Plainfield: Cohort 4: Day 1
Plainfield School District Tagged ESL, INCLUDE, Plainfield, UDL November 14th, 2008Well if you’ve made it as far as this blog then you’ve made it past the first couple of hours of UDL training. Congratulations! You now have the basic understanding that Universal Design for Learning is the framework for something that you’ve been working so hard as an educator to do for your students this year and possibly for many years past as well.
Please read the article, “Burbank Students Use Blog to Learn English”, by Kim Minugh found at http://www.sacbee.com/220/story/846880.html and comment on the The Best Reference Websites For English Language Learners that Larry Ferlazzo shares in his blog to help educators meet the needs of all students.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:49 am
When I was first introduced to blogs in the UDL CLC I thought that I would like to explore blogs with the intent of creating blog pen palling for my students.
Jess
November 14th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I am intrigued by the idea of an international blog to promote and encourage English Language Acquisition. I can only imagine that it is a great resource for all who participate. Any opportunity for students to practice speaking and writing will benefit their learning; this not only provides an opportunity for practice but it holds the attraction of engagement with the ability to respond to a wide spectrum of people.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Blogs to learn english. An authentic audience of kids from around the world! What a great idea!!
November 14th, 2008 at 8:54 am
after reading the article, many things came to my mind. I just realized about all the endless possiblities/lessons/hands-ons/student center activities, etc i can obtain just by using new tools in my daily teaching!
November 14th, 2008 at 8:54 am
I thought Larry’s idea to have students blog with students from other countries was a creative way to teach second language learners english. A modern day pen pal system that allows students to communicate with a mass diverse student body in a “world classroom”. Great job Larry.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:55 am
While it is interesting to see some of the applications of blogging in the classroom, I’m wondering about how we assess the quality of the student product.
I’m also wondering – out loud – whether blogging isn’t a more sophisticated, 21st century version of “pen pals” that we encouraged pre-web with the obvious advantages of quicker – indeed instantaneou – replies and inhabiting a virtual world of geographically separate “communities” joined by a single communication purpose.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Blogs contribute to and enhance student learning. The fact that these kids were engaged and interactive with one another confirms that learning was taking place. Kids felt comfortable using technology to communicate and also felt a connection between one another in that they are experiencing the same difficulty in understanding English.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:57 am
The use of blogs is an obvious way to get students to practice their writing skills. By writing to their peers they practice writing to an audience other than their teacher, which is refreshing.
As an English teacher, I often find students wondering why they have to read a particular book. I often tell them that it is simply a part of the literary tradition and that people all over the world have read the book. If I were to have them communicate via a blog with students from around the world, they would realize that what I am saying is true and that they are reading something that many people have also read.
By writing about how I teach, and what I think is important about a book, as well as reading about how other teachers are teaching it and what they think is important, students will have an opportunity to gain new and exciting perspectives on the material.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Larry’s website shared a resource on Machu Picchu. Some of my students are working on governments of early Americansand on Incas in particular. This site will give them context of the early American group.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
The article about Larry’s students communicating through a blog internationally is very inspiring. I know my students would greatly enjoy communicating with students in this way. I now have to figure out how to ensure that what my students type is appropriate and represents the school and them well.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
This article explains how blogs can help students interact with one another and engage themselves. These students are internally motivated. Blogs can help many students in this generation with almost any subject. There are many blogs that can assist students, almost like an online homework helper. Students can thus ask for help and feel comfortable doing so.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
The most interesting aspect about the UDL is the wide spectrum of learning stratiges, that can be applied/used on all the types of students effectively. One reference resources that I would like to share with my students is http://www.youtube.com/easywaytolearnenglish
November 14th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
As I was reading about the blog ,I thought it was a great idea and a great tool for students to share with others. Especially if they share the same interest. The website that is very useful for my students is www. learnspanish.com.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I noticed a web reference and link to a Discover website called Global Warming Interactive. This will particular good for two(2) Earth and Physical Science students that are working on a Science Project/Research on Global Warming. They will have to state a hypothesis and research collecting data via survey. This website will be useful for the research portion and the referencing part of the paper.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
The use of blogs as many other technologies are there to facilitate communication and comprehensible input for our students. I teach ELL’s and I always wonder about their experiences in their countries and how they used to learn math. I also wonder how the other part of the world is teaching math, are they using multiple intelligences? Is it more traditional or are they working more collaboratively? Are the textbooks they are using similar to ours or do they use “old-fashion books”? With the use of the blog, not only can my questions be answered but also my students can feel somewhat connected to their countries of origin. Using blogs the students can relate to each other in ways that can be non-threatening and interesting to them.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
It is a good way how to incorporate the UDL strategies into our classrooms and it is a good way to help our students to archieve our common goals. I really believe that my students will enjoy and take the most of my lesson when I provide them flexible models of skilled performance, also providing relevant feedback.
