Language Sensei | Thoughts on Teaching Languages and Integrating Technology

June 18, 2013
by leesensei
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Keys For Using Student Self-Evaluation in Discussions…

Too often in the past a student would complete an oral, turn to me and ask “How did I do?”. Didn’t they know? Weren’t they aware of how it was going? Gradually I saw the need to change my focus from oral production focussed on grammar and vocabulary to interpersonal communication. And who better to judge how the communication activity went than the person involved? I use self-evaluation rubrics a lot in my classes for various oral interactive activities.

What are the key elements that need to be in place for meaningful self-evaluation?

A Robust and Flexible Rubric: All of the rubrics I use are based upon the same 4 key areas: Asking questions, responding to questions, utilizing vocabulary and structures and facilitating conversation. The current interation of my rubric represents a collaboration with my DELF- focussed French teaching colleague Cara Babson and #langchat colleague Natalia DeLaat (@natadel76). The rubric is based on those used by DELF but modified to suit my current needs. Perhaps best of all the rubric is an evolving document changing to meet communication goals and class needs. My current version is here if you are interested.

Student Awareness of Language Expectations: Build an expectation of language use and practice skills needed. We practice the art of the follow up question a lot. Class often begins with a prompt in English “Ask your partner…” with the words “who? when? why? what do they think of? how often? how good at?” etc below. Prompts relate to current units or topics of study. Sometimes we change partners several times – the short bursts of conversation allow for good practice. As a result students are capable of digging for deeper meaning when finding out information from their classmates

A Personal Challenge to Meet During the Activity: I have moved to using the Rubric now before we even embark on the activity. In particular I ask students to write out or put a star/check mark next to their personal challenge in the activity. Some focus on “no English” while others choose more personal ones such as “explain in Japanese”. Choose your challenge brings a heightened awareness of the goal of the exercise and ‘sets the stage’ for the interaction.

Written “Self-Debriefing”: For ‘summative orals’ I don’t let them do the rubric right away. Rather they turn it over and must reflect in writing first. Initially I ask them to answer a key question posed by the teacher. For example “When I heard that we were going to debate the environment in Japanese I…” I then follow up by asking them to relate some aspect of the oral that they were most proud of. If the oral is not a major summative one then the student must support their self evaluation giving the reasons ‘why’ behind their choices.

An Absence of “Numbers”: I will admit this is my latest development in my rubrics, and it comes courtesy of my correspondence with Natalia. I am replacing the ‘numbers’ traditionally used with the DELF rubrics with the ‘word’ descriptors. This allows students to focus on the ‘content’ of the rubric descriptor and not it’s perceived value. The first time that I used it with students I encouraged them to circled the phrases that they felt applied to them – no matter what ‘square’ they were in. They truly thought about their language use and were very thoughtful in their responses when they supported their choices. I do eventually ‘convert’ these rubrics to a number, as my school asks me to do, but that is then my doing and not theirs.

The more that I work with rubrics, and student self evaluation, the more I see the rewards for my students. They are more involved in their interactions with others and more confident of their strengths, and what they want to improve on. The journey will continue…

Colleen

June 11, 2013
by leesensei
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My Year With Evernote Experiment Take-Aways…

It’s been 10 months since I started my journey with Evernote. In September it was my goal to document my units/lessons as I went along and, hopefully, end up with my courses ‘consolidated’ in one location. I chose to use the “Premium” option to ensure that I got full access to what Evernote could do. At this point I know that I don’t use Evernote to it’s greatest capacity but so far I am really pleased with what it has offered me:

All Organized and Easy to Follow: For me, its an incredible organizational tool. All my units, lesson plans, handouts, audio, video etc in one place. I’m a person who likes to ‘see’ a unit laid out before me and with each lesson labelled “Unit X – Day Y” it gives me a sense of direction. I learned early on to not only organize by day but also to put a brief description of what I cover in the title. It is easy to see how long a unit typically takes me and what I cover each day. If I deviate from a past lesson I either change the entire note or create an “alternate” lesson note for that day.

Cross-platform and Multiple Device access: To me this is the huge advantage for trying this program. My school has a desktop PC stuck in my classroom and I use my personal MacBook Pro for my lessons etc. With Evernote I can take audio of class activities and photos of my boards etc and upload directly to the appropriate note from my iPhone using the app. I can preview lessons from home using my laptop and transfer files created on my school PC directly via Evernote Web. Of course it’s equally handy to use to grab files I created ‘on the fly’ for my classes and uploaded via the Web function so they can be stored/backed up using my school server.

