Until this year I have had most of my hours with e1 classes, and last year a low e1 group. I have had short periods with e2 and e3 groups. I had a short spell with an L2ICT 16-18 group, but that was particularly to take them through an ICT group and really bore no comparison to e1 ESOL classes, or even to ESOL classes at all.
This year most of my time is spent with an L1 ESOL group, also teaching the same group ESOL+numeracy, ICT and cultural studies - a variety - in my hands, of abstracted, secularised RE.
Until you have this experience across the levels, you might imagine that the same process - teaching - takes place but with different subject matter: more advanced lexis and grammar and more challenging tasks and contexts. But in practice, they are activities with almost no points of comparison.
In the low e1 group, you have very little language with which to transmit new meaning of the new language. In practice this means you often behave like a children's TV presenter: big motions, big slow artificial speech patterns, broad humour, lots of gesture and physical expression.
With the advanced group, you can explain new language and new styles, formats and manners of discourse using fairly sophisticated language. Indeed the language you choose to express the language has to be carefully chosen as it is a form of meta-teaching.
For example: explaining the construction and delivery of a formal presentation, I would be less likely to begin with a discussion than with a slow, careful, somewhat didactic jug and mug presentation, rigorously structured and littered with formal discourse markers.
Then, rather than talk about the subject matter, I might ask the class to discuss the manner in which I presented the information
Also, because the class is better able to cope with more complex information, we are more likely to ignore the formal explanation of the grammatical forms for which the contexts offered an exemplar, but rather to discuss the context itself, discovering interest for its own sake. During this apparent meander, I would try and prompt and direct in such a way that learners would use the target structures, and then at the end, perhaps I would point out what they accidentally picked up.
This is the advantage of a subject like ESOL+cultural studies. I might have target language in mind, but so long as the students use it, I don't need to make it an explicit part of the lesson. Though it is an ESOL lesson, there are two sets of objectives, I know both, the students know only one.
In a recent lesson, the two objectives were: ESOL - use may, can, could, should and their negatives in a discussion. Cultural studies - discuss whether there are any moral or ethical imperatives or whether all apparently firm rules on behaviour depend on the context of the act? and what do major religions have to say about this?
Some teachers are thought to be naturally better at one level or another and, unfortunately, because I had great rapport with most of my e1 classes, I was thought to be a beginners specialist. But after requesting an advanced class as I thought I was becoming stale, I know for certain that I am happier in the more advanced classes.
I also had some concerns, after teaching so many adult classes, with the motivation of 16-18 groups. There is often a residual worry that the main imperatives are keeping parents happy that they are occupied, and EMA.
While this is certainly true for some, without a doubt, once they are in the class, the learners inherent energy and enthusiasm make up for this.
Given a choice now, I will take the kids over the adults and the advanced over the beginners.
One caveat to that though. I also have a class through a programme supporting local schools in which we take mixed high e2 to L2 groups of 14-16yos. Some are children; some young adults. More specifically, some are talented, hard working enthusiastic young women and some are silly little boys. These two groups don't go well together and discipline takes more time than teaching which is frustrating for me and the girls.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
What's to be gained from observations?
Luck of the draw, because of first a practice inspection to prepare us for the possible real inspection, then the real Ofsted, then the inspections that were due anyway, then the obs through HGSI, I've been observed a terrific amount this year, and what have I gained from it?
I observed one lesson from my mentor, Julia, and gained more from that than the lot of the obs. I got to see a different approach, a different feel, different level of formality and how the whole thing held together - which was very well - but the observations were a different matter.
The observers aren't really watching you teach, they're watching you deliver an observed lesson. It's not the same thing. It's like watching a waiter, perfectly adept at carrying four plates, spin eleven on sticks.
No-one teaches, prepares or writes lesson plans for an obs the way they do for a normal lesson. Some teachers get great obs results because of the time they spend preparing, but the rest of the time have poor retention. Obs are a exhibition. Perhaps I'm being obtuse but I don't think I got a thing out of the whole lot of them. Observers, with too many boxes to fill, tend to make obtuse observations, like 'the room is too small, the board is dirty.' Sure the board is dirty, the cleaners don't have board cleaner. Yes the room is too small. Why don't I have the college move to handsome new buildings.
Teachers are always assured that it's only the teaching parts of the observations that apply to them, but the grade is overall. It's less a measurement than a stick.
Do I sound bitter? Probably. I am.
I love it in the classroom. It's a happy, creative, functional, purposeful place with a whole group of people all pulling the same way. The staff room and college management are an incompetent self-serving bureaucracy. Most FE and HE institutions run for the benefit of faculty and staff with education running a poor second. If you doubt this, look at the pay structure. As teachers drop teaching for management, their pay rises.
