Experiences of a teacher of English

  The good teacher must know how to plan his or her lessons. They have learned over the years. Now I’m referring to second or foreign language teachers. They learn how to plan efficient lessons for their dear students to learn effectively.  And there’s a plus. They achieve to plan in rather short time.  That kind of teacher plans his classes with their actual students in mind. He wants for them to really learn and acquire that target language.  He knows how to get the most from a class text or a photocopy he has gotten from his resources – they may be modest, though.  He learns how to be imaginative and he’ll accomplish – as I said – to get the most from a photocopy.  And he plans several activities from that sheet of paper. For example, as follows.  First he plans a listening comprehension activity while his students do not have the copy yet. And he has planned a lead-in activity for that listening, for example, a first exercise of predicting what the...

  Ok, but what is intuition? On post # 1860 I wrote about intuition when learning/acquiring a language. I write “learning/acquiring” because both can be achieved by a learner, at the same time, at the same class. Intuition is something that popularly is connected more with women… perhaps. Anyway, obviously a male learner can have a great intuition. Intuition is like guessing what for example two people are talking about by means of extra-language helps and indications. It has a lot of guessing, but it’s something else. I cannot say more things to define intuition. Just intuition is there, inside the learner. We kind of guess and find out about for instance two people are talking at a TV show. / Photo from: www flare com. disneys oscar nominated animation movie

Teacher A said to teacher B, “Math is important for everyday life; which is more, it is necessary, as Julio Gallego Codes puts. He’s an expert in education and learning strategies.  We have played math games in the class of English: mental calculation. You teach how to say + ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ -.  I have played with children. For example I say out a sequence of math operations while they’re listening to me. When I finish I say ‘.. make…’, and then they say out the answer. It’s fun.” / Photo from: stateimpact npr org. WendyPedroso   

Teacher B said to teacher A, “I have gotten to speak in English nearly all the class of English.  However, now the thing is that they, the students, would speak more than what they’re doing now.  Ok, they will have to describe objects, describe a photo from National Geographic , answer to questions from the worksheets I hand them out, and which they like a lot.  Because the main point is they would speak in English. It’s true that they’ve got to listen to me in English massively, yet it’s the moment they start to speak more in English.” / Photo from: cherishsauls blogspot com. window _ cleaner       

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “I teach adult learners too, like you know. They’re retired people who have worked as many different jobs. I try classes be communicative, as much as possible. So I try to plan activities that could foster communication in the classes. For example, sometimes I address one student and tell him or her about a situation, a specific one, in Spanish, which is our mother language. And then I ask the student what he or she would say in English, so as to respond to that situation. Before that we’ve worked on a list of useful expressions in the target language, by means of having passed on a worksheet with useful expressions for traveling, or when at a restaurant, etc. The student then says a word, or a phrase, or a sentence to respond to what I had asked. Briefly I give you an example: I ask someone how he would ask for or demand the check (or bill) at a pub. And the student will say something concerning the chec...

Agata Zgarda asked for help to teach students of different countries. This post of hers appeared on www.teachingenglish.org.uk , the site of BBC – British Council. Underneath is my response to her post. Photo from Farsi Crop. How diferent is it to teach students from different countries? Submitted by Agata Zgarda on 26 July, 2010 - 23:08 I've been invited to take part in a webinar with a title (that's not the final title yet) "Cross-cultural communication". One of my ideas was to look at the communication from a different point of view: teacher-student communication, provided that a teacher is of a different nationality than a student. I am one of the examples - a Polish person teaching English in Brazil. So for that I need to collect characteristics of English students from different countries. Have you ever had an opportunity to teach people of a diferent nationality? How would you characterize them as learners? What kind of difficulties (that come from cultural ...

This is a comment I’ve just written, for British Council – BBC site, to answer a teacher who wants to receive ideas to teach the speaking skill. / Photo from learningsupport co uk (The comment has not been published yet: the staff is moderating whether being outlet on the site). Hello Maria Victoria, small9 and vlnraojagatha, You know what? This morning I wrote a comment to try to help you, Maria Victoria. But, at sudden, right after having composed the comment, I clicked on I don't know where, with my mouse, and puuuf!!, everything disappeared. Now I'm going to write the things I can remember. First, what I've just said above, well, is... funny. Let's put the anecdote aside. You ought to, or you can speak in English, I'd tell you, from the very beginning until the very end of the class. Although your students may have close to no knowledge of English. It's like a treat between you and them. They soon will make up the image that you only speak in...

