Workshop: Using Collaborative Documents in Online Classes

Introduction: In this workshop we will explore the use of collaborative documents to increase student participation and language use in small group activities in our online lessons. These tools are simple to create, share, and reuse and they generate powerful opportunties for student engagement. Follow the instructions below.

Task 1: Group Discussion

You will have five minutes to discuss the following questions with your partners. Click play on the video timer below to keep track of time and ensure that everyone has a chance to share their ideas.

• What techniques can you use to encourage collaboration among students in face to face classes?
• Which of those techniques can work in the online? Which need adaptation? Which are impossible?
• Have you used any of the following tools in an online class as either as either a teacher or student? If so, what have you done with them?

• Google Docs
• Google Slides
• Google Sheets
• Google Jamboard
• Digital Spinners and Roulette Wheels
• Embedded YouTube Videos

Task 2: Activity Exploration

Now you and your partners will explore a number of different sample activities using collaborative documents. Open the Group Worksheet and complete it as you work your way through the activities. For each activity, do the following:

• Read the instructions together.
• Try the activity with your partners for 1-2 minutes. If it is a Jamboard or Slides presentation, be sure to check if it has multiple pages.
• Then fill out the required information in the Group Worksheet and move on to the next one.

Click your group link below and discuss the two example activities with the trainer before getting started with the rest.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Trainer: CLICK HERE

Example Activity 1: This or That

Let's play a little game to get to know each other better. Spin the wheel and make a choice between the two options. Briefly say which one you prefer and why. Then it's your partner's turn. (We did this as a warm up on Wednesday. What other student centered applications can you think of for the roulette wheel?)

Spin the Wheel

Example Activity 2: Order the Text

Click on the link below to access a shared document. Here you will see a list of sentence fragments. See how you and your partners can reorder the phrases to construct a coherent text. (We did this activity as an icebreaker for our first session last Monday. What other a kinds of collaborative applications can you think of for activity types where students match or order items?)

• Group Document: CLICK HERE

Trainer, please have half of the groups begin their explorations from the bottom of the list and work up while the other half starts at the bottom and works down. This will ensure that all of the activities are analyzed even if some groups don't have enough time to see them all.

Collaborative Activities

Activity 1: Daily routines

Students clicked on their group to open the Jamboard. First they had to drag the pictures to put the daily routine actions in chronological order. Then they needed to use the TEXT function to add the names of each activity. On the next pages they checked their answers and then asked each other questions using the vocabulary about their personal routines. 

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

Activity 2: Drawing the Future 

Students clicked on thier group link. On each page, they made 2 or 3 predictions about the future. Then they made drawings to represent theirr predictions. No text or photos were allowed. Only drawings.

Next, students clicked the links of the other groups to look at their drawings. They wrote a sentence saying what each drawing possibly means using the sticky note tool. They were told they could use these phrases to start their sentences.

• They could be saying...
• They might mean that...
• Maybe they think... 

• Group 1: CLICK HERE

Activity 3: Vocab Builder - Classify the Compound Adjectives

Students clicked their group link and read the instructions. Then they clicked and dragged the adjectives to classify them using the Venn diagram. They finisehd by telling their partners which adjectives they could use to describe themselves.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE

Activity 4: How ECO-GUILTY are you? Take the quiz to find out!

Students worked in groups of three. First they decided who was Student A, B, and C. Then they clicked on their group link and went to their tab (A, B, C, D). They discuss each question in the survey with their partners but made their own decisions to complete their quiz. When they finished, they checked their score at the bottom of the page and compared it with their partners and said whether or not they agreed with the results?

• Group 1: CLICK HERE

Activity 5: Claire's Two Jobs

Students clicked on their group link and read about Claire's two jobs and completed the text with the missing information. Then they answered the questions about Claire and also some personalized questions about their partner.

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

Activity 6: What time is it around the world?

Students worked in pairs. First they decided who was Student A and who was Student B then they clicked the link and went to their individual sections of the document. First Student A asked questions about the time in different cities and Student B answered. Student A changed the hands on the clocks to show the right time said by Student B. NOTE: To move the hands of the clock, click the hand and drag one of the ends.

