# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We are delighted to tell you that the PDNorth CPD Exchange, will still be taking place on 26th June...online. Wherever we are on that date, we invite you to join us in showcasing the achievements of educators across the north of England as we come together in a virtual celebration.

# data[].attributes.headline
Prevent & British Values Resources for maths & English learners in FE/ ACL

# data[].attributes.subject
Prevent & British Values Resources for maths & English learners in FE/ ACL

# data[].attributes.body
The glossary and list of words may be particularly useful. We wondered if the other AOs will have the same words in their lists?

# data[].attributes.headline
BKSB Reformed functional skills standards

# data[].attributes.subject
BKSB Reformed functional skills standards

# data[].attributes.body
Shared by Esther D (thank you) - the group thought that there are some useful images and simple explanations to share with colleagues

# data[].attributes.headline
Discussions from our 3rd network meeting

# data[].attributes.subject
Discussions from our 3rd network meeting

# data[].attributes.body
Discussed different AOs and their requirements, advantages and disadvantages of each.  Noone wanted to teach to the test but all recognised that it is important for learners to be successful.
Some offered 'keeping warm sessions' for those learners who had completed a level but the next level not yet started.
Timing of sessions can be difficult as learners have complex and often changing lives.  Diverse classes:
- age
- background (including regional variations e.g. York highly skilled foreign nationals)
- educational levels
- religion
- native language etc
Resources which can be used from home were discussed e.g. Edmodo for setting independent work and has an inbuilt tracker.
Expertise of staff (NATECLA but unpaid prep in some areas, need dyslexia support and sometime dealing with learners who have had trauma).
Basic Literacy needs training required - Spiegel & Sunderland, 2000 'Teaching Basic Literacy to ESOL learners' - was suggested as giving useful guidance including how to use 'language experience'  in a group.  Another was Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and other Problems (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers)14 May 2001

by Michael Swan

The group shared how they have developed their 'skeletal' framework.
Discussed how we might get tutors together at one big session to share good practice.  Possibly 6th June.
Encouraging the members to join Edmodo group.

# data[].attributes.body
useful for (inspiration for) Speaking and Listening exercises and assessments.
Sue McGill

# data[].attributes.body
I attended the launch of the European Toolkit for providing language support for refugees.  There are 57 tools which are designed to help organisations train volunteers and tutors in providing support with language learning. All the material is copyright free so you can cut and paste the material into your own documents. The website is fairly easy to navigate as well and I recommend having a look at the various topics covered. While this has been designed for refugees in Europe I felt there was some really good advice relevant to all tutors and plan to use it with our ESOL team.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A Council of Europe Toolkit

The Council of Europe has developed the toolkit presented on this website (available in seven languages) to support member states in their efforts to respond to the challenges posed by unprecedented migration flows. It has been produced as part of the project Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM) of the Council of Europe's major Programme on language policy.

The toolkit comprises the 57 tools and other resources contained in the various sections of this website. Tools can be downloaded and adapted to meet the needs of different contexts

The toolkit is designed to assist organisations, and especially volunteers, providing language support for adult refugees. Throughout the toolkit "refugee" is understood in a broad sense and includes asylum seekers as well as refugees.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Language Support for Adult Refugees - Apoyo lingüístico a refugiados adultos - www.coe.int

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Language support for adult refugees: a Council of Europe toolkit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hello!

My name is Jenny Stacey, and I teach at a medium-sized FE college in the Midlands. My subjects are Maths, from Entry 1 to GCSE, and ESOL, English for Speakers of Other Languages, at Entry Level. I have been teaching ESOL Maths since 2005 and have built up a small bank of knowledge, worksheets and ideas for teaching sessions, which I hope you may find useful if you are involved in delivering Maths to learners whose first language is not English.

My learners have ranged from those with excellent maths skills to those with a very low level of skills, and from those with very little English to some working towards Level 1 or 2. Some are only looking to help their children or improve their job prospects, but others have needed a Maths qualification for their onward journey into nursing, teaching or other professions.

I hope you find the site useful and have as much fun teaching Maths as I have! I will be editing the site from time to time to improve and update it. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please do get in touch.

This material is protected by copyright. You may print off resources to use or adapt, but please reference my work wherever possible. All other sections should be referenced and acknowledged in any other work. If you are in any doubt, please e-mail me at stillknitting@gmail.com .

There is no liability on my part for any of the information, resources or ideas presented on this website, or any incidents or actions arising from them. The views presented are my own and come from my teaching experience and academic research. I include a list of references for those interested in pursuing further study in this field.

