Skills based lesson: Listening – A Reflection

Maybe I’m getting tired. Or maybe my students themselves are a little tired as well. I’m finding it difficult planning listening based lessons that aren’t listen-answer questions / gap fill / vocabulary in use / etc. – pair check – feedback type of tasks. There are merits to this ‘formula’ so to speak, but I can’t shake this feeling that it could be better and more effective.

I’d like to think I’m a careful planner, as with every lesson I try to engage my students with not only the content but with their own learning process – to think about how they are learning rather than just on the content. However with my focus being pulled towards my PhD studies I almost find myself going through the motions. It’s a weird place that I didn’t think I’d end up being so acutely aware of doing.

With the peer-planning I get to see how my colleagues plan and use their ideas in class. For all five classes we use the same material and the same lesson plan but it’s adapted through the delivery of the lesson not only to meet the learning needs of the students but also gives space for the individual teacher to think about how they could make this lesson ‘thier own’. It is different delivering other people’s lesson plans but it is nice to know that we’re all on the same page, that way, students concentrate more on what they’re learning rather than comparing classes and wanting to ‘be in a higher class so they can learn better’.

It’ll be my turn up at the planning plate so I’m thinking of changing things around a bit. We’ll see.

UK TEFL Course Reflections

Another course completed and what have I learned? Lots! Every time I teach this course it’s different, due to the dynamics of the group, the participants and their expectations. This one in particular was really positive and motivated to learn – which made it easier for me as their ‘tutor’ to invest more of my own energy into them.

The participant feedback forms are a good idea as it introduces the concept of being a reflective practitioner. Hence, why I’m online today. I need to re-think how this particular activity went and how it needs to improve. I think I had the aim of having them reflect on their own teaching experience BUT I also had them comment on another participant which are two different focuses in reality. I think next time I may just focus on having participants reflect on their own teaching practice and make the form a little more specific as to what they ought to be thinking about.

When designing the self-feedback from I resisted the urge for tick boxes and categories, so I kept it open ended. But I think perhaps having specific focus on what they did, in particular, that they felt went well or could improve on. Aspects such as “delivery” really should be broken down to “Giving instructions” or “Clarifying misunderstandings”. I wonder, am I designing tick boxes? I have some thinking to do on this.

Overall a great weekend!

Presentation Prep: Mumbles and Method

I’ve just (re) edited a short presentation for Social Theories of Learning in Research and Practice class. Yes the class is as confusing as it sounds. There are three theoretical views that the class is examining: Activity Theory, Communities of Practice and Discourse Analysis. The last strand is what I am focusing on.

So dilemma time: How can I relate narrative inquiry to discourse analysis in 7 minutes? Answer: With difficulty. I’ve had to streamline the presentation to present the bare bones and hope that it is enough for the audience (which has no previous background knowledge) to understand and discuss in some way. I think I have at the most 20 minutes including discussion time. Which is short.

I’ve been travelling around in circles thinking about what I need to explain and how to describe this whole area of inquiry and I remain at a loss. Consider the reference list:

Gee, J.P. (1999). An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (2nd Ed.). London: Routledge.

Lieblich, A., Tuval – Mashiach, R. & Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative Research. London: Sage Publications.

Wortham, S. (2001). Narratives in Action[online]. New York: New York Teachers College Press. Available from http://www.netlibrary.com/Details.aspx [Last accessed: 20th January 2010]

As it’s 7 minutes I’ve focused on these three. Well Gee and Wortham really as the last one is mentioned in passing as an example of one approach to narrative analysis.

Anyhow I’m not happy with the final outline for my talk, but it’s what I’ve got so far.

Total submission

What my window shelf looks like

Oh the irony of the title.  Today I handed in all four (4, as in 2 +2 kind) assignments.  I do feel the annoying need to reiterate the number 4 since they were all due the same bloody day and I’m not the last minute type of writer.  I’m pretty rubbish when it comes to writing under pressure.  Only under extreme duress (i.e. exams) or pride (i.e. abstracts – with fear that my fragile researcher head will burst from rejection) can I write, perhaps, prose of such exquisite discourse (which is rarer than pink elephants and BELIEVE ME, I have seen one therefore it is possible).

Nah, I’m the type that needs time and space to write.  I like to be well rested with my thoughts in order, having read extensively on a subject area that I feel confident enough to put my informed two cents on paper.  I need the time.  Otherwise it turns out to be lukewarm shite: like coffee that is too cold to drink but not cold enough to dump down the drain.  That overripe but edible banana or that day old but still drinkable bottle of red.  All these random metaphors point to the fact that if I write under pressure, I’ll come up with something that is passable but not very good.  And why the hell, WHY the hell should I come up with something passable when I’ve paid overseas tuition fees and work as hard as I do?!

In the end, I have no one to blame but myself for not getting myself as organised as I could have.  Writing four essays at the same time has taught me that I work a lot, almost too much, but am not that productive with my time.  Something I need to sort out for this coming term.

Running the gauntlet: Assignments – final week

Actually 6 days left to be honest.  Well 4 and 1/2 days of writing with 1 and 1/2 days for editing.  Or at least that is the plan.  I do this every single time.  I write all my assignments real sort of half heartedly before the holidays then, when the holidays are over, read then over and wonder “How the hell did it end up writing this shit?”, gain a fleeting moment of clarity and then BAM…I’m on the keyboard tap-tap-tapping away.

At least what I’m committing to paper is remotely good.  Or at least I feel much better about it.  I’m not worried.  More concerned that I can’t get all of it out on paper, in some organised order, enough to make me happy, let alone the examiners. 

That and I’m feeling the squeeze from work pressures.  This is the first week of term and it just had to be the week before all my assignments are due and down for lesson planning these coming 2 weeks.  Sigh.  Working girl blues part 2…

This extra pressure is truly making me re-evaluate whether I can feasibly work during the third term as well as during the summer.  I really like teaching but I feel I can’t commit to focusing on the students when I’ve got my own studies to sort out as well.  There is so much going on this year that I feel I need to step back a minute and re-evaluate a few things.  But then, rent…food…heat – all those damn necessities need to be paid for.  Somehow!

Anyhow here is to the first day back teaching.  I hope they’re nice!

(note: you know you’ve been writing in academese for too long when you’ve got to consciously remember to put in contractions)