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

Activity 7: Talk about free time activities

Students clicked on their group link below and open the document. Then they followed the instructions to complete the three tasks with their partners. First there was a matching exercise, then they thought of additional vocabulary related to the topic, and finally they answered simple questions about the vocab using the model language forms at the bottom of the page.

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

Task 8: Vocab Builder - Clothing and Accessories

Students clicked on their group link and read through the list of clothing and accessories. They wrote the name of the body part associated with them in column B and clicked the checkboxes to classify who typically uses them and in what situations. If they didn't know the meaning of one of the words, they could Google it.

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

Task 9: Group Listening - At the Office

Student clicked on their group link to open their worksheet. Then they pressed play on the video in the blog to listen to the audio while they followed the instructions in the worksheet to complete the tasks.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE

Activity 10: Writing a Shopping List

In this activity beginner students had to plan a grocery shopping list for a typical family in Costa Rica for two weeks. They wrote the items, the quantity and the prices. They were told NOT to write in the blue spaces at first.

When they finished their list, they were told to click on the link for a different group. They read their shopping list and wrote some comments about it in the blue space answering the questions:

• Did they buy too much or not enough? 
• What do you think about the price they paid?

• Group 1: CLICK HERE

Activity 11: Planning a Trip - Group Presentation

This is a Google Slides template that beginner students used to create and deliver an oral presentation. It has specific information that they are required to include but they were also free to personalize it they way they wanted. Look at the template and sample made by students.

• Template: CLICK HERE

Student Sample: Click through the pages

Instructions for Creating Your Collaborative Document

Before Class:

1. Decide what you want students to do and then choose the appropriate tool to facilitate that:

• Google Doc
• Google Slide
• Google Sheet
• Google Jamboard
• Other

2. Open a folder in your Drive and create your template document.

3. Be sure to include instructions in the document itself.

4. Make a copy of the template for each group of students. 

5. Change permissions so that anyone with the link can view and edit.

6. Choose a link delivery strategy so students can easily access their documents: 

• Send in ZOOM Chat
• Embed in Canvas: Mark will show you how to use Canvas in a workshop next week. 

 

During Class:

1. Share your screen to show the activity. Give instructions and model the activity. Do NOT share links or tell students to open their document before you first show, model, and explain. 

2.  Tell students what groups they are in so they click the right link.

3. Send them to the breakout rooms to do the activity.

After Class: 

1. Decide what worked and what did not work so well about the activity. If the activity can be improved by changing an aspect of the design of the document or by adding better instructions, make those adaptations to your template document right then before you forget.

2. The next time you want to use your activity with another group of students, you will need to clean up the documents so that the new students do not see your old students' answers. You can manually delete their answers one by one. Or simply copy the content from your template document and paste it into each of the group documents. 

Design and Evaluation of Training Programs - Week 6

Introduction: Hello and welcome to week six of the course Design and Evaluation of Training Progams and Workshops. Today we will do several activities to explore the topics of conceptualizing training content, exploring the use of questions as a teacher professional development strategy, and work with a partner to share our progress with our course project and ask for feedback and suggestions. 

Warm Up: How do you say,...uh....muletilla?

We all have them, those little fillers, words and phrases that we use all the time which come to characterize the way we speak. Teachers have fillers too. Discuss the following questions with a partner.

• Think of a memorable teacher that you had (good or bad). What were some of that teacher's fillers and typical phrases or questions? 
• What are some of your teacher fillers? 
• How do you know you have them? 
• Why do you think you use them?
• Do you think they are helpful, harmful, or neutral for students?
• What strategies can teachers use to become more aware of the language they use in class?

Task 1: Sharing your PD Journal

Let's take a moment to share one of the entries you made in your PD Journal in Week 5. As you share your highlight, let's think about how this tip connects to how we as individual teachers can develop in our practice and how we as trainers can use these techniques to support teacher growth with teachers we work with. We can use the RACE framework to facilitate our discussion. 

Click to see full sized image.

Task 2: Awareness of Teacher Questions

Richards (2017) discusses the importance of observing how you use questions in the classroom in chapter 16. Let's look at the topic of questions more closely completing the follwing activities.

