Assessment Literacy. Topic 2. Types of Assessment
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Category: Professional Development
Assessment Literacy. Topic 1. Fundamental Concepts
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“Assessment Literacy” Course
To Attend the Course:
- Create a free account as a student on edmodo.com
- Login to your account.
- Join my group “Assessment Literacy”
- Join Group URL https://edmo.do/j/ud25fi
- Group Code: 585hzr
Three Recommendations for EFL Teachers to Consider From the First Day Back to School
Teachers of English as a Foriegn Language are asked to take into account the following recommendations from the beginning of the new school year to make great success in their career:
1. Control your teaching and make it as effective as possible by:
* Getting to know the course materials very well by reading them through in advance.
* Getting to know the outcomes of each unit sticking them at the front of your preparation notes to adjust your teaching accordingly.
* Preparing your individual lessons well.
– Preparation notes of each lesson should include mainly the following:
Objectives – Warm-Up Steps – Presentation Steps – Practice Steps – Assessment Procedures or Homework – Self-Evaluation Note.
* Making sure that you have any important information about your students; their names, level of learning, weakness & strength points, ….etc.
2. Improve your teaching and facilitate your students’ learning by:
* Learning & applying new teaching methods, techniques and activities.
* Adjusting your teaching according to your students’ level and needs.
* Reflecting on your successes and difficulties in the classroom.
* Discussing teaching experiences with your colleagues.
* Assessing your students’ progress giving them grades, marking their written work regularly and giving them effective feedback.
* Designing and using simple teaching aids in the classroom to attract your students’ attention and facilitate their learning.
* Organizing your class in different and various ways; whole-class, individual students, pair work and group work, depending on the activity being taught at different times of the lesson.
3. Give your students the opportunity for language learning and practice by:
* Creating a natural context and real-life situations to use the language.
* Giving students the chance to hear and use as much authentic English as possible.
* Using more and more teaching aids to untie your students’ tongues & encourage them to talk in English naturally.
* Contextualizing the new language asking students to put new words in sentences of their own and utilize new structures in real-life situations.
8 Tips for ELT Teachers’ Professional Development
1. Join a professional organization:
Connect yourself with a network of people who do what you do and who share your concerns. You’ll receive newsletters and periodical journals of ELT. I suggest you to join niletesol.org
NileTESOL is a professional association for all those individuals who are actively involved in the development of the teaching of English and in teaching content in English in Egypt and globally.
2. Attend workshops, conferences, online presentations and webinars:
They’re good opportunities to meet your fellow teachers, get some inspiring ideas and know about EFL books and materials.
3. Meet up with your own support group:
Find some fellow teachers who are willing to meet occasionally or have lunch together for the purpose of exchanging thoughts and ideas. A long-term relationship with other teachers can be very beneficial.
4. Go online:
Have a daily access to the internet and do many things that relate to ELT. First of all visit our eltguide network to learn, share and leave your feedback:
* Facebook.com/eltguide (page on facebook)
* eltguide.wordpress.com (blog on wordpress)
* slideshare.net/eltguide (ELT presentations on slideshare)
Also you can create your own page or group on facebook and invite your colleagues to join and interact. You can sign up for ELT lists too. That provide you an opportunity to talk with thousands of EFL professionals internationally.
5. Get examination copies:
Get a look at them, answer the questions and be aware of the specifications of the exam paper. Learn how to put a good exam on the courses students in your country study. Know well how to evaluate and test students’ English.
6. Get a business card and a CV.:
This will make it easier for you to network when you go to conferences and meetings or even when you go online. This is a great way to introduce yourself as well as to spread your qualifications and achievements to the audience you care for. This gives you a self-esteem boost.
7. Enroll in a foreign language class:
Put yourself in the position of a student and know what it feels like to struggle with a new language. This experience will improve your level in English language and your level in teaching English as well. This exercise is so useful that it is worth repeating every few years to refresh your mind and increase your self-confidence.
8. Expand your ELT knowledge and English vocabulary:
Read, read and read all what you have or can get of ELT materials. Focus on practical ideas that you can make use of and practical steps that you can follow in your EFL classroom. Write down the gist you’ve got from the topics you’ve read about to be helpful resources for you in the future.
Again, read, read and read but this time real English in stories, news, everyday conversations …etc. with the purpose of getting fun and as well for expanding your stock of vocabulary. When you come up to a new word, know not only its immediate meaning but expand on its uses as well and know the prepositions it can take and the different meanings this results in. Also, know more real-life examples of how to use new words.
Call for ESL Teachers: Your Professional Development is So Important
First of all you must put in your mind that “Learning to be a teacher is “a life-long experience”
Secondly if you pursue to be an experienced and effective teacher, you should take charge of training yourselves to be:
* aware of the philosophy of teaching and learning,
* efficient in drawing on and adapting content knowledge,
* capable of making decisions before, during and after every teaching and learning experience.
Consequently Professional development for you is critical. It is the responsibility of each teacher once they are in the context of the workplace.
Professional development means:
* The constant search for answers to questions which arise from the ever new circumstances in educational contexts as the years pass.
* Training for the purpose of keeping up to date with advancements in language teaching and research.
To be able to achieve the previous aims, there are a lot of resources available for teachers to become better-informed language teaching professionals such as:
(a) participating in professional language teaching associations,
(b) reading printed books and journals,
(c) participating in electronic discussion groups,
(d) making use of on-line teaching and learning resources,
(e) attending regular workshops and conferences,
(f) working collaboratively or contacting with experienced colleagues, and
(g) doing action research.
