tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post1556187844821945804..comments2024-03-08T13:06:37.359-08:00Comments on The Joy of ESL Blog: A Troll PollKellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-75037668941884867312019-08-02T02:31:51.066-07:002019-08-02T02:31:51.066-07:00Agreed. My previous school used to be quite a nice...Agreed. My previous school used to be quite a nice place to work with excellent results by students, but with pbla it deteriorated completely (and student abilities plummeted). I moved on, but unfortunately, my new school has the most toxic environment I've ever encountered in 20 years of teaching, due to pbla. The field has been ruined by pbla.gerggohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956599567563328531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-75070860613540491842019-08-02T02:23:30.995-07:002019-08-02T02:23:30.995-07:00Absolutely spot on! I have also witnessed a wither...Absolutely spot on! I have also witnessed a withering of student abilities with the onset of pbla. At my school, students often spend a year in one level! One lead almost always fails all of her students in most assessments and has the gall to tell the rest of us that we don't know how to make proper tests!gerggohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956599567563328531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-16603940227443927642019-02-21T20:58:20.027-08:002019-02-21T20:58:20.027-08:00Bullying and harassment are the most common result...Bullying and harassment are the most common result of PBLA. Students bully and harass instructors for artefacts. In a workplace in southern Ontario, the employer bullies and harasses instructors by constant micromanaging and over policing. This system created by hyper PBLA implementation in a toxic environment. <br /><br />Staff are stressed beyond coping. New employees in all capacities are being poisoned my PBLA. It is a problem. FUNDERS, please stop the insanity train please.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-78228755195993042412019-02-18T15:26:26.540-08:002019-02-18T15:26:26.540-08:00I know (have worked with for many years) the auth...I know (have worked with for many years) the author of the article in the KW record - the last link posted by Claudie. She's a great and experienced teacher admired and respected by her students and peers. This is significant. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-43177171222562909872019-02-18T14:25:49.307-08:002019-02-18T14:25:49.307-08:00
Sorry to be such a hog but it is Family Day in O... <br />Sorry to be such a hog but it is Family Day in Ontario and I’m enjoying a leisurely Monday with time to think...<br /><br />I want to tell so many of the Anons how much I liked your posts. How much I appreciate your sharing. <br /><br />Tutela? Don’t forget, like pbla, LearnIT2Teach it is IRCC funded. All are doing their best withl limiited funds I guess, However professional standards are professional standards. A business would not get away with what is produced. Better than nothing? Of course. But caveat emptor. <br /><br />Norma. And those that wanted background...a few links. Mixed bag...add to Kelly’s links...hope the links work! <br /><br />https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1001891.pdf Ripley study - the study that “supported” introduction of pbla...<br /><br />https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/evaluations/language-instruction-newcomers-canada-2010/relevance.html. LINC background...<br /><br />https://www.bcteal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/TEAL-News-Winter-2018-FINAL-2.pdf Ripley second study. Page 16 <br /><br />http://www.teslontario.org/uploads/paneldiscussion/Panel_2016.pdf Yves Saint Germain is Director of Language policy at IRCC (Integration Branch). Interesting references to accountability and to pbla...gives a picture of complexities of immigration integration. We appreciate how complex it is...<br /><br />https://teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/article/view/1220/1039 Tara Holmes on PBLA sustainability. INTERESTING list of her references - gives idea of “research” on which PBLA is based. For those that were asking..Don’t say we only post anti-PBLA stuff...<br /><br />https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/download/267/309/. Ditto. Ryan is a Regional Coach. <br /><br />(But watch Norm Friesen’s video for thought on academic underpinnings)..<br />https://vimeo.com/218740537<br />Just an opinion...<br />https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/8618174-new-esl-methodology-serves-neither-students-nor-teachers<br />claudiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203496693621797550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-36847301548643212019-02-18T04:21:56.502-08:002019-02-18T04:21:56.502-08:00In June 1992 the Canada Employment and Immigration...In June 1992 the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission created the LINC program. In October the Ontario Regional office of CEIC began the LINC Curriculum project. TESLOntario was contracted to coordinate the project. The “Revised” guidelines came out in March 1997.<br /><br />I started teaching in November 1999!