Unlocking Spontaneous Speaking: A Strategic Approach

Outline

Introduction & Session Overview (5 minutes)
• Content: Briefly introduce Microsoft Teams' Reading Coach/Progress and outline the session's goals.
• Engagement: Engage the audience with an interactive poll on current language learning challenges they face.
• Time: 5 minutes.
• Process: Live poll and Q&A to gauge participant expectations and encourage active listening.
2. Exploring Reading Coach/Progress Features (15 minutes)
• Content: Demonstrate key features of Microsoft Teams' Reading Coach/Progress, focusing on personalized feedback, progress tracking, and assessment integration.
• Engagement: Attendees will explore a live demo of the platform, observing how it tailors learning to individual students.
• Time: 15 minutes.
• Process: Walkthrough with live platform demonstration and opportunities for participants to ask questions via chat or microphone.
3. Designing Assessments with Reading Coach (15 minutes)
• Content: Showcase how educators can design formative and summative assessments tailored to language learners.
• Engagement: Participants will collaborate in small groups via breakout rooms to design a basic assessment using the tools.
• Time: 15 minutes.
• Process: Peer-to-peer interaction in breakout rooms, followed by a brief share-out of assessment ideas.
4. Using Data to Inform Instruction (10 minutes)
• Content: Explain how to collect and analyze assessment data using Reading Coach to guide instruction and personalize learning.
• Engagement: Participants will analyze sample student data provided in the session and discuss how they might adapt their instruction based on the insights.
• Time: 10 minutes.
• Process: Device-based activity where participants review data and engage in a group discussion.
5. Empowering Students with Self-Reflection & Ownership (10 minutes)
• Content: Discuss strategies for encouraging student agency through self-assessment and reflection using Reading Progress.
• Engagement: Attendees will participate in a reflective activity, where they role-play as students, using self-assessment tools to monitor their own progress.
• Time: 10 minutes.
• Process: Interactive reflection exercise with peer-to-peer sharing of insights.
6. Q&A and Practical Implementation Tips (5 minutes)
• Content: Provide practical tips for integrating Reading Coach/Progress into existing language programs.
• Engagement: Open floor for questions and discussion, addressing participant concerns or implementation challenges.
• Time: 5 minutes.
• Process: Live Q&A and interactive feedback from attendees.
Total Time: 60 minutes
Throughout the session, engagement tactics such as live polls, breakout group discussions, peer-to-peer interaction, device-based activities, and real-time Q&A will be used to ensure attendees are actively involved and able to apply the learning. This combination of demonstration, hands-on practice, and collaboration will create a dynamic and interactive learning experience.

Supporting research

Microsoft Teams Education Tools

"The Challenges of Language Learning in the Digital Age" – The Language Educator
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-5275-0114-0-sample.pdf

"Gen Z and Foreign Language Learning: Adapting to New Realities" – Language Magazine
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336306856_Generation_Z_and_Digital_Tools_in_Teaching_Foreign_Languages