My Last Assigment
Hello! I am Teacher Flor Medina.
I have been an English teacher for almost eight years. Teaching is something I enjoy and that lets me learn new things from my students every day. In the near future, after I get my masters degree I would love to work for a community college in Denver, CO. In the present I work for two universities in Baja California. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) and for Universidad Politécnica de Baja California (UPBC).
The ages I work with are from 18 and up. I have experience working as a Spanish teacher also. I have awareness and sensitivity to the educational goals of a multicultural population due to the different communities I have in contact thru UABC which is on the border with US and has a vast Chinese, Korean and Japanese population. I am interested in cross-cultural studies, training and teaching. In recent years I have been interested in teaching Senior citizens and also gotten involved in Education thru technology as I have been using it in my daily teaching activities over at UPBC which works with future Engineers.
For this assignment I will focus on my Level III students at UABC of the program: Ingles para Universitarios. This group is very integrated and they have gotten along all the semester. They are responsible and have their goals well identified and they know they have to work hard to get to level IV. This plan was developed to help them organize themselves and to identify their strong points and their weak ones. This group has very different types of personalities and age.
UABC Language School campus Mexicali is committed to help students develop their proficiency in English. They have a Self-access center (Centro de Medios de Auto-Acceso de Idiomas-CEMAAI) that has material for them to practice outside the class room.
For this course students have to attend class of two hours four days a week and for CEMAAI two hours a week.
The unit I will report on is unit number seven of TOP NOTCH 2 by Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher, Copyright 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Unit goals:
- Discuss color preferences.
- Cheer someone up.
- Determine your personality type.
- Discuss the impact of birth order on personality.
Grammar:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gerunds and Infinitives after certain verbs. |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gerunds |
|
|
|
Infinitives |
|
|
|
|
She enjoys painting |
|
|
He wants to paint the bedroom red. |
||||
|
They discussed going on vacation. |
I decided to excersice more often |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Use a gerund after the following verbs: avoid, can’t stand, discuss, dislike, |
|||||||
|
feel like, (don’t) mind, practice, quit, suggest, enjoy. |
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Use an infinitive after the following verbs: agree, be sure, choose, decide, |
|||||||
|
hope, learn, need, plan, seem, want, wish, would like, expect. |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I used dialog and a journal for the informal assessment and for the self-assessment plan. Students have to write down all the new things they learned after every class and once a week how they feel about their progress and their personal goal for the next week.
These are the two tests for formal assessment. The first test was used to test listening skills the second one is provided by the book and was designed to evaluate grammar.
Test 1
UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
III LEVEL UNIT 7 Psycology & Personality.
Listening Test.
Name:__________________________________________________________________
This is a listening test. You will hear every conversation twice.
1. Listen to the conversation. Read the personality traits in the chart. Then listen again and check the correct answer:
|
|
|
|
Diane |
Elizabeth |
|
Example: is a cheerful person. |
|
|
||
|
1. favorite color is lime green. |
|
|
||
|
2. likes a calm environment. |
|
|
||
|
3. is creative. |
|
|
|
|
|
4. is the baby of the family |
|
|
||
2. Complete the next conversation with the help of the audio.
Tracy: So what __________feel like doing _________________?
Sarah: I don’t know. __________. I’m kind of _________________.
Tracy: You do look _________________. ________________________?
Sarah: Nothing __________________on. I guess I’m just feeling ______________ I got
Back from my vacation.
Tracy: Maybe a nice ________________ will ______________.
3. Listen to the conversation and answer the next questions:
a) What does the person want to repaint?
b) What color?
c) Do they agree on the color?
d) What does the man think of the color?
4. Listen to the conversation then complete each statement with the color and adjective of emotion.
a) He thinks ___________ is a ______________color.
b) She thinks the_____________ suit will be______________.
c) He thinks the _______________ chair will make him ____________nervous.
d) She doesn’t like _____________ shoes She thinks they’re _____________.
5. Listen to the conversation. Give at least three solutions to the problem.
TEST 2
UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
III LEVEL UNIT 7 Psycology & Personality.
Unit 7
Name :___________________________________________________________________________
Follow the instructions carefully:
1. In the box you will find the vocabulary of unit 7. Write in few words describe situations in which you would use the vocabulary.
|
calm |
cheerful |
depressing |
disgusting |
nervous |
sad |
2. Write your own response.
a) “You look blue. What’s wrong?”
