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Being an EFL teacher (by Eva Büyüksimkeşyan)

Feb 8th, 2010
by evabuyuksimkesyan.
6 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know


When I sat down to write this post, the only thing came to my mind was, ”At the moment I’m where I’ve always wanted to be and this is because I’m an EFL teacher.” Being an EFL teacher helped me become who I am now. It promoted my creativity, enabled me to find different solutions for problems,and helped me become more patient and understanding. If you love teaching, please do it. You need to be self-motivated but the challenge is worth it. Before you start maybe you should know some facts about it.

If you are an EFL teacher:

  1. You must be a life-long learner because teaching encourages us to learn something new every day. You can bring the real world into your classroom so you should always update your knowledge. If you stop learning, you will be behind your students.
  2. You will get challenged continuously and most of the times you will need to motivate yourself for the new challenges, so teaching will become an endless self-improvement journey.
  3. You can understand your students better than the other teachers. Language teaching gives you the chance to chat with your students or sometimes view their lives through their writings. Those essays, compositions and other stuff we do in the classroom reveal so many secrets and when they are able to speak about them they will feel more confident.
  4. Most of the time, only language teachers allow their students’ mistakes in order to encourage them to write, speak and contribute, and it boosts the students’ self-esteem.
  5. You know another language (if you aren’t a native speaker) and you can explore other cultures and lifestyles. Because of this, you can lead your students to another world where they can start perceiving what’s really going on around them.
  6. You can be an actor…Language teaching enables you to become an actor, a director, a screenwriter and the students are your supporting actors and cast. You will create a new movie every year.
  7. You need to be creative because teaching present perfect simple can be very monotonous, so you’ll try to find new ways, new techniques each year.
  8. You will stay young. As I said before, the real world is our material so we need to know what’s trendy, who our students are listening to, what they are watching. We need to keep up with their age.
  9. You can be a bridge between your students and the past. History will be more enjoyable in a language class. Your students will learn about the heroes, great actors, musicians, singers and groups of the past because you will use them in your class.
  10. You will be very lucky because there are really great teachers around you and they will help you. Whenever you want they will be ready to collaborate with you. No matter where you are, you will be a part of this big community. What I mean is that in whichever part of the world you live, the internet allows you to enjoy the bearable lightness of support from your colleagues despite being far, far away from you.

My name is Eva Büyüksimkesyan. I’m an EFL teacher working in the same high school where I graduated from and it is a dream came true. This year I started blogging and I found it very challenging. These days I’m attending a course to become a teacher trainer.

I’d like to thank Barbara Sakamoto for giving me this wonderful opportunity to  write on this great blog which is a unique meeting point for great educators to share their knowledge and experiences.

Posted in: Personal Learning Network, Professional Development, Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know, Teaching, reflection.
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Text Your Knowledge (by Nick Jaworski)

Feb 7th, 2010
by Barbara.
4 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know

As a manager I interview a lot of teachers.  One question I always ask is about reading texts.  If you have a short reading text, what are some different ways in which it can be used?  I am constantly surprised by the lack of responses I get to this question.  Candidates most often give one of two responses.

1)      I have the students read the text and then I ask them questions about it.

Ok, this is standard and nothing wrong with that.  We want to check to see that the students comprehend the text, but this is generally quite boring and is really more of a test than teaching reading skills.

2)      I have the students read it out loud.

Sadly, I have seen this used a lot in classes at well.  I’m sitting and observing a class of 15 students and the teacher asks one student to read out loud while the others follow along in the book.  This has to be one of the worst wastes of time for a class.  One student is speaking and the other 14 students are bored out of their mind and not paying attention.  Additionally, the one reading isn’t comprehending the text because they are too focused on speaking correctly.  The only thing being worked on here is pronunciation of the one student reading the text.

Because this is such a common issue I see come up, I thought I’d give other ways to do readings.  These activities make reading texts more interesting, involve more than just one skill, get the students more involved with the class and the text, and help to teach skills rather than just test them.

1)      Standard dictation

The teacher stands at the front and reads the text out as students write it down.  This turns a general reading into a listening and writing lesson as well.  The students can check their work against the original text and they notice a lot of pronunciation points as well as paying attention to weak forms or grammar they aren’t too keen on.  It’s a bit more interesting than a general reading and gets more skills work involved.

2)      Community dictation

This is the same as number one, but in this version, each student has a piece of the text and they read it out one by one as each individual student writes it down.  The whole class is involved and the teacher can check students’ pronunciation here as well.  Even better, if the text is broken up clearly, students can take their piece of the text and try to arrange themselves in a line at the front of the class with the text in the proper order.  This creates a lot of speaking and listening practice where students really have to pay attention.

