Distance Learning

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In light of the fact that World Language teachers are grappling with ways to help their students continue to make gains and progress toward proficiency targets, CT COLT has collected some resources and information. As with all resources used, be sure to adhere to district policies for student use and access.

As we are in the 3rd year of awarding the Seal of Biliteracy in Connecticut, we will be able to continue those efforts through remote testing. With that in mind, it is important to have opportunities for students to work together in the interpersonal mode of communication. Within this document, there are resources available to explain how to use services like Zoom to have group conversations and break out rooms for pair work.

CT COLT is working to create webinars to help teachers make the pedagogical shifts needed at this unprecedented time. Please check out our newest webinars! They are linked here and also below.

Distance Learning in Elementary School: With Dorie Conlon-Perugini and Kazumi Yamashita-Iverson, facilitated by Jessica Haxhi and Rebecca Aubrey
Distance Learning in Middle School: With Trudy Anderson and Rebecca Aubrey, facilitated by Jimmy Wildman and Jessica Haxhi
Distance Learning in High School: With Meiching Chang and Lea Graner Kennedy, facilitated by Amanda Robustelli-Price and Jimmy Wildman

Seal of Biliteracy Remote Testing: Both LTI Testing and Avant are working to provide testing for the Seal from home.

LTI Testing: AAPPL & ALIRA Test

Avant: STAMP Test

Sources for Authentic Resources:

COERLL: The Center for Open Educational Resources for Language Learning (All Languages)
Pinterest (See Leslie Grahn or Laura Terrill)
United Nations: in Spanish, in French, in Chinese, in Arabic, in Russian
Huffington Post: in Spanish, in French
Newsela: for Spanish or EL Free Access for remainder of school year
Language Choice Board: Leslie Grahn
Extempore: The assessment and practice app, addressing the 4 language learning challenges.

Activity Ideas:

Distance Learning Matrix - Jessica Haxhi: Comprehensive Matrix of low-tech to high tech distance learning activities across the 5Cs.
Choice Boards for Young Language Learners: Ideas from Leslie Grahn, any language, includes tech and non-tech strategies.
Google Forms: These can be used for Do Nows, exit tickets, and homework assignments. For homework assignments, they can be used as quizzes. These forms can be designed with an answer key so that, when students click ¨submit¨, they get immediate feedback. There is a drawback: There is no support for accented characters.
Pear Deck: It is very similar to NearPod. Users can design vocabulary assessments as well as incorporate interactive slides into Google Slides. Not every district will support this add-on, but there are ways to work around it.
EdPuzzle: A way to add questions to videos. This is a great way to engage students with authentic resources.
Screencastify: It is an extension on Google Chrome that can be used to narrate presentations of vocabulary, and to present grammar concepts via the PACE model.
Screencast-o-matic: Similar to Screencastify, allows you to capture your screen and add voice narration.
Language Choice Practice Board: Check out this example of a practice board that you could share with students.
Audio Lingua: Authentic recordings in 13 available languages. Can be filtered according to proficiency level (attention: These are European proficiency levels, such as A1, B1, C1, etc. A = novice; B = intermediate; C = advanced).
Flipgrid: Great way for students to share what they learned in a short timed video.
Seesaw: Assign activities to students that can include videos, presentational writing, labeling and describing photos, etc. Great students of all ages and easy to set up and access.
QTALK Story Maker: Resource for creating customizable story boards.
National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL): Variety of resources for educators, including access to stories and videos for students of all ages in a variety of languages.
CITA Distance Learning: While the resources in this Google Drive can be used as a model for any language, they are designed specifically for Italian teachers. For direct questions or collaboration initiatives please contact Gina Gallo ginagallo@bristolk12.org

Video Resources:

Salsa: Great for early language learners, developed by PBS. Traditional folktales retold with puppets, not from the target culture, but all in Spanish.
Pachas en Peru: Over 100 free videos about Peru, with interviews in Spanish, and some linked activities.
FluentKey: Videos with embedded comprehension questions, in a variety of languages, by proficiency level Some videos are authentic resources.

PD for Teachers:

ACTFL: Free access to a variety of resources, including webinars, Virtual Learning Modules, and books.
CLASS Webinars: Class has provided several webinars for Chinese teachers on strategies for distance learning: Teaching Chinese in COVID-19 ; Canvas; and Gimkit.
Yale’s Article: Teachable Opportunities to think about what students CAN DO
Extempore: A guide to distance learning
Columbia Language Resource Center: Video on how to teach with Zoom
Nicole Naditz: (2015 ACTFL Teacher of the Year) Resource guide for planning and implementing distance learning.

New to Remote Learning?:

"How to Move Online in a Hurry": ACTFL Webinar to help get you going
Zoom: How to teach with Zoom (Columbia Language Resource Center)
Google Meet Hangout: Schedule Class Meetings via Calendar (Google's statement on COVID).
Webinars from Vista/Santillana: Transitioning to remote teaching webinars free to ALL by Vista/Santillana
Webinars: Variety of upcoming and recorded webinars by ACTFL

Free and Discounted Resources:

Zoom.us: Watch a 4-minute tutorial about how to get started for free. Break out rooms are a wonderful way to allow students to move to output (interpersonal mode) to make meaning and have conversations about the authentic resources that they are reading and listening to in the interpretive mode. Assign students to a group (name of a city for example) and they have conversations in small groups after the teacher launches in full group.
Cox Discounted Internet: Offering a discounted internet plan, with the first month free.
Educational companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings
NADSFL: COVID-19 guidance, including a variety of online resources.
Scholastic Learning at Home (ESL)
Vista Higher Learning: 90-day free teacher access, as well as a variety of webinars and learning resources.