Learning Log Outside Classroom #5

The Value of Observation

          Observation is an important part of learning how to teach. Much of what beginner teachers need to be aware of can not be learned solely in the university class. Therefore classroom observationpresents an opportunity to see real-life teachers in real-life teaching situations. In their reflections, many of our teacher friends mention their observations and how these observations influence the way they plan and teach. Teachers are forever reflecting and making decisions, and when they see someone else in action, in as much as they are seeing someone else, they are almost simultaneously seeing themselves. This means that observation is important at every stage of a teacher’s career. In this section we will discuss the importance and value of observation, not only for student teachers, but for ALL teachers.

What is classroom observation? Why is it important?

          Classroom observation describes the practice of sitting in on another teacher’s class to observe, learn and reflect. Various aspects of the class can be examined, such as routines, use of time, schedule, participation, teaching strategies, management strategies, learner interest, and much more. A teacher will naturally look for support on an issue that is difficult for him or her, but it is often a great method of being exposed to a new and different approach to teaching. 

Observation is important at every stage of a teacher’s career. In areas of Asia, professional development has for a very long time included what is known as demonstration lessons; a master teacher, who has perhaps prepared students with some new strategies, invites many local teachers into their classroom to observe, and following the lesson a question and answer period takes place. All of the teachers involved, regardless of whether they are master teachers or beginning teachers, have the opportunity to dialogue together and learn from one another. This is a more recent trend in North America; schools are now trying to create opportunities for teachers to observe other teachers in their subject area, either in their own school or in other schools.

What should observation for a beginner teacher include? 

          For a teacher at the beginning of their career, there are some general issues that the teacher would need to observe and identify.  The focus would be on general pedagogic knowledge, which includes issues such as classroom management, differentiation and instructional strategies.

However, with training and experience teachers would need to progress to focus on other issues, which can be categorized as Pedagogic Content Knowledge (PCK). In this case, the teachers would focus on the overlap between pedagogic knowledge and content knowledge and specifically with an interest in what takes place in an SL classroom.

For example, it would be difficult to imagine an SL classroom without pair work activities. In other classes and other subjects one might observe group work activities; however, due to the linguistic content, there would be significant differences between the interactive exercises. In other subjects group work or pair work might be optional; but in a language classroom they are absolutely necessary. Furthermore, beginner SL learners require much more structure in an activity than beginners in other courses, because the structure increases the likelihood of success.

Why participate in classroom observation?

          Classroom observation can often help expose teachers to new methods of teaching that might not have occurred to them beforehand. It may be threatening to be subject to peer observation since teachers might feel territorial and defensive in their classroom and protective of their resources and ideas. However, when it is done in a considerate and respectful fashion, observation can be beneficial for both the observing teacher and the teacher being observed. Below are some benefits of observation in the classroom.

• Observe new techniques, strategies, ideas and resources
• Gain insight into one's own strategies and techniques
• Observe student reactions from a different perspective
• Help create a professional learning community with the best interests of the students in mind
• Personal Professional Development and growth

Benefits for the observed…

• Chance to see class through someone else’ eyes
• Chance to re-evaluate the classroom from a different perspective
• Chance to receive input (suggestions, ideas, resources) from a colleague
• Creation of a professional learning community with the best interests of the students in mind
• Personal Professional Development and growth

Best practices involves the sharing of resources, techniques and strategies. Allowing another teacher into one’s classroom allows for sharing between both of them; it also allows for self-reflection by all involved. Teachers are responsible for their own growth and development, and observation is an excellent alternative to the traditional Professional Development seminars.

What might you be looking for during observation?

          One of the main challenges for observation is knowing what to look for. Some teacher education programs offer checklists for observation but it is often difficult to find specific checklists for subject areas, such as second language teaching.

