THE WHY AND HOW OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING, LEARNING, AND ASSESSMENT IN THE CLIL

CLASSROOM

DIANA FORAN STORER NOVEMBER 21, 2012

THE WHY AND HOW OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING, LEARNING, AND ASSESSMENT IN THE CLIL

CLASSROOM

DIANA FORAN STORER NOVEMBER 21, 2012

DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS:

A good definition of “effective” would be……..Effective teachers are born that way.

Agree/disagree?If a new approach or activity works for Teacher

A, it will obviously work for Teacher B. Agree/disagree?

Teaching can/can’t be learned. Agree/disagree?

Being a teacher is an on-going process requiring critical reflection and self-evaluation. Agree/disagree?

EFFECTIVE TEACHERS ARE:• Lifelong learners who are willing to explore

new teaching strategies and methods as well as act on current research in the classroom.

• Effective teachers are not born, they are made after an enormous amount of hard work and dedication.

• A flexible and patient attitude is important not only for a teacher’s stress level but also for his/her students who expect him/her to be in charge and take control of any situation.

EFFECTIVE CLIL TEACHING IS JUST GOOD TEACHING

GROUP WORK

• Match the statements with their corresponding explanations

• Discuss, and choose the 4 most important qualities for “Effecting Teaching”.

Establishing where learners

are in their learning

Establishing where they are

going

Establishing how to get

there

THREE KEY INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESSES FOR EFFECTIVE

TEACHING: A Method in your

Madness

Testing: sets of questions or situations designed to get an idea of what a student knows or can do

Assessment: a systematic approach for collecting information on student learning or performance

Evaluation: interpretation of assessment data regarding quality, value, or worth of some response, product, or performance; usually based on multiple sources of information

HOW DO WE KNOW THEY ARE LEARNING?

WE USE DIFFERENT APPROACHES /KINDS OF ASSESSMENT

• Summative: Evaluation at the end of a learning period to measure what a student has learned.

• Progressive/Continual: Running log of student’s production

• Performance: Assessment of performance on constructing a response, creating a product, or demonstrating applications of knowledge (research reports, oral presentations, posters, plays, experiments, recitals, art work; written work)

WE USE DIFFERENT APPROACHES /KINDS OF ASSESSMENT• Peer: Evaluation of students’ work done by

classmates

• Self-assessment:

Reflective process in which

learners evaluate their

own work, progress,

attitudes, production.

•Did we finish up quickly today?

•Did we keep our voices down today?

•Did we pay attention and listen to each other?

•Did we concentrate on our tasks?

•Did we each have a chance to speak to the whole group today?

•Did I encourage another person today?

•Did I contribute an idea today?

•Did I listen well today?

•Did I sit still and work quietly today?

•Did I ask a useful question today?

•Can I explain what I learned today to someone else?

PEER, GROUP, AND SELF- ASSESSMENT PROMPTS:

TRADITIONAL FORMATS FOR TESTING LEARNING: THINKING PROCESS? Fill-in the blanksTrue/falseListening Comp. Oral interviewsMultiple-choiceReading Comp.Yes/no questionsMatchingWriting (essays,

compositions)Open-ended questions

OBJECTIVE: LITTLE COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT. EASY TO MARK FOR THE INSTRUCTOR

Fill-in the blanks

True/False

Multiple choice

Yes/no questions

Matching

SUBJECTIVE:REQUIRES DEEPER THOUGHT PROCESS. INCREASED DIFFICULTY FOR THE INSTRUCTOR

Listening Comp: (inference)

Oral Interviews

Reading Comp: (synthesis, deduction)

Writing essays

Open-questions

Buzz word: Alternative Assessment

Directly evaluates learners’ language skills and content knowledge through written and spoken production

-peer, self, journals, portfolios, conferences, interviews- show a learner’s ability to use the language while talking/writing about the content: transmission of

knowledge

Authentic tasks to demonstrate learner ability

Communication/ can-do rather than right/ wrong (CEF)

Criteria set by teacher and learners (Rubrics)

Offers students the opportunity to assess themselves; be responsible for their actions

IN CLASS FEEDBACK: STOPLIGHT CARDS

Green: I can explain this to someone else; no problem

Yellow: I am confused; it would help me to talk about it

Red: I do not understand and can not explain this yet

ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME? STOPLIGHT CARDS

EXPLAIN TO YOUR PARTNER THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT FORMATS

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE STEMS: WHY DO WE TEST?

We give tests so that….

Tests provide teachers with…

Tests help students…..

All tests must…

My opinion on tests is….

I usually test my students by…..

An example of one kind of good test is…

SO, TESTING (FROM A TEACHER’S POINT OF VIEW)…

• Provides feedback to the student, identifying the strengths and weaknesses

• Provides feedback to the instructor on how well the message is getting across

• Conducive to creating learning activities

• Enables judgment of performance (grade/degree classification) and promotion

• Quality assurance for the institution—external and internal

A necessary evil!!

