Classroom Management Strategies

Course 1  Module 10

I hadn't thought of the classroom layout as an important classroom management strategy. In reflecting on the position of the teacher and students as explained in the Harmer article, it made sense to consider such options when setting up a classroom. I liked the different diagrams of possible seating arrangements.

I also enjoyed reading the last chapter of our ESL book. The section on icebreakers was informative and practical. I will be using them in my classes. 

Pros and Cons of Communicative Approach and Task Based LearningPros and Cons of Communicative Approach and Task Based Learning

Course 1    Module 9      Pros and Cons of Communicative Approach and Task Based Learning

The communicative approach has many strengths:

1. function is emphasized over form
2. students negotiate meaning
3. it is student-centered
4. it uses authentic materials
5. all language skills are taught from the beginning
6. small groups are utilized for peer correction
7. students are allowed to make errors
8. grammar is often taught inductively
9. vocabulary is not limited to a text
10. structural, discourse, socio-cultural and strategic competence are taken into account

In terms of weaknesses, the communicative approach often focuses on fluency without enough regard to grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. This is how teachers have interpreted it, it is not the intent of the approach itself.

Task based learning is a great way to engage students in the classroom. It has a specific purpose in mind and calls on all students to complete the task. However, task based learning requires a large amount of time planning all the components of it and requires a lot of group participation. Students may find this type of learning difficult depending on their culture of origin.  

Course 1- Module 7 ASSESSING FOR LEARNING STYLES: Pros and Cons

My apprehension in assessing learning styles is that by assessing students, it may bias the teacher toward certain students. For the same reason, I don't like looking at students' past grades or IQ results. Assessing a student style gives a student a label. Once a label is in the mind of the teacher, it is hard to change. I would rather see how a student is doing and then if there are difficulties, I would assess learning styles to see if the style is a variable in the problem. I would prefer to see how students progress for myself than rely on inconclusive evidence re: learning styles. I think it is good to do assessments to confirm what the student already thinks is their learning style, which is what happened to me, but I think using what someone's learning style is in choosing a career could be dangerous.

Pros:
-you can see where the majority of the class is so you can incorporate different learning styles to "please" everyone and expand their exposure to other styles.
-learning about learning styles also help educate teachers so they can use different ways of teaching and to reveal their own styles
-it can be used to analyze problems students have in learning re: teacher style vs. student style
-gives student meta cognitive strategies in how they learn
-provides students with a "toolbox" of strategies for their particular style

Cons:
-evidence on learning styles is inconclusive re: reliability and validity
-labeling students
-students may feel inferior to others with "better"labels
-focuses on catering to all leaning styles at the expense of content

Course 1 Module 5 COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT

There are many excellent suggestions to ensure comprehensible input in the articles byHedge and Coelho, but the ones that I personally need to focus on are the following:

1.Are my lessons meaningful-relevant to the learners' interests?

2. Do I provide feedback?

3. Do I teach key words before a lesson?

4. Do I recycle new words?

5. Do I provide visual support?

6. Do I utilize graphic organizers?

7. Do I record relevant notes on the board to reinforce learning?

8. Do I avoid using passive verbs when speaking?

9. Do I give clear instructions?

10. Do I allow for oral rehearsal of key ideas?

COURSE 1-Module 4-Least Appealing Language Methods

In my opinion, the least appealing language methods are Grammar Translation, Suggestopedia, and TPR.

1)Grammar Translation focuses on reading and writing to the exclusion of listening and speaking skills. Students do not learn how to effectively communicate. The focus is on structure and the class is teacher controlled. However, I have learned thousands of words of vocabulary by translating individual words when reading literature. As well, grammar translation's focus on the target language's culture also promotes cultural awareness through rich literature.

2)Suggestopedia isn't a method in which I think students can learn all they need to know about a language. Doing dialogs with soft music and low lighting is not possible in many classrooms. Students may also not take learning seriously in such a setting. However, I think Suggesestopedia could be used as an aid to teach certain scenarios like restaurant dinning.

3)TPR couldn't be used to teach many abstract verbs or abstract vocabulary which limits what students could learn. Learning a language entails more than using the imperative. It also focuses on kinesthetic learners to the exclusion of other learners.

COURSE 1-Module 3 Blog: My Definition of Competence

At the beginning of the module, I felt that competence was the ability to express oneself in reading, writing, and speaking so that people could understand approximately 70% of what was communicated and that the student could understand approximately 70% of what was communicated.

However, I've revised my definition so that competence includes not only being able to basically converse with someone, but it also includes sociolinguistic and strategic competence. These are often overlooked in considering competence. In my former definition, the emphasis was on discourse, and grammatical competence.

After reading the article by Bagaric and Djigunovic, I realized that one can have all the vocabulary and conjugation skills to speak, but if they cannot communicate it in a socially/culturally appropriate manner, and do not have the strategic competence to know what to do when they are stuck, they are lacking in true competence.

