Search results matching tag 'reflective practice'

Pedagogy & Creative Collaboration (#flatclass Book Club – Part 6)

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:39:14 GMT

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by jakerome Thankfully, the #flatclass book club took a break last week due to Mothers’ Day, which gave me a welcome reprieve as I tried to catch up with my blog reflections. This week, I’m going to share my reflections on Chapters 7 & 8 [...]

2011: A Year of Change

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:37:00 GMT

2011 marked a time of upheaval, new possibilities, and transformative change in my personal and professional life. As I begin my third year of teaching, I believe I’ve finally found my educational niche, my calling. While I still don’t know where my journey is taking me, I know I’m heading in the right direction. So, [...]

The Twelve Days of Geekmas: Seven simple statements

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:24:39 GMT

On the seventh day of Geekmas, some blogger gave to me: seven simple statements

Welcome to the teflgeek Christmas celebration! Themed around the classic Christmas carol – but going backwards, mostly because it’s more like a countdown that way:

12 blogs worth clutching

11 tips for writing

10 tricks for reading

9 pretty pictures

8 talks worth watching

And seven simple statements with which to teach by: Be Consistent - Be Persistent - Be Buoyant - Be Diligent - Be Knowledgeable - Be Adaptable - Be Human.

Be consistent – we all like to know where and what the boundaries are, particularly when we’re young and we’re still having trouble figuring things like this out, but also when we’re older, because boundaries help set comfort levels. We feel safe when we know what to expect. So as a teacher, the lesson is simple. Either decide or negotiate the way you want the class to be – and stick to it.

Be persistent – by all means try out new behavioural routines, but give them time to work. The classes I’ve had most trouble with can usually be traced back to me thinking “Well that didn’t work, now what?” and trying something new every lesson. Don’t give up. Kids and teenagers in particular (but adults too) appreciate the perseverance. This isn’t true just for behavioural routines but applies to the learning process as well.

Be buoyant – you set the mood as a teacher and it’s important to remember that no matter how crap a day you’ve had, it’s not their fault! I’m not saying you should force yourself into a prozacian state of perpetual smiling – and if you’ve had a horrendous day you might find it useful to share that with the class, not necessarily in any great detail, but telling them that you’ve got a heavy cold or that you’re just having one of those days might help them lower their expectations and meet you half way. Generally though, I think that if you walk in with a smile and an attitude of being pleased to be there – then the learners will also meet you half way there too!

Be Diligent – and I say this as someone who yesterday found a piece of student homework (marked!) that had been sitting in the homework folder for almost five months. What I really mean here is make sure you live up to all the promises you make in class – from “I don’t know, I’ll look it up and let you know” to “Trust me – if you do this in the exam you’ll pass.”

Be Knowledgeable - we’re all fallible and there will always be things that we don’t know. It often comes as a shock to learners, the younger ones anyway, to find that you don’t know everything. After all – you’re a teacher! And as I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing wrong in admitting your ignorance. But if you plan to teach something, you should know about it beforehand. A salutory lesson well learnt from the CELTA was attempting to teach “must” and “have to” to an upper-intermediate group who clearly knew more about it than I did. ”Is it the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?” asked one helpful student. ”Erm, must is must and have to is have to” said the confused trainee teacher (but I got better at it!). Know your stuff, or at least look it up beforehand!

Be Adaptable – it’s very easy to get stuck in an educational rut – particularly if you end up teaching the same sorts of classes all the time! If you do teach the same types of classes, you’ll probably have a fairly good idea of what works and what doesn’t and sometimes there can be a danger of constantly trying new things, so that no new thing ever has a chance to become an old thing. Stave off the boredom and experiment with something new – see what happens!

