While I am enjoying having and taking classes integrated with technology, I wonder how Presenting a class can be vs practicing the learning.
Students usually come to class to broaden their scope of knowledge. This has been the basis of education and as far as I remember we have always told our kids; "School is fun and it is a place to learn new things".
I also do believe in Learning for Living and Living for Learning. The thing that makes me worried these days is how much learning an instructor can put into a class.
It is true that we do a lot of work, preparing for the next day class; and the fact that "the more prepared we are the less work in class is needed", but sometimes I feel individuals take this to their own advantage.
What percentage of a class can be put into Presenting and what's the balance for Practice. Now, this Practice can be anything from problem-solving topics to outcome products like essays, reports or just the solution.
When a teacher puts only 10-20% of class time on Presenting the material, the idea, the lesson and the problem; and the 80-90% of the rest to Practice, I don't think the outcome would be that wonderful.
Students especially the younger kids can be driven away with distractions, talking to each other on other topics than the issue, and wandering around aimlessly; while the teacher thinks they are working on the project!
They might not be even learning anything, because in fact nothing has been presented. Giving just a few examples and reading a copy of an article, or even opening a power point slide and skimming through the body! can not be as effective as going into the detail and heart of the lesson.
Meanwhile, if the presenting and practice style becomes too repetitive, students will be bored with what they know of the process of the lesson plan already. They won't thus take it seriously, and just do the four SSCC to pass the class or even kill the time!
ACTS must always be accompanied with innovation and irregulated expectations. That way a goal oriented instructor can be sure of the success of his/her work. We can not only count on our prepared work outside the class, then coming in and asking the kids to work on the papers. They need to hear us, they need to know that we know or not, they can go online at home and get all the info on their own timing and their own more sophisticated scholarly computers!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Graphics and teaching a language
Nothing works better than pictures when teaching languages. I have tried and experimented this many times and every time the result has been better with the better usage of related photos.
Graphics speak thousands times better than explanations.
Whether it is a basic level teaching simple vocabulary or advanced levels and teaching idioms and conceptual contexts, it always works the best.
Recently, I had been given a project to work on language teaching curriculum without being given clear instructions on our do's and don'ts. I decided to first go with explaining the grammar and using drills on power point files since the target learners were professional adults. But the more we went on, the more bored the students turned and even some disappeared from the class.
The learners were working adults coming home having the class online for two hours. I saw it of no use explaining the grammar to ones who were already tired from routine day time work. So I packed up everything and changed all the files, replacing them with more detailed photos and graphics, which not only were funny but also explanatory bythemselves. In class we started talking about the photos. From basic levels to higher advanced going through the detail on the photo. Not only their language proficiency turned out with better results but also there were more participation in class in the fields of Talking, Describing, Communicating, Analyzing and even debating.
I have been using many more means of direct form of language learning by multimedia, internet, graphics, and real hand on daily topics for many years now.
No grammar is taught separately and no more drill repetition is required in these classes.Every single topic is accesible and profound in meaning and usage. Classes are real, and the learners learn what they live and they live what they learn.
Graphics speak thousands times better than explanations.
Whether it is a basic level teaching simple vocabulary or advanced levels and teaching idioms and conceptual contexts, it always works the best.
Recently, I had been given a project to work on language teaching curriculum without being given clear instructions on our do's and don'ts. I decided to first go with explaining the grammar and using drills on power point files since the target learners were professional adults. But the more we went on, the more bored the students turned and even some disappeared from the class.
The learners were working adults coming home having the class online for two hours. I saw it of no use explaining the grammar to ones who were already tired from routine day time work. So I packed up everything and changed all the files, replacing them with more detailed photos and graphics, which not only were funny but also explanatory bythemselves. In class we started talking about the photos. From basic levels to higher advanced going through the detail on the photo. Not only their language proficiency turned out with better results but also there were more participation in class in the fields of Talking, Describing, Communicating, Analyzing and even debating.
I have been using many more means of direct form of language learning by multimedia, internet, graphics, and real hand on daily topics for many years now.
No grammar is taught separately and no more drill repetition is required in these classes.Every single topic is accesible and profound in meaning and usage. Classes are real, and the learners learn what they live and they live what they learn.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Database lesson plan design
The more I come to our class the more I happen to like it. I just wish every other teacher could as well implement the lesson plans to his/her curricula the way our instructor does.
It also depends I think, on what subject one is teaching. For me, teaching ESOL, sometimes it seems hard to apply all we study into my own classes, though I really wish I could.
One thing I can use of Database lesson plans, would be the one with Student made source. In which students ( usually the first sessions of the school year ) are required to make a database on Excel with their classmates info on their: name, gender,age, origin,and more related topics later on.
