I look at the first week of school from a ‘make-or-break’ perspective.

In a seminar by Hal Urban (author of the best-selling book, “20 Great Lessons in Life”) in Singapore in February this year, I was reminded of how important it is to start the year right the first week of school.

What a teacher does on the first day determines how the rest of the year is going to proceed — will I have students who are well-focused on goals, or have pure hooligans in class determined to just have a darn good time?!

Good thing I have my back ups –some tips and tricks of the trade, which I’ve learned over the years. Good thing I’m such a consumer of books on good teaching practice, as well as an avid attendee of just about every useful professional development opportunity I could get my hands on, so I have a few tricks up my sleeve ready to serve to the students on our first week.

GOALS and TARGETS

First and foremost, I started with these two questions in all of my classes this year. Yes, all- including my 4^th grade Humanities class. I wrote these on the board, and that’s the first thing students tackle when they come into class:

• What is your learning goal this year?
• What do you expect from this course/class?

I find, that most students come in with NO goals or targets at all, whether they are graduating seniors, or well,  4^th graders. By making them think towards this idea, it lays down the very purpose why they are in school in the first place, and then gets them to think about how they should behave when they are in the classroom.

Those two simple questions set up the stage for the rest of the year. By putting these questions out there on the table, students move towards a more purposeful time in the classroom, minimizing disruptive, unfocused behavior. To a teacher, that environment is like heaven here on earth!

WHO ARE YOU?

In another Character Development seminar I went to (in Singapore again, about a year ago), this time with Dr. Gary Smit,  I came away with this packet full of ideas on how to build character with my students from day one.

In it is a worksheet that starts out asking about information related to different aspects of the students – likes, dislikes, wants, dreams and wishes, etc. It’s quite a comprehensive set of questions, and when you teach teen agers, where  it’s all about me, I and myself (adolescence tends to do that to you), you’ll find students hard at work answering the questions, heads bent over the sheet, eyebrows furrowed, like it’s the most important task there is in the world. And from a teacher’s viewpoint, it should be!

There is nothing compared to a good grasp of what your students are like. If you’re going to be spending a whole 10 months with a bunch of human beings, all different in character, strengths and wants, the “who are you” sheet is the best thing to start with on your first day.

Of course, one doesn’t have to join Dr. Gary Smit’s next seminar in Singapore (although I would recommend it because it was all practical ideas you could use in class the very next day!) You could easily make up your own set of questions, keeping in mind the information you need in order to help you plans lessons.

Student’s interests and their own thoughts as to their strengths and areas to improve on are crucial bits of information. Equally helpful would be to know who they go to the most to get help, and even mundane things like ‘what time they sleep at night’. Nowadays, with Facebook invading just about every bedroom on the planet, you have to know how much time your students spend online, because it impacts their studies, their ability to manage their time and workload, and most especially, how it impacts their health and of course, alertness in class.

Knowing these crucial bits, you are empowered when planning intervention, especially when it gets out of hand, and you feel you need to call in the parents so little Danny goes to bed at 10pm the most every night, instead of 3 in the morning!

IF WE MADE THE RULES

Again, in that earlier mention I did, from Dr. Urban’s seminar on Character Development, I got this worksheet idea that has two questions on it:

If we made the rules….

• Students would NOT be allowed to….
• Students would be encouraged to….

This is the third piece to the puzzle on the first day of my meeting with students this year. And once the whole class has turned in this last piece, I make up a whole “document” of all they wrote in, and have them sign it.

So whenever I encounter undesirable behavior at some point during the course of the year, I could easily point their attention to this document they signed, and remind them that THEY made the rules, and so should abide by them themselves.

SEATS

Finally, I find it a good idea to have a seating plan ready when kids come in on their second or third lesson with me. It’s just a small matter of keeping chatty personalities away from each other for say, 70minutes (‘cause that’s how long my classes are).  This helps lessen disruptions in class, allowing everyone to focus on tasks at hand. Also, it creates a whole new dynamic when you mix kids up.

Then, at the end of the quarter, which is after every 3 months, I rearrange students’ seats again, in order to change the working environment. Works for me, so might be good for you to try, too.

