# data[].attributes.body
As a recap, our group had micro-teaching during our last class. Our chosen topic was the Solar System and we've designed our lessons for young learners, specifically, 1st grade.

Personally, I find pre-micro teaching as the most difficult part primarily because it is a vast topic and there were lots of concepts that are intertwined, so it was really important for us to stick with our scope. To offer an example, on the topic of revolution, the 4 seasons are connected since it's the direct effect of the revolution on Earth.  Apart from that social science books for 1st graders do not really offer a lot of information primarily because of their level so, we really had to be realistic in planning the activities, approach, and even the rubric.

I am glad that our colleagues enjoyed the interactive part of our lesson since it was the part that can be quite tricky to pull off. And as for their suggestion of adding more context by adding videos, we definitely agree with them.

# data[].attributes.headline
In education, it's important to switch roles

# data[].attributes.subject
In education, it's important to switch roles

# data[].attributes.body
Out of all the concepts and practices we have done, I'll take this learning by heart.

Teachers MUST never stop learning

As cliche as it sounds,  in every profession, there must be constant improvement like when machines get upgraded, or when employees get promoted.  The same standards must be set or even a higher standard must be put into play in Education, as it keeps up with the ever-changing time and demands.

As young professionals, we are lucky to have this type of education that teaches us to adapt to specific situations and equips us, as early as now, to face the higher needs and demands of the next generation of students. Therefore, as education providers, we must strive our best to keep up with what is new, practical, and logical thing to impart to our learners.

# data[].attributes.headline
My teacher bag: A new perspective on how to see things

# data[].attributes.subject
My teacher bag: A new perspective on how to see things

# data[].attributes.body
Now usually, for something to stick in my mind, it must make sense to me. At the beginning of this course, I honestly felt a little lost since I have a very little experience in curriculum development; the terms and the process overwhelmed me because it was again an uncharted territory. But my breakthrough I would say is at the start of week 3 and I was able to do it by putting on an extra amount of effort, discovering the resources online, reading, and revising concept. Now, I am glad to claim that I fully understand what BP is and other elements of curriculum and whilst I don't remember their terms, perse, I am perfectly able to identify them or apply them.  So that's one of the new things in my teachers' bag (I think the humbling experience bit is very important; reminds me that learning never ceases)

Another new thing inside my teacher baggie is my reignited sense/awareness of how important setting an objective is. Since the life of a teacher can be pretty monotonous (sad but true), keeping in mind the objectives we set for our learners and making them as realistic as possible will enable us to play more around with our classes and planification. I've realized that a huge chunk of our decision-making as the teacher relies on setting our objectives (assessment, feedback, essential knowledge etc); without them, it would be like the blind leading a blind but with an intensified casualty. So, definitely, in addition to BP, the importance of objective is going to my bag.

# data[].attributes.body
Practicality
Reliability
Validity
Authenticity
Washback

# data[].attributes.body
Pre Assessment
- used to collect information about the students.
- BEFORE the lesson
-To determine the "readiness" of L

- KW chart

Formative Assessment
- gathers info about S' learning.
- DURING the lesson
-To track progress and see if the T has to make changes.

-Chorale response and Example

Summative Assessment
- what S has learned in the end.
- AFTER the lesson
- To provide evidence of what S learned

-What I learned column, Test

# data[].attributes.body
Assessment is to INCREASE quality (create the right condition; feedback allows to adjust/adapt accordingly) ; Evaluation is to JUDGE quality

# data[].attributes.body
Should NOT be.....

used as a punishment, even other workloads.

treated as the be-all and end-all most of the time.

used as a label and further cause division between strong and weak students

Should be.....

dynamic; meaning the instructions can change to test other skills apart from content.

adapted to multiple intelligences

taught to learners; especially tests like State exams or Cambridge English tests.

(there should be) continuity

# data[].attributes.body
How can we assess a student's attitude? To what extent is it important for the teacher? Does it have any bearing in the student's grade?

If it's part of your objective, then yes. If not then, it shouldn't matter.

How can you formulate a good rubric?

# data[].attributes.body
Tests should have a specific purpose, they must have clear directions and be related to objectives. It must be differentiated for SpEd or children who need it.

Test should be RELIABLE, VALID

Reflection is the catalyst for learning

# data[].attributes.body
Assessment as a whole should assess both content and skills. It should be done in order to reach a standard and to be able to visualize the learners' understanding.