<br /><br />CERTIFICATION CAME IN IN 2000. That was a big step for the “normalisation of the ESL profession. Fairly decent Pay scales were set, TESL schools had to be certified. There was very generous support for LINC teachers to attend TESLOntario conferences.<br /><br />The CLBs and the “suggested guidelines” were part of my ESL practice from the start.<br /><br />There was a lot of accountability. We were observed by managers. I was lucky enough to work at Overland LC with a remarkable site manager and amazing teachers. There was money for resources, field trips. <br /><br />But there were also many problems with ESL/LINC. <br /><br />The new 2012 CLB document came out but at first pretty much everyone used the old descriptors IF THEY USED THE CLBs AT ALL. I went to an all day TDSB workshop on the 2012 document, got my own copy. <br /><br />We assessed using resources that had been field tested. I kept student work samples and copies of their tests in a work sample folder (one for each student). I still keep these as the binders don’t really show me student progress in the same way AND they are not in my control. Extra work but worth it.<br /><br />I can see that many instructors across Canada did not have the same experience I did. For them the huge “PD” experiment that is presented as “PBLA” MAYBE represents a welcome guide as to to “how to”. And is what they mean by “we didn’t know what we were doing before” and “I like the structure of PBLA”. “PBLA makes me more serious.”<br /><br />The greater part of the “PBLA” Training is PD about the CLBs, that 2012 CLB document, how to use it, and not about test (assessment) creation.<br /><br />So do they mean they like the CLB part of “PBLA”?<br /><br />Unique and central to PBLA is the idea that non-expert test creators would create tests that would be used for high stakes purposes and the invention of the “artefact collection”/Inventory Lists (32) for promotion (or not. FAIL) to the next level. Seems that CIC/IRCC had the idea that 2,000+ instructors creating their own tests would somehow result in a Standardised panCanadian mode of English delivery. Take 10 binders from the same level from teachers across the country - you will see this is not so. Look at the RWTAB and you willl see the task assessments are not uniform, standardised.<br /><br />There are too many signs of non-professionalism, inconsistency, unreliability, invalidity for me to say this is an OK approach to SLA assessment <br /><br /><br />The LC? My Canada and Useful English etc are maybe more useful to INSTRUCTORS who do not have this knowledge than to the learners (yes, I have seen this IS a reality.). <br /><br />PBLA has affected the way I teach - adversely. I don’t complain much about the time spent creating stuff. I have not lost my joyof ESL. But my head is buzzing with having to focus on the “artefact creation and collection” and NOT focus on. teach ing English authentically. <br /><br />Go in, follow the dots for “skill building”. Colour in the numbers for skill using. Present the tests. Mark. Notate. Write pretty meaningless “feedback”. File the papers and write in the tracking lists. Count how many you still need. Do it all again. Task assessment and rubric. Task assessment and rubric. <br /><br /> Those who “fail”? Too bad. You’ll do another GTD “reading assessment” in a month maybe. Can’t get the CLB L4S4 certificate to APPLY for Citizenship? Too bad. Your problem. <br /><br />Provides needed structure for some?<br />One of my students said “If you have an organised binder it does not mean you are a good student”.<br />Does having this “PBLA” structure make you a good teacher? Are students learning more? Yes. Really? Then maybe IRCC is right. There WAS a problem. But maybe what was needed was to set stronger academic credentials for the hiring of teachers. And abandon the idea of noncredit courses. <br /><br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPadclaudiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00203496693621797550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-75503082527020101462019-02-17T17:47:54.149-08:002019-02-17T17:47:54.149-08:00bevside should be because (typo)bevside should be because (typo)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-57808267285471574442019-02-17T17:45:46.606-08:002019-02-17T17:45:46.606-08:00Anonymous 9:30,
In my opinion, we can appreciate t...Anonymous 9:30,<br />In my opinion, we can appreciate the effort, yet recognize the work may not be CLB and/or PBLA-aligned. It may also lack validity and reliability—simply because the training has been inconsistent and contributors are not expert assessment developers. I do not blame teachers for any of these issues. And I do appreciate their contributions. But the fact remains that tutela is largely unhelpful bevside the content is not consistently reliable or valid. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-18952365022254546092019-02-17T05:05:12.696-08:002019-02-17T05:05:12.696-08:00Read all that the “church basement / non-native sp...Read all that the “church basement / non-native speaking teachers in ESL” Anonymous writer wrote and you might then understand how this type of reminiscing is unhelpful to your cause. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-30794568603262301082019-02-16T19:16:32.747-08:002019-02-16T19:16:32.747-08:00This is Anonymous 1:40 pm.