There are other things, other ideas to try to start the year right. Here are just three of my favorites, and so far, the plan seems to be working.

Check out my other blog posts under Character Education.

Education, particularly in the area of teaching English, constantly evolves and as such, teachers are faced with the challenge of adapting themselves to the ever-changing expectations of the trade.

The call nowadays, is not just for the teacher to hold a university degree on education, but to be more versatile, flexible and able to use a cacophony of tools out there to bring the classroom and the real world into one single field. In other words, tools such as the web’s Youtube, for instance, which many of today’s young learners are familiar with, has to become part of one’s teaching, to be seen to be “keeping with the trends”.

In the past, movies like “Stand and Deliver”, which chronicles how a teacher learns to speak the language of the students to reach them, demonstrate how unconventional teaching methods (and the eternal belief in students’ capabilities) are able to produce results that most would think are impossible to accomplish. One such knowledge nowadays, is how to motivate students to actually be interested, participate and be engaged in the topic/concept a teacher wants to teach.

Our High School students today, for one, have so many distractions. With their Blackberrys, their iPhones, etc., many feel the classroom is just one of those things in life one has to endure…until the bell rings and they’re free to access all the social networks they spend most of their waking hours on.

To illustrate my point, here are a few Youtube sites I’ve used with my classes lately. Below the videos, you will find some ideas on how they could be of use in your classroom, from teaching English, to Social Studies, to Science and World Issues

1. Severn Suzuki, a 13-year-old girl from Canada, speaks at the UN Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992. She silenced the world in 5 minutes as she tells leaders to mend their ways to make sure future generations still have a world to live in.

• I recently used this to open up my classes during Earth Week. This can be used to elicit answers to questions like, “After _____ years, what have government and world leaders who have this speech done towards a better earth for future generations?”
• This can also be used in Science class, where studies on the environment are of relevance, for example.
• This can also be used in a Social Studies class, when discussion is focused on responsibility and accountability of world leaders or on the efficacy of organizations such as the UN is being talked about.2. Craig Kielburger was 12 when he started an international human rights  movement  called Free the children, to help children who are exploited in countries like India, Bangladesh and Thailand. Watch him speak at the Ontario Federation of Labor.

• In an Oral Presentation class, great discussions or brainstorming sessions could start off by having students watch this clip. You can then pose the question, “What makes this speech a good one?”
• In a Service Learning class/Ethics/Character Development, you can make a point about what young people can do if they put their heart into it.  Further talk could focus on traits such as being concerned and caring for others; service beyond self.

These are but a couple of the hundreds upon hundreds of videos available out there, which teachers could make good use of. What I find about these clips is that they never fail to catch students’ attention. In the beginning of class, when students are dragging their feet into your classroom, looking like they would rather be somewhere else other than in the school, learning, turn to these clips for some inspiration. After a few minutes of being transported into the world Youtube, most of the time, they will be ready to listen. By then, you would have gotten their full attention.

At this point, a discussion of some common types of writing is in order. The following is taken from the second edition of the book “Effective Reading in a Changing World” by Rose Wassman and Lee Ann Rinsky, 1997. According to the authors, the type of writing found in essays, textbooks, and literature is generally classified into four broad categories.

These categories are narration, exposition, persuasion, and description.

A. Traditional Approaches

Narration – The writer relates, or “narrates”, events in sequence. In literature, this means the writer tells a story.

Exposition – The author exposes information or ideas. Its primary purpose is not to tell a story, but rather to explain, e.g., to describe how a computer works.

Persuasion – The author attempts to convince or persuade you of something, to think as she or he does, often trying to change your mind. This is often found in essays and editorials, and requires critical thinking.

Description – This type of writing is generally used as a supporting device for any of the other types of writing. It is most helpful in creating a word picture of something concrete, such as a scene, a person, or a new technology.

Harris (1993), in “Introducing Writing”, has also written about these four types. He categorized them under the traditional approach, otherwise known as classical rhetoric. According to him, many school curriculums have been shaped following these traditional approaches to the teaching of writing. As such, many students are skillful at English composition and at writing historical essays. However, these do not actually have a real place in society. “They still carry the hallmark of an elitist culture”, according to Harris (1993:16). These forms belong to a time when literacy was available only to a select few.

