Reflection#4

For this week, I decided to incorporate some variety into the practice of vocabulary. I
started using gamelike activities, including crossword puzzles and matching worksheets, as
tools for reinforcing vocabulary in both the PreIntermediate and Advanced classes. I used this
websitetocreatetheworksheetsforfree.Inbothactivities,Iaddedavocabularygapfillexercise
to encourage students to not only recognize the words and their spelling, but most importantly
see the word in context. Seeing the word used inasentenceencouragesthemtothinkaboutitin
a more comprehensive way (e.g. is it a noun, adjective, or verb) and make connections to what
they already know. Indeed, as Erben, Ban, and Castaeda (2008) note, laguange focused
worksheets help an ELL reinforce and internalize English vocabulary (p. 8) and therefore can
beeffectivetoolstointegrateinESLlessons.

In addition, because these tools are perceived as fun, gamelike activities, they offer
students a challenge that motivates them to engage with the target language in a more relaxed
way. In fact, students were deeply engaged intheactivityandwhenaskediftheyenjoyedit,one
student especifically told me he loves challenges. In terms of their assessment value, these
worksheets are less threatening than a test or quiz and therefore students can relax while I
formatively assess their understanding. Helping ELLs correct their English, either through
selfcorrection or peer correction, is important in promoting a sense of ownership over their
learning that can help them improve language (Erben et. al, 2008). Because of this, after they
completed the worksheet to their best ability, I allotted some time for review in order to give
them an opportunity to notice their errors, if there were any, and to highlight common mistakes
ordifficultiesInoticedastheycompletedtheactivity.

I believe that adding variety to my vocabulary lessons through these worksheets helped
me create an environment that fostered learning. As Weimer (2013) suggests, we should create
conditions in which students are willing to take action and engage with the learning. She
argues that planning new or unusual activities is a good way to create such conditions.Because
students have enjoyed the challenge of completing these worksheets, they are indeed engaging
effectivelywiththetargetvocabularyandachievinglearninggains.

Another tool that has proven to be effective has been the continued use of graphic
organizers to facilitate reading comprehension and notetaking skills. For instance, in my
PreIntermediate reading and vocabulary class, we havebeenreviewingstrategies,suchasusing
Whquestions, to identify the main ideas inatext.Icreatedthisgraphicorganizerforstudentsto
use as they answer the Whquestions providedinthetextandbyme.Sincethereislittleroomin
their textbooks to take notes, the graphic organizer has been a very helpful tool for students to

organize the informationinalogicalandeasytoreadformat.Theycanlaterusethisinformation

to summarize the reading on their own. Similarly, in the Presentation class, students used a
timeline graphic organizer to organize the information they had gathered for their next speech,
which asks them to explain a process. The timeline workedverywellinhelpingthemdetermine
the order of the information they collected and then use that information to create their speech
outline. Using these tools aligns with what Weimer (2013) calls engaging students with the
content (p. 126) and encouraging them to take responsibility over theirlearning.Shenotesthat
an important element in learnercentered teaching is to help students develop the skills to learn
the content, including strategiestoorganizetheirideasandbeabletoapplythem.Inmyreading
class, graphic organizers have been a great way to achieve this. Students are challenged to
interact with the content in a purposeful way as they identify the main ideas and then
independently write a summary of the reading. They are developing notetaking and
summarizing skills, which will help them improve their comprehension. I plan to use the
Whquestionsorganizerwiththereadingsforfuturechaptersinthebook.

In terms of technology, one thing that worked verywellthisweekwastheuseofGoogle

Slides to present information, engage students, and facilitate the completion of tasks. I created
this presentation to help students complete the Whquestions activity I mentioned above.
Projecting the paragraphs and the Whquestions on the board allowed me to model how to
underline the main ideas and take notes on the graphic organizer,sostudentscouldthendoiton
their own. For some of the questions, I asked students to come up to the board to underline or
circle information that could help us answer the question posed. Doing this helped me engage
students more effectively and promote collaboration and critical thinking, as they analyzed the
text on the board and together determined the best answers to the question. This activity
reminded me of the SAMR model for technology integration. In this case, the presentationfalls
under the augmentation level because it allowed me to create an interactive way for students to
complete the activity and analyze the content. In this way, I feel that this helped enhance the
learningenvironmentasstudentswerem
oreengagedinthelearningprocess.

Overall,thisweekIlearnedtheimportanceofusingavarietyofactivitiestohelpstudents
take action, engage with the content,anddevelop skills,suchasnotetaking,thattheycanuse
acrosssubjects.

References:

Erben,T.,Ban,R.,&Castaeda,M.E.(2009).T
eachingEnglishLanguageLearnersThrough
Technology.NewYork:Routledge.

Walker,A.,&White,G.(2013).T
echnologyenhancedlanguagelearning:Connectingtheory
andpractice.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.

Weimer,M.(2013).Learnercenteredteaching:Fivekeychangestopractice.SanFrancisco:
JosseyBass.

Doyle,T.(2011).L
earnercenteredteaching:Puttingtheresearchonlearningintopractice.
Sterling,VA:StylusPub.