Articulate: adjective; (of a person or a person's words) having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently.
Being able to express oneself clearly in intention and expectation is particularly important for both a teacher and student. Generally speaking, I have found that people are very casual with words and often speak without much thought. The ability to use language makes people unique from other living things. For example, it is easy to communicate a feeling such as anger, a dog is able to convey this emotion with little effort, but it takes more precision with language to be able to explain where the anger is coming from and any retaliation associated with it. The more words a person knows, the easier it is to articulate the anger and warn the offender of consequences, or offer a heartfelt apology when encountered with remorse. So, with words being so powerful, isn't it important for teachers to clearly articulate expectations when coaching children through learning experiences? If this is true, then it is even more important for the teacher to be able to articulate expectations for their own benefit as much as the students' in order to remain focused on the skill that is to be targeted. Take for example the rubrics above. These rubrics were articulated by the instructors to help build a course and a clear sense of what to assess when looking to see if the participants have achieved an understanding of the intended content. As the learner, I am using these well articulated rubrics to demonstrate my understanding of KUDs, learning targets and scales (as seen in the documents below). Dr. Zull speaks of the importance of language when referencing Robert Leamnson's book, "Thinking about Teaching and Learning". These two authors discuss the need to articulate and the importance of using complete, grammatically correct sentences when speaking about content. "It requires learners to carefully assemble their plan for speaking. This plan must have specific content, and that content must be arranged in a way that accurately conveys the image that is in their brain. No clear image, no clear plan!" This last sentence further punctuates the importance of articulating. If the teacher isn't able to articulate the lesson for their own benefit, then how is it the student will know what is expected and be able to take the time to develop their own language and understanding in order to articulate their own ideas in any given content? The teacher needs to be the role model and, with patience and respect, honor the learning process. With that said, enjoy the following examples of future endeavors and expectations in the ELL room.
Level 1 ELL KUD
Level 3 ELL KUD
Being able to express oneself clearly in intention and expectation is particularly important for both a teacher and student. Generally speaking, I have found that people are very casual with words and often speak without much thought. The ability to use language makes people unique from other living things. For example, it is easy to communicate a feeling such as anger, a dog is able to convey this emotion with little effort, but it takes more precision with language to be able to explain where the anger is coming from and any retaliation associated with it. The more words a person knows, the easier it is to articulate the anger and warn the offender of consequences, or offer a heartfelt apology when encountered with remorse. So, with words being so powerful, isn't it important for teachers to clearly articulate expectations when coaching children through learning experiences? If this is true, then it is even more important for the teacher to be able to articulate expectations for their own benefit as much as the students' in order to remain focused on the skill that is to be targeted. Take for example the rubrics above. These rubrics were articulated by the instructors to help build a course and a clear sense of what to assess when looking to see if the participants have achieved an understanding of the intended content. As the learner, I am using these well articulated rubrics to demonstrate my understanding of KUDs, learning targets and scales (as seen in the documents below). Dr. Zull speaks of the importance of language when referencing Robert Leamnson's book, "Thinking about Teaching and Learning". These two authors discuss the need to articulate and the importance of using complete, grammatically correct sentences when speaking about content. "It requires learners to carefully assemble their plan for speaking. This plan must have specific content, and that content must be arranged in a way that accurately conveys the image that is in their brain. No clear image, no clear plan!" This last sentence further punctuates the importance of articulating. If the teacher isn't able to articulate the lesson for their own benefit, then how is it the student will know what is expected and be able to take the time to develop their own language and understanding in order to articulate their own ideas in any given content? The teacher needs to be the role model and, with patience and respect, honor the learning process. With that said, enjoy the following examples of future endeavors and expectations in the ELL room.
Level 1 ELL KUD
Level 3 ELL KUD
The learning targets in the links below are what I use in developing scales for students. As an ELL teacher, we follow the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) developed for ELL instruction.