0.9 – TELL Project

Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) will serve as the foundation for the work you will do in this program. During our orientation module we want you to provide you with resources to understand and identify the main ideas for TELL as they apply to teaching and learning in online environments.   

You are going to watch two video segments about TELL. Each is approximately 12 minutes long. Thomas Sauer, Director of Design and Communication for AdvanceLearning and an independent consultant, will provide an overview of the TELL Project in these two videos. You can find out more about Thomas and other TELL Project leaders at TELL Project Leadership (Links to an external site.).

Step 1: TELL Introduction Video

In Thomas’ first video we will learn about TELL and it’s relevance for your work as a language professional teaching online or on-ground.  Let’s begin our exploration by carefully watching the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=JxdkWCAzQps&feature=emb_title

Step 2: Video Reflection

When you’ve finished this first video, visit the link below to 0.8 Advancing TELL Online Video Reflection to answer several questions. We’ll post the results and offer a reflection on the collective responses here sometime on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 via the Course Announcements block.  Please answer these questions before 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, 2016.

Complete: 0.9 Advancing TELL Online Video Reflection (Links to an external site.)

Step 3: TELL Framework Overview Video

Once you have watched video 1, the TELL Introduction Video, please watch video 2, the TELL Framework Overview Video.  The information in this second video will help you understand how the TELL Framework (Links to an external site.) helps language teachers at all stages of professional development improve their practice and move toward becoming the model world language teacher. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpOU5uvj5u0&feature=emb_title

Step 4: Self-Assessment

The TELL Framework video above has given you more information on the various domains and criteria that comprise the TELL Framework. We will be working with a specific set of criteria from the Learning Tools and Professionalism domains. These focus on advancing student learning and supporting student learning.

Developing your teaching skills is an ongoing journey.  You may think you have learned all you can about teaching and learning, and then you are faced with a new student or a new class of learners who challenge almost everything you thought you knew about good instruction.  For this reason, and many more, we recognize and embrace the duality of teaching which is that as educators, we are at the same time “teachers” and “learners.” 

So, since you’ve accepted the challenge to improve your instruction, and specifically to improve your ability to teach online in a synchronous format, we’ll begin this segment of your professional journey with a self-assessment of what you already do.  To accomplish this task, we’ll use the Learning Tools and Professionalism self-assessment tools from the TELL Project.  Unlike other self-assessments, these are specific to effective language instruction. For the this course, we will not use the entire tool, but rather focus our attention on Learning Tools 1a-c and Professionalism a and c.

Please read the following instructions and then complete sections Learning Tools 1a-c and Professionalism 3a and c only.

Instructions:

1. Open the following 2 TELL Project documents in Adobe Acrobat Reader  (Links to an external site.)as indicated in M0.6 – Technology Setup and Support:a) Learning Tools Self-Assessment (Links to an external site.)b) Professionalism Self-Assessment (Links to an external site.)These are fillable pdfs. Please note, you must make all your selections first and then save the completed document. You will be using your results at a later date so it is important that you save it and can find it again. We suggest you save this completed self-assessment in a secure location. That could be in a folder on your computer that you create for this course or on an external drive or on a cloud-based drive such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
2. Complete these self-assessments for yourself, looking only at criteria Learning Tools 1a-c and Professionalism 3a and c.  Be honest with yourself. This is not a competition, but an opportunity for you to establish a growth mindset for your professional development. “Growth Mindset” refers to the belief that intelligence and talent are a starting point upon which we build our abilities. Stated another way, embracing a growth mindset reflects one’s willingness to continue to learn and grow.
   Be sure to save your self-assessments since this information will figure into the Personal Growth Plan. Section 0.10 in our orientation module will explain more about the Personal Growth Plan.

Please remember, you only complete Self-Assessment sections Learning Tools 1a-c and Professionalism 3a and c.

To Continue

Use the Navigation menu to continue to the next section, 0.10 – Growth Mindset