AIM and CEFR

AIM Language Learning's Professional Development Department is pleased to announce that we have created a full-day workshop agenda designed to give FSL teachers a comprehensive overview of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) – its background, its purpose and its implications – for Ontario French teachers.


The workshop will be available to book for your school board or organization from November 2011.


This workshop provides a perfect vehicle to get your teachers up to speed with the CEFR as quickly as possible, to reflect on their current teaching practice and to suggest tools to succeed in both their teaching and assessment of students.


During the morning portion of this highly transactional workshop, participants will:

 

  • Receive a copy of AIM's CEFR Handbook;
  • Become familiarized with CEFR Global Scale Grid and Self Assessment Grid;
  • Learn how to place themselves on the CEFR language proficiency continuum from A1 to C2;
  • Discover the eleven key elements of the CEFR classroom and the Action-Oriented Approach;
  • View video samples of student interviews at various levels of proficiency;
  • View examples of student written work at various levels of proficiency;
  • Discover how to use the AIM Language Skill Assessment Book.


In the afternoon portion of the workshop, teachers will broaden their knowledge of techniques employed in the Accelerative Integrated Methodology (AIM) (but not exclusive to our methodology) that are key to second language fluency development:

 

  • Exclusive use of the target language
  • Multi-modal & multi-disciplinary strategies
  • Modelling & scaffolded learning
  • Brain-based learning strategies
  • A holistic four-skills approach
  • Assessment that reflects The Seven Fundamental Principles found in 'Growing Success'
  • AIM's student self-assessment tool: Mon portfolio de langues

 

Teachers will learn how key AIM techniques and strategies have been designed to help students achieve higher oral and written fluency levels. The participants will work hands-on with these techniques and strategies and will reflect upon why they are effective in light of the recommendations found in the CEFR's Action Oriented Approach.

 

Call us right away to secure your workshop dates. Call Jennifer or Adel: 1 800 668 6288, ext. 105

 


CEFR Workshop Agenda

9:00 - 9:10

Introduction

9:10 - 9:35

Eleven key elements of the CEFR Classroom and The Action-Oriented Approach

 

Teachers will learn the eleven most important elements found in a successful FSL classroom, one that reflects the philosophy, the Action-Oriented Approach, of the CEFR. These elements are a combination of Geoff Collin's (2011) Top-Ten Looks-fors in a CEFR Classroom, L'approche actionnelle by Dominique Le Ray (2006) and the AIM.


9:35 - 9:50

Quiz, Quiz, Trade Activity

 

This is designed to review what has been covered in the workshop so far. Each participant receives a strip of paper with a question relating to one of the discussion/presentation points from the first part of the workshop. The participants answer the question on the back if they can and, if not, they search the workshop document provided, locate the answer and write it on the back of the piece of paper. Each participant then finds a partner who has done the same with his/her question and they take turns asking each other their questions. If one of the participants does not know the answer, then the partner teaches the answer to him/her. The partners then exchange questions and answers and find different partners with whom they repeat this process with their new question.


9:50 - 10:05

CEFR Grids – Overview

 

Show the CEFR Global Scale grids and have the participants rate themselves quickly, then discuss their level and how it affects their teaching with a partner.

10:05 - 10:35

Audio Samples

 

Participants listen to the audio samples (four in total) of AIM Core French students demonstrating different levels of oral language production and interaction, based on the Activities found in the Production orale component of the Language Skill Assessment Book published by AIM Language Learning. Participants make notes on the page provided to reflect on the development of oral fluency. With a partner, the teachers then discuss what they have seen and heard.

10:35 - 10:50

Break

 

10:50 - 11:05

Language Skill Assessment Book

 

Show the booklet that has been created by AIM Language Learning to assess students in the following areas:

 

  1. Compréhension orale
  2. Compréhension écrite
  3. Production orale
  4. Production écrite

 

This has been used with the students in the audio and written work samples in this workshop.

11:05 - 11:35

Written Samples of Work

 

Participants view written samples (four in total) of AIM Core French students work. Participants make notes on the page provided to reflect on the development of written fluency. With a partner, the teachers then discuss the writing samples.

11:35 - 11:50

Language skills and strategies chart

 

Participants view and discuss the chart.

11:50 - 12:10

How to Achieve the Appropriate Fluency Levels

 

There will be a brief discussion about the essential elements of the AIM – the principles upon which the AIM is founded are all recognized as good linguistic pedagogy:

 

  1. Exclusive use of the target language
  2. Multi-modal & multi-disciplinary strategies
  3. Modelling & scaffolded learning
  4. Brain-based learning strategies
  5. Four-skills approach
  6. Formative assessment

12:10 - 1:00

Lunch

1:00 - 1:15

Teacher Self-Assessment

 

Participants self-evaluate their skills as AIM teachers using the AIM self-assessment checklist. Identify how this is similar and expands upon Geoff Collins' 'Top 10 Look-fors in the CEFR Classroom'.

1:15 - 1:35

Student Assessment

 

Assessment should benefit student learning and improve teaching practice. Both The Seven Fundamental Principles, found in the Ontario Ministry document , ‘Growing Success’ as well as the Student Language Portfolio (AIM’s Mon portfolio de langues) will help teachers and students to achieve their goals. Participants will discover how these documents tie into both the philosophy of the AIM and the CEFR’s Action-Oriented Approach.

1:35 - 2:55

How the AIM helps students achieve higher language levels

 

Five key AIM techniques/strategies that help students develop communicative competency. In blocks of twenty minutes per technique/strategy, the following will occur:

 

  1. The facilitator will select a small group of ‘students’ to participate in the activity
  2. The remainder of the audience will be ‘observers’

 

The facilitator will guide the 'students' through each technique/strategy and will show how the same activity would differ for AIM students at the following language proficiency levels: Rudimentary Fluency, Developing Fluency and Working Fluency. All teachers, both students and observers then reflect on:

 

  1. How the activity differs across levels
  2. How their implementation of the activity compares with what they saw in the demonstration
  3. How the technique/strategy works to improve fluency

2:55 - 3:00

Overall reflection

 

The facilitator will help participants summarize the purpose of each technique/strategy and will reinforce how each component of the AIM program works synergistically with all the other components to develop communicative competency. It is hoped that all participants will come to understand how the AIM is exponentially more powerful when all components are used together.

 

Contact the AIM Professional Development Department:
 

Jennifer Hall

Professional Development Director
Jennifer@aimlanguagelearning.com
1800-668-6288 ext. 107