Be Human – when I was thinking about this post – this was the first one I thought of. Be Human. It sounds so simple and makes you think “How could I be anything else?” but as teachers we get cast into the roles that other people expect of us. Students can expect us to be the fount of all wisdom, the authority figure, the confidante. Other people (school management, colleagues, academic management, parents, curriculum writers, local and national governments) all have additional expectations and roles that they thrust upon us. Somewhere in all that, there is also the person that is you! Don’t forget to let them out!

That – for what it’s worth – is what I think! I don’t think it’s an exhaustive list, just seven simple statements to think about! I’d be very interested to hear what you think – and what your seven simple statements to teach by are! (NB – this isn’t a blog challenge, more of an invitational event…!)

The Twelve Days of Geekmas: Eight talks worth watching

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:10:42 GMT

On the eighth day of Geekmas, some blogger gave to me: eight talks worth watching

Welcome to the teflgeek Christmas celebration! Themed around the classic Christmas carol – but going backwards, mostly because it’s more like a countdown that way:

12 blogs worth clutching

11 tips for writing

10 tricks for reading

9 pretty pictures

and eight talks worth watching – these have all been selected from the great selection at TED.com, who’ve just announced the 2012 TED Prize winner: The City 2.0.

Obviously, other inspiring talk providers are available.

I’ve chosen these, because these are the talks that have tied into things I’ve been thinking about, inspired me in some way or have taken my thinking in new directions. They’re listed here in no particular order. So enjoy!

Richard Baraniuk talks about open-source learning (18.34) – an idea I think needs a bit more structure. See also Jason Renshaw’s posts on Open (Source) English.

Seth Priebatsch describes his dream of “building a game layer on top of the world” (12.23). Gamification is undoubtedly the next big thing and the gamification of education is already underway (see Sarah Smith-Robbins EDUCAUSE article). Seth lets us know how and why this could be done.

Erin Mckean (15.51) on lexicography and diving into the deep blue ocean of English. When she’s done, you’ll want to run off and hug your dictionary.

John Hunter on his “World Peace Game” (20.28). He initially talks about his background in teaching, his description of the game itself gets going from about 7 minutes in – it’s a remarkable and fantastic achievement!. For more info and for the video John refers to in his talk, check out “World Peace and other 4th grade achievements”

Jay Walker on “The World’s English Mania” (5.02). I remember the Li Yang thing from my time in China and met a couple of people who’d been at his rallies. His theory, as I recall, was essentially audiolingualism on a political rally type scale. The results, in my experience, were limited… Jay’s talk will be a shot in the arm for ELF supporters - and will no doubt help shoot down other theories.

Diana Laufenberg on How to learn? From mistakes (10.06). An elegant reminder that, ultimately, processing where we went wrong leads us on to bigger and better things.

Sir Ken Robinson, and this talk in particular, shouldn’t need any introduction (11.41). You’ve probably seen it already. If so, it’s worth watching again! If you haven’t….? Now would be a good time!

Taylor Mali’s word perfect summation of the teaching profession (3.03).

Are you worth your learners’ attention?

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:36:49 GMT

One of the contributors to the debate on student fees in UK universities raised an interesting point the other week. Roger Moss, in breaking down the fees students pay when compared to what they get, calculated that they paid approximately £92 per seminar. What else, he wondered in his letter to The Independent, could they have spent the money on? Tickets to see Rihanna live in concert? Seats at a Premier League football fixture?

This made me think: What do my learners pay per lesson and – more importantly – do they get their money’s worth?

So I dug out my trusty calculator and went off to look at the school’s price list…. and without breaching confidentiality I worked it out something like this:

Most of my classes work out at roughly 15 euros per student per lesson. Alternative spending ideas? For my learners maybe the following:

Murakami’s new book 1q84 in hardback.
One, maybe two games for the PSP.
A new CD or two.
A pizza or a cheap meal out with friends.
Anywhere between 10 and 15 pints of beer….
3 packets of cigarettes
Cinema tickets (three of them with a student discount)
A combination of the above?