My thanks go to my colleagues, past and present who have helped and encouraged me in this project, especially Sarah for proof reading.

JMS 2013/14

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hello! My name is Jenny Stacey, and I teach at a medium-sized FE college in the Midlands. My subjects are Maths, from Entry 1 to GCSE, and ESOL, English for Speakers of Other Languages, at Entry Level.

# data[].attributes.headline
Discussions from our 2nd network meeting

# data[].attributes.subject
Discussions from our 2nd network meeting

# data[].attributes.body
- Google classroom and how to make the best use, how to use it to motivate learners,  quizzes, distance learning marks (D on register, goes towards GLH, links to CIF?).  Can Google classroom open up digital for lower level ESOL learners?  Might be useful for non attenders.
- Socrative, Kahoot and other tools
- how to manage expectations of observations
- Helen's 'triangle' project via the advanced practitioner programme.
- the different hourly teaching requirements in different organisations
- attendance - Shipley aiming for E&Maths to be within 2% of wider programmes.  They timetable E&M first.
- interest in further discussions into how to manage mixed ability classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Educator Resources & Technology Training - Google for Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover numerous educator resources including technology training for teachers, courses, certifications and professional development for educators.

# data[].attributes.headline
Ascentis pre-entry accreditation for ESOL

# data[].attributes.subject
Ascentis pre-entry accreditation for ESOL

# data[].attributes.body
pilot at Shipley

# data[].attributes.body
Ideas for activities through the year

# data[].attributes.headline
Links on supporting ESOL learners with low literacy skills

# data[].attributes.subject
Links on supporting ESOL learners with low literacy skills

# data[].attributes.body
https://lassn.org.uk/resources-for-tutors/
https://ealresources.bell-foundation.org.uk/school-leaders/learners-with-limited-first-language-literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Are you working with learners who have great difficulty with reading and writing? In this article, I look at who the learners are, the skills involved, and some practical ways in which you can help them - not starting with the alphabet!
Who are 'basic literacy' learners?
Spiegel and Sunderland (2006:15) define a basic literacy learner as "someone who is still learning to read a short simple text and struggles to write a simple sentence independently." These learners are by no means a homogenous group:

They may be learning to read and write (in any language) for the first time when they join an ESOL class.

They may be literate in another language which uses a different script, e.g. Bengali or Chinese.

They may have very limited spoken English.

They may be fluent English speakers.

What skills are involved in 'reading'?

word recognition processes (i.e. recognising whole words such as 'the' ''Stop' 'some', and patterns within words such as 'tion' 'ing')

phonic skills (i.e. making connections between the written alphabet letters and the sounds of letters/groups of letters)

interacting with the text, using context and knowledge of the world to understand and make sense of what you read

Reading is a highly complex process in which competent, fluent readers use: visual clues (recognising whole words and parts of words), semantic clues (meaning and context), syntactic clues (grammar and word order) and phonic skills to make sense of what they are reading. Re-reading, looking forward and backwards in the text, and drawing on schema (background and cultural knowledge) all play essential parts in the reading process.
What skills are involved in 'writing'?

handwriting skills such as letter formation (upper and lower case), writing on the line or within a space, handwriting fluency

composing skills, including knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, genre, register, etc.

knowledge of punctuation and spelling

Teachers need to provide a balance so that learners can develop their skills in all these areas. However, writing is not a linear process: learners need to have a purpose for writing, know the audience, decide what to say and how to say it, draft and redraft, perhaps several times.
What strategies and approaches can you use to teach reading and writing at this level?
This is a beginner-level strategy which involves learners looking at and remembering words without sounding out individual letters. It is a good idea to print each word clearly (in lower case) on a piece of card and encourage the learners to notice the shape and length of the word. The cards can be used in a variety of activities, e.g. word-picture matching and forming sentences.

Also at beginner level, 'Synthetic phonics' is currently the preferred method for teaching reading in British schools. It is based on teaching letter-sound correspondences in a structured, systematic way. 'Analytic phonics', on the other hand, is a method which involves 'analysing' phonemes within the context of whole words. A note of caution - using a phonics approach relies on learners being able to discriminate sounds, which some ESOL learners may find difficult. For more information on how to use phonics in teaching reading to adults, see www.aloscotland.com/alo/downloadresource.htm?id=2336

This is a method of teaching reading and writing skills which uses the learner's own words. It can be used with individual beginner-level learners using very simple texts of just a few words as well as higher-level learners who are working on composition skills. The teacher starts by scribing the learner's words as s/he dictates, for example, a story, description or factual account. The teacher helps the learner develop their language through suggestions and asking questions. The sentences and/or words can then be re-written onto pieces of card for the learner to work on sequencing, sentence structure, word recognition and phonic skills. The text can then be used for handwriting practice, spelling, punctuation and gap-fill activities. The same method can be used with groups who can jointly compose a text about a common experience.

