Teaching Written Essays for Standardized Tests
iTDi Advanced Teaching Skills Self-study Course
Teaching Written Essays for Standardized Tests with Steven Herder There are many practical, motivating ways to help students improve their writing and feel better prepared for the writing section of a standardized test. This course will explore essay writing from several perspectives including basic theory about L2 writing, overcoming initial barriers, developing skills through feedback, and using online tools to efficiently track and improve writing. Participants will see that students can improve their writing relatively quickly, and that they will gain satisfaction watching them grow. Session 1: Background • Contextualization of the course • Influences from the literature • Six Issues in Writing (Fluency vs. Process writing approach; Error correction; Writing genres; Use of L1; Activity variety; Testing and assessment) • Setting goals based on International scores Session 2: Getting Started • Getting started with L2 writing • Identifying qualitative and quantitative essay goals • Impediments to writing, and corresponding solutions • Activities to expand and develop L2 writers Session 3: Feedback • Useless vs. Useful Error Correction • Three types of errors activity • Developing peer editors • Addressing Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF) Session 4: Enjoyment of the Learning Experience. • The power of essay data tracking and self-assessment • Google Drive Student Profile • Essay assessments for fluency, cohesion and complexity • Essay assessments for vocabulary, academic words and complexity Each recorded session will involve discussing and trying out of activities as well as the presentation of ideas and an opportunity for you to answer a discussion question. The course download includes session recordings, readings, and discussion questions
Click here to return to the download page
iTDi Advanced Teaching Skills Self-study Course
Teaching Written Essays for Standardized Tests with Steven Herder
Steven Herder has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for over 25 years at the elementary, junior and senior high school level, and now as assistant professor in the Department of International Studies at Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto Japan. There, he teaches TOEFL iBT preparation, and a 3rd / 4th year seminar on Exploring Leadership. He is an author and editor of two Palgrave Macmillan teacher resources, Innovating EFL Teaching in Asia (2012) and Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia (2014). Since 2010, he has been working with Suken Publishing on the high school textbook series Big Dipper Series I, II, III as well as writing various workbooks and graded readers. In 2012, he and a network of like-minded educators co-founded the iTDi, an online community for teachers by teachers, with over 5000 members in over 100 countries.
Get your professional development certified with iTDi Teachers taking this course have the option of working toward a Certificate of Completion verifying 20 hours of Professional Development credit. To be eligible for this certificate, you will be expected to watch recorded sessions, read assigned articles and submit written answers to discussion questions.
Click here to return to the download page
Teaching Written Essays for Standardized Tests with Steven Herder There are many practical, motivating ways to help students improve their writing and feel better prepared for the writing section of a standardized test. This course will explore essay writing from several perspectives including basic theory about L2 writing, overcoming initial barriers, developing skills through feedback, and using online tools to efficiently track and improve writing. Participants will see that students can improve their writing relatively quickly, and that they will gain satisfaction watching them grow. Session 1: Background • Contextualization of the course • Influences from the literature • Six Issues in Writing (Fluency vs. Process writing approach; Error correction; Writing genres; Use of L1; Activity variety; Testing and assessment) • Setting goals based on International scores Session 2: Getting Started • Getting started with L2 writing • Identifying qualitative and quantitative essay goals • Impediments to writing, and corresponding solutions • Activities to expand and develop L2 writers Session 3: Feedback • Useless vs. Useful Error Correction • Three types of errors activity • Developing peer editors • Addressing Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF) Session 4: Enjoyment of the Learning Experience. • The power of essay data tracking and self-assessment • Google Drive Student Profile • Essay assessments for fluency, cohesion and complexity • Essay assessments for vocabulary, academic words and complexity Each recorded session will involve discussing and trying out of activities as well as the presentation of ideas and an opportunity for you to answer a discussion question. The course download includes session recordings, readings, and discussion questions
Click here to return to the download page
iTDi Advanced Teaching Skills Self-study Course
Teaching Written Essays for Standardized Tests with Steven Herder
Steven Herder has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for over 25 years at the elementary, junior and senior high school level, and now as assistant professor in the Department of International Studies at Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto Japan. There, he teaches TOEFL iBT preparation, and a 3rd / 4th year seminar on Exploring Leadership. He is an author and editor of two Palgrave Macmillan teacher resources, Innovating EFL Teaching in Asia (2012) and Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia (2014). Since 2010, he has been working with Suken Publishing on the high school textbook series Big Dipper Series I, II, III as well as writing various workbooks and graded readers. In 2012, he and a network of like-minded educators co-founded the iTDi, an online community for teachers by teachers, with over 5000 members in over 100 countries.
Get your professional development certified with iTDi Teachers taking this course have the option of working toward a Certificate of Completion verifying 20 hours of Professional Development credit. To be eligible for this certificate, you will be expected to watch recorded sessions, read assigned articles and submit written answers to discussion questions.
Click here to return to the download page