Some specific things that one can look for when observing include how the teacher structures an activity; what the actual instructions are and whether they are given in English or the target language; if the teacher use synonyms for those basic instructions, or uses the same words, and what were those words; does the teacher give some visual cues to accompany those instructions; are the instructions divided into three or four steps with a visual icon visible on the board. These observations can be made because you are observing a more experienced teacher of second languages, or a teacher who is far more aware of what it takes to structure a classroom for the success of second language learners.

Reference: http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/best%20of%20bilash/observation.html

Learning Log Outside Classroom #4

Reading Teaching

Traditionally, the purpose of learning to read in a language has been to have access to the literature written in that language. In language instruction, reading materials have traditionally been chosen from literary texts that represent "higher" forms of culture.

The communicative approach to language teaching has given instructors a different understanding of the role of reading in the language classroom and the types of texts that can be used in instruction. When the goal of instruction is communicative competence, everyday materials such as train schedules, newspaper articles, and travel and tourism Web sites become appropriate classroom materials, because reading them is one way communicative competence is developed. Instruction in reading and reading practice thus become essential parts of language teaching at every level.

Integrating Reading Strategies

Instruction in reading strategies is not an add-on, but rather an integral part of the use of reading activities in the language classroom. Instructors can help their students become effective readers by teaching them how to use strategies before, during, and after reading.

Before reading:

            ·         Plan for the reading task

            ·         Set a purpose or decide in advance what to read for

            ·         Decide if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed

            ·         Determine whether to enter the text from the top down (attend to the overall meaning) or from the bottom up (focus on the words and phrases)

During and after reading:

            ·         Monitor comprehension

            ·         Verify predictions and check for inaccurate guesses

            ·         Decide what is and is not important to understand

            ·         Reread to check comprehension

            ·         Ask for help

After reading:

            ·         Evaluate comprehension and strategy use

            ·         Evaluate comprehension in a particular task or area

            ·         Evaluate overall progress in reading and in particular types of reading tasks

            ·         Decide if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task

            ·         Modify strategies if necessary

Techniques for Reading Teaching

Reading aloud:

            1)      Basic Steps of Teaching (BST)  

            2)      Reading for Fluency (Chain Reading)

            3)      Reading and Look up

            4)      Speed Reading

            5)      Reading for Accuracy  

Silent Reading:

            1)      Pre-Reading

            2)      While-Reading

            3)      Post-Reading

References: 

 

http://khuanchira503.blogspot.com/p/reading-skill.html       http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/goalsread.html

Writing Practice Week IX

Does modern day communication via social network put on end of true and sincere relationship? 

          Communication is important for contract people. all people use communication in different purpose such as business , entertain, news etc. there is use shortly time to connect. By the way, people already known as "social network" it has a lot of people to use it. so, you should be careful when you use social network.

          Social network is same as real life because people who using social network are different. so that true. it has good people and bad people both. you must accept about that. So, when you want to meet with new people in social network, you must treat with new people as your treat yourself. keep your sincere that was enough.

          Moreover , some people in social network is lied. it's too bad if we meet this people. sometimes, they lie you because they want something from you. but you don't worry about this. you're just don't trust every word. you must think about that before you believe them. On the other hand, they might say truth. you must think about that because you never know about that new person. it's maybe better if you listened them. At the same time, you don't speak rude with them. Otherwise, you will going down and the end come to your.

          In fact, using social network as a mean of communication doesn't wear down the sincerity. but it's depend on between two user. the only thing that can wear down sincerity is something lying within the mind of each party.

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Learning Log Outside Classroom #3

Role Play for ESL/EFL Children in the English Classroom

Irene Y. Huang
appleapplehuang(at)hotmail.com
Jing Shan Elementary School (Taipei County, Taiwan)
ETMA Program, National Cheng Chi University (Taipei, Taiwan)

Introduction

As Larsen-Freeman pointed out in her book "Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching", "Role-plays are very important in the Communicative Approach because they give students an opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles." (p. 137, Larsen-Freeman) In order to help students improve their listening, speaking and overall communicative skills, I have designed and conducted several role play activities for my students to practice and use English in a more meaningful way as a practical language, and the results of my students' learning are quite positive.

