November 14

4 corners or 2 ends

This post is inspired by an activity which my friend Steve O does with his students.  I’ve been doing the same type of activity in different ways with my class of nine-year-olds, who are full of energy and love an excuse to run around the classroom.

 

Phonetically

We’ve been working a lot with vowel phonemes so I’ll sometimes stick two or three phonemes up around the room and have students run to the sound of the word I say.  This is good for receptive skills, but doesn’t really encourage students to use the word, let alone chunks of language.

 

Topics

We’ve just finished the first unit and the topics covered were school subjects and time.  I wrote the two topic titles on pieces of paper and stuck them on the wall.  Then I started a sentence and students had to run to the correct topic, then repeat and complete the sentence.  Sentences included: I’m good at…, I get up at …, My favourite subject is…

Though I did this as a revision activity, it could work well to introduce students to structures, as they have to repeat and complete the sentence.

 

True/False

Another option (which I posted about recently!) is to make one end of the room true and the other false.  A student makes a statement and their classmates have to run to the end which is correct for them.  This works well as a five-minute filler.

July 31

A quick revision for “random” seating

We are creatures of habit – I know where I like to sit on the bus and try to find “my spot” on each trip.  Our students likewise have their favourite spots in the classroom – facing the board, in the corner, next to a friend.  We are always encouraged to mix students up a bit so that they learn to work with different people, appreciate different learners’ needs and learning styles and to vary pairings of stronger and weaker students.

However, it can sometimes seem a bit patronising to move students around and it can also be awkward and time-consuming if done during the class, as students collect up their materials and bags and manoeuvre around the tables and chairs.  It’s a good idea to try and arrange people into a different seating arrangement before the class starts and a fun way to do this is by giving each student a question on entering class, the answer to which is stuck on a post-it to their chair.  I did this activity with the trainees the other day using questions to revise phonology as it was our final lesson and a revision session for the exam.

It also works well if you want to choose who sits together – just make sure you know who to ask what and keep an eye on your students that they don’t sneakily swap the post-its so they can sit with a friend!  I used to use a similar technique with my young learners – I would say the name of a fruit and they had to find the correct picture on their chair.  It’s a nice way to revise vocabulary topics as well as each student can then tell you the word on their chair.

July 23

Further thoughts on the Silent Way

OK, this is mainly an opportunity for me to organise my thoughts in preparation for a conversation I’m going to have soon with my boss about teaching YLs using the Silent Way.  I’m thinking it would be feasible with a group of students who are aged 8 and above, as they would need to be fairly confident at reading, especially at reading without using Spanish pronunciation.  So, here are some of my thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of using this technique with this age group…

ADVANTAGES

It maximises STT (though you could argue that it’s not natural STT)

It gives students more responsibility amongst their peers

I’m interested to see what effect it would have on discipline – the optimist in me thinks it could solve a range of problems, the realist in me thinks it could cause others

Systems would need to be explained at the start (e.g. I clap once for everyone to repeat, twice when I nominate a student, three times to get everyone’s attention)

It could minimise L1 in the classroom (I have a bad habit of responding in English when students speak to me in Spanish – which I would be a lot less likely to do using the Silent Way)

DISADVANTAGES

Parents may not be happy that their child’s teacher doesn’t speak

The systems may be difficult to implement and maintain

Natural intonation could be difficult when words are being spoken individually

I think it would involve a significant amount more planning on a daily basis – you would have to think carefully about the vocabulary which could come up that lesson and have it prepared in advance to save writing words on the board all the time and interrupting the flow of the lesson

A slower pace in lessons – though perhaps this isn’t a bad thing

 

Can anyone think of any others?

July 5

FCE Resources

Following on from my post about the interactive phase in the Cambridge FCE speaking exam, I came across this site, TEFLgeek by David Petrie on which he lists an amazing array of resources for FCE teachers and their students.  For anyone preparing students for their FCE exam later this year, there are some great pages to pick up more tips on the speaking exam, as well as links to other useful practise sites and teaching ideas.

May 15

Fast finishers? No, early arrivers!

Keeping students occupied is a tough job and a range of fast finisher activities is always a good thing to have to hand.  But what about keeping students entertained before the lesson starts?  In a perfect world, our classes would start punctually with students arriving dead on the time they’re due to come into class, rather than ten minutes earlier or later.  Well, one can dream!

 

I’ve found with YLs that it’s important for them not to build up too much energy with friends before coming into class.  Left to their own devices whilst waiting they often get a bit over-excited and this then spills over into the class.  Fortunately our school has a reading area where students can sit and look through some books or magazines whilst waiting.  The other day however, I also found something else to keep them occupied – I gave them cards with the names of different songs (our routine songs and some from the coursebook) and they say outside and merrily sang away.  I don’t know if the secretary was too enthused, but it was a lovely way to keep them entertained and using English, so ready to come into class and continue.