The Flipped Class Revealed

See on Scoop.it – I can do this, even with technology.

Switching from a traditional classroom to a flipped classroom can be daunting because there are a lack of effective models.  So, what should an effective flipped classroom look like?  In our experience, effective flipped classrooms share many of these characteristics:

Ellen Graber‘s insight:

Flipping the classroom even works without technology…printed material can be sent home for class preparation.

 

I have seen results…it really gets EFL students talking in class.

See on www.thedailyriff.com

Call for Participation in Poster Session for MEXTESOL 40th International Convention

Hello TKTer’s Past and Present!

Several TKT graduates who are now working in public schools are interested in presenting together in a poster session in the next MEXTESOL National Convention to present a series of posters about how they work without technology in their teaching situation. We are looking specifically for teachers who are planning to go to the 40th International MEXTESOL Convention, are members and are interested in presenting in a combined group effort iina poster session.

 

Please respond to this post if you are interested.

Why use technology?

Ah yes here is one of the thought provoking posts that I like to send out to you every so often. Through my twitter network of supporters, teachers and learners, I found this great commentary and review on an article which was published in the NY Times not too long ago. Check it out.

Collision Detection

It explains in clear language how technology enhances learning, and demonstrates different ways of applying wordles in academic situations, even in a second language classroom!

Onions and Learning Situations

In the past I have made the analogy between onions and learning situations. Not just any onions: the big, round sweet Spanish onions that saute up so sweet. When you eat them before they are ripe, they are strong and have a sharp, unpleasant taste, but left to grow layer upon layer of sweet goodness, they grow into a delicious taste treat.

After having class on the Moodle platform, I wanted to share the onion analogy with you. Having the opportunity to work in a variety of contexts provides different levels of engagement with students just like the layers in an onion.
- Those that run away from technology have the opportunity of working with the pages in the Anthology dedicated to the Learning Theorists.
- Those that missed class could use the Moodle platform to access the class and not miss important information, although they missed important face to face discussion. Discussion could be facilitated through other contexts, such as through the blogs, and discussion forums in a classroom that are set up for a mufti-layered delivery.
- Those that like to work online worked at their own pace.
- Those that like to work in groups and do not like technology are able to work supported in small groups to access the information and draw conclusions by filling in their matrix.
- Those that want to look at the information again can do so anytime, as long as they are enrolled in the Moodle course online.

This experience provided a differentiation that is seldom available in our regular four walled classrooms. The contexts in which we worked during class on April 27 were multiple and provided a variety of opportunities for all types of learners. We figuratively knocked down the classroom walls and opened up the classroom to expand our possibilities of learning.

I’d like to share this article from an online e-zine in which educators share their views on flattening the classroom walls, or as they say in this article, flipping the classroom:
Favorite Strategies for engaging students in class discussions

Then to wrap up the topic of motivation, I’d like to share a post from one of the teachers on my international PLN (personal and professional learning network) who posted a reflective entry after her visit to IATEFL last year.
Please check out Eva’s blog..
Eva, thank you. I couldn’t have summed it up better.

Don’t Motivate your Students

You are probably wondering what I am saying…and I mean it, don’t motivate your students. If you motivate your students, you are still doing the work for them of getting them interested. Instead, engage your students. Involve your students. Let them have control of their learning. How?

Let them make decisions about their knowledge. Let them set their own goals. Stop trying to control them, let them control their learning processes.

I recently took a good hard look at the typical school classroom in most schools in the town where  I live. In every classroom, the seats are lined up to face the front facing the teacher, the center of attention.

Students sit and listen while professors drone on, and once in a while students get to speak during pair work. Students in Mexican universities are required to study English in order to graduate, so they come in thousands (five thousand students registered this past semester in our Language Department and at times, hundreds are turned away!). There are no discipline problems, this is university level studies and they take it seriously.

So, what does engaging your students mean? This is what I think:

• Asking them to reflect,
• to evaluate,
• to stand back and observe what they are doing,
• to learn not only from their product but also from their process. If we say that life is the journey you travel to get to your destination, and the fun is in how you get there, then why do we place so much emphasis on the product?

