When Adrienn Szlapak wrote to me asking whether I might be interested in writing a post of the IATEFL YLTSiG blog, there was only one possible answer and it was: YES!
Today, the post is out. You can find it here.
Happy teaching!
Teaching English to Kids
When Adrienn Szlapak wrote to me asking whether I might be interested in writing a post of the IATEFL YLTSiG blog, there was only one possible answer and it was: YES!
Today, the post is out. You can find it here.
Happy teaching!
This episode is going to be devoted to the older students, juniors, teenagers and adults and those of the higher levels, from B1 upwards.
All of these activities were inspired by the approach in the visual based speaking tasks of the Cambridge exams. I use these activities frequently at the beginning of the ‘unit’, to introduce a new theme, to ease us into it and to start with some freer speaking activity, that, really, does not have any specific linguistic requirements or a very formal framework. Not to mention that by the way, my students get an opportunity to practise and develop their exam skills, in a slightly more relaxed way.
All of these activites are deeply rooted in my professional laziness because even though I have to devote some time to the picture selection, that is, really, the only time investment beacause the task is usually a one sentence instruction and, to be perfectly honest, most of the ideas listed below were created during the lesson, as a follow-up and an extension of the regular Cambridge ‘similar or different’ task.
Usually, my greatest helper while preparing these activities is google search engine. I type in the key words and I look through the images until I find these four, six or eight that match the idea that I have in mind. They can be saved in a document or displayed on the screen (powerpoint or Miro). I save them and keep them for later because they are always recycled.
Frequently, I start the cycle with the simplest of the activities (‘Choose two to compare’) and I follow-up with a wider discussion (‘Have you ever…?’) or any other combination but, naturally, these can be used on their own. All of the activities can be done with the whole class or in pairs.
Make sure you also have a look at the first two parts of this series. You can find them here and here.
Happy teaching!
I have already been writing about ‘the shock’ of a teacher of YL going back into the adult EFL classroom in an earlier post ‘What an old dog learnt?‘.
A message to the parents
Two weeks ago, after one of the lessons, I sat down to write to the parents about the homework, the upcoming test and some feedback. It was just a lesson and a busy one because we were doing a lot of preparation for the test. ‘Nothing special’ you might say because we didn’t have any amazing activities, no ‘fireworks’ or ‘surprises’, only a lot of hard work and practice. And yet, somehow, the lesson was just beautiful, so great, in fact, that I decided to write about it to my educational parents, too. I just wanted to tell them that the kids were amazing (they are!) and that we had a speaking activity and it all went very well. ‘You know, I wish I could show our group to some of my adult students to show them what communication might and should look like‘, I typed, and it was only then that I did sigh, in awe at my own wording and the very idea.
Oh, how I wish I could do just that.
What would my adults see…
First of all, they would see children of different ages, aged 10 in this group, but also 3 or 17 in my other groups, kids studying together, in groups or individually. If they came, they would be surprised at the level of English the kids already have at this point. Or, rather, as a proud teacher of my kids, I hope they would be impressed. Just a little bit.
I would also hope that they could notice how comfortable the kids feel in their other language version. It is not an accessory that you carry around in your hand, a tool that you try to use although you are not quite sure how to. Nor is it a costume that you have to put on and become something else, a dragon, a princess, a cat, something that you are not. On the contrary, I would love them to see how, regardless of the age and the level, English can and does feel like the second skin. Something that is just you, the other version of you but also the very self that you are.
I would love my adults to be inspired by the open-mindedness and the general attitude to anything that is new and out of the box, especially the readiness to see, to try, to experiment. That does not mean that everything that I bring into the lesson and everything that I dump at them, grammar, tests, exam preparation, all the games are welcomed with the open arms and everyone, but absolutely every single person jumps at the opportunity of diving in. It is absolutely not the case. My kids are ‘normal’ kids who get tired, who have lots of homework, who sometimes, I bet you, would be doing something else entirely, not the things we are dealing with in the classroom. And, consequently, they are looking for the ways out, for the ways of cutting the corners, for taking a time out. Which, to be honest, is something that I secretly admire them for, although I will never own up to it. But, even so, overall, they are ready for a challenge.