Course 1- Module 1 Introduction

My name is Luisa Toteda. I taught ESL in Italy for a year in public and private schools and colleges. Then I worked with Taiwanese international students for a couple of years. I tutored ESL students and teach adults on weeknights and high school students in a summer program.

This blog is set up for the ESL TCP program from the U of Winnipeg.

My preferred way of learning is to research information and then make my own conclusions. When I see information presented many times in different ways, I glean what is important and decide what is probably true. I prefer mostly informal learning, but I like learning through formal learning as well. If I take a course, I want it to meet my goals and not waste my time on theoretical aspects. I really dislike courses that ask questions but don't provide answers to the questions. It is really frustrating.

Main principles of adult learning reflected in my preferences are in relation to Lieb's theory that learners are: autonomous, self-directed and goal-oriented. They want relevant and practical courses.

Course 4-Final Blog

Practical Pieces of Knowledge:

I thought I was a good ESL teacher before taking this course. I always reflected on my lessons and thought of ways to improve them. Now, I question everything I do. I really don't feel as competent as I used to. I realized I was teaching more like a regular teacher than an ESL teacher. There is a difference.

I didn't know much about teaching ESL from a communicative approach. I segregated grammar too much. Vocabulary, and pronunciation weren't embedded in my lessons as much as they could have been. I didn't know about creating lessons around functional tasks. Now, I understand more about creating a task and analyzing all the language that is needed to carry out that task so that it can be transferred to real life. Modules should be planned with an overarching theme and topics. It's also essential that:

1) proper assessments are made
2) continual feedback and assessments occur throughout the course
3)vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation are embedded in lessons and taught in context
4 different formats are used
5) inductive and deductive learning is encouraged
6)info gaps and role plays are used to replicate real life tasks
7)realia and authentic materials are incorporated
8)students spend time reading each class
9)listening skills are encouraged since listening is neglected
10)receptive and productive tasks are utilized
11)accuracy and fluency need to be balanced
12)students receive controlled and guided practise with feedback
13) communicative practise is done after controlled and guided practise  to encourage autonomy
14) pronunciation is taught so that it doesn't interfere with communication

In my opinion, no one should be allowed to teach ESL without taking a CTESL approved course. This is to ensure that teachers are all "on the same page" to maximize student learning.

Course 3-Vocabulary and Grammar Summary

Key points that I learned and would like to recall:

1) there are 3 types of errors a) lexical b) grammar c) discourse errors

2) developmental and transfer errors are different

3)it's important to address systematic errors as students are formulating a system

4) if a teacher changes a multiple-choice question to a wh-question, then multilevel responses can occur

5) using homonyms, synonyms, and antonyms, volume, repetition, can aid learning new vocabulary

6) using info gap activities is important

7) making vocabulary personally relevant is key

8) gradable scales are another technique to help with similar vocabulary

9) retention depends on the amount of mental and emotional energy used to process a word

What surprised me the most:

1)I use all of the correction techniques without having known about them. It's funny to see them written down or to watch a video on them when I already use them, but didn't label them as such.

2)Feedback includes 1)correction 2) clarification 3)positive feedback 4)reformulation. I usually only thought about feedback as correction.

3)The amount words we usually have in our vocabulary.


What ideas I struggle with:

1)using a monolingual dictionary in class-I always preferred a bilingual dictionary when I learned other languages

2)remembering to use positive feedback more. I think as teachers we focus more on correction and need to point out correctly spoken or written sentences as well. This also includes commending good vocabulary usage etc. I think we should also encourage students when they attempt to go beyond their safety zone in experimenting with language. An element of risk is necessary for a student to achieve autonomy.

Course 2- The Role of Learning Objectives

The role of learning objectives is:

1) to define what students should demonstrate to prove that they have gained knowledge in participating in the lesson/course
2) to direct and shape the course
3) to focus on the activity so learning is focused for both teacher and students
4) to emphasize function not structure
5) to assess if learning has occurred

I believe that using KSA(knowledge, skills and affect, Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives(knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) and SMART(specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely) as guidelines will ensure great objectives are created.

Course 2-LISTENING AS A NEGLECTED LANGUAGE SKILL

Never had I thought of listening as being a neglected language skill until I read module 6. I realized it wasn't a particular focus in classes, but I did not consider it "neglected." It's true that reading and writing skills take precedence because they are considered more academic or intellectual. Speaking, which is the whole emphasis in conversation classes, is also an obviously coveted skill. So what do we do with little lone neglected listening?

