Felix+Siddell


 * LOTEHAT Workshop Reflections **

The project provides a number of opportunities, so my task will be to narrow down the possibilities into a doable project with SMART goals. It will need to be achievable; the idea of tracking non-continuing students, needs and perceptions appeals to me, but at this point I am not sure about whether I want to work on scaffolding for the existing Year 9 course, or developing a different emphasis -i.e. non-continuing students complete their three year course with a different outcome. The different outcome should have much more of a summative aspect and less the feeling of foundation for Year 10 and beyond. I’ll need to think carefully about what skills those students who do not intend to continue with the language are taking out of the course. At the moment they leave with a sense of failure (not competent or confident or consolidated enough to continue), which can lead them into the thought pattern of rejection of language learning. My aim is for non-continuing students to leave with a sense of worth about the three years they have completed. This could also consist of setting up an alternative pathway – i.e. VET at Year 10, which would give stronger definition to Italian in the Middle Years. At this stage I am unsure about how best to employ the budget in my project, but that will evolve. || I really liked the ideas about situating and profiling my students by using more formal ways of surveying and celebrating their background. An interesting term here is ZPD, Zone of Proximal Development – a term coined by Lev Vygotsky who being Russian, had a nice Russian way of saying it: //зона ближайшего развития//. This shows that skills development results from working in a group, which gives us the opportunity to rate ourselves against our peers. To quote from the PowerPoint slides, learning is mediated and interactive, learning is self awareness. This last point will be relevant to Middle Year Language students – how does their language study experience foster self awareness? Some of the points in this module are obstructed or made difficult by external constraints such as large classes. Developments in technology in areas such as assessment and record keeping may help offset these disadvantages by removing some of the hack work which surrounds assessment and reporting. The analysis of the various manifestations of “scaffolding” has been useful. Scaffolding presents a potential area of investigation – ie what do different students with different ambitions and pathways need to be able to obtain the scaffolding they need? What do we need to do as teachers? The diagnostic task in Indonesian provides an example of how student surveys could be use to discern their perceived pathways and to respond with apposite course planning decisions. || 23Mar12 || Teacher talk and interaction. The examples showed that it is easy to talk at cross purposes with the class when introducing structures and when analysing grammatical, rules and patterns. It shows that we need to think explicitly about our questioning techniques and maybe even incorporate these into our lesson plans. This is challenging, given the 'time poor’ situation of teachers. My aim is to begin thinking more carefully about the way I introduce structures and maybe do a bit of recording and transcribing of my own lessons to see how I can improve in this area. It would be too ambitious to reform all my technique at once, So I will address this in revision lessons and in the introduction of new structures. A particularly interesting opportunity is provided by my two Year 9 Italian classes. In the repeat class I can adjust my "script" according to the reactions I encountered to the first version! || 23Mar12 || Intracultural versus Intercultural. Intracultural – groups within the wider culture, share individual perspectives. This part is strongly connected with ourselves. The intracultural dimension is necessary for the intercultural dimension, but it is through the intercultural that one eventually grasps one’s own culture – things are brought into relief through the experience of comparison. Intercultural awareness – a long term process of gaining understanding of other cultures. Language teaching is as much about introducing students to different cultures as it is about learning the language itself. One has intercultural awareness when one is able to notice or discuss differences and similarities between cultures. || 25May12 || The process of formative assessment (Module 11) 25th May 2012 The taxonomy provided by Torrance and Pryor is comprehensive but could be expanded further by the range of activities we provide for peer assessment and self-assessment. In large classes this is essential as the teacher cannot provide simultaneous one to one feedback. Also, formative assessment requires constant communication by the teacher to raise consciousness about its validity. It is easy for students and parents to become fixated on summative assessment, because at the end of the students’ secondary schooling, this judgement (ie VCE) will have significant implications for their aspirations.What I would take back to the classroom is more care and attention with my questioning techniques. I can record myself in class to track this and I can also script a few questions in advance to include in my classes and monitor how they go. We use all these techniques to a greater or lesser degree. I am curious to find out the distribution and frequency of these interactions with my students, so I will approach my classes with a greater awareness of the processes outlined by Torrance and Pryor to see what is already being covered