TEACHING FOR ENGLISH PROFICIENCY: INTEGRATED UNITS AND ASSESMENTS del 11 al 15 DE JULIO

Teaching For English Proficiency:  Integrated Units and Assessments

La Dirección General de Innovación, Becas y Ayudas a la Educación, en colaboración con American Space Madrid y el Instituto Internacional, convocan un curso dirigido a maestros de Educación Primaria en activo, en colegios públicos de la Comunidad de Madrid, orientado a la enseñanza de y en inglés, poniendo el énfasis en lo que el estudiante es capaz de hacer con la lengua inglesa.

Location:  Instituto Internacional, c/ Miguel Ángel, 8, Madrid

Dates:  July 11-July 15, 2016 from 10 to 14h.

Presenters:

Esther Borras Morales is experienced in the field of language pedagogy and curriculum development. She is certified in elementary language instruction and currently teaches 7th and 8th grade Spanish in the Brookline, Massachusetts, Public Schools.  She has been teaching for proficiency and developing curriculum for the Brookline Schools for the last five years.

Lauren Carroll is experienced in the field of language pedagogy and curriculum development. She currently teaches Elementary and Middle School English Language Learner students in the Brookline, Massachusetts, Public Schools.  She previously taught using the proficiency method in the Brookline World Language Program and presented on Using Cultural Videos at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association’s Annual Meeting.  She now teaches for proficiency with her English Language Learners.

1. Course Content: Detailed Description

Participants will learn and practice methods of teaching in a Proficiency-Based Language classroom, where the focus is on what a student CAN DO with the language as opposed to what the student knows about the language.

Monday, July 11th, 2016

Session 1:  Participants will review the definition of Proficiency in terms of a World/Foreign Language Classroom.  This will include the three modes of communication, the role of culture, Can-do statements, and the use of authentic texts.

Session 2 – The Interpretive Mode:  Participants will explore the use of authentic texts in an intermediate or advanced level Foreign Language classroom.  The participants will be provided with an overview of different types of authentic texts.  They will learn how to select an appropriately leveled text and different reading strategies that support their students’ understanding of an authentic text.

Session 3 – The Interpretive Mode:  Participants will explore the use of authentic texts in a novice level Foreign Language classroom.  The participants will look at different texts that can be used with novice learners and create their own lessons to bring back to their own students.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Session 1 – The Interpretive Mode:  Participants will explore the use of authentic videos in the intermediate or advanced level Foreign Language classroom.  The participants will learn how to select an appropriate video and modify activities for all learners.  Students will learn different types of activities that can support understanding and how the information from the video can be used in the Interpersonal and/or Presentational modes of communication.

Session 2 – The Interpretive Mode:  Participants will explore the use of authentic videos in the Novice level Foreign Language classroom.  The participants will learn how to select an appropriate video for a novice learner and create their own lessons with a sample video to bring back to their own classrooms.

Session 3 – The Presentational Mode:  Participants will learn strategies of how to support student pre-planning work for the presentational mode.  They will also examine affective feedback in the presentational mode and different ways of assessing both written and spoken work.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Session 1 – The Interpersonal Mode:  Participants will learn strategies for practicing the interpersonal mode with students as well as incorporating cultural knowledge into the person-to-person exchanges.  Different techniques for assessing student work in the Interpersonal Mode will be shared.

Session 2 – All Three Modes:  Participants will discuss the importance of teaching cultural knowledge.  They will learn techniques for assessing cultural knowledge using the 5 Ws (Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?)

Session 3 – All Three Modes:  Participants will learn and create their own Integrated Performance Assessment.  They will review how to integrate the three modes of communication into an assessment and how to use Can-do Statements to assess student work.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Session 1 – All Three Modes:  Participants will explore the value of using historical fiction in a Foreign Language classroom.  They will look at different historical fiction works and use one of them to create an Integrated Performance Assessment that highlights cultural and/or historical understanding of the text.

Session 2 – All Three Modes:  Participants will explore different on-line resources that support learning in a Proficiency-based classroom.  Participants will share any resources that they have found successful in their own classrooms.

Session 3 – All Three Modes:  Participants will learn a technique of Kinesthetic Learning called Total Physical Response Story Telling (TPRS).  They will learn ways to use TPRS to support learning in all three modes.

Friday July 15, 2016

Session 1 – Interpretive Mode:  Participants will learn how to support learning in general through the power of play.  Participants will read theory about movement and learning in the classroom.  Different movement break videos and games will be shared and used.

Session 2 – Presentational Mode:  Participants will explore different works of Children’s Literature and learn strategies for using the books with both Novice and Intermediate/Advanced learners.  Activities will focus on word level work, sentence level work, and analysis of elements of fiction.
Session 3:  Final Reflection: Participants will reflect on their learning during the course and outline next steps for sharing their knowledge and work from the week.  Participants will also explore ways to continue learning about Proficiency based Foreign Language classroom.

2. Course Objectives:

Participants will be able to incorporate Proficiency-based activities, units, and assessments into their own English as a Foreign Language classrooms. Teachers will acquire familiarity with new materials, and specific strategies for using them. Participants will leave this course with clear pathways for constructing units specific to their students’ levels and abilities. They will also acquire familiarity with modes of assessment that are especially targeted to the Proficiency-based pedagogical model.

By introducing materials that teachers can access beyond our course, we hope that this innovative class that brings together American and Spanish teachers will provide ongoing dialogue between language teachers in Spain and the U.S. We hope to acquaint teachers with materials they can easily access to provide real-time content from the U.S. into their courses. Our objectives include sharing information with teachers that will give them access to the dynamic field of language education.

3. Course Methodology:

Participants will be involved each day in activities in which they create content to be used with their own students. They will both collaborate and share ideas on teaching for proficiency with fellow students and the instructors.

4. Course Evaluation:

Participants in this course will write a list of “Next Steps” in which they outline how they will bring their learning back to their colleagues and how they will use the content they have created with students. They will also detail how they plan to continue the process of learning methods for teaching for proficiency.