…. Grade yours too.
I came across this idea while reading up for my next assignment and have found it very useful, reflective teaching light.
After each lesson I just give it a grade, A, B,…F, etc.
When you just don’t have time to write a detailed log entry this can be just what you need to get you thinking all the right questions, what went well? What needs tweaking? And so on.
Today’s lessons get a B+, D, and an A, irregular work, can do better.
Since I started my M.A. last autumn I’ve been keeping a journal in various forms.
For the last month or so this has become a notebook in which I write a few thoughts, often questions actually, EVERY EVENING, except Saturday – my official day off.
At first I did it to impress my tutor, and because I’m a good student, but it’s grown on me and here are some of the reasons why;
1. It’s the sink cleaning of the brain – just as washing up and tidying the kitchen wouldn’t be complete without a quick swill round the sink with a sponge, my teacher brain needs emptying into my notebook before I can settle down in guilt-free mode to my other life, superhero, or slouching on the sofa, who cares? What does count is this conclusion to the working day.
2. Ask a question – Jarvis (1996) called it a problem-solving device, and I have taken to using my journal as an oracle, I often write questions, such as recently “how can I correct tests with them so they actually learn from their mistakes?” Every week I reread parts of my journal and low and behold, an answer, or more often a suggestion appears to me.
3. It’s good to think about what you’ve done – time goes so quickly in class, if I don’t stop and think about it regularly the term has gone. How can I avoid teaching the same year ten times (as opposed to having ten years’ experience) if I don’t slow down and take a look from time to time?
4. It’s a good way of finding new ideas – often as I’m noting down what we did in class follow up activities spring to mind, which I think is great as I’m guilty of starting loads of new projects and activities without looking back at old ones, and the pupils really appreciate revisiting an old topic. I hear my colleagues complain that they can’t remember their dates in history or their formulas in maths, yet since our fun practising the past activity the other week everyone can remember than S. saw her friends, Thomas swam, and I’ll never forget that Anna bought a pen.
5. It helps you sleep – and for a teacher that’s a godsend! Once I’ve written it all down I can turn the page and the lightswitch, knowing that, even if I haven’t solved all the world’s problems, then I have at least asked some important questions and so the answer will come to me tomorrow.
What about you? Do you keep a journal? If so, what reasons can you add?
Today the 6ème were using the past simple for the first time, this is always a delicate moment and I’m never sure whether I won’t be producing a herd of grammar monsters who will answer the question “what did you do in the holidays?” with ” I am go to the cinema”. I do in fact have several such beasts in my other classes.
Which is why I was so pleased with what happened today.
As we have just got back after half term it seemed a pretty valid question to ask what they had done,
pupil 1: ” I’m go swim”
cue frown & waving of irregular verb sheet from yours truly,
1 again : I’m swam
cue me holding up two fingers & mouthing,
1: I swam.
Great, I searched through my brain for something fun, rather than 16 painfully slow phrases accompanied by unconcentrated classmates messing about.
T: ” So 2, what did 1 do? … and you?
2: 1 swam and I ate pizza
3: 1 swam, 2 ate pizza, and I saw my friends…
etc. Repeat and add phrases 15 times.
Suddenly I had a class full of kids hanging on each other’s words so as not to miss a step, and repeating loads of past simple phrases without batting an eyelid,
it was FANTASTIC!
The kids loved it, and as we obviously didn’t go round the class in order, everyone was paying attention, until we got to my turn, and I let the whole side down by forgetting what the last pupil did.
Although now I think about it, Anna bought a pencil.
Do your students “cheat”? Or is it only school pupils that do so? Obviously the need for a good mark with minimum effort overrides any longer term motivation about actually learning English, or so it often seems.
So today, when a pupil started reading her oral presentation (which I try to discourage) I could tell pretty quickly that it wasn’t her work. On the smartboard I googled her first few phrases, and low and behold, up came her text.
I know some would suggest not giving them presentation subjects to prepare beforehand. However I feel it’s an important skill they will need, not only for other school subjects which often require presentations in front of the class, but also later on at work.