One day teacher A said to teacher B, "You've asked me for a class planning of mine, so as to have one example of my classes. Here you go. These notes are for a regular day of my schedule: they may be not the best-thought ones, just one class at random. I've written them briefly, as a prompt for myself: behind are years of experience and battle. In no way do they show exhaustive notes of the class planning. The main goal of the current course is some craic in the classroom: practicing listening and speaking - it's an extra-curricular course. Kids 11 and 12 year-old. One hour approx." 1. Learning their names. 2.Tell them "I do not understand Spanish at this time..." [So they've got to say their messages however they can] 3. Competition. Two players. Topic: means of transportation. 4. Competition. All the class vs me! Topic their choice. 5. Revise alphabet. 6. Hangman. Clue: objects in this room. DICTIONARY. BOOKCASE. TRASH CAN. ATLAS. 7. Dictionary com...

A comment of mine on British Council BBC website, published today June 9. The site can be found on www.teachingenglish.co.uk Hello cmftrier and everyone, In my degree of Philology of English we were taught the difference between errors and mistakes. It fits what some of you state. If it helps you out, my primeval goal in the classroom is communication. Right now I'm referring to speaking errors or mistakes. One of you, sorry who?, said that making errors and mistakes is a sign of actual learning. I let my students utter their messages, and I try to express my wish to understand them, yet they speak in broken English. So, the point in the class is the real communication among us. Secondly but not less important, I correct some mistakes/errors few times while someone is explainig something: I let him or her speak out. I do not much butt in what that student is saying. When one student is explaining something or just stammering some words, or maybe saying full sentences, depending on...

One day teacher A said to teacher B, "Something that helps to learn English is watching videos where appear people from English-speaking countries. Or people from anywhere in the world speaking English. This watching images serves the purpose of creating a special environment in the classroom where English is the vehicle for communication. The point, you know?, is that the students would take in some culture of those countries. I've used for my classes videos from the BBC website, YouTube (be careful when exposing this site to your students, you may encounter bad things), formerly video-cassettes (!), DVD's that are part of a coursebook, radio stations, movies, documentaries, etc. Very helpful for your classes." Picture from www bunniktours com au

This is a reply I wrote to a colleague of ours, about questioning the students in an effective way. It has been published in the web-site of Pearson-Longman. Worth to call on this site! / Photo from www ekinsbuilder co uk . This truck c1925. Hello Benson and everyone, I'd tell you some hints, if any useful. 1. Talk about things of your students' real interest currently, don't talk about, say, fishing red crabs in swallow waters in areas close to the Antarctic. Get it? 2. Paraphrase what your student just said, just responded. 3. Listen, listen, listen, listen. 4. Look in his/her eyes. Eye-contact is of paramount importance. 5. Address each student and look in his/her eyes in the class. 6. Any answer might be acceptable: they are starting communication, and this is our goal of teachers of languages! 7. Pretend you don't understand your common language: at that class-time you "do not understand L1": it's a funny treat, believe me. Oooops, I'm stopping ...

One more game, a listening-jogging one. I write an interesting story (rather short) on my class-notes. I feel as if the Internet offers umpteen activities, tips, etc., but when I want to copy and print a worksheet or a text... they don't quite fit my students' level or necessities or the grammar or the notional approach it presents. Because of that I just write my own stories, connected with their own concernings. So, I read a text aloud, in the class, twice, and they listen, right? I somewhat act out when reading, only a bit, so as to focus their attention. And the follow-up activity is I read some statements and they have to say if they are either true or false or not in the text. I try to read the statements with kind of a cunning look, and I get silent to let them think and reply. It's okay, it works. /Photo thanks to www asiapacific basf com - Oh, also read them texts about, for example, general culture, we need kids willing to change the world as much as possible. It...

One day teacher B said to teacher A, “A few years ago I was registered in a course of English myself, at an advanced level. We were adults. We were few in the classroom, and used to talk in English most of the time, which is a good practice for advanced learners of this language (as a foreign one, EFL). The point is that in the classroom we had access to the Internet and a screen to watch YouTube; so, authentic material in the target language. Also we could consult the Web to look up a word (Spanish or English) on a dictionary online, or a point of grammar somewhere in the Web, with examples of the usage. As well we could watch dvd’s from the coursebook. I mean, the Internet in the classroom is a great source of material for your classes.” On the picture is an “autogiro”, a Spanish invention by De la cierva; kind of a predecessor of helicopters; from www gasolinealleyantiques com

Below you have some games that have been very helpful and fun in my classes . On the Labels column, on the right hand of my blog, you have one label which if you clic on you'll have a long list of 107 games, all levels of English. Now just some games, especially popular amongst my students. 1. Dictionary. The teacher writes a new word on the blackboard (or digitalboard or...). The first student who finds the meaning, one point. Very helpful to practice looking up words in a dictionary. Every activity can be done individually or in pairs or in groups of three. 2. The teacher writes words beginning with the same letter. The students have to order those words as they appear in the dictionary: belong, believe, beneath, be, beep, bend, bachelor, believer. 3. Hangman. Also to construct sentences. 4. Simon says … They really enjoy this one! If you say "Simon says" plus an instruction the students have to do it; if you don't say "Simon says", they must do nothing; ...

