Introduction

Introductory Framing Statement

 

From my own experience as a student and now as a teacher I can argue that the educational system in Ecuador has still a long way to go before reaching high levels of quality.   Lamentably, most in service teachers still keep old school practices.  Not all students have the opportunity to fully develop their cognitive, academic, and social capacities.  As a consequence, a lack of motivation for learning is exhibited in students which is reflected in aggressiveness, misbehavior, and dependence.  Most students find making sense of their learning difficult and just a few have clear goals for their future.  Along the construction of this portfolio I was able to bring together theory and practice to identify what needs to be done in Ecuadorian schools in order to offer a high quality of education. 

Moreover, my experience as an intern in Bergman Elementary school gave me the opportunity to observe effective educational practices which consider students as the core of instruction.  Children in USA are taught to think, question, and reflect at early ages with a clear emphasis in reading in a safe and respectful environment.  When I compare this reality to the Ecuadorian context, I conclude that what our students are missing is expert teachers who teach them how to think and genuinely care about them.  I consider that despite the fact that in Ecuador cultural and linguistic diversity is not a barrier for effective communication, Biography Driven Instruction is a powerful tool to change English, math, science, language teachers’ perspectives regarding strategies for instruction and teacher-students relationships.  Therefore, the theme of this portfolio is promoting meaningful and critical learning beyond EFL context. It is my belief that the learning of a second language much depends on how proficient at using the first language students are in terms of processing information, using high order thinking skills, and being aware of  who they are and what happens in the world around them.  

           The first part of this portfolio, the platform, is a description of the theories, principles and pedagogical forces which give support to my teaching practices. The five sections addresses specific areas namely language development, pre-instructional assessment, planning, authentic assessment and reflections.  The second part is a collection of artifacts which provide the evidence o     f bringing together theory and practice.  Most of the artifacts included are examples of lessons I had the opportunity to implement in the fifth grade of  Bergman Elementary School.  The appendix section contains a description and reflection of the core subjects of the Curriculum & Instruction Master Program as well as the research papers for each.  To conclude, final reflections on the learning gained in the program and my long and short term goals for the future are also included.

                 From my perspective, this portfolio is like the last piece of the puzzle. I feel that all components of the Master Program have been put together in this document to give me and readers a perfect view of who I am as a teacher, what my teaching philosophy is, and what my expectations and goals are. As a teacher I recognize the benefits of reflective practice on a regular basis. Thoughtful and bias-free reflections are the first step to break down old practices and beliefs so as to continuously grow professionally. The content of this portfolio is aligned with my teaching philosophy which follows three principles: a)know who my students are; b) know where they are at; c) have high expectations. Framing my teaching within these three principles allows me to provide my students with meaningful learning which help them to grow cognitively, get engaged with discovering and learning, and become independent learners.  It is imperative to highlight the fact that EFL teachers cannot make a significant impact on education by themselves.  It is necessary that all content area teachers are included in the process of change.

Platform

    Endorsement Platform

Section I. Language development and Learning Dynamics

The dynamics of learning a language differ from one person to another.  There are a number of factors which influence the process such as motivation, like, inborn ability, and requirement.  This means that the learning experience of every student in class is going to be different.  Therefore, educators should design lessons which attempt to reach the most students.  The first step prior to instruction is getting to know who students are.  Biography cards provide a lot of information regarding students’ backgrounds and the body of knowledge they bring to class.  This information is greatly helpful at the moment of planning effective lessons related to students’ stories and interests.  When students are exposed to topics that sound familiar to them or they feel expert at they are more likely to get engaged and actively participate and share in class. This way they are bringing their identity to classroom and the affective filter is reduced as well. 

In order to find out where students are at regarding language development, I have used diagnostic written and/or verbal tests in the form of short interviews and placement tests.  The interpretation of this    pre-assessment has helped me  identify the stages of language acquisition my students are at. From my experience I know that a group of students belonging to the same grade level might exhibit a great diversity regarding students’ readiness. While some students are already able to understand messages, participate in conversations and write stories, others are just getting immersed into the pre-production stage.  This diversity of the students’ level of performance interferes in the development of the lesson if the right strategies are not selected. Having a deep understanding of the stages of language acquisition enables me to properly address every student’s needs. 

For example, students can be grouped by similar stages within the second language acquisition SLA process.  Those who are in the pre-production and early production stage might gain confidence and the more advanced students might go further.  According to the circumstances and objectives of the lesson more advanced students might be placed within a group of students in the earlier stages so that they educate each other. It is important that the strategies fit the level of the students and help them to go to the next step by scaffolding.  For instance in the pre- production stage I plan to use visuals and gestures to point and show as much as possible so students understand what they are required to do without translating.  I think that especial emphasis has to be placed on listening comprehension through read-alouds, music, videos, or any multimedia supporting material. Error correction should be minimal.  Modeling correct use of language usage is a better way to reinforce learning when students make mistakes.

In the next stage, the early production, I have to provide students with opportunities to produce simple language by asking them yes/no or either questions. Pair or group work to discuss a problem is also another opportunity for students to produce without feeling afraid of making mistakes. Have students repeat phrases adding modifications help them to gain confidence, develop vocabulary and fluency.  For example students read the phrase: I feel hungry now then they repeat and modify the phrase.  I feel tired now. Students getting into the speech emergent stage should be introduced to more academic vocabulary and modeled how to use it in context.  They should be encouraged to make connections between the content they are learning with their background, retell stories, and create narratives which make sense to them.

As students walk through the stages, more complex thinking processes are developed.  In the upper levels I anticipate to create opportunities for students to discuss content, make inferences, give opinions, compare, analyze and synthesize information. In this process, explicit vocabulary instruction is necessary.  Most textbooks offer a list of vocabulary according to the grade level.  However, EFL learners might need further vocabulary instruction.  There are words that might interfere in students’ comprehension of a text.  Besides, minimal error correction especially in the earlier stages contributes to lower students’ affective filter. The key to success is scaffolding.  Students have to receive comprehensible input so they can fulfill the task required without feeling frustrated or bored. Having a deep understanding of the Bloom’s taxonomy is equally important at the moment of planning lessons which help students walk through the stages of language acquisition.  I have to be careful not to challenge students beyond their current abilities.  Students who are just starting to learn will develop the basic thinking processes: recall and understand information. As instruction goes on more complex processes are developed. For instance, beginner students start by listing classroom objects.  Students show their understanding by pointing objects around the classroom.  Later on they use the new words in sentences.  At this point they are applying what they have learned.  Then they can compare objects. For example I might require my students compare in which ways a pen and a pencil are similar and different and decide which one they prefer and why.  This way, students are analyzing and evaluating.  In other words, they are developing higher order thinking.

Once students have come to master the basic interpersonal communicative skills BICS, this knowledge can be used as a bridge toward the development of more complex academic language.  The teachers have to design activities that lead students to use more complex vocabulary, expressions, and structures.  The process has to be gradual and scaffolded.  For instance, providing students with formulaic expressions such as: In my opinion… I consider…. I strongly agree because…..facilitates students ability to spontaneously interact.  In the same way, teaching them how to use linking words, how to turn a verb into a noun, and encourage them to always use adjectives are just few tips that help students to move from the informal  use of the language to a more formal one.  Another way that teachers can help students to develop academic language is by exposing them to genres like poems, politics, science, stories, and other disciplines.

 Section II. Preinstructional Student Assessment and Elaboration

First step before starting formal instruction is to know where students are at.  Based on my knowledge of formal and informal pre assessment I plan activities and select strategies that meet my students’ individual needs.  I have used Biography cards for this purpose.  These cards provide valuable information about students concerning their background, interests, and family.  I have also used other strategies like cultural quilt, mosaics, my life in six pictures in order to gather information about my new students.  These strategies have helped me to get to know who my students are regarding their personal lives. Getting an overall understanding of my students’ world also contributes to foresee potential problems in class.  Students coming from broken families are usually the motive for low achievement, bullying, or violence.  I have experience that when I know the difficult situations that a particular student is going through, I feel better prepared to address the problems that might emerge and eventually help that student to overcome difficulties.

Another valuable source of information is parents.  School conferences and home visits provide pertinent and accurate details about students.  I can ask questions like: is there anything I need to know about your child? How does your child feel about learning English? Does he like it or not?  Does he have friends and like to socialize or is he rather an introvert?  Has he learned any English before? Does anybody in your house speak English? during the conferences. In Ecuado  rian schools, teachers have a scheduled time reserved for parents’ conferences.  This is a great opportunity for parents to get involved.  Most parents are mainly concerned about their children’s academic performance.  I usually tap into this opportunity to go beyond and inquiry more about personal issues especially when I talk to the parents of struggling students.  