• Group Worksheet: CLICK HERE

 

Task 3: Reading Response

Last week you read chapter 4 in Graves (2000) called Conceptualizing Content. Discuss the following questions with your partners.

• What difficulties have you had in trying to conceptualize the training course you want to propose for your assignments in this course?
• Have you found it challenging to think of the goals, general categories of concepts and skills to be addressed, or to identify specific content details?
• Have you given thought to how you want to organize all the pieces of your course into a coherent whole?
• What other concerns do you have?

Figure 4.1 on page 38 outlines six questions that guide conceptualizing content. Which of these questions have you already given some thought to? Which have you not yet considered?

Click to view full sized version.

Graves devotes a large section of the chapter outlining the kinds of content that can be included in a langauge course which she separates into three major categories: 

• focus on language
• focus on learning and the learner
• focus on social context 

Now, think from your perspective as a designer of a teacher training course and answer these questions.

• Which of those content areas overlap well with potential content areas for teacher training?
• What additional category(ies) would you suggest could be used to conceptualize teacher training content?

Task 4: Project Check-In

Take the remainder of class time to share your progress, ideas, and concerns about the project for this course. Share your ideas from the content brainstorming activity. 

• What parts of your training are more solidly addressed?
• Which areas need more work?

Click to see full sized image.

You were also asked to begin organizing your brainstormed ideas into a mind map to begin thinking about how you might structure the course, how the pieces relate, and identify areas that still need to be elaborated. Take a moment to share your mindmap and give comments to your peers. 

References:

Darn, S. (2017). Asking Questions. ESOL Nexus. British Council. Retrieved from: https://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/teachers/staff-room/teaching-articles/asking-questions

Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses. National Geographic Learning.

Richards, J. (2017). Jack C Richard's 50 Tips for Teacher Development. Cambridge University Press.

Teach Thought. 25 Question Stems Framed Around Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved from: https://www.teachthought.com/technology/25-question-stems-framed-around-blooms-taxonomy/

 English 1 - Week 6 - Freetime Activities

Activity 1: What time is it around the world?

Click your group link. Decide who is Student A and who is Student B. Complete the exercise about time. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y decida quien es Student A y quien es Student B. Siga las instrucciones en el documento.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE
• Group 7: CLICK HERE
• Group 8: CLICK HERE
• Group 9: CLICK HERE

Activity 2: Claire's Two Jobs

Click your group link. Read about Claire's routine. Complete the information. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y completa el ejercicio con la información necesaria.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Activity 3: Describing Routines

Look at the image below. How can you  complete the sentences? Can you make more sentences with the information? / Vea el imagen. ¿Cómo puede completar las oraciones? ¿Puede hacer más oraciones con la información?

Click to see full size / Haga click para ver tamaño completo.

Activity 4: Free Time Activities

Let's talk about activties you can do in your free time. Click your group link and complete the exercises. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y complete los ejercicios.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Activity 5: Our Perfect Weekend

Click your group link and create a description of the perfect weekend. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y describa el fin de semana perfecto.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

 English Phonetics and Phonology: Vowel Theory

Introduction: This week we will begin our study of the English vowel system reviewing relevant theory from your assigned reading and doing several activities to become aware of the subtle differences between the 17 vowel sounds in General American English. Follow your professor's instructions to complete the tasks below.

Task 1: /wʌt dʌz ðæt spɛl?/

Let's start with a little game. Click on your group link below and follow the instructions in the document.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE 
• Group 2: CLICK HERE 
• Group 3: CLICK HERE 
• Group 4: CLICK HERE 

Need some help? CLICK HERE to check the answer key!

Task 2: /ˈvæwəl ˈθiɚi rɛˈvju/

Vowels are more difficult to describe and teach than consonants. We will take some time in a moment to go over the most important information from the study guide, but first, discuss the answers to these questions with your partners.

• What did you think about the chapter you read for this week? What it challenging? Why?
• Was it easy for you to complete the study guide? Did it help you understand the content of the chapter in a better way?
• What is a vowel? How is it different from a consonant?
• What are some ways that consonants can be classified? Can vowels be classified in the same ways? If so, how? If not, what is different?
• What was that strange shape that we saw in the chapter called a vowel chart? How is it organized? What does it mean?
• What is the difference between a strong and a weak vowel?
• What about a checked versus an unchecked vowel?
• What is a diphthong? Can you give an example? Are there any diphthongs in Spanish?
• Do you remember any of the IPA symbols for English vowels? Which are easier for you to remember? Which are more difficult?

