ASSIGNMENT 14: EFL Blogs as Platforms for Project-based Teaching

Dear EFL teachers, This week we are going to explore the wonderful world of online project based teaching and learning. Using projects in EFL classes requires complex tasks, based on challenging questions or problems, that involve students in design, problem-solving, decision making, or investigative activities. Online EFL projects give students the opportunity to work relatively autonomously over extended periods of time and culminate in realistic products or presentations. This way, project work encourages motivation, fosters group cohesiveness, and increases expectancy of success in target language, achieving the combination of academic and social goals through language use. Let's step into the world of projects, and discover an alternative efficient EFL teaching approach.

Task 1. Study the resources below and give your own definition of what PBL (Project Based Learning) is and what its major advantages are. 
a) Project based learning explained.
b) Five keys to PBL. 
c) The basics of PBL. 
d) iEARN Teddy Bear Project 

e) iEARN Tulip Project 

Task 2.  Let's analyse how American Councils Moldova implements Project Based Instruction as part of its Access Microscholarship Program. Analyze the projects listed below, choose 2 projects you liked the most, and identify their comprising elements, such as: ·     Target problems the project addresses; ·     Project goals from civic and EFL teaching perspectives; ·     Project beneficiaries; ·    Project partners; ·   Project finalities from civic and EFL teaching perspectives; · Students’ English level (beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate, advanced). Share your findings as a comment to this blog assignment. “A Letter to Santa Clause” “Access Youth in Action” Flashmob “Save the Planet with a Planted Flower” “Sharing is Caring” “Talking Kites Around the World”  “Informing the Mihai Eminescu Community” “ A New Life for Sport and Youth”

Task 3:  The process of developing a project requires from the teacher to be familiar with all stages of a project preparation, and of course, select appropriate project procedures and expected outcomes. a.        Consult the following links: Teacher’s Guide to Online Collaboration & Global Projects (pages 20-25, pages  32-37; ,pages 44-47) iEARN Project Book (pages 15-17) Global Issues; b.      Post your reflections on the following: ·         What project topic(s) and finalities /outcomes would be more appropriate to your students’ level and your teaching style (maximum 5 phrases)? ·         What challenge(s) might come along in developing and implementing Project Based Instruction with your students (maximum 5 phrases)?

Task 4: Carefully analyse the projects below - they will help you identify the stages of a project, the impact each stage would have on students’ motivation and academic and social skills. Explain your ideas in a 50-word paragraph.  

“Making Changes through Social Theater”

“Making Changes through Youth-Civic Engagement Projects”

“My Place , Your Place”

“The Great Student Blog Project”

“Student Blogging Project” 

Task 5: Study the resources below and create a project assignment for your students related to one of the topics you will be teaching in January or February. 1) Feel free to create your own project or choose one from iEARN orAccess Microscholarship resources.  2) Follow the project template below.  3) Post the assignment on your blog and place the link below, as a comment to this assignment.  Resources: Project-based Instruction: Success from Start to Finish Project guidelines   Project Plan  template Teacher’s Guide to Online Collaboration & Global Projects (Sample project plans from pages 24-25) Project assignment template:   Project Title; Students’ level; Project idea; Driving question; EFL Content Skills and Standards; Collaborative Final Products (Use one of the online tools you studied as part of our EFL Blogging School, for e.g. an online poster on glogster.com representing the impact of the national diversity on culture); Local & Global Audience; Project Steps and schedule; Needed materials and resources for each stage; Students’ outcomes for each stage (for e.g., a 10-question quiz).

ASSIGNMENT 15: Blogs as Platforms for Integrating EFL Lesson Planning

Dear EFL teachers,        Planning an EFL  lesson, as a preview of the whole instructive process before it is taken up for execution, involves careful thinking about the traditional and online tools to be used for its successful completion. As far as language teaching is concerned, planning involves the teacher’s skill in the selection of the material, the techniques or method or approaches to be employed, the activities to be taken up, and in getting the pupils involved in the successful completion of the lesson assignments. It is a complete preview of the difficulties likely to occur in the course of the lesson, of introducing new teaching approaches and strategies while using various updated technologies.            This week we are inviting you to set up new instructive goals for your students through a well-designed process of an instructive immersion on online platforms. You will succeed because this approach sets up the most creative and economical procedures to attain the established purposes. Enjoy improving your educational lesson plan designing skills!  Task 1: Analyze the following resources and write a 100 word paragraph stating the importance of a well structures lesson plan, 3-4 things to consider while planning a lesson and at least 1-2 challenges you personally meet when making a lesson plan and ways you usually cope with them: Why is Lesson Planning Important? Lesson Planning for EFL and EFL Classroom Writing a 5 Lesson Plan Pace and Structure in Lesson Planning ESL Lesson Planning  Lesson Plan Format Concepts  Write Lesson Plans    Weekly Writer’s Blogs: Building a Reflective Community of Support

