Free-Range ELT

All Things to All People

2012-02-27T22:55:00.002-05:00

Or not!

I know it's not a healthy way of thinking to want to make everyone happy. It's better to know your values, try to live by them and, in this way, be authentic in the classroom. Right?

With only two arms, I'm no Guan Yin! Photo via Oren Zebest.

But today I had mixed feelings as the lesson came to a close. This is the group where I have been attempting to go full-Dogme and a lively group it's turning out to be!

As students filtered in, one student showed everyone a newsletter she had picked up at a popular city restaurant (White Dog Cafe, which has been a leader in the locally-sourced, sustainably produced food movement). She had brought copies for everyone, so we looked it over, talked about it for a few minutes, and the group decided on one article to read for homework (the title: "Know Your Farmer"). I assigned each student to research four new words to share before we review the article in our next lesson.

Another student brought in a dozen donuts, so those were passed around while we turned to the homework assignment, which revolved around "to borrow from someone" and "to lend to someone". There was some confusion about related language -- when to use an object pronoun ("Would you borrow me a pencil?") so we explored in that direction for a while.

We then generated a lot of language for making and responding to a request for the use of a possession, and I put models on the board. (Do you mind if I borrow your ...? How long do you need it? I'm sorry, but I'm using it now. Etc.) I prompted everyone to think of various items they personally would be willing or unwilling to lend to someone (plus a few silly ones like "my helicopter", "my toothbrush" and "my elephant") and we then had a "cocktail party" activity where everyone walked around making and responding to requests for these things, referring to the board for self-correction as needed. I joined in and gave feedback. It got pretty noisy and one small group eventually deviated to another topic (which I didn't mind because it was in English and it was at the end of the activity). Another small group ended up near the board where they were pointing to different phrases and discussing them together (a lower level student, visiting for some extra practice, asked about something and others were explaining). As things tapered off, I asked everyone to sit down and we reviewed what we covered in the lesson. I wrote what they dictated on the board and asked a volunteer to post it on edmodo for the two students who didn't come today. (In the future, after they have seen several models of such class summaries, I'm going to ask pairs or small groups to work together to write them.) After class was dismissed, students lingered. A few chatted with each other in English and then posed each other at the board to take pictures next to where I had written "something crazy". Several waited to talk to me personally for various reasons.

All in all, I thought it was a dynamic lesson in which students communicated freely and also examined, explored and practiced "form". Three of the students who wanted to talk to me were asking for advice about continuing practice outside of class in ways that were personally meaningful to them. And one wasn't.

He was waiting to say goodbye. I asked if he was going back to his home country and he said "yes", so I asked when he would be returning. There was a pause, and then said he would probably try to find another class. He's a retired gentleman who prefers a more traditional lesson format. I'm sure lessons such as today's do not sit well with him. He gave it a good try (about two months), but has decided to move on.

I don't take it personally and wish him the best. It's still in my drafts, but I have a long post reflecting on the topic of students who have spent their lives pursuing intellectual interests and who don't let retirement slow their quest for knowledge down. I admire this. But my program's intentions are focused on helping students who want to use English outside of class as they seek their dreams and goals.

Still, I can't help asking myself if this is a sign I should pay attention to. My lessons with this group have been far looser and more free-flowing than I used to be comfortable with. As a relatively new teacher, I needed to feel in control. This approach suits me better and I sense that this format will be effective for these high-intermediate students, but I don't have evidence of that yet. As I'm learning to let go, are things getting too loose? Am I failing to serve some students? I can't be all things to all people, but I do need to learn what things I should be to which people. What do you think?

You can [teach] some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not [teach] all of the people all of the time. -- with apologies to Abraham Lincoln

Take it Away!

2012-02-24T18:18:00.000-05:00

Sometimes things just add up. Today, they added up to subtraction.

I had no pressing engagements today and was able to spend a pleasant morning browsing my RSS subscriptions more thoroughly than usual. Through a link at The Other Things Matter, I discovered Kevin Giddens' blog, Do-Nothing Teaching. I've only had a chance to browse it a bit, but I'm really enjoying what I've read so far. It calls to mind the humorous phrase that you'll see in popular writing about meditation: Don't just do something, sit there!

Giddens proposes that teachers "take a critical pause before each action and ask ourselves questions such as these: Why am I doing this? What would happen if I didn't do that? Could my students do it instead? Is it really necessary for my students' learning?" That critical pause is something that happens with mindfulness. It's nice to see it applied so clearly to teaching. And the questions will be familiar to the unplugged teacher -- at least, they're the questions I started asking myself when I discovered Dogme. You can read Gibbens' comments on Dogme and how it compares to his philosophy here.

A little while later, I was skimming a newsletter from edmodo and noticed a link with the intriguing title "Poetry Through Subtraction". That link took me to this article at My Modern Met, a wonderful idea for encouraging learners to pore over a newspaper, even if they don't know many/most of the words they see. Sidetrack a stack of newspapers on their way to the recycling bin, give each learner a marker, and let them create their own poetry by removing the words that aren't needed. The idea is from artist Austin Kleon. He removes letters and words from photos too, which he calls DE-SIGNS.

Austin Kleon - Newspaper Blackout

I picked this particular poem because it seems to align with the philosophy of Do-Nothing Teaching, which was inspired by a philosphy of farming developed (un-developed?) by Masanobu Fukuoka.

The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 38 as translated by S. Mitchell

Assessing in a Materials-Light Spirit

2012-02-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

A criticism of the conversation-driven approach is that it's just aimless* chatting. Proponents respond by saying that a good teacher will make observations, draw students' attention to the language periodically and follow up with activities to explore, reinforce and recycle.

Since I've started trying this approach for whole lessons (with one of my groups, anyway), I've gotten better at noticing examples to praise and to explore further. But, if I don't address them quickly, or note them methodically, they're often lost in the flow. I also don't have a good record of who said what, which would be useful for individual assessment. I'm starting to think more about how I can improve my collecting of language information while still being an attentive listener and (to some extent) contributor to our discussions.

Here are some initial ideas:

- Photos. I've started using my iPad to take pictures of the board before I erase. Very helpful. I've taken to posting the final product of some student activities on edmodo for student reference, too!

- Recording, audio and video (some by me, some by students). I have the resources to do this in a number of different ways. To start off, I'm going to start using my hand-held digital audio recorder to capture extemporaneous speech (I've only been using it to record prepared things like role plays). To make it easier to find what I'm looking for, I'm going to try and remember to stop and start -- maybe at the beginning of different activities. There's plenty more recording that could be done, but let's try this first and see how it goes.

- A more methodical way to take notes. I've been using a little pocket notebook because it's easy to carry around and seems less obtrusive, but I still don't like to break from the flow to write in it and what I do write is sketchy. Maybe I could develop some abbreviations and then use the notes to supplement the recording. For example, H+ 1:30 (a positive example worth highlighting at 1:30PM). Got to give this some thought. Maybe more ideas will occur after reviewing some recordings. Any ideas on this?

- Student portfolios. Although I do collect writing samples, keeping a more dynamic portfolio in the classroom has been on my back burner for some time. They need to be on paper because some students don't have computer skills (yet) and others have very limited Internet access. Now that I'm bringing everyone online, though, they can certainly supplement with electronic records. I think it would be good to take this to the students. Let them decide what the portfolios should contain and how they should interact with them. Awesome! Sounds like something we can work on for the rest of this month (theme is "learning and education", you know).

recording devices and mini-tripod (plus phones and tablets!)

Naturally, formal assessments will continue. They help to identify reading skill levels and the extent to which a student has various civics competencies. And they're required. ;-)

The topic of unplugged observation came up on the languagelego blog (thanks, Roya!). I got to thinking about unplugged assessment while responding to Scott Thornbury's latest. Thanks to Scott, too!

*I'd like to argue that conversation topics don't have to be aimless either. My program works with broad monthly themes, so I ask students to bring in thoughts and ideas related to the topic (and I do, too). We occasionally go off-track and that's OK. The same theme for a whole month can get boring!

Laying the Groundwork

2012-02-17T22:07:00.000-05:00

Here's the conclusion of the "Ground Rules" activities that I've been pursuing with my three classes over the last week or so. (I'd like to note that I don't use the word "ground rules" in this activity, just "What makes a good teacher/student?")

Background: I used this activity as inspiration for a lesson in all three of my classes. To start, I pose the question "What makes a good classroom?" and we brainstorm as a whole class. This provided a model for group discussions. I break the class into two groups and each group discusses one of two questions: "What makes a teacher?" and "What makes a good student?" Then we all get back together and share. Ultimately, the class comes up with 5 items that are applicable to both teacher and student.

The first time I ever did this exercise was with a pre-intermediate group that I don't teach now. It was a great success! After they had defined their own rules, students seemed to take more ownership in classroom management. I guess you could call it classroom self-management! That was over a year ago and I wasn't doing very much Dogme at the time. As I recall, their top 5 list was something like:

Respect the teacher and each other
Have good attendance
Participate actively
Be prepared
Help each other

This is an excellent set of ground rules which I would be pleased to post in any classroom. Interestingly, there are some variations in the results from this week. Here are the lists:

Group 1:
Be patient
Respect each other
Be prepared
Always come to class and be on time
Use new technology

Group 2 (Yes, there are 8. The group didn't want to reduce it any more than that. You can see, they wedged several ideas into many of the sentences too!):

Attend class daily and be on time
Work together
Be active in class and speak English
Be patient, responsible, dedicated, hard-working
Have good communication skills (use body language to show what you mean, listen, speak clearly)
Encourage and help each other
Try to learn new technology and new ideas
Do work outside of class and come to class prepared

Group 3:
Make good relationships
Motivate, encourage, be interested
Participate, speak clearly, listen, practice
Know your goals
Share knowledge

Collaboration: fishermen in Gallipoli, Italy 2002

Language that we focused on included: "should [verb]" and "shouldn't [verb]" for groups 1 and 2, opinion-sharing words like "In my opinion" and "I think" for group 3, "should be [adjective]" compared to "should have [noun phrase]" and "should [action verb]" for groups 1 and 3.

