When you are about to teach a class/course for the first time or once again, you naturally have to think about the content you are about to teach for weeks or months; however, there are plenty of other equally important aspects of a course that you need to consider, and I gathered some articles that I have found truly helpful to achieve that goal:
Each link takes you to an article on various educational websites. I tried to put them into categories for easier navigation and I highlighted the key concept in each article or summarized it briefly sometimes by quoting from it just to make your selection even easier. I will continue adding to the list as new articles relevant to my field appear.
Designing Your Course and Planning/Redesigning Lessons
The First Day of Each Semester/Term:
“Some students skip the first day of class. They think that nothing important is going to happen. You can't blame them; they're usually right. Good teaching turns on defying student expectations. So go ahead: Prove them wrong.”
Higher ed teaching tips and tricks on the first day.
And how about some ice breaker activities for your students
http://chronicle.com/article/Day-1-of-the-Semester/133167/ Each semester gives us a time for renewal -- an important concept
“Many instructional strategies can be used in the classroom to help build a welcoming and culturally relevant environment. The strategies listed below will support culturally and linguistically diverse students, as well as help to build cultural competence for all students.”
It’s a diverse collection of curriculum-planning tips, guidance, and other open educational resources for teachers to plan effective activities, lessons, and units.
“That is the crux of lesson planning right there -- endings and beginnings. If we fail to engage students at the start, we may never get them back. If we don't know the end result, we risk moving haphazardly from one activity to the next. Every moment in a lesson plan should tell. The eight minutes that matter most are the beginning and endings. If a lesson does not start off strong by activating prior knowledge, creating anticipation, or establishing goals, student interest wanes, and you have to do some heavy lifting to get them back. If it fails to check for understanding, you will never know if the lesson's goal was attained.”
http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/10/07/smart-strategies-that-help-students-learn-how-to-learn/
"What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know...Students can assess their own awareness by asking themselves which of the following learning strategies they regularly use .....These questions, too, can be adopted by any parent or educator to make sure that children know not just what is to be learned, but how.
• What is the topic for today’s lesson?
Helping ELLs with Writing:
"What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know...Students can assess their own awareness by asking themselves which of the following learning strategies they regularly use .....These questions, too, can be adopted by any parent or educator to make sure that children know not just what is to be learned, but how.
• What is the topic for today’s lesson?
• What will be important ideas in today’s lesson?
• What do you already know about this topic?
• What can you relate this to?
• What will you do to remember the key ideas?
• Is there anything about this topic you don’t understand, or are not clear about?"
In my experience, edtech tools tend to revolve around the 4Cs of 21st century skills: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. I would argue that there is not "one tool to rule them all" in education. (In fact, looking for one of those is like looking for a unicorn. Good luck.) Any tool that is worthy of consideration by a teacher should first clearly represent how it will impact student learning: What will my students be able to do when using XYZ? How will using XYZ in my classroom create a richer learning experience for my students?
Helping ELLs with Writing:
“How can you help those hesitant writers eliminate the "handicap" or barrier that suddenly appears when asked to write? The answer is to simply have them produce "writing" without technically "writing" at all. That's right, the way to get hesitant writers to produce as much "writing" as they do "talking" is to have them do exactly that -- talk.”
“Think of academic language as the verbal clothing that we don in classrooms and other formal contexts to demonstrate cognition within cultures and to signal college readiness. There are two major kinds: instructional language ("What textual clues support your analysis?") and language of the discipline (examples include alliteration in language arts, axioms in math, class struggle in social studies and atoms in science). No student comes to school adept in academic discourse -- thus, thoughtful instruction is required.”
"Websites to Support English-language Learners
Rubric Design Tips and Tricks
“This easy-to-use Microsoft Word rubric template -- created by Cait Camarata, Edutopia's visual designer -- can be modified to suit your own needs. It is also available in Google Docs format.”
“Form follows function. The function of a rubric is to make information that is valuable to student success approachable and digestible. In order to do this, rubrics should achieve simplicity. Simplicity helps with both usability and aesthetics. These designs are perceived as more attractive, easier to use, and they facilitate creative thinking and problem solving. In order to achieve simplicity, present only relevant information and label each piece of information clearly and consistently.”
“Teachers who use rubrics:
- set clear guidelines and expectations from the outset of the school year.
- hold students accountable for the work they produce in a justifiable way.
- let their students know on which areas they need concentrate the next time they are given a similar task.
- see improvement in their students’ work.
Teachers who do not use rubrics:
- leave students without clear guidance on which skill areas they need to improve.