3)      Running dictation

The class is split into 2-person teams and copies of the text are posted on the wall.  Students must run to the text and then run back and report it to their team member to write down.  The first team to complete the text wins and then the text is given to the students to compare.  Again, students really get involved with the text, they notice a lot when comparing versions, and the movement and energy aids memory as well as making it more enjoyable.

4)      Shouting dictation

A normal dictation but students are put into two groups, one each on opposite ends of the room.  A student from group A must dictate the text to the student from group B across from them.  All students have to dictate their texts at the same time.  It’s usually quite hilarious and is good preparation for times when there is a lot of background noise in the real world.

5)      Coughing dictation

Here the teacher reads out the text but coughs in predetermined places where a certain word should go.  The cough could go in the place of am/is/are where students have to choose the correct version or maybe the cough could go in the place of articles or conjunctions.  You can also pull out vocabulary you want to highlight and the students fill in the cough-blank with a word from a list on the board.  This is good practice for discrete grammar items or vocabulary revision.

6)      Picture dictation

Some texts lend themselves to this better than others.  Obviously a descriptive text is best, but anything can be used really.  Students are read a text and asked to draw a representation of it.  Examples could be your room, your best friend, your family, a favorite place from childhood, a bad memory, etc.

7)      Dictogloss

Here a text is read to the students several times and they have to take notes on the text.  Each time it’s read they can expand on their notes. After a couple readings, students are put in groups and asked to reconstruct the text as close to the original as possible.  Afterwards the original text is given and again a lot of noticing happens as students compare versions.

8)      Post and memorize

Texts are posted on a wall and then students are asked to come up and try to remember as much of the text as possible.  Afterwards they are put in groups and given comprehension questions.  They must answer the questions from memory.  The group with the most correct answers can be considered the winner.

9)      Cut up and memorize

Similar to eight, students get a paragraph each from a numbered text and are asked to memorize it.  They are then put into groups and each student relates their piece of the text.  The group could be asked to reconstruct the text, answer comprehension questions, or to relate the whole story back to the class.

10)  Read out loud around the class

A good way to do around the room reading out loud would be to make sure that all students have their books closed.  Inform the students that they will be given a quiz on the text once it’s finished.  One person reads a piece of the text at a time and the teacher can help with pronunciation issues and vocabulary.  Go around the room until the whole text is read and then hand out the quiz.  This way everyone has to listen to each other carefully and (hopefully) nobody gets bored.

11)  Cloze reading

Create two versions of the text.  Take out every fifth content word (main verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs) in one text.  In the other text, take out every seventh.  This will create two texts with different information missing.  Students are divided into A and B groups.  They are each given a copy of the text and must formulate questions to find the missing information from their partner.

12)  Jigsaw reading

Find two similar texts like two texts about famous people in your students’ history.  Split the students into A and B groups.  The students read their texts and then they join with a member from the opposite group to find similarities or differences with their people.

13)  (Re)tell the text

Throw up several key vocabulary words on the board in chronological order from the text.  Students use the words to retell the text to a partner.  This could be done after reading a text or as a pre-task exercise to have students predict what will be in the text.

12)   Vocabulary from context

Take a text and replace some key words with gibberish.  Make sure the words you replace are easily understandable from the surrounding context.  You could ask questions at the bottom of the text to help put students on the right track.  So for example, “The man went into the gibral with his two formingers.”  You could ask, “What part of speech is gibral?” or “Is it inside or outside?”  Students then have to guess what the words in the text mean.  This is a great way to get students to practice the skill of understanding from context rather than using dictionaries.

13)  Mixed-up text

Cut up the text.  Make sure you cut the text up in places with clear connections to the part before it.  Words like however, but, and, in addition, after that, etc. are good places to do things like this.  Groups are given the scrambled text and then asked to put it in the correct order.

14)  Pulled out phrases

I like to use this one with relative clauses and appositives a lot.  Find a text and pull out several of the clauses.  Put them at the bottom of the text or on the board. Students then have to search the text and put them into the correct place.

15)  Time limit

Have the students answer comprehension questions but give them a time limit.  This helps the students practice skimming and scanning skills and prepares them for exams.  You could also have them find things like thesis statements or main ideas.

16)  Follow-up the text

Almost all texts lend themselves to further discussion.  If the text is on something controversial or intellectually stimulating it can be used to springboard a debate, class discussion, or persuasive presentations (writing is also possible of course).