In the past few years, I have tried to let students act out several short plays adapted from children's favorite story books. Students love acting and playing, but the scripts can look overwhelming and intimidating since they have just begun to learn English as a foreign language, and the amounts of English words they know are limited. The lines normally take a lot of time and efforts for students to learn, practice and memorize. So, instead of asking students to perform an entire story, I tried to extract some situations and dialogs from teaching materials and have students act out some dramatic situations. Students played characters and said their lines out loud. It's much easier to teach vocabulary, lines, and the dramatic elements needed for a role play situation than to teach the elements of an entire play. And by letting students practice in pairs or small groups, every student can be involved in the role play exercises and enjoy the benefits of role play.

Definitions of Role Play

According to Brown (2001), "role-play minimally involves (a) giving a role to one or more members of a group and (b) assigning an objective or purpose that participants must accomplish." Brown suggested role-play can be conducted with a single person, in pairs or in groups, with each person assigned a role to accomplish an objective. (p. 183)

McCaslin (1995) introduced role play as having the following characteristics:

It (role play) refers to the assuming of a role for the particular value it may have to the participant, rather for the development of an art….Role playing is what the young child does in a dramatic play, but it is also a tool used by psychologists and play therapists….According to Richard Courtney (1974), "Play, acting and thought are interrelated. They are mechanisms by which the individual tests reality, gets rid of his anxieties, and masters his environment." (p.177)(p.10)

Background

There are many benefits of using role play. Furness (1976) stated that a child can enjoy and profit from a role play experience "in terms of improved communication skills, creativity, increased social awareness, independent thinking, verbalization of opinions, development of values and appreciation of the art of drama."(p.19) He provided seventeen advantages of role-play.

Ladousse (2004) indicated that "role play is one of a whole gamut of communicative techniques which develops fluency in language students, which promotes interaction in the classroom, and which increases motivation." (p.7) In addition, he pointed out that role play encourages peer learning and sharing the responsibility for learning between teacher and student. He suggested role play to be "perhaps the most flexible technique in the range" of communicative techniques, and with suitable and effective role-play exercises, teachers can meet an infinite variety of needs.(Ladousse, 2004, p. 7)

Stern (1983) suggested "role playing helps the individual to become more flexible" and "develop a sense of mastery in many situations". (p. 213) She suggested "through role play, L2 learners can experience many kinds of situations in which they will use the language; and as they develop a sense of mastery in them, they should be able to apply the language more easily to new situations." (p.213)

Procedure

For the role play activities in my classes, there are six major steps in the procedure.

1.  Decide on the Teaching Materials

The teacher must decide which teaching materials will be used for role play activities. The teaching materials can be taken from text books or non-textbook teaching materials such as picture books, story books, readers, play-scripts, comic strips, movies, cartoons and pictures. The material is selected ahead of time by the teacher. The teacher can also create his or her own authentic teaching materials for role play activities. The teaching materials should be decided based on students' level and interests, teaching objectives and appropriateness for teaching

2.  Select Situations and Create Dialogs

Then a situation or situations to be role played should be selected. For every role plays situation, dialogs should be provided (by the teaching materials or by the teacher) or created by the students themselves.

3.  Teach the Dialogs for Role Plays

The teacher needs to teach the vocabulary, sentences, and dialogs necessary for the role play situations. The teacher needs to make sure the students know how to use the vocabulary, sentences and dialogs prior to doing the role play activities, otherwise,  the teacher should allow students to ask how to say the words they want to say.

4.  Have Students Practice the Role Plays

Students can practice in pairs or in small groups. After they have played their own roles a few times, have them exchange roles. That way, students can play different roles and practice all of the lines in the role play. When students are confident enough to demonstrate or perform in front of the class, the teacher can ask them to do so for their classmates.

