Lucia+Tabacchiera

DEST (2005) states “the standards are intended as a guide for thinking through one’s current professional work and identifying needs for future development” (p. 1). This is quite relevant I believe for most teachers, as we work we sometimes do not stop to reflect on our own teaching and where can individual development ensure for the improvement of quality teaching. As teachers we are very busy and it can seem sometimes that there are many different initiatives that are implemented and we can feel sometimes we do not have ‘time’ for all these aspects that are imposed upon us. However the statement above is essential for any teacher to take heed from. As teachers we must make sure that there is reflection in their professional work so as their teaching can help the students achieve their best in their language learning. In reference to the //Standards// in particular within the //Program Standards,// it allows for a faculty group to be reflective of their teaching practice within the school and how they can help improve the value of the language program. The //Program Standards// allows for a Faculty group to review, develop and improve the effectiveness of language teaching within the school. Upon reflection the LOTE faculty at my school have achieved this in an informal manner. As a faculty we are constantly reflecting upon how LOTE is perceived and how we can improve language learning within the school. The project that we are working on is one of those investigations that we have reflected upon as a faculty group to address. The //Program Standards// will allow for us as a group to identify and address the needs of language learning within the school and thus allow for reflection and a collaborative approach to teaching and learning a language within our school setting. || The questions that are posed for reflection and investigation within module 3 allow me to reflect upon my own project and some questions for me to consider, how well do I know my students? Do I need to investigate this further before implanting my project? What kinds of scaffold do I provide for my students? Do I recognise them or are they just something I do automatically? One of the questions that resonates with me is how do I manage feedback to my students? Am I affective in my feedback? Am I giving the essential feedback that the students need to achieve success in language learning? There are many questions to consider and ponder as I implement my project and reflect further upon my language teaching. || I have found in teaching a language that students love the quirky things and everyday things such as the chips or chocolate that the Italians eat. They also love to know about McDonalds and other such fast food. I find you can have a very healthy discussion of these things with students, which then does further develop their cultural awareness of the language. It is important that the resources we use as teachers are constantly reviewed so as to maintain the up to date pieces of information about the target language. This is where the internet is your friend and the possibilities that you can use it for within the classroom are priceless. Sometimes I find there is so much information I get a little anxious in how I am going to present it all to the students. I think the key aspects to remember in using resources (whether digital or not) for language learning are; As a teacher I have not reflected on the aspect of the student’s language awareness as much as I would have liked to. I do reflect with the students their language awareness but not in a formal manner. I think a formal survey would be an interesting task to complete with the students, in particular when you have the class for the first time. The first lesson can comprise of the students filling in a survey of their language awareness. This can also be done at the end of the year and the students can review a summary to see their development of language awareness. I think a task like this would be better suited for students at Year 9-12 level who are choosing the language because they wish to study a language.In reference to the handout 2 the ‘statements about language’ it was interesting to note the different views of the participants in the workshop, how they grouped the statements about language. There was no right or wrong answer with this exercise however it was interesting to note the way in which we interacted with each other and asked each other what our thoughts were. With anything I think that depending on your experiences and background is the way in which you view language.Upon reflection with my teaching this area of language learning and language awareness is something I have not thought about implementing in my teaching practice. I am interested to do so now, particularly for this year as I have Year 10 Italian for the first time, it could be an interesting project in asking the students their awareness of language and how they interpret it, it might even help with the retention of numbers for the language at Years 11 and 12. || Along with the students it is also important that as teachers we identify with the students and the learning context. This is referenced in DEST (2005) in particular the Language Pedagogy Standard as "(use) ... a range of methodologies for languages and culture teaching and in their practice select from these in a principled way, taking into consideration the learners, the learning context, curriculum goals, and the aspect of language being taught" (p. 3). This is something to reflect upon in regards to how much do I use the target language in the classroom and the way in which I interact with the students during the class. Most of the time in my language classroom I try to talk in the target language and use prompts or actions to help the students understand what I am saying. I can also improve in this area, I often add in some phrases and words however it is to a minimum and this is also due to the students and their ability. In my classroom, in particular this year there has been a lot of questioning. The students have initiated the questioning by asking about the Italian study tour later this year. Many of the students in my class are attending the study tour so they are quite interested in it. The questions are centred on the cultural aspects of Italy, but this gave us a great platform to interact and share any experiences that we may have had. It also gave me a great platform to teach the formal linguistic aspects of the Italian language. The students were able to identify with the language concept taught as I was able to link it into what they would need to use when visiting Italy. It has been a great way to teach the language to the students especially in the manner of language concepts. I also believe that the students have gained greater language awareness of the Italian language and developed their knowledge of the