ESOL students start going around gathering information about their new friends, getting to know each other and of course using the target language. The objective would be learning to communicate in a real life situation when one is encountered with strangers or wants to pass on his/her info to others.After getting to know everybody in class, they enter the info to the program ( which was already set up by the teacher and were given a few examples on how to work with it ), and start sorting and organizing the data into knowing their classmates better. What age group, what main originality, what more gender and the rest. They could also include their address , telephone numbers, email address, in order to have a contact list data for future use. Students usually like moving around and gathering information if they are given the role of a police officer, detective and/or ordinary citizens or even ETs! ( UFOs!). The more the teacher makes the situation real the better the learning result would be. In multilingual classes this would result even better because they do not and can not speak their first language and they have no other choice than using their TL (English here) and thus the practice would be more productive.
It also depends I think, on what subject one is teaching. For me, teaching ESOL, sometimes it seems hard to apply all we study into my own classes, though I really wish I could.
One thing I can use of Database lesson plans, would be the one with Student made source. In which students ( usually the first sessions of the school year ) are required to make a database on Excel with their classmates info on their: name, gender,age, origin,and more related topics later on.
ESOL students start going around gathering information about their new friends, getting to know each other and of course using the target language. The objective would be learning to communicate in a real life situation when one is encountered with strangers or wants to pass on his/her info to others.After getting to know everybody in class, they enter the info to the program ( which was already set up by the teacher and were given a few examples on how to work with it ), and start sorting and organizing the data into knowing their classmates better. What age group, what main originality, what more gender and the rest. They could also include their address , telephone numbers, email address, in order to have a contact list data for future use. Students usually like moving around and gathering information if they are given the role of a police officer, detective and/or ordinary citizens or even ETs! ( UFOs!). The more the teacher makes the situation real the better the learning result would be. In multilingual classes this would result even better because they do not and can not speak their first language and they have no other choice than using their TL (English here) and thus the practice would be more productive.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Reader's Theater
Last week we discussed another approach on motivating the students to read on more effectively.
Usually the Net Gener ( the word used in Grown up digital by Don Tapscott for the young generation using high tech devices as their daily necessities) pick what they want to read, when they want to read and how they want to read. Classes can not be the traditional ways any more with the teacher centered and passive students. Students can find what they want on the vast more resources on education on their high tech iphones or netbooks. So that mediocre teacher has to do a lot, to satisfy the students and their peers as for coming to class and staying of course in class.
Reader's theater is sth I found very interesting designing for my classes. The traditional way delivered in classes was asking the students to give a lecture or summary of what they had read or asking them reading comprehension questions afterward.
But now, it is more of the same path as presenting authentic problem, in a way, at this time students deliver what they have read, in a more practical outcome; it can be a Role play, play on the stage, game show, TV comercial, Interview or simply Reader's theater.
Depending on the level of the students , this can be done in a various ways. The beauty of this designing is that the learners enjoy more and are thus more participating in the activity.
Like every other design there are some cons to this as well. Examples are not being able to cover every detail of the book in class, or explaining in case learners have faced some questions, or if the national/international exams on those particular readings go on to detail asking for standard testings. It might not either be a good idea for Reading activities that aim pronunciation skills.
But, for sure its pros outrun its cons. Whether the teacher wants the students to be more active, tak part in the reading, Be motivated to read with comprehnsion, generalize, compare or contrast, analyze, debate and what's more, overcome their being shy in social communications, This could be an amazing way to design a reading activity in class.
Usually the Net Gener ( the word used in Grown up digital by Don Tapscott for the young generation using high tech devices as their daily necessities) pick what they want to read, when they want to read and how they want to read. Classes can not be the traditional ways any more with the teacher centered and passive students. Students can find what they want on the vast more resources on education on their high tech iphones or netbooks. So that mediocre teacher has to do a lot, to satisfy the students and their peers as for coming to class and staying of course in class.
Reader's theater is sth I found very interesting designing for my classes. The traditional way delivered in classes was asking the students to give a lecture or summary of what they had read or asking them reading comprehension questions afterward.
But now, it is more of the same path as presenting authentic problem, in a way, at this time students deliver what they have read, in a more practical outcome; it can be a Role play, play on the stage, game show, TV comercial, Interview or simply Reader's theater.
Depending on the level of the students , this can be done in a various ways. The beauty of this designing is that the learners enjoy more and are thus more participating in the activity.
Like every other design there are some cons to this as well. Examples are not being able to cover every detail of the book in class, or explaining in case learners have faced some questions, or if the national/international exams on those particular readings go on to detail asking for standard testings. It might not either be a good idea for Reading activities that aim pronunciation skills.
But, for sure its pros outrun its cons. Whether the teacher wants the students to be more active, tak part in the reading, Be motivated to read with comprehnsion, generalize, compare or contrast, analyze, debate and what's more, overcome their being shy in social communications, This could be an amazing way to design a reading activity in class.
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