People or scenes in the text can be used to do a role-play.  You can do interviews, town council meetings, a specific scene, etc.

Students can write or tell about events or situations similar to those in the text.

What other activities do you use with reading texts?

Nick Jaworski is a Director of Studies at Oxford House College in Istanbul, Turkey where he lives with his beautiful wife Hande.  He also blogs about ELT in Turkey at Turkish TEFL.

Posted in: Professional Development, Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know, Teaching, activities.
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I Only Thought I Knew My Students (by Ric Murray)

Feb 5th, 2010
by Barbara.
13 comments

Part of the series: Lessons Learned from Students

THE BACKGROUND:

2008, I returned to the 7th grade Social Studies classroom after a seven-year hiatus in Computer Applications and the Media Center.  I wanted back in the classroom where I could work with a smaller number of students and develop a long-term relationship as a teacher and mentor to those who chose to see me this way.

I didn’t realize how I would miss that role when I left my first Social Studies classroom, because I didn’t realize that I would soon become a mentor to so many of my former students. That’s why I believe longevity is a necessary component to really becoming a quality teacher in the eyes of students.

THE SETUP:

In August 2008, just a few days after school had started for a new year, several former students came to say goodbye.  They were off to college for the first time.  They were former students who were English Language Learners when I taught them 6 years earlier.  They are all special young people to me.

I knew how much they struggled.  I saw their tears when they were new to the country.  I felt their frustration as they searched for the right word in English to communicate their needs, hopes, and ideas.

BUT I MISSED SOMETHING IN THEIR STRUGGLES, that one of them would have to teach me.

Rocio was a former student who was about to become my teacher.

She worked hard. Her family moved to the United States when she was in 6th grade. She knew two words of English when I first met her; “hi” and “yes.”  One of our first conversations went something like this:

Me: Hi. You must be Rocio.
Rocio: Yes.
Me: It is good to meet you. I have a seat ready for you over here.
Rocio: Yes. Hi.

She remembers it, because she’s the one who reminded me about it.

As she came to say goodbye, as a new Gates Millennial Scholarship winner, I asked if she would speak to one of my classes for a few minutes.  I wanted them to know that a young person can come to the United States knowing no English, work hard, and graduate #4 in high school, and go to college for free…if they would just work for it.

They hear me say, but I only say it because I have seen it happen.  And it happened for Rocio.

THE CLASSROOM:

She told my students (most ELLs) all the things you and I knew she would likely say, so I’ll not bother to repeat it here.  But then, as a couple of students began to look away with a glance I thought was disrespectful, Rocio said two things that amazed me.

First she said, “I know why you are looking away. You think this can’t happen for you. You think you’re not smart enough. You think you’re not meant to go to college. You think it would be disrespectful to your parents; who did not even go to high school. I know that’s what you are thinking, because I sat in your chair just a few years ago, thinking the very same thing when teachers talked about students going to college.  But let me tell you something, Your parents would not have left their families, struggled with their children to travel here, and now work 16-18 hours everyday if they didn’t want you to get your education. So make them proud.  That’s why they came here. Not for them, but for you.”

That was awesome!  But then it was my turn to learn.

THE LESSON:

Second she said, “I’m not saying it will be easy, but I am saying it will be worth it. What we know that your teachers don’t know is that we can’t even be ourselves or show our real personality to them, or our classmates, because we don’t have a personality until we own the language the people around us use to communicate. We know that you can’t be who you really are in someone else’s language. But when you do learn the language,  and you will, you will be able to reveal the real you to them.”

I stood there for a few seconds. I had to think about that one.  And I did. I wrote it on the board…for my benefit.

YOU CAN’T BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.

Why was this such a big deal to me?  Why did that strike a note of hope and sadness in me?  Was it empathy for my kids? Was it something more personal?

YOU CAN’T BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.

I could not get over that thought.  I take pride in “knowing my students.” I keep up with them through their high school years. I go to their games, plays, and performances. My wife even stopped going because she could not enjoy the games because of the number of kids who would have to say hello and talk.  I do not want this to sound like I’m bragging, but at times there were so many kids around my wife and me that it was impossible to watch the events, because the kids wanted to talk to me.  I always thought I knew “my kids.”

YOU CAN’T BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S LANGUAGE.

The truth Rocio taught me that day, while she was speaking to my students was that I knew very little about my students who struggled to speak to me in English.  There was no way for them to show me their true identity.  They try, but the words (or lack of words) get in the way.

THE APPLICATION:

All true learning will lead to a change in the life of the learner.  So what has changed in me?  It may not sound like much, but here is something I find myself doing much more of in the hallways, between classes, and sometimes at the end of class.