I think that we should spend more time on explicitly teaching listening skills because developing listening has positive transfer implications for the other skills. Good listening skills are linked to independent or autonomous learning because students who use strategies to improve listening skills can actually increase their rate of learning languages. At least that's my hypothesis. Listening is self-directed so the learner has to be self-motivated to listen, not just hear. Anyone can be a passive listener, but a student who experiences different listening strategies in a class, focusing on activities as Wilson describes on pages 35-37, has the opportunity to transfer those awareness-raising strategies to their own independent learning once such strategies are assimilated consciously or subconsciously.

Course 2 Acceptance of Errors in Written Communication

Language is constantly evolving, and so we must begin to accept - and even teach – the shortened forms of communication that are used with technology. This language may contain abbreviations, symbols (emoticons) and even untraditional grammar and punctuation, which would be considered “errors” in many classrooms. We accept different forms of oral communication without penalty … we should do the same with written communication

I believe that the level of acceptable errors is directly related to the purpose of the writing. If the writing is just for oneself, like a diary, journal, or shopping list, it can have errors. However, if someone is communicating with someone else, errors are less acceptable. Normally, when I email people, I use a salutation, and sign my name. This includes friends and family. I find it disrespectful to do otherwise. If I'm really in a super hurry, I sometimes just respond without the salutation or my name.If the person writing me uses such a format, I am more likely to respond as such. This has to do more with format than errors, but I still think it's important.

Children learning how to write should definitely learn how to write in complete sentences. It concerns me that many teens, who may have never learned how to write properly, text their friends so often that they transfer such terms to everyday writing. I don't know how they will write more formally when they get so used to it. That will affect their performance in university and jobs. It's fine to have learned how to write in complete thoughts or sentences and then shorten them, but it's never acceptable, in my opinion, to teach children or ESL students how to write shortened sentences without having learned how to write complete sentences first.

What really bothers me is the acceptance of incomplete sentences in books.Some novels that have received awards have sentences such as: He really wanted that car. Really. Not fair. Not fair at all. There's a place for shortened communication, but incomplete sentences in literature, especially children's literature, is unacceptable. They start to assimilate the incorrect sentence structures and then think it's normal to write like that. Some would argue that that's the way people talk, it's real. It doesn't matter to me if it's real or not. People reading incomplete sentences will internalize it.

Teaching shortened forms after teaching complete sentences is fine. However, you would never catch me teaching texting terms for writing. First of all, I don't know them and second, people pick up on them through social pressure to conform. Somehow, to me, teaching such shortened forms of communication validates them. I just can't do that.

This topic reminds me of the idea that teachers shouldn't correct students' spelling. For many years phonics was taboo. Unfortunately, the students who grew up under that philosophy are some of the worst spellers I have ever seen. It's too bad that pendulum swings in philosophy, instead of logical reasoning, are used to influence education.

Course 3 Deductive or Inductive Grammar Instruction

Inductive or deductive, that is the question. Personally, I prefer the inductive approach in learning because I learn better that way if the concept is easy to discern. Inductive learning is a lot more fun, interesting and I remember the concepts introduced by it better since my brain has had to process it. However, if complicated concepts are introduced, I can get frustrated trying to analyze them with an inductive approach. For such instances, I prefer the deductive approach; it saves time.

In terms of teaching with those approaches, I have used both strategies. I generally feel that if the concept is too difficult for me to learn inductively, it will be too difficult for students. I'm the guinea pig. If the inductive approach re: a concept doesn't seem logical to me, I refuse to use it. It seems that creating inductive lessons, unless it's a really simple concept, takes a lot more time than deductive lessons.It's easy to teach that adding an e to the end of a cvc word will make the vowel long by comparing such words or having students pick out hard or soft c and g sounds with lists, but those seem obvious examples where inductive lessons could surface. It's not that easy with other lessons.  

To encourage myself to be more comfortable using the inductive method, I would use a text or coursebook that uses inductive methods to teach concepts. If I could see many examples, I would catch on and be able to utilize the method and apply it to my own lessons. Skeletons, examples, and practice are necessary before internalizing such strategies.

Course 3-Flow and Lesson Plans

Principle 1 of flow-Clear goals make good lesson plans because they help the teacher focus on the material at hand. Without objectives, one can easily become sidetracked so that by the end of the course goals aren't met.
For students, clear goals help students focus on what to do at that moment of time and to know what steps need to do after that to finish their task.

Principle 2 of flow-Immediate feedback is valuable because it helps students know what they are doing correctly or incorrectly before they fossilize errors. It takes a lot more energy to retrain your brain than to learn something correctly the first time. Mistakes are part of learning, but continually making the same mistake without correction leads to re-training, which interrupts flow.  

Principle 3/4/5of flow-Good lessons keep students focused on the lesson because they are engaged. The task is not too difficult to frustrate them, nor too easy to bore them. Thus, they stay on task.

Principle 6 of flow-Good lessons also minimize the fear of failure because the information is clearly presented, minimizing questions of what is expected. The students feel capable so they can succeed.They have all the tools they need to accomplish the goals.