and what is lacking. I’ll continue to track student progress in my chronicle – I routinely keep pencil records with ticks, letter codes, symbols, to record the way students have been interacting, working and progressing in class. Ironically, the reason teachers keep such good records is that they are required to write reports at the end of the semester. Maybe if we understand reporting and summative assessment as professional accountability and formative assessment as the real learning on the part of students, the interaction of these apparently conflicting processes will become clearer. || 25May12 || Ways of assessing A set of criteria for evaluating assessment tasks is useful and thought provoking. We could use a rubric for staff (as an aid in their course planning) but also simpler rubrics for students (in order to gain feedback and understand their perspectives on assessment. The idea of “purposeful” assessment gave rise to some interesting discussion. The extent to which the purpose is explicit will vary. || 25May12 || Considering the evidence of learningInteresting to reflect on how we track our students’ learning. The difference between ‘on the run’/ongoing and specifically planned is important, especially in the example of intercultural learning, where impressions and spontaneity are essential. The subtlety of the discussion does not lessen its validity. Some assessment tasks appear more rigorous because of the nature of the task. This demonstrates that we should not neglect more intuitive aspects of language learning (such as intercultural awareness, which can be difficult to document, but are nevertheless fundamental to the mastery of the other skills. The students’ intercultural insights about polysemy and cognates, for example, will stand them in good stead for the acquisition of a broad and sophisticated vocabulary. We can discern students’ learning, especially anecdotally, but students also need to become skilled in showcasing their learning, especially in the context of performance (use of the language in authentic situations) and final summative assessment (VCE, university exams, NAATI accreditation).Very useful to look at rubrics systematically and critically and rate them in accordance with the questions on slide 13.23. Time and manageability are of the utmost importance, as shown by the Persian Year 11 example.The “individualising perspective” of the “spotlight”. How can we assess the individual without neglecting all the other contextual factors. || 25May12 || Assessment as Inquiry.Now that I have thought about my project in greater depth and started some of the preliminary work of setting it up, I realise its potential as assessment. I am hoping that it will motivate those students who do not perceive themselves as language specialists and that their competencies in ICT will help them discover a greater interest in the subject. Of course, I am also hoping for the “language specialists” to get involved and the good all rounders. Just thinking of VELS indicators, there should be lots of useful evidence emerging from this project. ||
 * **Module**
 * & Date** || **Reflection** ||
 * 1 22Mar12 || It has been interesting to link the standards to actual practice at the coalface, both actual and ideal. Some of our practices are so internalized; we don't always realize that we are using these automatically. What will be useful will be deciding the contexts when particular aspects of the standards apply and the mix of approaches we can set. A major point in the improvement of teacher professional practices involves changing the culture of schools, and keeping students and parents on board when they might feel more comfortable with outmoded pedagogical approaches.
 * 2 22Mar12 || The standards are familiar to me, as I worked on these for the Professional Standards Project in 2007-2008. I still need to link them more closely to my practices, using the standards to revise or tweak my practices as necessary. The standards are a useful reference point for more explicit planning and reflection. The ability of teachers to rely on intuition is a sign of experience, but the standards help us step back from this and make honest and revealing judgements about the way we teach. The investigations in this project and those which I will complete as part of this year’s school based Professional Learning Group are tasks which will walk me through the standards in a truly practical way. This also presents an opportunity for our staff to change the culture of teaching from one of competition to one of collaboration. An enormous amount of teacher discourse already consists of suggestion, appraisal, comparison, planning and debriefing of what goes on in our classrooms. As in any other profession, we love to “talk shop”. ||
 * 3 22Mar12 || This is about “understanding learning”. It is easy to become jaded about the theories which attempt to account for the process of learning. It is important to see that they are not in conflict. Older techniques have their place in context. We live in an eclectic society; this is also reflected in the approaches to education. There is a place for the behaviourist model, as there is for the constructionist model and there will be times when they are happening concurrently or in quick succession. Students and parents can get fixated on the behaviourist approach, possibly because it is easy to quantify, this is why we need to blend styles of teaching and assessment. Rather than seeing old ways as superseded, we should perhaps see innovation as adding to, rather than replacing, older methods. The main thing for teachers, students and parents is not to get stuck in a rut.
