Transcript Moving Beyond “I Need Speak Very Good English

Incorporating Goal-Setting in
Adult ESL Classrooms
Barbara Knox, Leslie Mladinich, and
Liv Beck
Presentation Agenda
• Brief review of what research tells us about
goal-setting
• Look at Goal-Setting Activities in a
Beginning Low Class
• Look at Activities in a “Literacy” Class
• Discussion of goal-setting
successes/challenges in your classes
Research Review
I.
II.
III.
IV.
One big reason to do goal-setting.
Reasons goal-setting is effective.
Important elements to keep in mind.
Some of the things that we learned in our
class project on goal-setting.
Why do Goal-Setting?
Helps with student persistence!
How does goal-setting help
with student persistence?
Connecting learners' goals and
class instruction helps teachers
meet students' needs and allows
students to experience success in
meeting their goals, which
contributes to their increased
motivation and persistence.
(Graves, 2004)
• With instruction on short-term
and long-term goals, students
are better able to mesh
personal, educational, and
career goals and better able to
articulate their needs to the
instructor. (Jackson, 1999.)
What does the research say about
HOW to do goal-setting?
Goal Setting must be
• Clear and specific
• Continual
• Achievable
• In the context of
instruction
Barbara’s & Liv’s Class Project
Our question:
• Do students in our evening Beginning
Low class who identify long term and
short term goals have higher rates of
persistence since January, 2008 than
students who do not identify personal
long term and short term goals?
We found...
• Most of the students expressed that they had goals,
but they were vague about what those goals were.
• Most of the students we interviewed expressed a
strong sense that English was important for their
future, but they did not seem to have a good sense
of how much English their goals required, or what
they were wanting out of class.
• Many of the students we interviewed expressed a
strong desire to help their families.
• Students were better able to articulate goals as we
did more in-class activities
Student Interviews
• Xian
To review:
•
•
•
•
•
Goal-setting helps with student persistence
It helps students...
It helps teachers...
It is most effective when...
In our class we found...
Goal setting in one Beginning
Low class
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Interview with Jorge
Pursuit of Happyness
3 question mingle
Songs and Goals
Stand Out and Timelines
Student Interview
• Jorge
• GED Student
• Formerly ESL student
at our same school
• Accessible Language
• Goals changed
Interview Questions
1. What is the name of the student we interviewed last week? _Jorge
Loma_______________
2. Where is he from? _Mexico___________________
3. What is his short term goal? __GED__________________
4. What is his long term goal? __go to college______________
5. Does he have the same goals now as before? no
6. Is the GED the same as college? __no_________
7. Is the GED the same as a high school diploma? __yes______
8. How many years did he study English? _4 years___________
9. What kind of job does he want? __business or carpenter ___
10. What does he tell students to do? _He tells the students that it’s important to learn
English to get a good job. Speak English in class and with your coworkers. If you
want, take the GED class.
2004
2008
2010
2012
Use of Songs and Goals
• “I tried”
• “Step by Step”
• “New York”
My name is Jana. I am from Denmark. I am 24 years
old. I am single. I like to read books and listen to music.
I have two sisters. They live in Denmark. I have no
children. I am single.
I was a server. Now I am a student at Goodstreet Adult
School. I want to learn good English because I want to
be a doctor in the United States.
Your Turn: Write about you.
My name is _______________________.
I am from______________________.
I_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Leslie’s experience in her literacy
class
Peer Training Day
Mira Costa College Worksheet
Linh Dang
Resize
Linh Dang
Mira
Costa
Expansio
n of Mira
Costa
Unsuccessful Goals Matching
Alfonso’s ESL
Bus
Alfonso’s Sentence of Goals
Susanna Chart
Juan Resized
Discussion Questions
1. Quickly find a partner.
2. Talk for five minutes about what you
have tried in your class. Or, what you
would like to try in your class.
3. Write down some of your ideas on the
index cards.
Report Back
What were some of your successful
ideas?
Leave us the index cards and Liv will type up
all of the ideas.
You can email her for a copy of the list:
[email protected]
THANK YOU
extra slides from last presentation
Categorize Goals
Educational
Career
Financial
Family
Personal
Educational
Career
Financial
Family
Personal
1. Go to
Laney
College
1. Own
my own
auto
body
shop.
1. Save
$100
every
month.
1. Visit
1. Quit
my family smoking.
in Mexico
next year.
Research suggests goal-setting
helps increase...
• a. the number of students who bring
you boxes of chocolate.
• b. CASAS scores.
• c. student persistence.
In a large study on persistence in adult education,
researchers found four main supports. The
third support was “establishment of a goal by
the student.” The fourth was “progress toward
reaching a goal.”
• “The staff of the educational program must help
the potential adult student define his or her goals
and understand the many instructional objectives
that must be met on the road to meeting that goal.”
(Comings, Parrella, & Soricone, 2000)
Goal Setting
• helps both the student and the instructor make
the necessary connections between the
students’ needs and the classroom
• helps everyone have a sense of direction with
the class
• allows students to more clearly see their own
progress and experience of success – gain
confidence
• helps students to take and feel more
responsibility for their own learning
• helps motivate student learning.
Choose the REAL QUOTE
A.
“With instruction on short-term and
long-term goals, students are better
able to mesh personal, educational,
and career goals and better able to
articulate their needs to the
instructor” (Jackson, 1999.)
B.
“Although goal-setting activities have
almost nothing to do with material we
need to cover in class, goal-setting is a
helpful activity for our students. So, I
take the time to do it” (Jameson, 1999).
Clear and Specific
Examples of goals frequently mentioned at intake
interviews are: "to speak English," "get a job,"
and "learn about the U.S."
However, if students are to feel successful and
motivated in class, and to persist in adult basic
education classes in the face of the many
obstacles in their lives, we believe it is necessary
to make these general goals clearer and more
specific. (Graves, 2004)
Continual
• “For goal-setting to be effective, it must be
continuing. For me this meant
incorporating this practice into my lesson
plans so that my students and I were
consciously aware of the process” (Meader,
2000).
Achievable
• “A goal should strike a balance between
being too easy and too difficult” (Rivers,
2006)
• “goals should be specific, hard but
achievable, accepted by the students and
accompanied by feedback” (Biggs and
Moore, 1993).
Context of Instruction
• “Teachers must then use these student goals
as the context for instruction and
intermittently review them, since they may
change.” (Comings, Parrella, & Soricone,
2000)