Which makes you think…. if say, you do a vocabulary lesson with 10 key items in it, then each word costs your students €1.40. That’s quite expensive really. No wonder some students write everything you say down – it’s just a value for money calculation.

Of course, that’s just the calculation per student… if you assume a class of say 12 students, then you have to start asking yourself whether your class is worth €180. That’s a lot of money. I think I can quite honestly say I don’t always manage to provide €180 worth of learning.

This is not to go down the road of commercialising education (at least any more than it already is). I have in the past complained of learners that they insist on seeing language learning as a product that they can simply take off the shelf and consume much as they would go and do their weekly shopping in the market. This is unfair to many people who do put a lot of time and effort into their language learning, but equally it is a pervasive viewpoint. The better metaphor is that of a gym: I pay my monthly fee and I go twice a week and do my workout, but I don’t hold it against the gym if I fail to make progress. I might seek their advice on switching to a more effective routine, but if outside the gym I do nothing to help myself, who else do I really have to blame? In my own personal experience I (some time ago) stopped going to the gym. I did this for three reasons: firstly I felt I didn’t have enough time to make the commitment. Secondly I was coming out of the gym with no sense of achievement or accomplishment at what I had done. Thirdly, given the previous two items – why waste the money?

There is the concept in education of the take-away item. Something people walk out of the room with that they can take away and use immediately to their benefit. For example – ten years ago on my CELTA, I was part of a group when Jayne Silva (the tutor) demonstrated what she called “Backs to the Board” and which my students now refer to as “the chair game”. I use it with every class, at least once a fortnight. For me – that activity was worth a lot more than €15!

For a nurse on a busy ward dealing with an irascible english speaking patient, the phrase “You want the moon on a stick, you do!” was her take-away item of the week. For a group of students preparing to give presentations, comments about the importance of making eye contact. For one sales rep the expression “I can’t :::::: you. :::::: breakin ::: p” (to get out of unwelcome conversations with a colleague).

The take away item doesn’t of course have to be a handy hint, tip or useful phrase – ideally it should be something more than that – it should be something that makes learners walk out of the classroom with a spring in their step or something your teenagers are still talking about (in a good way!) as they amble down the corridors. Halfway across town from the school and on my way to a business class I spotted a seven year old girl proudly showing her father a handout from her lesson (and this is why we put logos on all our handouts!) and explaining it all as they waited for a bus. The take away item should be something that provides that sense of achievement – that sense of being able to do something for the first time or do something better than you’ve ever done it before.

It’s difficult to get that into every lesson, but if I got that out of every lesson? I wouldn’t mind paying fifteen euros a pop!

Essential Criteria for Effective Learning?

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:45:23 GMT

This was the question posed the other week on my MA discussion boards: ”Based on your teaching experience, write down the criteria you think are essential for language learning.” And it’s a good question. In many respects the ultimate teaching question as it really gets down to the core elements of your pedagogical belief system – what do you know, or failing knowledge, what do you believe to be true?

So… I had to think about that one for a bit…

But what I eventually concluded was:

Relevance, engagement & use.

Whatever goes on in the classroom has to be relevant to the learners in some way. Either by being set in a context that the learners have themselves experienced, or that they hope to experience, or that they feel they might experience anyway. Hence a module on job interviews with teenagers might not at first seem relevant, but by situating it in a context where they’re applying for a job they hope to get after university, it became relevant in the classroom (albeit, not for all of them!).

This leads to learners being engaged – with the language, but also with the learning process. If learners feel as though they can be passive “participants”, sitting there at the back, hiding away in the corner, and get away with it – it’s likely that the learning process will not be as effective. Selecting task types that appeal to different learning styles, or tasks that involve collaborative or competitive elements can help with this – as can selecting materials and topic areas that are relevant to learner lifestyles.