I would love to the adults to notice the egalite as one of our rules and standards that everyone has the right to and that everyone has to learn to accept, because, indeed, sometimes this is something that we have to work on, although for kids the reasons are slightly different. The younger kids are developing their social skills for the first time, as it were. The adults hide either behind their personality or good manners or, perhaps, the corporate culture that might be developing the habits in some relation to the hierarchy in the company. Although here, I don’t know, I am just guessing.
Last but not least, it would be very interesting to have my adult students see that the teacher is not some kind of an air traffic controller, deciding who goes next but more of a head chef, the individual, who, although fully present and involved, is only keeping an eye on the process and making sure that the food is made and served or, in other words, that the aims are met. What is more, and very closely related, is that everyone gets to execute their freedom of speech, or in simple and less grandiose words: that people talk whenever they have something to say, not only because the teacher asks a question and when she does it.
I have no idea why but with every word typed up here, it started to feel more like typing up a teaching manifesto, my own teaching commandments almost. I can promise that I will leave it here as it is and I will get back to it in a few weeks to see if it still feels like that and if I still believe in it.
As a result…
The truth is that I wouldn’t really do it. The kids’ need to stay protected, in the precious coziness of our online classroom and without any ‘invasions’ from strangers. The adults, on the other hand, might not appreciate having their teacher suggest that their new role models in communication are some ten-year-olds. Everyone will stay in their own classroom and I will just continue doing my job and learning from observing and reflecting on two different environments and types of lessons.
And using them as a source of inspiration for new activities, like this new series on the blog Discourse Development. Here’s to hoping that staging, scaffolding and practising will lead to automacy and to the development of new habits and even my adults, all my adults, will be interacting with more freedom and ease.
So far, there have been four but I got a feeling that there will be more coming up
There is definitely more to come!
Happy teaching!
Here is a post from an experienced teacher trainer and a recruiter looking back at her own teaching career and the beginnings of it. With a tiny little bit of surprise and a dash of delayed horror because, all these years ago, if I had been the one taking me on the job, I probably wouldn’t have offered myself a position, and certainly not on these conditions. I certainly would have had some serious doubts whether I should consider myself as a candidate.
What I would like to see in a newly qualified teacher of YL?
Generally, the experts Sarah Rich (2017) and Sandie Murão (2015) highlight three areas which should be included in YL teachers’ education:
These means some specific documents such as university degrees, language exams and teaching qualifications which will largely depend on the law and the education system in each country. On top of that would come all the personal characteristics that a teacher working with young learners should have such as resourcefulness, creativity and enthusiasm. And a real interest in working with children.
What did candidate Anka Z. have to show on her application for the first teaching job?
In short, not much.
I had graduated from the university with a degree in History, having spent the previous three years in the libraries of Wroclaw, leafing through the newspapers and magazines of the 1950s and, somehow, I had managed to pull off getting a masters in History writing about jazz. Something to be proud of and I was. Even today, when I open my MA thesis, I am happy with it and with the distinction that it earned me, although, obviously, there is no way in which it could have been of any use in the EFL classroom.
One saving grace was the fact that since I always wanted to teach, when it came to choosing specialisation, from the two options of a) an archivist and b) a teacher, I went for the latter and, as a result, I did two years psychology and pedagogy (aka memorising theories to pass the exam) and two months of the pre-service teaching practice. This was something because it gave me a chance of spending two months at two different schools, working with real students and being supervised by real teachers and it gave me a taste of what teaching might be about. The methodology of these two subjects, history and English as a foreign language, could not have been different but at least I had a chance to perform in front of a bunch of kids. Officially, I was a trained teacher. Of history.
