Navigating the Common Core with English Language Learners. Sypnieski Katie
section for herself, and then students work on that section. She may need to explain the meanings of some words, and can ask more fluent English students to assist others. The whole class should go through the form together section by section.
6. Students can then share their completed forms in groups of three or four, and be told that they can make changes to their forms if they hear ideas they like from their classmates.
7. Students should have regular class notebooks or folders where they can tape or glue their Goal Sheets. The teacher will need to review the completed forms in order to follow up with each student in individual conversations. If the teacher does not have regular access to student folders/notebooks, she can collect the forms to photocopy. She can return them the next day and ask students to then glue them in their notebooks.
Weekly or Biweekly
1. Feedback, including self-feedback, is a critical component of successful goal-setting.96 Therefore, each week or every 2 weeks, perhaps on Mondays, students can review their goals and complete the Goals Feedback Form (Exhibit 2.2). Students can be given the option to share with classmates before turning in their forms to the teacher. This kind of regular self-monitoring and evaluating is also considered a hallmark of metacognition,97 the next skill we'll be discussing.
Assessment
• Collect and review video answers and completed goal forms.
• If the teacher feels a more involved assessment is necessary, you can develop a simple rubric appropriate for your class situation. Free online resources to both find premade rubrics and create your own can be found at the Best Rubric Sites and a Beginning Discussion about Their Use (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/09/18/the-best-rubric-sites-and-a-beginning-discussion-about-their-use/).
Possible Extensions and Modifications
• Students can make posters about their goals, which can be hung up around the classroom or on windows for others to see.
• The teacher can take a photo of student written goals or a poster and have students do an audio recording. See the next Tech Tools box for more information.
• Recent research suggests that intrinsic motivation can be increased further if students take another step after the three listed in Exhibit 2.1. In this fourth step, students could be asked “to write about the impact that achieving each goal would have on specific aspects of their lives and the lives of others.”98 As long as the teacher provides a model, this can be a useful extension activity.
Tech Tools
Voice Recording for Speaking Practice
If students create posters (or even any written work), turning them into a slideshow with audio narration of students saying their goals aloud provides great speaking practice for ELLs. There are many easy and free iPhone/iPad apps for making these presentations, including Shadow Puppet (http://get-puppet.co/education/), Fotobabble (http://www.fotobabble.com/) and VoiceThread (https://voicethread.com/). The slideshows can then be posted on a class blog for viewing (see Chapter 4 for a discussion of blogs).
Exhibit 2.1 . Goal Setting and Planning Sheet
Name ______________________
ATTITUDE
Goal: I am a ______________________(good learner, respectful person, helpful person, etc.) and I want to be even___________________________________ (more positive, more respectful, more eager to learn, more eager to help others, etc.).
Action: I will ________________________________ (remind myself each day that what I'm learning today will help me achieve my life dreams, offer to help another student each day, offer to help the teacher each day, etc.).
Obstacle: If __________________________ (I let boyfriend/girlfriend problems start affecting how I act in class, I feel sad in class about missing my family in Mexico, etc.), then I will _______________________ (ask to see the school counselor, write a letter to my sister, etc.).
ENGLISH
Goal: I am a _____________________ (writer, reader, good speaker, etc.) and I want to become a better ____________________ (writer, reader, speaker) in English.
Action: I will _____________________________ (do Duolingo or another computer site one half hour a day at home, ask the teacher for more challenging work, attend seventh period, etc.).
Obstacle: If __________________________ (I get distracted by Facebook, I start feeling like I don't want to do my homework), then I will __________________________ (stop being online and read an English book instead, think about how learning English will help me become successful in my long-term goal of becoming a doctor/lawyer/restaurant owner/etc.).
BEHAVIOR
Goal: I am a _______________________________ (serious student, a role model for my classmates, etc.) and I want to become _______________________________ (more focused, less talkative in class, more prepared, more respectful, etc. ).
Action: I will ____________________________________ (change my seat to sit farther away from a person I talk with too much, help other students more when I'm done with my work, ask the teacher how I can help, apologize when I do something wrong, etc.).
Obstacle: If ______________________________________ (I get distracted from my work, I don't feel like working, (talk to my friends too much in class), then I will ________________________ (ask to go outside for two minutes to collect my thoughts, ask to change seats, think about what a person I respect would do, etc.).
ACADEMIC
Goal: I am a _______________________ (scholar, serious student, etc.), and I want to get a(n) _______________________ (A, B, C) in class.
Action: I will __________________________________ (do my best work all the time, do harder projects on the computer, ask for extra credit work, etc.).
Obstacle: If __________________________________ (I get behind on doing my homework, I don't understand something in class , I don't feel like doing my best on an assignment, etc), then I will _____________________ (ask the teacher for a one-time extension on due date for homework, ask the teacher or a classmate about what I don't understand, remember how learning English will help me become successful in my long term goal of becoming a doctor/lawyer/restaurant owner/etc.).
Exhibit 2.2 . Goals Feedback Form
Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
ATTITUDE
Copy your goal here:
Did you make progress toward achieving your goal in the past week?
What did you do to make progress toward achieving your goal?
What can you do this week to make progress toward achieving your goal?
ENGLISH
Copy your goal here:
Did you make progress toward achieving your goal in the past week?
What did you do to make progress
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2006). New directions in goal-setting theory.