- do not provide students with concrete evidence of what their work lacked.
- do not provide sufficient guidance on what the student outcome was meant to be in the first place.”
“How do we measure learning beyond knowledge of content? Finding that winning combination of criteria can prove to be a complicated and sometimes difficult process. Schools that are pushing boundaries are learning that it takes time, a lot of conversation, and a willingness to let students participate in that evaluation.”
“You don’t need to be a mind reader. You just need a formative assessment toolbox, and you need to use it every day. There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to assess. Our students need us to be excellent teachers, and formative assessment is one way to do it.”
"Each six weeks in my junior/ senior writing class, each student proposes a writing project to the rest of the class. Along with the proposal, each student submits a timeline for completion and a rubric by which the final product will be evaluated. It’s project-based writing."
"“I don’t understand what you want on this assignment.” It’s one of those comments teachers don’t like to hear from students, and rubrics, checklists, or the grading criteria offer constructive ways to respond. They identify those parts of an assignment or performance that matter, that if included and done well garner good grades and learning. If teachers don’t identify them, then students must figure out for themselves what the assignment needs in order to be considered good."
Project Based Learning:
Great PBL and visual learning for ELLs too: writing and talking!
"PBL is the act of learning through identifying a real-world problem and developing its solution. Kids show what they learn as they journey through the unit, not just at the end."
“At the Buck Institute for Education (BIE), we've been keeping a list of the many types of "_____- based learning" we've run across over the years:
- Case-based learning
- Challenge-based learning
- Community-based learning
- Design-based learning
- Game-based learning
- Inquiry-based learning
- Land-based learning
- Passion-based learning
- Place-based learning
- Problem-based learning
- Proficiency-based learning
- Service-based learning
- Studio-based learning
- Team-based learning
- Work-based learning
“Use this article to familiarize teachers, school leaders, parents and students, and other stakeholders with the basics of high-quality Project Based Learning.”
"Explore Edutopia's curated compilation of online resources for understanding and beginning to implement project-based learning."
“In many ways, all of our students are ELLs, and we need to think intentionally about how to support each one in learning the language. PBL projects can provide a relevant and real context to do this. However, through supporting ELL students, we need to treat all languages as assets, not deficiencies. Through this lens, we can develop literacy in all languages, not just English.”
“One of the advantages of project-based learning is the flexibility. PBL is an effective instructional strategy within individual content areas as well as across disciplines. It's engaging for young learners and teens alike. Good projects can be short term and tightly focused, or expansive enough to require months of inquiry. The sky's the limit -- which can be a challenge for teachers designing their first projects.”
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/09/15/project-based-learning-932/
"When it comes to classrooms today, students want more than the lectures and quiet classrooms of the past. They want technology to use as learning tools, they want to collaborate, and they want to work on projects that are relevant to their learning and the real world."
"When it comes to classrooms today, students want more than the lectures and quiet classrooms of the past. They want technology to use as learning tools, they want to collaborate, and they want to work on projects that are relevant to their learning and the real world."
"Educator Mia MacMeekin has put together a clear infographic highlighting some of the ways teachers design “personalized” curriculum."
“This matter of differentiated instruction becomes even more critical when dealing in IELP or adult ELL programs, where no identification of exceptional students is conducted and ELL student placement is one size fits all. Maintaining a student-centered classroom where the instructor is a facilitator can become a tad more manageable when ELL teachers shift from Bloom’s original Taxonomy to the revised taxonomy by Anderson et al. and fire up the ol’ laptop. That’s when the real instructional fun begins.” http://edu.glogster.com/ and http://eflclassroom.com/bots/ebot2.html
“What about the use of “cognitive tutors,” where a computer delivers instruction to students on specific subjects, e.g., algebra? Indeed, one major provider of cognitive tutors, Carnegie Learning, reports excellent results in classrooms around the country. In our book, focused use of cognitive tutors has a place in the classroom since: (1) they are used for a limited amount of time, (2) their underlying pedagogical strategy is NOT telling, but rather it is a cousin of the Socratic method: The cognitive tutor builds up a DETAILED cognitive model of a student’s understanding through a range of inferencing techniques and interacts with a student on a input-by-input basis.”
"How can we help students feel in control, confident and willing to approach learning new material? How can we help them feel poised for success on assessments and confident with new material? As educators, we cannot underestimate the sense of being at a loss that some students feel at the outset of a new unit, and even more on assessments that require them to demonstrate mastery."