YOU:_____________________________________________________________________________
b) “I think I’d like to pain my room back. What do you think?”
YOU:_____________________________________________________________________________
c) “I’m tired of the same old grind.”
YOU:_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Complete each sentence with the next words about, for, in, of, to, with.
a) The teacher didn’t object ________having a party on the last day of class.
b) I apologize________ taking so much of your time.
c) Do you believe ________ talking to plants to make them grow?
d) You shouldn’t complain ______ arriving late if you’re not ready on time.
c) Everyone is sick and tired ______ trying to find parking spaces.
3. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you think it has to do with your birth order? Yes /no and why? Give reasons to explain your answer. Write at least 2 paragraphs.
Have a great weekend!
As feedback for test 1, students were given the test a second time. I gave them the script and they listened to the conversations, then I gave them the test and played the cd one more time. This time they did a better job. This test was not given a number, I only wrote on their paper: good job (If they had from 0 to 3 mistakes) You need more practice to the rest of the class.
As feedback I made a power point presentation taking the mistakes and showing them to the students and asking them why they were incorrect and to please correct them. I explained on the mistakes that they couldn’t understand. It proved to be a great exercise; I applied the test as a Pop quiz two weeks after with great results.
Conclusion:
Well organization is key when helping students; they should know what to do and when to do it therefore instructions need to be clear. We have to think if our instruments are valid and demonstrate that we are there to help students achieve their goals and not just to fail them based on a grade that never took into consideration all the work they did during the semester.
I had never followed in such a strict manner the steps of evaluation, it made my job a lot easier and students feel more comfortable with their progress and their self-esteem grew as well as mine as a teacher. I plan to keep working this way to keep developing my teaching skills.
Flor Medina.
Bibliography
Harris, M. y McCann, P. (1994) Assessment. Hong Kong: Macmillan Publishers.
Hughes, A. (2003) Testing for Language Teachers. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Penny Ur (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Saslow (2006)Top Notch 2 Teacher’s Edition and lesson Planner. Pearson Logman.
Trussell-Cullen Alan (1998) Assessment in the Learner-Centered classroom. California, USA: Dominie Press Inc.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)
Here we go again!
Hello! This blog was created as a portfolio for my Evaluation class. This is the fifth time I start a blog for this class, I hope I do not have to erase this one. You see I am fairly new using Edublogs. I really enjoy the format, so I am determined to use it correctly so that my professor can read it with no hustle.
Filed under Greetings | Comment (1)Techniques for self-assessment
I am a devote FAN of the diary. and I also did some research and I found this:
Video
”In today’s technological age, no other audiovisual aid can match the potential of the video recorder. Video can be exploited in a number of ways to encourage self-assessment in the classroom. For example, students can be videotaped or they can videotape each other and then assess their language skills. An obvious advantage to the use of video in self-assessment is that students can assess not only their communicative or language skills but their paralinguistic (i.e. body language) skills as well”.
An I have been using video for the past 4 years. I am also a big FAN. So I would choose those 2. But my absolute favorite is the DIARY.
“Self-assessment helps students to look at language in more concrete terms. Through the use of the different techniques mentioned in the document, self-assessment motivates students to look at their strengths and weaknesses and become more autonomous learners which is a fundamental part of the learning process”.
Take care FLOR.
http://www.philseflsupport.com/self-assessmentechniques.htm
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)
Advantages and Disadvantages of Self-Assessment
| ADVANTAGES: | ||||||||
| When it comes to students… | ||||||||
| I think that the most important points are that students can see by themselves their | ||||||||
| progress and chalenge their own capabilities. | ||||||||
| When it comes to teachers… | ||||||||
| In my opinnion and taking in to consideration the reading, self-assessment shows | ||||||||
| the strong point of the students and their vulnerable ones, so we need to act and | ||||||||
| encourage possitive attitude and try to change negative ones. | ||||||||
| DISADVANTAGES: | ||||||||
| The biggest disadvantage that I see, is that is you do not explain how to conduct self-assessment | ||||||||
| students will never see that it helps them develop self-esteem and to establish goals and | ||||||||
| accomplish them. | ||||||||
| Students always need to be aware of what is going on in the class, if we take attendance, or | ||||||||
| if we ask for a certain homework or project; self-assessment should be introduce to the class | ||||||||
| since the first or second week of the course, that way students get used to it and understand | ||||||||
| the great points that this tool has. | ||||||||
Read you soon. FLOR.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Feedback
Summary of the Material by Penny Ur chapter 17.