Observations are an unwelcome intrusion of this bureaucracy into the classroom.
I'd rather drive a van.
I own a van.
Hmmm.
I observed one lesson from my mentor, Julia, and gained more from that than the lot of the obs. I got to see a different approach, a different feel, different level of formality and how the whole thing held together - which was very well - but the observations were a different matter.
The observers aren't really watching you teach, they're watching you deliver an observed lesson. It's not the same thing. It's like watching a waiter, perfectly adept at carrying four plates, spin eleven on sticks.
No-one teaches, prepares or writes lesson plans for an obs the way they do for a normal lesson. Some teachers get great obs results because of the time they spend preparing, but the rest of the time have poor retention. Obs are a exhibition. Perhaps I'm being obtuse but I don't think I got a thing out of the whole lot of them. Observers, with too many boxes to fill, tend to make obtuse observations, like 'the room is too small, the board is dirty.' Sure the board is dirty, the cleaners don't have board cleaner. Yes the room is too small. Why don't I have the college move to handsome new buildings.
Teachers are always assured that it's only the teaching parts of the observations that apply to them, but the grade is overall. It's less a measurement than a stick.
Do I sound bitter? Probably. I am.
I love it in the classroom. It's a happy, creative, functional, purposeful place with a whole group of people all pulling the same way. The staff room and college management are an incompetent self-serving bureaucracy. Most FE and HE institutions run for the benefit of faculty and staff with education running a poor second. If you doubt this, look at the pay structure. As teachers drop teaching for management, their pay rises.
Observations are an unwelcome intrusion of this bureaucracy into the classroom.
I'd rather drive a van.
I own a van.
Hmmm.
Monday, October 03, 2005
a lesson that looked like its plan
I was very happy with a lesson this week.
I got the impression, and it was by no means anyone's fault but mine for taking it that way, that self reflection was a cover for self-flagellation, for finding fault with our lessons and flaying our methods for leading us that way: auto-confession.
This was a complex lesson so I thought it would be suitable for analysis. I think it was, but not to tear apart because I could barely have been happier with it.
What?
The lesson was showing the students how to use the as... as... form for colourful and idiomatic description.
It had only one piece of material which was sets of 24 cards, 12 nouns, 12 adjectives which would later pair up.
First I explained the as... as... form, checked for understanding, so far so good.
I was possibly helped because a couple of latecomers came in together and I used the opportunity to get different members of the class to explain what we had covered so far.
This went very well with good clear explanations.
Next I asked if they knew nouns. Most did, and they explained and gave examples to the few who didn't.
Next the same for adjectives.
Next I gave them, in working pairs, the bundles of words and asked them to divide them into two columns, adjectives on the left, nouns on the right.
Slowly we got all the words into the right columns - some had clues - like capital first letters, or articles.
When everyone had done this we checked as a whole group and then also made sure everyone understood all the words.
Next, a couple of minutes of straight up jug and mug while I tried to explain idiom.
I used the example of the franglais expression 'san fairy ann' (which I didn't confuse by adding that it is also used in England) - and having a Congolese student write it in French on the board 'Ça ne fait rien'(I always find students appreciate some validation of their existing knowledge) and giving me the precise word for word french translation - That makes/does nothing.
Then I explained that it is used more as the dismissive english 'whatever.'
What the words say isn't always exactly what they mean - but everyone still understands.
Next, I explained that all their nouns and adjectives were in pairs and that they had to put them together. I gave them an example - with probably the most untranslatable pair - as proud as Punch - and suggested a working method. They should pick an adjective first, try and pair it with a suitable noun, and if they couldn't find one, don't worry, pick another and try again, and feel free to help each other and work across groups.
It took a while and some fairly laborious explanations but we got there.
Next we checked as a group and did some context setting.
Next I explained that you can also make up this kind of as... as... pairing and that because it is fresh it can work even better than a well known example.
Cheap as chips.
Some of them suggested examples from their own languages and cultures.
As white as milk,
a love as deep as the ocean,
that businessman is a straight as a jelabi.
I had some tutorial work to do and some past homework to help them with (it was for a teacher who I suspected would be absent the following day) so while I went round one to one, I set them homework and told them they could do it in class if they wanted or discuss it in groups - surprisingly most went for the discussion. The homework was a simple:
Find or make up three new examples of as... as...
What went well?
Most of it went well. It flowed, the students were engaged and participating, they seemed to come away with both the ability to use the language and an understanding of why - because it makes our language more colourful, richer, and thus more authentic and 'English' sounding.
The 'own culture' examples went well and fed well into their search for their own examples.
