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Thinking aloud on how I can achieve task 1.1 

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Thinking aloud on how I can achieve task 1.1 

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1st session, task:

Directions: Your first task online is

-          to investigate what you already know about CLIL

-          and share this knowledge with your group.

-          Read the attached documents before you share your thoughts on the wall. You may also wish to watch the video ‘Why CLIL Now’? for further insights (A talk by David Marsh)

So:

1)   What I already know about CLIL…

-           it consists in teaching/learning a subject in a foreign language

-          Great attention is paid to the content

-          The language acts as the means and the target is the content

-          Careful planning is needed if a teacher wants its lesson to be successful

-          It’s already widely used in language school and in some other contexts

-          I made a project similar to CLIL with a Geography teacher about ten years ago

2)   What is CLIL – document

An innovative fusion of content and language, where content is taught/learnt through English and not in English or any other foreign language.

Why CLIL now?

In the video talk, David Marsh points out

-          Clil can be a way to meet the demand for competence based education and improve the level of quality in education in general and also in the English language in particular- therefore, it can be an instrument for quality education;

-          It can help re-think and innovate teaching/learning context and the capacity  for creativity and innovation, problem solving and critical thinking, communication and collaboration: it’s a matter of learning now to use now, not later.

-          Teachers need to keep in mind that we are dealing with the Internet generation, we can get learners have ownership of the language by thinking and doing things, also by means of the Internet

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How to plan.... not easy... take into consideration various aspect:
- content-related learning outcomes
- long-related learning outcomes
- outcomes related to general skills- thinking skills...
then we have to work on 1-3 lessons, and do classroom research on it, just small things and then I learnt about Rory's storycubes: wonderful stuff for teachers!!! thanks Manuela

actually my science colleague - a wonderful inspiring teacher - and I had a go:
we planned a lesson on Thermometers with our class 1, arranged - not easily - to do an hour of co-teaching together and it worked!
brilliant: this was just a start, but it was great.
I've attached the lesson plan and I as a language teacher, have worked on the language , see the other attachment

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Hi, I’m Edi Daddoli, I’ve been teaching English for about 22 years – such a long time…. I’m a secondary school teacher and my learners are aged 11-14; I work with very mixed ability classes and sometimes it’s really  hard but I dare say I still enjoy working with kids.

Sept 5 2016

This morning was our first CLIL class, so I’m just thinking about it and I’d like to point out the following – maybe it’ll be useful in the future, hopefully.. -:

a)    What I feel I have learnt about CLIL…

…well first of all, that CONTENT is the driver

….also students who don’t have head for a language can be successful

…teachers should not reduce the cognitive level

…it’s important to create a network for CLIL and as an English teacher I can/could/might help learners and colleagues

… the context: my learners are generally motivated towards the use of English, so I could help my subject colleagues by working with students and teachers and we could set up a CLIL team in our school and online platform even as part of our school website…

… I’ve learnt that Mr David Marsh has written a lot about CLIL and it  can be worth reading something by him.

b)   What I have found easy or challenging…

…. The language was not a problem for me, I think the idea of planning something new is challenging: creating new material that can be used in my school and adapted in the future

c)    Two insights from session 1…

… CLIL is learning by construction rather than learning by instruction

… content is the driver

And that’s it!

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Sept 12 2016

Well, I expected to work hard on planning during the session, but it was a bit of a mess: teachers are not easy to work with - and I include myself in the group! -  and listen and co-operate unless you know each other.
I think especially when you are not used to  working as ateam, but individually, it takes time to get to the point and accomplish something .

Anyway, we started working and realized I have very different ideas to subject teachers as regards planning lessons and time/resources to be faced. Anyhow we’ve tried and now it’s up to me to try something..
... something.. I've worked so hard to create my product: re-made a lesson I used last  year and that had worked well with my Art colleague: we already did some CLIL, actually, and the students liked it

the matter is, I understood to prepare a COMPLETE lesson, but I was wrong.... anyway, here's the result..

session, task: To use the 4Cs for planning a CLIL module

STARRY NIGHT, Vincent Van Gogh

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After sending our tasks... such a huge work, we've done 3 and I spent so many hours in trying to create a planning layout we liked, but it was not wasted time, then I was so satisfied... really...
During the session we talked about HOTS  and LOTS,  and it's important not to lower the cognitive demand... that's true, we can work on the language level, not the content
then we acted as students: great! we experienced active peer work, created material and then evaluated the proposed activity with a checklist... useful tool!!!
so for next time, we have to revise our planning- I'll revise it with my school team -, and adapt it... the matter is... what can I improve? maybe it's time to ask Manuela about our planning...HELP... next week we are meeting so we need to have clear ideas on what to work on...see you...
USEFUL LINKS TO COME...

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Teaching Resources & Strategies for K-12

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TeacherVision has thousands of expertly curated teaching resources for all grades and subjects including lesson plans, worksheets, teaching strategies and videos.

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well, not easy, I'm trying to go through the checklist Manuela gave us... let's work and tomomorrow we'll share our adjustments - with the school team, of course,bye

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Your reflections on the 3 sessions are insightful, Edi.  Thank you!
You seem to be getting to grips with CLIL and how to go about planning; you've also noticed how different teachers have different mindsets and how, sometimes, change is exciting but also challenging and 'uncomfortable'!
You seem to have been on a real learning curve and it makes me happy to have facilitate this process in some way... you are a developing teacher!  always trying to 'make it better' that is what good teaching practice is about.
Keep up the good team work you have initiated ... and HAPPY CLILing!!!
See you on Monday ;-)

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Well, I've just read again your feedback, Manuela, and thanks! I'm happy you've seen that change in the way I'm approaching teaching and learning, though sometimes, as you have flagged out, it's not so easy. Working in teams can be highly motivating but also hard: different mindsets at work and we are secondary school teachers- we mainly work alone with our classes!!!😫
Anyway... yesterday I was proud 'cause I was a Developing teacher and The only one to create a Padlet... to be honest, it was fun in the end...
At school I' m happy we are planning CLIL sessions and opened a virtual class on Edmodo for teachers and also for my 3A class! I hope it'll work and time will tell. So much to do and it's almost Xmas, so I guess I'll have time to re-think about the lessons and adjust them accordingly with my team. By for now. 6th Dec