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Rubistar How-To Larger Size

Rubistar

Above you will find a quick introduction to the online rubric generator, Rubistar. If you truly want to develop oral language skills with your English Language Learners (ELL), you need to create authentic formative assessments that focus on specific areas of language development. Why use a rubric? I am glad you asked! The ELL, depending on his or her level of English proficiency, may not be ready for a paper/pencil assessment and introducing the anxiety of "failing" a test may not foster the positive interactions necessary for a receptive learning environment. Staying focused on three or four areas, such as: using appropriate vocabulary, speaking clearly, answering in complete sentences, and staying on topic, allows the teacher to track the student's development in all content areas. Additionally, the ELL can set realistic goals that relate to learning to the teacher's expectations.

Voki How-To Screencast

[|Vokis]
Vokis are customizable avatars for use in the classroom. A lesson does not have to consist of a large amount of time, which makes Vokis valuable for sharing mini-lessons or instructions with students. The teacher's voice (or student's) may be recorded and combined with text-based instructions be used to teach a list of vocabulary words, give instructions, or even as individualized greeting for students when they login to their computer. Vokis can be stored on a wiki to reduce the burden on a school's server and are safe to share (as long as the students does not share any specific information about themselves) because they do not show the child's face. Vokis are fun for students and encourage their oral language development in a non-threatening way.

** [|Edu Glogster] ** The classroom is a dynamic environment with a huge variety of opportunities for showcasing what has been learned in professional development. Sure, writing a lesson plan or a reflection may indicate how well the participant has benefited from PD course material, but to gain an authentic look into what the students are now capable of doing as a result of the teacher's professional development a web 2.0 tool may be more appropriate. An authentic assessment option is the glog. The glog is a way for educators to share what the students have learned and how the objectives from a PD course have been integrated into daily instruction. Plus, students love the multimedia interface and easy to use tools.

** [|FreeMind: Graphic Organizers] ** FreeMind is an excellent resource for building graphic organizers of all types. Easy to use and free, FreeMind allows the user to create free-form maps, concept maps, flowcharts, and the functionality to do much more. The software also allows the user to save in a .jpg file format for easy retrieval from Mac and Windows machines. I like this tool because it has many of the same functions as proprietary software (Inspiration, Visio) and even though it takes a little while to learn how to use it has an intuitive interface.

** [|Google Docs: Presentation] ** Google has a ton of free resources that have the same functionality as Powerpoint or Keynote. One of the great components of Google Docs is the ability to collaborate with others through real time chat or make comments/revisions to a document. For a presentation, Google Docs has a presentation tool that is easy to use, free, and accessible from any location with an internet connection. Although the presentations are not flashy, they help teachers incorporate multimedia into their instruction and make the technology accessible for all of their students.

** [|Pre-Training: Acitivities Checklist] ** An essential part to PD is establishing relevance to what happens in the classroom. For many teachers implementing additional strategies to struggling readers or ELLs may seem overwhelming. Many teachers may already be using ESOL strategies in the classroom and may not even know it! Using this list of reading activities as a primer for background knowledge for some and a pre-training activity for others will help teachers realize that many ESOL strategies are just good educational practice. The Reading Resource is a clearinghouse of effective strategies for reading and although it is a bit difficult to navigate, it has a lot of resources for teachers from all educational levels.

** [|Pre-Training: Video Critique] ** Prior to beginning training it may be necessary to activate one's background knowledge or make connections to more complex material. TeacherTube is a great resource for educators to use to collaborate and reflect on activities from teachers around the world. In this example, participants from a PD course for teaching with ESOL strategies will watch and reflect upon how interactive activities (such as Reader's Theater) help the ELL make meaningful connections to text. Later on in the training, participants will name the specific examples from the course and how they were applied in the video. I like TeacherTube because it is organized like YouTube, but is not blocked by district servers. The only downside is that you have to login as a member or be forced to watch advertisements every time you watch a video.