Tagged Sites Using “Clipper” Add-On: This has been a great tool for me combining my use of Twitter etc with the organizing ease of Evernote. Being able to click on the ‘clipper’ icon on my browser (Firefox for me ) and then tag the site for future reference is so useful. When I finally get my iPad this summer I will be able to search my tags for all of the iPad info I have found along the way. Tagging sites has meant they are much easier to find and actually use.

What I Learned to Do: Back Up - Okay – the great Evernote password scare made me learn to do this. I did learn that files created in a non-local notebook are always on your computer and in the Evernote cloud but I wanted to make sure I was protecting all my data. I don’t use a third-party company for it as I didn’t like the cost. I do use Time Machine to back up my MacBook so now when I am prompted to back up my Mac, I back up Evernote (exporting the notes in the .enex format to both my Mac and Dropbox). Yes I know that I can’t just go retrieve one lost note but I do like to know that all of that hard work is now securely stored elsewhere

My Two Wishes: While it may seem to be counter to my paperless purpose – I would like to be able to print out a unit ‘plan’ in the form of all the lessons (notes) for that unit. I have yet to try merging them all and printing but wouldn’t it be easier just to be able to highlight several notes and hit “print”? My other wish would be to be able to put the items in the note where I want them – not where either my cursor is or Evernote wants them to be.

I don’t use Evernote with my students at this point (School District issues of privacy etc. there) but I’m sure that ‘s where I am headed next. Meanwhile if you know of a way to print those multiple notes…let me know!

Colleen

June 4, 2013
by leesensei
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Some ‘Real Life’ Tasks for Common MFL Units

When I began my language teaching career, I really struggled with orals. Skits? Conversations? I quickly found them overused and underwhelming for ‘authentic’ use. A conversation with an amazing French teacher sparked my interest in “tâche finale” (a summative final task). So I started my re-think with one idea in mind “How/When would these topic areas be used in Real Life?” From there its a bit of ‘backwards and forwards’ design to determine what they already know that they can use in terms of vocabulary and grammar, and what they need to acquire.

All of these activities ask the students to do the following:

- communicate in the Target Language but record information in English

- use language that is common to anyone in class – no dictionaries!

- spend half the interactive time ‘manning’ their booth giving information and half gathering information (generally 25 minutes for each)

- use the information gathered as part of their written summative test

- students self-evaluate for language use at the end of the task using a rubric that touches on asking/answering questions, use of the target language and how they felt during the activity

School – School Fair: My 3rd year students work in rules, uniforms, subjects and more in their school fair. The only info for potential students to see is a name card on the desk. So students must ask and answer questions to get information. Then they use that to write about which school they would like to attend and one that they wouldn’t.

Food – Taste Tests: Students are asked to recommend food items for the school store/cafeteria by testing on their classmates. They choose 3 producers of the same product (chocolate, cookies, coffee etc) and then do a blind taste test activity with their classmates. They gather information on demographics, buying habits and preferences. Then they use the information to prepare a report on their findings.

Daily Routine – Murder Mystery: Who did it? Take one dead rich guy, an ex-wife, ungrateful children, a lover, his new lonely wife and a chauffeur besotted with her and you have a great mystery. Students volunteer to play the roles – in a twist detectives even interview ‘the dead guy’ and are encouraged to get into character. Teams of 2 detectives get 5-6 minutes to interview everyone involved. The key? The students don’t know the time of death until the next day and when they get it write out ‘who did it’. Suspects and ‘the dead guy’ write as well on who they feel the culprit is.

Travel – Travel Fair: The key here for me is that traveling to major urban centres in the country is not allowed. Students plan an optional 2 or 3 day tour to the destination of their choice ‘off the beaten path’. During the travel fair day they visit 3 – 4 tour booths. Tour operators work to sell their tour by finding out about the tourist – and tourists have their own questions. Then the twist on the written task if for them to write a ‘long’ email to a friend complaining about a tour their parents made them go on!

Hobbies/Sports – Activity Centres: When my 2nds year students begin to add reasoning and ‘purpose’ into their speech they finish with the chance to design their own activity centre. They include outside and inside activities (weather info) and try to appeal to a wide variety of their classmates. Not only do they have to give information for potential clients but they also have to ask the clients about their interests to try to sell them on their centre. After the fair students write about 1 or 2 centres they’d like to be a member of and why.