Principle 8 of flow-Good lessons go by quickly when students are interested in the material-it's relevant to them and they see the purpose for it. They feel like they're progressing.

Course 3: Script for bored grammar student

Course 3: Script for bored grammar student
Me: What do you find boring about the grammar lessons?
Student: I don't like having to do exercises that repeat. Why do I have to fill in the correct verbs that go in the sentences?
Me: Grammar may not be the most interesting topic, but like math, you need to try to learn some information by repetition for it to stick in your head. For example, you learned that 8x6=48 by memorizing it. You had to repeat exercises with that equation, write it, and receive feedback on it so that it stuck in your head. A lot of grammar rules are the same.
St: But I can do it on paper, then I forget how to speak. I studied this for years and just want to speak English.
Me: You are speaking English, but you not only want to speak English fluently, but accurately. It's like typing. Do you know how to type?
St: yes
Me: O.K, if you just type quickly, but made lots of mistakes would yo be understood?
St: No.
Me: If you just typed with perfect accuracy, with no mistakes, but you typed very slowly, would it be good?
St: No.
Me: So you need to learn how to do both. Learning grammar will help you speak fluently and accurately..
St. What do you mean?
Me: Well, I try to get the class to do drills in areas where you are weak and I give you time to work on conversations and activities like presentations where you can apply what you're learning.  You may not need the rule now, but you can at least know where to find the information about it when you are ready. Research shows  that by combining the activities we do in class with grammar lessons, you will learn English better.
St: I hope you're right. I just don't want to waste time.
Me: Learning a language takes time. It'll all come together.

I might cut back on the amount of time spent on grammar if it's excessive, or try to find more activities to support the grammar points. For example, I try to record my students' sentences and ten have them find the mistakes in them to focus on the grammar we're working on or to use their mistakes as a springboard for grammar lessons.It personalizes the grammar to their needs.

COURSE 4--Reflection on Course Planning

I believe that the most important elements of a good course plan include:

1.A good assessment to discover who the students are, what they want to learn, preferred learning formats... Their CLB levels need to be assessed.
2. Planning a theme based on what students' needs are. My students will be here for the summer, so they want to focus on speaking skills within a context of various field trips. I planned on teaching them about Canadian themes that were followed up with field trips.

3. outcomes that fit into the theme
4.activities that are interesting and ones that flow together to build on prior knowledge
5. group/pair and individual work
6. work that makes my students talk rather than me doing all the speaking
7.grammar, vocabulary, cultural learning, pronunciation work, and different language skills
8. continual assessment
9. variety with routine

I hadn't planned a course using a theme approach before, so I found it quite challenging. It makes a lot more sense to do it that way, it just takes a lot of planning to make it all come together. I had to plan my course around field trips, so it wasn't an ideal way to write a course. I would have rather planned the course and created field trips to reinforce the lessons.

I found it interesting that my journal and conversation topics for the day could be interchanged.

I would have liked to create a settlement issues course, but I actually have to create the summer program course, so it worked out.

Teaching Grammar: My ideas on grammar

I just learned how to do blogs today. I had this written in the intro blogs when it was due, but it was obviously in the wrong place!

The outline for the course explains what will be covered re: grammar and vocabulary, but from my perspective, I would expect that we would learn how grammar should be used in the classroom. Many teachers avoid teaching grammar because they don't know grammar themselves or they think it's boring. Personally, I love grammar because I find it very mathematical. If I can identify what's going on in a sentence, I feel more in control. Labelling also makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something I can see and prove. When I homeschooled my girls, I really enjoyed teaching them grammar. Even when I teach grammar now, I really enjoy it. However, if I spend too long on it, I find it can get boring.

Re: vocabulary, I would hope we would learn the best procedures for introducing vocabulary and how to reinforce vocabulary using games etc.. If vocabulary isn't integrated into students' needs, I think it becomes irrelevant. Teaching vocabulary in context, rather than lists of words to memorize, is essential.

Course-2 Needs Assessment

The importance of needs assessments:

I believe that needs assessments are important because:

1)      They help you determine what the needs are of your particular students, rather than what you think they want to learn.

2)       They help you to get to know your learners, which helps build rapport and a safe environment.

3)      They give you an indication of their CLB levels, so you can plan appropriately.  Lessons will then be just right, not too difficult or easy.

4)      They allow you to assess  language levels in reading, writing , listening and speaking. This allows you to focus on the right level for the language skill., e.g.if you are teaching just a conversation class.

5)      They allow you to determine which formats, topics, and language techniques they prefer to work with. Some of my students didn’t like to learn about Canada, so I omitted that section. Others preferred not to do group work, so I accommodated that. Still others insisted we focus on pronunciation, so I adapted to their desires.