Skye Playsted Thursday 14 May 2020 When we think of the term ‘culture’, it can be easy to focus on concrete elements such as art, music, clothing or food. However,…
The ideas compiled here are from teacher comments and discussions during a number of professional learning sessions that VicTESOL has run since the move to online and remote learning began. The teachers who participated were from primary and secondary schools and from the adult education sector.
Like the teachers in this session, we hope the ideas and resources in this list help you to also feel more confident about supporting EAL learners remotely. This list includes the positives (what’s working), some challenges, tips, strategies and resources. We hope you find them both useful for, and affirming of your experiences and practices. Thank you to all the participants for sharing their ideas and to the session facilitators for compiling them.
EAL information for schools is outlined on the Department website at:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/diversity/eal/Pages/default.aspx
Click here to access information relating to:
Online discussion forum and mini-presentations
Tuesday 5 May & Thursday 7 May, 4:00-5:45pm
VicTESOL provided an online space for teachers to come together to discuss their experience of teaching and supporting EAL students remotely during the COVID-19 crisis.
The session began with a number of mini-presentations with presenters sharing what they have implemented so far and their reflections on the experience of remote teaching and learning. This was followed by small group discussions between participants in which there was an opportunity for participants to share their experience and also hear what other teachers are implementing, sharing tips and advice for future learning. Librarian Jennifer Peck from the Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) then presented some of their multilingual and EAL online resources.
Click here to access the information shared by Jennifer Peck from the Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC).
Click here to view the ideas and the resource list compiled from teacher comments and discussions during these professional learning sessions.
Click here to join the teacher discussion forum on Facebook ‘LBOTE Families and home learning’. Click here to access further information on the VicTESOL website about this discussion group.
Click here to access information relating to the Department resources.
The Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) has produced two lists with examples of online multilingual and differentiated texts that may be useful support materials for remote learning, access them by visiting:
Titles, abstracts and links to many resources including the following sites can be found in the two lists above.
Information about LMERC:
Visit the LMERC website for information and to access the recent issue of the LMERC newsletter.
https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/pages/learningfromhome
This page has been established to support educators access digital resources that can be used to support learning at home. Resources include sets of self-directed learning activities that can be provided to students in the form of a Word document or as a printed workbook. It also contains links to our top collections for great digital learning options. This page is updated regularly so please visit again to access new resources. This page has been established to support educators access digital resources that can be used to support learning at home. Resources include sets of self-directed learning activities that can be provided to students in the form of a Word document or as a printed workbook. It also contains links to our top collections for great digital learning options. This page is updated regularly so please visit again to access new resources.This page has been established to support educators accessing digital resources that can be used to support learning at home. Resources include sets of self-directed learning activities that can be provided to students in the form of a Word document or as a printed workbook. It also contains links to digital learning options. This page is updated regularly so please visit again to access new resources.
These resources can be used by teachers to develop activities for EAL learners at home. The collection includes resources are suitable for newly arrived students and students learning English at later stages, as well as resources that can be used to develop offline activities or to support online learning. These resources can be used by teachers to develop activities for EAL learners at home. The collection includes resources that are suitable for newly arrived students and students learning English at later stages, as well as resources that can be used to develop offline activities or to support online learning.
The Webex Team EAL Space is for you to connect with peers, discuss any topics, and ask questions. If you have a DET email (EduPass) you can login using the email address and password for your EduPass account. The space is not limited to department employees and anyone can create a free account on Webex Teams and join.
To download an edited PDF of powerpoint:
To download the resource links page:
Victoria Butterfield, Voula MacKenzie, Heena Sharma, Panayiota Kai
The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program of the Victorian School of Languages (VSL)
Tuesday 28 April, 4-5pm
Online Webinar
Are you faced with the challenge of teaching your EAL students online during the COVID-19 crisis?
This session provided practical strategies for teaching EAL online, followed by a Q and A session with a panel of expert primary and secondary EAL teachers who work with the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program.
Participants learnt tips and strategies for the effective use of videoconferencing to teach EAL learners. Examples were shown of how engaging lessons can be conducted online for F-10 EAL learners at all levels.
This professional learning session focused on working with EAL students who have access to videoconferencing software at home.
About the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program [VNAP]
The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program supports new arrival EAL students using video conferencing sessions delivered through a distance education model at the Victorian School of Languages (VSL). The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (VNAP) is specifically for newly-arrived EAL learners in remote country schools who cannot access an English Language School or English Language Centre.
Victoria Butterfield is co-coordinator and a teacher in the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (VNAP). She is a highly accomplished EAL teacher who has taught in English Language Schools and Centres in Victoria for the past twelve years. Since 2017, Victoria has taught in the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program to support newly-arrived EAL learners and teachers in regional Victoria.
Voula MacKenzie is an experienced EAL, Information Technology and Humanities teacher, who has taught in Victorian secondary schools, English Language centres and most recently at the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (Distance Education) hosted at the Victorian School of languages campus in Thornbury. Since 2014, Voula has led the development of the Virtual EAL program, which began as a pilot project, and is now an established program with 65 students throughout rural Victoria. Voula co-coordinates the program.
Heena Sharma is a generalist teacher specialising in EAL. She has worked in government Primary schools for over 15 years and in collaboration with Panayiota Kai teaching EAL. Heena Sharma joined the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program team in 2017.
Panayiota Kai is a generalist teacher specialising in Languages and EAL. She has taught in government Primary and Secondary schools for over 20 years. Panayiota has worked as an EAL Coach, trained EAL Leaders and offered PD on EAL issues. Panayiota has been part of the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program as Curriculum Co-ordinator since 2015.
Are you concerned about your LBOTE students accessing schoolwork at home because their families come from different language backgrounds or parents do not speak English?
Do you have questions about how you can engage parents so that students can learn more effectively at home?
Dr. Marianne Turner, Dr. Anne Keary and Dr. Katrina Tour from the Education Faculty at Monash University have set up a Facebook page to stimulate discussion and the sharing of ideas on these very important concerns.
Click here to access the page.
Listening skills are ones we all employ, both passively and actively, but how do we teach and evaluate them as part of VCE EAL assessment?
In this session you will consider how to develop and embed valid EAL listening assessment into every outcome of Units 1-4 through the completion and analysis of an existing assessment tool and subsequent creation of a task based on evidence-based listening assessment practices.
As a passionate EAL, Spanish and 7-12 English teacher as well as an active VicTESOL committee member and second language learner, April is highly experienced in the areas of first and additional languages education. She completed her Masters thesis on VCE listening task assessment at the University of Melbourne and is currently training undergraduate and post graduate teachers at La Trobe University in literacy, secondary EAL pedagogy and curriculum and interdisciplinary education. She recently developed materials for the DET Koorie Outcomes Unit to promote the use of EAL teaching practices for improved social and academic outcomes for Victoria’s Indigenous students.
Wednesday 4 March
Functional Multilingualism/Translanguaging are currently popular terms being researched, discussed and adapted to diverse learning settings. This webinar was a practical response to the current interest in Translanguaging, suggesting ways this might look in EALD classrooms and what teachers might consider when developing Translanguaging activities. With the intention of bringing students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge to the fore through redesigning Australian Curriculum and SACE task, four tasks, along with samples of student work, were presented and discussed.
Janet Armitage currently works for the South Australian Department for Education in the role of EAL/D Hub Coach supporting teachers in professional development that recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander EALD learners. Janet undertook action research in a large secondary school in South Australia where she was an EALD teacher and EALD & Languages Coordinator. She is also a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics with the University of South Australia and has been part of a team providing professional development to Languages teachers across the state.