ETA: Students in the final group were very interested in hearing the lists from the other classes. Next week, I'll read all of the lists to the other classes as well.

I don't want to read too much into these lists, but I do have two thoughts. The two classes that mention new technology are the ones where I just introduced 4 classroom laptops. The group that emphasized good relationships and sharing knowledge happens to be the one where I jumped right in with Dogme on Day 1 (to the extent that I know how, anyway!). Coincidence?

Direct Education

2012-02-12T16:58:00.001-05:00

I always get so much to think about when I read Scott Thornbury's blog, An A-Z of ELT. This week, the topic is "personalization" -- drawing on student experience for the content of our lessons. Scott raised some questions about the risks that come with this endeavor. There's the risk that things might get too personal, for one thing. There's a question about whether students want so much attention on their personal lives. There's also the question about whether there's a sound theoretical basis for this approach. See his post for more on those questions!

I jumped into the comments and made a bunch of references to Facilitating Group Learning: Strategies for Success with Diverse Adult Learners by George Lakey. (I've linked to the Amazon entry so you can browse through part of the book if you want.) I think there are many parallels between this book and the Dogme approach. Lakey contends that real learning happens when both the teacher and the students drop pretense and "get real". To be yourself is to personalize.

Lakey describes his approach this way:

"I call this kind of education direct because it brings focus to the encounter of teacher and group; it replaces scatter—of teacher preoccupied with curriculum and participants preoccupied with distractions—with gathered attention. Direct education takes the most direct path to the learner in the here and now."

from kalyan02

It could be a description of Teaching Unplugged! The name of direct education is also derived from "direct action", or organized activities for social change. Lakey facilitates workshops in this area and has published a book on the topic.

And that brings me to the new book 52 by Lindsay Clandfield and Luke Meddings (co-author of Teaching Unplugged). It's a book of materials-light activities, one for each week in a year, that are described as "disrupting", "subversive", and "empowering". I just bought it yesterday and I LOVE it! It's one of those books that makes you slow down when you're reading because you don't want to finish too quickly. I found activities that echo or build on much that we've been doing in the classroom lately. I'll be doing activity 16 (Respect) in the coming week, as it ties right in with recent discussions about what makes a successful English class. There's a free excerpt to download at the link.

To finish, I'd like to repeat something from a very early post on this blog:

"It's not a stretch to see our ELCivics-based classes as a sort of training for social action. Not that I want students to take any particular action. But an important purpose of the class, as I see it, is to give learners the communication tools and cultural information they need to take action of their choice. Participation at all levels of community is social action!"

Connect Classes with Our Life

2012-02-10T23:37:00.001-05:00

Our ESL team works with a thematic framework rather than a specific curriculum. I love this, because teachers all work with similar ideas at the same time, so we can support each other. But we also have a lot of flexibility. We can let the students in each class bring what they want and need to the topic as well.

This month, the theme is "Learning and Education". It could cover the American school system, communicating with teachers, helping children with homework, participating in school activities, plans for making a transition to a training or education program, or even learning and study skills. I'm going to start off with a focus on the latter, and also on getting everyone up to a basic level of computer-using skills.

To kick things off, I decided to trot out the ol' "What makes a good English class?" activity, described briefly here. Two of my three classes did this activity, the third was unfortunately unable to meet due to a sudden closing of the library -- one of the perils of free-range teaching. After brainstorming "What makes a good classroom?" as a class, two groups discussed "What makes a good teacher?" and "What makes a good student?" and then shared their ideas with the whole class. I proposed that many of the items for teacher and student are the same (or similar), such as "come to class prepared" and "be a good listener". Then students were invited to choose what they think are the top 5 items for teacher AND student. In both classes, this was given as homework. I look forward to the final discussion next week!

Courtesy of DaveBleasdale

In the meantime, I wanted to mention that the "What makes a good teacher?" item is a nice way for students to indirectly give me some feedback. There is one student, an older gentleman, who really wants more of a traditional classroom environment. Naturally, his suggestions included "more exercises" and "more handouts"! I know I could do more reinforcement activities in class and I hope that my efforts to improve in this dimension will satisfy him. Also, I'm wondering if giving a handout for homework periodically will help meet his need?

The response to that question also gave me some insights into student expectations. One student, for example, noted that "teachers should immediately correct all mistakes". I correct mistakes in some parts of our lessons, but when students are immersed in communicating, I note mistakes for later correction rather than interrupt the flow. I guess I need to explain this, so students know where I'm coming from.

Finally, I was delighted with the lists from both classes! One student -- I am totally not making this up -- said, "a good teacher should connect classes with our life". Another student said, "a good teacher should use emotion, good or bad, to help us remember". With some probing, I determined that this too was related to connecting to real life experience. Other ideas included "good body language and eye contact" and "ability to work with different learning styles". Good suggestions for any teacher. Perhaps for students too!

In addition to coming up with their top 5 list, I asked students to think about how they study/practice English outside the classroom and to bring in 2 tips to share with their classmates.

The Not-So-Simple Past

2012-02-05T12:30:00.001-05:00

Last week, my intermediate class had a free-range lesson. This group meets at a public library not too far from Philadelphia's Chinatown. We were booted from our usual meeting space to make room for a Chinese New Year celebration featuring local schoolchildren. Actually, the librarians were very nice about it. They advised us a week in advance that the meeting room would be transformed into a dressing room during the time we usually meet.

Not to worry! I asked the students to bring their notebooks on the appointed day, sit in the audience and observe the celebration. In our next lesson, they would share their impressions.

During the lesson that preceded the celebration, we read a short piece about Chinese New Year. I also passed around a picture of the Chinese zodiac and descriptions of the traits that are supposed to be associated with each animal. The Chinese students in the class (about half of the group) answered questions from the other students about traditions and culture. They didn't always agree with each other, so there was quite a bit of negotiation of meaning between them in addition to the flow between them and the students from other countries. The class compared the Chinese zodiac with the astrological version and there was a robust discussion about whether such descriptions are useful or true.

Thanks to Felix Andrews

One form that emerged was the passive mood (Chinese New Year is celebrated ... Money is given ... Lanterns are hung ... ). We also spent some time examining the difference between these two forms:

Are you [a noun/adjective]?
Do you [verb]?

Finally, we talked about different ways to get attention in order to ask a question. One student had heard "I have a question." and wanted to be sure that this was acceptable. He was familiar with "I want to ask a question."

The event, which took the place of our next lesson, was charming. A big group of preschool children of varying cultural heritages was herded in to be the audience. We adults stood around in the back. Older children of Chinese heritage performed an umbrella dance, a ribbon dance and the lion dance. An adult led the kids in a few songs and told a story from a picture book. About two-thirds of our regular group showed up and took notes, photos and videos. During our following lesson, the students who attended reported to the students who didn't. Smart phones were passed around. There were more questions for the Chinese students (Why were so many people wearing red?).

a short snip from the lion dance

After students reported on events, I wrote some verbs on the board and asked students to recall sentences from the discussion that included these verbs. This is an intermediate group and they all know that simple past is appropriate for relating a sequence of past events such as reporting or storytelling. But in practice, when they were focused entirely on meaning, some students sometimes used the infinitive. Other students consistently pronounced the "ed" ending of regular simple past as its own syllable. I suspected that this group was not hearing (and therefore not assimilating) the pronunciation of "ed" for the simple past as spoken by a fluent speaker.

Mulla Nasrudin from Wikimedia Commons

This insight struck me at the end of the lesson, so I didn't go into it. But, for the next lesson, I brought in a very short story (a Mulla Nasrudin story -- there are lots of them on the web) and, after the group read it, asked questions, responded, etc., I asked them to identify all of the simple past verbs in the story. I pronounced each one and let the class decide how the "ed" sounded (no prompting from me, though I did repeat when asked). As they came up with "id", "t" and "d" I wrote these on the board and we categorized all of the verbs. I reminded everyone about voiced and unvoiced sounds by pointing out that "d" and "t" were examples of each. I then let small groups try to decide if there was a pattern in how the verbs were categorized. I wasn't planning to, but I ended up giving them a hint (listen to the sound at the end of the base form of the verb). The conclusion:

For verbs that end with an unvoiced sound, use the unvoiced pronunciation ("t"). But verbs that end with "t" already have that sound, so in that case use "id".

For verbs that end with a voiced sound, use the voiced pronunciation ("d"). But verbs that end with "d" already have that sound, so in that case use "id".

Students brainstormed a list of regular verbs, then individuals wrote sentences. They exchanged with partner and read aloud, coaching each other on pronunciation. Whenever a narrative comes up in the next few lessons (it always does), I'll ask students to analyzed the pronunciation. I'll periodically compliment students on good pronunciation as lessons go forward.

