Week 5: Rubrics have become an integral part of teaching and learning

Rubrics have become an integral part of teaching and learning at all universities and places involved in ELT. EFL. ESL and others in the past few years. Here at UTN University, Teachers, directors and faculty developers have engaged in discussions in faculty meetings, in lunchrooms, and it certainly was one of the topics at the UTN EFL International convention recently held.




Remember that assessment is not necessarily an either-or option. Instead, these assessment strategies can be used together in order to gain a better picture of your students' grasp of the content. In one workshop, they talked of tools for grading complex assignments, the purpose and characteristics of rubrics and the use of RubiStar was analyzed. At the end of the session, participants drafted a rubric for an assignment and gave and received feedback from a colleague.



Benefits they reported include clearer complaints and more focused teaching. Of course there are also teachers who have reasonable reservations about rubrics; here is what one teacher expressed:



1. Making a good rubric takes a lot of time, and some teachers are skeptical about breaking down grades and feedback into specific criteria and categories in art and design classes.



Personally, I think that with standard assessment based practices, it’s not always easy for teachers to monitor the learning and growth of their students. When students are given a “C,” or a comment like “good work” – how is it possible for them to know what they did well versus what they didn’t? How can students improve their work and how can teachers improve their instruction?

Rubrics in this respect, gives the students relevant and timely feedback without diminishing their effort into preparing the assignment.

With rubrics, teachers can align their benchmarks/standards of proficiency based on the skill sets they have already taught. By aligning their instruction to match assessment criteria, students know in advance how they can get a good grade.

What I particularly like about using rubrics is that they can be customized to suit the content of a classroom. In the past, I’ve also had students evaluate their own and their peers’ performance using rubrics; in some classes, we decided together on the criteria for evaluation. Coming up with the criteria can be tricky but using them to evaluate students’ work becomes a breeze.

Students also know in advance what they need to strive for and how they can improve their grades. It’s also comforting for students to know they can get in-between grades.

Week 5: Nelson Mandela Accepts Honorary Doctorate Degree

Nelson Mandela Accepts Honorary Doctorate Degree

Week 4: Practice your skills!

Practice your skills!

http://www.testden.com/challenge/toeflibt/maintest.asp#_jumpto

Week 4: Technology Lesson Plan

Name of the lesson: Newscast

(Name, type of student): University students aged 23 (average), intermediate to advance.

Interaction: Pair-work then class

 Duration: 60 minutes Materials: Computers with internet connection, word processor, webcams. Latest news downloaded from http://newsmap.jp/ or http://www.cnn.com/ (Cable News Network),

Other material: Browser

Rationale: Regularly when students are asked to give their opinions on topics they have a limited knowledge about and a little interest, they do not talk much about it because they do not feel confident on their ideas and of course they do not want to look stupid in front of others. Teachers should provide new ways for student to make them feel they are the masters of their domain on a specific subject. IntroductionReview of previous lesson:go to http://newsmap.jp/ or http://www.cnn.com%20/and select the language (English), the country and the news they are interested in, this activates students’schemata. Objectives of this lesson (tell students about them): • to build reading, writing and speaking skills through analyzing the latest and updated news from all over the world selected by the students, the students will also encourage critical thinking. • After reading and choosing the news headline they feel most interest in they will work on the script based on what they have read, the students will have to take a role either A or B then decide who is going to be the interviewer and the interviewee.


Procedure: This activity is three steps over the period of time:

1. Finding the updated and most interest news: Go to http://newsmap.jp/ or http://www.cnn.com/ and decide among the two participants which news is more relevant to them and how easy/difficult will it be to write a report about it.
2. Reading the news: the two members read the headline of the one they have chosen and start writing the script on they own words and practice their roles as the interviewer and the interviewee.
 3. Presenting the news: Students improvise a TV set in the classroom, they set the table/desk, the computer with the webcam on and take positions as the interviewer and the interviewee. The interviewer start say something like:

Student A: “Good morning everyone and welcome to UTV show, today we are going to be talking about the use of blogs into the classroom, so we have invited one of the most known bloggers, his name is Robert and he is one the instructor of Oregon University E-course. Robert welcome to our UTV show!

Students B: Thank you for the invitation! I am happy to be here Student A: So, Robert tell us, what is a blog and how useful is it into education nowadays?

Students B: Well, Blogs are………….. The teacher helps with controlling the computer webcam, play, pause, play stop. Follow up: Students with ongoing classes, this activity can be repeated as regular intervals, with class members presenting the most interesting videos and news they worked on as well as any new and useful vocabulary they learned from the news...