language. Also in my teacher practice I go around the room asking the students if they need help, encouraging the students to continue with the task and make sure they are on track. The interaction within a classroom is very important as it helps the students to learn how to interact with one another in a social setting and it also enables the student to learn the etiquette skills for different social settings. I also make sure that all students are participating and responding to the questions or activities. One simple method I use is when answering questions we have done from a task I go around the room and ask every student to answer a questions. If the students have not completed the task then I ask them to do it then with my guidance. I find this helps to keep the students on track as they know I am going to ask every student to contribute an answer. Upon reflection of this module my goals of classroom interaction are; Understanding the interrelationships of the intracultural with the intercultural || Firstly here is my definition of intracultural and intercultural from what I understand in the module. Intra – meaning within ourselves, our cultureInter- meaning how we respond to other cultures- interact with others in the culture –self to others Our intracultural selves, what an interesting concept. I suppose in many ways as educators we need to know ourselves very well to help the students understand what we teach and some of the factors that make up the enculturation of ourselves –the who are we? And part of who we are? They can be school, relationships, cultural background, and places. These factors can be an aide when looking at teaching culture within the language that we teach to our students. There are some questions to ponder “what experiences do we provide for the students?”, “how do we broaden the cultural experiences of our students?” How do we do this? I believe as a school we do this well by offering our students two different study tours as well as different excursions that help develop their knowledge of culture. The study tour offers the students a firsthand look at a country and also the homestay helps them to see the life of a typical Italian and or Japanese family. This raises the student’s awareness of the world in particular, from another cultural perspective. I believe students who are able to participate in the school study tours are able to grow in their awareness of their intracultural and intercultural. || These key points all refer to what any teacher should consider before implementing an assessment task. They clearly address what is important about a task and therefore can help a teacher to stop and reflect before implementing the task. It is vital as accomplished teachers of a language consider these points to best help our students gain the most out of learning a language. ||
 * LOTEHAT Workshop Reflections **
 * **Module**
 * & Date** || **Reflections** ||
 * Module 1 & 2 || I was very surprised that there was a document called the Professional Standards for Language Teachers. In my ten years of teaching a language and participating and attending in various professional development activities, not once has the standards come up as part of that. Although I was quite surprised I was also very excited to see the standards. I regard them as a way in which to monitor and evaluate my responsibility as a language teacher.
 * Module 3 || Upon reflection of the first module I was challenged a little to think about my practices as a language teacher in the classroom. Having taught Italian for the past 10 years, sometimes you just go with what you know and what you have learnt through your training, however once you get into the classroom and teach you maybe forget or automatically know the material but tend to forget what the label is for that learning theory.I think it was great to go through the learning theories. I found that valuable in reintroducing myself to these and the basis behind learning. I think it is very important that we know and understand the way in which our students learn to best help them to get the best outcomes in their learning.In reference to the learning theories again I have come to the conclusion that there is not one specific learning theory that is “right” or “best practice” for teaching languages in the classroom. I believe that a combination of these theories help to bring out the best in our students.
 * Module 4 - Identifying language specific needs || In completing this module I have had time to reflect upon the specific needs of the language that I teach and consider ways in which I can develop my teaching practice. In reading the standards the reflection questions truly enable me to stop and think about my language teaching. I find with the students that I teach I use my cultural background and many stories of my family traditions to help the student’s link into their cultural awareness. For example when I teach the topic of Christmas, we go through what Italians do in Italy and then I explain my family traditions and then ask the students to share their cultural experiences (if any) of this time with the class. The students love to talk and share about their experiences and become aware of the differences in cultures.Upon further reflection I can identify one area in which I can develop further in my language teaching. The third annotation in the Language and Culture section of the standards (DEST, 2005), states that the teacher is actively maintaining and developing their knowledge of the language and culture. I do this by watching the Italian news and films. I also maintain this by subscribing to websites and getting constant updates about Italy and the language. I am also an avid reader that loves to read anything to do with Italy. The above are some ways in which I try to actively maintain and develop my knowledge further. There are of course many other ways in which I can do this that will help further my language skills and knowledge and in turn help my students learn the language. Sometimes it comes down to the amount of time you have as a teacher and the amount of resources at your disposal. ||
 * Module 5 –Resources for language learning || In reading through this module, I have come to the conclusion that authentic resources that we use in the classroom, need to be relevant with their context and purpose. There also needs to be language and cultural relevance for the teacher as well as the students. The realia- or authentic resources also sometimes hold a personal message for us also which we then share with the students. Some of the authentic resources that I use with my students are my stories from my travels with photos. I don’t have a lot of other resources such as, food packaging or newspapers or maps, however with the internet all these things are very accessible and many of the text books that are written today use such images in their chapters.
