Tag: food for thought

The AMT Experience: B“log” entry 3

“Positively charged “ defines the ambience which transpired throughout the third and last day of the conference. The first speaker set the tone for the rest of the day’s events with much laughter at his seemingly trivial anecdotes which made us reflect on how fixated we tend to be on academic success and rather forgetful about other equally important aspects.  Thus, we were reminded of the significant qualities such as resilience, effort and perseverance in achieving goals, the ability to interact and build relationships and curiosity have on increasing students’ motivation to succeed both educationally as well as socially. Furthermore, the role we teachers play in generating and implementing positive emotions in our classrooms was pointed out as being crucial for eliciting interest, pride, hope, joy and gratitude so that  our students  can develop constructive life skills and flourish as individuals.

Being amusement the most contagious emotion of all, many were the laughs and chuckles at the idea that we needed to be more “permalicious” in our schools, creating a more cheerful  working environment where communication, trust and optimism are the cornerstones of a thriving school. As homework is synonymous with teaching, we too, were set a homework task to ensure the above-mentioned items go beyond the theory and are actually executed.

Right after lunch, we were encouraged to “eat that frog first” in order to achieve better time management skills and become more productive. Naturally, having tailor-made, ready-to –use templates for our varied professional tasks, save us time so we can sit back and enjoy a “cuppa” at the end of the day. Yet, before we could do so, we were introduced to three distinct approaches to teacher development. While the first focused on the systems which have been adopted to allow novice teachers to develop without neglecting the training needs of more experienced ones, the second underlined the problems Academic Managers face in dealing with the “dinosaurs in the staffroom” and how they can be incited out of their comfort zones to adapt new teaching techniques and given the appropriate support to avoid further  hibernation, the last, presented by our own Sandra Luna, had us looking in the mirror and questioning whether  we can reach all teachers through carefully developed teacher training programmes.

As much as I’d like to invite you to read the next entry in this experience, or sit back and watch another episode of “Star Wars”… this is the last B”log” post about the AMT’s uplifting and enriching sessions… but my “WOOP” is to keep you posted on the events and advances in Teacher Training at IH Porto.

For now, here are some reading suggestions about some of the above-mentioned topics:

https://medium.com/@torbjorn/permalicious-b142a7976c5b#.vemrksvko

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/the-trut

h-about-frogs/

https://characterlab.org/goal-setting

The AMT Experience: B “log” entry 1 by Edite Abrantes

“Make hay while the sun shines”… the sun did shine in charming Greenwich as if to say “Welcome to IHWO AMT Conference” and a warm welcome it was indeed. Meeting up with old friends and making new ones amidst learning novel approaches to teacher development, assessment techniques, navigating the students towards excellence in the IELTS exam, reviewing blended learning approaches and much more, the first day proved to be a professionally enriching experience which deserves to be recorded for future reference.

The day’s work started with an animated and live recorded video message wishing IHWO’s COO, Lucy Horsefield, a speedy recovery from her bout of tonsillitis. Just what the doctor ordered…actually it was what Monica Green, IHWO’s CEO ordered, but who’s concerned with semantics when it’s the thought that counts?! In true IHWO team spirit, Monica stepped in to cover for Lucy and addressed the significance of preparing students for jobs that are yet to be invented and the impactful mission IH schools have in assisting language learners in achieving their goals. After all, with 76 schools spread over 33 countries, why would students go elsewhere to learn a foreign language? Moreover, the array of Teacher Training opportunities, the concern for the younger students’ wellbeing and safety, the focus on providing a meaningful Customer Experience and the involvement in charitable projects such as those proposed by the newly set up International House World Foundation ensure that being part of the IHWO team is more than just a job but a way of “Succeeding Together”!

The underlying theme in the morning sessions was that of being bold in our exam preparation methods so that we can harness the ability modern “screenage” students have for multitasking and using it to develop their competence in the use of a foreign language, while circumventing the pitfalls of merging to need to teach with that of assessing, testing and preparing students for internationally recognised exams such as those of Cambridge University or Trinity College.