I was appalled by Anon...This is Anonymous 1:40 pm. <br />I was appalled by Anonymous 7:03am’s comment about non-native speaker teachers AND how easily she slipped it in there as part of her “I am a powerful anti-PBLA commenter” campaign. Now THAT is the type of comment that hurts our fight and makes us look ridiculous. Shameful. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-30654547381670943262019-02-16T17:25:48.150-08:002019-02-16T17:25:48.150-08:00Wondering about Tutela,
I don't have a link. I...Wondering about Tutela,<br />I don't have a link. I'm not even sure I should have shared that. I know it's a clause in my SPO's contract and thus assumed it is so for all IRCC-funded programs. The wording I laid eyes on did not stipulate PBLA-compatible or of what quality. No details were given other than "two resources," and it was per SPO, not per teacher.Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-26253740281905027622019-02-16T17:12:09.424-08:002019-02-16T17:12:09.424-08:00Anonymous 2/16/2019 1:40 PM,
I want to go on recor...Anonymous 2/16/2019 1:40 PM,<br />I want to go on record right now regarding the non-native speaker teacher comment. I am VERY uncomfortable with anyone making a distinction. Most of my best Spanish teachers (it was my university major) were non-native speakers. They were brilliant profs, far better in my estimation than their NS counterparts in the department. I am surrounded by excellent non-native speaker colleagues who set the bar for this profession in so many ways. Conversely, I know many sub-par teachers. Not a single one of them is a non-native speaker. I don't think it's a distinction that need ever be made. --KMKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-27329194249017791142019-02-16T13:40:16.744-08:002019-02-16T13:40:16.744-08:00Please explain your non native English speaking te...Please explain your non native English speaking teachers comment before I and others discount everything you just wrote here. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-7819980128551356552019-02-16T09:30:33.171-08:002019-02-16T09:30:33.171-08:00Dear Wondering about Tutela,
I hear that you are ...Dear Wondering about Tutela,<br /><br />I hear that you are complaining about TUTELA. The people who post to TUTELA are brave. They are trying to help. Leave them intact. By asking in the first paragraph if there are quality controls, you imply that what you have found lacks quality. Be kind. The people have tried to help.<br /><br />Anyways, I happily "like" everything on TUTELA because they have tried.<br /><br />Stuck in the worst PBLA environment possible pretending to represent the "Gold Standard" of trash.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-90309858531908636342019-02-16T07:56:08.223-08:002019-02-16T07:56:08.223-08:00Kelly, do you have a link for more information on ...Kelly, do you have a link for more information on this? Is the expectation 2 resources for each SPO or each teacher/level/class in an SPO? And how are "resources" being defined? Are there any quality controls? As a classroom teacher, I am not privy to any part of the decision-making process.<br />I find it difficult to find resources on Tutela and (more importantly) when I do find resources, the quality varies so widely. Despite the labelling, I find some are not level-appropriate. Some are PDFs which makes adaptation for my context difficult. Many are content-specific for a particular province. Professional teaching resources are not Facebook memes; using "Likes" is not an appropriate way to vet course materials.<br />Tutela has not fulfilled its promise as a national repository.Wondering about Tutelanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-59294611309721314502019-02-16T07:42:59.656-08:002019-02-16T07:42:59.656-08:00PBLA has demoralized and divided the ESL community...PBLA has demoralized and divided the ESL community. I am grateful for this forum so I know that I am not alone. <br />I cannot use my name as I need my job.anonymous because I must benoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-88989967221371160572019-02-16T07:03:38.611-08:002019-02-16T07:03:38.611-08:00I don't believe that remembering the past is n...I don't believe that remembering the past is negative. The past is our baseline. The present success rate is below the baseline. The PBLA binder holds a very limited scope of language necessary to succeed. <br /><br />Previously students learned faster, learned more information and were more agile speakers than the students that PBLA produces. CLB 7 PBLA students are not able to perform well in academic situations. This is a shame.<br /><br />Presently, the creators of PBLA may want to vilify the older teachers with decades of experience but they are doing so on the backs of immigrants. The only people benefiting from PBLA are the creators and non native English speaking teachers who may have a hard time managing an organic, holistic classroom in which an agile experienced teacher can teach grammar, and content, and tasks "on the fly". Sorry, PBLA is a poor replacement for language development. PBLA is a failure.