Use. I find it difficult when I look at materials and realise that they’re basically coming at things from a PPP (Present Practice Produce) approach – but that something’s different. It’s not all there – ah – one of the “p”s is missing! It’s very frustrating when learners are presented with a language point, then do a gapfill and then…. move on to something else. What a wasted opportunity! Admittedly it can be difficult to create authentic situations in which learners might express regret (I wish I hadn’t eaten that chocolate cake) – but an essential part of any lesson must surely be an opportunity for learners to DO SOMETHING with the language they’ve been exposed to in the class!

So these are my ideas – entirely subjective – I’d be very interested to know how far this gels with anyone else’s experience or thinking.

An Important Milestone - #RSCON3

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:58:00 GMT

tweetmeme_url = 'http://areliefteachersjourney.blogspot.com/2011/08/important-milestone-rscon3.html'; tweetmeme_hashtags = '#edchat#ukedchat';

The third Reform Symposium e-Conference has broadened my horizons and expanded my PLN.

It is hard to describe the Reform Symposium e-Conference, but the words ‘inspiring’, ‘informative’, and ‘insightful’ come to mind.

#RSCON3 was a wonderful opportunity to connect, learn and share with new and experienced teachers around the world; and it will have tangible impacts on my teaching and professional learning practice in the months to come, particularly when we launch the Global Classroom 2011/12 project later this year.

And presenting at #RSCON3 was an important milestone in my teaching career, as it was my first ever professional presentation. I’m proud that I was able to share my experiences, and “make my voice heard” on a global stage; and I suspect there aren’t many 2nd year teachers who can say they’ve presented at an international conference! (Thanks Shelly!)

My Presentation: “What the heck is a PLN?”

I shared my personal ‘PLN story’ at #RSCON3; exploring how my “Personal Learning Network has reawakened my love of teaching, supported me in tough times, and broadened my horizons.”

With the help of my wonderful moderator (and friend) @JoHart, I was able to lead a lively, interactive online session, attended by 33 teachers from around the world (although, sadly few Western Australians). And I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was received.

After exploring the gradual development of my PLN, and discussing some of the online tools / resources I’ve used to build it, I handed over the microphone and whiteboards to my audience, asking them to share how they “connect, learn, share, and collaborate”. They did so with gusto!

Themes and Takeaways

Having a PLN is a rewarding and transformative learning experience, but actually getting “out there”, and building your network isn’t an easy or rapid process. It takes time, patience, and perseverance – but you don’t have to do it alone.

By sharing my story and experiences, I hoped to demystify the “Personal Learning Network”, and give ‘newbies’ a few ideas about where to start, and who/where to go for help and advice. With the assistance of the my session participants, this message came across ‘loud and clear’.

Thankyou

I hope my “What the heck is a PLN?” presentation will inspire and assist new and experienced teachers to take that critical first step on their own PLN journey. If I can make a difference for just one person, I will have succeeded in this goal.

So, thankyou to everyone who attended my presentation, to those who provided feedback, and all those people who will listen to the recording (available shortly).

Presentation Slides

What the heck is a PLN?

View more presentations from Michael

Some of my Twitter Feedback

“What the heck is a PLN?” @ #RSCON3 (Video)

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:39:00 GMT

Well, it’s nearly here!

This Friday, or Saturday (depending on your timezone), we kick off the third Reform Symposium eConference (#RSCON3)!

As I’ve announced earlier, I’ll presenting late on Day 1 – on my ‘favourite’ topic: “What the heck is a PLN?”. If you’re wondering ‘what the heck’ I’m talking about, check out my new video promo!

I’ll see you there!

The Reform Symposium Free Online Conference Flyer for Schools(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();

Am I a ‘Techie Teacher’?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:16:00 GMT

I’m a young teacher with a passion for ICT and modest technical skills; and I’m starting to question how my ideas are influencing my classroom teaching practice.

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by austinevan: http://flickr.com/photos/austinevan/2296270551/

I’m a teacher.

