In this Performance Assessment, our JEFE (boss) has

successfully demonstrated a minimal level of

second language proficiency.

He has, however, failed the Exam and has been fined $50

for errors.

In the future, he may not take the risk and lose all

motivation to speak.

World Languages: An Investment in Our FutureIllinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Conference 2009

Performance Assessments that Motivate Students

Presented by Linda EgnatzLincoln-Way North High School

Are your eggs all in

one basket?

Performance Assessments that Motivate Students

Today’s student wants to know WHY they’re learning something, WHAT the personal benefits are to learning the information or skill, HOW you, the teacher, will measure their success and

ultimately HOW MUCH YOU CARE about their progress. In this workshop, we’ll tackle the “What’s in it for me?” question and

leave with techniques, proven activities and creative performance assessments that will encourage, engage and

excite your students toward language proficiency.

“There ain't no rules around here.

We're trying to accomplish something.”

-- Thomas Edison

A B C D E ‘s

A is for Assessments

B is for “Begin with the End in Mind”

C is for “I CAN” Activities with Context and Culture

D is for “Do-Overs” and “Do-Agains”

E is for Evaluation and Experiences

A is for AssessmentsWhat do your students currently do for a grade?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

? Does my assessment (grading) system motivate my students?

? Do my students’ grades reflect what they know or what they did?

? What do I really want my students to be able to do?

What do students need to be able to do in these subjects?

Student outcomes: “I CAN” Statements• I CAN comprehend what I read.• I CAN comprehend what I hear. SOS

• I CAN communicate ideas (speaking).• I CAN communicate ideas in writing.

• I CAN use cultural information to increase my understanding of the world and those who live in it.

• I CAN use the language in a cultural context.

They expect to use simple transference and translation.

They expect fluency in a short period of time.

They are excited to learn about culture.

-- “Promoting Motivation in the Foreign Language Classroom” Clear News – Vol 9.2 Michigan State University 2005

99% were taking a language class to fulfill college entrance requirements.

67% thought they would use their foreign language in a future career.

52% said the most challenging aspect of their language experience was speaking.

48% said that reading was their best skill, while only 18% said that speaking was their best skill. Another 20% said that listening was their best skill.

62% said they learned more by practicing and doing skits than homework.

73% said that they got help from friends to complete homework.

68% said they were disappointed that they couldn’t understand spoken Spanish; followed by 66% who were disappointed that they couldn’t respond.

64% chose to continue language study because they had a great experience in Spanish 2, but only 29% of those going on felt “highly skilled.”

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones.”

-- Joyn Maynard Keynes

Think about your students . . . LEVEL ONE STUDENTS . . . (Preactional Stage)

Making language learning possible LEVEL TWO STUDENTS . . . (Actional Stage)

Making language learning personal LEVEL THREE STUDENTS . . .

Making language learning professional (and vocational) LEVEL FOUR STUDENTS . . . (Postactional Stage)

Helping language students become proficient LEVEL FIVE STUDENTS . . . Helping language students’ use of target become profuse

It’s a little bit like coloring or paint-by-number.

Students are both excited and afraid

The Teacher must generate the excitement

The Teacher must at first foster the perceived likelihood of student success

The Students’ perception of the Teacher must be positive

The Teacher must continue to link classroom activities with beginning student motivations:

1. INTEGRATIVE - Identification with the target-language community

2. INSTRUMENTAL - Desire to learn the language for a practical goal

3. INTRINSIC - Desire to learn the language for fun or enrichment

It’s our job to “maintain and protect” motivation.

Classroom setting is especially important

The Teacher uses the student’s motivation to formalize commitment

The Teacher seeks ways to diminish anxiety and frustration

The Teacher avoids comparison, promotes cooperation instead of competition. Students must maintain a positive image to take risks.

The Teacher must specify what students will learn and how. Assessments must be clear and feedback prompt.

The Teacher cannot forget the “cultural” hook that makes the foreign language class different from others. (Linda’s note: Is it a vacation?)

It is now the Student’s turn.

The Student self-evaluates and determines quality of activities.

The Teacher’s feedback/grades are strong influencers (Give details!)

The Student must feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence to continue target-language activities independently.

? Is there anything I can change about my assessments so that they will reflect BOTH what I want my students to be able to do in the target-language AND what my students expect that they will be able to do in the target-language?