Harris (1993: 18-24) has gone further by classifying writing under two other approaches, namely Purpose, Form and Audience and Readership.

B. Purpose, Form and Audience

Purpose refers to the intentions of the writer and/or the expectations of the reader. Here, purpose will be discussed in two facets: purpose as perceived by the writer and purpose as perceived by the teacher.

1. Purpose

1.a. Purposes of Writing as Perceived by Writer

• Writing is a means of communicating and sharing experiences.
• It is a means of constructing meanings through ways of thinking not usually available through speaking.
• It is a means of discovering and clarifying thoughts.
• It provides a record of ideas, facts and experiences in a form that allows them to be worked on, organized, referred back to and developed subsequently.

1.b. Purposes of Writing as Perceived by the Teacher

Writing as an Imposed Topic

In this model, it is fortunate if the topic chosen by the teacher corresponds to some students’ interest, but often, it is unlikely to appeal to all the class.

Writing as the End-Point of Learning

This model may come in the form of having to write about an activity or a visit and this is often the only kind of writing that students experience.

Writing as Integral to Learning

In this model, learning seems to take on a more valuable part than writing. Writing in this model “may be an aid to a discussion or to a graphic presentation, for instance” (Harris, 1993).

Writing as an Aesthetic Artifact

In this model, playing with words and word patterns such as rhymes and jingles, with forms and structures such as repetitive stories and many types of jokes provides continuity with the world of literature.

2. Form

Harris takes form to mean the type and nature of the text such as posters, brochures, pamphlets, letters, recipes, sets of instructions, lists, labels, stories, reports, poems, essays, play scripts, and so on.

Form, by itself, poses many problems according to Harris. Take the letter, for instance. Usually, it indicates the sender, then the greeting which could be formalized or personalized depending on the use of the addressee’s name. Example, Dear Sir/Madam or Dear [name]. Finally, we finish a letter by the conventional signing off – Yours sincerely, – or one of its many other variations.

3. Audience

The concept of audience was considered an important aspect of the curriculum, according to Harris (1993), during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. A greater diversity of audiences was proposed in order to provide more flexibility and reality to the writing context in the classroom.

a.  Self

Child or adolescent to self

b.   Teacher

Child to trusted adult
Pupil to teacher, general (teacher-learner dialogue)
Pupil to teacher, particular relationship
Pupil to examiner

c.    Wider audience (known)

Expert to known laymen
Child to peer group
Group member to working group (known audience, which may include teacher)

d.    Unknown audience

Writer to his readers (or his public)

e.    Additional categories

Virtual named audience
No discernible audience

According to Harris (1993), there seems to be a problem with this kind of classifying writing compositions. Even when there is an improvement over the traditional approaches, there is still the question of a pseudo-audience when the teacher, seen as the audience, happens to be the assessor of the writing product as well.

4. Readership

Factors that need to be taken into account in terms of readership:

• The formality or informality of the relationship between reader and writer.
• The expertise of the readership – what degree of prior knowledge and understanding can be assumed?
• Cultural assumptions – how far is it likely that the readers will share a common cultural background with each other and with the writer?
• Attitudinal assumptions – are the readers likely to hold attitudes in common with the writer or has the writer to explain and justify his or her attitudes?

Harris (1993) points out that the success of a written piece depends on how well the writer judges or makes assumptions about the readership. According to him, it is more realistic and helpful to make students aware of the above factors rather than postulate pseudo-audiences. It seems rather pointless to gear classroom writing towards genuine audiences other than the teacher.

The students involved in this research are more likely to be engaged in writing activities where they have to narrate or tell a story, describe a picture or a real object being studied, or explain what triggers a volcano to erupt or the life cycle of a frog, for instance. However, they will have very few opportunities where they will have to persuade an audience. Perhaps a teacher would ask them to compose a letter of persuasion, but that is likely the extent of such a writing activity.