About academic performance, teachers in Ecuador are required to administer a diagnostic exam at the beginning of the school year.  The results of these exams are the basis for the planning of content for the first unit.  Understanding the skills, experiences, and knowledge that students bring to school is extremely relevant for teachers to be able to help students make connections between their prior knowledge and the new content concepts.  I prompt my students to elaborate on their prior knowledge and experience by giving them the opportunity to always connect the new concepts with their own life experiences.  For instance, I use to ask my students to bring personal objects that tell about them for their introductions the first week of classes or when providing examples I usually use popular names, sports, music, or movies that students are familiar with.  If they are required to prepare an oral presentation, they are given the opportunity to choose the topic they like or feel more confident with.  When teaching a new topic, I have students write everything they already know about the topic.  At this point L1 and pictures are allowed.  Then I introduce key vocabulary.  I find vocabulary quilt very useful for this purpose because students have the opportunity to activate background knowledge about the vocabulary they will need.  Then students make connections with what is being taught for further practical application. These learning experiences are really meaningful for students. This process of activating, connecting and applying permits students constantly make sense of new concepts and apply them immediately.

 I strongly believe that team work produces more effective results.  One way in which I can collaborate with my colleagues to develop authentic and useful assessment is by sharing my knowledge and understanding with them. I can tell them that students are more than a white paper where we teachers are going to write.  They need to understand that all experiences, knowledge, and skills students bring to school play an important role in the process of teaching and learning.  Basing the planning of instruction on the level of students’ academic performance exclusively prevents teachers from designing lessons which impact students, keep them motivated and engaged, and produce meaningful learnings. I think that a professional development community where teachers share their experiences and more expert professionals teach alternative strategies for the benefit of students is a must for every school. 

Section III. Instructional Planning and Implementation

In order to help students to develop their potentialities, there is a number of factors that we should consider at the moment of creating the instructional planning.  We need to define where students are in terms of sociocultural, academic, cognitive, and linguistic development. One important area I consider when I start planning is students’ biography focusing on their culture. Students come from different backgrounds and have different needs.  Some students might have failed previous courses and lack self-confidence.  Some students might feel strongly identified with a particular social group and have their own beliefs.  Some might be deeply motivated to learn English while others simply find it difficult and useless.  The knowledge of my students’ background enables me to use pertinent illustrations, class discussions, comments and activities which produce meaningful learning experiences.

 My understanding of how far my students have gone regarding academic knowledge permits me to choose strategies that allow more advanced students to grow and prevent those in early stages from feeling frustrated.  To do so, planning scaffolded tasks contribute to students’ development according to their individual readiness.  It is my job to create conditions in which my students have the opportunity to be challenged and move on to a new zone of proximal development and encourage the learner’s autonomy.  For instance, instead of saying read this paragraph and answer the following questions, I plan to scaffold the task, break up the learning into chunks. For this particular assignment, first I preview the text with students, and discuss key vocabulary. Once they have gotten familiar with the topic I propose different activities students can choose.  Choice boards give students the opportunity to express their learning through a variety of tasks.  Activities should be carefully designed in order to reach the most students’ learning styles, interests, and level.

 Regarding cognitive development, for students who are more academically talented is easier to go through the levels of thinking of Bloom’s model. However, for those students who are less academically ready, the process might take more time and practice.  Even though these students are starting to master recalling and understanding thinking processes, they still need to be challenged to go further and develop higher order thinking skills like applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.  Therefore, tasks have to be planned in such a way that more advanced students do not give up in frustration or boredom when activities are limited to lower thinking processes or less academically ready students feel threatened by activities they do not feel confident with.  At the moment of planning instruction I have to carefully consider how many of my students are the different levels of language acquisition.  For example, the fact that I have five students in the advanced fluency stage, few are in the intermediate stage and most of them in the earlier stages helps me to make decisions on how to group students in a way that everyone has the opportunity to develop their abilities.  I usually reflect on the TPSI technique to break the class into groups.  I have found that sometimes, explaining the lesson as a whole class can be beneficial, while others working in partners is much more productive. In other circumstances small groups can be even much more efficient.  From my experience I can say that providing individual attention to students who are struggling is much more beneficial than having them work in groups.

 In the Ecuadorian context linguistic diversity is not a big deal.  All students speak Spanish as their first language.  Public schools teach English as a foreign language EFL.   Therefore, students do not struggle with content areas due to the language. However, teaching English in an environment where students do not really see the need of it can be challenging.  My biggest concern as an EFL teacher in a Spanish speaking country is to get my students motivated to learn.  The knowledge I get from my students’ backgrounds is the basis for me to boost my students’ interest for learning. I have used music, movies, books, or singers they like to develop my lessons.    From experience I can say that those students who have developed their Spanish literacy and have a high cognitive development are better English learners because they transfer the concepts and ideas to L2. In the same way, those students who poorly use Spanish enormously struggle when learning the second language.  This is a clear evidence of the ice berg theory proposed by Cummins.

Having identified who students are and at what cognitive and academic level they are I construct my teaching planning. My lesson plans reflect the objectives and strategies I intend to use. Having clear objectives contributes to students’ learning.  Before beginning instruction I let my students know what it is expected from them at the end of the course.  At the beginning of every lesson I tell my students how and what we are doing during the lesson. At a certain point I even tell them why we are doing a given activity so they are aware of the process of learning.  By doing so, little by little students get used to activate higher mental processes and apply them on further situations.  Eventually they will develop autonomy and self-efficacy. 

In Ecuador, mixed ability classes are very common.  After the pre assessment, I usually find that most students are in the speech emergence stage, few in the pre instructional and very few in the intermediate or advance fluency stage.  This panorama requires me to look for strategies that help those less academically ready students and encourage those on more advanced stages to continue learning.  Some strategies I plan to include in my instructional planning are using native language, differentiating instruction, and scaffolding. 

The use of native language is somewhat controversial.  Some experts suggests that the fact that two languages are different, the habits of L1 would interfere with L2.  However, more recent research claims that bilingualism has some positive influences of L1.  Obviously, negative transference will occur as well.  However, the number of positive transference is greater.  When students are learning a second language, inevitable they will compare and contrast L1 and L2 as they try to understand words, sentences, and patterns.  Based on this research based belief I am not afraid of using L1 in class particularly when learners are just starting their second language acquisition. During the first stages I would warn students that they will be challenged to hear and use the most English possible but they are still allowed to use L1.  I think that allowing L1 contributes to lower the affective filter of students which otherwise would become a barrier to acquire the language.  However, the use of L1 has to be limited to extraordinary situations.  Before making use of it I usually try mimic, drawings, or circumlocution to convey a message.  From my point of view the greatest benefit of allowing L1 in an EFL class is the possibility to find out what experiences and knowledge students bring to class.

Differentiating instruction is another strategy that facilitates the process of learning and teaching mix ability classes.  In spite of the large number of students per class in Ecuadorian schools, differentiate I  instruction becomes essential in order to help all students succeed. To do so, I think that teachers have to consider what students need before planning instruction.  The answer to this question is flexible groups, choices, and tiered assignments.  I anticipate personalizing learning through flexible grouping.  Those students, who are ready to move on, work together and are benefited from more advanced tasks. On the other hand, those who need extra support are given the opportunity to work on more basic activities.  The different learning styles are also considered at the moment of grouping.  While a group of bodily kinesthetic learners might better fulfill a task in certain occasions, a multi ability group of visual, musical, kinesthetic learners could collaborate one another to successfully finish a product. Giving students choices is another way to differentiate instruction. I can do so through tiered assignments. I plan to incorporate project menus, learning centers, and choice boards in my teaching.  I consider that when students have a varied menu of activities to choose, they are more motivated to accomplish them.  They are more likely to go further and get interested in learning beyond class instruction. For instance, some activities for a learning center might include the role play of a story, the creation of a song, or a poster, or a debate which challenge every student’s particular learning style or interest.

Scaffolding strategies will definitely be incorporated in my repertoire of strategies. Scaffolding helps students to progressively move to stronger understanding and avoid students’ frustration and ultimate failure. For example if students do not master basic verbs required to understand a reading text, I use scaffolding to incrementally improve their mastery of verbs until they are able to independently use strategies to learn verbs.  Scaffolding contributes to reduce negative emotions and self-perceptions students might experience when trying to accomplish a task that is difficult for them without the assistance of a more knowledgeable person.  I know that not all my students learn at the same pace.  It is essential that I am aware of those students who are not ready to move on in order to provide them with the necessary support.

