Elementary schools that still schedule students into self-contained classrooms could be depriving their students of a better education. Teachers in self-contained classrooms are not always the most qualified people to teach all four core subjects (literacy, social studies, math and science). In addition, teachers in self-contained classes are generally not confident in teaching all four subjects. Schools should seek other ways to schedule their teachers that better support both teacher and student achievement.
Before the school starts to develop a different model for its students, the administration should investigate the certification of all teachers. This will allow the administration to stay in compliance with all federal and state laws before giving teaching assignments. In-addition, the administration should talk with teachers to find out which subjects they are qualified to teach or would feel comfortable teaching.
This information will give administration the background ...
Motivation is the reason/s for doing something, factors which make us keen to do something. These reasons can be individual and personal or come from external sources.
If learners are motivated then classes are smoother and more productive. For example:
Motivated learners will be…
* Active classroom participants
* Enthusiastic
* Ask questions
* Be prepared to take risks
* Willing to communicate
* Able to learn more
Un-motivated learners will be...
* Quiet
* Disinterested in activities
* Easily distracted
* Disruptive
* Passive
* Unwilling to communicate
As teachers it is our responsibility to ensure the learners are and remain motivated. There are a number of ways to do this:
* Personalise activities
* Do fun, interesting lessons
* Take an interest in the learners
* Be fully engaged in the lesson
* Make sure all tasks are successful
* Balance between praise and correction
* Be supportive of learner needs in the classroom; able to adapt lessons
Personalisation
In ...
~~There are numerous advantages and disadvantages to teaching/learning in a 1-1 environment. For example:
Advantages
Learners have teacher’s full attention
Tailored/personalised lessons
Go at the learners pace
Teacher modified input suitable for the learners
No mixed abilities to deal with
Rewarding
Teacher needs to develop strategies & approaches for 1 learner
Higher STT (student talking time)
Focus on individual strengths and weaknesses
Learner more confident/less worried about making mistakes
Disadvantages
Exhausting/demanding for both teachers & learners
Little published material available – difficult to adapt resources
Limited/no individual study time
Lesson can get monotonous
Can be difficult for T to take notes for correction
Chance of a personality clash
Learners focus of T attention
Easier to get side-tracked
No peer teaching/correction
Difficult to measure progress
Teacher is always ‘on’
1-1 is probably the oldest method of ...
~~Routines
Routines are very useful in classrooms and apply to both adults’ and children’s classes. These routines include:
Following the same format in each lesson
Learners always do the same action upon starting or finishing an activity e.g. putting their hands on their head, saying ‘finished!’
Always carrying out tasks in the same format. E.g. The teacher does the activity by themselves or with one learner, then two learners do the activity (with prompts form the teacher), finally the class do the activity.
Consistent application of classroom rules.
Reacting to children in a consistent manner. i.e. do not accept on type of behavior one week and then suddenly react very strongly the next week.
Introduce, check and practice new language in a complete fashion.
Advantages of routines in the classroom:
Learners know what is happening at any stage of the lesson
It can help with classroom management. Young learners know what will happen at different stages of the lesson ...
~~There are two ways to view reading in the younger learner classroom: learning to read and reading to learn.
Reading to learn involves target language and structures, which form part of the curriculum: for example the dialogue page of a textbook or unscrambling words or sentences. These activities are developing the learners awareness of language form, word order and, where supported by visual materials, context and usage. Reading to learn requires exposure to the target language before the reading activity can take place and so these activities are supported by input, drilling and often listening activities.
Learning to read involves recognition of letter and word shapes (looking at whole words and whole sentences), phonics (relating sounds to individual letters and blends and clusters of letters), and morphemes (e.g. adding ‘ing’ or ‘ed’ to a verb to change the meaning – listen – listening – listened).
Very often learning to read and reading to learn are combined. Learners are ...
Deciding on to become an English teacher abroad is one of the best decisions one can make as it will offer him/her with a life of teaching and travelling, given that the person is passionate about it. Anyone who’s deciding on to teach English in Europe, need to start on their next level planning i.e. to decide where in Europe do they actually want to teach. The continent of Europe is home to a number of beautiful countries and the difference can be seen ranging hugely. It is a crucial to know which country is right before venturing out to make it the new home. One of the most attractive things about Europe is its ideal work environment. In many important European counties, the pace is slightly slower compared to most parts of the world though expectations for quality teaching remain the same. Students learning English are eager to learn quickly, while they also take up enough time as to fully absorb the new language. The work environment in most of Europe includes time for relaxation, ...
~~Drama activities provide good practice of the target language, variation in the lesson and, through fun, stimulate the learners. Drama activities provide good practice of the target language and good variation in the lesson. These activities needn’t occur all the time but the more familiar learners become with drama activities the more successful the activities will be.
Drama activities need careful setting up and lots of encouragement and can involve materials production as well as very basic writing and reading skills. To be really successful the activities need props or realia and almost certainly prompt or flashcards to help the learners.
* Simple actions, structures & words can be practised through movement and chanting activities
* Mime & action games can be used as team activities – e.g. one team (A) selects an action for an opposite team (B) member to perform – team (B) have to say what the action is
* Change the settings of basic role-plays to make the activity more ...
“I can’t believe it!” My colleague stated as he entered the office, after teaching the third hour.
“What is it that you can’t believe?” I asked.
“I spent the entire first hour explaining that vocabulary word. I wrote on the board, put in a sentence, and saw the students take note. However, I asked them about it, none of them remember it.” My colleague expressed his frustration.
This conversation is not unique to my colleague. Most teachers have experienced similar situations and were left asking themselves why the students couldn’t recall the vocabulary.
My colleague’s remarks brought forth Dr. Krashion’s theory of providing the learner with a fine-tuned comprehensible input. According to Dr. Krashion explaining a concept doesn’t mean that the learner acquires it. Explaining is the process of presenting the information or “omitting” the information, while learning is the process of “internalizing” the information. According to Dr. Krashion to internalize the information, the teacher ...
Facts about Volunteering Teaching in India.
Volunteering teaching is one of the noblest acts anyone with proper education can do for others. The best gift you can give to anyone is knowledge; this gift abides forever with whomever it has been given. Every other thing can be lost in this world but the education that one acquires can never be lost – it abides forever. When you volunteer in India as a teacher you are offering the most precious ruby that can never be lost to the young ones, which will be passed from one generation to another.
If you are interested in volunteering as a teacher in India, there are some facts you should consider to prepare yourself beforehand. Obviously your fluency in English and some level of education is a necessary asset, but there are some other important facts that will determine your success as a volunteer in this third world country. I have seen a lot of volunteers start out with a lot of zeal and excitement and end up in frustration, just because ...
~~Reading is a very important element in our everyday lives and learning (83% of our learning is visual) and it is important to consider that we never stop learning to read.
How do you read the following text styles?
Poetry, stage dialogue, a cinema listings page, a web page, a text message, a train timetable, information on an air ticket, an instruction booklet, a recipe, an academic text, the news bar that runs under newscasters on television, fictional genres (Sci-fi; thrillers etc.)
You have learnt, through exposure and practice, to read all of the above and each of them requires a different application of reading strategies. To understand these texts the reader needs a good grasp of language, knowledge of the writer’s culture and appropriate strategies to read the information. With all this in mind we can help our learners become better readers.
First, we will look at how we read and then look at some practice activities.
We read things that interest us
Obvious when you think ...