Task 3:/eksˈplɔɪŋ ðʌ ˈvæwəl speɪs/

Now you have reviewed the theory with your teacher and classmates. Let's spend some time exploring the ways that English vowels work. Click on your group link below and follow the instructions in the document. 

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE

TOEIC Preparation - Week 5

Introduction: In today's class we continue our two week study of parts 4 and 5 in the reading test. This part of the test is similar to standard multiple choice English exams that you are familiar with. Here the test is measuring your ability to identify the appropriate vocabulary, phrase, or grammatical structure to complete a sentence. Complete the collaborative tasks below with your partners. 

Recognize Parts of Speech by Suffix

Instructions: Click the link below then go to your assigned section of the document. You have two tasks. First categorize the words according to their part of speech. Then read the words in context, identify their suffix, and think of another word that finishes with the same suffix.

• Group Document: CLICK HERE

Word Market: An Activity to Practice Word Forms

Instructions: In this activity, you will work with your partners to buy and sell word forms in a "word market". Your teacher put you in either Group 1 or Group 2 and also gave you a letter: A, B, C, D, E, or F. You need to click the appropriate link and find your section. Then you should work with your partners to complete your table with all the words that you need. 

Group 1: A, B, and C - CLICK HERE

Group 1: D, E, and F - CLICK HERE

Group 2: A, B, and C - CLICK HERE

Group 2: D, E, and F - CLICK HERE

Group 3: A, B, and C - CLICK HERE

Group 3: D, E, and F - CLICK HERE

Take a Walk

Instructions: Put into practice what you have learned about parts of speech by working with your partners to complete this task. Go through the questions once and guess the parts of speech. Then go through them again and choose the correct answer from the four answer choices.

• Group Worksheet: CLICK HERE

Design and Evaluation of Training Programs - Week 5

Introduction: Hello and welcome to week five of the course Design and Evaluation of Training Progams and Workshops. Today we will do several activities to explore the topics of desconstructing lesson plan templates and classroom observation protocols as a professional development strategy, discuss the KASA framework for identifying training needs, and work with a partner to share our progress with our course project and ask for feedback and suggestions. 

Warm Up: What is my shape?

First CLICK HERE to go to our Jamboard and find your assigned page. Then click on your assigned link below to access your shape. Take turns describing your shape to your partners with as many details as possible and they will try to follow your instructions to draw an exact copy of your shape.

• Student A: CLICK HERE
• Student B: CLICK HERE
• Student C: CLICK HERE
• Student D: CLICK HERE

Now, think about the way that your typically plan your classes. What shape do your lessons follow? Draw your lesson shape and be ready to share what it means with your partners.

Task 1: Deconstructing Lesson Plan Templates and Classroom Observation Protocols

In your professional development tips reading last week you explored several topics including creating an observation form and anlayzing lesson plans. Let's explore how we could use these two documents as tools to support teacher development.

• Comparing and analyzing specific lesson plans
• Evaluating and improving specific lesson plans
• Comparison of lesson planning templates
• Co-creation of new lesson planning template, experimentation, and analysis
• Independent or co-creation of observation protocols, experimentation, and analysis
• Guided observation protocols for novice teachers
• Ideas for working with video observation protocols

Task 2: Sharing your PD Journal

Let's take a moment to share one of the entries you made in your PD Journal in either Week 3 or 4. Quickly skim through your recent posts and choose the highlight you would like to share. We can use the RACE framework to facilitate our discussion. 

Click to see full sized image.

Task 3: Critical Incidents

Baecher and Farrell (2017) define critical incidents as "any unplanned and unanticipated event, vividly remembered, which occurs during class, outside class, or anytime during a teacher's career. Incidents really become critical only when they are subjected to this conscious reflection, through which teachers can uncover new understandings in their practice." 

Richards (2017, p. 34) suggests considering the following questions when facing a critical incident.