FROM THE FOUR C’S OF CLIL:

COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT:

* Sustained attention to a task that requires a mental effort

* Making meaning, controlling one’s own thought processes: self-regulation

* Learners make decisions, analyze, interpret, deduce, negotiate, discuss, organize coherently, research, collaborate on a team, debate, explain, defend and justify opinions and beliefs

Content, Communication, Cognition, and Culture

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY: COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT

• Bloom’s for PE• Bloom’s for Chemistry, Physics, Biology• Bloom’s for

Digital Tech

HOW WE TEST IN CLIL: TRADITIONAL +AUTHENTIC - PERFORMANCE • Summative and Formative Assessment:

traditional formats in combination with “can-do” tasks

• Progressive Evaluation: A running log of participation, production, progress and quality performance of activities, tasks, projects…

• CLIL Assessment enhances learning by integrating foreign language + content areas and with students’ own lives, requires higher-order thinking skills, is performance based and criterion referenced (rubrics)

DON’T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER!!!

CONTENT and LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING

Potential Developme

nt

Current Developme

nt

Beyond reach at present

SOME WAYS TO ACCOMMODATE ASSESSMENT IN THE CLIL CLASSROOM:

• Reducing response materials for content area testing

• Providing tests with adjusted (simplified) language (at first)

• Choosing key/main ideas for assessment

• Simplifying directions

• Supply word banks for tests, class work

• Extending time to complete tests

• Allowing students to respond orally (at younger ages) rather than in writing

SOME WAYS…(CONT.)

• Using portfolios to authentically assess student progress

• At times, double grading students work; content (correct responses) and L2 grammar correctness (especially in compositions, narratives etc.)

• For writing, using Personal Error Correction Charts

• Using “I learned” Statements

• Cooperative Learning Activities

STOPLIGHT CARDS

How do we test in CLIL?

Can you explain?

COOPERATIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES (JOHNSON AND JOHNSON)• Students promote each other’s learning by

helping, sharing, encouraging efforts to learn.

• Individual accountability, developed in group/team work skills

• Promotes listening to others, negotiating, asking for clarification, following directions, giving reasons for you opinions, argumentation skills, paraphrasing what others have said…

• Involves a three-step cooperative structure.

• First step, think silently about a question.

• Second step, pair up and exchange thoughts.

• Third step, the pairs share their responses with other pairs, other teams, or the entire group.

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

THINK: NAME SOME REASONS WHY STUDYING FOREIGN LANGUAGES IS IMPORTANT PAIR: COMPARE YOUR REASONS WITH YOUR PARTNER’S.SHARE: TURN AROUND AND SEE WHAT THE PAIR BEHIND YOU THINKS. TELL THE CLASS THE REASONS YOU AGREE ON

JIGSAW RESEARCH/STUDY GROUPS ( MY VERSION)

•Groups with five students are set up. •Each group is assigned unique material (content subject area).•These “expert” groups decide what is most important, interesting, necessary to know/learn from what they have read.•Then, one member from each expert group joins other “experts” to form new groups of 5 experts each.•A final report, graph, table is written up with the data gathered from the 5 experts.•The original groups meet again and compare what they learned while being “away”.

PAIR ORALS • Select short, informative articles students read for

homework, prepare an oral summary of the main points; • In the next class they “tell the story” of their article to their

partner• The partner takes notes while questioning, asking for

clarification, negotiating meaning• Students switch roles;• They write up a short summary (main points, most interesting

fact..) of what their partner has said.

• It is NOT a dictation..• Eye contact is encouraged to reduce

the urge to read the text.

PAIR ORALS: STUDENT FEEDBACK SHEET

My name is ________________ and I listened to ____________________. She/he told me about/that…….I thought that……… I was surprised that…… I found the fact that …….very interesting. I didn’t know ……….and now I do!

(Four skills are practiced/vocabulary acquisition/content knowledge increased….students challenged)

Foran, D. “Teaching Technical English at the Tertiary and Professional Level: Content-Based Cooperative Learning under the CLIL Umbrella” p. 309-317 Diverse Contexts—Converging Goals: CLIL in Europe, eds.David Marsh/Dieter Wolff Peter Lang 2007, Frankfurt, Germany

MINUTE PAPER/EXIT CARDS/3-2-1 CARDSWhat was the most useful or meaningful thing you learned today?What questions remain in your mind as we end this session?What was the “muddiest point” for you today?Give an example…Explain in your own words….3 Things they learned from today’s lesson

2 Questions they still have

1 Thing they would like to learn more about

Teachers compile the information, using this “pre-assessment” to prepare for the students’ next lesson

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

COMBINE ALL FORMS WITH FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT • On-going process to elicit

evidence about student learning

• To provide feedback to teachers and students about learning

• To use feedback and reinforcement to adjust instruction and learning strategies in real time

• Close the gap between the learners’ current state and desired goals (ZPD): From where they are now to where YOU want them to be

EFFECTIVE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:

Feedback and Re-inforcement

Feedback about the task

Feedback about processing the task

Feedback about self-regulation

Feed back about the student as a person

Answers were right or wrong; directions to get more informationStrategies used or could be usedAbout student self confidence, self assessment“Good girl” “smart guy” “good job” “way to go”

THE FOUR LEVELS OF FEEDBACK

General praise such as "Good job!" is not formative feedback; it is like a pat on the back: makes the learner smile, keeps up interest.