ICT and Web 2.0 tools are part of what I do

I use technology to extend my teaching practice beyond my classroom walls.
I want to teach my students how to share, learn and communicate with a global audience,
And I’m more than happy to share my ideas and expertise with interested colleagues.

I’m not a ‘natural’ with ICT

I’m primarily self-taught, but I’m drawing upon the collective wisdom and experience of the teachers and ‘techies’ in my PLN.
I’m taking significant professional risks, often stepping out into uncharted territory.
I’m learning from my mistakes.

What I do is not “amazing”

ICT, Web 2.0, and global projects aren’t the exclusive realm of young, tech-savvy teachers.
Effective ICT integration is something that any teacher can do with the appropriate collegial support, mentoring, and training.
But, we have gone way beyond teaching our students about email and PowerPoint.

I’m starting to define myself as a teacher, as a learner, as an inquirer.

And, I’m not alone …

Working with Project Classes

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:02:14 GMT

This is an entry for everyone currently working at an ELT summer school somewhere in the world! It’s not always easy and there’s a lot of hard work – hopefully this post will help out a bit! I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy my summer school experiences immensely over the years and one of the things I’ve enjoyed doing most has been the project classes. This post takes a look at what’s important to remember before the project class kicks off and gives some ideas for different projects and how to stage them.

There are a number of advantages to doing project work with learners – projects can be (if done right):

Collaborative – they encourage learners to work together to generate something personal and meaningful

Communicative – by their very nature they put learners in a situation where communication is necessary in order to achieve the goal.

Cross-Curricular – they don’t have to be based solely in the language classroom but can draw on learner knowledge from other areas

Cross-cultural – they can be used to develop learners intercultural awareness and intercultural communication skills, both towards the target language culture, but also across the classroom cultural spectrum.

Task-based – there will inevitably be a set of linguistic items that learners need to perform the task successfully. Projects can provide a “real” need for language in order to successfully accomplish the goal.

For me, any project needs to follow five main stages: OUTLINE – PLANNING – GATHERING – CREATION – OUTCOME.

.

OUTLINE: obviously in a summer school context where the projects might involve more than one class, the decision as to what type of project or what topic area to be investigated might be taken out of the learners’ hands. The OUTLINE therefore needs to be discussed amongst colleagues or decided by the teacher in advance of the class. If you’re only doing a project with one class, then you can involve the learners in this discussion stage, thus making it a bit more relevant to their lives, a bit more consensual and less imposed. At this stage te.achers will also need to think about what the OUTCOME of the project might be, to make sure that they have the relevant materials or technologies available. Sample OUTLINES for six different project ideas are given below.

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PLANNING: Once the project outline has been decided, it can (if not already) be handed over to the learners for further development. With younger learners, or in the summer school context, the main role of the teacher is one of restraint! You need to make sure that what your learners are planning is achievable in the time frame or with the resources available! In essence, you need to make sure someone thinks about the practicalities. Keep asking those questions like: ”That’s a brilliant idea! So where are you going to find the elephants for the parachute display?”

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GATHERING: Most projects will involve a degree of information gathering – but not all. So depending on the project, this can be an optional stage. But you could also see this stage as a deeper exploration of the ideas generated in the planning stage.

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CREATION: Where it all comes together. Break out the scissors, glue and cardboard. Book out the computer room, make friends with the art department. Throw the relevant supplies at the class (making sure there’s not too much glitter) and stand back. If you have identified learners in your class with tendencies towards perfectionism – make sure they’re working together so that you only have one unfinished group at the end of the class and so that everyone else is more likely to contribute!

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OUTCOME: It’s worth remembering that not every project needs to involve glitter and glue – in fact the more memorable projects might not involve any. Arts and Craft is great, but at a summer school the kids get arts and crafts lessons separately – they probably don’t need more of the same. In other words – the primary outcome of the project should be linguistic. One of my proudest TEFL memories is watching 150 students do a whole school survey mingle (details below). A colleague recalls watching a student shine during a poetry recital (the student in question is now part of the administrative staff). The most important thing about the OUTCOME is that somebody else should see it. Not just the class that made it – but everyone else in the school! Or the teachers’ room, or parents. But somebody and that these people should have the chance to provide feedback in some way. After all – what’s the point in spending three days making a poster on global warming if it just stays up in the classroom? The students know what it looks like – they made it!

