11/16/18

Week آٹھ 8
CIVICS

Due to the holiday and a vacation, the next blog will be published 11/30/18

My notes say that Weeks 8 and on are for the theme Family and Friends. If you want to continue Civics, just check in with your HUB Manager. I'll share resources for Family/Friends with the next blog post.

POST TESTING: It's that time already!

Just a quick note about post-testing. It's important that we get as many students tested as possible. Our program is "graded" by the percentage of students that receive a post-test, and percentage of those that make a gain on their test (receive a higher score than their pre-test).

When Intake Advisors, student mentors, HUB Managers and other staff come to test your class, it's really helpful if you coordinate with them to help get all of your students tested. Unlike other terms, all students will need to be post-tested this time around. Remember you can see on your roster pre-test scores, and who has been post tested.

If you work in an ALC, and you have a student in class that needs a test, it's super helpful for you to let staff know the student is available for a test.

If you have any questions, leave a comment at the end of the blog. Thanks for your help getting this hugely important task accomplished!

TEACHING RESOURCES

I can envision a pretty cool civics project using this idea from Free Technology for Teachers:

Meaningful Reading Engagement with Quote Cards

Thanksgiving activities from Teachervision: Teachervision Thanksgiving Resources

Some videos from VOA

The US Congress Explained
Women Help Lead Democrats to US House Majority

TEACHER READING

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

English Language Teaching Global Blog

25 ways of randomly placing students into pairs or groups

There are many benefits to getting students to work in pairs and groups. 

These range from giving students more speaking opportunities to creating better 

overall classroom dynamics. Read the full blog post here: 

25 ways of randomly placing students into pairs or groups

CLASSROOM SHOWCASE
This week, Sandra Ham has shared some pictures:

My Hudson Park 5/6 class did a walking tour of Greenwich village as part of the Civics unit. Emil and Heather (library staff) led the tour.

We visited the narrowest house in Manhattan- a one time residence of Edna St Vincent Millay and several other historical sites. We were lucky to have a beautiful fall day for our tour.

I also included a photo of the fashion shoot that was going on during our tour and a mural that some of us went to see afterwards.

Best, Sandra 

Please send me pictures, and be sure to include the branch name and level. I need them by the end of the business day on Wednesday. If I already have enough submissions for the week- that just means your pictures will be published the next week. Personally, I think the pictures that you share are the best part of the blog.

Thank you! elizabethschade@nypl.org

CALENDAR

Last day of classes: Monday, December 17

2019 Dates to Note:
January 22: Winter term begins
February 18: No classes
March 31 Winter term ends

April 22 Spring term begins
June 30 Spring term ends

July 29 Summer term begins
August 25 Summer term ends

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

NYS TESOL NYC Region

in collaboration with

Columbia University’s American

Language Program

“Providing

Essay Feedback”

Register now! 

https://nystesol.wildapricot.org/event-3095926   

Friday, November 30^th, 2018 5-7pm

Columbia University, 601 Fairchild

Presenters: 

The ‘Why’ of Errors in Correction Logs

Louise Stracke, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY

Five Common Errors Made by High-Level Students in Academic Writing

Alan Kennedy, American Language Program

La Crème de la Crème

David Quinn, American Language Program

Written Corrective Feedback: Effective for Students, Timesaving for Teachers

Jeanne Lambert, New School

NYS TESOL Members: $10
Non-Members: $15

For more information: nyc@nystesol.org

END QUOTE

Thank you for all that you do! Have a great week!

TEACHER HUB is a weekly blog of resources and information for instructors and staff of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Adult Literacy (ABE) programs of the New York Public Library in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island

April 20, 2018

Welcome/Learning to Learn

TEACHING RESOURCES

Here are some interesting resources I've come across. Wishing you all a great first week of class!

The Best Resources For Planning The First Days Of School

Learning Names (by Marc Helgesen)

Breaking News English

Macmillan Dictionary Word of the Day blog

OUP Blog: Learning to Learn from the Dictionary

NYPL Spring 2018 Curriculum

ALC Week 1 Wiki

Give your students jobs in the classroom: I Heart Input Blog: Giving Students Jobs

TEACHER SHARE

Sharing Your Best Work With Other Teachers

Eight ways you can share lessons or other great ideas with fellow teachers everywhere. Read the Edutopia blog post here: Sharing Best Work With Other Teachers

GOOGLE RESOURCES

I've had some questions from a few of you recently about Google Calendar Invitations. The one you'll be most familiar with right now is the invite for the ALC Instructional Staff Meeting on 4/27. It's important that you respond YES or NO when you receive this kind of invitation and others.

So let me give you some visuals:

This is what it will look like in your email. It will have "Invitation" in the subject line. You can go back and search for old invitations by entering "invitation" in the search bar at the top.

​

When you open a Google Calendar Invite, it will look like this:

(Ardit invited me to work with him on Saturday. Wasn't that nice of him?) :-)

​

So you need to respond to the invitation YES or NO. (Maybe isn't really very helpful, but you can use that too.) See YES is circled in yellow in the photo below.

So, when you reply, it will look like this- see how it turned green?

​
​Now the person who invited you knows and can see your response. Hope this is helpful!

IMPORTANT DATES

April 23 - Spring term begins
April 27 - Teacher Meeting- Harlem Library 
9 W 124th St, New York, NY 10027
 May 15 - Ramadan begins
May 26, 27, 28 - Memorial Day weekend - no classes
June 15 - Ramadan ends/Eid
June 30 - Spring term ends
July 30 - Summer term begins
August 25 - Summer tern ends
October 1 - Fall term begins

TELL ME!