Now that I have set clear objectives and selected pertinent strategies I design my lesson plan.  It clearly exhibits the three main phases: Activation, connection, and affirmation. In order to activate the prior knowledge, I usually plan activities like making predictions, small groups and whole class discussions, pictures descriptions, story- telling among many others.  The BDI strategies such as DOTS charts, mind maps, vocabulary quilt, U-C-ME chart, listen and sketch and so on offer templates that allow me and my students to follow the process.  When the content of the lesson is presented students connect the new knowledge to the prior one.  This connection guarantees the understanding and assimilation of the content.  If students do not have a place in their brains where to connect what they are studying, learning will simply not happen. For the affirmation step, I challenge my students to come up with new illustrations regarding the lesson taught, give their personal opinion, make questions, summarize the content, or make  posters, graphic organizers.  These activities are oriented to encourage higher order thinking processes.

The more students are asked the more opportunities they have to develop their ability to analyze, criticize, make judgments, and summarize information. These mental processes contribute to the cognitive growing of students greatly. One important aspect during instruction is grouping. I usually reflect on the TPSI technique to break the class into groups.  I have found that sometimes, explaining the lesson as a whole class can be beneficial, while others working in partners is much more productive. In other circumstances small groups can be even much more efficient.  From my experience I can say that providing individual attention to students who are struggling is much more beneficial than having them work in groups.   

Section IV. Authentic Assessment of Instruction and Students Progress

Assessment is defined as a group of strategies used to identify what students know and what they are able to demonstrate (Herrera, Morales, & Murry, 2013).  In my classroom, I have been evaluating my students in the traditional way.  The strategies were limited to paper and pencil tests which did not really reflect the authentic students’ learning.  Assessment of skills like listening and speaking were usually omitted.  However, I have come to the understanding that achievement can be and should be assessed in a more integrative way considering not only the academic area but also the cognitive, linguistic and sociocultural aspect of students.  If  I evaluate my students bearing in mind all these aspects, I will be able to identify the most suitable  strategies which fit my students’ needs and so I can make the necessary accommodations before reaching the end product.  This is why I consider formal and informal formative assessment as a key to students’ achievement.

Informal formative assessment involves observing students while they learn, tapping into the on-the-fly moments, and dialoguing with students.  This type of assessment contributes to keep students’ affective filter low which is vital for learning to happen. One way to keep track of students’ progress is through observation checklists.  This checklist includes students’ names, space for four or five targeted areas, a code to determine to what extent students have or have not developed a skill, and a space for comments.  This information allows me to reflect on the effectiveness of the strategies I am using, make pertinent accommodations for students who are falling behind, and keep parents informed about their children performance.  On-the-fly moments are good opportunities to help students expand their knowledge, find out answers by themselves, and make connections with prior learning.  So many times I felt like some questions my students made were taking my lesson far from the objective.  I would gently try to get the lesson back by lightly responding the question. Even though expanding the lesson from on-the-fly moments implies a variation of the planning, I do recognize the value of those moments and plan to be alert to identify them and get the most out of them. Dialoguing with students is another way I anticipate to use to informally assessed my students.  In spite of the large number of students per class, it is always possible to keep a record of those who need extra support.  I plan to register my observations and conclusions from my informal conversations to use as a reference for my planning and parents’ conference. Informal formative assessment will be an essential part of my daily teaching.

   Formal formative assessment serves as practice for students and helps me check at what extent my students have comprehended during the learning process.  I intend to use a variety of strategies such as: foldables, extension wheels, tickets out, posters, graphic organizers, visual presentations among many other activities to collect evidence of my students learning.  These strategies will reveal the understanding of my students.  This way I can easily detect what part of the content is not clear enough or who is struggling with what.  This information will help me to identify the strategies that are working as well as those that are not working.  Those strategies that are not benefiting students will be replaced for new alternatives that allow students to better develop their skills according to their particular learning styles, levels of readiness, and interests. 

According to the Ecuadorian Educational Regulation, schools are required to evaluate students through summative assessment.  This assessment is administered at the end of each term in the form of a paper based exam.  Too many times the results from these exams do not reflect what the student really knows.  One way to genuinely identify students’ progress, their weaknesses, and strengths is through authentic assessment. This type of assessment provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate what they are able to achieve in a variety of ways, provide teachers with enough information to make accommodations, and emphasize on real world problems. 

            Performance-based assessments, portfolios, dialogue journals, and play-based assessment are just some examples of authentic assessment types that help teachers and students evaluate their performance and outcomes.  In my school, it is required that the three or four teachers working with the same grade level come up with a single mid- term exam for all the students.  The information that we gather from those exams is not completely accurate.  There are many external factors that affect students’ performance during the exam such as the affective filter, the content being evaluated might not been studied by certain groups, the time or the place of the exam.  This is way I anticipate proposing authentic assessment as an alternative to traditional exams.  I am suggesting having students work on a mid-term project that will replace the pen and paper test.  Students will have the opportunity to choose to work either on a video making, play, a speech, a movie, or a song.  Students are informed about this project since the very beginning of instruction and they are provided with a rubric that tells them what they are expected to do.  When students work on this type of activities, they are benefited in the way that they are motivated to to their best, they learn to work cooperatively and learn from each other, their individual skills are highlighted so they feel more confident, and their cognitive processes are developed since they are required to solve problems, imagine, create, and analyze.  These processes are not encouraged in traditional teachers-made tests.

            The information that authentic assessment provides allows me to effectively identify those students who are struggling and the reasons of their difficulties.  I will reflect on my own teaching and the strategies I am using during instruction in order to find the areas that need to be modified and accommodate instruction for students to achieve.  Once struggling students are identified I will review their biography cards to find out what their strengths are so I can build up on them. From my experience I can say that even the lowest achiever has a special skill, or especial interest.  It is my job to identify what that particular characteristic is so that I can use that potentiality as the basis for planning assessment activities. 

Section V. Reflective Monitoring and Evaluation

            Working for a public school made me aware of some teaching perspectives which not necessarily responded to my beliefs. However, despite disagreeing with some processes such as diagnostic tests, the mandatory use of a text, and the emphasis on summative assessment only, I ended up being part of that system.  

Regarding pre assessment, I had to adjust to my school’s procedures, which respond to the ministry of Education guidelines.  In Ecuadorian schools pre assessment is done at the beginning of the school year through diagnostic tests which mainly evaluate grammar competence.  The results of these tests are statistically analyzed in order to identify grammar areas needing reinforcement. The areas subjected to reinforcement are those parts of the content which most students are failing at. Bearing in mind the concepts of the prism model, now I can see that pre assessing my students in this way provides me very little insights regarding individual students’ needs. Furthermore, this way of assessment prevents me from learning about my students’ performance beyond their language proficiency.  Therefore, I think that pre evaluating my students’ cognitive, academic, and sociocultural areas is equally important and necessary to design a student-centered instructional plan which creates positive and meaningful learning experiences which serve as the basis for cognitive growth.     

As regards instruction itself, one of the biggest issues I struggle with is the use of the textbook. Honestly, the whole planning is based on the book content.  This fact has forced me to develop lessons from the units proposed by the book. The illustrations, topics for discussions, and examples respond to those on the book or ideas of my own which not always coincide with students’ interests. Consequently, knowledge does not make sense for students. Therefore, they just memorize content to pass a test, exam, and the course. Cognitive development does not have any possibility to happen.  This reflection makes me think of the possibility of developing an English program which is not guided by one single book.  In this case, the program should be student-centered. Content, objectives, and strategies should emerge from students’ interests, background, readiness, and learning styles. I strongly believe that a student-centered class is the best place for students to feel engaged, participate in class, share ideas, and learn.  This is the environment where I can create hundreds of situations for my students to develop their cognitive skills. 

            In spite of the fact that the National Educational Regulations requires teachers to apply formative and summative assessment, most teachers, including myself, are forced to focus on summative assessment in order to complete the number of grades per student required on time.  Consequently, the percentages of failure are relatively high at the end of the school year. Then students are supposed to receive extra support before taking the remedial exams.  However, the instruction keeps the same strategies that have proved not to be working. Learning about formative assessment and how to conduct it formally and informally has made me realized of the importance of evaluating my students during instruction. This practice will help me to constantly reflect on the effectiveness of the strategies being used and replace those that are not promoting my students’ capacity of thinking, reflecting, and learning by themselves.