This technique involves the teacher and learners reading a text aloud together, usually from a large text displayed on the screen. This method helps learners follow the teacher's intonation and phrasing and takes the pressure off the individual. It builds learners' confidence and fluency, and they can practise reading the text again on their own or with a partner.

This is a method where learners work in pairs and read simple texts aloud together. It gives them an opportunity to collaborate and support each other in making meaning and decoding whilst at the same time building confidence and fluency.

A good starting point is to discuss the kind of writing the learners need to do. It is important that they write texts which are meaningful and of interest to them. Initially, this might be filling in a simple form with their personal details.

Some classroom strategies for teaching writing at this level:

Create a class book - each learner writes one page

Use a model - learners work with a very simple model and substitute some of the words to create their own text

Use structured questions - by responding to a series of questions, learners create their own text

Provide a writing frame - an outline of a particular text type - which helps to raise learners' awareness of features of very simple texts and gives them support in writing their own

Encourage creative writing - acknowledge the cultural and linguistic resources learners bring with them and provide opportunities for simple, creative texts, e.g. acrostic poems

Spelling - start with words the learners need to write and use the 'Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check' method

Punctuation activities - count the number of sentences, circle or put in full stops and capital letters, match sentence halves

Handwriting - check writing position and materials, and use tracing and copying activities to develop automaticity

Remember that although learners may be beginner readers and writers, they are not beginners in life!
Further reading and links
Spiegel, M. and Sunderland H. (2006) Teaching Basic Literacy to ESOL Learners. London: LLU+

Spiegel, M. and Sunderland H. (2000) Teaching Basic Literacy to ESOL Learners, Video 1. London: LLU+

Spiegel, M. & Sunderland, H. (1999) Writing Works. London: LLU+

ESOL learners with basic literacy needs - Where do I start? Judith Kirsh (2011) British Council English Agenda Seminar http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/seminars

ESOL Literacies: Access 2 Learning Support Material (Scotland) http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/33697.html

Karlsen, L. The ESOL Literacy Resource Pack (2006) http://www.esolliteracy.co.uk/

The author of this article is Judith Kirsh. She has worked in the field of ELT for over 25 years during which time she has been a teacher, teacher-trainer and external examiner. She worked at LLU+ as a teacher-educator/consultant (2003-2011) and developed new ESOL professional development materials and courses. She now works as a freelance teacher-educator and is co-chair of NATELCA.

Copyright - please readAll the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other web site without written permission from the British Council. If you have any questions about the use of these materials please email us at: esolnexus@britishcouncil.org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Working with ESOL learners with basic literacy needs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are you working with learners who have great difficulty with reading and writing? In this article, I look at who the learners are, the skills involved, and some practical ways in which you can help them - not starting with the alphabet! Who are 'basic literacy' learners?

# data[].attributes.body
ESOL: https://lassn.org.uk/resources-for-tutors/

http://www.onestopenglish.com/esol/esol-lesson-plans/
BBC Bitesize (Interactive resources for FS):https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/levels/zvhtng8

# data[].attributes.headline
Functional Skills - DfE Chief Regulator - new GLH is 55,   12 December 18

# data[].attributes.subject
Functional Skills - DfE Chief Regulator - new GLH is 55,   12 December 18

# data[].attributes.body
https://bit.ly/2Lc22ue

# data[].attributes.body
Or, never having to follow another link in an email :-)

Please let Lou know if you'd like her to share this Padlet with you on another email address.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Setting up and efficiently using a Padlet account

# data[].attributes.body
A process for developing digital resilience. We will use this method with you whenever we support you with something digital.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some years ago, I was part of a team running digital CPD for educators. We were consistently struck by the same thing - for every person enthusiastically getting their phone out at the front of the class, there was another sitting at the back with their arms folded (sometimes glaring at us). Later, one of us asked if we'd managed to get through to the 'Folded Arms Brigade'. The name stuck and FAB was born.

We wanted to understand what was underlying some educators' resistance to bringing digital into their practice. With support from the ETF's practitioner research programme we ran a series of action research projects between 2014-17. We used Thinking Environment interviews to dig deep into what limited people's engagement with digital and tested a series of interventions to try and get educators over the hump.

