Setting, Posting and Reporting Progress on Goals
I. Rationale
This activity is designed for high school students in the L2 language learning setting. The teacher sets up a location online where students are asked to post and then report on progress in their language learning goals. Often students see themselves and their learning at the whim and fancy of their teacher and if they set goals at all it is most likely that they will set goals complete assignments or learn whatever the teacher is going to test them on. The hope is that as students set their own language learning goals they will become more cognizant of the many resources they have for learning and in so doing will take ownership of their learning process and be more likely to continue to progress in their language learning even when they are no longer enrolled in the course. The goals are made public, which provides more accountability, and gives the students the opportunity to develop relationships with other learners and learn from their process as well.
This activity supports language development by encouraging students to a) set and report on personal goals for learning and b) use the postings as a way to develop a community of learners.
A) Setting and reporting on personal goals for learning.
Gillette (1994) writes that, “it is not primarily schooling but life goals that may influence the effort a learner makes in learning an L2 and the success he or she may enjoy as a result.” (p. 200) Griffiths (2008) writes about research done on good language learners and posits that the good language learners take are able to discern what resources are there for them and how to take advantage of those resources.
B) Developing a community of learners.
One of the standards for foreign language learning is that students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. According to Phillips and Draper (1999) “A community can be a community of learners of different ages or in different locations. The idea here is that the classroom provides the means so that students can interact beyond their classroom walls.” “The intent of the ‘lifelong learning’ standard is that students from the beginning develop the tools, the habits of mind, and the motivations that allow them to independently pursue activities using language throughout their lifetime.” (p. 68).
Lave (1991) studied apprenticeship communities of practice and discussed how the development of knowledge within that community also went hand in hand with a change in identity. I am working to help my students to identify themselves as learners of the language with important roles to play within a community of other learners.
Description
I asked the students to post what they planned on learning in Iñupiaq that week to the Edmodo class page that they had already learned to use through a previous activity. The VIVA program is somewhat flexible in that there are often several units that a student can choose to work on. I explained to the students that the learning they chose could be from something in the VIVA program or any other resource such as something out in the community.
I had the students post on their progress from the previous week’s goal at the beginning of the following week.
Reflection
Students’ postings revealed a lot about their attitude towards the class and the learning that I was asking of them. I deleted posts of “I don’t know.” “everything” or “anything” clarified the instructions and asked those students to re-post. I require a specific amount of work on the VIVA program per week and that work is calculated in the program with points. One of my students merely said that he wanted to get a lot of points. I asked that student re-post a goal that reflected what he wanted to learn but he refused because he said that there wasn’t anything that he wanted to learn.
I am a big goal setter myself and have seen kindergarten students setting goals for their learning in Iñupiaq so I was surprised that most of my high school students were so far removed from goal setting. I only did this activity once. I wonder if doing it weekly would help the students to have more ownership of their learning and to get into the habit of setting learning goals.
This activity is designed for high school students in the L2 language learning setting. The teacher sets up a location online where students are asked to post and then report on progress in their language learning goals. Often students see themselves and their learning at the whim and fancy of their teacher and if they set goals at all it is most likely that they will set goals complete assignments or learn whatever the teacher is going to test them on. The hope is that as students set their own language learning goals they will become more cognizant of the many resources they have for learning and in so doing will take ownership of their learning process and be more likely to continue to progress in their language learning even when they are no longer enrolled in the course. The goals are made public, which provides more accountability, and gives the students the opportunity to develop relationships with other learners and learn from their process as well.
This activity supports language development by encouraging students to a) set and report on personal goals for learning and b) use the postings as a way to develop a community of learners.
A) Setting and reporting on personal goals for learning.
Gillette (1994) writes that, “it is not primarily schooling but life goals that may influence the effort a learner makes in learning an L2 and the success he or she may enjoy as a result.” (p. 200) Griffiths (2008) writes about research done on good language learners and posits that the good language learners take are able to discern what resources are there for them and how to take advantage of those resources.
B) Developing a community of learners.
One of the standards for foreign language learning is that students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. According to Phillips and Draper (1999) “A community can be a community of learners of different ages or in different locations. The idea here is that the classroom provides the means so that students can interact beyond their classroom walls.” “The intent of the ‘lifelong learning’ standard is that students from the beginning develop the tools, the habits of mind, and the motivations that allow them to independently pursue activities using language throughout their lifetime.” (p. 68).
Lave (1991) studied apprenticeship communities of practice and discussed how the development of knowledge within that community also went hand in hand with a change in identity. I am working to help my students to identify themselves as learners of the language with important roles to play within a community of other learners.
Description
I asked the students to post what they planned on learning in Iñupiaq that week to the Edmodo class page that they had already learned to use through a previous activity. The VIVA program is somewhat flexible in that there are often several units that a student can choose to work on. I explained to the students that the learning they chose could be from something in the VIVA program or any other resource such as something out in the community.
I had the students post on their progress from the previous week’s goal at the beginning of the following week.
Reflection
Students’ postings revealed a lot about their attitude towards the class and the learning that I was asking of them. I deleted posts of “I don’t know.” “everything” or “anything” clarified the instructions and asked those students to re-post. I require a specific amount of work on the VIVA program per week and that work is calculated in the program with points. One of my students merely said that he wanted to get a lot of points. I asked that student re-post a goal that reflected what he wanted to learn but he refused because he said that there wasn’t anything that he wanted to learn.
I am a big goal setter myself and have seen kindergarten students setting goals for their learning in Iñupiaq so I was surprised that most of my high school students were so far removed from goal setting. I only did this activity once. I wonder if doing it weekly would help the students to have more ownership of their learning and to get into the habit of setting learning goals.