1.2 – Using TELL to Identify Your Course Goal

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 a Planning Self-assessment tool from the TELL Project.  Unlike other self-assessments, this one is specific to effective language instruction. For the this course, we will not use the entire tool, but rather focus our attention on the entire criteria P6:

Click on the following link to access this tool:  TELL Planning Self-assessment (Links to an external site.)

Activity Details

1. Watch the following video on the TELL Framework.  This information will help you to develop a personal focus for the course. 
   

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2. If you haven’t already done so,  download the TELL Planning Self-assessment tool from the link above.
   
   
3. Complete this self-assessment for yourself, looking only at criteria P6.  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 brains 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. 
   
   
4. Hold on to your self-assessment for criteria P6 since this information will figure into the Professional Growth Plan you’ll complete as documentation of your growth and professional goals related to this course.
   
   
5. Now, choose one of the three subcriteria (a, b, or c) as your personal goal for this course.  This means that you will use this criteria as your focus in various activities. You will also use this information to help you complete a growth plan that we will explore in a later section.