Refine your Assessments to measure a specific skill or I CAN Statement.

Connect every task to a specific skill or outcome and to an I CAN Statement.

Unit and Lesson Planning

1. What should students know or be able to do at the end of this lesson?

2. What might students already know about this lesson?

a. Background knowledge or schema

b. Previous vocabulary learned?

c. Previous grammar learned?

d. Previous culture learned?

3. How might I “Pre-Assess” what they know or recall?

4. What “hook” – cultural or contextual might I use to interest or engage the students in the lesson?

5. In what “Real-Life Activity” would students use this vocabulary, grammar or cultural knowledge?

“The struggle is not in how to motivate students to learn. The struggle is in creating lessons and classroom environments that focus and attract students’ intrinsic motivation.”

-- Motivation and Learning: Practical Teaching Strategies & Tips

I can read a magazine!

I can make/answer a phone call!

I can write an email about how I got my

new puppy!

I can listen to and understand lyrics!

“You've got to think about 'big things' while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”

-- Alvin Toffler

1. Students must believe that the activity is valuable. (i.e., homework, classroom practice, projects, etc.)

2. Students are more apt to apply themselves when they have choices in the activity or play an active role or part.

3. Students must believe that the learning/activity is possible for them to do successfully (to high levels of quality)

4. Students obtain evidence of mastery or evidence of progress. (Typically, grades and scores do not provide this evidence.)

5. Students must feel that the learning is environment is safe and it’s okay to make mistakes. Participation involves risk.

6. Students need to feel valued, cared about and included.

LW8

“I CAN” Statements for Food Vocabulary

1. I can recognize food vocabulary and phrases. (ex: match pictures, etc.)

2. I can use put food vocabulary into questions, answers and statements. (ex: restaurant, grocery store, dinner)

3. I can demonstrate comprehension (read/ listen) of a conversation or reading about food by answering questions accurately.

4. I can use food vocabulary to share a recipe, order in a restaurant, purchase groceries, describe a cultural dish, etc.

5. I have looked up and learned food words that I wanted to know or use in a written work or oral presentation.

SELECTION-BASED ASSESSMENTS – Rely upon “Recognition” Multiple-Choice, True/False and Matching Activities

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENTS – Student “Produces”

Constructed Response Assessments – short responses Fill in the blank, short answer sentences, graphic organizers, storyboards

Product Assessments – students plan and produce a product to meet given criteria (a rubric). Poster, essay, journal, poem, email, postcard, project, game,audio recording

Performance Assessments – students plan and produce a prepared performance to meet given criteria (a rubric). Demonstration, skit or role-play, oral presentation or speech, movie

Process Assessments – students present a “live” variable product. Debate, dialogue, interview, teaching, panel discussion, problem-solving

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION-BASED ASSESSMENTS – teacher/ student conversations or observations to determine attitudes/perspectives

--The High Performance Toolbox, S. Rogers & S. Graham, 1998

Samples

1. Risk-Taking: The willingness to confront more language than what you present own.

2. Vulnerability: The willingness to err for the broader goal of communication.

3. Intuition: The ability to sift for meaning.

John DeMado 2009 CSCTFL

Conference

If you could watch your students interact in a 2nd language culture . . .

You might be surprised by which students actually stay “in the ring” and “keep on trying”

– and by those who won’t leave their corner.

1. SHARE A “I need a Do-Over” moment?

2. Formative vs. Summative Assessments

3. What can “Do-Overs” and “Do-Agains” do for the student?

a.

b.

c.

4. How can implement “Do-Overs” and “Do-Agains”?

5. How do “Do-Overs” benefit the teacher?

Just like the “What Not to

Wear” makeover show, a few experts and wardrobe

changes can make you a

Better Teacher.

PREMISE:

Someone who is stuck in another

generation or period of their

life is nominated by friends and

family to receive a MAKEOVER.

STEP ONE: Secret Footage

Get Brave!

Videotape some of your lessons.

Do it for a week, so you’ll forget the camera is there and stop smiling in its direction.

STEP TWO: Education Designers

GRANT WIGGINS

UNDERSTANDING

by DESIGN

Dr. HOWARD GARDNER

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

STEP THREE: The Evaluation

The 360° MIRROR

STEP FOUR:Throw out the Lecture!