Task 2. Study the lesson plan samples below and choose 2 completely different ones in structure, and compare them in order to identify at least 2 similarities and 2 differences. Pay attention to the lesson plan structure, stages, resources, instructive and assessment procedures. Share your findings and summarize your comment with a personal conclusion.   Environmental Issues Sony plans to launch electronic-paper watch Apple unveils new Apple Watch Guinness World Records Jigsaw Viewing Activity Snack facts Dictionary skills for secondary students Exploring Careers Using the Internet  MyPlanetDotNet Blogging about the American Revolution  Statue of Liberty Civics Lesson Plan April Fool's Day Lesson Plan

Task 3: Study the role of Bloom’s Taxonomy in writing lesson objectives, and so in formulating their deriving learning activities and assessments: Bloom’s Taxonomy in the Classroom Lesson Planning: Objectives, Assessment and Bloom’s  Writing Lesson Plans using Bloom’s Taxonomy  Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Process Verbs, Assessments and Questioning Strategies Creating Learning Objectives  Writing Educational Objectives in a Lesson Plan   b.       Watch the EFL teacher training presentation on Integrating Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy into Daily Lesson Planning, and c.        Using Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs and presented hints on how to create the objectives correctly, write 2-3 educational/learning objectives the EFL teachers should achieve at the end of the proposed learning session.

Task 4. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy, design a lesson plan for a lesson content of a Module/Unit  you are going to teach on January or February, which will include at least 3 online resources you studied from the EFL Blogging School curriculum and:  ·         Learning standards, competences, sub-competences;  ·         Learning objectives; ·         Resources, especially online; ·         Learning stages according to national lesson plan structure (ERRE); ·         Learning activities, strategies, and assessments  according to Bloom. The major priority in the process of developing your lesson plan should represent the integration of online tools you have studied during all previous assignments, which will foster the development of integrated language skills, such as writing, listening, speaking and reading. Post the lesson plan on your blog and send us the link, as a comment to Assignment 14.  Useful resources:   The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland  Cyberspace Explorer: Getting to Know Christopher Columbus Creating a Character Blog  Finding Solutions to Food Waste: Persuasion in a Digital World  Blogtopia: Blogging about Your Own Utopia Additional resources:  Lesson plan generator Planbookedu English Teacher's Surviving Guide: Lesson Planning     Lesson Plan Ideas:  Lesson plan ideas for A1/A2 levels Lesson plan ideas for B1/B2 levels  Lesson plan ideas for C1/C2 levels

ASSIGNMENT 16:Blogs as Online Tools for EFL Assessment

Dear EFL teachers,  When teachers assess student learning and performance acquired due to online assignments, it concentrates his /her main goal on purely formative purposes, since often there is no final mark on the paper and no summative grade in the grade book. Rather, assessment serves as practice for students, just like a meaningful homework assignment does. This formative assessment – the  most valuable one -supports learning through an immediate online peers or teachers’ feedback, or even better a self- reflection posted as text-/media-based blog comment. Keep trying new digital tools for applying effective assessment strategies and developing multi-tasking rubrics.

Task 1.  Formative versus summative assessment  Analyze the digital resources below and write your reflections on the following:  a.       define a formative assessment, and reasons of using it in instruction ( maximum 3 phrases); b.      state the difference between formative and summative assessment ( maximum 2 phrases); c.       identify 3 strategies of formative assessment you consider  most effective for your students, justifying your choice ( maximum 3 phrases).   Formative, Summative, Interim: Putting Assignment in Context (In)Formative Assessment: Keys to Accountability, page 21-23   Formative Assessment: Deepening Understanding The Importance of Formative Assessment The Best Value in Formative Assessment    Homework as Formative Assessment  10 Assessments You Could Perform in 90 seconds 53 Examples of Assessment Quick and Easy

Task 2: Online tools for EFL assessment Digital tools represent innovative and effective ways to express feedback on the accomplished students’ assignment in both  face-to-face or virtual classes. Select 4 online tools you could use to ensure the formative assessment strategies you presented in Task 1. Please consider that the digital platforms should be described accordingly:   2 online tools you have already used in the previous Assignments , and  2  new digital platforms you have learned about from the references listed below.   Share your choices as a comment on our project blog. Digital Technology Tools for Implementing Formative Assessment- Post One Digital Technology Tools for Implementing Formative Assessment –Post Two Assessment with Web 2.0 tools Using Web 2.0 for Formative and Summative Assessment  Making sense of assessment with Voice Thread  Enhancing Formative Assessment using Free Web 2.0 Tools  Alternative Assessment in Digital Classrooms  Madaline Obrzut’s self-evaluation using Movenote

