‘Getting Better’

It's getting better all the time
I used to get mad at my school
(No, I can't complain)
The teachers who taught me weren't cool
( No, I can't complain)
You're holding me down
Turning me round
Filling me up with your rules
(The Beatles)

Thursday 17^th & Friday 18^th, November, 2011

Thankfully my grade 3 classes today and yesterday were significantly better than the debacle that occurred in Tuesday’s class. During my first grade 3 class yesterday relief swept over me when the students responded and engaged with the material. I had been genuinely worried that the lesson was going to crash and burn in every class. I needn’t have been so concerned. All four classes today and yesterday responded well. The Tuesday class remains an anomaly. Why did that one class completely ignore everything to do with the lesson when all the other classes, for the most part, willingly embraced it? I don’t think that I will ever have a satisfactory answer.

Although the other classes responded well I discovered that the lesson I had prepared was by no means perfect. The most glaring issue is my timing. In each respective class we only made it approximately one third of the way through the material I had prepared. This is not entirely negative. The earlier activities took longer than I had planned because there was often a lot of interaction. The students had a lot of questions in relation to my slide show presentation of what I did last weekend. As if there was ever any doubt they were fascinated by what I spent the weekend doing away from school and had numerous questions. This was a fun activity. The students in all four classes really seemed to enjoy it and mostly paid attention.

This was not the only activity that took longer than expected. In fact every activity took longer than I had planned. This indicates I have a significant problem with timing and planning! Recently I have found myself wishing that I had longer classes – fewer but longer classes; 45 minutes can be restrictive. I think I actually plan far too much. I am normally worried I will run out of things to do in a lesson. I live in fear of having to fill 45 minutes with no material at my fingertips and so I always make more than I will ever use.

However, this means the students are only part of the way through the lesson – we didn’t get to the later stages where they focus on practicing and production. I plan to finish the lesson next week. On reflection what I have prepared will easily fill a second lesson. This is not a bad thing as it means I don’t have to prepare a new lesson next week and can spend time preparing the winter camp lessons and working on TESOL assignments.

Despite the timing issue I have to say the parts of the lesson I did have time to teach today and yesterday were successful. All of the elements of the warm-up and introduction appeared to work well. I think using a variety of MIC and CI techniques really helps. After the initial greeting for example I drew a huge unsmiling face with tears running down its cheeks on the blackboard. Before I even finished drawing and asked ‘who is this?’ the students had started speculating, commenting, asking questions and making jokes. What was meant to be a brief transition became a 5 minute Q & A session.

The PowerPoint about my weekend worked really well. It is strange to note that they were more expressive and vocal during this activity than during activities where I expressly want them to speak. Maybe this is an example of the power of authentic schema. All I am doing is showing pictures that represent what I did the previous weekend. But the response is great. They ask questions and comment and make jokes. I was really satisfied with the result. Upon its conclusion though when I try to transition to an activity where they ask their partner questions there is a bit of a drop off in interest. However, I think using different CI techniques helps smooth over transitions like this.

The most substantial activity that was completed during the lessons was the ‘find someone who…’ activity. However, I am sure that some students just used it as an opportunity to go and speak to their friends. It is impossible to monitor that all the students are doing an activity like this as they are meant to.

One thing I have been trying in these classes which I remain unsure of is a suggestion from both methodology and SLA class. Here the teacher asks a student a question and then asks that student to ask another student the same question. I don’t think this works well in my classes. I think my classes are too large and the students not specifically involved just drift away and don’t pay attention.

Overall I was happy with these classes and I am looking forward o giving the second part of the lesson next week.

‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.’

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...

(Monty Python)

Wednesday 16^th, November, 2011

I had 4 mid level grade 1 classes today. These were the first regular classes I’ve had with these students since the 17^th October. The reason for the gap in standard classes is due to the speaking tests I gave. I was actually looking forward to getting back into the classroom and delivering some lessons after the protracted and frustrating speaking test weeks. My optimism and enthusiasm for these classes was not rewarded and was definitely not reciprocated by the majority of students. Looked at alongside my awful grade 3 class yesterday I am definitely not having a successful week. It was as if a deep malaise had settled upon the students in my classes today; they were uniformly lethargic and non-responsive. Despite my best efforts and my carefully planned lesson I could not rouse them from their torpor. By the end of the 4^th class I was heartbroken.

In recent weeks in methodology class we have been discussing and practicing ways of incorporating and activating students’ schema. So, accordingly I have planned my lesson in awareness of this. The warm-up and introduction section is based around showing pictures and photographs of a multitude of things, places etc that I know these students are interested in. Yet when we were doing the warm-up activity there were only the briefest flickers of interest. They sat there stony faced throughout. I have chatted to lots of these kids about things in the warm-up exercise outside of class many times. As soon as they are in the classroom however it is a completely different matter – they won’t say anything.

If one of my pedagogic goals is to create an environment where interaction can occur then I completely failed today. I don’t know what to do. I think it is particularly galling today because I was looking forward to delivering a lesson that has been prepared with all the ideas and theories from methodology class in mind. I was confident, positive and so happy with the lesson and ultimately it just did not go according to plan.

I bounced into the classes today so happy to be giving a fresh lesson and was met with silence and blank expressions. Throughout the lesson I am throwing everything at them – I am using MIC and CI techniques all the time, I have these incredible resources that I have prepared, the activities are not too challenging or demanding, the language is not too far beyond their ability and the co-teacher, Kyuyun, is supportive. Yet despite all of this it is like they are zombies. I ask them to do something simple like ask their partner a question we have just practiced together and they just stare at me emotionlessly. I actually had to specifically go to each pair and gesture and ask and encourage and demonstrate before they would do the simplest thing. In one class I am circulating the room listening in when I notice one pair, a boy and a girl, who aren’t saying anything. So I go over and try to encourage them to speak. I ask the boy, who I know is more than capable – he is definitely at the top end of the mid level classes, to ask his partner one of the questions we have just been practicing. He stares straight ahead like a robot and doesn’t even acknowledge someone is speaking to him. So, I gently, quietly ask him again, pointing to the board, repeating the sentence, gesturing at his partner. He looked like he was traumatized – the shell shocked survivor of some awful event. I thought he was going to start crying. Given the context and how I tried to speak to him this response is just so wildly disproportionate. It is like some kind of autism. I asked Kyuyun afterwards about this and she had no explanation beyond – ‘they are tired’. I don’t know how to account for this behavior.

Some of my favorite students are in these classes; really nice kids who come to my lunch time English clubs where they are full of life and can’t wait to talk English and joke around. The dichotomy between their ‘in classroom’ and ‘out classroom’ personas is bipolar in character. I have no way to account for it.

Furthermore, because of their general lack of response I only made it approximately half way through the lesson material I had planned. I will have to conclude the lesson the next time I see these students. This is the only silver lining as it means I don’t have to prepare a brand new lesson for them next time. I already have materials, handouts and a presentation prepared and ready to go.

I will give this lesson to the high level students next week. I know that without a doubt the experience will be completely different. This leaves me to ponder what on earth I can do to engage my mid level classes. I am applying all these different techniques from methodology and it just doesn’t seem to matter. I speak to so many other NSETs on the EPIK program who don’t care that the students act like this. Why should it matter to them if the students don’t respond? You go in, you give your lesson, and you leave. Whether the students take part or not it doesn’t matter. I just can’t agree with this line of thinking. Classes like the ones I had today make me feel like I am failing the students. There has to be something I can do to make these classes better. Right now though I am at a loss to figure out what it is.