It does not try to improve students’ performance nor move them along the learning pathway

NOT JUST “GOOD!”, BUT WHY, AND HOW IT COULD BE BETTER

THE BEST FEEDBACK

• Focuses on the qualities of the work and process or strategies to do the work

• Relates to the learning goal(s) and what might be useful next

• Describes the existing quality and/or needed improvement; not judgmental

• Is positive and specific• Draws attention to a student’s self-

regulation or effort and level of attention

 

 

THREE-PRONGED FEEDBACK COMMENTARY

1. What was done well?2. What needs improvement?3. Specific suggestions for how to improve• A reminder prompt draws attention to the

learning goal• A scaffolded prompt helps to focus on specific

aspects of the learning• An example prompt gives suggestions or provides

examples of possible improvements

☺Tells me how my work corresponds to the criteria☺ Tells me how I can improve☺ Tells me the teacher cares (and has read my work)

☺ Formative feedback addresses both the cognitve factor, understanding where they are and what to do next

☺ And helps develop a feeling of control over their learning, the motivational factor

FEEDBACK FROM THE STUDENTS’ POINT OF VIEW

HANDOUT: In what way can feedback be

- Motivational (support, encourage)

- Evaluative (measure achievment)

- Descriptive-Formative (indicate how to improve)

MOTIVATIONAL EVALUATIVE DESCRIPTIVE FORMATIVE

The goal is to make the learner feel good.

Goal is to measure student achievement with a score or a grade.

Goal is to improve student achievement by telling what steps to take in order to move forward in the learning process.

Encourages and supports

the learner.Feedback that is intended to summarize student achievement.

Feedback that is intended to tell the learner what needs to be improved

Does NOT give feedback specific to the learning goal.

Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning

Gives specific guidance as to how to improve.

“I really like how you completed the assignment.”

Judgmental about the learning

Is anecdotal

☺7.5/75% “You described the digestive

system nicely. Now go back and draw each organ as you explain the process from beginning to end.”

STOP LIGHT CARDS:

Can you explain the difference between descriptive feedback and evaluative feedback?

Descriptive feedback is anecdotal, and provides students detailed, precise information about their progress toward the learning goal, and suggestions for next steps in learning.

Evaluative feedback consists of a judgment about the learning, and is communicated as a grade, a mark or symbol.

TIMING

AMOUNT

MODE

AUDIENCE

Feedback while they are still mindful of the learning target and still time for them to act on it

Enough to know what to do, but not so much that it is done for them

Commmunicate feedback message in the most appropriate way

Reach appropriate students in groups, pairs; give specific feedback to whole class. But let them know that their learning is important to you

FORMATIVE FEEDBACK STRATEGIES

HANDOUT:

GROUP ACTIVITY ON TIMING, AMOUNT, MODE, AND AUDIENCE.

Try harder!

Explain betterYour introduction really makes me want to read the rest. Your report is the best one in the class!Your report is better than the last one. You made it clear what you think about…..It would be even better if you included….

Vague, try to do more of what? Explain what?Knows it was good and why

Judgemental; does not tell st what is good

Positive, plus constructive; small steps to improve…

SAMPLE FEEDBACK COMMENTS: GOOD OR NOT SO GOOD

EXAMPLES (CONT.):

The good stories we have been reading have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I see that your story has a beginning and a middle, just like those good stories do. Can you draw and write an ending?

You have described the similarities between _____ and _____ clearly in this paper, and you have identified key differences. Work on illustrating those differences with concrete examples from the text.

The ending of your story really bothered me because I felt like you had built up a completely different mood. (instead of “your ending is poor”)

QUESTION PROMPTS Aim to ask more open-ended questions. Are you pleased with your work? Vs. How well have you worked?

What do you think ...?

How do you know ...? Is there another way/reason/idea ...?

What do you think happens next ...? Why do you think that ...?

Do you have a reason ...? How can you be sure ...?

Where is there another example of this?

CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN THE LEARNER’S “YOU ARE HERE” AND THE “FINAL DESTINATION”

Assessment is formative only if the information fed back to the learner is used by the learner in making improvements.To be formative, assessment must include a recipe for future action

THANK YOU AND SMILE!