<br /><br />I am powerful. I am not in a worse position. I am happy that I had the chance to see student success before PBLAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-87046040468230461292019-02-16T02:41:50.950-08:002019-02-16T02:41:50.950-08:00I don't understand that last comment. How is i... I don't understand that last comment. How is it unhelpful to reminisce about the old days? To the church basement teacher, you just described my history of ESL teaching with the exception of a few years teaching in a university environment. This blog is called the joy of ESL. It's what we all want back. It is relevant that all of us who started pre PBLA are skilled at doing what we do; also relevant that we have done so under difficult circumstances. We know how to teach ESL. We are flexible and adaptable and think quickly on our feet. We were already doing needs assessments and were able to somehow take care of everyone - no one was left behind because of an absurd need to 'pass' 8 + tasks in all skill areas. The end result of our hard work, compassion, flexibility was success with our students. The point is, we were able to do this before and can still do it. When you say it's not helpful what do you mean? Getting rid of PBLA completely would work as most of us are that skilled (look at our history). Toss the binders, give teachers the job of figuring out what to do on their own. Almost guaranteed ESL programs would start to thrive again and the joy of ESL would be back. I find it interesting and quite sad that I teach my students about clarity. You want people to understand you when speaking or writing. Keep your sentences clear and concise. Say what you need to say. Don't use jargon. When you're speaking make sure every sentence has a subject and a verb. Finish your sentences. Be clear. This is the grassroots nitty gritty of teaching a language. Learn to be fluent. Make people understand you. How in any way shape or form can PBLA be useful with its jargon loaded pages, with teachers testing and testing and testing (testing what???) with students who have nothing but the fear of failing a test hanging over their heads? The time frame for success which is absurdly based on passing not even standardized tests but tests created by US - tests which take up so much time to create and mark that there is little time for actual teaching? The point of the previous writer's comments is to show that we used to be successful in language teaching - teaching students how to speak, read and write English. That is what we were trained to do. That is what we used to do. That is what we still can do. That is what we need to do and at the end of their time in class the students could walk out the door not exhausted and frustrated by their inability to pass a test, but smiling and ready for the world , ready for high school or college, ready for work, ready for whatever they want to do. We could focus once again on the individual students and if they were fast learners, we could scoot them through the levels and even send them to college or university. The slower ones, the older ones, the traumatized ones, the women who have been taking care of children for years, the refugees who have just left a refugee camp after 17 years, the wounded ones - they could move on when they're ready without feeling the pressure of yet one more failure in their lives. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-31666752695995743642019-02-15T21:46:29.276-08:002019-02-15T21:46:29.276-08:00I know you mean well and miss the old days of esl ...I know you mean well and miss the old days of esl but this comment does not help our fight against the changes that need to be made and sadly it may actually put teachers in a worsened and less powerful position than they are already in. <br />All hail the gestetner Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-9473909061342877722019-02-15T17:29:40.411-08:002019-02-15T17:29:40.411-08:00It is Family Day Weekend in Ontario. Sorry, if yo...It is Family Day Weekend in Ontario. Sorry, if your province or territory doesn't have a day off on Monday. <br /><br />I believe that I know who the "Linda" is,or at least who she represents. Some people have never had the joy of teaching a "real" ESL class that was genuinely lead by students needs and wants. I have and it is better than a PBLA classroom<br /><br />Many, many years ago, I began teaching in a church basement. I taught from pre clb to clb 7. All day. By myself. It was a grammar centred program with class textbooks for each level. There were VHS cassettes for each level and listening stations too. As I taught 8 levels there was no time for "individualised" lessons that met each learners goals. We were together to learn as much as we could in as little time as possible.