Instructors

Each STARTALK program must complete a student program curriculum template, and each student program with learners in grades 6 or above must use LinguaFolio Online to document students’ learning.

The curriculum template helps program directors and instructors implement a standards-based and thematically organized curriculum. As part of the process to completing your curriculum template, you must identify the learning targets of your program by selecting appropriate NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements (2015 NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do_Statements).

The same Can-Do Statements you select will guide your students will shape your program’s use of LinguaFolio Online. You will be able to select these Can-Do Statements in the LinguaFolio Online system so that your students see only those statements.

Using LinguaFolio Online regularly throughout your program helps learners see the progress they are making in your STARTALK program and helps motivate them to set increasingly more challenging goals for themselves. Attempting to complete all of LinguaFolio Online in one or two class periods negates any real advantage this tool can bring to you or your students’ learning.

Pre-Program Preparation

  1. Program directors should set up group sections for their program and select the Can-Do Statements in LinguaFolio Online that match the curriculum template.
  2. As an instructor, you must sign up for the group your program director created. See the tutorial page for instructions.
  3. Think through your program’s activities and identify areas that might produce evidence that learners can upload into LinguaFolio Online to demonstrate their progress toward the Can-Do Statements. For example, you select the Can-Do Statement, “I can communicate on very familiar topics using a variety of words and phrases that I have practiced and memorized” in your curriculum template. Your program will have a lesson on food, so students will practice naming and asking about specific ingredients. During class, they will create a warning poster saying that there are specific allergens in the ingredients. Have students take a picture of their poster and upload it to LinguaFolio to show their work toward that specific Can-Do Statement.
  4. Schedule some lab space so that students will have access to the Internet where they can work on LinguaFolio Online. Ideally, students will be able to login to LinguaFolio Online every few days. Attempting to complete all of LinguaFolio Online in one or two class periods negates any real advantage this tool can bring to you or your students’ learning.

Getting Started: Introducing LinguaFolio to Students

  1. Have a conversation about the importance of setting goals. Setting long-term goals can help motivate students to continue learning a language and culture, while setting short-term goals helps students see their incremental progress.
  2. Discuss the importance of identifying previous language learning experiences and how students can use those previous experiences to inform their study of your target language.
  3. Have your students create their LinguaFolio Online account. Please see the tutorials page for instructions.

During the Program

  1. Share the goal of each day’s instruction. Help students set their goals for what they would like to achieve related to the unit or lesson, and help them identify ways to measure their success.
  2. At the end of each day, ask students to reflect on their learning and assess how they are feeling about their language learning progress.
  3. Schedule some lab space so that students will have access to the Internet where they can work on LinguaFolio Online. Ideally, students will be able to login to LinguaFolio Online every few days. Attempting to complete all of LinguaFolio Online in one or two class periods negates any real advantage this tool can bring to you or your students’ learning.