Notes from TESOL: Ashley

Technology:

Many of the sessions I attended were related to technology, obviously. I picked up as many handouts as I could. I will scan them and add them here. I didn't really learn anything new, but that doesn't mean you won't :)

Saudis:

I also attended the Saudi sessions that Bill and Laura wrote up so well. Here's my takeaway (since I see no reason to add my notes to theirs): getting Saudis to interact with people of the opposite sex, particularly from their own country, is a huge problem everywhere. Many teachers are responding to this problem by being very sensitive and not requiring their students to do anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Respect was a big buzzword in these sessions; the students must feel that we respect their culture. 

I walked away mostly frustrated that no one had any suggestions we aren't already trying. I think we're very respectful of the Saudis. At the same time, do we not have an obligation to push them outside of their comfort zones? Many seemed to think that requiring them to work with the opposite gender would only be counterproductive. I can't imagine how it can be any more counterproductive than not forcing them to interact with each other.

Curriculum writing:

Mostly a useless session. One thing I definitely took from this session was the presenter's insistence that programs provide a diagnostic essay as part of the placement exam. She felt that a student's writing reveals much about their English proficiency. I tend to agree with her. Notes from that session:

Teach the students not the material
Scope and sequence (the what and the order)
Compares curriculum to a thanksgiving dinner - can exist with just turkey, but will be boring. Students need a variety, but don't teach what's unnecessary
There should be a diagnostic essay

Writing rubrics

An interesting session. I liked very much the idea that we shouldn't put anything on a rubric we don't dedicate any class time to. If you don't teach spelling in class, you can't mark students down for spelling things incorrectly. Presenters also made the important point that we should not live and die by rubrics - if this is the only method you have to evaluate writing, you are not doing a good job of evaluating your students' writing.

Article about rubrics: Panadero and Jonson 2013 - usefulness of rubrics

Rules of assessment: show models of good writing, create criteria and scoring rubric at same time, teach students the language of the rubric

Components of a rubric: Evaluation criteria, quality definitions, scoring strategy

Approaches to scale development:

Brainstorm all possible criteria, prioritize - choose only 3-7 criteria, determine levels, quality definitions

Performance driven rubric: use a yes/no scale - questions, if answer us yes, move up scale, if no, move down scale (binary scale - Turner and Upshur)

Data driven scales (Knoch 2006)

5 questions for usefulness:

Does it reflect course curricula, projects? (Weighting is important!)
Does it match up with your theory of language and the purpose of the test?
Does it align with the task and the kind of language produced?
Does it fit with my students' abilities and range of performance?
Is it easy and consistently used by students and teachers? (Shouldn't have to create a new one every time)

Perceptions of rubrics: teachers think students don't find them useful, so include students in the development of rubrics.

Never depend only on a rubric.

Concept of voice in rubrics: "The criteria not chosen shape the outcomes as much as those that are chosen" Haswell 2005

Orientation course

I went to a great session on how to develop an orientation course for students. Though my notes are not long, I was very inspired by this session. It reminded me of the experiential learning course that Laura and I created. I think we should seriously consider how we make our current orientation more dynamic and get the campus community more involved. Notes from that session:

Orientation course: takes them to planetarium, library tour, conversation partners and conversation table (paid program - they pay the partners), culture shock wokshop, police officer visit, counseling center visit, health center visit, career resource center visit, environmental health and safety lecture

Their course lasts three weeks, students like short, intensive course, good to meet their resources on campus

Get students to fill out a personalized form about their vital information; passport expiration dates, etc. so that they don't forget this information.