I’ll ask my ELL students to tell me something they have done that they really enjoyed.  I ask them to tell me in English.  They usually are able to get enough of the words out that I know what they have done.  When they are done, I ask them to tell me the same story in Spanish (their native language). I listen carefully. I watch their eyes twinkle with excitement. I watch their hand gestures explain instead of search. I watch their friends join in. I listen and I watch.

Let me tell you…there are some great personalities in my hallway.  I may never have known that if it wasn’t for Rocio.

I also have former students come to my class and talk with my current students several times a year.

This year I’ve had Rocio, another former ELL student preparing to be a teacher, a former basketball player of mine spoke about his trip to South Africa, and a former student who needed a recommendation for a college grant stopped in to tell them that their teachers are the most helpful people they will ever meet.  She probably just wanted a good recommendation letter though.  I gave it to her.

I have been teaching middle school students since 1995. I have taught Social Studies, Technology, and work as a Instructional Technology Specialist through the Media Center. When I began teaching at Dalton Middle School, the Hispanic population was classified as “Other” (less than 2%). We currently have a Hispanic population of 68% do to the carpet and poultry industry in Northwest Georgia.

I was one of the first four “official” teachers in the middle school to teach ESOL students in 1997.  We did not have an organized approach at teaching our English language learners in our district, but our team of teachers attempted to learn all we could through our own research.  I have learned with ELLs for over 12 years, and have worked to make them and their parents become a valuable part of our school and community.

I have also been a basketball and track coach for over 10 years, and have used my coaching contacts to help former student-athletes earn more than $800,000 in college athletic scholarships.

My blog: http://rrmurry.posterous.com

Posted in: Lessons Learned from Students, Professional Development, reflection.
Tagged: · · · · · · · ·

Things I’m happy to know (by Tamas Lorincz)

Feb 4th, 2010
by tamaslorincz.
6 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know

I jumped at the opportunity to contribute to what I believe to be one of the best blogs in the EFL  blogosphere.

I allocated an hour to writing this post, and even after 12 hours of fruitless toil, I am none the wiser.

The fruitless attempts wordle

http://wordle.net

What should every EFL teacher know?

I have been trying to find the answer to this question for twenty years. I always believed that I knew what it was and then I lost it again and had to look for it anew. But now I have realised that this search was the answer.

I have no intention of mystifying the profession of teaching English. Like every profession it has its honest labourers, visionaries, dreamers and those who keep their heads down and go with the flow. However, I believe that few professionals have so much support as EFL teachers. This is a mixed blessing. Besides the obvious advantages, we have much less reason to complain than other teachers, and we have so much more to keep up with, and so many decisions to make.

I made the executive decision that I would share with you five things I think I know about teaching English right at this moment. Whether these are things you think you should know is a question only you can answer. (This post was influenced by Ken Wilson’s great post about things he thinks he knows.)

1. It’s a great to be a language teacher

Whatever you touch is your material. It can be a poster on the wall of your classroom, it can be a film you saw last night or the latest edtech gadget – it’s your choice. How you choose to use it determines whether it becomes dead weight or a real rollercoaster of an experience for you and your students.

Photo credit: Roberta Taylor

You can experiment with ideas, methods and tools without jeopardising the aim, because language learning is in everything. We have the luxury to experiment, we have the support of the competing publishers, who, for the hope of selling us a few more books, give us samples, training, conferences, etc.

2. Learning a language is hard work

Photo credit: SuperFantastic

No native speaker should teach English unless they can communicate in a  foreign language. If you have never felt the frustration, anger, disappointment, elation, pleasure, gladness the smallest thing can invoke, how are you ever going to understand what your students are going though? How could you share their successes and help them when they are down if you never felt the same? This might seem a cheap target and yes, it’s true that you don’t need to have had heart surgery in order to be a good heart surgeon but the patient is anesthetised during heart surgery while teaching is like vivisection. Having that empathy helps understand the effort behind the smallest achievement and is humbling.

3. It’s all about you

Although many books and methodologies try to neuter the teacher and present language teaching as a set of rules and procedures, the minute you enter the classroom you will know that it is only you who can make the best of this.

Photo credit: bookgrl

It – definitely – does not mean that teaching is about you taking centre-stage and entertaining the crowds, but it is down to your sensitivity to see what works with whom, when, why and how. No one can teach you this from a book or a series of DVDs; it’s in the smell of the classroom and the eyes of your students.