In the afternoon, the attention was mainly on sharing teaching practices which promote Teacher Professional Development, be them through informal meetings which result in greater self-reflection regarding strengths and areas to build on, drop-in observations that raise teachers’ awareness to the fact that teaching is a continuous act of learning and improving and the manner in which role-playing can be an effective developmental tool.

Signed off at 23.51.

Sign in tomorrow for b”log” entry 2.

#IHConfAMT

Who’s afraid of the /bɪg bæd wʊlf/? by Joana Styliano

As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of Adrian Underhill’s phonemic chart. I have come to realise it gets a bit lonely in that department but still I rise and gladly keep on selling its relevance. Let me share my passion and the underlying reasons. In my opinion, the phonemic chart is the ultimate tool for learner autonomy and how teacher friendly is it in error correction?
Oh well, first things first. Whether you have or have not attended my sessions on pronunciation in previous years, it is quite obvious that if you are aware of the sounds, there is very little you cannot say either as a student or simply as an individual. Funnily enough, being a native speaker makes little difference here – I have come across my share of native teachers who felt tackling the chart was too daunting a task and in the end simply avoided fiddling with it.
The great Adrian Underhill has bestowed upon us a phonemic chart which consists of all the sounds used in the English language. The trick is to give it a go yourself, as a teacher, and then explore it in class. I do not mean spend a whole term on it or keep at it until your students master it like proper linguists. Instead, guide them so they feel it can be their ally rather than the funny things on the walls at school.

Once students have learnt the basics – i.e. each sound, including diphthongs, and the differences between long and short sounds for example (yes, that alone is already step in the right direction) – correcting their pronunciation mistakes becomes much more visible than ‘mere’ drilling, thus appealing to a wider range of students within the spectrum of learning styles.

That’s all very nice but how to go about it? Ideally it takes about one lesson to introduce the sounds and let students play with them – give them dictionaries or allow them to use online resources (most of them have the transcriptions but I am a fan of http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ myself), and let them select words in pairs/groups for the rest of the class to guess. Don’t forget to include word stress since teaching them how to identify it will also make them more capable of noticing and correcting their own mistakes hence making them more autonomous learners.

When you are confident enough to take it to the next level, feel free to play games or literally to have fun with it – perhaps as a warmer or at the end of class. I use it with higher levels right at the start by introducing transcriptions of new words that students will then have to decipher and later on integrate into their work, either in writing or speaking – for example at FCE or CAE level. It is also interesting to use it to correct mistakes at lower levels (e.g. any Teens level), such as the usual ‘bear’ (/beər/ not /bɪər/), not to mention the use of phonics with (very) young learners.

The sky is the limit and there are endless resources to help you. I would like to suggest Mark Hancock’s work but do feel free to come and see me in case you are looking into this area.

I hope to have demystified /prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃən/ so that you too find it as interesting and engaging! In the end it is pretty much like anything else: if you enjoy it, so will your students!

IHLanguageRainbow

Beginning to flip: intro to flipped language teaching by Shawn Severson

Here’s Shawn’s talk @ ‪#‎IHTOC7‬ “Beginning to flip: intro to flipped language teaching”
All talks were extremely interesting, so don’t forget to go through the blog and watch them!

https://sites.google.com/site/ihtoc7/the-big-picture/beginning-to-flip-intro-to-flipped-language-teaching

IHLanguageRainbow

 

Lesson Plans – by Isabel Fechas

Many things are said about lesson plans, however each level has its own particularities. Students have their own views of what is important in a classroom and lesson. There are many aspects that I consider important when planning a lesson. First of all, I believe that the teacher must decide on what the aim will be and then think about the students’ previous knowledge of the topic (if it applies). Only then should one start thinking about the strategies/activities to be used in that particular lesson. After that, the teacher should have into account the student’s level and age. Depending on their ages, children have different interests and see the world around them in different ways. So, one must consider the relevance of the activities and if they suit the taste of that particular group
of students. Additionally, age is connected with the skills and their level of development. This means that a lesson for a group of five-year-olds would be different than a lesson for a group of three-year-olds. Even if the group we’re planning the lesson for is of the same age, their skills may be at different stages of development, so when thinking about strategies, the teachers must have a few that allow him/her to support students needs during an activity (especially in terms of arts and crafts). I also consider that it is important to introduce words as soon as possible in a classroom. When planning, it is important to think about the literacy level of the students and how to introduce/improve their literacy skills. Preparation time here is very important because materials might need to be adapted whether to upgrade the degree of difficulty of the task or to make it
simpler.