Test is guided by fear, stress, and anxiety as opposed to CURIOUSITY (emotion of learning)

Formative Assessment happen most of the time and it's important so as T we see where the students' learning at.

# data[].attributes.headline
Snowball fight is a great example of warmer! It works for all ages!!

# data[].attributes.subject
Snowball fight is a great example of warmer! It works for all ages!!

# data[].attributes.body
Museo Para Muchachos is a project learning based project designed to last 6-8 weeks for advanced-low proficiency Spanish learners. It involves creating a pamphlet with the purpose of engaging  Spanish-speaking children as they explore and see Spanish-speaking artists at a tour in MFA Boston.

For the Spanish learners, the the specific target grammar will be the imperative and the present subjunctive for giving instructions and suggestions.

Formative Assessments: ChalkTalk, Discussion, Brainstorming, and Journal

Summative Assessments: At the end of the project, the brochures will be evaluated through standards set by their peers, students, teachers,

The product will be evaluated by tour guides/museum educators at the MFA, student peers, and me using checklists, rubrics, peer review, and simulations.

# data[].attributes.body
can be as simple as eliciting examples/chorale response

# data[].attributes.body
Unfortunately, in my experience, Bloom’s Taxonomy has also done a lot of damage. .. I have observed the primary effect of Bloom’s Taxonomy to be this: It creates a hierarchy in teachers’ minds about how we learn.

The main point that I got from this reading is how the hierarchy that this taxonomy has created, not only dichotomizes skills and learning, it also sees learning as a standalone concept when in fact, a lot of times, learning is more effective when it goes hand-in-hand with doing.  From what I understand, learning from the perspective of taxonomy begins when you memorize vocabulary, steps, etc, and only until you've done the other processes can you apply or practice what you have learned.  This is the total opposite of what learning truly is and must be. As a teacher, of course, our job is to measure the skills of our students but more than that, the most important aspect of our job is to push them for something higher--- this will cultivate intrinsic learning which will then, motivate them and encourage them to take pride in their progress.

When students are engaged in applying knowledge to building things of beauty and value as part of their learning, it does more than deepen understanding; it also cultivates student motivation and agency and pride in craftsmanship.

# data[].attributes.body
I do not give group grades but I do grade for skills that require a group to exhibit it.

This line stood out the most for me because this is exactly what I would have wanted my previous teachers to do.

Grading the final output as a team could seem easy at first but in a PBL, it's a "sensitive" aspect, as I see it. The final output is usually what is graded and seen by the teacher and there are a lot of things that happened prior to getting that product. Personally, I think both the process and the output should be taken into consideration and that teachers must look into the individual performance of the learner as opposed to just grading or assessing the big picture.

# data[].attributes.body
Formative Assessment is done during the session to track the understanding of the process of the students. Moreover, through formative assessment, the teacher will see if there has to be a change in instruction or process.

Formative assessment could be as simple as giving out examples or listening to the choral response of the class.

Summative Assessment, on the other hand, shows what the learners have learned and the essential learning from the session.

Summative assessment can be a test or a rubric, depending on what the final output is.

# data[].attributes.body
Materials are things. written or not, that could help learners deepen their learning and make connections. Whenever I think about the types of materials I use in my classes, my primary concerns would be 1) if it makes sense to them as much as to me, 2) if it is multi-layered meaning, the material is not limited to only getting linguistic knowledge but other aspects like culture, critical thinking, competencies etc.. Lastly, 3) if it is interesting for them; this will make learning vivid and more "fleshed out"

Of course, the main goal of any education provider and institution is to provide the best quality education to their learners. So normally, we'd say that the more authentic a material is, the better it would be for them; after all, a material is not solely used for the purpose of learning a language it could also be used to take a peak into other aspects equally important to reach their goal.

The discussion we had through the game last week, made me think that instead of dwelling on the authenticity of the materials, why don't we focus on the level of the learners who will actually be utilising them?

Whilst choosing and carefully assessing the materials for your learners could mean extra work, it doesn't beat the sense of fulfillment that you can have once you see that it's getting its job done. At the end of the day, if the material isn't fit for the learners then it wouldn't be an effective material to fulfill its purpose.

