Second Language Learning
Apps, Apps and more Apps (when will it stop!)
I now have a new iPad, and there are many Apps to work with. Also, after speaking to other teachers and using the web to find other useful ones, downloading them, I am presently overloaded with Apps. My endeavour is to find out which Apps suit my teaching style and others that have a real benefit to the students. As a side-note, one major factor is that I have an iPad, but my students are normally used to old computers. So, I just wanted to make a note of some of the Apps I found quite interesting. I did start using iTunes U, but this meant the students need to get an Apple ID. For any student, this would a task, so I would recommend using up Edmodo. This is a great site for uploading class material. I then ventured to NearPod which impressed me after using Prezi, Powerpoint, and Keynote. It is not your usual presentation site because you can add quizzes and polls squeezed into your presentation as you deliver it. It will keep the students busy. It also allows you to give the presentation to the students slide by slide when needed. Once they are signed on and you give them the code for the class, you are ready to go.
I do have many Apps, but the last one (I don’t want to bore you, too much) that I will mention is GoodReader. This one allows you to store all your class material. PDF files can be AirDropped to your students through the iPads. Once they have done this work they can send it back to you. This is great for marking as you can use your fingers (as like a pen) to mark their work and then send back to them. Hey presto no paper!!. Oh yeah, TeacherKit is a great way to remember student names, you take their picture and write their names underneath. You can take attendance with this too. I could go on but as you see from below this is my iPad with many more Apps. Good luck with your iPads if you have them (they are becoming hard to avoid)!
Video Lesson – Rhianna lesson
Last week, my class had a week of lessons on the subject of music. I thought about who I should choose to focus on for one lesson, at least one quite famous popstar, so I chose Rhianna. This lesson worked out fine as they all knew her somewhat. I opened by asking if anyone knew Rhianna, and we got some facts up on the board. I, of course, did (had to do) some background reading as to show the students at least I knew something about her. There are many ways you can take this lesson. The video is Rhianna being interviewed on the red carpet at an awards ceremony, so meeting/interviewing famous people is what it is all about. What would you ask, what would you say? I ended up getting them to be popstars, and a showbiz reporter interviews them Grammy/Oscar style in front of the class for our own awards show. In the dialogue, below, I picked out phrases to focus on as a study part of the lesson. I was thinking about chunking language and how we use phrases and collocations that marry up to make sentences. I went through this before the listening part and blanked out the words as an exercise. Anyway here is the interview and video.
Interviewer: I was looking at a fact. You have been on the AT40 chart.. 177 consecutive weeks which is a record!
Rhianna: I did not know that. That’s sick.
Interviewer: It’s crazy. What does it mean to you, though, to have all of that success in such a relatively short time…at a young age?
Rhianna: It blows my mind. It’s hard to really grasp.. a hold of what’s happening . Really, I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe the success that I’m having. I’m just really grateful. More than grateful because it has surpassed everything I have dreamed of. So, it’s exciting. Now is the bonus.
Interviewer: Tomorrow on E-news right here. We’re gonna world premier the new video for your new single Stay. Lots of excitement for that.. and this is a song that has some breadth to it. It’s a very very slow.…finesse ballad. Tell us about the video.
Rhianna: The video was really really simple. I pretty much stayed put in a bath tub.. and we shot it really tight….really close. There’s Micky Echo in the video as well which is… you know.. this is the first time I have ever collaborated with him. So I am excited about that because he’s actually the one who wrote the song. I kinda just fell in love with it so much…in love with the tone of his voice. So, I wanted to keep him a part of it so you will see him in the video.
Interviewer: I would have to imagine you would have to get into a zone to sing that song. What is that zone you have to get into?
Rhianna: It’s very emotional song and it’s personal so you just think about.. it’s almost like telling a story. And that’s. When you tell a story even to yourself…you know…If you’re saying it out loud, expressing the way you feel. It needs to be powerful because it needs to be authentic.
Phrases
all of that success, blows my mind, has surpassed everything, world premier, collaborated with him, get into a zone, that’s sick, saying it out loud, lots of excitement, have been, needs to be, you know, get into
An analysis of the experience of being a teacher
(1205 Words)
I wonder what motivates teachers to start the profession. For sure many reasons make someone begin a career in teaching. Is it pay or job security or is it a fall back option? This being said, initial motivation does not mean that years later the same can be said. The fact of the matter I feel is the evolution of the new teacher into a mature tutor. This is then the professional person who has recognized the true meaning of teaching. This person recognizes their role in helping to shape young minds and impart moral values through education. Teaching has to be a vocation. In part an autobiographical story and analysis, for this piece, I feel that there are many aspects that any teacher has to realize to fulfill true potential.
