Assignment 3

Part 3.a
In a day and age where knowing “a little about a lot” is rarely as profitable as knowing “a lot about a little,” teamwork is now one of the most important skills a student may ever learn in order to survive as adults. Regrettably, many teachers (including myself) are uncomfortable with collaborative exercises because they involve risks – risk of the activity falling flat on its face, or even risk of students exploding into mischief! On the other hand, embracing the occasional chaotic moment and accepting noise can be yield wonderful teaching moments. And as the authors highlight, the above risks can be minimized and success can be had if students are taught to work collaboratively.

Aside from setting clear expectations and effective procedures, I was especially impressed with guideline 4. It highlights the importance of “paying attention to students who are more susceptible to marginalization, isolation, or in general to being left out.” This is so important when considering English Language Learners who are unintentionally left out by teachers because of their language barriers. But with technology tools like podcasts, every child can be afforded the opportunity to demonstrate their learning and teachers have the luxury of on-demand access to a product that can be reviewed at any given time. As for collaborative work, ELLs can provide input in a variety of ways with proof of their work made more concrete. Both parties can even refer to the student’s work over a period of time to note improvements and areas of improvement.


Part 3.b
Chapter 14 offers a lot of exciting ideas that can be applied to ESL. For curricular areas like social studies or science, knowledge can be especially hard to obtain since certain topics are more abstract, have occurred in irreproducible environments, or require the knowledge of very content-specific vocabulary. With podcasts, educators and students are no longer limited by heavy texts or still images, and instead have access to information that is authentic, rich and easy to obtain. Teachers can facilitate learning through interactive media, videos, etc. which is also wonderful for ELLs because they embed language into context and provide multiple avenues by which students can access meaning. Moreover, podcasts provide a viable means for students to record and demonstrate their learning. I particularly liked the idea on page 213 where students take a voice recorder on a fieldtrip to take notes that will later accompany a slideshow/video of their experience. Here, ELLs are free to explore their surroundings in a low-pressure setting, since sound-editing software allows them to perfect their “art” later. There are no elaborate writing tasks and students do not have to speak in a public format. In this way (and others that were mentioned in the text), learning becomes interactive, fun and stress-free. Students are also allowed to “own their learning” and more likely to be enthused by subject matter that may otherwise be seemingly difficult to relate to or understand.


Part 3.c
Principle one emphasizes the need for teachers to create “a language-rich environment” in which ELLs are given “many opportunities” to use the English language in all of its modalities. It’s a powerful idea and one that is backed by research. In order for students to assimilate new ideas/concepts and acquire new vocabulary, they must be exposed to it through a variety of ways and then made to use it. Podcasts are convenient resources that teachers can manipulate and/or disseminate to help enrich instruction. Frequently, students (especially in the elementary grades) receive their instruction from a single adult at school. Thus, they only hear material delivered in a singular fashion over and over. With podcasts, authentic material from a variety of hosts can be played to help strengthen a student’s overall listening skills. Reading skills (a.k.a. fluency) can also be improved if a podcasts functions as part of a read aloud, or if students record themselves reading a story. As part of a project-based assignment, students record themselves delivering a memorized speech to help exercise writing and speaking skills. What’s more is that all of these ideas can become part of a library of podcasts to share, model or support further instruction moving forward. Of course, all of these ideas make up only a small portion of an almost endless list of exciting ideas.