Learning styles addressed: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, reflective and impulsive. Students will be given time to consider and should be able to respond

Technology alternative (in case things don't work as planned): Students are asked to bring digital cameras in case there computers webcam have some drawbacks.

Review before the end of the class session: The teacher views the videos and listen to students criteria and analyzes. He takes notes of possible slips, mistakes and errors to give students a feedback

Homework: Each pair of students will have to watch one report video made from another pair and make comments on it, for example:
1. What is the news about?
2. Is it updated it?
3. Have you heard of that?
4. Etc.

What a video about Technology Enhanced Student-Centered Learning

Week 4: TELL makes the difference

If we look at it critically, our students always expect their teachers to do something different, when teachers do so, students feel motivated and it creates expectations and curiosity because they never know what the next class and lesson is going to be about. Implementing and e-lesson plan at least twice a week is a great way to engage students and the most important is that they always want to attend classes to know what the teacher is going to do, it does not mean teachers do not plan, in my case I do plan but just tell students if they ask me "tomorrow is something very interesting, different and exciting" I am not telling them the answer nor what we will be doing. It works. Last week, I planned to work on a newscast based on real news in the country and abroad. It went super well and they even wanted to upload some of the videos onto www.youtube.comand embedded them to their Facebook and hi5. I truly believe that implementing Blended Learning is using technology in and beyond the classroom and it makes the difference, nowadays students love it and think it more fun than using chalk or marker and a black/white board.

Week 3: Useful Web Sites for English Language Learning and Teaching

Useful Web Sites for English Language Learning and Teaching

The Internet TESL Journal

http://iteslj.org/

http://iteslj.org/Lessons/

English Teaching Forum

http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum-journal.html

Online English Language Center

http://oelp.uoregon.edu/

OELC teacher resources available from the Web

http://oelp.uoregon.edu/teach.html

OELC Web-based authentic materials for English language learning

http://oelp.uoregon.edu/teach_authentic.html#Images

Videos

The Internet Movie Database

http://us.imdb.com/

http://www.imdb.com/features/video/trailers/

Harry Potter video clip trailer

Narrative: 

Harry Potter. I have seen your heart and it is mine. They’re coming. You can’t fight this war on your own. He’s too strong. You don’t stand a chance.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4079917337/

Lion King video clip trailer

Narrative: Akuna matata. What a wonderful phrase. Akuna matata ain’t no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s a problem free philosophy.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi712181529/

Online newspapers

http://onlinenewspapers.com/

Moving Ecuador (an English newspaper that focuses on travel in Ecuador)

http://www.volunteeringecuador.info/

USA Today (English newspaper)

http://www.usatoday.com/

USA Today photo gallery

http://www.usatoday.com/mediagallery/The-day-in-pictures/G165

Simple English News (offers simplified English versions of news stories and native speaker audio readings of the story)

http://www.simpleenglishnews.com/

CNN Student News

This site includes podcasts, videos, photos, and transcripts of 10-minute daily news broadcasts for middle and high school students.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/studentnews/11/04/sn.how.to/index.html

Books

Children’s storybooks online

http://www.magickeys.com/books/

Week 2: Good sites for teachers

Dictionary of Difficult Words This commercial site offers a searchable dictionary of thousands of difficult words. http://www.lineone.net/dictionaryof/difficultwords/index.html Figures of Speech This privately maintained site provides definitions of various figures of speech along with examples from English literature. http://www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/williams/figofspe.htm   AskOxford.com The Oxford University Press offers tips for better writing, information on the origin of words, and word games and puzzles. http://www.askoxford.com/

World Wide Words: Exploring the English Language This privately maintained site offers weekly columns on the history of words and the development of new words and phrases; reviews of dictionaries and links to related resources are also provided. http://www.worldwidewords.org/ Guide to Grammar and Writing This privately maintained site offers writing tips and guidelines, answers to grammar-related questions, online grammar quizzes, and other resources. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

 

Daily Grammar

This commercial site offers free, daily e-mail messages containing writing lessons and quizzes; the site contains an archive of past lessons and a glossary.

http://www.dailygrammar.com/

American Dialect Society

The American Dialect Society, a scholarly association dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, offers news, a discussion forum, and many other resources.

http://www.americandialect.org/

Readings of Old English Poetry

This site contains the text of selected Old English poems, with audio versions in the original language and translations in modern English.