 * 10 22Mar12 || Intracultural versus Intercultural. Intracultural – groups within the wider culture, share individual perspectives. This part is strongly connected with ourselves. The intracultural dimension is necessary for the intercultural dimension, but it is through the intercultural that one eventually grasps one’s own culture – things are brought into relief through the experience of comparison. Intercultural awareness is a long term process of gaining understanding of other cultures. Language teaching is as much about introducing students to different cultures as it is about learning the language itself. One has intercultural awareness when one is able to notice or discuss differences and similarities between cultures. ||
 * 5 22Mar12 || Resources. Schools going textless - this will make sense once the technology can support this economically. We are nearly there but there are still obstacles. Realia based learning is feasible in certain situations and I need to consider this. Obviously it works better in a primary school setting, or when there is a really well developed Languages Room or centre. Resources help scaffold learning for particular learners in particular contexts. The use of better resources and more diversified resources can address the challenges of mixed ability in class. ||
 * 6 23Mar12 || My view of language concentrated on the internal workings of the system, e.g. associations, whereas many of the other definitions we were provided with were about the role the system plays - social, political, personal. This might indicate that I overlook the social dimension of language sometimes in my teaching practice. This module opens up many rich issues associated with our profession. VELS has specified the need to address this and to recognise the progress our students make in this area. Language is an evolving system. Study of another language helps us realise that this also applies to our own language. Language study makes students (and teachers) aware of the function of language in society. ||
 * 4 23Mar12 || Course specific annotations. This led to some interesting discussions about changing usage. The annotations rightly point out the complexity of the situation of Italian in Australia. Over the past years, with the greater availability of travel to students and easily accessibility to authentic materials on the internet, Italo-Australian varieties of Italian have become less predominant in the curriculum. That is, they are a real context and a living context in the community and in the families of students, but they have been correctly put in their place as “varieties” of Italian which have their own specific and historical context. ||
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 * 11
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**Classroom Based Investigation Planner** Using apps for motivation and formative assessment with middle school language students (including non continuing students) ||  || How can portable data devices (eg smartphones, ipads, ipods) be incorporated productively in the classroom to minimise distraction and maximise learning outcomes. ||  || What can I discover about my students’ ability to incorporate portable technology devices in their learning? ||  || What gap is the assessment addressing? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">language study seen as academic, specialist, detached from the real world ||  || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The assessment focus will be the content of the Year 9 curriculum: language relating to housing, daily routine, clothing and shopping, including grammar structures such as present tense verbs, adjectives, comparatives, articles and prepositions. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Student interaction will be facilitated by participation in activities based on Socrative. At the end of the process, submission of an original app to the Apps Store (using Appsbar) will mean that the students’ work will be assessed by external app builders, and if they succeed to the next step, has the potential to be reviewed by users of the apps in the wider community. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Students’ learning will be recorded by their participation in the activities, their use of technology and through their ability to meet the existing course requirements and assessment tasks (ie ability to use vocabulary and verb forms in a range of other contexts). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I’ll keep my own observations as well as checklists/scores on excel spreadsheets. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Students who produce their own apps will also be assessed on their app and will have their apps used and evaluated by their peers <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Support during the task – <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I will lead and initiate activities in my role as teacher, but I will also be happy to share this role with designated students. Competent and motivated students will be able to assume the Socrative teacher role (by providing an iPad which can serve as the leader’s device). ||  || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">iTunes gift card reward for student motivation and commitment to the project (4 students) to be presented at their end of year House Assembly. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">analyse observations about participation and involvement, test results, apps ||  || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">provide answers to the student learning and teacher learning questions above ||  || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">reflection on the above answers, student feedback from a brief survey ||  || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">could relate to policies about technology use in class – rephrasing of classroom protocols and expectations for use of technology ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Focus of Inquiry
 * Student Learning Question
 * Teacher Learning Question
 * Rationale
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">personal devices seen as separate from the school curriculum including from the ITC facilities provided by the school
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">print curriculum materials perceived as confusing, irrelevant, archaic
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Design
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I wish to investigate Year 9 because this is the end of the compulsory Language study years in our school. Consequently some students are affected by a loss of motivation and removal of sense of purpose (if they are not continuing with Languages).
