates. Like I said I have not had a chance to use this in my class, but am excited of the possibilities. *As a side note I heard about Erin's blog and Aurasma on the Techlandia Podcast, so thanks guys and gals. So there it is. A quick list of some of the offerings of technology tools for the ESL learner. There are probably another 5 days worth of reading on ESL tech tools. There is a lot out there, I want to learn more. So that being said, technology is not something we should be trying to get out of our schools. It is something that we should embrace. Our students have embraced, even more so engulfed themselves within it. Why are we trying to take this from them. The average student is walking around with an amazing resources gathering, brainstorming, content creator, data processing tool and we tell them to never take it out. This does not sound like good education. I support my students when they want to use their phones or tablets. I try to teach and instill proper use skills as well. How will they ever know when and when not is a good time to use their phones if we never teach or let them experience? Our students want to learn, are we destroying that desire? Thanks for reading, and keep on asking. |