Thanks for such interesting workshop.
Sincerely,
Cescurra
November 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I appreciate reading the thoughtful reflections here.
The Sister Classes blog continues this year, so feel free to drop by!
Larry
November 17th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Blogs are an amazing classroom tool. However, the students you teach must be taken into consideration. I wouldn’t trust the students I teach to correspond with students from different countries in an appropriate manner. I would allow a class blog via a school website (if we had one, for example school wires of a a similar site). It is a great tool for the class community.
I found the English Club Dicatation site interesting. The Best sites for English language learners is also great. It is helpful to those who teach ELL/ESL students.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I have started using all of the tools today and would not say I had a favorite. All of them make what I already do easier. I have a website with links, but the number gets overwhelming. My students have to scroll down a long list to find the ones they should target. Delicious.com will take care of organizing tabs so this problem doesn’t happen. I can also put more researching onus on the students then too by helping only with key words.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:46 am
Larry, thanks for dropping in. I am curious to know what improvements you made to the project the second year to engage students even more?
I sometimes get nervous that technology won’t work. How often do you run into problems? How do you work around them?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:52 am
Larry, thanks for reviewing our reflections.
I’m struggling to find effective and engaging ways to directly teach academic vocabulary. I see that you’ve added some site evaluations.
Any further suggestions?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:54 am
DO NOT POST THIS!!!
Please assist. Can your my name to just ‘Sophia”
I posted my entire name under BLOG #14:
Thanks in advance.
Sophia
I noticed a web reference and link to a Discover website called Global Warming Interactive. This will particular good for two(2) Earth and Physical Science students that are working on a Science Project/Research on Global Warming. They will have to state a hypothesis and research collecting data via survey. This website will be useful for the research portion and the referencing part of the paper.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:54 am
Yes the possiblilities are endless!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:03 am
Jasmin stated that ‘Blogs contribute to and enhance student learning. The fact that these kids were engaged and interactive with one another confirms that learning was taking place.’ This is true, however we need to functions as moderators to ensure that learning is directed.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Larry I think this is so cool that us teacher have a new tool to use. Therefore, we can accomodate all of our students regardless of their different learning styles.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Hi Larry! Thanks for the interesting approach to learning a new language via technology. Everything sounds great to use with the students, however did any problems arise when implementing this lesson? If so what were they and how did you handle them?
November 21st, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Larry:
Your references to the bestwebsites for ELL and ESL learners is very helpful.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Larry:
I am very excited to use the tools that I have learned at the UDL training. Thank-you for reaching out to the teachers at Plainfield. We have a large population of students that are ELL or ESl and I am soooo… excited to be able to reach them in a creative technological manner.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Thanks for joining our blog, Larry. Thanks, Sophia, for the info on the global warming website. I’d like to look at this for Social Studies as well!
November 21st, 2008 at 12:31 pm
As I have learned a lot today, there was a lot of new information today!!
November 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Hi Larry! Thanks for dropping in! I teach math to ELL (spanish bilingual)students at the high school level and I am curious about the type of technology that is needed in order to communicate with classrooms or students from other countries. I think it would be an excellent thing if my students could somehow experience a parallel learning experience from their native countries and their experience here. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated it.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Today was brain overload. I was introduced to so very much that I feel overwhelmed. Something that could have helped was to have a copy of the powerpoint presentation. I am a visual as well as audio learner, I would have been able to keep up as well as review, at my leisure.
The end of the session was beneficial to me with all of the available sites. I am going to reserch one of these and delve into it.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Thank you Larry for your input. Is very important to find several ways to engage our students into our daily lesson activities. Keep in touch.
Cesar-
November 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Hi Larry, I think you are doing an awesome job of teaching new language using technology. I hope you will post more ideas on interacting the language with more tech tools, so that we can use them effectively.
Hilal
November 21st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I had the opportunity to read the article of about the ELL blog. I was educated both in New Jersey and Puerto Rico so I can apprecite the difficulty children have with language. A venue that helps provide support and understanding to students that struggle with language or any other subject in a modern way can be very beneficial to promote learning.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I think the power point presentation was great. It has a lot of great websites and resources that can be used to make learning in the classroom engaging for more students. I personally enjoyed the microphone and voice in a word document. I can’t wait to use it in my class!!