Designing your teaching
& learning episode
The teaching and learning episode
What is the purpose of the
episode?
What is the intellectual or
conceptual focus of the episode
for students?
What types of ‘exchanges’
should students be involved in? used. This would include either proper or improper applications of the rules, as students might also
What concepts do you want
students to engage with?
What types of information do you
want them to share or
contribute?
What learning outcomes does
the episode assess?
How will you cover the set
curriculum?
What connections students
should be making between the
curriculum materials?
What major topics, sections, or
materials should be covered?
The episode focuses on teaching Foundation level 2 students a lesson on capitalization
and punctuation. The lesson has to be dynamic yet easy for students to follow as they
are still learning English. The purpose would also be for students to become inspired
and actively involved throughout. What I want my students to achieve is not just a
grammatical understanding of where to use certain rules, but also for them to
understand why, and make connections with their daily lives, and even connect with the
use of punctuation in their native language.
There are two focuses of the episode for students – comprehension as well as application. The
students should be able to see what they are learning in many different contexts, and be able to
apply reasoning and understanding to make sense of the rules of punctuation and capitalization.
They should be able to then apply these rules to their own writing. What we are learning in class
should be applied in a broader sense – in their real lives, and even if they choose to ‘not’ apply
these rules (e.g. if they choose to use slang in their writing), but at least understand what they
mean and recognize them when they see them.
Students would be involved in short written exchanges, in which capitalization and punctuation are
want to experience the teenage culture of deliberately writing incorrectly, using new abbreviations,
emojis, slang, etc. Some exchanges might include sharing of opinions, in which they practice what
they have learned, or analyzing others’ exchanges and forming a discussion. I might even ask
some students to do some editing work, which would fall under analysis or critique, in which they
correct capitalization and punctuation of real-life exchanges or chats.
I would want to choose something appealing, relevant to their lives and authentic. At
this stage in my students’ lives, they are very focused on sharing their lives with
pictures. So any social media tool that would make them actively follow and participate
in a project would be effective. Using an active social media tool would introduce them
to modern and world-relevant concepts, since a big factor to their motivation would be
relevancy.
I’d want them to form answers to questions, or form questions. I would want them to post a contribution to a
classroom discussion, or a reflection after a class session. I would want them to post videos that show some
sort of activity or participation in an English-related project, and participation would include both posting and
commenting on posts. In addition, I would them to contribute their own thoughts, ideas, and perspectives or
even share new knowledge that came about as they did re-search or review for our classwork. Of course,
these thoughts would be consistent with what we are learning in class, as well as within provided rules or in
respect of cultural values. We’re not trying to rock the boat here, just to turn learning into an exciting journey
that they all want to be a part of.
We have specific standards and learning outcomes that we need to focus on in
Foundations. As teachers we try to align our teaching with those standards, and for
writing this includes: 1. W1. Can do basic self- and peer-editing using a
predetermined checklist. And W3. Can write appropriately structured short descriptive
and narrative paragraphs about personal environment, including people, places, past
experiences and activities, habits and routines, including the ability to express likes
and dislikes.
I’d focus on the main themes and what questions I can ask for students to
gain some knowledge of the main parts of the lesson. I’d plan by small
lessons with time limits and set activities that are effective in covering the
main aspects of the theme, effectively using technology and social media in
the process.
Students should be able to map out their activities and
achievements with the curriculum objectives. This would
be done through social media – related projects that
address main standards.
The basic topic would be writing using capitalization and punctuation.
Content and use of social media will be adapted to cover these objectives,
and the material would be any topic that students can use to practice their
writing. This will probably cover themes that might come in the final exam,
including personal, environment, people, places, past experiences, etc.
What skills should students
learn?
How can students demonstrate
their learning?
How will you assess students’
work?
The tool or service
Why have you chosen to use this
tool or service? That is, does it
support your purpose?
Are you using the service
appropriately – for what it is
designed for (for example, wikis
for collaboration, blogs for
critique and reflection)?
How will your use of the tool or
service support curriculum or
learning objectives?
Can students choose their own I would like students to choose their own tool, but not at first. We would want to establish
tool or service, or will you choose basic ground rules and ideas for how they need to participate, and preferably all students
it for them?
If students are allowed to choose
their own tool or service, then
what are the baseline
requirements for functionality and
security?
How will you add or invite
students to use the tool or
service?
Students need to be prepared for a writing exam that will be on the
computer – so keyboarding skills, as well as answering questions in writing
related to our modern and technological world would be a major skill
student should learn. They also need to practice proper methods of sharing
and commenting.
Students need to be prepared for a writing exam that will be on the computer – so
keyboarding skills, as well as answering questions in writing related to our modern
and technological world would be a major skill student should learn. They also need
to practice proper methods of sharing and commenting. Students would also show
comprehension and application skills.
Students’ work will be assessed in a step-by-step process using
a rubric. They would need to follow instructions and be graded
on how their work reflects understanding of the topic and
application of the learning.
I have chosen to use this tool as it covers my needs of having an available source
of participation. It would be easy to collect information from students, and students
would be interested in using it. It would be a service that students would enjoy, and
easily find the time and energy to participate. Students would be able to participate
and collaborate on all assignments.
I feel like the service I am using is ideal for collaboration, editing and documentation
of students’ work. Students are able to share information and knowledge, and see
each other’s’ work easily.
This tool is suitable as it is possible to use it for introducing students to many
different contexts in which they will face different types of language usage. It seems
like the right tool for what I want my students to achieve – which is basic knowledge
of how capitalization, punctuation and regular writing rules are applied in real-life
contexts.
would be asked to use the same tool for reasons of uniformity and ease of access.
Because of the many risks and threats that students might face when choosing their
own tools, the baseline requirements would be any tool that can 1)easily connect
with the teacher 2)fulfill task requirements. After some thought, if I did want students
to choose their own tool, I might give them a list of preferred options as a starting
point.
My favorite way of adding or inviting students would be to send a link, and a recent
use of QR scanning systems has made me realize how easy, convenient and fun it is
to link codes to a QR sheet and have students join through that.
Students
What will students be doing with Students would be posting reactions on specific educational content, working
the social media you have together to give comments, editing when necessary, and becoming active members
of the social media group.
chosen?