ASCD author and Annual Conference presenter Bob Sullo says that educators could be more successful with their teaching if they invited their students to be collaborators in their own learning in this video.

Point in case: I asked my advanced level students to bring in their portfolio of written work they had done in the past year after doing an analysis of sentence structure (complex, compound and simple sentences). They were able to observe their progress and note where they needed to make improvements. Most of them had never had the opportunity to sit and reflect where they have been to see where they could go. The AHA moment was tangible as everyone learned and set new personal goals for their writing during the semester. Now that was engagement.

• How would you place more emphasis on the process of learning?
• Would you let your students design their own rubrics? Share expectations?
• Give them a choice and so create ownership?
• Go beyond the classroom walls?

What ideas do you have?

Original Toondo cartoon by author.

Why online education is mostly a fantasy

See on Scoop.it – I can do this, even with technology.

In the end, MOOCs and online programs primarily help those who are self motivated to learn, and the vast majority of these people would have figured out how to educate themselves, whether in college or on their own, regardless of whether or not online courses are available.

 

Ellen Graber‘s insight:

I am one of those self-motivated learners and I can vouch for the fact that low cost online courses have a high drop out rate.

Last year I took a series of Moodle of Teachers courses, a fantastic series  with ( Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL) that provide a hands on approach to creating, designing, and using Moodle platforms for educational courses. There were 149 people in an orientation course, and only I finished the series of 4 more courses.

 

However, I also studied my Master’s online and felt community, structure and lots of support. It can go both ways.

See on pandodaily.com

TKT Course Graduates

Good news!

Your diplomas are ready for you in the office at the Languages Department. If you can go in the morning, ask for Cuiteli. I am there from 7-12 and am always happy to see you and help you out. If you can only go in the afternoon, then ask for Eva. She can help you out after 3.

It has been a pleasure to work with you and I hope that you achieve your goals. I hope you keep up on the blog and perhaps even post into the new people’s blogs with positive comments.

 

Learning Theories and our classes: why and how of motivation

This class will be a multi-layered multi-tiered learning experience.

For those computer savvy people, the experience will be completely on line.

For those who like the blended approach, they may access the information on line and work on paper (notebooks, matrices, and graphic organizers).

For those people who like to read from copies, copies are available: you have it all in your anthology, from the reading to the matrix.

After this class, besides the work asked of you during the class, you will write a post on your blog commenting on how your online experience went, sharing what you learned, and stating your opinion about how you liked the online or blended experience.

To get onto the platform:

Access: http://edtech4u.com

Create an Account

Wait for Email Confirmation

Click on link in email – gets you into base site of Integrating Technology

Then give my link http://www.integrating-technology.org/course/view.php?id=395

Give Password to the course  TKTisactive

Click enroll me

Then you are ready to start. Have fun playing.

Standards in Teaching and Learning Language through the classification of can do statements..or functions!

What words most stand out here?
That’s right, information, capacity, communicate, and level. ALTE and CEFR unify criteria and standardizes the learning and teaching of languages for learners and teachers. If we are studying for a standardized exam, the TKT, that is recognized throughout the world, then so are our learners with the use of ALTE and CEFR.

So far, your posts have been very reflective and very astute.
Here is a chart for you to see the relationship between the two standards of language teaching in Europe.

From the British Council Examinations Services in Bogota, http://www.britishcouncil.org/colombia-exams-ielts-common-european-framework-cambridge-esol-and-alte.pdf

Outstanding work

I love words with multiple meanings. The phrase in the title can be taken two ways, you wither did an exceptionally good job, or work still needs to be handed in. In this case, I am referring to the latter meaning.

If you have yet to plug your sentence written in phonemic script, here is a Website that might give you extra practice and share some ideas why phonemic script is a helpful tool for teaching English. http://quickshout.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/translate-text-into-phonetic-script.html

If you have already completed that task, then have fun checking out the page. Many good things