The absence of cognitive development was evidenced in myself in the summer of 2012 when I had the opportunity to be a student in USA for the first time.   Even though it was a great professional experience, keeping up with classes and assignments was not a simple task.  I could not deal with the amount of reading we had to do every day, the reflective writing, taking class notes, and working in class was somewhat frustrating at times. The fact is that for years Ecuadorian education has been limited to the simple transmission of knowledge mainly through memory and repetition of meaningless facts.  This was the reason of my frustration in American classrooms and the reason of today’s school failure, behavioral problems, and lack of motivation among Ecuadorian students. Now that I have the opportunity to observe how teachers work at Bergman Elementary School in Manhattan Kansas, I can see that children are taught to think at early ages and this makes a big difference. Therefore, I am wondering how I can teach my students to think and become independent learners.   

Throughout the courses I have taken I have come to the conclusion that in Ecuador, the poor development of cognitive processes is the root of the problem.  Thus, I consider essential that not only EFL teachers but also content area teachers understand the constructivist theory, the principles of Bloom’s taxonomy and BDI strategies for them to become experts on developing lesson plans which challenge students’ brains beyond the simple repetition of facts which are easily forgotten.  

In Ecuador, the term constructivism was introduced in the 1990s.  However, the theory has hardly been applied in the classroom. Constructivism argues that classes should not be teacher-centered anymore.  Instead, students should actively be involved in the learning process.  In other words, teachers are not the experts who lecture but rather they are the facilitators who propose activities, monitor, and help students to construct the knowledge by themselves.  Therefore, the activities proposed have to be very well thought and oriented to make students find out the knowledge. Group works, learning centers, team projects, technology based assignments, hands on activities are some examples of strategies which well- designed and applied have the power to boost higher thinking process such as creating, comparing, solving problems, analyzing.

            Similarly, Bloom’s taxonomy describes the levels of thinking from the least complex to the highest as follows: recall, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.  Ecuadorian teachers need to  have the ability to make students move from the recall and understand level to higher order thinking processes.  One way to do so is by challenging students with activities that are rigorous and sufficiently complex. For example, to check reading comprehension, I might have my students change the end of the story.  In order to do so, they need to understand the text, review key vocabulary, summarize the story, and create a different ending.  During this process students are activating more complex thinking processes.  Using metacognitive strategies and making them explicit to students is key to cognitive development.  Having students answer questions like: What do I already know about this topic? How did I learn this?  What strategy did not work for me? How will I remember what I have learned? Why do I think that? helps them to reflect on their own thinking which eventually will make them become independent learners.

            Biography driven instruction strategies focus on the three phases of learning: activation, connection, and affirmation.  Activities such as mind maps, DOTS charts, vocabulary quilt, magic book, extension wheels, triafolds, offer easy templates that promote students’ thinking.  For instance, when using DOTS charts (determine, observe, talk, summarize) students first write words they know or think might be connected with the topic to be discussed.  At this point they are activating their prior knowledge.  Then as the new information is introduced they write the target vocabulary around the outside of the chart and make connections with the words they have previously written.  They share their connections with their peers.  In this stage they are connecting their ideas with the new knowledge. For the affirmation stage, students might write the definitions of the words or use them in a paragraph.  It is evident that through this process students’ brains have to recall, compare, summarize, and create.  These teaching practices benefit students in several ways.  They develop autonomy, activate higher thinking processes, make sense of the learning, and feel more engaged and motivated to learn.           

  

 

Artifacts

SECTION I: Language development and Learning Dynamics

Artifact 1: Biography Cards

TESOL Domain and Standard:

Domain 2 Culture: Candidates know, understand and use the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to the nature and role of culture and cultural groups to construct learning environments that support ESOL students’ cultural identities, language and literacy development, and content-area achievement.

Standard 2.b.: Cultural groups and identity.  Candidates know, understand, and use knowledge of how cultural groups and students’ cultural identities affect language learning and school achievement.

Before starting instruction teachers have to get to know who our students are.  Biography cards provide us with valuable information regarding students’ academic and personal history.  This information serves as the basis for planning and delivering a lesson. I anticipate using these bio cards as a reference at the moment of designing a lesson plan, grouping, and identifying their level of second language acquisition.

The three biography cards in the picture belong to the three students identified as CLD in the fifth grade of Bergman Elementary School.  I had informal interviews with each child to learn about their age, place of birth, time in the USA, and family relationships.  I was referred to Miss Martinez, the ESL teacher, to get more accurate information regarding the level of oral, reading and writing English proficiency.  She was able to provide me with the information from the records of each student.  I also got some other information from Miss Holden, my cooperating teacher. We talked about each child’s learning style, group preference, strengths, and weaknesses.          

The knowledge I obtain about my students from the bio cards helps me to properly group them in a way that all of them have the opportunity to develop their potentialities. For example having students work in cooperative groups permit that students with diverse ability and characteristics work together and learn from one another to accomplish an assigned task.  In this particular class, the three students identified as CLD are carefully placed in a group where they feel safe.  I am paying attention to their affective relationships with their peers as well.  I want to place them in a group where their peers are willing to help so that CLD students learn from them.  Many times students have a better understanding of concepts when the explanation comes from their peers. 

The linguistic dimension of the biography card offers a clear view of the level of language acquisition of CLD students.  This information allows me to identify what student is in what stage of language acquisition.  Depending on the stages where CLD students are, the methods and strategies are selected.  One of the CLD students has been in the USA for only one year.  His speaking skills demonstrate he is in the intermediate fluency stage.  However, he notably is in the speech emergence stage in terms of reading and writing.  This shows me that the reading and writing material should be differentiated for him so that he does not experience frustration and failure.  Obviously, I keep in mind that he does need to be challenged.  One way to do so without affecting students affective filter negatively is through scaffolding.  Students go through the learning process step by step acquiring the knowledge they need to jump into the next stage. Along the design of my lesson, I keep in mind their backgrounds, interests, skills, and personal history to choose topics, illustrations, and activities.  

  
This artifact aligns with section I of my platform.  According to Herrera and Murry 2010, the more teachers know about their students, the more probabilities they have to build rapport between teacher-students, and understand the process through which students learn vocabulary, content, and make sense of new knowledge.  It is essential that educators recognize the four interrelated dimensions (sociocultural, academic, cognitive, and linguistic) that play an important role in the classroom.  Biography driven instruction incorporate opportunities for students to make connections between the prior knowledge and the new information to produce lasting links which students might use for future applications.

BDP indicator: IV Challenging Activities

Accommodations: Provides, consistent, systematic, structured accommodations based on students’ linguistic and academic levels that build upon culture-bound patterns of knowing, learning, and applying. 

In my future classrooms, I am definitely incorporating biography cards in my daily teaching.  Although in Ecuador we are supposed to have annual, monthly and daily lesson plans prepared well in advance, the information I gathered from bio-cards will allow me to make the necessary accommodations to the curriculum in order to make students fit into it.  I will constantly refer to bio-cards at the moment of planning a lesson, assessing, grouping, choosing strategies so I am able to meet all my students’ needs. 

Artifact two: Lesson Plan

PREPARATION

Grade level:                           Fifth Grade

Total number of students:    22

P          0

EP       0

S          2

I

AHH!  20

Content Objective:

We will be learning about the time zones in USA and the reason why it is important to know about how they work.

Language Objective(s):

Listening:        We will listen to the explanation about the rotation of the Earth

            We will listen to our partners while sharing out their understanding.

Speaking:        In pairs, we will answer the questions on the chart at each table.

                        As a whole class, we will share our understanding.

Reading:         In small groups, we will read the predictions on the chart and match similar ideas.

                        Individually, we will read the map and answer questions.

Writing:          Individually, we will write predictions about five questions on the charts

                        Individually, we will answer questions about the time in different states

Key Vocabulary:

       Time zone

       Standard time

       Degrees

       Eastern

      Central

      Mountain

      Pacific

      Alaskan

      Hawaiian

‘

     Materials needed:

     ·         Chart paper

     ·         Color markers

     ·         Globe

     ·         Flashlight

     ·         USA time zones map

     ·         Computer

     ·         Projector

     ·         Worksheets

     ·         Prezi presentation

           Activate:

     ·         Students work in small groups. 

     ·         Each group is given a chart with a key question. 

     ·         Students write or draw any idea they have about the topic. 

     ·         Groups move clockwise and write their ideas on the next chart until they have contributed                    ideas in the five charts.

          Connect:

     ·         Students look at the globe while a volunteer student shines it with a flashlight. 

     ·         The teacher asks what happens in one side of the Earth while it is being shone and what                         happens on the other side. 