I've taught this pronunciation point before with other groups, but it didn't dawn on me until this lesson that some continuing student mistakes with the simple past could be because they (quite logically) expect to hear "id". This is occasionally borne out in their experience (wanted, needed) but very often, it isn't. A student's subconscious pattern-noticing process may be binning most regular simple past verbs incorrectly into "base form", so that's what comes out in free speech. If a student is somewhat conscious that simple past is supposed to be used, then they graft on an "id". Helping the student hear and recognize the subtle ways that most simple past regular verbs differ from the base form will not only improve their pronunciation but, perhaps more importantly, help them comprehend fluent speech.

Small Talk

2012-01-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

thanks to bentza

My intermediate group has been looking at the virtues of small talk recently. This came about because we had some new members join the group and, as always, we spent a little bit of time sharing information about ourselves.

We explored situations when small talk is appropriate (or expected), polite topics and topics to be careful with, and some techniques for keeping a conversation going. Since we all live in the US, the focus was on American customs and expectations.

Some notes:

- Small talk is appropriate when you find yourself in the company of someone you don't know (or don't know very well). It's expected if you find yourself in the company of this person for an unexpectedly long time. The purpose of small talk isn't to convey information but to acknowledge and accept the other person as a member of your immediate community.

- There are countless polite topics. The main thing is that they should not be too personal or controversial. In the US, it's not polite to ask someone directly about their weight, their salary, their romantic status, or how much a possession costs.

- Some techniques for keeping a conversation going include "answer and ask" -- don't just answer a question but ask one in return, ask open-ended questions, add a bit of extra information when answering a yes/no question, and repeat a key word in a questioning tone (another way to ask for more information).

We didn't discuss how small talk differs from country to country, but that has potential too. It may go well with a discussion about body language.

Students had a homework assignment: think of a situation in your life when small talk might be necessary and write a dialog of 6-10 sentences, using at least one technique for keeping a conversation going.

When students came in the next time, I wrote three questions on the board:
Where are they?
Is the topic OK?
What techniques did you hear?

Each student chose a dialog partner, left the room to practice and then came back to perform. The remaining students listened for the answers to the questions and we discussed after each demonstration. It was excellent! One dialog involved waiting for an elevator and talking about sports. Another, from a student who fishes as a hobby, was small talk with a nearby fisherman. One scene was at a bus stop and the small talker complimented the other person's boots. Another scene featured a chance encounter with a friend at the grocery store. Not only were these scenes creative and personalized to the students who wrote them, but they stimulated new questions: How long should a small talk conversation go on? How do you stop the conversation when you're finished? What can you say if you don't really want to talk?

Do you have ideas about the answers to these questions?

Putting it Into Production

2012-01-21T22:50:00.001-05:00

Hubby and I had an enjoyable dinner of tapas at a restaurant in nearby Conshohocken tonight. That's "Conshy" to the locals ... or "Pleasant Valley", as translated from the language of the Lenape (the original locals).

Our dinner conversation ranged all over the place, which is probably appropriate, since our food varied quite a bit as well! At one point, we were recalling our days in engineering. Both of us have changed careers after more than 20 years -- he has switched to accounting and I to teaching ESL. A little bit of good-natured banter always arises because we both worked at AT&T but he worked in production at the IC manufacturing plant ("the fab" or "the works") and I worked across town in R&D. The back-and-forth tends to generalize along the lines of the Ivory-Tower-Head-in-the-Clouds types in research vs. the Practical-Rubber-Meets-the-Road people in engineering. (Actually, I wasn't in research -- I was in development, which is halfway between the Tower and the Road ... but the folks at the plant tended to lump all of R&D together.)

Why do I bring this up on an ELT blog? It occurred to me that teaching and engineering have something in common. Teachers and engineers both take the work of researchers and put it to practical use. Teachers and engineers must often find compromises ... they must deal with the needs and deadlines of customers/students today, whether recent research is there to back them up or not. Sometimes they're inspired by work in progress; sometimes they inspire it. Teachers and engineers have practical insights that may be overlooked too often by researchers (and administrators). I've always thought that my career switch was really quite radical, but perhaps not!

For decoration, here's an old picture from a bike ride near historic Gettysburg, PA. I manipulated the original photo to better reflect my impression at the time ...

What's Your Pleasure?

2012-01-13T22:12:00.001-05:00

One thing for sure: people who choose to teach English as a Second or Foreign Language don't do it for the big bucks. The motivation may be different for different people, but whatever it is -- it ain't the money!

Courtesy of Steven Depolo

I bring this up because sometimes I get home after a lesson and I'm so jazzed that it's hard to do anything functional for a while. Here are some examples of what I mean. They may seem kinda small, but they're better than big bucks to me:

When a three hour lesson gets to the last 5 minutes and students aren't ready to call it quits -- they keep going, in English, while I pack up my stuff.
When someone gets up, unbidden, and goes to the board to draw a map or diagram or whatever to illustrate whatever it is that he or she is trying to explain.
When I see two or three students standing in a group after a lesson has ended and they're exchanging information with each other (giving advice or recommendations about a local shop or service, etc.) ... in English.
When someone makes a joke in English and everyone else laughs.
When someone brings something in to the classroom because they noticed that it had something to do with a recent lesson.
When someone speaks up assertively about something I could do better. (Yeah, I cringe. But they're almost always right, it makes me a better teacher, and it means they might do the same outside the classroom.)
When someone self-corrects on a form from several lessons ago.
When someone who has been generally quiet begins to participate more actively and seems to be having fun.
When someone exclaims after a lesson, "That was a good class!"

What little things delight you about teaching English?

Do You Hear Me?

2012-01-12T11:15:00.000-05:00

In a very informative discussion that followed a recent post on Jemma Gardner's blog, she used the following phrase to describe one aspect of Dogme:

“listening to what the students are saying and doing something with it, rather than batting it off to continue with what I want to do”.

Edison Museum, Fort Meyers, Florida

I think this highlights just what attracted me to the unplugged style of teaching in the first place. I acknowledge that capable teachers the world over skillfully listen to their students, using whatever methodologies suit them best. It's not exclusive to Dogme. But not every teacher walks into each lesson with the intention of using what they hear to determine how the lesson will go. Teachers who follow a Dogme approach, however, do and that's important to me. Here's why.

It's a natural tendency to think of speaking as the primary aspect of communication. The American Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. We all want to have our say, to speak out. Even the seminal article by Claude E. Shannon that diagrammed the famous sender -> medium -> receiver model of communication in 1948 shows the arrows of communication going in one direction, from source/sender to destination/receiver. But is it communication if you don't know whether your message was received? Later models of communication show a loop, recognizing that the process is incomplete without feedback: a return message that says "I hear you."

I see my primary role in teaching not as someone who provides information about the structure and content of the English language but as someone who helps people who want to communicate using English. People come to my class because they want to be heard. I want to give them feedback -- to say, "I hear you." Yes, they need to know the mechanics as well. However, the branch of linguistics that views language as a complex adaptive system suggests that much (if not most) of that part of the process will emerge if students are given the opportunity to communicate often enough. Sure, there are impediments for people who are acquiring a second language and intervention from teachers (i.e., explicit help with grammar) has been shown to facilitate the subconscious process. That's a second kind of feedback that we can give to students in the context of helping them to communicate as often as possible.

Feedback is not necessarily words. If a student has something to say and I sit down, go quiet and look directly at him or her, there is no question that they have my attention. If I take action in response to what was said, no words are necessary.

But in addition to giving attention and taking action, truly effective listening includes another component: letting go of my own agenda. Naturally, I can't do that to the point where there is no English lesson! But what I mean is, when I'm listening "deeply", it's not about me. As a teacher, I have a tendency to look for ways to correct or assist, so I'm likely to run what I hear through the "I want to help" filter. It's not always necessary. Students will tell me when they need help and what they need. It may not be in English; it may not even be in words. If I'm already busy thinking of solutions, I may miss the real message. My lesson plan can be thought of an extension of the "I want to help" filter. It's literally my agenda!

Anyway, experts have described this better than I can. This concept, or something similar, crops up in assertiveness training, leadership training, and mediation training, among other places -- all areas where good communication is essential. I've taken an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program twice and this type of listening skill is developed as an integral part of the program. (Note: the program is not just for people in mental or physical pain. It's also used in leadership training, at police academies, in prisons, etc.) I surfed around and found a pdf file at this link which outlines the basics of mindful listening nicely. It's addressed to project managers, but you can easily transfer the ideas to a teaching environment. There's also a nice list of references at the end. I've recently read two books more specifically on the topic of mindfulness and teaching and would like to comment on them (as well as a third) sometime soon. If you're interested, stay tuned!

The point I wanted to make was that Jem's comment really hit the nail on the head. Many people say Dogme is just good teaching. Maybe it's more accurate to say that Dogme includes good teaching skills such as staying present and listening carefully. But it's more than that. The intention to listen and make adjustments is built into the plan before a teacher ever walks into the room. I like this, because I believe that sharing the shaping of the plan with the people in the room is part of what makes an authentic communication process. When a student knows that his or her thoughts and ideas matter, and that they've been heard (in English), the affective filter is lowered and he or she becomes more receptive to what others in the room are saying. The feedback loop is strengthened and communication (in English) is further facilitated. When it's time to pause and analyze, that's more likely to be heard and absorbed as well.

I'm not a consistently skillful listener, but I can vouch for the results when I'm able to pull it off. And I can't say -- really, words fail to capture -- how good it feels to be on the receiving end of deep listening. It happens all too rarely in this busy "information age"!