 * is to constantly review the resources
 * keep them relevant and meaningful
 * clearly define its use and purpose within the classroom or lesson
 * make it a part of the learners world ||
 * Module 6 - Language learning and language awareness || In this module the reflection upon language and what it means to me as a teacher is quite interesting. In the task ‘my view of language’ I wrote, I believe language is a component that we all have in our lives, language is for me part of who I am, my background and heritage. That is how I relate to language and I suppose this is reflected in my practice in teaching a language to my students. I believe the passion that I have when I am teaching Italian and the knowledge that I share with them, in particular my stories or experiences help the students to develop their language.
 * Module 7 - Teacher talk and classroom interaction || Obviously in the LOTE classroom the interactions with students are vital in their connection with the language, particularly in the younger year levels. It is important to engage the students to encourage them to continue to progress with the language at the higher year levels. Within DEST (2005) the Language Pedagogy Standard clearly outlines the importance and nature of interaction "(to) create a culture of learning which fosters interest in languages and cultures and encourage learners to accept responsibility for their own learning" (p. 3). This is vital for any language classroom that the learner is engaged, is developing their language skills and developing a greater understanding of the cultural context of the language.
 * continue and use more of the target language
 * students to ask more questions in the target language
 * continue the questioning of students and the interaction between student and teacher
 * always promote meaningful communication in the target language ||
 * Module 9- Devleloping relationships and wider connections || In this module we discussed a few concepts in regards to languages and the validity of them, for example; the value of teaching and learning a language and the benefits of participating in a professional learning community. These aspects relate to the //Standards// in a couple of areas, in the discussions from the professional development day 4 I believe the most this module interconnects with is //Personal Characteristics, Advocacy// and //Professional Relationships.// As a Faculty it is essential that we promote and increase the awareness and importance of language learning within the school. We can do this in a number of ways; by having an engaging and successful language program, being connected to networks within the area, developing a language policy for the school, participating in professional development and using the //Standards// as a basis for our professional standings as language teachers. As language teachers we need to be professional in all that we do to continue the validity of the school having a language program. ||
 * Module 11- Situating Language assessment Practices || As the world in which we live constantly changes so does the way in which we teach, the way students learn and in particular the way in which we assess, this is better known as educational change and it is constantly ongoing. For teachers today assessment is **for** learning, the DEST (2005) states “their (accomplished teachers) approach to assessment examines understanding, learning, and performance, and uses assessment to foster learning as well as to evaluate learning” (p. 3). To help the students foster and evaluate their own learning links back into module 3 and knowing your students. Students are all different in their learning and come from different backgrounds. I know in my own classroom the range of learners is extensive. For me as a teacher I constantly reflect upon how I am going to help my students to promote learning and give them the confidence to continue learning. As an accomplished teacher of a language I need to raise my student’s achievements and their progress. A way in which I can do this is by setting learning goals with the students to help them achieve their learning goals. I already use rubrics in my assessment and I am constantly assessing the students within the lesson. To help develop this I can get the students to develop their own criteria for assessment and use more peer based assessment. I suppose as a teacher I want my students to grow and develop to become independent learners. As illustrated in Module 11 the Assessment for Learning (AFMLTA, 2009) guide is very detailed and practical in outlining ways in which assessment for learning can take place within the classroom setting. It has very clear points that help me to reflect upon my teaching and assessment and how I can improve on it. I will definitely be using this guide to help me develop further the assessment for the students. It will also be useful when developing my project and implementing the assessment part of the project. ||
 * Module 10 -
 * Reflections on Investigations || In talking to the other participants about their investigations there was a great sense of enthusiasm and hype. The investigations were very varied in what each participant focused on. It was interesting that there were some ICT based but there was still the old fashioned chalk and talk aspects of language learning. I found it quite self reflecting also in how and what I did in my investigation. I was also quite impressed with some of the ICT curriculum that was focused on within some of the investigations.There was a consenus that many factors can impact on an investigation. Many participants spoke about the class time they lost, the changes of students in classes with the changing of Semesters. In most discussions the students were very willing to participant in the investigations and willing to help out. All in all the investigations gave a great sense of reflection from the students and also the teachers. This surely will be beneficial for all students and teachers in providing a learning environment that will hopefully increase the learning outcomes of the students. ||
