Brenda's collaborative learning diary by Brenda https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2 My first-ever online diary! for the collaborative learning course en-us 2016-10-28 17:04:57 UTC 2016-11-21 16:43:30 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Apple.png About me brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/133959871 I come from Ipswich in the UK and have been teaching English in the Marches region of Italy for over 25 years. I've worked in many different secondary schools on the foreign languages course. I focus on oral skills and am constantly trying to find engaging ways to motivate students and encourage them to speak English!]]> 2016-10-28 17:17:03 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/133959871 What does collaborative learning mean to me?               By working together in small groups towards a common goal, the students in my English classes definitely improve their negotiating and listening skills, and the more they listen to each other the more they learn, and the more they learn the more motivated they become! So yes, collaborative learning  does indeed enhance their performance.                                                                                                                              brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/133963508








]]> 2016-10-28 17:29:13 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/133963508 An activity that required a high level of collaboration: brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/134700765 Last year one of my classes prepared a video about their town as part of an EU project. In groups they had to make decisions about which places to include, create and practise the dialogues and present it all in a short video which they made together so that it would be interesting for their peers abroad. This activity helped them with their presentation skills, and for the group's dialogue to be effective clear pronunciation and good intonation were required to make what they said intelligible!

]]> 2016-11-02 09:39:07 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/134700765 An activity that required a low level of collaboration: brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/134703455 As a 'soft' start in the first lesson with a new class, students asked and answered questions about each other's summer holidays and then reported their findings to the rest of the class, who were asked to comment if they had been to the same place. ]]> 2016-11-02 09:53:00 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/134703455 Module 2       Developing collaborative skills is a great help for students - indeed for anybody - to create and share projects and ideas. In a world where we are called upon to be increasingly more responsive to the ideas and opinions of others, such skills are also instrumental in preparing them for their future fields of work. brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/135419161


]]> 2016-11-04 15:34:12 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/135419161 Collaboration Rubric  brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/135437334 Personally I have never used a rubric of this sort. After seeing the video, my first impression was that it seems rather 'cold' with straightforward 'Yes'/'No' answers producing a code number. I'm not sure how useful I would find this rubric in planning my lessons.]]> 2016-11-04 16:23:44 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/135437334 Module 2.6 brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/135847557 I would rate the low-level activity with code 2, as the students worked together in groups and shared respnsibility for reporting back to the rest of the class, but did not have to make substantive decisions together.
On the other hand, I would rate the activity that required a high level of collaboration with code 5, as all students had to work together, sharing responsibility and making decisions that would affect the outcome of the entire project.]]> 2016-11-07 16:57:36 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/135847557 Module 3.3 brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/136816885 When assessing my students' collaborative work I try to avoid discouraging them by setting a minimum overall mark for the group as a whole, and then attributing credit where it is merited by giving another mark to the individual members of the group. It doesn't seem fair to give the same mark to each group member if there is a 'lazy' student who contributes less than the other members of the group. ]]> 2016-11-10 17:35:29 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/136816885 Module 3.4 brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/136820150 The questions that Chrysa posed to her students for self-assessment are clear and to the point. As far as her final reflection is concerned, I would say that it is always appropriate to carry out discreet assessment for each group member; true, the final product is an outcome of collaborative work, but individual effort and work should be recognised. I think this stimulates students and  motivates them to keep trying harder.]]> 2016-11-10 17:43:19 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/136820150 Module 4.2 brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/139131281 I agree with Valentina that it is essential for teachers to bring our best skills to the class 'team' while remaining open and flexible to adapt them should other colleagues suggest better ways of working. For example, at our school - a Secondary School with Foreign Languages course - the mother-tongue teachers of English (myself), French, Spanish and German have decided to work together on a "Languages Week" to include all the 4 languages in a single week rather than just a single language as has been past practice until now. We hope this will engage all the students more and encourage positive feedback to their peers on the activities they do.]]> 2016-11-21 15:50:43 UTC https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/139131281 Module 4.4 brenda2warren https://padlet.com/brenda2warren/ov831l46rsy2/wish/139135237 Working as a mother-tongue English teacher I constantly  collaborate with  my class colleague, the Italian English teacher. We try to be very clear about who is doing what right from the outset - in this way, we don't tread on each other's toes!
As there is an annual 'Languages Week' which involves students practising four foreign languages, the other teachers and myself collaborate closely to choose a common theme that may be applied at different levels according to the students' language skills- for example, German is a new language for most students in the first year, while most are familiar with English to a greater or lesser extent.

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