Students love the ability to communicate information in a ‘realistic’ setting – and I love the 45-60 minutes of target language use I see during the time!

Colleen

May 28, 2013
by leesensei
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It’s an “ALN” not a “PLN”….or it should be…

There’s a lot made about the Personal Learning Network (PLN) these days. I know it isn’t a new idea. For years teachers who wish it, have taken personal time and initiative to connect, learn and expand their professional skills. In some schools this is easier than others to do. Many of us work in schools that do not give a lot of personal learning time – and instead favour group Pro-D. Others have the freedom to spend much more time on personally designed pursuits.

Enter Twitter and suddenly, regardless of your school’s focus, the ability to connect and learn on your desktop. Twitter has proven to be revolutionary for many of us -and we enthusiastically search out people, and links to others, that add to our professional lives.

However a PLN doesn’t end with following people on Twitter. I would argue it’s not how you construct it but if, and how, you use it. To me the most important part of the PLN isn’t the Network or the Personal at all. It’s the Learning that is key. And it cannot stop there. To really have a PLN that counts, I believe, you have to be an ‘Active’ Learner. This isn’t about tweets or retweets at all. What do I mean by “Active Learning”?.

Trying Something New You Got From Your PLN: It may be taking something that is shared with you, using it, testing it, maybe even adapting it and then, and this is the most important part, offering up your view/experience with it to the Twitterverse. Would you consider that someone had mastered a skill if they never had to demonstrate that they could use it?

Attending a Hashtag Chat: I admit that some of these chats are so big that the ability to put in ideas, and even see what’s going on is difficult. But there are so many out there that finding one that fits for you is possible – and many lists of them exist if you search for them. For me #langchat, (Foreign Language teachers) on Thursday is the one. It’s an easy first step to lurk at these chats but to be actively participating, even if it’s just tweeting your presence, is activity- and maybe the first step to joining in.

Check In On a Regular Basis : Active also means that you make a concerted effort to check in on your PLN on a regular basis. I find it ironic that so many educators moan about no time to learn but, when it is as easy as following a list on a subject, seem overwhelmed at ‘how much time’ they may need to invest. Yes it takes time, any learning does if it is to be meaningful.

Many teachers are the first to say that they want to expand their skills and try new things. Creating a PLN using Twitter is a good first step…then making it an ALN is the next…isn’t it?

Colleen

May 22, 2013
by leesensei
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Reaching A “Reluctant” Learner – What Terry Reinforced for Me..

Every year I have students who enter my Japanese 11 class out of a ‘crash’ 1 semester course called Beginner 11. While the majority of students have had 2 semesters in the language the Beg. 11′s cram it all into 1. Not ideal at all especially as quality of learning suffers for the quantity that must be covered. Beg 11 exists for those who suddenly require a second language credit for whatever reason. These students come to Gr. 11 lacking time and practice in almost every skill.

Terry (name changed to protect the innocent) looked like trouble; in Grade 12 and from the Beg. 11 course, indifferent, with attitude. He was quick to tell me that he was only in the Gr 11 course for university requirements. He skipped a couple of double blocks, scored poorly on a couple tests and was so busy reaching for his dictionary that he wouldn’t even try speaking in Japanese. Oh it was going to be a long semester and admittedly I was not looking forward to it. How was I to reach him? And, more importantly, would he let himself be reached?

I thought about this as I watched him in class on Friday. With 4 weeks to go in the semester, he was engaged, active and assisting his partner in learning. What happened? To me it came down to supporting Terry for success.

‘Do-able Tasks’ – My tasks and activities are always ‘do-able’ requiring little support from the dictionary. Students who strive to work on the basics will have the ability to complete what I ask them to do. If they choose to ‘stretch’ then they can but at the least they will ‘finish’.

‘Personal and Partner Interest’ – Many tasks revolve around the student themselves, and their personal interests. This is a comfortable place for them to start – and a secure one for them to build upon. I don’t allow them to stagnate at themselves though. Equally key is the practice and use of follow-up questions for students and their partners. They learn that they just don’t talk about them – but they inquire about others in a detailed and thoughtful way as well.

‘Supportive Partners’ – I set the seats for my classes and for some students this is done very carefully. Students who are struggling to engage in class often find themselves with confident and enthusiastic partners. These great students are so secure in their own strengths that they find it easy to pull language out of the other person. For the reluctant learner the partner is patient, non-judging and keen to learn (and usually some of this rubs off)

‘My Determination to Make a Connection’ – I think one of the most important things is to not stop encouraging or looking for that chance to make a connection with a student. Too often I hear “well you know ___is beyond hope” from colleagues. I guess they are if you let them be. In Terry’s case it was a book on his desk – one that I knew well. I asked about it, he gave a brief comment and, as I had donated it to our library, also commented on it. He lit up and launched into 5 minutes on the plot. Not in the Target Language mind you but a connection was there and continues to be.

