418+Agenda+3.19.12

(Who will take notes today? Molly will! That's who!)


 * 4:30 - 4:40 - Best spring break moments**


 * 4:40 - 5:30 - Designing an effective writing assignment**
 * Good/ Bad Memories associated with writing:**
 * Gaining or losing respect in accordance to personal writing can greatly effect a students moral
 * Negative feedback with no constructive outcome
 * Designing Assignments:**
 * Writing tasks must be **clear** and **compelling**
 * Barriers to writing can include
 * Restricting guidelines
 * Lack of confidence in writing ability
 * Lack of choice in regards to topic
 * Lack of motivation
 * Too heavy of an emphasis placed on grading rather than product
 * Avoid these barriers by:
 * Establishing a compelling reason for the task (motivation)
 * Assign Pre-Writing tasks (brainstorming, graphic organizers, discussions, models, surveys, free writing...)
 * Establish a clear audience
 * Provide a model and step by step process, allowing for flexibility
 * Be clear about assessment criteria

(Example assignments)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eewBAnzt1t8tGU-JgzqWdC8V-lKW4RxjAyncQQvLF8U/edit (Brett) https://docs.google.com/document/d/15RKYQDYC7NHZO0jQ_Ejw0_58HRGg_xEI8fkunqDVp1k/edit (Kinsey) (Justyn)

Common responses felt while grading ELL's work:
 * 5:30 - 6:30 - Giving feedback to ELLs**
 * overwhelm your student with over correcting!
 * patronize their efforts by lowering your expectations of what ELL students can do
 * Refusing to trying to interpret the work "I have no idea what you're trying to say"
 * Giving Effective Feedback:**
 * What is the **message?**
 * What is the student trying to communicate? What is he/she saying?


 * **What does the student know** about writing and the content area? What linguistic and academic **strengths** does he/she have?


 * Are there any **conceptual understanding gaps?** Based on this writing sample, what is the **next step** in terms of deepening content understanding?


 * What are **1-3 areas of improvement** in terms of writing, English language use, and/or academic language?


 * Provide feedback that communicates these things:
 * Wow! You have something important to say! (Engage with the writer's IDEAS and offer sincere compliments)
 * Because I believe you're capable, I'm going to push you to think even harder. (Suggest 1-2 ways to deepen content knowledge)
 * Because I believe you're capable, I'm going to help you improve your English. (Suggest 1-2 very specific ways to improve academic language proficiency. Focus on areas that most profoundly affect communication and how the message is received.)


 * In most cases, it's a good idea to invite/allow the writer to **revise and resubmit** the writing.


 * 6:30 - 7:00 - Housekeeping**
 * Modules - grading; please put the most recent work on top
 * Grade Eduardo's and Sol-Yi's essays
 * Pretend you are their teacher, therefore grade with intent to give constructive feedback
 * Remember time management, you may have 100 more hypothetical students work to grade, so try to take only 15 minutes to complete the task
 * Final projects
 * [[file:418 Key Assessment sp2012.docx]]
 * Rough draft due April 9; Final version due April 16 -- more details forthcoming; in the meantime, start making plans
 * Note: Next week, please bring a hard copy of your reading and writing assignments to share with the class
 * Volunteers to bring a snack next week?