The idea of writing for a particular audience itself would, as Harris puts it, seem unrealistic in terms of classroom practice. It is an ideal to be “sought after and utilized to the full” (Harris, 1993:24). It is more helpful to build students’ awareness of the factors mentioned so they take them into account in their writing endeavors.

A. Writing, A Definition

Writing seems to have taken on different definitions for different groups of people in order to suit their different needs and purposes for writing. Even for professionals involved in the field of English Language Teaching, not one definition of writing could satisfy everyone.

For the process oriented professionals and researchers, writing is a product of a person’s search for meaning. Zamel (1982) points out that writers go through the process where meaning is created because writers seem to start off the process not knowing what they are going to say at all.

Grabe and Kaplan (1996), in their book “Theory and Practice of Writing”, explore the meaning of writing in terms of the rhetorical triangle in writing. And such triangle consists of the reader, the recipient of the final product of the writing process; the writer, the originator of the message; and the subject matter and text itself. Both the writer and the reader have to consider all these aspects when writing and reading, respectively, for each one plays a significant role in the journey towards meaning.

According to Klein (1985), writing is the ability to put pen and paper to express ideas through symbols. This way, representations on the paper will have meaning and content that could be communicated to other people by the writer.

The definition, which seems to have of most relevance to this study is the one involving creative writing.  This kind of writing seems to emphasize the role of the discovery of self, in some ways akin to the discovery of meaning, in process writing. It is quite different from that which emphasizes audience, writer and text because it is focused more on getting ideas written down on paper, without burdening oneself especially with the thought of who is going to read the final product of one’s writing. It is also one which is closest in definition to writing done by children, which is focused more towards the expression of oneself, without much regard to how the reader would view the writing product or text.

Campbell, in her book “Teaching Second Language Writing” (1998:37) says, “One of life’s greatest releases is to express oneself in writing.”  She goes further by quoting one of her students as saying that writing, as a form of creative release in a second or foreign language is “Freedom!” So this is the definition more suited to this study of writing among elementary school children in an international setting – their discovery of self, their way of self expression and the teaching of life and about growing up as children engage in writing activities.

B. Writing, Why a Need to Learn It?

As Harris (1993) has pointed out, writing is a complex activity. In the ESL context, the teaching of such a skill is confounded by the fact that L2 writers are faced with differences between the conventions of writing in their first language and English, which cause confusion on the L2 learner (Hedge, 1988). But still, this aspect of language learning – writing – has been a neglected area according to Hedge (1988). She further explains that it is only recently that research into writing has produced results that offer insights as to what good writers do.

These ideas, according to Hedge (1988), have implications for teachers who want to help their students become good writers. Without a well-established or highly-recognized model of writing, teachers tend to have different  ideas about its role in the classroom, what is involved in the teaching of writing, and the possible roles teachers and students play in developing activities to practice it (Hedge, 1988).

Writing is of fundamental importance to learning, to development of the person in each learner, and to success in the educational system. As teachers, we need to work continually to aid our students in their search for fulfillment as writers (Harris, 1993).

In an international setting, ESL students are required to produce written work in all their core subjects namely; Science, Math, Social Studies and most especially, Language Arts. They are required to hand in reports, narrative and descriptive essays, biographies, as well as other forms of writing needed in their various class and homework assignments. Therefore, there is an important need for them to be instructed and provided with practice activities to develop their writing skill in order to ensure their success in their school life.

What is writing and why is there a need to learn it?

In this study, writing will be explored and discussed in the context of  ESL, particularly in an international school environment. Reference will also be made to studies and issues that affect first language writing since quite many of the theories that govern second language writing are also derived, based or influenced by first language theories on writing.

Writing, unlike the other skills of reading, listening and speaking seems to be of a more complex nature, especially in the context of second language use. In Britain, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, emphasis was placed more on reading than on writing. The basis of which was the notion that it was more desirable for people to be able to read than write. That way, they can be educated and/or instructed into a particular belief or ideology.

Writing also involves the giving of instructions, but instead of enabling learners to simply react to a range of social demands and instructions, it can lead to a more proactive role. It can lead to “the formation of views about society” (Foggart, 1993:6).And that aspect of writing, perhaps more aptly identified with the concept of empowerment, is a potential threat to the status quo in society.