What do your “Terry”‘s teach you?

Colleen

May 14, 2013
by leesensei
3 Comments

“Taking A Risk” – What Does Risk in the MFL Class Look Like?

I use rubrics a lot in my classes as I feel they allow the student to really ‘see’ what they have achieved and where they might improve. Increasingly I have moved to self-evaluation of some of my oral activities – in which the students fill out their own rubric and justify their choices. One activity I do is a ‘re-cap’ of a reading – after students have read a piece and had the chance to note down answers to guided questions. They can make their notes in either the Target Language (TL) or in English – but they have to be able to ‘say’ what they want to in the TL. After the activity comes the evaluation. In the past the “4″ category for grammar and vocabulary was simply “Excellent. Took Risks. Didn’t Use English”.

Lately I haven’t been happy with the ease with which students have been giving themselves a “4″. So today, prior to the evaluation I stopped them and we discussed what “risk” looked like. Here’s what they thought. Risk is:

-working without a safety net or “notes” or the dictionary

- asking and answering follow-up questions

-when you have to hesitate and say “let me think about that” and then answer

-introducing other topics to talk about when we’re done

And so I have altered my old rubric to try to reflect those thoughts – you’ll find it below. Which brings me to my own risk and one teachers sometimes have issues with – risk is not in controlling their output but in letting them control it….! Again I learn the most from them when I step back and let them take the lead!

Colleen

May 8, 2013
by leesensei
2 Comments

A New “Sense” of Direction….Street View

As part of my travel unit for Japanese 12 I do a quick review of direction giving. In the Japanese 11 class we use a static map for guiding around. But bringing that same map back for the Grade 12′s just didn’t seem to cut it. I don’t work in a school with 1:1 or even the wireless capability to support BYOD but our labs are reasonably quick so I have a pair share a computer there.

SetUp – Student Input: Many of my students dream of visiting Japan and Tokyo is the first choice for them. So 2 days before the activity I ask them where they would like to go in Tokyo if they had a chance – and draw the inspiration for my activity from their information. I use a quick written exit slip. It is important that I don’t suggest where. Using the student’s information, I search Google for images “free to use or share” from each of the locations my students identified. Then I choose an ‘iconic’ location from that area as the target of the activity and a label for it that allows them to zero in on the general area.

SetUp – An Expectation of Language Use: My Grade 12′s are used to the expectation that an activity will be done using the TL (target language) only. I build this via informal and formal reinforcement after class activities. Sometimes it’s a quick ‘stop-light’ slip – Green (only the TL), Yellow (few words of English) or Red (1/2 the time or more in English). At other times I use a more detailed rubric for self and partner evaluation. The result is students who do use the TL – even without a teacher hovering over them.

The Task: Students are given the picture “quest” sheet and use Google Maps to go first to the general area. From there it’s into Street View and they work together to try to get to the location in the photo using the TL. It’s fun to hear them “No – don’t go left, go right at the next street” – as they work to find the spot. I make if very clear that they don’t have to go to every location on the page – but rather to pick one or two – find the spot and then explore the area. Some do like to find all the picture spots while others take up the exploring challenge.

The Wrap-Up: After the activity I use a rubric for self and partner evaluation of their use of the TL – including a written justification of their choices. I also ask them to provide any TL words/phrases that they felt they needed (for the next time I do this).

My students loved the chance to visually explore an area they are interested in and more than one commented on how proud they were that ‘they didn’t use any English’ in doing so. As for me it put me in the role I like best – supporting my students in their learning – not leading!

Colleen

May 7, 2013
by leesensei
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“Song of the Week” – Part 2

Last week I shared the ‘source’ of song of the week- how I find and select it. I also passed on my use of it as a ‘cue’ in my classroom. It was my intent to share this week on the “how” I utilize it in my class. What happened? Well the amazing power of my #langchat PLN did. The topic was “How do you use songs in class?” and, ironically, it was one that I had to miss participating in. But luckily one of our moderators, @calicospanish, puts together a great digest of the chat. When I went to it I knew that there was no reason for me to share my “how’s”; they were all on the list. Instead I thought I would share the link to the digest – if you are a #langchat regular remember it is a great way to revisit the top take aways of the chat. If you can’t always be there then you can still benefit from the incredibly generous teachers that meet and learn.