4. No one knows better than you

Your situation is yours. Many will have opinions about it and many will envy you for it even if you think it’s the worst ever. There is always a worse situation or there are situations others would consider much worse than yours. Listen to these people’s opinions but never for a moment doubt your own feelings. Because even if you are wrong about it, those feelings will determine your success or failure, as these are always in your attitude. I believe that attitudes – much more than circumstances – determine the outcomes of a situation.

5. You are not alone

Working in n environment where everyone seems to be going the same way (or rather stagnating) and you sitting in a corner left alone is a feeling all too familiar to most English teachers. If you are reading this you probably don’ t need to be told but it is actually amazing how many like-minded professionals there are out there. You still have professional development courses where someone tells you what they think you need to know? Just stand up and leave. Or if you are less of an agent provocateur just turn on Tweetdeck on your iPhone and interact with your PLN.  Investigate issues you want to understand, learn about tools you want to use in your own way with your own students for their own learning.

The walls around professional learning are thinning

Picture credit: courosa (Alec Couros is an academic who does what he preaches, follow him on Twitter.)

For me this has been the greatest revelation recently. The last 10 months has been an amazing journey into thinking about and understanding what I stand for as a teacher, as a learner – as a person. This time has given me strength and determination to stir waters, start new frontiers, try new tools and methods, share ideas feelings and frustrations. I’ve met people who taught me more than university courses, heard about things that changed my life and opened up possibilities I had never even contemplated.

This is one of the hardest times ever to be a teacher. The foundations of education are shaking, academia is crumbling, the walls are shaking with the real world demanding its place in these institutions that seem to be far too obsessed with fortifying the walls to realise that they let the students and the teachers down – and in the long term the society suffers the consequences.

I feel privileged to be a teacher during turbulent times when real issues and real debates are shaping the agendas and more and more voices can be heard.

I think this is what every teacher should know and embrace.

A wordle of this post

Wordle

I have been teaching English and working with teachers of English for more than 20 years.

I’m finishing a 3-year stint in the UAE and moving back to Hungary in March, where I hope to enhance my learning by working in the public education sector with teachers and students open to the challenges and opportunities our rapidly changing learning environment presents us with.

I am @tamaslorincz on Twitter.

My edublog is ELT Musings and Tidbits.

Posted in: Personal Learning Network, Professional Development, Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know, Teaching.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · ·

Teaching language or teaching through language? (by Tatiana Sobral)

Feb 3rd, 2010
by TatianaSobral.
7 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know

10 Tips from a Brazilian Bilingual Teacher

I’ve been teaching at the primary section of The British School of Rio de Janeiro since 2002. About 80% of our students are Brazilian Portuguese native speakers, and the other 20% come from many continents across the globe, mainly Europe, North and South America. A percentage of the teaching staff are native English speakers who also come from overseas.  I am bilingual but I teach all subjects in English, which languagewise makes me feel I’m a full time EFL teacher. My experience working in an international school has reinforced my belief is that language should work as a vehicle for learning, as opposed to being the learning objective by itself.

This whole mix of nationalities has built our unique multicultural identity in this shiny city. Living in this parallel second language world has uncountable pros, and it takes a great deal of planning and dedication to create a learning environment that will promote the development of all language strands – reading, writing, speaking and listening. We all have our own class organization standards, and that includes providing a variety of clues and resources for every learner, but we need to get to know who are the people we will teach and how they learn. For example, when it comes to their individual achievements, before I even start to teach, I like to present personality quizzes to find more about pupils’ learning styles. This is a fun and helpful icebreaker task. My classes are usually split into mixed abilities, so when they have to work in smaller groups each individual’s contribution is equally appreciated.

One of the strategies I use during my literacy lessons is to compare some common sentences and expressions in the two languages. Discussing these differences is valuable because it allows learners to explore and use language for meaning while taking the cultural aspects into consideration. This is also a good moment to clarify doubts and reinforce learning. They recognise the enormous impact of language on relationships, attitudes and communication. Drama activities should be highly valued if we are to encourage this type of understanding.

Whether the outcomes are below or above the year group expectations, I always run short daily plenary sessions so to review and discuss the highs and lows of our lessons. As an extra exercise I like to film and photograph students on task, and this makes our discussions alive and more relevant. After a few months this simple collaboration routine made me realise that sharing the films had helped students sharpen their ability to criticise constructively.

A group discussion could easily become mere brainstorming if we overlook the mistakes learners might make for the sake of communication, so I believe teachers should play the role of facilitator during this process. When students express themselves and present their point of view to an audience in a second language, they will invariably (and hopefully) have precious doubts that will make your input matter. My advice to that is simple. Listen, reflect, rephrase. Whilst at discussion, elicit examples and mediate opinions. Most importantly, never underestimate students’ potential to peer assess and self assess.

