Final Four Skills Paper: Key Learning from the Course Because of how gracefully the MAT courses interlock with one another, it is difficult to write a paper that isolates my learning specifically about my Four Skills class. My brain is an eddy — rather, a maelstrom — of new information: ideas about teaching writing (from…
Course Goals and Objectives In answering this I have reviewed the list of objectives and find that the course has met them each, with one exception: to develop an attitude of confidence. While I understand that that comes from experience, practice and moral support, perhaps there are some additional techniques we can learn so that…
Because of how gracefully the MAT courses interlock with one another, it is difficult to write a paper that isolates my learning specifically about my Four Skills class. My brain is an eddy — rather, a maelstrom — of new information: ideas about teaching writing (from Four Skills) swirl around with a newly discovered interest…
It’s good to invite S feedback on topics to explore It’s okay to get the ideas and take them home to find the language first Be careful about trying to teach something Ss want if you’re not prepared Be yourself, though; don’t do topics that make you uncomfortable It’s okay to give them a choice…
My Thanksgiving Dinner Set into Dell Hymes (RIP) Framework Setting and Scene: Where is the speech event? Is the physical space significant? What types of props are there? It took place at my brother’s house on Cape Cod, in Wood’s Hole. The physical space was significant in that the house was newly remodeled — he…
[ELIZABETH’S FEEDBACK IN BLUE CAPS] Something I Learned About Myself as a Writer in My L2 I am out of practice in my L2 and had a very difficult time remembering even the basic vocabulary that I needed to complete my writing project. So I used a lot of avoidance strategies, as fundamental as changing…
Read Ann Raimes and Jessica Williams articles. She began class, as she has before, by posting quotations (Raimes) around the room and asking us to go around and pick one that relate to our experience as teacher or learner.
This overlaps with some of what I wrote in my last post. The writing module was a little disappointing to me when I consider the excitement with which I approached it in the beginning. I don’t know what I expected, but it seemed that the process writing explanation was formulaic. I don’t mean to say…
This “reflection” conveniently falls into the category both for Approaches and Four Skills, having sprung from the way they’ve blurred. For my Participatory Approach paper I wrote that I didn’t understand where the line should be between one’s teaching and one’s opinion. That’s no problem, generally, if you’re teaching pronouns. Well, it could be: the…
Students: Advanced/intermediate teenagers and adults in Mexico. First class session. Objective(s): In the first week of class, provide the students with a introductory activity that taps into their life story as a source, helps them get to know their classmates and teacher, and let them experience writing as a low-stress, personal and rich experience; to…
Put a tiny piece of paper with your name on it into a basket. Teacher assigns a scribe, and both teacher and scribe take part in the circle of naming things: Scribe writes what everyone likes to get as a present: book, plane ticket, Wii, camera, laptop, chocolate, printer (and three “passes” — people aren’t…
1. What was an experience you had as a writer in English that helped your confidence? Why? [Importance to me as teacher: ascertain level of willingness, motivation, affect] Joseph: He always had a profound love for reading, which has affected his writing. “Once you embrace a language, you automatically embrace the culture.” 2. Were there…
I’m excited about this writing module. I think it will provide an opportunity for me to objectify facets of writing that I already know deeply but have never been able to articulate. But I’m also worried that this excitement may lead to anticlimactic disappointment: maybe teaching writing won’t be fun. I love how the Lucy…
Shen, Fan. “The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key to Learning English Composition.” From College Composition and Communication 40(4). 1989. Requirements of English composition have been an “uphill battle to recapture “myself.” “Learning the rules of English composition is, to a certain extent, learning the values of Anglo-American society.” Rule # 1…
Something I Learned About Myself as a Reader in L1 and L2 As a reader in my L1, I learned that I am disorganized and unfocused. Actually, I knew that already because it takes me so long to get through MAT readings and I don’t retain much once the page leaves my field of vision,…
What I write in a 24-hour period With my first cup of coffee, check e-mail and respond to any essential ones Jot notes on ideas I may have for future e-mails or future blog postings Start working on a homework assignment: writing a paper or lesson plan, transferring notes to my blog, etc. While driving…
Auerbach, Elsa and Paxton, Diane (1997). “It’s Not the English Thing”: Bringing Reading Research Into the ESL Classroom. TESOL Quarterly 31(2), 259. Sample Strategies Prereading Strategies Accessing prior knowledge Writing your way into reading (writing about your experience related to the topic) Asking questions based on the title Semantic mapping Making predictions based on previewing…
John Henry was a little boy, No bigger than the palm of your hand. By the time that boy was nine years old He was driving spikes like a man, Lord, Lord. Driving spikes like a man. John Henry said to the captain, yeah, “Man, you ought to see me swing. I weigh 49 pounds…
Choice of Text For my reading lesson plan, again I used the John Henry legend as the source, this time in ballad form. My target students are intermediate-advanced adult learners of English in Mexico. Underlying my choice to work with folklore is my belief that it may be a powerful vehicle for English-language learning, because:…
Recalled early reading experiences: our memory of first reading, our favorite book, where we prefer to read. We drew pictures of all this. It’s important to consider people’s early reading experiences when teaching it, and figure out how to recreate a positive learning environment. Homework assignment for Friday Think about how I approach a new…
[I can find no record of feedback from Elizabeth on this, either via e-mail or Moodle.] What did I learn about myself as a listener in my L1? After finishing this unit, I still think my strongest L1 skills are listening and writing. In our “cocktail party” exercise it was easy to tune out the…
What beliefs/assumptions about teaching listening underlie this lesson? That listening as an activity, while closely tied to the other four skills, can be isolated in an exercise to spotlight certain aural factors in the language. That there is value to focusing on the sound of the language first in isolation, and then as it relates…
Students Older teenagers and adults. Level: intermediate. Location: their native town in Mexico (EFL) in a small, rustic classroom with few amenities. Purpose of learning English: unknown as yet. For this exercise, I will assume it’s to gain English language skills for use in the US. Theme John Henry: Steel Drivin’ Man (the American legendary…
I know little about my internship, and what little I write here is subject to change. Who are the students? They are 5th-6th grade children and adults at ABC School of English. Of course I don’t know their personalities yet, or their proficiency level. I believe the class size is under 15 but I’m not…
We were given a presentation by a very young woman who worked on a project called the Vermont Harmony Project, which went into migrant communities and taught them (and performed) songs. Her presentation was wanting in direction. Her “any questions” left me blank. But the more I thought about what they’d done, the more it…
Key Learning Today (content and process) test Questions or things that are unclear test What helped me learn today? test What hindered my learning today? test Participation: What did I notice/learn about my/classmates’/teacher’s participation using each of the skills? Listening test Speaking test Reading test Writing test Strategies that I can use to improve my…
Schema building: all groups Top-Down Processing: The beginning group and the advanced group did this (tried to get the big picture) Bottom-Up Processing: The intermediate group did this, trying to make meaning from recognizable words Interactive Processing: The more people knew, the more of this they did Prediction/Guessing: We all guessed. Inference (higher order skill)…
In class on Friday Elizabeth did two exercises. The first was a simulated cocktail party (she was the waitress). She reviewed the cultural aspects of a cocktail party: how one behaves, the tone and style of the conversation, and other norms (superficial speech, milling around, informality…). Then the “party” began. She put on fairly loud…
What I listen to in English in a 24-hour period Things are silent for me in the morning. The only human voice I hear is my own, talking to myself, but since I’m talking I’m not really listening. In Real Life I can go hours or days hearing nothing in English. Here at school, the…