This study will not be concerned much with the teaching of writing in order to produce learners who play proactive roles in society or in a political sense. Rather, the writing that will be discussed here is more on the expression of ideas and experiences, and the discovery of self which could come about as children engage in the writing process.

It can not be denied that the teaching of writing plays a significant role on the kinds of individuals students become once they have acquired mastery of the English language, and have reached adulthood.

Proficiency in this particular skill could open the way so students, in the future, would have access to certain social roles which would have remained closed to them if there was failure to give appropriate input or instruction today.

As countries become more industrialized and as the language becomes  more and more the language of choice in many business, political and social interactions, having the skill to write in the English language would give one an edge in the international community

(Tribble,1996).

There are many social and business activities that require proficiency in writing. The students in this study will not be involved in activities ranging from inviting a business contact to dinner to making a law. They will instead be more likely to be participating in writing in journals and diaries as a school assignment or personal activity, writing a descriptive or narrative essay on a topic assigned to them in school, writing a friendly letterto family, writing a story, or writing a response to literature read in thelassroom. Nevertheless, they still have to learn, practice and master the skill of writing. And being second language learners, this is a more difficult task than others.

“Do we learn Values (in school), just to get an A?” That is how Cheque from grade 11 in the school I teach, opened up his arguments in a debate with other Grade 11 students held last October. Indeed, in this age and time of ipods, network gaming and cyber communities, has Values, as a school subject, become obsolete, even “unnecessary”? And if not, how can it support the Literacy programs in schools?

Looking at the Values classes I teach this year, I believe I have found my answers…

Ija, in Grade 8, wrote the following about a goal he worked on to achieve as part of his Values project: “I think that I have reached my goal, and I think I will continue doing this everyday, because my parents at home say that I have a lot of changes this week, and they are all in a positive way.”

In Grade 10, many students are choosing to wake up and sleep early as part of their goals in their personal action plans. Many have identified social networking, online gaming and talking on the phone as culprits they have to manage, in order to achieve the goals they have set for themselves for the second quarter.

Boa, Grade 12, explores the myriad reasons behind cases of rape after hearing a talk on “Human Trafficking and Violence Against Women”. He is now writing a newsletter article on the ways young girls could protect themselves from the risks of rape.

And Pla, in Grade 11, is drafting a letter to the government of Moldova in Eastern Europe. Her aim is to contribute to the efforts of Amnesty International, an organization that helps in the release of prisoners of conscience – people whose only crime is to express their thoughts and opinions, practice their religion or support equality and freedom . This year, Pla is learning that in many parts of the world, hundreds of people do not enjoy the same rights she has. And one small way she could contribute to a worthy cause, is to write letters.

All these – making plans to manage one’s life as a student or discussing issues that plague society – are but small and simple acts, which could very well lead to the students becoming better people. And in an age where our kids get exposed to new and more complicated challenges, they need all the support and help parents and the school could give them.

A generation or two ago, young people only have to choose between television and homework. Nowadays, young people’s choices are made complicated by the existence of a myriad of distractions. There is cyber networking in the form of Hi5, Facebook, or Mixi, which my Japanese students are so fond of. There are numerous online games, the most famous (and one of the most violent) of which perhaps, is Counter Strike. Then there is the advent of phone messaging or texting. All of them compete for our young people’s time – and in most instances, all at the same time.

The Values classes provide an avenue to teach students skills necessary for them to gain control of their time, their lives and their selves. Skills in organization, goal setting and planning, as well as discussions on health, social and community issues, ought to be at the forefront of a school’s Values program. And all these, for the purpose of supporting student learning and student success.

On the Literacy end, what more authentic activities could students engage in, than the ones mentioned in this article?

And so we come again to those very important questions: is Values still an integral part of our education system, or has it just become a thing whose existence we just have to tolerate? How can our Values program in schools support Literacy? I believe I have found my answer… and I do hope that with this article, my students have also helped you find yours.

I have a class of adult learners of 17. They come from different parts of Asia: Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam. They’re mostly intermediate level in their English, both written and oral. The course I teach is called Independent Reading.