5.  Have Students Modify the Situations and Dialogs

Once students have finished and become familiar with an original role play situation, they can modify the situations and/or dialogs to create a variation of the original role play.

6.  Evaluate and Check Students' Comprehension

Finally, the teacher shall evaluate the effectiveness of the role play activities and check if students have successfully comprehended the meanings of the vocabulary, sentences and dialogs. There are several ways to do student evaluations. Students can be given oral and listening tests relating to the role plays. Example oral tests can include the following.

• Students are asked to answer some simple questions relating to the role plays.
• Students are asked to reenact the role plays.
• Students are asked to translate the role plays into their native language.

For listening tests, beginning students can do simpler tasks such as: "listen and circle", "listen and number", "listen and match" types of questions. For more advanced students, they can be asked to write the words, lines, and/or dialogs in the role plays. They can also be asked to create and write variations of the role plays. Teachers can also evaluate students' understanding and comprehension while observing students' interactions, practices, and performances of their role plays.

Conclusion

Role play is really a worthwhile learning experience for both the students and the teacher. Not only can students have more opportunities to "act" and "interact" with their peers trying to use the English language, but also students' English speaking, listening, and understanding will improve. Role play lightens up the atmospheres and brings liveliness in the classes. Students learn to use the language in a more realistic, more practical way. Thus they can become more aware of the usefulness and practicality of English. Role play is indeed a useful teaching technique which should be experimented and applied by ESL/EFL teachers more often in the ESL/EFL classrooms.

Reference: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Huang-RolePlay.html

Writing Practice Week VIII

Health, Lifestyle, Environment

          Good Afternoon, Everybody. Today, I would like to talk about Health, Lifestyle and Environment. Let's to talk about health first. Do you want to have good health? 

          Food is important for health because it's necessary for energy in body. You will have a good health with the food. Everyday, I eat thing that are good for my health such as vegetable , fruit , milk, rice etc. These thing will give a lot of energy; so that to do activity and work all day. Sometimes , I eat thing that are bad for my health. Especially, junk food. Everyone eat it because maybe people don't have a lot of time. They use the time to work in hurry. That's why most people are fat. So, everyone should eat a good food for your health and body because you only have 1 life.

          By the way, I talk about lifestyle. Everyone already known about lifestyle of yourself. There are good and bad life styles.

          An example of bad lifestyle choice is playboy. This person is not take care about health. They go to night club every night and they drink alcohol and smoking all the time. They live in wrong way and also waste the time. you will increase the risk of cancer or heart disease if you live in the bad lifestyle.

          Therefore, everyone should make the life to be good. you can do it by eat a good food, do exercise and play sport. you will have a good health and have more energy to do activity in the day.

          Finally, Environment. It's powerful to make the balance in natural. You can have a good health such as food fresh air and clean water. There are very important because it's factor to live. In addition, Environment can protect from natural disaster such as storm, flood , wildfire and tsunami. It's save our life. That's why environment has too many useful. I'm not surprise why people to use it as much as they want. People activity will effect to the environment such as cut down the trees for selling and building, hunting the animal or dump the plastic in ocean. These people are selfish and greedy. Why people doing this for? If they keep going to do it, Environment will be destroyed.

          To conclude everyone should to know what to do. You should think about that before you do something because whenever you do something, it's effect to environment not only about yourself. For example, If you eat a good food such as an apple, banana. It's help you have a good health. And then, it does not destroy the natural when you throw that the thing in the forest. On the other hand, If you eat junk food such as pizza, Hamburger. These are a lot of fat and plastic. You shouldn't eat that thing too much because it's make you fat. In addition, these the thing has plastic. It's difficult to exterminate. This is equal you destroy the environment. By the way, it's different now. So, I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That is "Environment" Everyone can do it with begun from yourself. If you have a kindness or live in good lifestyle, you will also save the world in another way. Everyone did something small than we can make the big change. 

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