Enjoy the chat digest about songs - and if you have the time consider joining in on the conversation. Search for the #langchat hashtag on Thursdays at 8pm EST/ 5pm PST. Moderators include @placido, @secottrell, @dr_dmd, @CalicoTeach, @DiegoOjeda66 and @msfrenchteach and they are also great people to follow! (Note: I also moderate as well.)

Looking forward to hearing from you. Now it’s off to find next week’s tune.

Colleen

April 30, 2013
by leesensei
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“Song of the Week” Part 1: Sourcing & Using

Music is a powerful tool in world language learning. As an ‘authentic resource’ it’s accessible to students, timely and full of language that speaks directly to students. I don’t allow students to use headphones and listen to their own music at any time during class so a music collection for me is essential. This year I have made a concerted effort to add more music to my class experience.

Sourcing: On a matter of principal I won’t use illegal downloads for this. Granted I have used music ‘supplied’ by my students without question in the past. However, as I am featuring these songs, I make a point of getting them legally. While songs for some languages are easier to find, for others it may a bit tougher. As a Japanese language teacher I make good use of iTunes for this. Japanese iTunes cards can be easily bought over the internet from reliable sources. Opening an iTunes account in your country of choice just requires an email address and any local address. Each song costs me $2 but for me its worth it.

Selecting: Each week I go to iTunes and scroll down the “Top Singles” section. Sometimes I do this by myself and at other times with my classes. It is motivating for kids to recognize artists that they know on the list. Equally bonding for us as a class this year was “Call Me Maybe” that doggedly remained on the Japan Top 10 list (groans all around)! Then the name of the song/artist and a QR code to the band’s website is put up on the board. Also a copy of the lyrics – in the Target Language only – is posted on my site, and on the board as fast as I can get to it.

Playlists: I have a master playlist of my entire collection of songs (about 500) that we also listen to. However I also keep a separate playlist just for “Songs of the Week”. When I want to I can use it to have students revisit past songs from the semester. If I have time I also project the cover as the song plays – providing students with a visual reminder of it as well.

Using as a “Cue”: I use the song of the week as before class music (set iTunes to ‘repeat’) as well as during time at the end of class. I have started using it during activities as well as ‘background music’. Once students start on an activity it plays – quietly – in the background. I find that a bit of noise seems to encourage students to talk with each other more. When I need their attention it is turned off. After a few weeks of doing this I see that they are noticing when I need their attention.

It’s great to know that we are listening to current language in the songs we hear. And I am enjoying seeing how much my students like to listen as well. In my next post I plan to expand on how I use musics in class…Oh – this week ? It’s “Spark” by 三代目JSoul Brothers!

Colleen

April 24, 2013
by leesensei
0 comments

A Web Quest That Asks Them To Think…

I have always struggled with the traditional web quest. You know the kind where there are questions and the students go to a site, or various sites, to get the answers. It seems that I am not exposing them to anything new when I do this but rather just teaching them that a ‘blank’ is there to be filled. The quest then becomes not the answer but a completed sheet. Find, write (or paste) and go onto the next.

Each year with my Japanese 11 students we read a story set in Kyoto. It is an amazing city full of world heritage sites, traditional tea shops and the chance of spotting a geisha on the street. I want my students to be able to have various sites in mind when they read the story – and so thought a web quest – for it’s visual element especially – would be a good idea. My first one was a dud – basically a ‘what, where’ sheet that I myself found boring. What to do?

Talking to our school librarian, who sees lots of these activities, she challenged me to have my students use the information they find – in a way that would not become just a copy/paste exercise. So I imagined a tourist – pressed for time – who has 1 day in Kyoto and 6 possible places that they could visit (all from our story). Students have to find out what these places are, where in the city they are located, why a person would go there and finally rank them in order of visiting preference. It’s amazing to look at the results and find out what would appeal to them and why. Often we have a class discussion after in which they talk with each other, in Japanese, about the results.

Kyoto also has an interesting dialect so I send them to a site to ‘hear’ what it would be like to be on the streets. Finally I ask them to comment on the websites themselves – what they found appealing or what they think could be improved.

So now its not a web quest for me but rather a task that uses some websites. A link to my exercise – never fear its mostly in English! – is here if you wish.

What kind of web quests do you do?

Colleen