http://www.kami.demon.co.uk/gesithas/readings/readings.html  

The Word Spy

This site features recently coined words, existing words that have enjoyed a recent renaissance, and older words that are being used in new ways; each weekday it presents a new word, its definition, and a citation that illustrates how people are using it.

http://www.wordspy.com/  

The Word Detective

This is an online version of The Word Detective, a newspaper column about words and language; it includes an archive of columns, special features, and links to other language resources on the Web.

http://www.word-detective.com/

 

Routes of English

The online companion to a BBC radio show, this site offers information about the history of the English language, an interactive world map tracing its spread, and games and features about accents, puns, and bad language.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/

Week 2: Writing Mini Lesson Collection Links

• 4 Blocks Writing Mini Lessons http://www.k111.k12.il.us/LAFAYETTE/FOURBLOCKS/mini-lessons.htm•
So-Ho Mini-lessons http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/8405/minilessonmenu.html
• Teachers.Net Lesson Exchange – Mini Lessons http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/875.html
• Language-Arts Mini Lessons – Youth.net http://www.youth.net/cec/ceclang/ceclang-elem.html
• Deb’s 4Blocks Page – Writing Mini-Lesson Links http://www.debfourblocks.com/lessonslinks.html
• Cheri Summer’s Writing Mini Lessons http://www.cyberspaces.net/6traits/mini.html
• The Writing Center @ KSU ~ Elementary – Upper Grades http://dept.kent.edu/english/WritingCent/mini.htm
• Quillayute Valley School District – Writing Mini Lessons and Topic Ideas http://www.forks.wednet.edu/middle/7thgrade/foutspweb/foutspwebsite/lessons/writinghome.htm
• Academy Curriculur Exchange – All Grade Level Mini Lessons http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/lang/elem.html
• Elementary 4 Block Lesson Plans ~ LOADED with information http://www.margb.com/RISD_web2/Other%20Elementary/elementary_four_blocks_lesson_pl.htm
• Codman Academy Charter Public School – Mini Lessons http://codmanacademy.org/branches/bestpractices/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=34
• Read/Write/Think.Org – developed by NCTE ~ A MUST SEE!!! http://www.readwritethink.org/

Week 2: The Language of Blogging

This article appeared in the August 2007 edition of eJournal USA.

Blog — Short for Weblog. A Web site that contains written material, links, or photos being posted all the time, usually by one individual, on a personal basis.

(To) blog — Run a blog or post material on one.

Blogger — Person who runs a blog.

Blogosphere — All blogs, or the blogging community.

Blogroll — List of external links appearing on a blog, often links to other blogs and usually in a column on the homepage. Often amounts to a “sub-community” of bloggers who are friends.

Blogware — Software used to run a blog. Comment spam — Like e-mail spam. Robot “spambots” flood a blog with advertising in the form of bogus comments. A serious problem that requires bloggers and blog platforms to have tools to exclude some users or ban some addresses in comments. Content syndication — How a site’s author or administrator makes all or part of its content available for posting on another Web site.

Moblog — Contraction of “mobile blog.” A blog that can be updated remotely from anywhere, such as by phone or a digital assistant. Permalink — Contraction of “permanent link.” Web address of each item posted on a blog. A handy way of permanently bookmarking a post, even after it has been archived by the blog it originated from.

Photoblog — A blog containing mostly photos, posted constantly and chronologically. Podcasting — Contraction of “iPod” and “broadcasting.” Posting audio and video material on a blog and its RSS feed, for digital players. Post — An item posted on a blog. Can be a message or news, or just a photo or a link. Usually a short item, including external links, that visitors can comment on.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) — A way of handling the latest items posted on a Web site, especially suited for blogs because it alerts users whenever their favorite blogs are updated. It can also “syndicate” content by allowing other Web sites (simply and automatically) to reproduce all or part of a site’s content. Spreading fast, especially on media Web sites.

RSS Aggregator — A software or online service allowing a blogger to read an RSS feed, especially the latest posts on his favorite blogs. Also called a reader or feedreader.

RSS Feed — The file containing a blog’s latest posts. It is read by an RSS aggregator/reader and shows at once when a blog has been updated.

Trackback — A way that Web sites can communicate automatically by alerting each other that an item posted on a blog refers to a previous item. Web diary — A blog.

Wiki — From the Hawaiian word “wikiwiki” (quick). A Web site that can be easily and quickly updated by any visitor. The word has also come to mean the tools used to create a wiki (wiki engines). Blogs and wikis have some similarities but are quite different.

Reference “The Language of Blogging” by Pointblog.com