In my opinion, as far as teaching goes, none of these tips are doable without consistent planning. All lessons ought to suit every child’s needs and a school of digital natives assigns us the extra mission of linking digital life and school life. Whether we teachers like it or not, technology is everywhere so, from my own experience I’m all in favour of the use of technology as a challenging means of learning rather than teaching isolated skills.

Update yourself. Be daring. Teaching for life requires matching our lessons’ goals to the context our students live in, not otherwise. Not only the variety of online teaching resources may help us with our daily planning struggles, but the social media tools on the web also have a lot to offer to ourselves and our students. My experience using Twitter as a PLN resource has brought me here through Barbara, and it will certainly attract more teachers eager to do better. That’s the motivation behind teaching: teachers should be life long learners.

Contributing to this website and exchanging ideas with so many great educators has been helping me keep it fresh on my mind what I love the most about teaching: the undeniable fact that a teacher’s job is never done.

I am a primary teacher at The British School of Rio de Janeiro. I have been in charge of the primary English curriculum, and I have recently accepted the post of Student Voice coordinator. You can contact me via Twitter or The Educator’s PLN Ning for more information on my work as an educator. Thanks to Barbara for this great opportunity to share my experience with her readers.

Posted in: Personal Learning Network, Professional Development, Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know, Teaching.
Tagged: · · · · · · ·

Crossing the Physical and Linguistic Divide (By Catherine Cabiness)

Feb 1st, 2010
by Barbara.
5 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know

As an educator for over 15 years at the intermediate level, I have experimented with a variety of methods to engage my students in their learning.  My latest endeavor involves introducing different kinds of technology to enhance the teaching of Medieval World History.  Through a professional networking site, I came across a request for international pen pals.  I thought, “Why not?”  My kids are learning about world history, why not try to meet other students from those very cultures?  And that’s how I came upon PikiFriends and Jeff Dionne.

PikiFriends is an interactive website where students can post blogs, pictures, and short messages on each other’s page.  The purpose of creating PikiFriends was to help EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students practice elements of the English language.  But the purpose of this website reaches far beyond just the basic elements of English language acquisition.  Students begin by writing a brief introduction about themselves on their home page.  The About Me section is a great way for students to identify commonalities amongst each other.  From there, students are able to practice writing short notes to each other or venture into posting a blog.

Jeff Dionne has done a wonderful job creating a site that is both kid-friendly and, perhaps more importantly, safe.  Teachers are able to monitor student postings to ensure responsible digital citizenship.  This is a teaching tool, not only academically, but also socially.  In addition, participation in PikiFriends supports the elements of NETS (National Educational Technology Standards).  It was because of all this that I chose to join the PikiFriends community.

The current students are using PikiFriends for a variety of purposes.  Jeff’s students are posting blogs asking questions for others to answer.  They are comparing Japanese and American cultures, but it’s not all academic.  Jeff’s students like to post pictures and blogs that give a snapshot into their personal lives.  My students also post a wide variety of blogs which range from the academic all the way to the downright funny.  The purpose of joining PikiFriends was to give my students the opportunity to learn about the Japanese culture from a Japanese student’s perspective.  My students and I were able to ask pertinent questions about the Japanese culture while we were studying Feudal Japan.  The connection between the past and present is a powerful experience and my students have really enjoyed learning about the Japanese culture from their peers.

A secondary reason for joining PikiFriends was to introduce my students to a safe, interactive, online environment.  I know that my “superstars” (as Jeff calls them) really enjoy PikiFriends.  I think that they love the fact that they are communicating with fellow students from across the Pacific.  They commiserate over finals and homework, while bonding over music and movies.  I think that my students will continue with PikiFriends long after they leave my class.  However, I also know that with each successive class, more and more of my students will be signing up for PikiFriends so I expect that we will develop a long-time relationship with the other schools who are members of this online community.

Though Jeff and I have different purposes for our involvement in PikiFriends, the fact that we both love technology and interactive learning is what brought our schools together.  I am hoping that my students are good models of the English language for Jeff’s EFL learners, but I am more concerned that they are engaged in learning, not only in academics, but in peripheral interests as well.

Jeff and I know that there are many doubters out there, many who think Web 2.0 and education are two separate entities.  It is those people who need to check out PikiFriends.  This educational Web 2.0 tool helps to inspire as well as enliven academic and social pursuits at the secondary level.