Reading News for Fun

2012-01-06T14:53:00.000-05:00

I enjoy reading The Economist's blog on language, Johnson. Today's post asks English teachers to offer suggestions on how they can support language learners. Be sure to share your thoughts! There are a number of good ideas in the comments so far, too.

I posted something that's been on my wish-list for a while, though I didn't have the nerve to suggest it to an actual news publication until this invitation came along. I would love to see a newspaper or magazine include a regular feature that supports a new reader's efforts to take up recreational reading. Give it a title or logo that makes it easy to find and sprinkle such articles around the publication in a way that encourages poking around.

From NS Newsflash

Of course, there are newspapers for new readers (such as News for You from New Readers Press) that have leveled articles with audio, exercises and vocabulary support. I have a folder of News for You back issues and make them available to my readers for recreational reading. The many additional features are wonderful as a support for explicit learning. However, I wonder if they detract from the quality of the input in terms of implicit learning. A whole newspaper that's just for learners, with highlighted vocabulary, etc. seems to scream out: "this is a learning experience, not reading for meaning!" Boldfaced vocabulary may or may not highlight the words a reader doesn't know, but it suggests that someone somewhere thinks these words should be known. And I know from my own experience listening to Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten that, when listening to audio as an L2 learner, there's a temptation to focus on how the words are said rather than what they mean (I catch myself parroting phrases rather than paying attention to what follows!)

I think it would be nice if well-known news and information providers offered some of their content in an easily-recognized and relatively digestible form, but without making much of a fuss about it. Give the feature a name so it can easily be found, but not something that implies that the information is watered-down for learners. No boldfaced vocabulary, no audio support (unless it's offered for all articles anyway, or it provides supplemental details) and no links to comprehension questions or grammar exercises. Limit, but don't eliminate, complex sentence structures. Include selected idioms, but don't get too clever. Embed clues for inferring the meaning of challenging words. Let the new reader get used to going to the news site and browsing for articles that are interesting or informative, then reading. In short, make it as close to the actual experience of reading the news as possible.

This would benefit the reader, obviously, who would eventually find him or herself skimming other articles with more and more comprehension. It would benefit the publisher, too, as readers get into the habit of coming to their site. These articles would also be a valuable resource to native-speaking literacy learners.

Thank You, Santa!

2011-12-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

Santa was very good to me this year. He (and hubby) stuffed my stocking with an iPad! I had absolutely no expectation of receiving this gift -- our agreed-upon Christmas gift budget didn't extend into that realm. But since the Kindle Fire came out in mid-November, I had been thinking out loud about the relative merits of the Kindle Fire vs. the iPad as a potential aid to an itinerant teacher. I eventually decided that the iPad would be worth the extra money. After I opened my present, hubby noted that he came to this conclusion a lot earlier than I did!

thanks to David B. Spalding

I don't have a smartphone. Indeed, my cell phone is a "Star Trek Communicator" model, vintage 2003 or so.

For a while, I had a nice, light Asus Eee netbook. It was easy to slip into my case, or even my purse, and it allowed me to keep up with email between classes at the library (thanks to free wifi, yeah!). Its screen was too small to do much other than that and it was kind of slow, to boot. But it sufficed until The Meltdown. That's when I started hauling my heavy laptop to and fro. Not good. First, if something happened to it, it would cost a lot to replace. Second, my back has been paying the price, ouch! So, now I can check email on the iPad. Hubby included a wireless keyboard in the gift package, so I can also do serious typing when necessary.

In what other ways might this gadget be of assistance to a roving ESL teacher who works in makeshift classrooms? I have some ideas. For example, students who have smartphones share personal photos with each other (student-provided input). They also use them as multi-lingual dictionaries and for reference (making input comprehensible). Recently, a student was talking about a favorite meal from his home in Puerto Rico and he looked up a picture of a conch shell and passed it around. I can use the iPad in the same way. Since its screen is bigger, maybe I can share without passing it around. I'm also planning to hook the iPad up to a cheesy old TV and use it as a poor man's (lady's?) IWB. I've done this with my laptop and it was very useful. YouTube alone was worth the price of the S-cable! I had to buy another cable for the iPad. Sure hope it works, because it set me back 50 bucks!

Of course, there is a lot more that could be done. Rather than surf up the Top 500 Ways You Can Use Your Gadget in Class, I'd like to identify needs and then see if "there's an app for that". I'd really like to avoid AASS (Apps for Apps' Sake Syndrome)!

Storefront Teaching

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday afternoon was an example of why free-range teaching can be so much fun!

My Tuesday/Thursday afternoon class begins when the library opens at 1:00 PM. We gather at the front door and file in when the library opens ... usually. If a library guard is not present at opening time, then the library delays opening while a substitute is found. This is the situation we found ourselves in a few days ago.

The branch manager (who is always as supportive as she can be) apologetically told us that the library was not going to open until 3:00 PM. That was a disappointment, as I had brought home-baked cookies and other festive items for a little holiday celebration. We stood outside the library and I handed out cookies and asked students to sign in on our attendance roster before they left. One student said, "Hey, I live nearby. Want to come to my place?" Another student, who is an Orthodox monk, said, "We could meet at my church. It's only a few minutes' drive from here." (Student speech is paraphrased as what they might have said if they were fluent speakers!) The group decided on the church, so we piled into three cars and headed off. We parked in front of the small storefront and climbed the stairs to the church.

What a great setting for an unplugged ESL lesson! There was a lovely space where the liturgy is celebrated and there were several small rooms in the back. One room had a long table with seating for about nine people. Since there were seven of us, it was just the right size. It was already set with fruit and cookies, which we were invited to eat!

Like any good teacher-about-town, I had several small boards and dry-erase markers in my bag and everyone had their notebooks, so we were good to go. (The contents of my bag vary from lesson to lesson, but the boards and markers are keepers. They're handy at all times, but especially in situations like this!)

Conversation began immediately on the obvious topic. We asked our host, Father Saba, about the church. I pitched vocabulary as needed, writing it on the boards for reference as the discussion proceeded. It turns out that the students in this group (about half of the enrolled class) are all Christian, so questions were more along the lines of "What days/times are your services?", "Do you have Bibles in English?" and so forth.

One student noted that there was a pleasant scent in the air. The word was "incense", which our Spanish speaker recognized right away. The other students (who speak Russian, Georgian and Arabic) still weren't sure, so I made a swinging gesture with my hands. Father Saba smiled, got up and left the room. He returned with the best realia ever!

Consulting my notebook, I see that we mostly uncovered vocabulary. We did hit one grammar item: the difference in how the word "too" is used with nouns and adjectives ("too much noise" vs. "too noisy"). Since they were familiar with count vs. non-count, we also looked at "too many [plural noun]".

Do you see the boards and markers on the table?

I'm so thankful to Father Saba for making his meeting area available to our class. As we left, students all agreed that it was an excellent and enjoyable lesson!

Beefed-up Blogroll

2011-12-23T12:20:00.000-05:00

photo courtesy of Calgary Review

It sounds like a sandwich you might find in one of those interesting new food trucks that are popping up all around Philly these days. But, no. I've just added another "bundle" to my More Links page. This one's focused on the English Language in general. I'm new to most of the blogs and still feeling my way around, but enjoying the reading quite a bit.

These blogs bring my dad to mind a lot, and that's a nice thing. He loved working with words. After retiring somewhat early from his first career, he returned to a love he had been nurturing since college days. (Heyyy, that sounds familiar ...) Dad's early study of romance languages lead him to his second profession as a translator. He worked from home, translating from Spanish, Italian and other languages to English. When he wasn't in his upstairs office, he was usually within 2 feet of a Quote-Acrostic puzzle in progress. In ink, of course! Playing Scrabble with Dad was just impossible. I generally just played for second place. Eventually, he would just sit nearby and be the reference when we were too lazy to go get the dictionary from the other room.

Among the blogs that have me wishing I could forward a link to my dad are John McIntyre's work at the Baltimore Sun and a new one by Kory Stamper called harm.less drudg.ery. My dad's political opinions might differ from Mr. McIntyre's, but the sense of humor and love of language in both of these blogs would be something he'd appreciate. I miss my dad during this season of family and friend connections and I'm happy to be reminded of him whenever I check my blog reader.

New Laptops in the New Year

2011-12-22T11:12:00.001-05:00

I'll be introducing laptops in some/all of my classes in the new year. They'll be available for reference, for practice with using a computer in English, and for Internet access (for purposes related to reaching learning or employment goals). I already drag my (very heavy) personal laptop to the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We use it as a reference/video/audio resource during lessons and I use it for email and data between classes. (OK, and the occasional blogging!) But I've stopped letting learners sit at my laptop. For one thing, I don't always remember to log out of my email, Facebook and other accounts and I'd like to maintain appropriate student-teacher privacy levels. Also, my laptop once was infected with malware after unmonitored student surfing, which cost me time and money to fix (and I lost some data that I hadn't backed up).

The laptops are coming from a grant (yay!) and will be maintained by my employer's IT contract. I want to use them to benefit the students while also keeping the focus on a materials-light approach. I'll be posting on that experience as it unfolds.

In related news, I was pleased to see a very helpful link to a collection of rubrics for assessing digital projects on Free Technology for Teachers this morning. The cursor hovered over "Reflection Journal Rubric" for a few seconds. Uh oh, how will my own blogging shape up? Whew, the rubric is at a high enough level that I'm safe! When I determine what a proper format is for "teacher's reflective online journal", I might be in trouble, though ...

Safety Dance

2011-12-19T19:27:00.000-05:00

If you're old enough to remember when Men Without Hats put out their video "Safety Dance", then I have a 5-disc carousel CD player you might be interested in ...