• Why was this incident significant?
• What were your thoughts or beliefs prior to this incident?
• How did you react at the time?
• What is your understanding of the reasons for the incident?
• What assumptions about teaching / learning does this incident raise?
• Would you react any differently if it happened again? Why or why not?

Click to see full sized image.

As the diagram above illustrates, unexpected occurences in the teaching/learning process have the potential to motivate us to pause and reflect on our beliefs and practices and whcih can serve as a catalyst for change. In response to a critical incident, the teacher must choose between continuing on his/her trajectory or initiating a change. 

• Can you think of a critical incident from your own experience that initiated a change in your beliefs and/or practices? Remember that critical incidents can come from both positive and negative events. Use Richards' questions above to comment on your example. 

This article by Joshi (2018) provides a great summary of the research about critical incidents in education if you would like to read more (CLICK HERE).  

 

Task 4: Reading Response

Last week you completed the first part of your assigned Linkedin Learning course which looks at the design of training programs from a corporate training perspective. Respond to the following prompts with your partners.

• What did you think about the first section of this course?
• What aspects of the course did you find applicable to context of teacher training?
• What did you not find to be applicable?

Now review some of your ideas from the reading response task and share them with your partners.

• Describe in your own words how you can determine if employee training is needed. Can you give an example from a teaching context in which employee training might not be the appropriate solution?
• Think about the training scenario for our course (prepare new teachers to give effective online lessons) or the particular scenario that you have chosen for your project. What specific Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Abilities might a teacher need to possess in order to give effective online lessons or to address the particular focus of your project?
• What did you think about the ABCD framework for perfromance objectives? Do you think this could be a helpful way of articulating the objectives for your trainees? Why or why not? 

Task 5: Project Check-In

Take the remainder of class time to share your progress, ideas, and concerns about the project for this course. The following prompts might guide your conversation.

• What is the specific focus of your project?
• What modifications did you make to your data collection instrument(s)?
• Have you already applied them? If so, what were the results? If not, when do you intend to apply them?
• Have you begun thinking about potential content, tasks, organization or any other aspect of your proposal?
• What are you concerned about?

References

Farrell, T. & Baecher, L. (2017). Reflecting on Critical Incidents in Language Education. Bloomsbury. 

Joshi, K. (2018). Critical Incidents for Teachers’ Professional Development. Journal of NELTA Surkhet, 5, 82-88. https://doi.org/10.3126/jns.v5i0.19493

Richards, J. (2017). Jack C Richard's 50 Tips for Teacher Development. Cambridge University Press.

 English 1 - Week 5 - Work Routines

Activity 1: Daily Routines 

Click your group link. Put the activities in chronological order. Then write the name of each activity. Go to the next page to check your answers. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y ponga las actividades en orden cronológico. Después escriba el nombre de cada actividad. Vaya a la siguiente página para revisar las respuestas.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Activity 2: Daily Routines Interview

Click your group link. Interview your partner about his/her daily routines. Write the information in the table. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y entreviste a su compañero(a) acerca de su rutina diaria.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE
• Group 7: CLICK HERE
• Group 8: CLICK HERE
• Group 9: CLICK HERE

Activity 3: What time is it?

Click your group link. Complete the exercises about time. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y complete los ejercicios.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Activity 4: What is the job?

Click your group link. Complete the exercises about jobs. / Haga click en el link de su grupo y complete los ejercicios.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Activity 5: Reading and Speaking

Click your group link. Answer the questions and read the article. / Haga click en el link de su grupo, conteste las preguntas y lea el artículo.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

 English Phonetics and Phonology: Consonant Contrasts

Introduction: This week we will finish our study of the English consonant system by comparing and contrasting similar consonant pairings. Follow your professor's instructions to complete the tasks below.

Task 1: /ˈkɑnsənənt ˈsɪstəm riˈvju/

Let's listen to your partners' pending presentations from last week. Remember to follow the framework below to give them some meaningful feedback. 

After each presentation, students will provide feedback to the presenter using the following framework.

Click to see full sized image.