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Data which needs to be gathered:
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">survey of what portable devices the students possess
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">results of tests to identify areas of weakness or difficulty which need to be drilled and practised using the target technology (eg verb conjugation, prepositions, grammatical terminology)
 * 5) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">survey of student pathways – ie students interested in continuing to VCE, to Year 10, concluding in Year 9 (then whether positive, negative or indifferent about Languages as a subject)
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Assessment tasks
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">real time formative assessment tasks in class using Socrative and similar apps
 * 8) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">summative assessment in the form of the design of a Languages app for use by students, travellers, business people etc. (using a user friendly program such as Appsbar or optionally, for those students who are confident with at programming, try a more technical method).
 * **Implementation** ||
 * # <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Complete preliminary surveys
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Introduce Socrative tasks based on areas of difficulty as identified by previous term test (verb conjugation, grammar terminology, prepositions)
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Student led Socrative tasks
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Student app design based on vocabulary and / or grammar from the first semester of Year 9 (Ecco Due course)
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Test on structures (using apps, but also a test in traditional format). Students can have input into which structures they wish to see prioritised in the test
 * Analysis & Reporting ||
 * Analysis
 * Reporting
 * Evaluation
 * Implications
 * Budget Proposal**

Photocopying, printing etc (for survey forms) $10
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Item ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Application **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">(how item will be used/how it links to project) ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Quantity ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Item Price ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Total **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Price ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">iPad 3 ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1 ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$539 ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">iPod touch 8G ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">4 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$209 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$836 ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">ITunes gift cards ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">4 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$20 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$80 ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">VGA adaptor ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$35 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">$35 ||


 * **Item** || **Application**
 * (how item will be used/how it links to project)** || **Quantity** || **Item Price** || **Total $1500**
 * Price** ||

a real challenge is how to get the students to use the target language more consistently || give students a glossary or phrase book of expressions || Listening comprehension |||| use language at home, speak Italian with colleagues, students and parents I practise listening to different varieties of Italian through film and television |||| speak to language assistant This weekend I watched the whole miniseries of 'Sorelle Materassi' |||| competent Generally capable, but there were times when I was thrown out by the Tuscan accent or the stress patterns when the speakers expressed anger || I feel I am doing all I can at the moment to keep up my language competence Listen to these difficult sections again with Italian subtitles for hearing impaired, discuss interesting turns of phrase with my wife and other native speakers. || 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**
 * Eg. confident, unsure, mixed** || **Possible ways to address gap** ||
 * use Italian for explanations and instructions |||| depends on year level |||| frequently for yr 12- even to the point of grammar explanations |||| confident, main problem is how to increase this for junior levels
 * ** 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 ||
 * Engaging in casual conversation with other speakers of Italian
 * ** Explicit knowledge of the linguistic system ** ||
 * Language
 * Word order, verb forms, prepositions |||| comprehensive knowledge |||| keep track of idiomatic forms and unusual uses of prepositions |||| keep a journal of new expressions I encounter in my reading conversation or viewing of films ||
 * ** Explicit knowledge of language use ** ||
 * Language
 * Use of polite form |||| rules are evolving |||| update situations where rules are changing |||| new rules, watch Italian news more frequently. Ring friends and relatives in Italy sometimes. ||
 * ** Attitudes, Values, Cultural & Linguistic Practices ** ||
 * Language
 * Italy's openness to globalisation, both linguistically and culturally. |||| I feel very familiar with the Italian attitudes to language and culture, very at home with Italian society and their view of the world |||| unsure what these categories imply in the context of Italian. This is an area where the students' level of awareness can be low and prone to stereotypical representations of Italy and the Italians. |||| Discussion in Senior Classes. Examples where Italy contradicts the stereotype. I am doing an Inquiry Unit in Year 8 which looks at Italy's place in Europe - this really contradicts the stereotype of Italy (so dear to Anglo-Saxons!) as exporter of migrants and bastion of archaic traditions. ||
 * ** Personal Professional Learning Program **
 * Ø Goals, objectives & timeline for future learning ||
 * VATI congress to share ideas with colleagues, more time keeping up with Italian news and current affairs. ||

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? ||
 * Use iPads more for production - eg students create revision aids, record little dialogues ||
 * 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 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): ||