What does this have to do with teaching English unplugged? Well, Josette LeBlanc posted recently about a tool used by some practitioners of Nonviolent Communication called a restorative circle. She described it as a place where conflict can safely take place. That immediately put me in mind of the EFL/ESL classroom, where I hope to create a safe place as well, albeit a slightly more generalized version where students feel safe enough to take risks.

"The effective language teacher issomeone who can provide input and help make it comprehensible in alow anxiety situation." - Stephen Krashen, Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, p. 32

Krashen proposes that when someone feels stressed, an affective filter blocks the ability to absorb input. I believe this would apply to any communication situation. If you're distracted, anxious or angry, you're not in the best position to truly hear what another person is trying to say.

So, what have I done to facilitate a safe place in my classes?

As Mr. Barter notes in the video on Josette's post, a sense of community is essential. One small, but effective practice: I make a point of learning and using student names as soon as possible, asking for help with pronunciation and checking that the way I'm addressing them is to their preference. This models what I would like students to do with each other. To facilitate that, I ask all students to make a "name plate" -- a piece of notebook paper folded into a triangle with their name and home country on it. I have one too. Students pick their name plates up from a shelf in the classroom when they come in and they tuck them back on the shelf when they leave. It's amazing how effective this is in getting students to notice each other as people. Before we used name plates, learners rarely addressed each other by name. With the name plates, they will reach over, turn the plate to read it and initiate some discussion about the name or country with a classmate. After a few lessons, students begin leaving their plates on the shelf. That's fine, as long as the plates have done their job. When a new student joins the group, we start using the plates again. I love that a student will go to the shelf and get the plates for everyone at the table! A tip: use a different color of paper for each class if you have several classes that meet in the same room. A thought that occurs as I write: after a while, I could take away all of the name plates. I'd let partners make new plates for each other, asking each other for help with spelling as needed. That would benefit kinesthetic learners.

Developing ground rules can also help with building community. I haven't done this with all of my classes, but it's been effective in the cases where I have. (The process I'm about to describe is based on tips from this article by Emma Mendiola.) Briefly, I begin with a discussion about "what makes a good place for learning?" (the list includes things like few distractions, good temperature, good light, suitable furniture/supplies). We then follow with "what makes a good student?" (does homework, comes to class prepared, is motivated, participates actively, listens well, is respectful to the teacher) and "what makes a good teacher?" (is knowledgeable, is patient, is on time, helps the students, gives advice). I like to question the separation between the teacher and student lists. (Shouldn't a teacher come to class prepared, too? Couldn't a student help/respect another student? How? etc.) I don't spend a lot of time on the classroom list, but do point out that we have some control over the "few distractions" item and ask for ideas about that (cell phones, interrupting, private conversations are things that come up). Through various activities (depends on the group) we come up with a list of five things that apply to both student and teacher and then make a poster. In one class, we had this lesson shortly after Independence Day and we each put our own John Hancock on the poster before we hung it up! This activity creates a safe place because the items are all out in the open and the list is co-owned. If a learner needs to, he or she may be more comfortable reminding another learner of the agreement. (Note that the classroom list can be used in a future lesson to stimulate thought about what makes a good study space at home, too.)

Another "safe space" idea sort of slowly revealed itself to me over my first year or so of teaching. It has to do with truly being myself in the classroom. That sounds obvious in hindsight! But, in reality, a classroom is very similar to a stage. I mean, you walk into a room full of people who are sitting in a bunch waiting for you to get "the show" going. As a new teacher, I was very conscious of what I was doing and whether it was "what I'm supposed to be doing". Many of my adult students, meanwhile, were all set to play a "good student" role that they've played many times before. Knowing what our roles are is a kind of safety. Unfortunately, it's not conducive to a communicative English class. When we're in our roles, we're saying the lines we think we're supposed to be saying and doing the things we think we're supposed to be doing (perhaps a sequence of "communicative activities" as outlined in a book). It didn't feel right. I thought it was mostly due to the students' lack of understanding about the structure of a communicative English class, but I came to realize that my own role-playing was literally setting the stage for them. I wasn't sure what to do about this, however.

About a year ago, I read Facilitating Group Learning: Strategies for Success with Adult Learners by George Lakey. He emphasizes the need for authenticity in a learning group. In a section with the title "Design for Discomfort", he says:

"A lot of zest gets unleashed when people give up pretense and get real. As the container strengthens, people give themselves permission to get silly or make puns or do the funny things they are ordinarily too self-conscious to try."

Lakey reminds the reader that the point of establishing a safe place is to support students as they venture out of their comfort zone (in SLA, I guess that would be Krashen's i+1). I began to give myself permission to make little jokes, be silly, draw funny doodles on the board and that opened the door to my being more authentic in general. In a section about supporting authenticity, Lakey advises facilitators to give permission to the learners as well. I now make a point of mentioning some of the unconventional things we're going to be allowed to do in class -- for example, sticking out your tongue and making funny noises when practicing the "th" sound. When students disagree, I make a point of nodding and smiling and mentioning that disagreement is a great opportunity to practice communicating.

All of this seems to lead naturally to unplugged teaching. I guess it's no surprise that I'm using it more and more these days!

I would love to learn more about making a safe place for learning. Please share your experience and ideas?

I'll leave you with these immortal words from the Men Without Hats web page:

I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything's out of control
We can dance, we can dance
We're doing it from pole to pole
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody's taking the chance
Well it's safe to dance
Yes it's safe to dance
Well it's safe to dance
Well it's safe to dance
Yes it's safe to dance
Well it's safe to dance
Well it's safe to dance
It's a Safety Dance

Oh, Snap!

2011-12-18T11:38:00.001-05:00

Being a visual person, I often see scenes that I'd like to capture with my camera. But, for several reasons, I generally don't snap.

First, I don't always have my camera with me. Since I began teaching in off-site locations, I've seriously cut down on what I lug around from place to place. (Cell phone? Hah! It's ancient and its photo-taking capacity is laughable!)

Second, I'm not often comfortable taking pictures of people. It's an exaggerated invasion-of-privacy thing, I think. I wonder how professional photographers manage it.

Given the success of recent unplugged exercises that involved handing around and discussing pictures, though, I've been motivated to tuck the camera in my bag again. While riding the subway on Friday, I took this picture:

It has great potential for activities. I imagine it starting off a discussion about the cold and flu season and ideas for preventing and dealing with illness. Waiting to be uncovered: imperatives, 1st conditional, dependent clauses and punctuation (or lack thereof). This last item can lead in to something I want to talk about anyway: proofreading.

OK, but here's my problem. I even felt a little uncomfortable taking this picture! I was sitting in a crowded subway and I'm sure I looked a little furtive as I took aim and pressed the button. I can almost hear the thoughts of the people around me: "Why, on earth, does she want a picture of that sign?" I guess I've just got to toughen up. There's so much more "stimulus" I want to snap and I hope it leads to student photo-taking too.

Have you ever felt self-conscious about taking "odd" pictures for your classes? What do you do about it?

An Untapped Resource

2011-12-09T21:56:00.000-05:00

Gosh, for someone who hangs around at the library for 18 -- make that 24 now -- hours a week, I don't check out very many books! Sure, I'm in English class most of that time. But still. I should probably take advantage of the time I'm not teaching to explore potential resources more.

For example, I noticed this book recently: In November by Cynthia Rylant with lovely illustrations by Jill Kastner. It's an attractive picture book; I enjoyed it and I think beginning adult readers might enjoy it too. The book evokes the mood of Thanksgiving time without mentioning the holiday by name. Language is simple, but poetic. Unlike many picture books, it's not written from the perspective of a child.

Last year, some of my adult students read a great version of "Billy Goats Gruff" as found on the library bookshelf (sorry, I don't have a link to the particular book at the moment). They passed the book around and read aloud, turning the book around and showing the wonderful, evocative pictures as they finished. I think we could do this more often. In fact, why couldn't the students browse through the books on the shelves and discover their own picture books to share? There are so many fine books that are enjoyable at many levels.

I think we should have a "field trip" to the bookshelves in the library outside our meeting room soon!

The Best Laid Schemes ...

2011-12-06T17:38:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update between classes: my "schemes" about using activities to reinforce language and family trees went right out the window in today's class!

cute mouse from http://www.free-extras.com

I made an announcement at the beginning of class about a project that our institution does annually: we publish a book of student (and staff) writing. I wanted students to begin thinking about making a contribution. To generate interest, I passed around three copies of last year's edition. I forgot just how interesting these books are, so before I knew it two-thirds of the lesson had passed. Students browsed through the books, selected interesting readings, read them aloud and discussed. We read two poems (lots of colorful language like "in the gutter") and a factual account of the earthquake in Haiti, which was followed by our Dominican student standing at the board pointing to a hand-sketched map of Hispaniola and explaining Dominican and Haitian relations in response to questions from his classmates. I spent a good part of this time sitting in a chair to the side, trying to aid with communication (but actually, I felt that my help wasn't needed as much as I thought it was!).

As this all subsided, students realized that one of the group had brought in a laptop to share his family pictures. He stood at the front and narrated the whole show, answering questions about his family and friends from the group. Again, I felt that people were doing fine with less help from me than I would have thought. Since he's an Orthodox monk, when the question arose about his wife and children (none), he ended up diagramming his Church's hierarchy on the board and taking questions (with a bit of vocabulary assistance from me).