 * Module 12- Ways of assessing || As an accomplished teacher of a language there have been many ways in which I have assessed my students in their learning. The DEST (2005)s state “they (the accomplished teacher) know and use a range of assessment approaches and select assessment and use the assessment for effective feedback and reporting” (p. 3). As a teacher though how do you decide which assessment approach to use? And what factors influence my decision as a teacher? I think in reading and completing this module the key points to remember when implementing an assessment task for the students are;
 * Evaluating the task
 * Validity of the task
 * Authenticity of the task
 * Reliability of the task
 * Interaction of the task
 * Practicality of the task
 * The impact of the task


 * Module 13- Considering Evidence of Language Learning || In this module we are considering the evidence of learning. This evidence is gathered from our students in the assessment that they complete. As accomplished teachers we need to constantly be able to reflect upon our assessment and the tools in which we use to assess. On slide 13.6 ‘the Models of Models’ refers to the aspect that there is no one model for assessment that fits every student. As a teacher you need to be co-ordinated in your approach for assessment and also be flexible with assessment. As I am working with a colleague in implementing our project we need to be on the same page with the assessment that we use and we both need to be flexible in how we use it. Within our project we need to be conscious of the mandatory standards (e.g. VELS) and the criteria in which we wish to use to help with the assessment. Using this framework we can then implement the task in hoping for lifelong learning by the student. ||

1. To improve students' listening so that they can understand increasingly complex ideas. 2. To develop ways of teaching listening to the students to enable them to identify keys sequences and themes in the target language. || 1. I will be investigating my Year 10 Italian class consisting of 16 students. As part of the investigation I will be comparing data with the other Year 10 Italian class which consists of 14 students. I will also make a comparison with data and results from last year's Year 10 Italian Class. I will be investigating this year level in order to enhance their listening skills in preparation for VCE. 2. The data I will gather will be from different listening activities from the prescribed text book and from other text types. I will also be using VASS data that has been collected from past VCE results. The focus will be to see whether the student's notice and understand detail in the content as this is the area in which we are looking to improve. Other data will include results from the Language Perfect World Championships. 3. The assessment tasks that will be provided for this data inquiry will include a combination of listenting activities from the prescribed text book, films, music, poems prescribed for the Year 10 Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition, dictation and conversation. Due to the task being developmental, the design will include four assessment tasks undertaken over the period of a term designed to assess the students listening skills and understanding in diverse aural text types. They will be developed in such a way to suggest progression/increasing complexity. __**Deciding on the data to be gathered**__ The data that we gather will derive directly from results collated upon the completion of each of the tasks and will be analysed at the end of the term. Students will recieve teacher feedback and students will also fill in a self evaluation of their improvement in their listening skills. || Step 2 - Introducing the idea of assessment portfolio to students. The tasks below will be used as part of the portfolio: 1. Listening tasks from the Text 2. The Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition. This will be assessed as a formal listening task. 3. Understanding a piece of Italian Commentary 4. Listening to a dialogue from a DVD to identify a particular vocabulary 5. Note taking exercise from a particular dictation 6. Formal listening tests 7. Student self-evaluation. Students will complete an online survey in order to assess their own performance. Step 3 - Students complete the tasks which will be then marked by the teacher who will provide feedback to the students on each of the tasks. Step 4 - The student evaluations will comprise of the tasks, experience and the portfolio as a whole. Step 5 - The data for analysis will be collated, consolidated and organised. ||  ||
 * Classroom Based Investigation Planner**
 * Focus of Inquiry || Development of Listening Skills ||
 * Student Learning Question || What data can be gathered through assessment to provide evidence of our students' ongoing learning in listening skills? ||
 * Teacher Learning Question || What data can I gather from my assessment practice to develop my understanding of the use of formative assessment to support my students' learning and my teaching in reference to listening skills? ||
 * Rationale || To improve the listening skills of students in the target language based on previous data.
 * Design || **__Deciding the process__**
 * __Deciding on the tasks__**
 * **Implementation** || Step 1 - Listening tasks for the portfolio will be developed including a marking rubric for feedback. The online student evaluation survey will also be produced.