Why did it go well?
I had given a very similar lesson before which had flowed less well. Practise helps.
I prepared it to within a couple of minutes.
I knew what was next and why at every point. There was always something to engage the students and they never knew which way it would turn.
For them it was interesting, relevant and useful.
It appealed to what they most wanted - to speak language that is natural and fits in.
The drawback if any is that it it was time consuming to prepare and it is predictably annoying when hard work pays immediate dividends as it demonstrates the corrollary - that busking it often doesn't work nearly so well.
Another lesson for me was to remember your own natural inclination.
I am very aural. I prefer not to do the synaesthetic stuff (as a student) as I often find it rather obvious and Sesame Street.
'Just tell me and get on with it.'
Naturally this means I tend not to produce materials like that, left to default.
I have to make myself remember that these kinds of activity often work well for students and that more importantly, they enjoy them.
One element that was badly planned was that this was an afternoon lesson and in the morning I had another lesson, this time for e1, on short vowel sounds, which involved short vowel sound snap.
cap, cup. No.
pin, pig. SNAP!
This lesson too involved eye-watering amounts of cutting up paper into squares. By the end of my lunch break I was on the verge of scissor rage - and then as you want to calm as you go into your lesson, you cope with the eccentricities of our new wireless PC tablet based register system
Conclusion
One of my best lessons. And the morning was pretty good too.
I got the impression, and it was by no means anyone's fault but mine for taking it that way, that self reflection was a cover for self-flagellation, for finding fault with our lessons and flaying our methods for leading us that way: auto-confession.
This was a complex lesson so I thought it would be suitable for analysis. I think it was, but not to tear apart because I could barely have been happier with it.
What?
The lesson was showing the students how to use the as... as... form for colourful and idiomatic description.
It had only one piece of material which was sets of 24 cards, 12 nouns, 12 adjectives which would later pair up.
First I explained the as... as... form, checked for understanding, so far so good.
I was possibly helped because a couple of latecomers came in together and I used the opportunity to get different members of the class to explain what we had covered so far.
This went very well with good clear explanations.
Next I asked if they knew nouns. Most did, and they explained and gave examples to the few who didn't.
Next the same for adjectives.
Next I gave them, in working pairs, the bundles of words and asked them to divide them into two columns, adjectives on the left, nouns on the right.
Slowly we got all the words into the right columns - some had clues - like capital first letters, or articles.
When everyone had done this we checked as a whole group and then also made sure everyone understood all the words.
Next, a couple of minutes of straight up jug and mug while I tried to explain idiom.
I used the example of the franglais expression 'san fairy ann' (which I didn't confuse by adding that it is also used in England) - and having a Congolese student write it in French on the board 'Ça ne fait rien'(I always find students appreciate some validation of their existing knowledge) and giving me the precise word for word french translation - That makes/does nothing.
Then I explained that it is used more as the dismissive english 'whatever.'
What the words say isn't always exactly what they mean - but everyone still understands.
Next, I explained that all their nouns and adjectives were in pairs and that they had to put them together. I gave them an example - with probably the most untranslatable pair - as proud as Punch - and suggested a working method. They should pick an adjective first, try and pair it with a suitable noun, and if they couldn't find one, don't worry, pick another and try again, and feel free to help each other and work across groups.
It took a while and some fairly laborious explanations but we got there.
Next we checked as a group and did some context setting.
Next I explained that you can also make up this kind of as... as... pairing and that because it is fresh it can work even better than a well known example.
Cheap as chips.
Some of them suggested examples from their own languages and cultures.
As white as milk,
a love as deep as the ocean,
that businessman is a straight as a jelabi.
I had some tutorial work to do and some past homework to help them with (it was for a teacher who I suspected would be absent the following day) so while I went round one to one, I set them homework and told them they could do it in class if they wanted or discuss it in groups - surprisingly most went for the discussion. The homework was a simple:
Find or make up three new examples of as... as...
What went well?
Most of it went well. It flowed, the students were engaged and participating, they seemed to come away with both the ability to use the language and an understanding of why - because it makes our language more colourful, richer, and thus more authentic and 'English' sounding.
The 'own culture' examples went well and fed well into their search for their own examples.
Why did it go well?
I had given a very similar lesson before which had flowed less well. Practise helps.
I prepared it to within a couple of minutes.
I knew what was next and why at every point. There was always something to engage the students and they never knew which way it would turn.
For them it was interesting, relevant and useful.
It appealed to what they most wanted - to speak language that is natural and fits in.
The drawback if any is that it it was time consuming to prepare and it is predictably annoying when hard work pays immediate dividends as it demonstrates the corrollary - that busking it often doesn't work nearly so well.