Our findings led us to the FAB (Folded Arms Brigade) Model of Digital Resilience:

We have used the FAB Model consistently since, in one-to-one 'digital nursing' (see below) and in group training sessions. It is not an artificial construct. It fell out of what people told us about how digital made them feel and react. The point of FAB is digital agency: getting people to the point where not only do they feel fluent in a single platform, app or device, but they have faith that that they can carry some of that fluency over to the next programme, app or device.

For any given digital challenge, each of the four FAB elements needs to be addressed in turn; of course an individual may be working on a number of digital challenges at once.
1.First Principles
Interviewing digitally resistant educators was a humbling experience. We had not realised how powerfully jargon blocked individuals from pushing on. One educator told us they couldn't make sense of the word 'icon': "that's something you worship in church." Another said they had painstakingly rewritten an important document because a colleague had "saved it to the cloud. I mean, where is this cloud?"

As human beings, once we feel excluded from something, the defences go up. We learned to invest time in exploring language, before going onto devices.
2. Purpose
Many of the educators we interviewed got stuck at this stage. They did not have, could not figure out, or were not willing to admit a purpose for what they were being asked to do. Resistant feelings often channelled into panic at this stage. We spoke to people who lacked confidence around the simplest digital processes at work, but who said breezily, "I'm on Facebook all the time." Facebook is one sophisticated platform, even for the unwary, so the issue was never about capability. It was about each individual finding in each platform, app or device a purpose which was meaningful to them.

No purpose = no point.
3. Support
Standard digital support did not get a good press in our research. Whether well-meaning colleagues, IT technicians or the grandkids, the majority of educators we interviewed had bad experiences of asking for help. Reflections ranged from, "they went too fast for me" to "they made me feel stupid". Whatever good intentions, it was evident that the 'knowledgeable expert' could be counter-productive.

We tested the concept of the "digital nurse", a different blend of know-how and empathy: a digitally confident individual who doesn't know everything (but knows how to google) and knows they can figure things out if they push on through. Later research really brought home the power of digitally nursing in groups - rather than one-to-one - to avoid creating dependency.
4. Fluency
We defined fluency not as knowing everything, but as knowing how to get by, a bit like getting around on holiday with conversational French. To be digitally fluent means pushing on through, following FAB processes and knowing how to get help.

Once 'FAB' fluency is established in one area, digital confidence can be applied to other programmes, apps and devices. Transferability is not 100%; there are new First Principles to explore and Purposes to establish, but the individual is on their way up in terms of their digital agency overall.

The later projects identified five additional FAB principles:

Simple stuff, but if you say, "it won't let me in," you're maybe giving up, whereas, "I can't get in" gives you the chance to try again.

Fitting with the Thinking Environment approach to interviews, which is all about identifying and overturning untrue limiting assumptions, we encouraged participants - and ourselves! - to identify resistance and take a few moments figure out what might be happening.

As we have seen, digital nursing is about knowing just enough, and about knowing how to bring ease to digital learning. One of the joys of this work is in seeing educators digitally nurse one another - not as experts, but as critical friends.

We learned that one thing nervous educators quickly learned to do was bookmark, which of course means that once a bookmark was lost - because of an upgrade, or switching to a new device - the source was also lost. Going the long way round means using a search engine or typing in the URL until a neural pathway is formed. Combined with good password 'hygiene' (using a phone app such as Keeper), this proved to be a powerful principle for developing digital confidence.

Learning to harness the power of the 'computer in your pocket' - away from organisational firewalls - affords educators with a glimpse into what might be possible - and the chance to explore ways of making the possible safe.

When we stumbled over FAB we had no idea of where it would take us. Education is awash with 'models', many of which turn out to be the Emperor's New Clothes when you try to apply them to real-life. FAB really works. Please do get in touch if you want to explore how it might work for you.
Footnotes

1. These are published in various places, please contact loumycroft@loumycroft.org or @loumycroft if you want to read some more.

2. A set of processes which enable people to do their best thinking. See Nancy Kline, More Time to Think (2009).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Some years ago, I was part of a team running digital CPD for educators. We were consistently struck by the same thing - for every person enthusiastically getting their phone out at the front of the class, there was another sitting at the back with their arms folded (sometimes glaring at us).

# data[].attributes.body
Lou Mycroft (Digital Lead and Group Lead Coach)

loumycroft@loumycroft.org

# data[].attributes.headline
Project ideas from English/ESOL network meeting 1

# data[].attributes.subject
Project ideas from English/ESOL network meeting 1

# data[].attributes.body
ESOL curriculum
Pre entry ESOL
Using Padlet to support practitioners

# data[].attributes.body
Lou introduces the First Principles and Purpose of Padlet, and offers some Support, to help you achieve Fluency.