The program I use with them is broken up into two parts: two days in a row for 90 minutes each, I teach Reading Strategies. The book I use is called Reading in The Content Areas. I use book levels C and D. I like using this coursebook for two reasons.

1. The texts/stories are highly interesting for my set of learners. It includes the stories of Gloria Estefan, Jaime Escalante, the Star Wars movie and China’s Cultural Revolution, to name a few. Gloria Estefan, is a famous singer whose career nearly ended with a bus crash. The story outlines her long struggle to regain health and to be able to sing onstage again. There’s Jaime Escalante’s story, which was featured in the movie, “Stand and Deliver”. It highlights Escalante’s dedication as a teacher and how he was able to turn a group of students around from ones predicted to fail in life to a group of dedicated young people who beat all odds and passed the AP Calculus exam. Their passing the exam helped save their school’s accreditation and earned them credits in College, paving a much brighter future than what their other teachers predicted they would have.

Apart from the varied and interesting stories, the texts lends itself to so many different interpretations and it easily encourages exhange of opinions and ideas among students.

2. The reading strategies the coursebook teaches are very useful and effective, and the organization of the book itself makes it easy for students to follow the steps they have to do to finish assignments.

The second part of my program is a 90-minute session further divided up into four parts: Words Work, Read, Share and Journaling.

The students choose a book of their own to read in the beginning of the program. Then once every 4 days, for 90 minutes they work in small reading groups of three or four. Each group decides at what order they will do the 4 parts of the program.

For Words Work, they choose 7 new words from the story. They find the meaning of each one and write sentences for each. For Read, they simply spend the time reading quietly on their own. Journaling means they reflect on their reading and write a journal entry related to it.And in Share, they simply share what they want to share withthe rest of the group. It could be the reflections they wrote in their journal, the characters in the story and whtehre they agree withthe characters’ action or not, lessons they are learning from the story, etc.

After about 2 months now, I hear a lot of positive comments from students about the class and how it impacts them as learners, especially as readers. Because of the nature of the activities where they are expected and encouraged to do all four skills; reading, writing, listening and speaking, they feel more confident about their English.

They also say they are able to use the skills in reading strategies in their other classes, especially research. The skills they have learned and practiced in my class have been useful for them to summarize their readings and most especially, to have a better understading of their readings.

One important reason for this, I believe is the pleasure principle. I believe that one can never learn in an environment that’s threatening and anxiety-laden. I think this is more especially true when you have adults just learning to get better at their English.

Because there is less pressure and no emphasis on the quantity, but rather on the quality of their reading, they are free to explore, to think deeper and most of all, to enjoy what they are reading. And because there is room for everyone’s opinion, and there is no ONE right answer, everyone feels free to share his/her thoughts, and so, they practice their English.

And so it is therefore important, that reading becomes an enjoyable activity for learners, that the texts/stories they are reading are highly interesting, and that they are given opportunities to share without fear of ridicule of correction when they are working in groups.

Hedda has been living and teaching in Thailand the last twelve years. She has taught in a Thai private school, several language institutes, a government school and currently, is teaching in an international school in Bangkok. Beside a degree in Nursing, she holds a Master of Arts degree in English Language Teaching.

In his talk here in Bangkok, Thailand last September 20, 2008, Dr. Stephen Krashen (www.sdkrashen.com) talked about the homerun book for every reader, and how crucial it is to jumpstart ALL other reading interests in the future.

He says for every lifelong reader, there is that one book or one reading experience that started it all. And it could happen at any age. This homerun experience is so special or distinct that many readers could still remember the title, or the author, or the characters of the first story/book that ever got them started on reading. It’s the one book/story that they could hardly put down, that they were most probably not ‘told’ to read, and one they definitely read up to the very end.

In my adult reading program, I asked students what their homerun books were. Not surprisingly, those who can identify their homerun books are the strong readers. And so it occurred to me… if you wish to improve your reading, and actually, improve your overall language abilities, find your homerun book!

