CATESOL+2010

=Los Padres Chapter CATESOL Conference, Oct. 9= =﻿Focus on Learning=

Focus on Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom Walls: Give your ESL Class an Online Presence
By providing an online presence for a class, instructors can give students exercises tailored to their specific needs. Instructors thus make available to students the chance to extend their language development outside the classroom at their own convenience, in their homes or by using school computer labs or computer resources at other public facilities, such as libraries. All ESL students need 21st Century skills, which include computer competence, for employment, family, and citizenship goals. Presenters will show samples of instructor-made online class exercises from a variety of free Web sites that students can use for practice, reinforcement, and review of instructional content. The presenters will show several sites and provide brief demonstrations of a few sites. Click here.

=San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference, Oct. 16= =Balancing Continuity and Change=

Beyond Dialog and Drill: Web Sites for Creative Student Expression
Dialogs, grammar drills, and vocabulary handouts are long-established practice activities for students; however, you can put a new twist on these conventional exercises, focusing on creative expression and the productive skills, by assigning students projects in which they use free Web sites for making comic strips, digital movies, and text-to-speech movies. The language you teach will be better committed to memory when students can apply the grammar and vocabulary they are learning to new, personalized contexts. Students can be assigned to write original dialogs that use targeted grammar structures, vocabulary words, and idioms. Learn to use a few sites with guidance from the presenters. Click here.

Checking In: Using Tech for Formative Assessment
Ongoing formative assessment is necessary in ESL instruction for checking students' comprehension of course content and attainment of learning outcomes. The results can inform instructors' lesson planning by revealing the need for either further instruction that includes additional reinforcement and review or students' readiness for summative assessment. Traditional classroom assessment techniques for formative assessment range from nonverbal responses (e.g., thumbs-up/thumbs-down and Total Physical Response) to questioning techniques, think-pair-share and other cooperative learning activities. Transform these traditional methods of formative assessment and bring 21st Century techniques and fun into your classroom by integrating technology: interactive PowerPoint presentations, online quiz and polling tools, and audience response systems. Click here.