By: Flor Medina Leal
What is Feedback?
• Feedback is information that is given to the learner about their performance to help them develop a better understanding of what they are doing, correcting or praising them for their development.
• Assessment and Correction are its two main components.
Assessment
• How well or bad the student has performed.
Correction
• Information about what the student did right or did wrong and why.
Relationship between assessment and correction.
• We can give assessment without correcting.
• We can not give correction without assessment. Because we explain why it is incorrect and that is assessment itself.
The Provision of Assessment Different Opinions
• Audio-lingualism: Negative assessment is to be avoided, since it functions as “punishment”. Positive assessment provides reinforcement of correct responses, and promotes learning.
• Humanistic Methodologies: A crucial function of the giving of assessment is to preserve and promote a positive self image of the learner as a person and as a language learner. Assessment therefore should be positive and not judgmental.
• Skill Theory: For successful acquisition of a skill the learner needs feedback on how well he or she is doing; hence the importance of the provision of constant and honest assessment.
In my personal experience, the two first week of the course are key, it is when you
explain to your students that you will be guiding and helping them reach their goal. It is
when I ask them “How do you want me to correct you?” and then I explain I can correct
you the moment you make a mistake or wait until you give me your diary to tell you
about the mistake you made.
Students then feel comfortable to interact and respond. We have to remind students
every day that we are in the class room to learn and that it might take more or less time
to do so depending on the student and we should not be afraid of making mistakes.
In my class the rules are:
-Respect my classmates and their work.
-Respect the interaction with my classmates and use only English.
-Respect the English class by not speaking Spanish.
-Respect teacher talking time.
Feedback is key, it gives students reassurance and motivation, if done in the way we
specified from the start and in a respectful manner.
Bibliography
Penny Ur (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (12)
Designing a Test
UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
III LEVEL UNIT 7 Psycology & Personality.
Listening Test.
Name:__________________________________________________________________
This is a listening test. You will hear every conversation twice.
1. Listen to the conversation. Read the personality traits in the chart. Then listen again and check the correct answer:
|
|
|
|
Diane |
Elizabeth |
|
Example: is a cheerful person. |
|
|
||
|
1. favorite color is lime green. |
|
|
||
|
2. likes a calm environment. |
|
|
||
|
3. is creative. |
|
|
|
|
|
4. is the baby of the family |
|
|
||
2. Complete the next conversation with the help of the audio.
Tracy: So what __________feel like doing _________________?
Sarah: I don’t know. __________. I’m kind of _________________.
Tracy: You do look _________________. ________________________?
Sarah: Nothing __________________on. I guess I’m just feeling ______________ I got
Back from my vacation.
Tracy: Maybe a nice ________________ will ______________.
3. Listen to the conversation and answer the next questions:
a) What does the person want to repaint?
b) What color?
c) Do they agree on the color?
d) What does the man think of the color?
4. Listen to the conversation then complete each statement with the color and adjective of emotion.
a) He thinks ___________ is a ______________color.
b) She thinks the_____________ suit will be______________.
c) He thinks the _______________ chair will make him ____________nervous.
d) She doesn’t like _____________ shoes She thinks they’re _____________.
5. Listen to the conversation. Give at least three solutions to the problem.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)
Assessing Skills
UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
III LEVEL UNIT 7 Psycology & Personality.
Listening Test.
This is a listening test. You will hear every conversation twice.
1. Listen to the conversation. Read the personality traits in the chart. Then listen again and check the correct answer:
|
|
|
|
Diane |
Elizabeth |
|
Example: is a cheerful person. |
|
|
||
|
1. favorite color is lime green. |
|
|
||
|
2. likes a calm environment. |
|
|
||
|
3. is creative. |
|
|
|
|
|
4. is the baby of the family |
|
|
||
2. Complete the next conversation with the help of the audio.
Tracy: So what __________feel like doing _________________?
Sarah: I don’t know. __________. I’m kind of _________________.
Tracy: You do look _________________. ________________________?
Sarah: Nothing __________________on. I guess I’m just feeling ______________ I got
Back from my vacation.
Tracy: Maybe a nice ________________ will ______________.