I feel that my involvement in PikiFriends has opened the doors for me to get to know my students on a different level.  The posts, blogs, and comments are not only academic, but also personal.  It’s a different way to interact with my students that is not normally possible within a 45-minute period with 36 other students.  Some may doubt that distance education is interactive, but I assure you that everyone involved in the PikiFriends community interacts with each other.

When asked about his take on PikiFriends, Jeff states, “I may sound foolishly optimistic, but I believe Piki will set new precedents in secondary educational technology, particularly if we can reach the full version of PikiFriends (we’re still in beta) and people start spreading the word.  I’m a full-time teacher myself, not some out-of-touch techie guy or high-flying exec.  I have a very good understanding of what teachers and administrators need and most importantly what our students deserve from us.  So I think I can confidently say that PikiFriends will be a very effective learning tool for countless secondary schools around the world.”

I think that PikiFriends is a valuable tool for teachers and students who want to branch out beyond the confines of a brick and mortar classroom.   Collaborative learning is not a new endeavor; its existence, however, has been made easier with programs like PikiFriends.

Catherine Cabiness currently teaches Medieval World History at the James Irvine Intermediate School in Garden Grove, California.  She has taught English Language Learners for 15 years.  As the history/social science department chair, Catherine has been working with her department to integrate technology into their curriculum.  Catherine is currently working on her Master’s of Science in Educational Technology. You can find Catherine on Linked In. You can visit the PikiFriends website here.

Posted in: Professional Development, Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know, Teaching.
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It’s the small things that count (by David Deubelbeiss)

Jan 31st, 2010
by ddeubel.
12 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know


The small things count

Everyone seems to know what teaching is. We organize, we write on the board, we give out handouts and homework, we ask questions, we mark and get ready for the next day. Is it so simple?

I believe it isn’t – the devil is in the details. So many teachers believe that their teaching would be better if they had a better book or they had fewer students or the administration were better or if the classroom were arranged differently or if ……… I’m skeptical. Maybe some of these “larger” things do affect instruction but just as important are the details, the micro teaching skills.

Malcolm Gladwell in a recent New Yorker article, wrote adroitly about the “quarterback” problem in teaching. How so many teachers, like so many quarterbacks, don’t make the cut in the big leagues – despite credentials, awards, accomplishments. My belief and those researchers he mentions, is that teaching isn’t about those things. It is about what you do on your feet and HOW you do it. The small skills make great teachers, especially great language teachers. Like quarterbacks, we can’t predict with certainty a teacher will be good. However, once on the job, there are many things we can see that give us an idea, a hint, assurance.

It is the small things that seem to multiply and cause a lot of the poor teaching outcomes we witness in our classrooms and others. I’m a firm believer of this — that quality of instruction counts and even more so, the quality of the small things we do in our classroom. I’ve seen a teacher with the mere twinkle of an eye transform a classroom. I have. I have seen a teacher merely by looking students a little longer in the eye, holding their gaze, get better results from students. Micro skills count big time in our people-driven profession of language teaching.

Teaching is an art but an art we can learn. Experience counts but we can climb up that steep hill so much quicker if we learn about the small tricks that good educators do so naturally.

I’ve been fortunate this last year. I’ve been a guest in many, many classrooms. (but unfortunately as part of a formal evaluation system – that’s another story, ugh…). A lot of what I saw confirmed my faith in the small things counting. I’d like to share some of them with you here.

These more micro teaching skills/acts are all things we could focus on for a week or two, or three (myself included!), one at a time. Choose one you think would benefit you and make it a goal to improve on that one. Further, make the goal “SMART” (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound). Maybe even keep a reflective journal about it and/or get feedback from colleagues. If daring, video tape yourself and measure your change. It will make a big difference in your teaching.

a) Have a signal, including an audio signal. I use a bell and have the students freeze on the first ring. Then lightly tap and the students can relax and focus on the front.

b) Personalize instruction. Use students’ names as much as possible. The brain lights up when we hear our name! Have regard for their perspective. Learn the art of listening, with all your face/body! Create a space where they feel they can be who they are. Go from the general to the particular – especially guiding instruction towards the student’s world. I once watched a great lesson on learning how to tell the time. Everything was letter perfect yet not once did the teacher ask the students during the lesson, what time it really was. Good teachers bring the curriculum down to the student’s world and let them personalize and connect to it.