Task 2: /ˈkɑnsənənt ˈkɑntræsts/

The 24 English consonant phonemes are articulated in 5 manners and 10 places of articulation. As you have seen, this information can be overwelming at first but you soon realize that there is a logic to this system of categorization that can help you remember the sounds. Although there are 24 individual sounds, 16 of them occur in pairs where they are articulated in the same place and manner but with one small difference. Click your group link below and complete the exercises.

• Group 1:  CLICK HERE
• Group 2:  CLICK HERE
• Group 3:  CLICK HERE
• Group 4:  CLICK HERE

TOEIC Preparation - Week 4

Introduction: In today's class we begin our two week study of parts 4 and 5 in the reading test. This part of the test is similar to standard multiple choice English exams that you are familiar with. Here the test is measuring your ability to identify the appropriate vocabulary, phrase, or grammatical structure to complete a sentence. Complete the collaborative tasks below with your partners. 

Valentine's Day Sudoku

Celebrate Valentine's Day by completing this collaborative puzzle with your partners!

• Gameboard: CLICK HERE

Parts of Speech Rally

Instructions: In Parts 5 and 6 of the exam you need to be able to identify the part of speech of the missing word or phrase in order to select the right answer choice. Let's do a review of the seven most important parts of speech. Click on your group link below and complete the chart with the part of speech, a group definition, and several examples.

Group 1: CLICK HERE

Group 2: CLICK HERE

Group 3: CLICK HERE

Group 4: CLICK HERE

Group 5: CLICK HERE

Vocab: Recognize Parts of Speech by Suffix

Instructions: Click the link below then go to your assigned section of the document. You have two tasks. First categorize the words according to their part of speech. Then read the words in context, identify their suffix, and think of another word that finishes with the same suffix.

• Group Document: CLICK HERE

Design and Evaluation of Training Programs - Week 4

Introduction: Hello and welcome to week four of the course Design and Evaluation of Training Progams and Workshops. Today we will do several activities to explore the importance of context in teacher training, identify strategies to conduct an effective training needs analysis, and compare the drafts of your data collection instruments and give peer feedback. If we have time, we will also explore the topics of desconstructing lesson plan templates and classroom observation protocols as a professional development strategy.

Warm Up: What do you see?

Click on your assigned link below and describe your image to your partners with as many details as possible. Try to determine what are the similarities and diffrences between your images.

• Student A: CLICK HERE
• Student B: CLICK HERE
• Student C: CLICK HERE
• Student D: CLICK HERE

Now, let's consider another image (CLICK HERE). Discuss these questions with your partners. 

• What does this new image make you think about?
• What do you think the artist's message could be?
• How might this image serve as a metaphor for teaching?
• How might it serve as a metaphor for training and developing teachers?

Task 1: The Importance of Considering Context and Needs

For your reading response task last week you read portions of chapters 2 and 6 in Graves' (2000) Designing Language Courses. Discuss the following questions with your partners. 

• What are we talking about when we refer to context?
• Why is it important for training course designers to define their context?
• Graves introduced the term "problematizing" in Chapter 2. What does that mean and why is that a valuable strategy for teachers and trainers?
• CLICK HERE to go to the Google Doc and work together to share some important factors to consider when defining context.
• Consider the two graphics below from Graves (2000) Chapter 6. In what ways might the purpose and process of carrying out a needs assessment be similar and different in the context of designing a language course or the context of designing a teacher training course?

Click to see full sized image.

Click to see full sized image.

Task 2: Peer Feedback on your Data Collection Instruments

Let's take a moment to share what you brainstormed for the draft of your data collection instruments. 

• How are your ideas simliar and different?
• What suggestions could you make to broaden or narrow the scope of some of your questions?
• Are there any additional areas you would suggest your partners explore?

Task 3: Deconstructing Lesson Plan Templates and Classroom Observation Protocols

In your professional development tips reading this week you explored several topics including creating an observation form and anlayzing lesson plans. Let's explore how we could use these two documents as tools to support teacher development.

• Comparing and evaluating specific lesson plans
• Evaluating and improving specific lesson plans
• Comparison of lesson planning templates
• Co-creation of new lesson planning template, experimentation, and analysis
• Independent or co-creation of observation protocols, experimentation, and analysis
• Guided observation protocols for novice teachers
• Ideas for working with video observation protocols