Earlier this month, I gave a presentation on Independent Exploration at the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers’ (NYSAFLT) Summer Institute. Although I’ve blogged about Independent Exploration (or IndEx, as I sometimes abbreviate it) before, I’ve never really delved too deeply into how to go about creating your own library, which I did in my presentation, so I will address that here. Before reading the rest of this post, I recommend you read my initial post on Independent Exploration and explore my library.
First, What Is Independent Exploration?
Independent Exploration is a library of resources for students to use to practice their language skills, acquire new language, and expand their cultural competence. At various points throughout the year, students peruse the library and find something in it to do, then show the teacher evidence of learning to receive credit. Many students end up enjoying what they did enough that they continue to use the library even when it’s not assigned. The library also makes a great resource for when students finish a task early or there is a substitute; they can go back many times and still not see everything so it doesn’t get boring. Ultimately, it makes learning fun and personalizes it so students enjoy it and want to keep pursuing it. The original inspiration for this came from “Real World Homework” on The Creative Language Class Blog.
How to Make Your Own Library
First, you need a place to post your resources, preferably on your school’s LMS. Make navigation easier by linking back to the main page or category main page from each resource. It helps to make a heading for each category to hook students in. I used Canva to make mine. Here’s an example of one:
Don’t underestimate the value of screenshots to showcase websites or apps for students. Visual representation hooks them in more easily.
YouTube playlists will update automatically when you update them on YouTube, so embed them once and forget it! You may want to go through from time to time though and remove videos that have been deleted from YouTube and add new relevant videos you find. This probably goes without saying, but be sure to screen all videos completely for appropriateness before adding them to a playlist, even if it was recommended by another teacher!
Be prepared to spend a great deal of time when you first make the library (summer is a good time to work on it, but you can start at any time) – but then you have it forever and only have to make tweaks going forward, adding new resources as you find them and removing out of date ones.
Categories
Below I’ll talk a little about each category. You can click the header image (created in Canva) to access it.
Further Considerations on What Resources to Include
Consider age-appropriateness in either direction. If the intended audience is much older or younger than the students, they are likely to be uninterested in the content. Content should be entertaining and engaging. Students want to be entertained, so humor or references to pop culture students are familiar with are always a plus. Nonetheless, still make sure your resources align with your goals and objectives for students and are educationally sound.
With regards to subtitles, when including videos, I generally only include ones with CC available, which they can translate to English. This gives students the option to be able to follow along while they’re watching. I also explain in my intro video, on each category page, and during class how to translate the subtitles to English. The only exception to this is music videos, because they rarely have CC and students can always look up the lyrics and translation. Note that auto-generated and auto-translated subtitles are not without errors, but I find in most cases they get the idea across. Teachers of higher levels may feel differently about the need for subtitles.
How I Pitch It to My Students
I have this illustration hanging up in my classroom. At the beginning of the year, I explain to them that learning a language is just like playing a sport or an instrument; practice is required in order to give your best performance. Speaking and listening to French only 200 minutes a week on average, one can only acquire so much language. It’s not the same as living abroad, so you must supplement it with your own practice. Using Independent Exploration outside of class will help you be the best French speaker you can be. Explaining all this to students helps them manage their expectations appropriately. Many students are under the impression that they will achieve fluency much faster and more easily than they actually will, and it’s important to help them understand the amount of work that is required, especially when not living in an immersive environment 24/7, to actually achieve mastery.
I also show students this video, which I made in PowToon (email subscribers, click here to view the video).
Many of you are probably already aware of PowToon and may have already used it. It’s a great way to give a peek to your students of what’s in your library and hook them in.
Showing Evidence of Learning
In order to receive credit on Independent Exploration, my students must show evidence of learning. There are a few different ways they can do that. When using Duolingo, they can upload a screenshot of their progress. When watching a video or movie in French, they can provide a list of new words learned and/or words recognized. Sometimes, after watching a cultural video, they can answer questions I have posted on the category page. If they cooked something, uploading a picture of themselves with their dish. If they taught French to someone, a list of what words they taught and what methods they used to teach it. Students upload or type up their evidence into an assignment on Canvas, our school’s LMS. I used to have students get parent signatures to verify that they did the work, but I found having them show me what they learned is even better. Here are some examples of evidence that I previously shared on here:
Student Input
Don’t forget to ask students how they’d like to explore independently! I always welcome student suggestions as long as they run them by me first.
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