     ·         Students see that the Earth rotation produces day and night and that while it is morning in                    some countries, it is night in others.  This is why different time zones were established.

     ·         Students look at the USA map and identify the six time zones and their names

     ·         While listening they make notes on their charts to respond the original question each group                  was given.

           Affirm:

      ·         One student from each group will share the answer to their question

      ·         Students find hours differences among the states mentally

      ·         Students complete the worksheet Time Zones

TESOL Domain and Standard

Domain 3 Planning and Managing Instruction Candidates know, understand, and use standards-based practices and strategies related to planning, implementing, and managing ESL and content instruction, including classroom organization, teaching strategies for developing and integrating language skills, and choosing and adapting classroom resources.

Standard 3.a.: Planning for standards-based ESL and content Instruction.  Candidates know, understand, and apply concepts, research, and best practices to plan classroom instruction in a supportive learning environment for ESOL students.  Candidates serve as effective English language models, as they plan for multilevel classrooms with learners from diverse backgrounds using standards-based ESL and content curriculum.

My lesson plan above describes the development of a variation of Linking language strategy.  It is one of the multiple BDI strategies that take into consideration learners’ prior knowledge as an essential part of the lesson.  Students have the opportunity to take some time to reflect on what they already know about the topic of discussion. This step is crucial for the later development of the lesson.  It is here where they are going to confirm or disconfirm their predictions and develop their understanding.  This process of confirmation or disconfirmation together with connections building gives way to the construction of knowledge. As far as teachers, linking language strategy permits us to observe and identify possible misconceptions that will need to be addressed or general understandings which do not necessarily have to be retaught.

With this in mind and for the activation stage, I had students work in small groups. The three CLD students were placed in groups where they feel confident and the cooperative teacher offered support along the lesson.  Each group was given a chart with a question related to the topic Times Zones. (What is a time zone?, How many different time zones are there in USA?, Why do time zones exist?, what are the time zones called?). Everyone in the group had to write or draw any idea that comes to their mind in response to the question. CLD students were told that using their native language was allowed at that point.  Once every member of the group has contributed to the chart they moved clockwise to the next question until everyone has written or drawn anything on all five charts.  When students came back to the original chart their look for similar ideas and connect them. They shared the themes they found with the whole class. At his point, students have gotten an idea of what the lesson is going to be about.  This is an injection of interest. Then students made notes on their charts while listened to my explanation.  They observed my demonstration of the Earth rotation with the globe and flashlight and identified the time zones in the map. After the explanation, students responded the question and shared with the whole class.  The connections they made between their preliminary ideas and the new information were notably meaningful for most of them.  For the affirmation phase, students paired up and filled out the worksheet. CLD students were paired up with students who exhibited a better understanding.

 This artifact aligns with Section I of my platform.  At the beginning of the lesson students might have some prior knowledge regarding the time zones.  However, the vocabulary they used to express their thoughts clearly demonstrated that most of them stayed at the BICS level. It was my goal that students move forward cognitive academic language proficiency CALP throughout the lesson.  At the end of the class, students exhibited understanding of concepts such as earth rotation, standard time, and time zones. 

           

BDP indicator: I. Joint Productivity Activity

Learning Environment: The teacher orchestrates conditions and situations to ensure that students collaborate as equal members in a low-risk learning community.

            Biography Driven Practices rubric is a guide that helps me to set clear objectives for a lesson plan.  I think that not only EFL teachers but also content-area teachers in Ecuador should direct our attention to the standards to make sure that our instruction agrees with what is required by the ministry of Education when planning a lesson.  I anticipate to plan a lesson well in advance focusing on one of the indicators at a time.  By doing so, I will be able to eventually integrate all indicators so my instruction meets the standards. 

Section II. Preinstructional Student Assessment and Elaboration

Artifact one: Picture This

 

TESOL Domain and Standard:

Domain 3 Planning and Managing Instruction Candidates know, understand, and use standards-based practices and strategies related to planning, implementing, and managing ESL and content instruction, including classroom organization, teaching strategies for developing and integrating language skills, and choosing and adapting classroom resources.

Standard 3.a.: Planning for standards-based ESL and content Instruction.  Candidates know, understand, and apply concepts, research, and best practices to plan classroom instruction in a supportive learning environment for ESOL students.  Candidates serve as effective English language models, as they plan for multilevel classrooms with learners from diverse backgrounds using standards-based ESL and content curriculum.

            Picture This is a BDI strategy which permits students to activate their prior knowledge regarding any topic.  Students have the opportunity to build knowledge by themselves and monitor their understanding.  Teachers facilitate the learning by creating a place on students’ brains where they can make connections so the new learning is meaningful.

            I identified four key words (regions, islands, volcano, and beach).  The students were given a template of the activity Picture this.  They looked at the pictures presented on the screen and sketched them on the first column of the template.  Then they wrote a description of their pictures.  On the next column, students wrote their thoughts about the pictures.  After that, they read the dictionary definition for the words and they individually matched to the pictures and descriptions they drew on their templates.  Students compared their answers in their groups.  Next, students read the sentences and again individually matched the sentences to the pictures.  While students worked I monitor the class and asked for the rationale of their answers.

This strategy aligns with section II of my platform.  Instruction is developed on student-centered classes.  I create the environment for students activate their cognitive processes which contribute to the development of high order thinking skills.  In the process they link their previous ideas with what they see or hear for the first time and make connections.  When they are given the opportunity to show their understanding with their own words, they are acquiring the knowledge.  Furthermore, this strategy allows them to develop their ability to analyze, compare and synthetize information.  In this process students’ academic knowledge is growing.  They start using academic words purposefully.

BDP indicator: Language and Literacy Development

LSRW: the teacher provides a consistent opportunity for student expression and academic language development in higher order thinking activities that integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

I have used this strategy multiple times in my Ecuadorian classrooms.  Due to the fact that Ecuadorian students are not used to involve their cognitive skills in the process of learning, some feel anxious and confused during the first steps of the strategy.  They feel uncertain of what they are expected.  However, their affective filter goes down on the next steps.  I have seen they find the activity challenging and engaging.  As they have the opportunity to test their previous thoughts, they develop autonomy and honesty.  In my future classes, I will use this strategy for teaching vocabulary before a reading lesson.  Identifying the key vocabulary is crucial to reading comprehension.  It facilitates students’ understanding of the text.  Consequently, students develop motivation and like for reading.  It is my goal to generate independent learners with high thinking skills.     

Artifact two: Picture This

TESOL Domain and Standard:

Candidates know, understand, and use the major concepts, theories, and research related to the nature and acquisition of language to construct learning environments that support English Speakers of other languages (ESOL) students’ language and literacy development and content area achievement

Standard 1.a.: Candidates demonstrate understanding of language as a system and demonstrate a high level of competence in helping ESOL students acquire and use English in listening, speaking, reading and writing for social and academic purposes.

            In order to teach some geography of Ecuador, I implemented the strategy Picture This. The student A, whose native language is Spanish and has been in USA for only a year, had difficulties finding the right words to express his thoughts.  He used some Spanish since he was warned to do so if he did not know the words.  As his mastery of English is not sufficient enough, he also struggled with matching the words with the pictures.   He had to read over and over before making a choice to match the words.  I noticed some anxiety and his affective filter going up.  Therefore, I offered him permanent support by letting him know that requesting for clarification is appropriated.  I suggested him to use the bilingual dictionary to look up the unfamiliar words they came across with.

            Student B was born in Canada in a Pakistanis family.  Although he speaks English very well, he uses Urdu to communicate with his family at home.  He actively participated in the activity.  I could see that his knowledge of the language permitted him to match the pictures with the words quite easily.  Besides his rationale for his choices were absolutely well-thought. In addition, he came up with interesting questions which help others to have more ideas to think of.  At the end of the lesson he was able to summarize the geography information about Ecuador with his own words and made a comparison with Canada.  This demonstrated his high thinking skills being developed.

            Student C, born in USA from Mexican parents, is as fluent in English as in Spanish.  He reads and writes quite well in English but he does not read or write Spanish.  However, he uses Spanish at home.  According to his records, he is identified as gifted due to his high average in math.  He was the first to finish each of the steps of the activity and all of the answers were correct.  This notoriously evidenced his high development of mental process such as analyzing, understanding, and solving problems.  In the affirming stage of the lesson, he was able to write sentences which met the required criteria in a very short time.  This situation made me think of future enrichment activities that the teacher should include in the development of this strategy.    