Next day teacher B said to teacher A, “Yesterday I told you I had achieved to make my students talk in English, remember? I made an interview to one student of my class-group. Today I wanted to also tell you some other questions that provoked, or boosted that speaking . I asked the interviewed kid how long he had been a socio (a member , or how to say in English, I just mean a student whose family paid some fare every month); and I also utilized mimicry with this very question, and synonym expressions. And another question I gave more relevance to was what activity he, or they, would like to do, one activity ‘you don’t have now in Alayos’, adding some nodding to make me understood – I referred to excursions, or games, or educative activities, or practicing a new sport. Oh, just a bit more: I told them this interview ‘would be’ published in the weekly newsletter of Alayos center – They actually did know this was not true, simply a ‘mock interview’ – Every week one socio is interviewed...

One day teacher A said to teacher B, "Speak slowly, or better said, speak in a way it might be more simple for your students to understand you. They, as well, are getting accostumed to your way of talking, the expressions you repeat often - try and use different words also; use the new words of the current unit they are learning. Pronounce fine. They are getting the particular texture of spoken English. Speak in a clear way but at the same time in a naturalistic mode, a realistic mode. Utilize aids: eye-contact; the blackboard (or the digital one if you have one of this kind!); drawing; visual aids for the younger kids (they cannot think abstract concepts of syntax and so - they start to be capable when 11 years approx); act out, do some gestures, smile; stop talking (silence definitely helps focusing back again); address each student; look at their faces; ask them; make some others to repeat, or to reply with another example; and the sort. Something interactive, practical, realis...

One day teacher B said to teacher A, "What do I do you said to maintain English spoken in the classroom? I speak English from the beginning. Only English is spoken... and understood by me, right? That way an atmosphere is created, I guess, as though it'd be in any country where English is spoken. The class-period is a piece of India, or Britain, or the US, or Ireland, or Hong Kong, or... At least for a piece, a big one, of the class-period, with specific limits, from starting to end: all in English. They grasp in mind I 'only' use that language. Try yourself next class-period. By the way, an anecdote. It has to do with using a language as a way of communicating. Historical. Don't get me wrong, hmm? When the Allies took France from the Nazis, in the Second World War, when things were setting down after the battles, some shops on the streets showed notices - English spoken, American understood ." Chateau Chenonceau, from www castles francethisway com.

One day teacher B said to teacher A, " My advice about the syllabus or planning of an academic year? I'll let you know just one point. Besides planning the units, procedures, objectives, activities, tests and the kind, oh, and the points the department of English obliges you to implement, think of one key objective: have fun with your students and help them in oral activities, I mean, above all practice speaking in English, with sense of humor and the firm resolution to make your students as happy as possible. Let hem feel loved really by you. Why oral activities mainly? A lot of adults tell me they studied English or French when at the school, but they have not learned English or French: they did many exercises and grammar but they can't speak in those languages." John Ford, somehow the inventor of Westerns, directed The Searchers , released in 1956, starring John Wayne. This latter star got boosted by this film: it was the one that got him reckoned as an actor wi...

The teacher trainer/coach told me, ' Rebecca Oxford is an ace at learning strategies , as I told you some posts ago. I told you the reference of her book: simply great. She states that your students have to learn, have to practise intelligent listening or reading, and that way understanding the message. Perhaps they are not aware, but they try a clever guess to understand you - because you only speak in English in the classroom. By the way, if possible, I'm going to publish more frequent posts, so as to publish my book on TEFL/TESL. Your students may get stuck when listening to you, plus your gestures, face expressions, use of the digital or blackboard, occurring of similar homophones in their L1, the experience they are getting with the passing time, plus your examples, your asking one student about something and his classmates receiving extra information about the stuff you are speaking about, plus repetition, plus helping one another, plus the grammar pattern and voc...

Making up the mechanics of words. Picture from manitouheights com. Extra games (spelling) : 1. Similar to 12; they usually confuse the pronunciation of the vowels a e i. 2. You write the consonants of some words and they have to give the vowels. 3. Making up as many words as possible with some given letters by you.