It was also a happy coincidence that somewhere in-between the historical research fits, I found time to fall in love in English, Hamlet and that I started to read the English poetry and prose in the original version and, eventually, realised that there is something in the world which brings me more joy and happiness, more than history. For that reason, starting from year 3 of my university studies, I started to spend my student’s grant on the English classes in a private language schools and on exams. And even before I got my MA degree diploma, I was already a happy owner of the CAE Pass (B) certificate.
What could also be added on the assets side of the balance sheet, was definitely the state of the educational system in the country, the legislation, the demand for teachers of foreign languages at the time. They had just changed the curriculum for the primary and the secondary schools, English was introduced as the main foreign language from the age of 7 and there were no teachers. At the time when I was starting, the schools were given a permission to recruit university graduates with the relevant pedagogical training and the relevant subject knowledge, which, at the time, in case of the English language teachers was the level of B2+ aka FCE.
This is how I was hired as a full-time permanent contract teacher with all the benefits and perks.
Was I ready?
No, I was not. I had spent two months preparing lesson plans, delivering lessons, reflecting and working with the feedback I was getting. However, getting ready for discussing the ancient Rome with the primary school children and the WWI with the teenagers has got very little to do with getting your head around preparing for teaching the same kids and adolescents to speak in a foreign language.
There is no doubt that I entered the classrooms in my first week and month of teaching absolutely unprepared, relying mostly on my passion for English and on some naive (but useful) enthusiasm.
A teacher is born and raised
When I was reminiscing of the beginnings of my career, already as an experienced teacher and a trainer, I was somewhat surprised to realise that there was no mentoring programme in place. We had the informal head of the English language department, a lovely teacher Gosia who until this day is my dear friend but her help and support were based on her own personality traits, a kind heart and friendliness, rather than on a formal set of procedures. It took the form of the conversations in the teachers’ room and the joint participation in some of the projects, events and workshops.
It was the school policy for the headmaster to observe the teachers but he himself was not a teacher of languages so, really, he could not offer any real support related to the aspects of teaching English.
I survived the first month, somehow and soon enough, on the 1st of October, I started studies on the part-time BA in the English language and literature.
Perhaps it was justified, to some extent, because, when I was starting I had already enrolled on the one of the subjects that we were offered was the EFL methodology. The progress was taking place and, at the same time, my university mentor never had a chance to see me in the classroom, with my students, in action and, although, I did benefit from that, as a trainer, I cannot say that it made a real difference to my teaching. Interacting with my peers and sharing ideas was definitely more beneficial and now, thanks to the university, I had not only the two colleagues at my school but about 40 other teachers from the whole region.
Today, it feels like the teacher was simply expected to manage and to get on with the job.
Where the real learning and development happened…
…was in the classroom, of course. It was by a sheer coincidence that in my first year of teaching I was given 5 classes of year 1 of the middle school (another coincidence with the changes in the structure of the Polish school system), 3 of them divided into two groups. All of these students were of the same level and all of them were using the same coursebook, Open Doors 1, from OUP. That meant that every lesson that I had to prepare I had to teach eight times. It worked amazing well on a few levels.
First of all, this has seriously reduced the preparation time which, for a newly qualified teacher, in the first year of a full-time work, with about 30 academic hours of teaching a week, was god-sent. I could devote time to lesson preparation knowing that I was investing in 8 lessons, not in one and it was definitely much more manageable than planning 30 different lessons.
Even more importantly, that also meant that I had a chance to each the same lesson eight times in a row. Even if I hadn’t wanted, I would have been forced to reflect on how the same set of activities worked with different groups, some of which were bigger, some of which were smaller, some of which were more dilligent, some of which were less motivated, all of which were mixed ability groups, with a different ratio of weaker and stronger students.
Naturally, the lesson plan and the activities were changing and were being adapted as I went from lesson 1 to lesson 8 of the round and it was getting better. It is quite likely that by the time I got to teach it for the eighth time, it was a DELTA-worthy lesson. And even if it wasn’t, it was a much better lesson plan and I was a better, more experienced teacher.