 

            This activity aligns with section II of my platform.  It clearly gives students the opportunity to activate their background knowledge.  When they are required to write a description of the sketches, they have to look deep in their past experiences and find a way to relate those thoughts with the pictures they are observing.  I think this is a key moment when teachers have to be by low achievers’ side to guide them in the process of linking knowledge.  Students have to be very aware of the process that their thinking is going through. They need to know the name of the strategy so later on they can use it by themselves for different purposes. The fact that students have to draw contributes to the travel of the new vocabulary to the permanent memory.  Pictures help learners to remember words because they create images in their brains which are easily associated in the context for appropriate understanding.

BDP indicator: Language and Literacy Development

           

 QRM: teachers provide consistent use of purposefully Q,R and M to assist academic language literacy development and to build students’ capacities to pose questions about their own thinking.

            In my future classes, I will make sure to frequently integrate Picture this activity in my lessons.  This activity works well when teaching new vocabulary.  Moreover, it facilitates the understanding of academic words which might be difficult to acquire due to their abstractness.  In my EFL classroom, we use a textbook which is split into units.  Each unit comprises a set of vocabulary words related to the unit topic. I plan to use this strategy to introduce the vocabulary so students are able to have a whole understanding of the unit.  From experience I can say that when key words are not in the students’ repertoire, the information can be misinterpreted ending up in failure and frustration.  I intend to help students discover the meaning of words, learn to use them properly and give the right meaning to the text. 

Section III. Instructional Planning and Implementation

Artifact one: Anticipation- reaction guide 

TESOL Domain and Standard: Domain 3Planning and managing instruction

Candidates know, understand, and use standards-based practices and strategies related to planning, implementing, and managing ESL and content instruction, including classroom organization, teaching strategies for developing and integrating language skills, and choosing and adapting classroom resources.

Standard 3.c.: using resources effectively in ESL and content instruction.  Candidates are familiar with a wide range of standards-based material, resources, technologies, and choose and use them in effective ESL and content teaching

            Anticipation Reaction Guide is a very useful tool which permits students’ background knowledge activation.  It is an ideal strategy for using previous reading a text, listening to a presentation, or watching a video.  Students draw on their past experiences to make predictions about the topic or simple guess.  This process is intended to provide me with a general view of the cognitive and academic level of my students to properly modify instruction if necessary.  I might need to use guarded vocabulary to assure comprehensible input which is key for students to achieve full understanding.

            Before looking and listening the prezi presentation, students were given a template of the Anticipation Reaction Guide they read the five statements and decided whether they were true or false.  In pairs they shared and compared their answer.  This allowed me some time to walk around the classroom and check that those students who struggle with the language properly understand the statements.  I called for volunteers to share with the whole class and provide a rationale for their responses.  After sharing ideas, students looked at the illustrations of the Ecuadorian educational system and listened to my explanations.  They were encouraged to make any question they may have to allow discussion.  After this explanation, students went back to their templates and read the statements again.  This time they chose true or false based on the information they just received.  I checked answers with the whole class and asked for the rationale of their answers. 

            This strategy aligns with section III of my platform which emphasizes on students’ cognitive development.  This strategy gives students opportunities to reflect on what they are reading for making a decision and explain the rationale of that decision. By doing so, they develop their critical thinking.  When volunteers share their ideas and offer their rationales, those students who might be struggling are benefited from their comments.  Peers’ points of view give way to further opinions.  Less academically ready students learn from their peers. One important aspect that needs special consideration is the affective filter of struggling students.  I have to be aware of not exposing students who do not feel confident enough with the language to share ideas.  Instead, I intend to offer adequate support.  Using students’ first language might be significantly useful to avoid anxiety.  According to Krashen’s hypothesis there are very few possibilities that learning happens when students’ affective filter is high.  

BDP indicator: Language and Literacy Development

LBK The teacher provides consistent, systematic opportunities for students to use their native language during the lesson in ways that support academic language and literacy development

I am strongly concerned about the lack of emphasis that reading activities receive in Ecuadorian EFL classes.  From my observation in my internship and past experience I can affirm that reading effectively is key to cognitive development.  Hence, I plan to incorporate a reading lesson to my teaching on a regular basis.  Anticipation reaction guide is a strategy that I anticipate using in order to get students involved in the reading.  By having students find any connection between the portion of the reading and their lives, they are more likely to develop a positive attitude to reading and get engaged in the process.  When students know exactly what and why they are reading, skills like predicting, inferring, solving problems, concluding are born and grow as part of their learning process. 

Artifact two: Venn Diagram

TESOL Domain and Standard: Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the history of ESL teaching.  Candidates keep current with new instructional techniques, research results, advances in the ESL field, and public policy issues.  Candidates use such issues to reflect upon and improve their instructional practices.  Candidates provide support and advocate for ESOL students and their families and work collaboratively to improve the learning environment.

Standard 5.a.: ESL research and history.  Candidates demonstrate knowledge of history, research, and current practice in the field of ESL teaching and apply knowledge to improve teaching and learning.   

Venn diagram are illustrations that uses overlapping and non-overlapping circles to show the relationship between two items.  Where the circle overlaps, the items have something in common.  Where the circles do not overlap, the items do not have anything in common.  This type of illustrations helps students to gain a graphic understanding of concepts. 

In this lesson, students were given a template of the Venn diagram.  After having listened, watched and discussed about Ecuadorian Educational system, they were required to compare it with the educational system in USA.  Before actually completing the diagram, students were involved in a class discussion where they shared their ideas in pairs and then as a whole class.  CLD students who might not be already familiar with the American education system got ideas during this discussion.  I encouraged them to ask questions and more experienced peers provided answers.  When I noticed that all students had ideas for their diagrams I had them individually complete the template. On the overlapping circle, Students wrote one aspect which is common for Ecuadorian and American educational system and two differences on the individual circles.  They shared ideas at their tables and volunteers shared out for the whole class. 

Graphic organizers like the Venn diagram have the power to summarize information in a way that it can be easily explained later on.  When students have reached to a fully understanding of the concepts, they can easily design a graphic organizer to record the new knowledge.  In this way, students are constructing their understanding by themselves.  According with the constructivism principles, learners need to have vivid learning experiences.  The teachers are not the transmitters of information anymore.  It has been proved that the knowledge acquired through teachers’ lectures or long boring explanations does not have a permanent impact on students.  Instead, teachers have to be the guides, facilitators and creators of suitable situations in class where students’ thinking is challenged to go beyond the simple repetition and memorization of facts.  The learning process described above is totally student-centered.  First students associate their past experiences with the topic being discussed.  In this stage they are reflecting and making comparisons.  Then when listening to the new information they make connections which eventually move them to conclusions and learning happens.  As a way to affirm students’ learning, they are given the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding through foldables, tickets out, messages boards, or graphic organizers.  In this stage, students express their knowledge with their own words, provide their own examples and share their conclusions.  In this process, mental skills like critical thinking, comparing, exemplifying and analyzing are being developed.

BDP indicator: Instructional Conversation

Known to unknown: teacher responds in ways that consistently promote higher order thinking, elaboration of connections from the known to the unknown, and application beyond the classroom.

I plan to use graphic organizers in my EFL lessons particularly, the Venn diagram which is an excellent tool for students to analyze two items or phenomena.  The completion of this diagram requires students demonstrate fully understanding of both items. Students have to become responsible for their own learning in order to be able to successfully complete the diagram with accurate ideas.  If students follow the process being aware of how learning is happening they are owners of the new knowledge and more likely to be able to apply it in future situations which is the ultimate goal of education.

Artifact three: Story Bag

TESOL Domain and Standard: Domain 3 Planning and managing instruction

Candidates know, understand, and use standards-based practices and strategies related to planning, implementing, and managing ESL and content instruction, including classroom organization, teaching strategies for developing and integrating language skills, and choosing and adapting classroom resources.

Standard 3.b.: managing and implementing standards-based ESL and content instruction.  Candidates know, manage, and implement a variety of standards-based teaching strategies and techniques, for developing and integrating English listening, speaking, reading and writing, and for accessing the core curriculum.  Candidates support ESOL students in accessing the core curriculum as they learn language and academic content together

One of the most suitable BDI strategies for reading is Story Bag.  Instead of saying read chapter three for next session, which few students will do, I rather plan the reading activities with students.  This way, they do not see reading as a punishment or something extremely difficult to achieve.  I find this strategy very engaging and useful to smoothly introduce students into reading.

