Summary: This week I read an article about keeping students engaged during online tutoring. The article was written by Marcelo Barbosa Gagliano and in the article they mention that there is a specific type of student that will succeed in this setting and they have the following characteristics: (Gagliano 2017) These characteristics are definitely the ideal traits for a student who is going to engage in online learning. The article goes on to say the instruction should mirror this set up: (Gagliano 2017) My Thoughts: When I was reading this article I immediately thought about online learning due to the COVID-19 shut down. Those great qualities mentioned above of students are definitely not the qualities all students possessed going into the pandemic. A lot of students were ok and could get a handle on what they were supposed to do, but a lot of students struggled. My ELL students definitely missed out ...
This week I decided to research NoRedInk a little bit. Our regular education ELA classes use this website in their classrooms, and I have been meaning to look into it a little more. NoRedInk is an online program, free and premium versions available, where students can practice various skills as they relate to English Language Arts. Summary of reading: I found a dissertation titled, Exploring the Use of NoRedInk as a Tool for Composition Instruction written by Alyson Snowe. Her dissertation is 211 pages, so admittedly I didn’t read it cover to cover, but I was particularly interested in the 5th chapter: Students respond to NoRedInk. In her paper, Snowe notes that all students with the exception of one was able to make progress on their grammar skills. I also enjoyed reading the comments the students made on the program, and they said they wish NoRedInk would add an audio component that will read feedback aloud to you when you get something wrong. The appeal: I hav...