It doesn’t have to be a novel the likes John Grisham writes. It could be your Sweet Valley High series, or The Hardy Boys. It can even be Captain Underpants, Scooby-Doo or Archie’s Digest/Betty and Veronica. The catch is, you have to really want to read it; you can hardly put it down to go relieve yourself in the restroom. You find it so exciting you can hardly wait to know what happens next.

That’s the kind of anticipation that builds reading interest. And so, if you wish for your learners to become lifelong readers, or you have children of your own whom you want to motivate to read, or you yourself wish to BE a reader, then find that homerun book today!

Discuss more about this article click here.

Let us begin this conversation by looking back at times in your life when you read books or any printed medium, for that matter, simply because you wanted to. It was not because of some reward, nor was it because you wanted to avoid some kind of negative consequence by not reading. What was it like then?

Chances are, you enjoyed the experience so much that you probably did not notice the time. You felt you had all the time in the world to immerse yourself in the words of the book. Most probably, the experience was so vivid in your memory that you could still remember the stories, the authors, the book series, even characters’ names, and more.

Would you say that those moments were meaningful? Rewarding, even?

If so, then why do we have to reward learners of English when they read? When by doing so, it has been said (Krashen in Bangkok, September 20, 2008), we send out the notion that reading is NOT an enjoyable activity?

I  subbed for another teacher once and her reading program involved giving students stickers everytime they finish reading a story. For those students who were really keen on the stickers, they mostly chose books that didn’t have many words in it, and to them, reading was like a race. They would sit down on the rug in class, read through the pages as fast as they could, and then came to me for the stickers. I thought it was a very sad affair.

The children, on the other hand, who did not pay so much attention to the stickers would take time to read each page. They would be looking at the pictures, talking to their friends about what’s happening in the story, and laughing here and there when they see something funny. And when you start asking them questions about the story, they could tell you a lot of details about it, and would even have an opinion or two about what they are reading. They also like the stickers, but to them, it didn’t seem like a consequence of them reading. They simply enjoyed reading more than getting the stickers.

From a teacher’s point of view, there is no doubt in my mind that the second group of learners will develop into lifelong readers, and would improve in their language skills so much faster than the first group.

And so while it is great to reward effort in reading, care should be taken to ensure that learners derive pleasure from reading itself, but not do it to get a reward. The enjoyment they get from their reading, is in itself, THE reward.

From experience, collegial sharing and attendance at professional development opportunities in search of what “effective assessment” looks like, here is a combination of principles, experiential anecdotes and actual classroom practice I use to assess students effectively for learning.

I refer heavily to materials and discussions from Ken O’ Connor’s workshop on “Classroom Assessment FOR Student Learning” held at an international school in Bangkok last few years in this article. The principles discussed in that workshop are strong affirmations of what I live by as an educator for years. And this material I present here are a testimony as to what research looks like in actual classroom practice and how the principles have shaped the assessment programs I have set up for my own students.

By ‘assessment’, we mean “the process of gathering information about students or program”. And by ‘assessment FOR learning’, we refer to formative assessment, which is “designed to provide direction for improvement and/or adjustment to a program for individual students or for a whole class”. The following material therefore, are for teachers who want to know what are the ways to gather information about students’ learning and how best to communicate such information to students so they improve and achieve success in learning.

1. Know your students well and how they interpret errors.

For instance, “For Americans, errors tend to be interpreted as an indication of failure in learning the lesson. For Chinese and Japanese, they are an index of what still needs to be learned.”(Stigler and Stevenson, American Educator, Spring 1991).

Such different interpretations result in a variety of reactions to the display of errors, which in turn have implications on how teachers use errors as effective means of instruction.

Since my learners are all Asian, I find that they respond positively to error correction. The attitude they generally exhibit is on of quiet acceptance of their mistakes and a willingness to do better next time. And if given a chance to modify, add on or take out errors from assignments, my Japanese students would willingly do so 100% of the time. Based on observation, they also exhibit a better understanding of the material modified, added on or changed. Proof that in this case, such kind of feedback contributes to their learning, and it is not merely seen as a way to improve on grade.

2. Be clear with your expectations, whether they are products, performance or any other evidence of learning.

The use of rubrics to define tasks and to communicate learning outcomes to students, is something I have come to rely on heavily in the classroom over the years. From experience, I find it an objective means to assess students’ work.