Students were placed in small groups of three.  They examined the cover of the book: The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry and made predictions about the objects they will find in the story verbally.  As a group they divided a piece of paper into two parts and labeled each section a) in the story b) not in the story.  Students looked at the pictures in the screen one by one and predicted if the picture will be in the story or not.  Students discussed their predictions in the groups.  I encouraged them to provide a rationale for their predictions.  As the story was read, students verified their objects as they appear in text and reflect on their predictions.  They understood that good readers make inferences and associations which permit us to reach a better understanding of the reading.  After the story was read students checked their answers. I called volunteers to say the words that were not in the story aloud. After that every group received a bag with individual pictures inside for students to manipulate.  They place the pictures in the order in which they appeared.  As a whole class, students retell the story by describing each picture.  Then students were given an index card for them to respond to the question: why should trees not be cut down?

This strategy aligns with section III of my platform.  I am constantly emphasizing the three steps of a well-designed lesson plan: activation, connection, affirmation.  The first step is essential for students to get engaged in the learning process and develop self- motivation and independence.  When students are well engaged and motivated, learning occurs in unexpected ways.   Significant activation takes learners to make meaningful connections which allow them  to go deeper into the knowledge and boost their curiosity.  I consider that these steps are crucial specially when delivering a reading lesson.  In order for students develop their like and pleasure for reading, it is necessary to demonstrate them that reading is not the boring and meaningless activity they are used to.  Incorporating graphic illustrations to the activity is an asset.  Drawings have the power to make students focus their attention on the task to be accomplished.  This introduction makes students listen to the story purposefully. They want to verify how certain were their predictions.  This adds an element of interest to the reading.

In the last part of the strategy, students work on a hands-on activity.  They cooperatively reconstruct the story and retell it using the pictures.  At this point, students who might be struggling with the text have the opportunity to learn from their peers.  I offer support while monitoring the class as well. 

BDP indicator: Joint Productive Activity

Activity connections: the teacher constantly uses insights from the strategy/activity to make                 connections, affirm learning, and modify instruction as needed.

Getting students into reading is a big issue in EFL classrooms in Ecuador.  Along the years, traditional education left reading out of the curriculum. Therefore, I anticipate using this strategy as the starting point to develop a reading lesson.  Besides the lack of motivation for reading, the different levels of language acquisition of students is another barrier which prevents some students from successfully accomplishing a reading task.  This strategy permits me to offer adequate support for students in the early stages of language acquisition.  I feel committed to incorporate visuals, guarded vocabulary, and L1 to assure comprehensible input which contributes to students’ understanding and further production.                      

Section IV. Authentic Assessment of Instruction and Students Progress

Artifact one: Extension Wheel

TESOL Domain and Standard: Candidates understand issues of assessment and use standard-based assessment measures with ESOL students

Standard 4.c.: Classroom-based assessment for ESL.  Candidates know and use a variety of performance-based assessment tools and techniques to inform instruction

For assessment purposes I used the extension wheel.  This BDI strategy promotes students’ ability to demonstrate their understanding in a graphic way.  Teachers can easily observe at what extent the information was correctly acquired or not.  This information permits teachers to plan further accommodations so that students who did not achieve fully understanding have the opportunity to do so before going to the next step.

At the end of the lesson, I handed out a template of the extension wheel. Students individually completed the wheel.  They were prompted to write the topic in the middle of the wheel (metacognitive reading strategies). The three key terms of the lesson planning, monitoring, and evaluating were distributed in the next circle of the wheel.  Students wrote a description for each term in their own words.  In the last circle, students’ task was to descriptively explain two concrete strategies which illustrate each of the three key concepts.

This artifact aligns with section IV of my platform.  In this section I recognized the significance of formative assessment.  It determines what and how students are learning to modify instruction accordingly while it is still in progress (Herrera, 2007).  These graphic organizers allow students to hierarchically organize their thoughts in a way that they are able to easily verbalize their knowledge.  I am able to assess every student progress by evaluating their final products.  If concepts are not clear enough, I might easily make appropriated accommodations to meet the individual needs of my students.  It is important for me to be aware of the on-the-fly moments during the fulfilling of the extension wheel.  Students’ comments, right or wrong, are great opportunities to scaffold learning.  
 

BDP indicator: Challenging activities

Feedback: teachers use systematic formative assessment to provide consistent feedback on student performance to confirm/disconfirm learning and to advance student learning

            I think that extension wheels are an alternative to traditional quizzes which teachers usually apply at the end of a lesson to assess comprehension.  This type of quizzes increases the level of students’ affective filter.  From my experience, I can affirm that the results of these quizzes are not always accurate since there are outside factors such as anxiety and nervousness that in too many circumstances prevent students from achieving in spite of having acquired fully understanding.  Therefore, I will definitely incorporate extension wheels and other graphic organizers and strategies like tickets outs, foldables, portfolios, or journals to assure a stress free environment and offer opportune feedback. 

Artifact two: Projects

TESOL Domain and Standard: Candidates understand issues of assessment and use standard-based assessment measures with ESOL students

Standard 4.c.: Classroom-based assessment for ESL.  Candidates know and use a variety of performance-based assessment tools and techniques to inform instruction.

            Projects where students have the possibility to choose the topic they want to explore and present serves as authentic assessment.  It involves the actual doing of a task. When developing a project, students have the genuine need to use the target language. Teachers’ job is to clearly explain what it is expected from them well in advance through rubrics and class discussions.

            For this particular project, I told my students that they were having the opportunity to demonstrate their skills through the presentation of round tables.  I explained the activity two weeks in advance and provided them with the rubric. Students worked individually or in pairs.  This assessment intended to evaluate students’ understanding of the unit concerning geography vocabulary and places.  Thus, each team chose a country or city they were interested in.  They were responsible for finding all the information regarding that place, creating illustrations and other supporting materials.  On the presentation day, students talked about their topics with the visitors, students from different classes.  Some time for questions and discussion was allowed as well.  Presentations ran for one hour.  Thus, each team presented four or five times. 

            This project allows me to measure the level of my students’ progress regarding the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing in an authentic and stress-free way. Their reading and writing skills are exhibited during the production of the presentation.  They are allowed plenty of time to have everything done.  During this time, I provide them with permanent feedback.   Their listening and speaking skills are assessed during the presentation itself. Moreover, students learn to work cooperatively and understand the importance of team work at the moment of achieving a goal. This way students are not only being assessed for summative purposes (  number or letter grade) but also they are gaining long life learning which is the goal of instruction.

This type of assessment aligns with section IV of my platform.  Traditional pen and pencil test do not always provide accurate information.  Other conditions such as the place, the time of the test and students’ affective filter might influence the results.  Furthermore, students do not have the possibility to demonstrate their understanding through alternative ways.  Their individual skills and learning styles are not considered by traditional assessment.  On the other hand, authentic assessment offers a variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities, students have the authentic need to use the language in a real context, and they find them engaging and challenging.  

BDP indicator Challenging Activities

Standard Expectations: includes challenging strategies/activities that reflect skillful integration of multiple standards, clear expectations, and higher order thinking skills. 

            Regretfully in Ecuador, assessment for the most part is limited to pen and paper, teacher-made tests and standardized tests which measure students’ performance at the end of instruction with very few opportunities for feedback and accommodations.  In the future, I plan to propose an alternative assessment plan for my school.  This plan includes performance based assessment, portfolios, cooperative group, interviews, play-based assessment, self and peer assessment, and dialogue journals.  The primary goal is to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through activities they are better at.  In order to do so, it is essential that teachers come to the understanding of the real purpose of assessment. So far, teachers assess students to complete paper work demanded by the authorities.  This misunderstanding keeps students from gaining authentic and practical learning.  Instead, only memorized facts with no cognitive development at all are measured. Therefore, incorporating authentic assessment to my daily teaching practices is a must.         

Section V. Reflective Monitoring and Evaluation

Artifact 1: Reflection wheel journal

REFLECTION WHEEL JOURNAL

NAME:                Soledad Parra                                            Date:  July 7th, 2012

Course name:    Culture and Language                                 Reflection Wheel Journal #: 2

Event

The article explains that the policy schools have regarding cultural diversity can either support the traditional relationship of oppression between dominants groups and subordinated communities or contribute to the acceptance of subordinated groups and empowerment of both.  The relationships that educators establish with their students according to the position they take about this issue exert great influence in the future students’ academic failure or success.  

Feelings

• Regretful
• Critical
• Certain

Thoughts

I have not considered teachers-students relationships as a fundamental part of their success.  When I thought of academic failure or success I always had in my mind the idea that a student success depends exclusively on how much they strain themselves.  I saw the hard realities they face as the perfect excuse for their poor academic performance.  Even we do not have such a great students diversity back Ecuador, I think I will pay more attention to areas like social economic status, personal backgrounds, or individual interests that may influence in their learning positively or negatively.