Another lesson for me was to remember your own natural inclination.
I am very aural. I prefer not to do the synaesthetic stuff (as a student) as I often find it rather obvious and Sesame Street.
'Just tell me and get on with it.'
Naturally this means I tend not to produce materials like that, left to default.
I have to make myself remember that these kinds of activity often work well for students and that more importantly, they enjoy them.
One element that was badly planned was that this was an afternoon lesson and in the morning I had another lesson, this time for e1, on short vowel sounds, which involved short vowel sound snap.
cap, cup. No.
pin, pig. SNAP!
This lesson too involved eye-watering amounts of cutting up paper into squares. By the end of my lunch break I was on the verge of scissor rage - and then as you want to calm as you go into your lesson, you cope with the eccentricities of our new wireless PC tablet based register system
Conclusion
One of my best lessons. And the morning was pretty good too.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
time is cruel
Left is this weekend, right is my mind's eye view of me.My mind's eye seems to be running around ten years slow
Ouch.
Why does a reflective practice journal need pics?
I guess fellow HGSI students can read it without the effort of remembering who is who.
If I take my pre-inter (e3) students for an IT class, there's no reason why they couldn't take a look at the journal, given that it is partly about them.
Please feel free to make suggestions about what a journal should do, and if this journal does or doesn't meet the spec, and if so how and where are the problems.
The function is reflection but that does not mean the reflection need all be mine, or that I can't benefit from advice. There must be terabytes of teaching experience out there in the blogosphere.
The more comment the better.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
week one - doh!
We were asked to scribble something about the week's teaching, or an incident, what went well or badly, what did we learn from it.
We were only told later that this could be the first entry in our journal.
The logical (or swotty) thing to do then would seem to be to smarten it up.
The honest (or lazy) thing to do would be publish and be damned. Or download it and forget it.
So here's the original version.
Reflections on week 1
My first work related observation is that I have really no idea what goes on in a literacy class, who is in there, what led them there, really anything and that as it is a discipline clearly related to ESOL it will be interesting to see how the two relate and to learn something of that discipline—I have moved to the main site at my place of work and away from a small community centre and now work alongside a small literacy department. It seems entirely possible that there are things I can learn from their materials and methods, especially as the history of FE ESOL in the UK is so closely tied to that of literacy—with literacy taking the leading role, right back to Bob Hoskins and Move On(?).
The second was in the ‘look at this week’s teaching’ task.
My item was an incident in the classroom with my low e1 group.
The exercise was to explain some simple classroom tasks, eg: circle, underline, match.
One student didn’t understand the word ‘word.’ And I found it very difficult to explain – If I pointed at a word and said ‘this is a word’ he would see the word itself: ‘so a word is a circle, yes?’
I realised how difficult and yet essential it is to be able to explain abstracts, ( I didn’t find a solution to the problem of abstracts—my solution to the immediate question was to tell him the word in French) which led in turn to confirmation of why I am on the course. The CELTA lets us in the classroom, then we have to learn to teach and often we are busy and fall into a rut, repeating what works and not finding much that is new.
While I realise that the underlying theory helps, I hope there is practical ‘abc’ help: if you want to achieve, this, try that.’
What I really don’t want is a guide to educational paperwork and procedures. Keeping fingers crossed that isn’t what’s in the pipeline.
dearauntie drops a log
I'm learning to teach.
I've worked as a teacher of English to speakers of other languages for a little over two years and now I'm taking the next stage: a Stage 5 FE, Stage 4 Esol specialism at Hampstead Institute in East Finchley.
Why am I putting myself through it when I'm already working?
Dedication, enthusiasm, and because if I don't do it this year or next I'll lose my job.
No extra pay.
All stick no carrot.
Why write a blog about it?
Because I have to write a teaching journal and my paperwork skills are like separating leaves and confetti in a hurricane - whereas my hard disk is nice and tidy.
Keyboard good - paper bad.
So I thought I'd save the effort of forgetting to bring in my journal and keep it tidy and online.
I've worked as a teacher of English to speakers of other languages for a little over two years and now I'm taking the next stage: a Stage 5 FE, Stage 4 Esol specialism at Hampstead Institute in East Finchley.
Why am I putting myself through it when I'm already working?
Dedication, enthusiasm, and because if I don't do it this year or next I'll lose my job.
No extra pay.
All stick no carrot.
Why write a blog about it?
Because I have to write a teaching journal and my paperwork skills are like separating leaves and confetti in a hurricane - whereas my hard disk is nice and tidy.
Keyboard good - paper bad.
So I thought I'd save the effort of forgetting to bring in my journal and keep it tidy and online.
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