Along the course of a task or a project, the rubric becomes a tool to guide and direct a student’s progress. It gives a clear picture of what ‘success’ looks like. And if changes have to be made along the way, it specifies which area/s to work on, thus contributing to student confidence and motivation to work harder towards achievement of the task or project.

Another positive aspect of using rubrics is as a means of communication of expectations between school and home. At the start of a project/task, I ask students to show the rubrics to their parents and have it signed by them. This way, accountability rests on all three: the teacher, the students and the parents.

3. Involve students in the assessment process.

According to Covington (1992), “the process of engaging in self-assessment increases students’ commitment to achieving educational goals.” And as to how to do this, Rick Stiggins has the contention that they should be involved in all three processes in assessment, namely;

a. in the construction of assessment and in the development of the criteria for success.

b. in the keeping of records of their own growth and achievement through such strategies as portfolios.

c. in communicating their achievement through such vehicles as student-involved parent conferences.

In my Writing for College class, students were asked, in small groups, to come up with what “good writing” looks like. Their work was then put up in posters in the classroom, and constantly referred to while working on tasks, or during the design and development of a rubric.

4. Be a motivator.

Stiggins (Student-Involved Classroom Assessment, 2001) contends, “those (students) who experience success gain the confidence needed to risk trying… (while those) who experience failure lose confidence in themselves, stop trying and… fail even more frequently. Confidence therefore, is the key to student success in all learning situations.”

By motivation here, we mean intrinsic motivation – one that comes as a result of students gaining confidence in themselves by knowing what is expected of them, what evidence/s is/are required to show success and what kind of activities and/tasks will get them there.

In order for all these to happen, the teacher has yet another responsibility. And that is…

5. Give effective feedback. Praise less and describe expected results more.

Just recently, a discussion from a former student shed more light as to what “quality” feedback means. She could not have emphasized its value in learning more than when she said that she wished she was back in my class, where she was told ways to improve her skills. She said she gets tons of work now, but the teacher does not give feedback as to which area she needs to improve on, and how.

Butler and Neuman (1995), Cameron and Pierce (1994) and Kluger and deNisi (1996) make a case for the use of descriptive, criterion-based feedback as opposed to scoring or letter grades
without clear criteria.

Cameron, Pierce, Kluger and deNisi further add that “feedback that cues the individual to direct attention to self (praise, effort, etc) rather than to the quality of the task appear to have a negative effect on learning. Many studies speak to effective teachers praising less than average.”

6. Use triangulation of evidence to base feedback on.

“There are three general sources of assessment evidence gathered in classrooms: observations of learning, products students create, and conversations – discussing with students.

When evidence is collected from three different sources of time, trends, patterns and become apparent…This process is called triangulation” Davies, Anne (Making Classroom Assessment Work, 2000).

7. Be a reflective practitioner who is involved in professional dialogue.

There are two important opportunities I find helpful to improve my practice on assessment at my school. One involves a chance to “grade” students’ writing with other language teachers. The purpose of which was to assess our students using the 6+1 Traits rubric and see where we teachers needed to work more on to improve students’ writing skills.

As it involves teachers comparing the grades we give to the same written piece on each trait, it gives me a chance to adjust the way I grade (where necessary), based on discussions with other teachers’ perspectives. This happens when there are big differences to the grades we assign any particular trait.

The other opportunity I have to improve on assessment practice is the chance to present an assessment task to a small group of colleagues at school. Other teachers get a chance to “work” on the task and give feedback afterwards on the following areas: whether the students were properly prepared for the task or not, given the language skills and assumed prior knowledge of the target group; were directions clear; whether the task addressed the standards and benchmarks it was designed for or not, etc.

From these discussions, I have the chance to make changes to the task where necessary. It also allows for an avenue to see other teachers’ perspective on things without fear of ridicule, focusing only on how to make assessment better for students.

According to Schmoker, 2001, as quoted from Ken O’ Connor, “When teachers collaboratively review assessment data for the purpose of improving practice to reach measurable achievement goals, something magical happens.”