“Everyone thinks of

changing the world, but no one thinks of

changing himself.”

-- Leo Tolstoy

STEP FIVE:Shop for new Ideas!

“Some of my best thinking

has been done by others.”

-John Maxwell, writer

STEP SIX: The Finishing Touches

STEP SEVEN:The BIG Reveal

10 Commandments for Motivating Language Learners

1. Set a personal example with your own behavior. Be committed to good lesson preparation.

2. Create a pleasant, relaxed classroom atmosphere. Bring humor, laughter and fun to class.

3. Present the tasks clearly. Give clear directions, state the purpose and utility of every task. Provide guidance throughout.

4. Develop a good relationship with the learners – so they will want to please you.

5. Increase the learners’ linguistic self-confidence. Make sure student experience success regularly, encourage, demystify mistakes and don’t select tasks that exceed competence.

6. Make the language class interesting. Vary the tasks. Use lots of authentic supplemental material. Built on students’ interests to raise curiosity. Introduce the unexpected/exotic.

7. Promote learner autonomy. Encourage creative, imaginative ideas. Student should share responsibility and be involved in task, material selection.

8. Personalize the learning process. Fill tasks with personal content that is relevant.

9. Increase the learners’ goal-orientedness. Help students set up realistic expectations and goals.

10. Familiarize learners with the target language culture. Use authentic materials. Students

should listen to and view native speakers. Establish pen pals or other group forums.-- “Ten Commandments for motivating language learners” Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. Language Teaching Research, 1998.

Recommendations for Motivating Students at the School Level

1. Enhance the prestige of the foreign language in the school curriculum. (Linda’s note: or at least the awareness)

2. Provide learners with non-traditional feedback. (less like a grade and more of a progress report -- informally and frequently presented in a positive, conversational format.)

3. More emphasis should be given to lesson preparation and follow-up.

4. Keep students interested in what brought them to YOUR LANGUAGE classroom – Emphasize culture more.

-- “Motivating language learners” G.N. Chambers, Multilingual Matters, 1999.

Have you ever thought you were doing a good job but you didn’t get the feedback you were expecting? How close were you listening?

Salvador - Hora 5 

Este proyecto me ayudó mucho porque por la primera vez yo pienso que puedo conectar la lengua con la vida real. En lugar de hacer listas de vocabulario o algo similar, yo puedo ver lugares en el sitio Web y videos que usan el español en situaciones auténticas. Yo tuve que aprender más verbos y gramática que yo no sabía o no pude recordar. Pero, aunque era difícil a veces comprender todo, estaba feliz que pude leer y más o menos comprender todo. El proyecto era una gran ayuda para aprender a usar la lengua en la vida real.

Salvador - 5th 

This project helped me a lot because for the first time I think I can connect the language with real life. Instead of making vocabulary lists or something similar, I can view websites and videos that use Spanish in real situations. I had to learn more verbs and grammar that I didn’t know or couldn’t remember. But, although it was difficult at times to understand everything, I was happy that I could read and more or less understand it all. The project was a big help to learn to use the language in real life.

“Go for the Real Thing” Include

Performance Assessments

Use “Authentic Sources”

Add Cultural Stimuli (images, music, manipulatives, activities)

Thematic Units

Cross-Curricular Activities

Real-World Connections

Family & Community Connections

Coqui

Puerto Rico

Tortilla

Spain or Mexico?

Flamenco -SpainEducation in Costa Rica

Pottery

The differences

between Inca, Aztec and Mayan

pottery

Performance Assessments coupled with Intrinsic Motivation

A – Authentic Accomplishments (Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing)

B – Building a skill set and desire for ongoing language study

C – Cultural Understanding and Community Connections

D – Doors to future language opportunities (Personal & Professional)

E – Excitement about future language Experiences.

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.” – Winston Churchill

A. What Assessments do you plan to revise? How?

B. What will you change about how you begin a lesson or unit?

C. Think about a unit you’re teaching now. What “I CANs” will students need to be able to do for your final assessments?

D. How do you feel about Do-Overs? Homework? Any changes?

E. What “Real Life” Experience(s) can you add to an upcoming unit?

“Do not follow where the path may lead.Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

-- Robert Frost

Presented by Linda L. Egnatz

Lincoln-Way North High School, Frankfort, IL

legnatz@lw210.org