<br /><br />Do you know what Linda? This whiner saw people move through from 0 to 7 in less than two years. Students were able to enter grade 10 high school credits at an adult learning centre and get their Ontario High School diploma in under a year for some and in a year for others. So in less than 3 years extreme beginners were able to meet their goals and find work.<br /><br />All with a Language Companion, no artefacts, no task lists, no SMART goals and no real world tasks. Just adventure and support and free access to resources. PS we had no computers but we did have an old fashioned set of encyclopaedia. Heck, we spent the first half of the day reading the paper and watching CBC or Kathy Lee and Regis. Seriously, we spent 5.5 hours a day as a big happy "family" that worked together to help each other learn English. <br /><br />Too bad PBLA/CLB/CIC have ruined language learning over the last 7 years. 2012 was a bad year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-45922121352556365402019-02-15T12:41:32.378-08:002019-02-15T12:41:32.378-08:00Yes, on the website at https://www.kellymorrissey....Yes, on the website at https://www.kellymorrissey.com/pbla-activism.html<br />--KMKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-9455524750622732002019-02-15T12:38:40.886-08:002019-02-15T12:38:40.886-08:00Piloting began in Ottawa several years ago and was...Piloting began in Ottawa several years ago and was followed by a series of "cohorts" receiving training over a period of at least a year before full implementation. Yes, it is a requirement of funding for each service provider organization that received funding from either IRCC or the provincial Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI) and a condition of employment for any teacher wishing to teach at one of those agencies. That's my understanding; correct me if I'm wrong, anyone. --KMKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-8811978312007550342019-02-15T12:34:05.748-08:002019-02-15T12:34:05.748-08:00With each article that Yuliya writes, she increasi...With each article that Yuliya writes, she increasingly concludes the study with recommendations. So yes, I will continue to point you and others to Yuliya's articles about her research and to other writings to which I link on my PBLA activism page. https://www.kellymorrissey.com/pbla-activism.html --KMKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-90524881820751189212019-02-15T12:31:40.958-08:002019-02-15T12:31:40.958-08:00Thank you for that. I do recognize that sometimes ...Thank you for that. I do recognize that sometimes people come on here to share something positive and get shut down. This argument --about the purpose of and rules for this forum-- is starting to remind me of similar arguments over whether men should be allowed into a women-only space and whether minorities have a right to have meetings in which members of the ruling class are not allowed to join. We who want to fight to end PBLA or radically reduce its sphere are not in positions of power to do so. We are the underdog in this fight. So in that sense I do think it's fair to create a space where members of the power structure and those who ally themselves with it must identify themselves in order to participate. I hope that makes sense, but I totally get it if you want to just stay away. --KMKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7828415387916366867.post-50572832025295267282019-02-15T12:25:03.986-08:002019-02-15T12:25:03.986-08:00If you are mainly interested in Back to the Well r...If you are mainly interested in Back to the Well resources, you can just stick to the website www.kellymorrissey.com. I'm not doing much with that anymore. The blog here has morphed into a place to update each other on the state of PBLA activism. I suppose the situation between my website and my blog is a lot like my relationship with the colleagues where I work. They know they can all come to me anytime for resources and I will share freely, open my file drawers and start spreading stuff all over the tables for them. But they also know not to get me started on how I feel about PBLA unless they want to get me worked up. Some do, others don't. But no, the short answer to one of your questions is that no, I don't only want to SILENCE those who believe in PBLA. I just don't agree with their taking advantage of the anonymity feature, which I only enabled because without it many of us could not come here to comment AT ALL. Without that feature we could not share what is happening from agency to agency. The anonymity feature was never intended to allow anyone to come here and dismiss our fight as "grumbling" without revealing who they are, as we would like to be able to identify those whose cheerleading for PBLA stems from a vested interest in promoting it. --KMKellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08182881635816655061noreply@blogger.com