Task 3: Using rubrics as an online EFL assessment tool         Rubrics, as a simple scoring tool, can be used to assess almost any type of student work, be it essays, final projects, oral presentations, or theatrical performances. Read the information below and outline in a 50-word paragraph what rubrics are and what they are used for; the types of rubrics; the steps to follow while creating rubrics, and criteria to consider when evaluating a rubric.   What are Rubrics What is a Rubric New Tools for Teams and Institution Rubrics Rubrics Creating Rubrics Samples of Rubrics  R Campus Rubrics E-Portfolio Rubrics

Task 4: Let's create an online rubric to assess a student project. Choose one of the online assignments posted by your students on our blog throughout the EFL Blogging School, choose one you like most  (for e.g. , a Narrable or Stupeflix video, a Voicethread or blog E-Portfolio, a poem or an essay posted on your blog), and create a rubric to assess the accuracy and completeness of the accomplished task. Save your rubric and post the link below, as a comment to this blog. Watch the following tutorials and other useful online resources to complete this task: Rubrics for Project-based Activities  using Rubistar  (watch the tutorial ) Goobrics : Assessing Students’ Work RCampus Rubric Builder Rubrics Maker Tools Assessment Generator

ASSIGNMENT 6: Online Tools to Develop Students' English Speaking Skills

Dear EFL teachers,

Last week we explored web tools which required your students to play with images, words and sentences. Tools such as Animoto, Picovico, Stupeflix, Photopeach and Slidestory would help you develop your students' writing skills. This week we are going to work with web 2.0 tools which, in addition to images and words, include voice. They will offer you the opportunity to evaluate your students' writing and speaking skills. 

Task 1:  Explore the Voicethread projects created by a group of college students from Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova; Choose one project which you believe is very well elaborated; Score the project online by filling in the rubric saved in the Google Drive format (write your name and the name of the student you assessed directly in the online version of the scoring rubric). You will all work on one online document, so fill in the scoring rubric which is available (go down the document until you find a free rubric).

Task 2: This week your students will have to create an online project using images and their voices. Choose one of the tools recommended below (you can also ask your students to work with Voicethread or Movenote, which you already know how to use) and elaborate an assignment for your students, then post it on your blog. the presentation your students will create has to be linked to one of the topics you will teach in November or in December (it needs to be integrated into your curriculum), so please indicate the grade and the topic; elaborate specific requirements for the presentation: indicate which vocabulary your students need to use, which grammar structures they should focus on and what materials they need to read before they start putting together their presentations.

Task 3: Watch the video posted below and elaborate a scoring rubric to assess your students speaking skills, save it in your Google Drive (which is linked to your gmail account) and post the link below, as a comment to this post (Google Drive tutorial).  Please use the resources below: Speaking rubric for fluency activities, Pearson Longman  ESL speaking rubric  Oral Presentation Rubric, Teacher Web Sample assessment rubrics

Online tools we recommend this week:

Learn about Narrable and brainstorm on how this tool could help your students improve their English speaking skills.  Read more teaching ideas in April’s 21st Century Tool Of The Month: Narrable article. Analyse these student examples posted on Narrable official website: Henry the VIII-th Ladybugs My Broken Arm US Government versus Canadian Government

UtellStory is a service for creating and sharing audio slideshows. To create and share your story through UtellStory you can upload pictures, add text captions, add audio narration to each slide, and upload a soundtrack to support your entire story. Completed projects can be embedded into your blog, emailed to your friends, or shared through your favorite social networking sites. Watch UTellStory's introduction here.  Other projects created by students of all ages: All about Horses Our Excel Survey Sustainability in my Life Seven Wonders of the Ancient World To create a story you need to upload pictures saved on your computer, then add the narration to each slide.  In the free version of UTellStory you have thirty seconds per slide and up to two minutes of total audio.  You can rearrange your slides after recording by simply dragging them into the sequence in which you want them to appear.

Welcome to Module 2: "Video production for EFL blogging and approaches in involving students online"

Dear EFL Blogging School Participants, 

From November, 9 to December, 6 we would like to invite you to study the second Module of the course, entitled "Video production for EFL blogging and approaches in involving students online", aimed to  guide participants to apply in teaching: 

 Video Production Tools Movie maker, Voicethread, Voki

 Writing Production Tools Dvolver, Tagxedo, Fodey

 Graphic Production Glogster, Pininterest

 Easy solutions for busy teachers ReadWriteThink.
 Approaches to involve students online.

To accomplish Module 2, you will need to complete the following 4 Assignments.