I’m giving a workshop this week, not only will I put into practice all I’ve taught my pupils about not reading your powerpoint and knowing your subject, but I’ll also make sure I don’t print and read out the wikipedia page on the subject!
This week I’m giving a workshop entitled “fast finishers and Slow starters”.
The idea is to share some ideas about what to do when a pupil sticks up his hand and yells “I’ve finished” minutes after the class has started the task.
What do you do? Do you let them wait? Stop the activity even though half the class haven’t finished?
In this series of posts I’ll be sharing some of my ideas, feel free to comment and add your own.
It’s half-term, time to take a step back and look at how I’m doing and where I’m going (as well as changing the beds and eliminating that marking pile!).
It feels like I made those New Year’s resolutions a millennium ago, so how’s it going?
1. Work hard on my M.A. – At least one hour every evening. So, not necessarily one hour, but I have worked hard on it – and averaging about seven hours a week, I’m still enjoying it – that’s the main thing. I must get my reading and plan for my next essay out of the way this week.
2. Continue and develop my PLN. – read at least one blog a week. – At least one blog and often more, twitter is still the best thing that ever happened to my CPD. I’ve also watched a few webinars and been to a few conferences.
3. Use the interactive smartboard – at least one class per week. – Eek, pretty poor show there, I hadn’t even got the right software uploaded at the last training session, must try harder. Although in fairness I do use it at least once a week as a beamer, to show websites and youtube clips, does that count?!
4. Do more pronunciation activities – at least one for each class each week. -Ermm, maybe not quite that many but I AM doing more pronunciation in class, I must make a conscious effort to write it into my long-term planning.
5. Use music in class – at least in one class a day. Oh dear, I’m really not doing very well, again I have used more music in class but not anything like this much. For the first week back I’ll plan a walk-in song for each class & see how it goes.
6. Try out at least one new app a week. I’ve used at least one app a week, but not always a new one. I’ve probably come across two or three new things since the New Year.
So, to conclude -pretty rubbish really. I have made more effort in all these areas, but my timing was way out. I wanted to make everything measurable, knowing that is the SMART way to do things, but in fact it wasn’t at all realistic.
What about you? What are your resolutions looking like now?
It may be raining outside, and I left my poorly son to come to work, but there’s always something to make it worthwhile.
The secret is to find the sunshine amongst the clouds!
I teach teens and Young Learners. Most of my classes have three lessons of one hour per week and I have noticed a major difference in the concentration and the work we get done, depending on the time of day of the lesson or what class they had in the preceding hour.
First thing in the morning they’re still asleep, oral activities take a while to get going, they’re not concentrated enough to introduce new grammar points or anything too complicated.
After sport they’re over-excited and have developed a pencil allergy, meaning that either they don’t want to use one or they have to keep throwing it on the floor.
Monday mornings are very slow, Thursday afternoons they (and I?!) are tired, Friday afternoons are energetic, but no time for work requiring quiet concentration.
So when am I supposed to teach them? To make matters more complicated sometimes I teach the same level in separate classes, and it’s tough to do the same thing in one hour on Tuesday morning with one class and another hour on Wednesday after sport with the other class.
With some classes I have set up a routine that the students seem to appreciate, Friday is oral day, Tuesday is grammar presentation, and Monday is skills work. However I can’t do that with every class.
I won’t even go into what happens when it’s snowing, although actually I find wind excites them more.
What is the solution? Answers on a postcard please!
How about trying something different to check reading or listening comprehension?
Get the pupils to stand in a line facing the front, I get them to line up according to age – lots of practice of “When’s your birthday?”
Then draw a big tick on the left of the board board and a cross on the right.
Read/Call out phrases about the text, if it’s true the pupils point to the left, false to the right.
This activity makes a change from written comprehension exercises, it also checks what they remember as they don’t have the text in front of them, so make sure your questions are relatively simple.
Boxes ticked – kinaesthetic learning, SEN/dyslexia (some forms) friendly, no marking.
Fab English ideas 