C) Use personal space wisely. Bend down to the student’s level as much as possible, even when giving direct instruction. Speak to students eye to eye. Get a chair and don’t be afraid to sit in it and speak from there. Power can destroy a student’s ability to focus and take in language. Further, many pragmatic signals are lost when a teacher stands at the front, reigning over the students. When instructing make eye contact with students, one at a time. When making a point – hold eye contact for a longer time. Rapport is such a major factor in instruction – the twinkle in the eye as Benjamin Zander calls it. In about 1-2 min. in a classroom, all else equal, I can tell if a teacher is “great”, just by the rapport that is there with students.

D) Use the whole classroom. It is your home and field, use it all. Students need that variety. Inexperienced teachers stay too much within the “hot zone” around the front and teacher’s desk. This leads to ineffective instruction. Sometimes when evaluating teachers I’d secretly mark the floor and count how long the instructor spent outside the “hot zone”. Invariably, it was the better instructors who always did. Yet, when delivering a message and content, “don’t move!” Let the students focus on your message/meaning and not your movement.

E) Know when to step back. Learn how to “disappear.” This is a must for a language teacher. Give the chalk to the students. I know it can make you feel powerless but it will lead to some amazing results. Conversely, know when you need to be there and be present. The researchers in the article call this quality, “wherewithall” – an ability to understand the dynamics of the classroom and your own effect on that. I spent a year teaching a grade 8 ESL class in Toronto. I think I did a good job but when it came to math I was struggling. Especially with algebra. But one day I handed the chalk over to Jasmine to “take control” and solve the problems while I discussed something with another teacher. Wow! The whole class had changed – I could almost taste the learning happening. From that moment on , Jasmine was “the math teacher” and I was just the helped at the side.

F) Modify and aid understanding. Underline words, use a laser pointer, use a microphone (this actually helps learning, even in tiny classrooms). Use your voice as a tool to emphasize words/content. Gesture in a controlled fashion. Monitor student understanding and modify the feedback appropriately. Expert teachers do this saliently and find the right phrase, the right feedback to scaffold the learner and make learning happen.

G) Pause more. This point needs to be emphasized more and is a major factor in a lot of student “bewilderment” (a word I borrow from Frank Smith who uses it in reference to the receptive realm and students learning to read texts with too difficult vocabulary). Don’t slow your speech but modify it by pausing. Count to 3 if you have to, between sentences. Count to 5 after asking a question. Students need time to process a second language; the cognitive demands are huge.

H) H is for happiness. Not really a “micro” skill but something I want to mention. I’ve learned to end all lessons by asking students if they are happy. They might not be but invariably, just by getting them to say, “Yes, we’re happy!”, they become happy. Great teachers give students a feeling of success and from that success – happiness.

You can view many of my other blog posts outlining these principles HERE. We do make a difference! This research based article highlights this and many more of the qualities I’ve outlined.

For an overview of many of these ideas GO HERE.

David Deubelbeiss is an EFL teacher and teacher trainer living in Seoul, Korea. He runs a social network for teachers called EFL Classroom 2.0 and a website of teacher-submitted teaching ideas called Teaching Recipes. You can also follow David on his blog, Teacher Talk and on Twitter.

Posted in: Professional Development, Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know, Teaching, Uncategorized, reflection.
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The Difference a Year Makes

Jan 10th, 2010
by Barbara.
5 comments

Almost exactly one year ago, I signed up for two sessions through TESOL’s Electronic Village Online–Becoming a Webhead (BAW) and Virtual Worlds and Language Learning (VWLL). I signed up just before deadline, so if you’re still wondering whether or not to give these, or another of the many EVO workshops a try, there’s still time!

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Posted in: Front Lines of EFL, Personal Learning Network, Professional Development, Second Life, Teaching, reflection.

Raising a Digital Native in Argentina (by Jennifer Verschoor)

Dec 17th, 2009
by Barbara.
2 comments

All parents have to make a very difficult decision when they have to decide which school they are going to send their children to. In my case I decided to send my 4 year old daughter to a regular school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The school was not bilingual but had English as a compulsory subject.

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Posted in: Front Lines of EFL, Professional Development, Teaching.

Lessons Learned from Great Educators

Dec 15th, 2009
by Barbara.
12 comments

This post is in response to Shelly Terrell’s wonderful blogging challenge, Lessons Learned From Great Eductators. She tagged other teachers to share stories about teachers who influenced them, and I’ve been enjoying reading those posts (you can find links to the response posts in the comments at the bottom of Shelly’s original post). I sort of invited myself to the party by commenting about a teacher who inspired me, and Shelly was gracious enough to invite this party crasher to join the group :)

I never wanted to be anything but a teacher.

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Posted in: Uncategorized.

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