 * Analysis & Reporting ||
 * Analysis ||  ||
 * Reporting ||  ||
 * Evaluation ||  ||
 * Implications ||
 * Implications ||

Listening CD's || exercises from these will be a part of our test and analysis of students listening skills || 1 || 193.73 || 193.73 || total || 300 767.46 ||
 * Budget Proposal**
 * **Item** || **Application**
 * (how item will be used/how it links to project)** || **Quantity** || **Item Price** || **Total**
 * Price** ||
 * Volare text book
 * Volare Teacher manual || to provide exercises to test students listening abilitites || 1 || 193.73 || 193.73 ||
 * DVD's || to provide a listening experience other than CD for testing students listening skills || 2 || 40 || 80 ||
 * Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition || to provide the students with an expression in listening and learning of the target language through poetry in order to improve their listening and speaking skills. || 30 || 10.00

Eg. confident, unsure, mixed || Possible ways to address gap || charts and tables to help the students learn and remember the grammar concepts. |||| confident inmost cases sometimes I do feel unsure particulary if the students are not understanding what I am trying to teach them || making sure I am confident in what I am teaching and delivering it in a way to make it easier for the students to understand. || Feature |||| What I know about it |||| What I need to learn about it |||| Possible Ways to Address Gap || Feature |||| What I know about it |||| What I need to learn about it |||| Possible Ways to Address Gap || Feature |||| What I know about it |||| What I need to learn about it |||| Possible Ways to Address Gap ||
 * **// Reflections on Language Specific Annotations //**
 * ** Classroom Language Use ** ||
 * Language Feature |||| How consistently I use this |||| Examples from my Practice |||| How I feel about my capabilities
 * teaching in italian using vocabulary, grammar and discourse structures relevant to the age and level of their learners |||| always, in language I feel that you are always using some type of vocab or grammar to help the students with the learning of the language. |||| passato prossimo table
 * ** Language Use Outside the Classroom ** ||
 * Language Feature |||| How consistently I use this |||| Examples from my Practice |||| How I feel about my capabilities || Possible ways to address gap ||
 * reading newspapers and magazines, watching television broadcasts etc |||| I read il globo often and watch different tv shows in Italian |||| speaking about these in my classroom, sharing knowledge with my students |||| pretty good, however sometimes the speakers on the tv shows are far too fast for me to understand sometimes what they are saying || reguarly immersing myself in the language to help further develop my skills. ||
 * ** Explicit knowledge of the linguistic system ** ||
 * Language
 * ** Explicit knowledge of language use ** ||
 * Language
 * Language
 * ** Attitudes, Values, Cultural & Linguistic Practices ** ||
 * Language
 * Language
 * ** Personal Professional Learning Program **
 * Ø Goals, objectives & timeline for future learning ||
 * Ø Goals, objectives & timeline for future learning ||

SECTION A: Discuss these questions with your table group SECTION B: MY GOALS Set yourself some goals for your use of ICT in your classrooms. Start small and build up, but do challenge yourself. J McCulloch 2008
 * ICT PLAN **
 * What ICT resources have you used in your classroom? ||
 * // From an intercultural perspective //, how did it promote:
 * active construction ** of learning/ideas
 * making connections ** with prior learning, new knowledge, across languages and cultures
 * interaction ** between learners/users of the language
 * reflection ** on language learning and use
 * responsibility ** for learning and for appropriate communication across cultures ? ||
 * Making connections: E.g. interaction between Learners. ||
 * What ICT resources (equipment and programs) do you have access to: Personally? At school? What do your students have access to? ||
 * What opportunities could you create for your students: to ENGAGE with ICT? to CREATE with ICT? ||
 * How would this enhance your teaching of your language? ||
 * What technology would you like to incorporate into your classroom/lessons? ||
 * What technology do your students prefer? What implications does this have for your teaching? ||
 * What ideas for ICT projects do you currently have? ||
 * What technology would you like to incorporate into your classroom/lessons? ||
 * What technology do your students prefer? What implications does this have for your teaching? ||
 * What ideas for ICT projects do you currently have? ||
 * What technology do your students prefer? What implications does this have for your teaching? ||
 * What ideas for ICT projects do you currently have? ||
 * What ideas for ICT projects do you currently have? ||
 * By the end of next week: ||
 * Resources (including how you will get help if needed): ||
 * By the start of Term 3: ||
 * Resources (including how you will get help if needed): ||
 * By the end of Term 3: ||
 * Resources (including how you will get help if needed): ||