At one point in the photo-sharing, the student struggled to find the word "cousin". He said, "my mother's sister's daughter". Ding! Ding! Ding! A natural segue to family trees! When he was entirely finished with his impromptu presentation and sitting down (to applause, I might add), I stood up and drew out a segment of the family tree for "my mother's sisters daughter" and elicited the vocabulary. I then changed perspective (pointed to the mother and elicited the language for "her son", etc.). With the last half-hour of class, I made my family tree and changed perspective a few times (language that emerged: in-laws, half-brother, stepson). Student homework was to make their own family trees at home but leave the space for their name blank.

I saw the need for reinforcement of the language that emerged last time (for which I had planned activities), so I'll do it next time.

I need to capture in my notes what emerged today. Not sure of an efficient way to do this (especially keeping track of three different classes with different things emerging!). I'm also not sure: do I need to follow up on ALL of it? I'm sensing that I go with the things that seem to be most relevant to ongoing language use ... hmmmm ...

It's a Family Affair

2011-12-04T12:59:00.002-05:00

Image source: D Sharon Pruitt

Last week, I asked everyone to bring in family pictures. This has always made for lively sessions, so I thought it would make a great stimulus for another "new Dogme teacher" lesson.

In the past, I've used a more traditional approach to focus on the topic of families and relationships. You know the drill: start with a warmup picture of a family, students take in a language sample associated with the picture, do comprehension and vocabulary exercises, highlight the target language, do controlled and semi-controlled activities and FINALLY, students get to share their own pictures and try to use the new form as they talk. Thanks to the photos, these lessons have always been fun but I think their power is diminished by putting them at the end of the lesson.

This time, we started right in on the sharing. I had some ideas of target form (review of possessive pronouns, contrast possessive 's with contractions that use 's) but stayed open to other language needs as they arose. As students talked, I quietly wrote some of their comments on the board for later discussion. Language that emerged included: "How many years ago?" "How long ago?" "How old is he?" "You look like your father." "I have my mother's eyes."

The last lesson I reported on was more teacher-driven. This one was closer to "true" Dogme, in my opinion. I used personal stimulus, encouraged students to relate to it, facilitated their interaction, noted emerging language, paused to review and answer language-related questions, then we continued with awareness of the new learning.

That's not to say it was perfect: I drew a blank when it came to reinforcing activities (again). But, you know what? I wonder if it isn't all that bad to just informally assess the "live" conversations, call attention to the form, go home and think about it a bit and then begin the next class with an activity or two. It would not only provide review but it would allow anyone who was not present to catch up and it could be a warmup too! As I try various activities, I'm sure they'll start coming to mind more easily in the future.

So, what activity could I do next time? Looking under "Focusing on Form" in my trusty copy of Teaching Unplugged, I see the activity "Most Politicians, Few Dogs". I can see making a table to (re)examine the "How ... ago?" forms. Begin with "How long ago did you [lots of verb phrases like "come to this country"]? Follow with "How many [years, days, weeks, months, minutes, seconds] ago did you [choose your own verb phrase]?" Pass around some new photos (students who didn't bring any last time are planning to share next time) and try to use the language as we talk about the photos. Maybe highlight the other forms with more activities and then share more pictures.

Student homework was to think about their family tree, so we'll move on to that next -- make a family tree with your name blank. Hang on the wall, have a gallery browse where people guess which student goes with which tree, then have people study a tree that's not their own and report on it to the class. The tree "owner" can correct, clarify and expand as needed.

I'm starting to understand the notion of "planning" a lesson AFTER giving it. It seems so natural ...

Unplugged Superhero, Part 2: The Story

2011-12-02T18:29:00.003-05:00

For the lead-up to this story, please read yesterday's post, Unplugged Superhero? . (<- edited to fix link)

So, two days ago I walked into class without any copies or texts (oh, Dogme be with me now!) but just some colored markers and a pad of easel paper.

The goal was to help my pre-intermediate level students build some good basic language for "talking about talking" in the classroom, especially when they need help. The intended outcome was one or more student-made posters of useful phrases that we can all refer to when someone gets stuck. I want to see if this will reverse a trend I've noticed: a majority of this class speaks the same L1 (Russian) and they have been switching to it when they have communication issues in class. This marginalizes the other students and makes it more difficult for me to assess their needs.

As students gathered, we engaged in small talk -- asking about Thanksgiving (recycling language from before the holiday) and talking about the weather (more recycling from several weeks ago). I kept my eye open for communication issues to arise because I wanted to bring up the topic in a natural way, but this was familiar language for the class. So, I introduced some "incomprehensible input", asking what everyone thought of the all the precipitation we'd been having lately. There was a pause. One of the more outspoken students said "What is that word?" So I wrote the word on the board and explained it.

Then I asked everyone to consider what they each personally would do if they heard that word OUTSIDE of class, from someone who was not their teacher. There was an admission that not everyone would speak up; they would probably just let it go. We discussed possible reasons why someone might not speak up (not confident, not sure what to say, afraid they won't understand the answer).

I asked students if they had any examples of communication issues outside of class. A student shared a story from just the day before. She had gone to the corner store and said to the clerk "Please give me a lottery." As she told the story in class, she pronounced lottery with equal stress on all syllables. The clerk said, "What?" and she repeated it. The second time she repeated it, the clerk said "Oh! A LOTtery ticket!" and completed the transaction. There was some laughter and agreement; most students had had a similar exchange at one time or another.

We then proceeded to discuss the scenario and I asked students to make suggestions about how communication could be better. In addition to paying more attention to stress (which we've talked about in previous classes), some ideas were that she could give more information (include the word "ticket") and/or point to what she wanted. We also talked about things the clerk could have said to get the information he needed. Students contributed a few ideas ("repeat please", for example) and I fleshed it out with others. I asked the groups to choose some phrases that would be useful in class and write them on their sheets. Finally, I shared other ways to turn an imperative into a polite request and the students added them to their sheets. Here's one of the two sheets:

Note that one student recognized "would you" from another form and added "like" as an afterthought. This was a great opportunity to clarify the difference.

A couple of reflections: First, I did more talking in this lesson that I would have liked. Second, this lesson didn't have any reinforcing activities. Perhaps pairs could have thought of a similar communication issue (preferably a real one from their lives) and developed a role play using a couple of the phrases. On the other hand, in our next lesson several students began using the phrases in class and I highlighted this enthusiastically. I'm also going to use them myself, making a point of checking the sheet before I say them. Also, the action research project is not over. I want to add to the phrase lists as other ideas come up during lessons, I want to see if students start using them more and I want to see if this reduces their use of L1 overall.

One final note on a rather long post ... I went into my second class of the day with the same intention and it didn't go anywhere near as well. That was a reality check! I happened to hit the right conditions with the first group, but still have a lot of learning to do wrt adjusting to varying situations. Not quite Super-Teacher ... yet.

Unplugged Superhero?

2011-12-01T17:14:00.003-05:00

In my last post, I talked about the book I'm close to finishing:

Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms (Cambridge Language Education) by Jack C. Richards and Charles Lockhart

I was posting between classes (as I'm doing now!), so I kept it brief. At the end of the post, I mentioned that I was all geared up on the idea of the action research project as a way to move from reflection to, well, action. The notion is exciting to me because:

a) I've tried to do such a thing before, though I didn't know it was called "action research project" and mine was maybe not the most methodically-organized effort. It was a success, though! Quickly summarized: I'm in a rolling enrollment situation and had a lot of students churning through my classes. I hardly knew who was in and who was out and I never knew who was going to show up. (When you're stuck on photocopies, this can be a problem ... do I make way too many, or risk not enough??). I wanted to see if there was some way I could settle things down a bit. I read around, tried several different things in my classes (some were a success, some were not so good). The bottom line is: I regularly get students inquiring about joining, but in general, my classes are stable groups of students who try to come on time and stay the whole class.

b) I've been mulling over a number of issues and I think each is ripe for "action research" (it really does sound like it should be capitalized ... Action Research: a job for Super-Teacher!). The book has clarified the process enough that I feel I can get started immediately. (I realize that there are more formal versions of action research; I'm talking about small, short projects a reflective teacher can do informally.)

One issue is that my beginning level students seem to use more L1 with each other than they did when they first came to class. I think they started off with good "try to use English" intentions but have begun to lapse ... perhaps due to frustration?

For the last couple of weeks, I've tried to note when they did this and what they were saying (when it wasn't obvious, I inquired). It seems that much of the time, students were giving each other comprehension help. Obviously, I need to check and tweak my presentation skills!

But I also asked myself, "We get along OK in class, so why don't they just speak up and tell me what they need?" The next lesson, I noticed how a student struggled to ask me how to pronounce a word. Suddenly, my Action Research Superpowers kicked in and I had an insight: I never actually gave them much in the way of "I need help speaking and understanding" language in English. (What's that called, metalanguage?) I didn't feel much like Super-Teacher at this realization.

So, two days ago I walked into class without any copies or texts (oh, Dogme be with me now!) but just some colored markers and a pad of easel paper. Since my next class starts in a little while and I want to rearrange the room ... I will leave you, my imaginary reader, in suspense. More to come later!

Upon Reflection

2011-11-29T17:28:00.001-05:00

One of the many books littering my desk is this one:

Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms (Cambridge Language Education) by Jack C. Richards and Charles Lockhart

I'm not finished reading it yet, but I can say already that I think it will be an invaluable resource! Every new teacher should have it on the bookshelf (and take it down and use it!).