# data[].attributes.body
1.  STOP (or tutti frutti) a vocabulary bank game Place-Animals-Name-Things - Score
2. Brainstorm (Introduce yourself by saying 3 adjectives to describe yourseldf, 2 verbs that you enjoy and 2 nouns that you like)
3. Thumbs up / down
4. Colour/Draw your Representation
5. Snowball fight
6. Mind Map

# data[].attributes.body
I think FL teachers can use Bloom's taxonomy to better frame their aim or objective; if their goal is simple for the S to remember or if their goal is for S to create their own product.

WHAT I KNOW:
hierarchy of the cognitive abilities; moves from simple to complex

WANT TO KNOW:
In an Arts class, how do you use the Blooms' Taxonomy?

WHAT I LEARNT:
4 types of Knowledge: Factual Knowledge = terminology and details, Conceptual Knowledge = relationships among pieces of concepts or theories, Procedural Knowledge of = processes and methods of theories and problems Metacognitive Knowledge = learning strategies and processes

# data[].attributes.body
Final Product: Word Pile Poem

Aims:
(Main) SWBAT differentiate NVA by examining the painting
(Sub) 1. SWBAT appropriately use NVA in a poem
2. SWBAT identify and apply proper intonation patterns/ pronunciation

Assessment:
(Final) Poem Composition and Correct pronunciation/ Intonation
(Initial)
Identifying NVA and brainstorming with classmates

Procedures:
Pre-Class:
1. Prepare all the necessary materials
2. Put materials under the table/chair.

Warmer:
1. Tongue Twisters
Red Lorry. Yellow Lorry.
Kitty is eating chicken in the kitchen.
2. Sight words (previous activities)

During Class
1. Slow look at the painting and ask the S, "What draws your attention?" What catches your attention?"
2. Give background about the painting. "This painting is called _________. It was painted by ____________ in ____________"
3. Start with N. Activate prior knowledge of what Nouns are.
3.1 Ask the S to list down every Noun they could see in the painting. Ask for examples, 1-2.
3.2 2-minute sharing time and,
3.2.1 Teacher must jot down words for the Sight words flashcards
3.3 Discuss.
4. What are Adjectives? Discuss and ask for examples.
4.1 List down.
4.2. Sharing time
4.2.1 Teacher must jot down words for the Sight words flashcards
4.3 Discuss
5. "Verbs are ________. " Elicit information to activate prior knowledge; ask for examples
5.1 List down verbs
5.2 2-minute sharing time
5.2.1 Teacher must jot down words for the Sight words flashcards
5.3 Quick discussion

6. Explain the WorldPile Poem (product) and give them around 15 minutes to work by pairs.
7. Once they've finished, ask 2-3 pairs to come up front and share their poems. This will be assessed through a rubric.

Cool down:
The teacher will use the jotted-down words from the activity to drill the pronunciation.

# data[].attributes.body
-independent and envisions the results first then proceed to evidence and assessment in order to gauge if the learners can effectively explain what they learned (showing what they have learned)

-is identifying your goals and thinking of the steps toward it

UPDATE:

I realised the more you play around with BP, the more sense it makes!

# data[].attributes.body
Whilst it has a lot of potential in creating student-centered classes, shying away from the traditional approach isn't easy. It will take practice so, personally, I need to learn more about it so I can apply it.

# data[].attributes.body
When I was listening to the podcast, especially in the first few minutes when they were talking about the importance of aims in teaching, it made me think about how I plan my own classes.

Personally, I would describe teaching aims as 'omnipresent' aspects that are always there but are just never given a focus on. I also really agreed to what they said about following the already set aims and how they cannot cater to a your class.

Weller said that he would add the term, "Better" in SWBAT to be able to not generalize the classes and even make way for positive reinforcement without making students who need extra help feel bad.

# data[].attributes.body
-put the backward planning in practice.
-how to properly word an objective?

# data[].attributes.body
- the difference between themes and situational in a book
- Backward planning came from a "business approach"
-Action words should guide the final product of a plan that was taught backward.
- Backward Planning: Scope -> Sequence ->Product
- Sequence involves the how: Time, Activitities, Materials.
- Scope is getting the bits from the law.
- The goal of BP is for the students to independently learn and take that knowledge and confidently share what they have learned.
- You create a rubric by looking into the educational law and finding the criteria.