And they lived happily ever after…
Well, I suppose they did. I got my BA in English and I stayed in a state school for five years. Then I left the country and finally got to do my CELTA course in London and then I left to travel and teach here and there and everywhere and to become an ADOS, a trainer, a blogger and all the other things that I am today.
This journey also makes me think of all the happy coincidences on the way and all the things that contributed to my becoming a teacher and staying in the profession. Inevitably, what follows are all the alternative scenarios that could have but did not happen. What if I had got different classes and what if I had to teach 30 completely different lessons every week? What if Gosia had not been there but some other not so pleasant and not so kind colleague? What if I hadn’t started my second degree straight away? What if I had had some horrible students in my first groups? Where would I be today? Just curious)
Happy teaching!
References
Sarah Rich (2018), Early language learning teacher education, in: S. Garton and F. Copeland (eds), The Routledge Handbook Of Teaching English To Young Learners.
Sandie Murão (2015), Play and Language Learning, IATEFL YLTSiG.
Ingredients
Procedure
Why we like it
Two weeks ago I was invited to present at the monthly meeting of the Teacher – Mentor Learning Community which was founded by Anna Kashcheeva who, over the years, has been my fellow teacher, ADOS, trainer, my trainee and my trainer and supervisor. Oh, what a lovely list))
I prepared a session on laziness, one of my professional passions. The session went well, the audience were amazing and I got a lot of positive feedback. We were not recording but the presentation was followed up by a post on the community’s blog and you can find it here. Once you get there, don’t forget to have a look at all the other posts and materials.
Happy teaching!
It is actually funny that this particular post makes an appearance as only the third one in the series, although it should definitely be the Number One as I do it with my youngest students and with the lowest levels. That is the Beginning of Discourse.
Ingredients
Procedure
Why we like it
Here you can find the two other posts in the series on developing discourse through sentence adverbs and via one-minute essays. There is also one of the older posts on the many ways of developing discourse for the youngest students.
Happy teaching!
This is one more of those activities that is not ‘a real grammar / vocabulary topic’ that is introduced in the coursebook with all the follow-up activities. It is not. It is closer to an activitiy that helps to broaden the horizons and let the students look in a slightly different way at the language they are producing while speaking. It is not only a set of words that you blurt out because you understand the question that was asked and that you have an opinion you want to share. Instead, you take a moment (a very, very short one), one breath and organise the words that are the come out. One of the activities has already been published here on the blog, about One-minute essays. This is the second one in this mini-series.
Ingredients
Procedures
Why we like it
Happy teaching!
Ingredients
Procedures
Why we like it?
Happy teaching!
Today is the day: 15 000 views of my blog, almost on the blog’s birthday. Soon it will be three years since I started the life of some funky socks and some dragons. To be honest, I do not have any (as in: ANY) idea whether 15 000 should generate a ‘WOW’ or an ‘Oh dear!’ from me. I suppose, it is something close to nothing compared to millions of views on youtube or TicToc. On the other hand, perhaps, it is not so shabby for an educational EFL blog…I tried to read some clever articles related to the online presence and tools but got bored very quickly and decided that since that is not my bread and butter, earning my keep, but rather my Nutella that I splash out on from the regular salary, I will not bother anymore. Instead, here are some things that I have learned and found out about based during that 3-year-long and 15 000-views-rich journey with the socks and the dragons.
The top 10 posts (A.D. 2023) are these:
Instead of a coda
Blogging is not quite for free. Once a year I have to pay ‘the rent’ for the privilege of residing here, on this platfrom. Every year, when the day is approaching, I sit down to have a serious conversation with myself along the lines of ‘Are you happy with how it is going?’ and ‘Do you still want to do it? Can you commit yourself to one more year of typing, researching and sharing ideas?’
I think I do. Until the next post, then!
Happy teaching!