Many things are said about lesson plans, however each level has its own particularities. Students have their own views of what is important in a classroom and lesson. There are many aspects that I consider important when planning a lesson. First of all, I believe that the teacher must decide on what the aim will be and then think about the students’ previous knowledge of the topic (if it applies). Only then should one start thinking about the strategies/activities to be used in that particular lesson. After that, the teacher should have into account the student’s level and age. Depending on their ages, children have different interests and see the world around them in different ways. So, one must consider the relevance of the activities and if they suit the taste of that particular group of students. Additionally, age is connected with the skills and their level of development. This means that a lesson for a group of five-year-olds would be different than a lesson for a group of three-year-olds. Even if the group we’re planning the lesson for is of the same age, their skills may be at different stages of development, so when thinking about strategies, the teachers must have a few that allow him/her to support students needs during an activity (especially in terms of arts and crafts). I also consider that it is important to introduce words as soon as possible in a classroom. When planning, it is important to think about the literacy level of the students and how to introduce/improve their literacy skills. Preparation time here is very important because materials might need to be adapted whether to upgrade the degree of difficulty of the task or to make it simpler.

IHLanguageRainbow

Professional Development for teachers – Do we need it? by Sandra Luna

All professions require ongoing training. However, in the real school world we are not always able to invest in professional development. We teach classes with too many students for too many hours, and we spend far too long marking and preparing material outside school. Sometimes we just lack the energy! Or the money…

In recent years, teacher development has been moving beyond the usual couple of workshops attended throughout the academic year, and it is becoming a  robust system of continuing education. We no longer worry about content knowledge only, though we sure need to brush it up every now and then, and have started to take a better look into things such as quality teaching, diverse learning needs, student learning environments and collaboration. We have, also, realized that computers and other technology are now a part of our daily lives. There are reports to write and tools that make it easier. There is Moodle and the IH Campus platforms which allow us to continue the lesson outside the classroom. The tutorials we can send to our students encourage learner independence. But mostly, professional development allows us to share experiences, to help our colleagues (new teachers and senior teachers) with our ideas.

A school is made of teachers, students and administrative staff. It could not exist without these three elements. And in my opinion, a good teacher is the most important school related factor influencing student achievement. We all want good students, we want them to dream high, to feel they can conquer the world so please remember this quote by Henry Ford “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

IHLanguageRainbow

Young Learners vs. Adults by Isabel Fechas

I was recently faced with this question: “How is teaching Young Learners different to teaching Adults?” My first reaction was saying that it is very different, and I actually came up with some differences very easily. Adults are aware that they’re in a classroom to learn a second language whereas Young learners usually go there because someone (usually parents) take them there, even if they’re not really aware of the reasons. Another aspect is at the skills level. Adults are usually fluent in their L1 and already have some previous knowledge of the L2 they want to learn, which helps in terms of the time spent giving instructions, and, the most relevant for me, they can read!
However, there was something that I’ve only noticed this year when I started teaching Adults. They are usually more reticent to letting you know that they are struggling with something or that they simply don’t understand your instructions or what you’re trying to explain. So I came to the conclusion that just as with Young Learners, the teacher should try to establish routines to make Adult students feel confident and secure enough to admit their difficulties. And even though one usually thinks about games for Young Learners, I’ve discovered they work really well with adults, and they tend to relax, eventually helping them with their learning.
It seems to me that Adults and Young Learners have more in common than one might think at first glance.
So, after this small reflexion, I would like to leave you all the challenge of sharing some of your thoughts and ideas about this. We’ll be waiting for them!

IHLanguageRainbow