Hi everyone
It is wonderful to see our community growing so a special welcome to all the new members who joined or re-subscribed this week .
Now that we need to have a password to access the archives our discussions are more secure. This means that it is more important to join the mailing lists if you want access to the discussions both past and present. Don't forget - if you are trying to access the ESOL online archive of posts you will need the username eesollonline (2 x e and 2 x l) and password, - mailinglist. All of us LEE facilitators are rethinking a few things that we have done in the past which will no longer work, for example twitter links to the discussions, links in the monthly newsletters, other communities’ discussion links in my weekly updates. Thank you for your patience as we work through these changes.
Breda and I use the esolonline twitter account to tweet/retweet links to things we have found online that we think are relevant to our communities. It might be research, a blog, webinar opportunities, articles, digital tools etc. Some of these I share in my updates but certainly not all of them. So if you like my Latest Gems from Around the World section of my weekly updates then I suggest you become a follower at ESOL Online@ESOLOnline .
The Ministry of Education's News Update is now available.
It contains details of
I loved the story on Cornwall school and their use of digital technologies to record oral language. The Dictogloss strategy I think is very powerful as students really notice their language gaps. I also found as a teacher that with focused observation I also could observe students thinking and the strategies they applied to try and solve the gap. I wish I had thought of video recording the process as it allows you to capture and record that thinking so it can be used for assessment purposes and also shared. I also loved the way Cynthia feeds backwards and forwards with the mainstream classroom teachers.
Another tool I discovered today that might be used in a similar way photobooth is Seesaw journal. You can read about it in this ClassTechTips.com blogpost.
ESOL Funding and use of ELLP
You will all be busy testing students and making you MOE ESOL funding applications. Some of you will be using ELLP for the first time to do this. The important thing to remember is that ELLP is a tracking tool it is not an assessment as such. So use your assessments both formative and summative to help to determine a student’s best fit on the matrices. Last year I wrote a detailed update on the process which included lots of links. I have copied it here again for easy access.
Information regarding the ESOL Funding, ELLP Application process
Completing the ELLP matrices is an ongoing process based on your school’s usual age and ELL-appropriate assessment tools, activities and observations. Twice a year, schools draw from this evidence to apply for ESOL funding. This should not be seen as additional to the school’s normal assessment schedule but as an integral part of it. Teachers will continue to use a wide range of assessment tasks, activities and observations to make an OTJ (overall teacher judgement) with reference to the various descriptors on the ELLP matrices.
Teachers frequently ask how ELLP ‘matches with’ other key documents such as the Literacy Learning Progressions and National Standards. The nautilus diagram (page 12 of the ELLP Introduction booklet) illustrates in a global sense how students coming in to schools at different ages and with differing levels of English language ability can access the New Zealand curriculum. While ELLP is used alongside other documents, there will not be an exact match for all students. ELLP assists with tracking and monitoring ELLs’ acquisition of English language skills. The path they take can be very different from that of a native speaker of English. However, ELLP does link directly to other key Ministry ELL resources such as SELLIPS and ELIP.
ELLP PLD has been available for a number of years since the ELLP document was published and distributed to schools. Resources provided to assist schools include the online Using The English Language Learning Progressions: professional support for leaders and teachers modules and the Using the ELLP matrices DVD which was sent to all schools with funded students and is available from Down the Back of the Chair. The feedback from the 199 schools that participated in the trial into the use of ELLP to confirm ESOL funding eligibility indicated strongly that the document itself was the most common and useful source of information for teachers, followed by the online support modules.
Questions for Reflection
Questions for schools/teachers already using the ELLP process for applying for ESOL funding
Questions for schools still needing to transition to the ELLP ESOL funding application process
Useful Online Funding ESOL and ELLP Resources
News
Enjoy your week
Janet