Beyond Basics: Multilevel ESOL Classes

This course requires you to have taken ESOL Basics (online or face-to-face) or have at least one year of adult ESOL teaching experience prior to taking this course since the material learned in this course builds upon what is learned in that course. Please go to: http://www.valrc.org/trainings/courses/esol.html to learn more about that course and sign up.

This course is an in-depth follow up to our popular ESOL Basics course. Teachers of adult ESOL become experienced in teaching multilevel classes, because in reality, most adult ESOL classes are multilevel. A teacher may have ten students in her beginner level class, but each may come with a different level of education in his home country. Several students may have been living in the U.S. for several years, while others may have just arrived. With new migration patterns, new but small ESOL programs are on the rise. With limited resources, programs may need to combine levels.

For obvious reasons, this poses great challenges even for experienced teachers. Many teachers try, with little satisfaction and success, to stay ahead. They use their creativity, work long hours, create multiple lesson plans, and end up tired and unsure of their effectiveness.

This course is designed for teachers who want to tackle the challenges of teaching multilevel classes. It is for teachers who want to become not only experienced multilevel classroom teachers, but highly effective ones by using strategies that work. It is for teachers who want to still have energy for teaching after the time it takes to plan a multilevel lesson.

Course Objectives

• identify strategies for building community and promoting interaction in the multilevel classroom,
• conduct needs assessments in a multilevel classroom,
• develop lesson activities that support the goals of individual students in a multilevel classroom,
• identify effective grouping strategies for the multilevel classroom,
• develop materials for use in the multilevel classroom, and
• develop a lesson plan that integrates all information learned about multilevel teaching.

Each lesson addresses a different aspect of multilevel teaching. Course activities include readings, assignments, and discussions. Throughout the course, you will have a chance to reflect on and discuss important weekly topics with your classmates and share ideas and experience through the discussion board. Assignments put your new knowledge to work, allowing you to make your ideas concrete and apply them to your particular classroom. The lessons are developmental and sequential.

• Context and Challenges of Teaching Multilevel ESOL Classes
• Multiple Levels and Learning Goals: How to Do It All with One Teacher and One Classroom
• Interactive Activities and Grouping Strategies
• Grouping and Self-Access Materials for Independent Learning in Multilevel Classes
• Putting It All Together - Multilevel Lesson Planning and Your Future
• Reviewing Lesson Plans and Farewell

Completion of the course is designed to require a minimum of 18 hours of your time, approximately 3 hours for each week. However, you may find that you want to spend longer with some topics.

Because the course is designed for busy professionals, it is scheduled over several weeks to allow time to work through the materials and complete the course according to your schedule.

In order to receive the certificate for participating in the Beyond Basics: Multilevel training, you must complete all assignments, respond to all discussion questions, and complete each assignment.

Remember that, although you will gain from doing the activities, you will learn most from discussions with your online colleagues and facilitator. To keep our discussions as productive as possible, you must stay within the timeframe outlined for this course.

You and your colleagues across the state will be working via the Internet with an instructor who will help answer questions, provide resources, and help you evaluate your progress throughout the workshop.

• information to review;
• important resources including websites to visit, explore, and/or bookmark;
• online discussions for you and your classmates to reflect upon and participate in; and,
• assignments to complete for review by the online course facilitator and your fellow participants.

As part of the registration process, we ask that you go through a short tutorial on online learning in order to better prepare yourself for success.

Register Now!