So the outcome should be primarily linguistic and highly visible. If possible, some sort of competition or vote by and amongst the learners on the work performed by their peers?

.

.

So finally – here are some of the ideas that I’ve worked with over the years:

.

PROJECT:

LESSON 1:

LESSON 2:

LESSON 3:

OUTCOME:

Interclass Surveys

SS decide what they will survey and generate a questionnaire

Whole school mingle (somewhere!) and SS ask and answer each other’s questions

SS collate the data from their surveys and prepare their displays

SS poster displays are put up in the corridors etc. Other SS view the displays.

PhotoStory

SS plot their stories and decide which scenes need pictures taking

SS take their pictures out and about. (NB – need sufficient digital cameras?) Teachers print pictures

SS organise their images and write text captions / plot synopses.

SS poster displays are put up in the corridors etc Other SS view the displays.

Performance Poetry Festival

SS research some poems they like and choose one

SS dramatise the poem into a mini play?

SS gather to watch and perform

Performance based

Board GameBattle

SS plan and design a board game (on any topic / idea) and request materials

SS use the materials to create their board games. T feeds in “game” language etc

The SS and the games gather somewhere and play each others games and vote for the best one?

Demonstrations and playing of different games

Class Newspapers / Magazines

SS research news stories, either from their own country or elsewhere

SS incorporate / edit their stories into a single “newpaper” / magazine.

SS gather somewhere, swap their efforts and read each others – vote for the best?

Written / typed newspaper

(copies to take home?)

Shopaholics

SS spend half the time finding out how much they can buy for 50 pounds and half their time planning and designing their own shops

SS actually create their own shops (online pictures of items / shop catalogues?)

T teach polite requests & Shopkeeper argot.

SS then go shopping. The idea is to buy the highest number of things for 50quid without buying more than one of the same item

Whole school roleplay / “controlled” language practice

If there’s any clarification needed of any of these ideas – let me know!

PROJECT:	LESSON 1:	LESSON 2:	LESSON 3:	OUTCOME:
Interclass Surveys	SS decide what they will survey and generate a questionnaire	Whole school mingle (somewhere!) and SS ask and answer each other’s questions	SS collate the data from their surveys and prepare their displays	SS poster displays are put up in the corridors etc. Other SS view the displays.
PhotoStory	SS plot their stories and decide which scenes need pictures taking	SS take their pictures out and about. (NB – need sufficient digital cameras?) Teachers print pictures	SS organise their images and write text captions / plot synopses.	SS poster displays are put up in the corridors etc Other SS view the displays.
Performance Poetry Festival	SS research some poems they like and choose one	SS dramatise the poem into a mini play?	SS gather to watch and perform	Performance based
Board GameBattle	SS plan and design a board game (on any topic / idea) and request materials	SS use the materials to create their board games. T feeds in “game” language etc	The SS and the games gather somewhere and play each others games and vote for the best one?	Demonstrations and playing of different games
Class Newspapers / Magazines	SS research news stories, either from their own country or elsewhere	SS incorporate / edit their stories into a single “newpaper” / magazine.	SS gather somewhere, swap their efforts and read each others – vote for the best?	Written / typed newspaper (copies to take home?)
Shopaholics	SS spend half the time finding out how much they can buy for 50 pounds and half their time planning and designing their own shops	SS actually create their own shops (online pictures of items / shop catalogues?) T teach polite requests & Shopkeeper argot.	SS then go shopping. The idea is to buy the highest number of things for 50quid without buying more than one of the same item	Whole school roleplay / “controlled” language practice