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MA - ELPS
I too feel like the standards are dense and could easily seem daunting. If I am very honest, I sometimes feel resistance in myself to structuring instruction too rigidly. However, one important part of the 3rd video was how the presenter talked about using benchmarks in Backward Learning (or Design) to create "clear objectives for units". I liked how this was illustrated. I also liked how they showed how standards offer examples of activities that provide practice by level and that this offers a guide for consistent skill building at each level to move students toward academic language proficiency. Learning a language fully and fluently to participate in many aspects of a society does require years of learning and practice and these standards better reflect that reality.

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The MA ELPS was very daunting the first time I saw it; I wasn't familiar with terms such as "strands" and I had trouble finding the subjects I was looking for. Fortunately, the Overview MA ELPS Part 2 - Zooming In video was a concise primer that helped me understand how to use the MA ELPS in Lesson planning. Its explanation of how to find specific aspects of reading/writing, listening, and speaking was very helpful. I did have to review some of the terminology, however; I completely forgot what they meant by "domain-specific" vocabulary and had to look back in my old textbooks!

In using the MA ELPS, I still find I have trouble picking the proper proficiency level for working with students. I teach an intermediate class that has to accommodate a fairly wide range of learners (from ~SPL 2 to~ SPL 5), and it can be tough to choose what level I should use as a baseline in class (before trying to differentiate for different proficiency groups).

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I agree with Linda Cordero, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this overwhelming. I think the MA ELPS will take a lot of getting used to for me, and I wish there was a condensed version I could refer to easily. I did find it thought provoking that in the third video it mentioned more focus on non fiction reading as that is what is commonly seen in life and the workplace. That was a bit of an AHA moment for me, because as much as I love fiction, I have to always keep in mind the huge difference between the purpose of ESL and college and career readiness versus a general ELA class. I think I will incorporate more fliers, maps and bills into my lesson. Other than that, I'd like to print out the MA ELPS and go over it with a highlighter and post it bookmarks, the scrolling back and forth is not the best way for me with such a large document. The focus on digital competency wasn't as much of a priority in my class last year, but this year it takes up alot of time just to get them proficient enough to access the course materials! So in the future I will try to prioritize digital skills with the technology that is available in the classroom and for homework.

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I think the ELPS are a very user-friendly document, and I really appreciate how they are presented both by level and by strand. This easily allows for a teacher to focus on his/her individual level, but to also see how their course fits in with the students' overall development and the program at large. The standards seem like a pretty daunting document at first, but once one takes the time to read through them, I think it becomes clear that they are easily applicable to most all units that we are already teaching, and if they aren't, with some minor tweaking we can get there. This reassures me that the teachers in my program are already delivering high-quality lessons! I also think it's worth highlighting the emphasis the standards give on what students should be able to *do* with the language, rather than just the language itself. (Communication skills/outcomes, versus grammar rules, for example)

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Math
I enjoyed examining the documents and listening to the video about how to teach math differently from the CCSR. Because I seem to always be thinking as I am reading and listening to documents and videos, I never feel short of opinions! I whole -heartedly agree that instructional shifts for better understanding of math should focus on focus, coherence and rigor, rather than based on procedural repetition of math problems. The factor going against me with this instructional shift in math is time! So much of the time, I have to "trade" teaching a direct method for teaching rigor (or focus or coherence) although I often try to implement these instructional shifts no matter what. I tell students they need to "learn deeply" about math and not simply do a type of problem twice and then move on. I also have mixed feelings about moving away from repetition entirely. Many math concepts become more clear just by repetition alone. I genuinely try to incorporate focus, coherence, and rigor while simultaneously giving students math problems to solve at the same time. For example, when I was teaching addition of fractions, and had students adding the denominators, I had them draw a picture of what the each of the fractions being added looked like as a pie. Then, I would have them draw a picture of the fraction that they created as a result of adding the denominators. I would ask them why if they were adding - does the shaded area in the pie look much smaller even tough they added they sizes? Then I had them maintain the denominators and color in the spaces of each fraction's shaded area and the shaded area of the combined correct fraction. In this way, I illustrated to them why adding the denominators would fail.

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Summary of thinking: This is a lot of text. Feels overwhelming at first. I would never give this to my learner hahaha, no one would. Otherwise, I appreciated the focus on low level ELs and idea of building on prior standards.
Aha's:  End of Video 3 where they showed how you can organize the standards in such a way that will help you create unit objectives. Therefore help with lesson planning. It really made me see the use of these products. I feel like all I do is Lesson plan and that this way of organizing opened my eyes on how to lesson plan better.
Notice: I notice the consistency. There are relationships across each grouping:  the strands, levels, standard, benchmarks, ect. Real effective use of tables.

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ESOL - Massachusetts English Proficiency Standards 

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ESOL - Massachusetts English Proficiency Standards 

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Having analyzed MA ELPS for Adult Education and watching the videos helped me understand how to create smooth transitions between lessons in units. It is practical to follow the standards while teaching a particular level. In this case, I will not overload students with information that is not yet comprehensible for them due to the lack of language skills. ELPS are very well organized and focus on four main language areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Also, five topics across the three strands describe precisely what learners are supposed to be able to do and what objectives I should create to support them to achieve these language skills.   Olga

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I really like the organizational style of the document.  Each strand starts out with a succinct overview which is followed by a detailed breakdown of each standard and thread. It shows me the big picture of what I am working towards on a daily basis. I am thrilled to be able to refer to this for guidance and direction in planning.  Prior to this, I was struggling because I didn't know what the long term goals were. I'm excited to explore this document more fully and develop my lessons.

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ESOL - Massachusetts English Proficiency Standards

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ESOL - Massachusetts English Proficiency Standards

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I love this documents because it really makes me have to create lessons that address each level rather than hoping it is at the right level and thus overlooking something that is essential. I also like that each level builds on the previous level.

I do have mixed feelings about a single focus. I could be wrong on this, but it seems to address those whose goals are either career or education. Several students I have worked with simply want to complete every day tasks better such as going to the grocery store, making a doctor's appointment. Though I do not feel that these skills are completely overlooked.

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I really like how the new MA ELPS combine the College and Career and Readiness Standards for Adult Education with the English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education. I think it’s really great when you can find everything co-existing in one place instead of having to go out and search for it in scattered places and try to mix and match and make sure you are catching everything. At first I did not understand the categories and sub categories and threads and whatnot, but as I began to place them into how a lesson would fit, I can see it is like a very well organized closet of clothes. They are very applicable and useable in reality and not just an on-paper guideline, but it actually comes to life. 

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I really like how the new MA ELPS combine the College and Career and Readiness Standards for Adult Education with the English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education. I think it’s really great when you can find everything co-existing in one place instead of having to go out and search for it in scattered places and try to mix and match and make sure you are catching everything. At first I did not understand the categories and sub categories and threads and whatnot, but as I began to place them into how a lesson would fit, I can see it is like a very well organized closet of clothes. They are very applicable and useable in reality and not just an on-paper guideline, but it actually comes to life. 

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ESOL - Massachusetts English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education

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ESOL - Massachusetts English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education

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After watching the videos, I noticed the standards are consistent through the strands of reading, writing, and speaking/listening.  Using the standards for lesson planning is  especially helpful in determining what level my students are at for each specific standard in order to plan an effective lesson.  For example, if I know my students are able to write simple lists related to everyday tasks (W1A.2a) the students have mastered the benchmark for level 2 (NRS low beginning).  My next lesson plan and class for writing would then focus on the level 3 benchmarks.