I've only just discovered ELTChat and am still figuring out how it works (and whether/how to join) but I saw that the most recent discussion was on this topic -- how timely! I believe that every teacher who wants to be successful in the classroom must reflect, whether fresh out of training or a seasoned pro. The nature of the reflection may be different, but the need to do it is ever-present.

But what does "reflection" mean? How can a teacher translate musings into improvement? This book has many practical suggestions. I'm especially excited about the idea of an action research project (something I've already been doing but not necessarily very well!).

A Record!

2011-11-27T16:51:00.000-05:00

Four posts in one afternoon, wow!

I just changed my settings to allow comments. It appears they will only be allowed on posts going forward, so please comment here if you want to respond to any of my previous posts.

The Upshot

2011-11-27T16:39:00.001-05:00

Of course, a shift in perspective from "hierarchical" to "organic" isn't something that happens just because I announce that it's so! Habits have a way of sticking around. It will take some time. It'll sometimes be tough to reconcile with others (husband, peers in my age group at work, for example). Here are a few places where I'm beginning to make some changes:

Blogging. I've been blogging in one form or another for years, but it's been with a Web 1.0 attitude (I control the content, you're welcome to come look at it and maybe I'll look at your blog too). Attitude shift: actively find and read good ELT blogs, share their links, comment and contribute. Encourage comments on my own blog.

Bookmarks. I moved my giant hierarchically-organized list of browser bookmarks to diigo and have been adding to it for a few weeks. Groom the tags, make it public and share it on my blog and with like-minded groups.

The Classroom. I am taking on a new class in December. I would like to set their expectations right at the outset toward a more organic approach (unplugged). This will take some time and will surely include trial and error. I'll also need to make sure expectations of my management continue to be met. Stay tuned!

File Management. I moved to dropbox.com a few months ago. It's excellent! I haven't tried cloud collaboration yet. Maybe soon.

A PLN. My local peers are mostly not Web 2.0 oriented. Yet. I would like to support those who are and see if we can build in a slow, organic way. I think a wiki might be the way to go. In the meantime, I really need support. I'm looking to the Internet for now. I'm reading many blogs (see my blogrolls!) and trying to participate in the Dogme ELT group at Yahoo. I'm also reading a number of books (will comment on them later).

An Aside

2011-11-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

As I completed the course on Web 2.0, I suddenly gained some perspective on the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Yes, the protests include people from all age groups. But I'm pretty sure the most active participants are of the younger generations? The so-called Internet natives? The ones who grew up with Web 2.0?

I noted in my last post that I made a mental shift as a result of taking this course. It dawned on me that Web 2.0 is not just a bunch of fancy new applications but that it reflects (promotes?) a way of looking at the world. I'm used to organizing my books, music, files, web pages, bookmarks, etc. in a specific place (server, hard drive, bookshelf) that I own or rent, using a hierarchical organization system. Every item is "mine" and has a single place that's "its place". As my grandmother said: a place for every thing and everything in its place. People immersed in Web 2.0 aren't hierarchical, they're collaborative. They don't buy files and store them in folders on hard drives, they use creative commons, links, tags and clouds. One person doesn't decide where things go, he or she contributes information and organizational preferences to a massive general area and it organizes itself organically. It's not taxonomy, it's folksonomy.

In many ways, I identify with and prefer this way of thinking. I've always been a "descriptive" rather than a "prescriptive" when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. What appeals to me about the dogme approach is that, given the right conditions, a lesson will organically form itself from the "cloud" of individual needs and preferences in the room. My spiritual viewpoint is also one where definitions aren't so important but rather "what's here now". So, it was a surprise to me to discover that I still had strong hierarchical habits in my approach to the Internet!

OK, so the OWS participants refuse to name leaders or specific causes but they meet every day to state opinions and get feedback from each other on a dynamic agenda. People of earlier generations are puzzled and keep trying to press them into our hierarchical way of seeing things. I get it. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

What's Up?

2011-11-27T15:10:00.000-05:00

Since September, I've been spending all of my spare time taking an online professional development course. The course, called "Bridging the Technology Gap: Web 2.0 in the Adult Education Classroom", was designed to introduce teachers to Web 2.0 technology and help use decide whether/how to use it in the classroom with our adult students.

Although I'm not afraid of technology (I've been using computers, email and the Internet -- well, the newsgroups that later became the Internet -- since 1985), I have an ambivalent attitude toward its use. I appreciate useful new advances, but the key word is "useful". Twinkling new gadgets are fun for a few minutes, but if they don't meet a need (and I mean a need I had before the gadget, not a need created by the existence of the gadget itself) I lose interest pretty quickly. Therefore, I don't go out of my way to seek out cool new devices and applications; I either stumble onto them or seek them out based on an existing need. The net result of this is that my knowledge and appreciation of Internet resources for teachers is very patchy. And I failed to make the mental shift to Web 2.0 entirely!

photo of 1950s computer from SDASM archives

I'd say the two biggest things I got from this course were an appreciating of a Web 2.0 perspective and some useful tools for assessing my students' technology skills and choosing appropriate applications based on this information. This is timely, because my organization has recently gotten funding to provide several laptops in our ESL classrooms. I want to make use of these as tools to support our existing English-learning experience. I don't want to get distracted by all of the "wow" and "gee whiz". I hope this doesn't make me sound like a poop! I think we'll have fun with the laptops. Hey, we have fun without them, too ...

Back Online

2011-08-28T11:57:00.000-04:00

I haven't made time for written reflection lately. Actually, I haven't made much time for following the blogs of other folks, either. Instead, I've spent pretty much all of my personal PD time (as opposed to the time I'm paid for) developing a student database in Excel. That has recently stabilized and I'm now cashing in on it as a time-saver. More on that in other posts.

I'm struggling a lot with whether/how to post publicly. Many of my reflections involve scenarios with real people (students, fellow teachers, administrators, etc.). I would love to work things out with the help of others but am very concerned about privacy issues. My decision: I'm going to open the blog to public view but mark any questionable posts private for now. If I can pose scenarios in a non-specific way, I'll post publicly.

LLC

2011-02-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

I just finished a 3-part PD series that was offered (actually, required) by the powers that be. The topic was "Learners' Lives as Curriculum" (LLC) and it's based on a book by Dr. Gail Weinstein. This approach focuses on using the writing of learners as the base upon which lessons may be developed. One output of each lesson is more learner writing which can then be used for future lesson development.

This approach can be considered a variation on the concept of "Teaching Unplugged". That is, it does not depend on a textbook. In LLC, the teacher writes the textbook one lesson at a time, using student-provided material.

Some of the teachers who took the class with me were skeptical of this approach. A major concern was something along the lines of "Hey, I have enough work to do without writing the textbook too.", "I use the textbook as a way of getting expert advice on how to teach a topic. I'm no expert and I think my lessons will not be of good quality." and "Must my learners be guinea pigs?"

Since I'd already been exploring the unplugged approach, I could see some benefits. In addition to the obvious benefits (can't be more relevant or student-centered!), our non-profit organization can save a lot if we aren't so dependent on textbooks. No one teacher has to write a whole textbook; we can share our work. We can also build on each lesson every time it's used. (Add and refine activities, rework with different texts, etc.) I can see each of these as more of a resource-trove than a lesson.

The instructor for the last two parts of the training was great, but the training itself (which she didn't develop) wasn't the best. Bureaucracy, I think. One suggestion for improvement: we should write a lesson plan as well. We should note what level the lesson is tailored to, ideas for expanding upward and downward, ideas for additional activities, materials and realia, correlations to competencies and notes on the language focus (the target language as well as caveats, etc.)

This approach isn't as unplugged as others. It still has the teacher walking into a classroom with handouts and an agenda. It's emergent in a limited way: an attentive teacher can take later classes in the direction indicated by the students in their writing.

When I tried this approach in the classroom, I used a nice text from one of my stronger students. One problem with this sample was that it was a piece of fiction. When I wrote the lesson, it was difficult to think of a way to connect it to the lives of other students. I tried to think of what this story represented (albeit indirectly) with regard to this learner's life. I thought: her love of creativity. Based on this idea, I tried to make a "creative" writing assignment for the final activity. I provided four photos of animals in unusual situations and planned to elicit ideas about what the animals might be doing, feeling, etc. and then to ask students to choose one and write.

I gave the lesson to two classes. During the first class, I discovered that some students became quite animated (no pun intended!) when remembering stories about their pets. In the second class, I widened the scope of the writing assignment. Since the focus was using the simple past to tell a story (the topic wasn't important), I invited students to tell ANY story about an animal, true or otherwise. I got several stories about pets. These writings were of much higher quality than the fantasies. They came from the HEART. I could rework the lesson using one of these texts.

However, I once tried to give a lesson about pets and not ONE student in the classroom had ever had a pet. That lesson was a dud! I should make sure the assignment accomodates students who don't have a pet story. I could continue to offer the option of writing fiction. Another "learner's life" aspect from the original story was this learner's pleasure at writing something for her grandchildren. I could use that approach. Another idea would be to ask students to share a favorite fable.

Nonviolent Communication

2011-01-01T23:36:00.002-05:00

Following up from the previous post, I have to acknowledge my commitment to nonviolent communication and the scaffolding it provides for my personal teaching experience.

Heh, I'm not saying that I'm always a nonviolent communicator! But it does inform my perspective. Students will be exposed to this approach if they spend more than a few hours in my classes. Given recent readings, I question this but I also say: that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Some sources that have been important to me over the years (since way before I began teaching English):

Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

My husband picked this book up from an independent bookstore in Victoria, B.C. one year when we were on vacation. Perhaps August of 2001? The fundamentals of good communication, in my opinion!