Certainly, ongoing professional development highlights certain challenges in teaching that a teacher has to face up to. A focal point for me was the realization that students do not really know how to learn. How can any teacher, great as they may think they are, not realize that the students are naive about how to get the most benefit from a lesson? Any teacher has to look at the students’ own learning traits in light of the imperative that they both foster lifelong learners in their classrooms as well as become lifelong learners themselves (Bernard-Powers et al., 2000). The teacher definitely has to play a huge part in a student’s education although every student and the class as a whole have to progress to help the teacher get the most out of them.
Giving and Receiving Feedback, It Will Never Be Easy But It Can Be Better
(633 Words)
I think at times teachers can have a little trouble with receiving and giving feedback. Their feedback skills could be said to need a little practice. I think this is important because as a teacher you will need feedback from your students to tell you if they like your teaching. Also, the students will want feedback on their learning. Each piece of feedback needs a positive, constructive base.
A first reaction, when thinking about feedback, may well be to go on the defensive when it is given. On the defensive, I mean that you are not really listening to the person giving the feedback. The point is feedback is information that can be heard by the receiver as evidenced by the fact that they do not go on the defensive. I agree that feedback has great value but only to us if we can let the feedback in and effectively use it.
There is also ineffective feedback. These are judgmental statements and can upset people. During a reflection, a teacher was told they were talking too much in class but the observer seemed to forget to look at the students who were fine with this talking. Other people said it was a lower level, and the students did not talk much anyway. Would you feel bad for the teacher? Was the observer too opinionated?
Another aspect is getting feedback but not using the experience as a positive move forward. The observer is just making a comment. The teacher needs to ask them such questions as ‘Why’? and ‘What do you think is better?’ For future actions, a teacher should take the time to realize that they could be wrong and that they should take in the information (feedback) that has been given. They should ask for clarification and realize that it is not a battle, and the comment is to help. They should reply with what they think. Thus hopefully getting a discussion going.
Moreover, the information that is given in the feedback can be shut out. Teachers sometimes lack the skills to send and receive feedback. For example, a teacher thought of a lesson plan idea and mentioned it to another teacher. Basically, they were told that the lesson plan was off-target because the lesson was not student-centred thus in the lesson plan the teacher would speak more which they are not supposed to do. The problem was that the teacher had thought about this lesson for a long time and had it planned. Now the first reaction, when they were told it was off-target, was to get a little angry. They felt as though it was an attack against them personally. Maybe they felt as though they were not good enough; their ideas were not good enough. So, they felt a bit sorry for themselves. One idea could be to say, “shall I forget about that lesson plan?’ and if they said ‘yes’, say to them “what do you think then?” or “how can I develop it?” The teacher could have asked why they thought it was off-course and what ideas the teacher should think of. The teacher should have got to the bottom of their thinking as they might think up another lesson plan like this and have the same trouble again.
In conclusion, a teacher’s acceptance of feedback does not mean that they need to always act on it. The feedback should have been encouraging, helpful, and given with clarity. If so, then the teacher needs to consider the feedback, and decide how, if at all, they wish to act upon it. This is strictly their choice, but it is important to bring to mind that the person giving the feedback felt strongly enough that they mentioned it. Let’s face it, how would you react in any given feedback situation?
Teacher Classroom Observation Questions
Do second language students often ask for clarification, verification, or correction?
Do the L2 students co-operate with their peers or seem to have much contact outside of class with more proficient users?
Do your lesson plans incorporate various ways that L2 students can learn the language you are modelling, practising or presenting, in order to appeal to a variety of learning styles and strategies?
Does your teaching allow L2 learners to approach the task at hand in a variety of ways? Is your Learning Language Strategy training (LLS) implicit, explicit, or both?
Is your class learner-centred?
Do you allow L2 students to work on their own and learn from one another?
As you circulate in class, are you encouraging questions, or posing ones relevant to the L2 learners with whom you interact?
Do L2 students seem to have grasped the point?
Did they use the LLS that was modelled in the task they were to perform?
What improvements for future lessons of this type or on this topic might be gleaned from L2 students’ behaviour?
Questions for students
In this class:
I want to….
will/won’t….
My favourite/least favourite kinds of class activities are…
I am studying English because…….
Journal Questions
This week:
I studied…
I learned…
I used my English in these places…
I spoke English with these people…
I made these mistakes…
My difficulties are…
I would like to know…
I would like help with…
My learning and practising plans for the next week are…
