How to write an email

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This week my LINC class did a "Write an email to your teacher" assessment task. Who knew it could be so hard?

The good news is that everyone was able to log in and open their college email without asking for help. This is great progress since the beginning of the term, so I was pleased about that.

Not only that, but a few students composed their email and sent it without consulting me. As I had instructed, they handed in their cover sheet, asked me to check that I had received their email, and walked out the door about ten minutes early. 

Another few used the entire class time, but they were able to complete the task without asking for help.

And then there were those whom I hold responsible for a few new grey hairs! 

  "Teacher! How do you spell 'now'?"   

                                               ME, inside my head: [Really? As in "now"? As in "at this time"?]

    "Teacher! I don't know how to fix the small 'i'!" 

    "Teacher! How can I make a space?"

    "Teacher! How do I make a question mark?"

As I dashed from computer to computer answering these and other questions, I made a note to self -- for our next computer lab, I will create a handout about the keyboard and mouse and spend some time with students who want to learn or review the basics. I will also ask the students who are more knowledgeable if they are willing to regularly help those who need a hand.

I also plan to compile a list of "Must Know How to Spell" words. As I have always told my students -- English spelling is hard. Even native speakers have problems. BUT --if you have a daughter, learn how to spell daughter. Same goes for husband. However, as an excellent speller who is also the mother of a son who once wrote "It was not biggy nuff", I am sympathetic to those who struggle in this area.

But I digress... 

In the end everyone was out of the lab by 4:00 (the official end time for the class is 3:50, so that wasn't bad), I received all the emails, and I think all the students started their weekend with a feeling of accomplishment. 

Sadly, I now have to assign grades, when in my opinion, each email is, to quote the Mastercard commercial, priceless.

** I need to add that we did plenty of scaffolding to prepare the students for this task. During the previous weeks, they have sent me 2-3 emails each. I'm not sure if they asked each other for help with those, or if nervousness was responsible for the problems they had on the assessment.

What to do with all the paper??

Paperless offices. Paperless utility bills.  Paperless contracts. "We're going paperless," my dentist's receptionist proudly told me a few years ago. "Click here for paperless billing" says a little box on my bank's website.

Paperless sounds like the new best thing. Why then are we still swamped in paper?

This looks a little like the stack of paper generated by my correspondence with a certain U.S. company,
which shall remain nameless. They l-o-v-e paper! 

I gave the nod to paperless at the dentist, but even so I often leave the office with a piece of paper. Years ago, I clicked in the right place to stop receiving my VISA bill in the mail, to no avail. When I did contract work for 2 different post-secondary institutions, not only was there paper, but the contracts extended to 4 or 5 pages, often in duplicate. 

In spite of this, a paperless classroom is still my dream. 

Recently another instructor showed my colleague and me how he has reduced paper in his class. Because of the limited technical abilities of our students, it is not truly paperless, but it's a start. It means the students don't have to lug around binders laden with their assessments and other papers. 

Students create folders, one for each skill, in Google Drive. They then snap photos of their assessment sheets, and upload the photos to the folders. Careful labeling of the photos ensures that they can see how many assessments they have for each of the four skills. 

To each of the skills folders, they also add an inventory sheet, which lists the assessments completed for that skill. 

Next, they add an About Me folder, which contains needs assessments, goal statements, learning reflections and the student's CLB levels, as well as any writing they do about themselves. 

Finally, they can add a folder with the Can Do statements for their CLB level.

These folders all go in a master folder labeled with their name, the year and their CLB level.

Because most CLB 4 newcomers don't have exceptionally good computer skills, they still need to do the majority of their assessment tasks on paper; however, as they improve in this area, that will become a thing of the past. 

A paperless classroom just might be an attainable goal.

Tech is where it's at

I am no stranger to technology. In fact, I might almost be called an early adopter. Way back in my university days I used a computer at my part-time job, something most of my friends had never even tried. They were slightly in awe of me when I told them about the things I could do. 

When I decided to get a TESOL diploma, I did that using technology -- entirely online -- meaning that I knew about Moodle and Blackboard before my kids did.

I was fortunate enough to walk straight into a full-time teaching position immediately after finishing my diploma, and from the start I used technology in the classroom. Since the low-budget Community ESL program I worked with did not have computers, I brought my own laptop to class. YouTube, BBC and CBC Learning English, ESL Library, and many other wonderful websites were my faithful friends, as students squinted to see the 17" screen.

I have since moved on to teaching LINC at a college with superbly equipped computer labs and classrooms. Desktop computers, SmartBoards, built-in projectors, and Moodle are all part of our daily routine. I am comfortable using them, but there is always something more to learn.

And that's where this course comes in. I look forward to climbing the technological cliff, honing my skills and learning about various types of technology, specifically for use in teaching English language learners.