Activities We Can All Enjoy:
http://explaineverything.com/ tablets - videos+explaining conceptshttp://blog.ed.ted.com/2015/11/17/21-fun-things-to-write-about-in-10-minutes-or-less/
21 creative writing prompts from 642 Tiny Things to Write About
- Write a eulogy for a sandwich, to be delivered while eating it.
- Write the ad for an expensive new drug that improves bad posture. Now, list the possible side effects.
- Think about your day so far (even if it’s still morning). What’s the highlight at this point?
- Write the first communication sent back to Earth after humans land on Mars.
- Finish this sentence: The smell of an orange reminds me of….
- A genie grants you three tiny wishes. What are they?
- It’s 1849, and you’re headed West along the Oregon Trail. Describe the safety features of your state-of-the-art covered wagon.
- Write the passenger safety instructions card for a time-travel machine.
- An undercover spy is about to impersonate you in all aspects of your life. Write instructions.
- Write your life story in five sentences.
- It’s 2018. Where did you last see your jetpack on Saturday?
- Which is the oldest tree in your neighborhood, and what has it seen?
- At a banquet in Kazakhstan, you are greeted as a guest of honor and served the traditional sheep’s eyeball. Respectfully, you decline. You are then offered the sheep’s tongue, instead. What’s your excuse this time?
- Fill in the blank and keep going. “I really ought to eat more_____.”
- Aloha! You’re a lost tourist on a locals-only beach in Hawaii. Talk your way out of a night mugging, using only surfer slang and sea turtle metaphors.
- Find a photo and write what’s not in the picture.
- As a talking Chihuahua, what would you tell your humans about the new crying baby who now lives with you?
- Pick a place you’ve never been to. Explain why you are moving there.
- What piece of advice do you most often give and least often follow?
- If you were given one extra hour today and you weren’t allowed to use it for anything you’d normally do (e.g.; eat, sleep, etc.), what would you do with that hour?
- How’s it going? Write the honest answer.
Image of words – fun ELL vocab building visual
English The American Way - A Fun ESL Guide to Language & Culture in the U.S.
http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/photos/abandoned-buildings-europe-28757124/image-28757137?cid=fb_abc
Photo of cheating parents in India – discussion or composition prompt!
Great discussion prompts for ELLs “In Mandy Len Catron’s Modern Love essay, “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This,” she refers to a study by the psychologist Arthur Aron (and others) that explores whether intimacy between two strangers can be accelerated by having them ask each other a specific series of personal questions. The 36 questions in the study are broken up into three sets, with each set intended to be more probing than the previous one.”
Using Technology and Online teaching:
https://medium.com/life-learning/the-37-best-websites-to-learn-something-new-895e2cb0cad4
These websites and apps cover myriads of science, art, and technology topics. They will teach you practically anything, from making hummus to building apps in node.js, most of them for free. There is absolutely no excuse for you not to master a new skill, expand your knowledge, or eventually boost your career. You can learn interactively at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home. It’s hard to imagine how much easier it can possibly be.
http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/02/10/think-big-how-to-jumpstart-tech-use-in-low-income-schools/
"The challenges of rural schools are many of the same (though not all) that low-income public schools face across the country: inadequate access to technology and broadband, tight budgets, and educators who have not been trained in using technology in meaningful ways."These websites and apps cover myriads of science, art, and technology topics. They will teach you practically anything, from making hummus to building apps in node.js, most of them for free. There is absolutely no excuse for you not to master a new skill, expand your knowledge, or eventually boost your career. You can learn interactively at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home. It’s hard to imagine how much easier it can possibly be.
http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/02/10/think-big-how-to-jumpstart-tech-use-in-low-income-schools/
"Seventeen months ago, I made my first flipped learning video. And then, unexpectedly, it happened: I crossed the century mark. That is to say, I made my hundredth video. What have I learned along the road between one and one hundred? It's not about the video. One thing's for sure -- unless it's designed for better outcomes, flipped learning is just plain upside down. But done right, I believe that it can turn the educational system on its head."
“Educators and students are quickly becoming more comfortable with classroom technology, allowing them to shift from thinking about the technical side of integrating a new tool to focusing on how it improves learning. While the sheer number of education apps is still overwhelming, increasingly teachers have found what works for them and are sticking to them.”
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference: integrate technology seamlessly. Technology is the right tool when…
http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/staying-course-engaging-retaining-non-traditional-students-online-education/ Staying the Course: Engaging and Retaining Non-Traditional Students in Online Education by Floralba Arbelo-Marrero
10 Ways to Increase Student Engagement Online By Dr. Al-Malood
Making Your Courses Accessible:
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