3. Listen to the conversation and answer the next questions:
a) What does the person want to repaint?
b) What color?
c) Do they agree on the color?
d) What does the man think of the color?
4. Listen to the conversation then complete each statement with the color and adjective of emotion.
a) He thinks ___________ is a ______________color.
b) She thinks the_____________ suit will be______________.
c) He thinks the _______________ chair will make him ____________nervous.
d) She doesn’t like _____________ shoes She thinks they’re _____________.
5. Listen to the conversation. Give at least three solutions to the problem.
Have a great weekend!
The audio for this test is part of Top Notch 2 Teacher’s edition and lesson Planner by Joan Saslow and Allen Asher with Terra Brockman. Pearson Logman.
I used the Teacher’s Resource Disk.
Have a Great day. Flor.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)Types of Testing
Direct Testing: To make this kind of testing, the teacher must choose exactly what he or she wants to measure. A very classic example: The correct use of verb be in the present. The opposite would be Indirect testing, because it measures abilities that underlie the skills in which we are interested in.
When we talk about discrete point testing, the examiner grades item by item. When the candidate needs to use different language elements to complete a task, then it becomes Integrative testing.
The material also explains that Norm references tests measure the performance of a candidate with the performance of another one. The opposite of this is called Criterion- referenced testing which points out what the student is capable of doing with the language and does not compare him/her with anyone else.
The last type of testing the material describes are Objective testing & Subjective testing. When we talk about Objective testing the opinion or judgment of the examiner is not taken in to consideration. On the other hand in Subjective Testing the examiner has to judge a student’s or candidate’s performance.
By:Flor Medina
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)
Types of Tests
We have 4 types of tests, they all measure language but they differ in the results they will show.
Cambridge for example in its ESOL examinations certifies that you can use language in certain situations depending on the test you pass. This is a proficiency test.
For example CAE is a general proficiency examination at level C1 in the Council of Europe Common European Framework. It is A Level 2 in the UK National Qualifications Framework.
That means that the person that passes this examination, is able to work, study and even do research in English.
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/index.html
Cambridge also offers another type of test. A placement test, this test tells you if you need to do a CAE test, a PET test a FCI test etc. So it shows you where you would fit in the standards of the Europe Common Framework.
General English exams
- KET (Key English Test)
- PET (Preliminary English Test)
- FCE (First Certificate in English)
- CAE (Certificate in Advanced English)
- CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English)
- Certificates in ESOL Skills for Life
Achievement Test: What you have conquered in a course. It is divided in two parts the final achievement test and progress achievement test.
At UABC we have a complete assessment package. We grade our English students with this and we tell them what they have accomplished at the end of every unit, at the end of some units, at the middle of the course or at the end.
When we make those achievement tests at the end of every unit or of a group of units it is called progress achievement test. When we do it at the end of the course, then we are talking about a final achievement test.
Then we have a Diagnostic Test, this is like going to the doctor. It tells you the points in language where you are correct and the ones you need to work on. They help you visualize a goal also. If I talk in personal terms, my goal would be to strengthen my weak points.
Greetings. Flor Medina Leal
Retrieved the 8th of April from:http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/index.html
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (4)Relationship among evaluation, assessment, testing and teaching in my classroom.
It is a matter of balance. We need to take into consideration many things. The age of our students, the reasons why they are taking the class. Their feeling towards the language, they way they behave in the classroom.
Evaluation helps students because it gives them an idea of their progress and helps them set goals and the teacher also. It is important that students know they are in a safe environment and I think assessment helps the teacher do so. If the teacher is aware of what is happening in the group, who works well with whom and details like this one also giving our opinion of their performance without judging.
Testing in my class is a step. I use testing like a challenge more than an instrument of pain. In my class you have to earn your test. I tell students it is a rally, they need to put effort in to managing the contents, the vocabulary. Testing helps them know that they have work hard to earn it and that the test will provide them reinforcement about what they already can handle and it will also show them their week points. By the time students get to test he or she already knows this information the test just reflects that back to them in a formal way and lets the teacher know also in a formal way where their students stand in relation to where they started and assessment helps diagnose little problems.
Teaching is taking the contents of the material you work with and translating that in to simple terms for students, you guide them taking into consideration the evaluation, the assessment, testing and everything that happens in the classroom and you help them build on what they already know and making them aware of their power over language and how they can truly tackle any problem related to their own learning.
Flor Medina.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)