As the term begins, I'm thinking about goals and what I'd like to accomplish this spring. Could you please take a minute to give me some of your thoughts? This will help me so I know what you're interested in, and what I can include in the blog. It's only five questions!

Fill out the Google Form here: Goals for Spring 2018

FROM THE NYPL PRESIDENT

Dear Colleagues,

On National Library Workers Day, I want to thank you for all that you do both for the Library and the communities you serve. No matter your role, the work you do every day honors our priority to have More People Reading More and makes NYPL a vital public resource for so many New Yorkers.

This year, you will each receive a small gift, a tote bag that proudly shares a message we believe in so deeply: “Libraries Are for Everyone.” In this time of public funding challenges and tight budgets, you are the ones who protect the spirit of NYPL and make our libraries safe and welcoming places for all. You keep people coming back to attend our programs and to read more every year. Thank you to all of our staff and our colleagues in Local 1930, Local 374, and DC 37 for your dedication to The New York Public Library.

Today we celebrate National Library Workers Day, and I hope you will continue this celebration throughout this advocacy season by recognizing each other on our staff recognition site. Thank you for all of the work you do every day to show how important libraries are to our city and around the world.  

Yours,

Tony

-- 

Anthony W. Marx | The New York Public Library

President

INTERESTING READS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

English Language Teaching Global Blog

Minds matter: Psychology of language learning

‘It’s all in the mind!’ – How true when it comes to learning a foreign language. Every teacher knows that you can have the best resources in the world, but if the learner is not in the right frame of mind to engage with the new language and use the opportunities before them, then they are unlikely to do so. There are all kinds of reasons why a learner may put obstacles in their own way or simply avoid engaging, but many of these reasons often lie in how learners view themselves, their competences, and their relationship to the language, classroom, peers, and the teacher

Read the entire blog post here: Minds Matter



PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

“Tech in Ten”

Join our Workshop!

Sponsored by NYS TESOL NYC Region in collaboration with Baruch College’s Tools for Clear Speech

Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 6-8 PM https://nystesol.wildapricot..org/event-2860944   Location details in registration confirmation email Baruch College, CUNY 55 Lexington Avenue, room 14-270 Learn novel ideas for incorporating technology into                                                  your classes in this fast-paced and dynamic event!                                                 Each presenter has ten minutes to demonstrate a tech tool                                          for ESL education, followed by a short Q&A. Learn, share and network at the reception after the presentations. Advance Registration Required Due to Space Limitations NYS TESOL Members: $10 Non-Members: $15 For more information: nyc@nystesol.org

END QUOTE
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery” (Mark van Doren)

Thank you for all that you do! Have a great week!

TEACHER HUB is a weekly blog of resources and information for instructors and staff of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Adult Literacy (ABE) programs of the New York Public Library in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island

Week Six, Around Town/Communities

Week Six

Around Town & Communities

TEACHING RESOURCES

Have you ever held a paying job, an internship or a volunteer position?

How did you learn about the position? How did you get the job?

What is your experience as a job seeker, and what stories have you heard from family members or friends about how they’ve found out about job openings and been hired?

Read the entire text on the NY Times Learning Network website: 

Is It OK to Use Family Connections to Get a Job?

EXIT TICKET
Have you used an exit ticket with your students lately? Here's one in Google Forms you could use: General Exit Ticket.

AN OLDIE BUT GOODIE: I always share this map this time of year: Town Map

Some resources from Oxford University Press: Teaching Adults

Students can talk away when you create your own board game. All you need is some dice (which you can probably borrow from the branch- maybe they have a Yahtzee game in the teen room). Tailor it to your own needs: Blank boardgame

PS- See more about playing games in the classroom below. 

CALENDAR

Save the date: our next
ALC Instructional Staff meeting
will be held on
Friday, April 27, 2018
Details to follow!

TEACHER READING

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

English Language Teaching Global Blog

Using games for win-win learning

One theory for the motivational power of games (both physical and online) is that players reach a mental state where they are completely focused on the task. This is sometimes referred to as ‘flow’ (1); in other words, the difficulty of the game is not too hard or too easy, equally matched to the player’s skill level.

It is at this level that games have the most potential as valuable classroom tools.

Read the entire blog post here: OUP Blog: Using Games for Win-Win Learning

CLASSROOM SHOWCASE

This week's pictures come from Diana Vayserfirova, and her level 5/6 class at Kingsbridge.

Please send me pictures, and be sure to include the branch name and level. I need them by the end of the business day on Wednesday. If I already have enough submissions for the week- that just means your pictures will be published the next week. Personally, I think the pictures that you share are the best part of the blog.

Thank you! elizabethschade@nypl.org

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that you can keep up with NYPL news on LAIR?

Don’t forget that staff receive a special 30% discount in the store or online 

with the code LASTFEB18 today. 
PS- I love my earrings and other things I got the day of the staff meeting.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

NYC ABE CONSORTIUM 2018 CONFERENCE

Celebrating Our 39th NYC ABE Conference Year 
This year's theme is: ​
​Empower Adult Educators, Empower Adult Learners  
Save the date: April 21, 2018, High School of Fashion Industries

Read about it in detail here:  nycabeconsortium.weebly.com

END QUOTE

“Good teaching is more a giving of right

questions than a giving of right answers.”

(Josef Albers)

Thank you for all that you do! Have a great week!

TEACHER HUB is a weekly blog of resources and information for instructors and staff of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Adult Literacy (ABE) programs of the New York Public Library in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island