The Assertiveness Workbook by Randy Paterson

I think I may have gotten this one in an independent bookstore (maybe in Canada too!). Anyway, It blew me away. Chapter 5 alone is worth the price of admission -- it lists a number of solid, emotionally-sound beliefs that one can carry into life. Successful communication depends (in my opinion) on having these beliefs in the back pocket while communicating. I'm still learning (and always will be), but whenever possible I try to model these in class. They do flavor my approach.

Ethics for the New Millennium by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

If you happen to find this book in the library or a bookstore and don't have a lot of time, just read the last chapter. A rational and non-religious argument for nonviolent communication as the foundation for life. Of course, the Dalai Lama is not a non-religious man -- but his ideas can be used to strengthen and support ANY religion. Or none.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Yeh, I could be reading my already-strong beliefs into his book. Or not. I think he argues for much the same as the books above. From the perspective of a man who survived a concentration camp.

Although The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching was more influential to me in general, Thich Nhat Hanh's book Anger is more specifically about nonviolent communication. Don't be fooled by the simple language. ETA: Another deceptively simple, but highly influential book is Peace is Every Step.

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

Many of her books have been helpful, but this one addresses nonviolent communication very well.

Daniel Goleman, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Paul Ekman and a number of other rational-minded authors also tie in to my thoughts on nonviolent communication. Hey, Lakey's book (just finished, see earlier posts) fits right in! ETA: also local heroes Aaron Beck and Martin Seligman ...

Deeper Learning

2010-12-27T16:19:00.001-05:00

A random reflection:

I think certain qualities must be present in an English classroom to support deeper learning. Just throwing a few out here:

stability (attendance is regular, group size doesn't vary too much from class to class, students arrive on time)

ownership (students know their goals, and see the class as one resource among many)

appropriate focus (on developing and practicing good communication skills, not on getting "the right answer")

respect (letting go of "right" and "wrong", accepting the presence of differing values, beliefs, opinions)

connection (recognizing the value of classmates, working together and supporting each other)

safety (letting go of defenses, being willing to take risks, be vulnerable, make mistakes)

Over the last year, I've come to realize the role that each of the everyday administrative processes of a language school plays in supporting these qualities. Or could play. It seems to me that this connection can get lost in the bureaucratic shuffle. Maybe I'll ramble in more detail on this in another post.

In reading comments on a recent post on Scott Thornbury's blog, I also recognize how heavily my own beliefs have shaped the above list. But of course! Why would I not want to live my beliefs? However, it's good to be aware of this connection and not to be stuck on it (there are other approaches to teaching English than my own!).

Here Comes a New Year

2010-12-27T13:03:00.000-05:00

Well, this is the time of year for looking back and looking forward, isn't it?

I've been teaching for a little more than a year. It's too bad I wasn't keeping a blog the whole time because I would like to look back in more detail at both problems and successes. I do have reflections typed up at the end of each lesson plan, but these are specifically about the quality of the lesson plan itself. I wish I had been able to reflect, dream, gripe and think aloud at a higher level.

Of course, I didn't have time for such things. As a new teacher, I spent a LOT of time over-preparing for classes. I also spent a LOT of time collecting and reporting data inefficiently and/or incorrectly. I wasted a LOT of paper making photocopies I didn't need. I schlepped a LOT of stuff around that I didn't use in the classroom.

So, what are some good New Year's Resolutions for a second year teaching English to adults in Philadelphia? Let's see ...

1) Take a swig of my own medicine: I support students in examining their long-term goals and setting associated short-term goals. It's been a while since I thought out my own goals. Time for a review!

2) Keep up with this blog, as a tool for higher-level reflection.

3) Pay more attention to the work/home balance. Don't take on "extra" work (self-assigned or requested) unless it specifically supports particular goals and is properly prioritized.

Teacher? Or Facilitator?

2010-12-26T18:37:00.002-05:00

Here is a quote from an article by Thornbury and Meddings that gets me thinking:

If ... you take the view that language is an emergent phenomenon, and that the learning of it is a jointly constructed and socially motivated process, contingent on the concerns, interests, desires, and needs of the user, then the argument for coursebooks starts to look a bit thin. Moreover, if you take the view that the teacher's role in language learning is to scaffold these emergent processes, and that the teacher's authority derives from her ability to manage and facilitate the social processes out of which – and for which - language develops, then the coursebook looks positively redundant.

The intention of our program is to teach English to adults so they can use it to contribute actively to the American community in which they live. In Philadelphia, there are neighborhoods where a person can speak Haitian, Mandarin or Russian all day every day and get along OK. Are these American communities? How does the ability to speak English help a student who lives in one of these neighborhoods?

The answer lies with the students, of course. Each student comes into the classroom with a unique and specific need for English. Ways I can help:

- helping students articulate their need clearly (narrow it down, if necessary)
- offering communication techniques for getting the need met
- helping them identify resources and learn how to use them
- fostering a safe place to practice and build confidence
- sharing an "insider" perspective on idiomatic and cultural questions

I'm happy to teach a grammar point, especially if a student asks for it. I'll give a definition sometimes, if all else fails. But more and more, I don't like preparing and presenting "content" of my choice to the students. For example, I gave a lesson on the topic of stress several months ago. The lesson was prepared (by someone else) specifically for adult learners of English at a high-beginning or low-intermediate level. It included activities for reading, writing, speaking and listening; it introduced new vocabulary and there was a relevant grammar point. The text featured the experience of other adult learners and students seemed to relate to it. I'm sure some of the information was new to a number of my students and good for them to know. I taught the lesson to three different groups and it went well each time. But nobody indicated that they needed help dealing with stress. Nobody asked for this material. Worse: a number of my students are well-educated and at least one is a doctor. Who am I to be lecturing to them -- out of the blue -- about ways to reduce stress?

I will be striving to continue in a more focused way toward "facilitation" and away from "teaching". I have several ideas and a lot of questions! I hope to capture some of that process here.

Building a Strong Container

2010-12-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

I'm still reading Facilitating Group Learning by George Lakey.

We teachers have been taught the importance of fostering a sense of safety in our classrooms. The "strong container" is Lakey's useful analogy for this.

He differentiates between comfort and safety. Learning involves discomfort. Learners must put themselves into unfamiliar situations and experiment with strange ideas. Their experiments may "fail". Of course, learning comes from analyzing such failures and trying again. We present our learners with opportunities, but they must decide to take the risks themselves. That's where the "strong container" comes in.

If I understand it correctly, a container is built of the group's goals and expectations. The facilitator makes sure that goals of the learning session are clear and that the group has an opportunity to negotiate ground rules (or norms). The facilitator then takes ownership of enforcing the norms, freeing the participants to focus on their own development. If these things are in place, then the container will be strong.

It's interesting to read about "enforcement" in a book based on a direct action approach! (Direct action is often associated with non-violence.) I agree with Lakey's use of the word, however. He says:

... participants have not entered a contract of mutual enforcement simply by agreeing to the ground rules. Their agreement is to live by the norms personally, not to enforce normative behavior on others.

He points out that every group has a mainstream and margins and the mainstreamers are the ones who tend to "enforce". This can deny the voice of the margins. If the teacher owns the authority, it frees each individual to focus on his or her own contribution toward learning.

I've been thinking about this during class sessions now. I notice that containers aren't static. There are times when the room feels "warm", when people eagerly turn to each other to try new things. There are other times that feel "cool" and I sense that each person is in his or her own separate container.

(Note: post edited for clarification.)

What's Actually on the Bedside Table?

2010-12-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

Hubby and I were browsing around in the UPenn Bookstore last Saturday and I picked up George Lakey's Facilitating Group Learning. I knew nothing about him or his organization, but the book delves into topics I'm interested in exploring. I would like my ESL class to be a place where learners feel safe enough to step outside their comfort zones. I want learners to take ownership of the exploration process and to approach the unfamiliar with a sense of curiosity. Actually, I want to do these things myself!

It's not a stretch to see our ELCivics-based classes as a sort of training for social action. Not that I want students to take any particular action. But an important purpose of the class, as I see it, is to give learners the communication tools and cultural information they need to take action of their choice. Participation at all levels of community is social action!

What's on the Blogside Table?

2010-12-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

In many an Internet chat community, the topic will arise: "What's on your bedside table?" People will discuss what they're currently reading.

I just discovered a gadget in Google Reader that allows me to display "what blogs I'm reading" for a topic of my choice. The nifty thing is that it will stay up to date with my list as I add and delete blogs. I'm sharing the "Dogme" blogs I'm currently reading.

I've been following a couple of these blogs for some time now. Recently, I added a few more with the intent of expanding -- but I'm not sure I have the time to follow more than 3-4 blogs regularly. These bloggers are prolific!

The topic is a teaching approach that is favored by some TEFL teachers around the world. (For more on the origin of the name, check HERE.) Another label is "Materials Light".

Reflections on the Dogme approach are coming soon to a post near you ...

Argh!

2010-12-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

Somehow, the first post of a new blog is always the most difficult. I guess the title of this post is the "birth cry", hah!

I do have a great deal of enthusiasm for this relatively new career. And thank goodness for that, because it (maybe) makes up a bit for the lack of experience.

I think I learn best by putting my thoughts, questions and confusions into writing. Don't be looking for an outpouring of words, though. NOT true to the spirit of blogging, I probably won't post regularly and I may well revise or delete messages as my thinking changes.

Or not! Let's see what happens ...