Learnings:

Step one:

I assumed that I built effective, equal and fair students relationships since I have always tried not to make differences among them.  I also assumed that no matter how well or bad I teach a class, at the end my students’ success or failure depended on them exclusively.

Step two:

My first assumption is partially valid.  I always try not to show privilege or compassion for the ones who seem to be weak or different especially when their differences are too obvious like the color of the skin, particular clothes of any indigenous community or an evident disability.  However, there are differences that are not so visible such as conflictive backgrounds, broken families, health, mental or learning disorders.  Students with these differences undoubtedly are also in the subordinated group since they are not able to catch up with the ones who are considered normal.  As a consequence their academic performance is affected. Then my second assumption is not valid at all.  As the article portrays subordinated group students disempowerment makes them vulnerable. Sometimes they are even excluded from education.  Being successful students entails not only their effort but also the human relationships they are able to build at school. 

Step three:

The school where I work in Ecuador mostly receives mestizo students.  There are very few indigenous or blacks and even fewer disables so being aware of their differences for not to show either preference or compassion is quite easy.  That is why I assumed that I did not make differences among my students at all.  However, while I read the article I thought of my starters eighth graders. I am going to call them the subordinated group since they had to catch up with the other two groups.  During the whole school year I could not find the door to success.  I used to tell myself that if they do not have the desire to learn and walk that extra mile then there was nothing else I can do.  Now I understand that not only race, language or especial capacities make students different   but also issues like broken families or health and learning disorders which unfortunately most of the times take them to failure. If I had been aware of this before, I could have been able to meet their needs better and probably they would have had a better performance.

Application

Step one:

Personally and professionally I have reached a better understanding on how every human being is a different world full of talents, capacities, opinions, fears and that these differences play a very important role in every aspect of life: social, education, family, and work. 

Step two:

In the future, my students’ success is going to depend on their personal effort and devotion to learning and also on my ability to make them overcome their weaknesses and family or health difficulties.  I am going to build collaborative relations of power which promote self-expression where the voice of the less fortunate is heard. This way I intend to work on students’ self-esteem and prepare them to actively participate in the classroom, school, and society.  I think these are the tools to find the way to success.

  TESOL Domain and Standard:

Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the history of ESL teaching.  Candidates keep current with new instructional techniques, research results, advances in the ESL field, and public policy issues.  Candidates use such issues to reflect upon and improve their instructional practices.  Candidates provide support and advocate for ESOL students and their families and work collaboratively to improve the learning environment.

Standard 5.a.: ESL Research and history.  Candidates demonstrate knowledge of history, research, and current practice in the field of ESL teaching and apply knowledge to improve teaching and learning.

Reflective teaching is a process of self-evaluation.  It means to look at what I am doing in the classroom and think about if the strategies, goals, and content are working or not.  This process of reflection has to be deeply and seriously done.  Without appropriate reflection, it is very easy to draw wrong conclusions.  Therefore, the information gathered from class observations, colleagues’ discussions, tests results, and so forth should be kept in records in order to move on to making changes.

The journal process which reflection wheels follow helped me to check assumptions I used to have and that I was not necessarily aware of.  The first section regarding the event provides the food for thought. It is here where the situation, theory, or conversation is analyzed.  Listing the feelings that the issue provoked me helped me to develop empathy.  In the journal above, I   reflected about the teachers-students relationships as a critical element for academic success. Never before had I thought that the relation with my students might impact their school performance.  This made me feel certain but regretful. The thoughts section invited me to make connections between the article I read and my teaching reality for identifying assumptions I had.  The next step is critical.  Checking assumptions is the stage that permits the identification of potential bias which might be influencing the teaching practices. In this particular reflection, I had to admit that I had not been building trustful relationships which allow students to better achieve academically. Once that I recognized that my beliefs were preventing me from addressing my students’ needs in a more tailored way, I thought of possible strategies which help me to build closer relationships with my students. I think that thoughtful reflections like these are a means for professional growth.  Thoughtful reflections should be part of our daily teaching practices.

This artifact aligns with section V of my platform.  In this section I reflected upon some issues regarding the way teachers in Ecuador deal with pre assessment tests results, the use of the mandatory textbook, and the predominance of summative assessment over formative assessment and the impact on students’ academic achievement.  My reflections allowed me to think beyond the current curriculum regulations.  For example I think that pre assessment should not be limited to language exclusively.  Gathering information regarding students’ biographies is much more helpful than a number grade.  Similarly, I consider that the text book we have to use is preventing teachers from planning lessons based on students’ interests and needs.  This makes me think of the possibility of developing a curriculum which does not base its content on the textbook only. Moreover, my experience in my internship at Bergman Elementary school has permitted me to compare the educational practices in USA with the system in Ecuador and reflect on the differences and the way certain practices affect the overall performance of students.  From my own experience as a student, teacher and from my observations at Bergman school, I can affirm that what teachers in Ecuador need is training on how to develop students’ high order thinking skills. Now the challenge is to propose alternatives for a solution.  I am addressing this problem in my research for my final project.  I would not have been able to reach to this point without constant and thoughtful reflection.

Artifact two: Discussions

TESOL Domain and Standard:

Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the history of ESL teaching.  Candidates keep current with new instructional techniques, research results, advances in the ESL field, and public policy issues.  Candidates use such issues to reflect upon and improve their instructional practices.  Candidates provide support and advocate for ESOL students and their families and work collaboratively to improve the learning environment.

Standard 5.c.: Professional development and collaboration. Candidates collaborate with and are prepared to serve as a resource to all staff, including paraprofessionals, to improve learning for all ESOL students.

Along this year, I have had the opportunity to discuss with some of my colleagues about different issues.  One discussion I particularly remember is about teachers’ experiences after we completed the Go Teachers Program in 2012.  I shared out with my friend and colleague Susana Cortez the frustration I experienced during my time in one of the biggest public high schools in Quito.  There was very little I could do since I would meet my students once a week for an hour.  I had thirteen classes of fifty and sixty students (six hundred fifty in total) with serious behavioral problems (aggressiveness, dishonesty, discrimination, thefts).Their knowledge of the language was very basic despite the fact they were seniors.  The new curriculum, which was just being implemented in that year, demanded teachers to spend more time on paper work rather than addressing students’ needs besides the negative attitude of some traditional teachers.  Even though my friend also had a hard time in her school, she said that she could successfully apply many of the strategies we learned and her job impacted on students, colleagues and authorities positively.  What made her experience different was certain circumstances like the class size, students’ discipline, class hours and above all her attitude.

 

After our discussion I thought back of my classes and the problems I had to face and tried to find theories, practices and strategies which might help me address those problems better in the near future. I consider the first thing to do is to show students that I genuinely care for them.  How do I do this?  By getting to know who they are, what they like, what problems they face at home, what fears they have, what they are good at, how they learn.  BDI strategies serve this purpose well. This knowledge will help me to build rapport with my students and their families.  I am sure that if I am able to make my students feel confident in my classes, they will behave, show interest and cooperate with one another in spite of the class size. My challenge is to be empathetic and develop a bond. 

Once I have established a respectful and trustful relationship, I will choose strategies that help me reach all students.  It is a fact that classrooms in Ecuador are very large.  However, I think that my knowledge about differentiated instruction, biography driven, and scaffolding strategies together with the theory of group configuration gives me the tools to plan a student-centered class where learners have the opportunity to make choices, show off their abilities, and walk to success step by step.  One thing I have to consider is how cognitively challenging the class tasks are.  From my experience, I can say that in our schools we are just climbing the first steps of the cognitive development ladder. Students learn to recall and repeat information well but they struggle when trying to understand, analyze, summarize, compare, contrast, evaluate, apply, or create.  This is one of the reasons of students’ failure at the moment of taking the university admission exam.  Students who really want to start a university career have to take training courses to learn to think.  This would not be the case if teachers in schools planned activities which demand higher order thinking skills from students since they start their academic instruction in kindergarten.   To summarize, I am saying that for teachers to be successful in Ecuadorian classrooms, there are three conditions: a) know who students are; b) apply strategies which address large classrooms needs; c) plan cognitively demanding tasks. When I compare this to my teaching philosophy I see a clear connection. 

My teaching philosophy says that before starting instruction, I have to know my students, to assess where they are at, and have high expectations.  Honestly, I have to say that these three elements have not been working harmoniously.  However, I am glad to say that now I feel I have the potential, knowledge and desire to make a difference in my students’ lives.