# data[].attributes.body
How can you make an activity that is balanced and at the same time, fun for the students?

# data[].attributes.headline
REFLECTION JOURNAL: ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ACTIVITY

# data[].attributes.subject
REFLECTION JOURNAL: ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ACTIVITY

# data[].attributes.body
So this is about my FCE review class at my current school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This class is consisted of 14 students from 1ESO-2ESO and normally since they are teenagers it has been challenging to get their attention. Moreover, their English level is mixed; meaning some could easily get the B2 level while some would need to exert more effort. In short, this class could be unpredictable; some days they would work super great, and others, no.

I did the Snowball Fight with them on Thursday since I wanted to insert the writing and speaking aspects in our class without resorting to prompts. I think it'll yield a more natural result and I would also see their strengths and weaknesses in grammar. My instruction was for the questions to be: a) about whatever they like, which they really got excited about, and b) open-ended questions, so essentially I had to explain what it is and its difference from a yes or no question.

I gave them around 5 minutes to think about the question and write it on a piece of paper and once they are ready, I told them to stand and crumple it. After the fight, I gave them around 2 minutes to write their answers on the paper and then we did the 2nd round.  In total, we did 2 rounds of the snowball fight and on the last round, I called each one of them and they have to read the question and orally answer it. The questions ranged from really critical ones like, "if you could go to the moon, what would you do?" to silly questions such as, "Why do you do sports if you are bad at it?" so they really felt a strong urge to answer them.

At the end of this warmer, I asked how they felt about the activity and they told me that it was really fun because it was like playing and that they enjoy hitting each other. When I told them that it was meant to be connected to writing and speaking, they were quite surprised.

# data[].attributes.body
Bloom's Taxonomy shows the hierarchy of thinking/ learning objectives from simple to complex.

# data[].attributes.body
BP in business = there is a goal and you look into HOW you can reach that as opposed to taking steps in order to get that.

Aims = objectives = abilities (SWBAT)

Gaps exist and we can effectively use it in communication; to make the activities real.

# data[].attributes.body
"Learning is misdefined by school for it is"
"Every student has their own story"

These are the lines that stood out for me while watching the video and it reminded me of all the "trouble-makers" students that I have had every since I started working as a language assistant.

As an English teacher, it is quite obvious that most of the reasons why these kids act out at school are not because they dislike learning; they, perhaps, disapprove of the way learning is done at school thus, making them "hate" learning as well.  Another reason that I see could also be the pressure that is put on them for, in this case learning a language or getting a certain language title, by their parents or teachers.

For me, if we actually put an effort into making learning fun while maintaining a good quality education by being more diverse when preparing the activities and by being empathetic and being a listener, then maybe we could lessen this bad connotation that learning or school actually have.

The second quote I think, must be reiterated a hundred of times to both beginners and seasoned teachers. While it is true that a classroom is a very stressful environment and hence, it just has a direct access to our last nerve, we should always remember that every kid has their own story, own capabilities, and so we must try to be calmer when faced by something unexpected. We mustn't generalize but we must push them to become the individual people that they are.

# data[].attributes.body
1.  I can use it in my planning of my private classes and re-think which learning competence I want my students to be in.
2. I can now apply what I've learnt to easily adapt my materials
3. I can take my notes in mind whenever I observe a classroom discussion at my school

# data[].attributes.body
1. There is a lot to consider when it comes to curriculum design.
2. Language Assistants should at least get access to the objectives of the class.
3. Being in groups gave us an opportunity to think for ourselves (Learning conception made me think)

# data[].attributes.body
I want to see how a curriculum could be adapted to SpED needs.

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher makes the curriculum operational in the sense that they could change the curriculum based on their goals.

SpEd Needs change everything; objective etc.

In other countries, there's a specific office in charge of the planning; compartmentalized. as oppose to Spain wherein the MoE does all of the work

# data[].attributes.body
Product Dimension is the specified outcomes and usefulness of a course. There are 2 types: Knowledge oriented which is more on the accuracy of the language, grammar, proficiency whilst Skill oriented product is like english for specific purposes and how we can adapt the S to achieve that.

Formal Curriculum is curriculum as it is; guided by the State or also known as Standard.

Experts and other organisations are consulted when planning a curriculum

# data[].attributes.body
As a teacher, I think whenever I plan my classes, my main goal for my students is for them to understand the concept enough to be able to successfully apply it and at the same time, be able to think for themselves without any guidance.  I am open to their opinions and I value and respect them.  In my drawing, I see learning as something that's happening in a lot of ways