How will students identify Students will be asked to identify themselves using first names and
themselves? First names only? initials for their last names. This would be for privacy reasons.

What sort of administrative

access will students have to the
service?
Students may have limited administrative access to classroom blogs,
but full access to their own accounts. This means they could post,
edit, and comment freely, but limited access to make large changes
into classroom settings.

How frequently should students Students will be asked to contribute per task, and this would ideally be
contribute? weekly, but editing and posting comments could be done as often or
as little as they like.

How will you assess individual or Students will receive both individual as well as group grades, and
group contributions? groups will be assessed based on not only contributions but what
comes out of reflection and follow-up discussions and consultations.

How will you deal with any poor
behaviour in the use of the
service?
Students will be asked to consider carefully what they are posting before submitting anything.
They will be informed in advance about what constitutes proper contributions, and what
consequences they will gain (removal of posts, removal from account, etc.) when warnings are
not heeded. Chances will be given to those who aren’t sure if they have done something
wrong, but students will be asked to consult with a team leader or the teacher if they are
thinking of posting something that they are not sure about.

What do you need to teach Students will be given a lesson on keeping safe when online, and this includes rules for
sharing of information (about themselves or others) copying other people’s work, and being
students about privacy, safe with passwords.
copyright, security?

What if a student doesn’t have Students will be asked to complete assignments at the Learning Center in the library – will full
access at home? Will you expect access to the internet. Those who choose to do more work at home may do so, but library and
librarian services will be available for them as the main source for information and support.
them to access the service at
school or via a public library?

Should students’ work be public,
private, or somewhere in
between (for example, public,
but not searchable by search
engines)?
For our specific needs, we do need a public tool in which students can share their work in
real-life contexts. However, this environment will be controlled in terms of what public
comments will be removed, and how to direct the topics into more educational themes rather
than just for the sake of posting online.

Will students need technical
assistance with using the service
and can you provide this if
necessary?
Even though students might be experienced with the social media tool we use, there would
be some form of basic technical assistance when starting out on a new tool. Usually log in or
setting up account requirements are similar across social media platforms or services,
however I might choose to guide them and specify what kind of user names they can choose,
how much information to share as part of their bio, etc. In case of account deletion or
password retrieval instances that student often face, some basic technical assistance might
be needed, but that would be on a case-by-case situation.
You
Do you have enough time and This would be a working progress, so even if the start is rocky the course builds up and the
more I repeat this plan the easier it will be to get work done, to predict mishaps, and to get
energy to manage this project? lessons accomplished.

Do you have an appropriate skill I would start off with choosing a tool that I am reasonably familiar with – this would help with me
having the appropriate skill level to manage the class. Student input – especially those more
level to manage the project? familiar with the tool – will always be encouraged, and it is always nice to challenge ones’ self
and try to gain new skills in new projects.

What will be the level of your My involvement will be limited to making adjustments and improvements for the next time I
teach the course using this method. In terms of the work and activities itself, students will be
involvement? taking charge from day 1.

How will you communicate your Instructions and planning materials will be recorded online for students to have full access to. I’d
also make use of tutorial videos and online examples.
expectations?

What level of scaffolding do you Since I expect students to do most of the work themselves, I might provide a high level of
scaffolding. This would be in the form of instructional videos, tips, and examples for students to
need to provide? make use of. Students will also be asked to build such material for future students taking the
same course.

How will you evaluate the A daily or weekly record will be kept on progress, problems, and future reference tips. My
effectiveness of using the service students will also be asked to provide timely feedback on their opinion of how effective the
service was in their learning.
in class?