All Comparisons are Odious

A sad class yesterday. I had a 1 to 1 with an elementary student. She had been making good progress since the beginning of the year but recently I’ve noticed she has been unhappy in class especially when other students have been there as well. I noticed a little frustration. She said she couldn’t understand anything and was unable to express herself. I tried to tell her not to worry too much because I knew she could commuicate better. However, even tough I explained clearly in Spanish she wasn’t happy. She made the fatal mistake of comparing herself to another student who she felt had made more progress in less time. Her conclusion? ‘I’m stupid and slow.’

Why do learners always make comparisons with others? It’s like comparing oranges and lemons. Every learner is different. Everyone has to find their own way. I feel quite bad that this person has such low self esteem. Perhaps I could have done more to help?

Observations March – April 2007

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT TODAY?
Introduced a new activity into class. Near the end of the class I ask the learners ‘What have you learnt today?’ Interesting actvity. In a class on everyday activities the learner said she had learnt when the morning, afternoon and evening begin in English. Not what I expected. She also mentioned 3rd person singular. However in the main she concentrated on the meanings of the words she had learnt.

This is a good activity to do (if you dare) to find out if your teaching is really effective or if you are just going through the motions and turning the pages.

WHEN DID WE LEARN THE PAST?
My learners follow a multi-media programme which involves a lot of self discipline. They come to class for an hour once or twice a week. We were talking about something in an elementary class today when it was necessary to use the past tense. Two of the three learners just asked me ‘how do you say that in the past?’ and I told them. No problem. The other learner looked confused and said, ‘when did we learn the past?’ Therein lies her problem. The other two had been ’studying’ much less time than the ‘confused’ learner but they had no problem with the concept of the past. They didn’t know – they asked. The confused student saw it in terms of being taught or learning ‘the past’ rather than actively acquiring the knowledge.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
How do we make classes relevant?
Difference between 1 to 1 and groups?
What is the linguistic value of a questionnaire?

Be Water my Friend

‘A good teacher can never be fixed in a routine… each moment requires a sensitive mind that is constantly changing and constantly adapting.
A teacher must never impose this student to fit his favourite pattern; a good teacher functions as a pointer, exposing his student’s vulnerability (and) causing him to explore both internally and finally integrating himself with his being.’

Bruce ‘Be Water my friend’ Lee

Observations January – February 2007

‘I drive a wheel barrow at work.’ A learner didn’t know the word forklift truck so he used a dictionary. I knew what he meant.

TELEPHONE CLASSES
As part of my job I teach telephone classes. They last 20 minutes and a team of teachers produce the their own materials. At first I was sceptical about telephone classes but I have been convinced of their usefullness. At first the learners are a little nervous and are convinced they will not be able to understand anything. However after a few classes their comprehension skills improve no end. Lower level learners are able to communiccate quite well. It’s interesting to compare telephone students with those who only ever attend classes physically. There is a certain type of learner who never seems to improve their comprehension skills. They never ‘get’ the listenings. Could it be because traditional ‘listenings’ in class are a little false. In comparison a telephone class / call is much more ‘real-world.’ The learner either focuses and starts to understand or they completely waste their time.

Most of the telephone classes are just lists of questions. I’m not sure how useful this approach is. I read somewhere that humans spend the majority of the time they speak telling stories yet in class we seem to concentrate excessively on questions and answers.

CLASSES
I feel I am talking too much in class. Same old stories. Must try and listen more to the learners. I have a lot of 1 to 1 classes.

Learnt about ‘the Walldorf method’ from a learner today. Very interesting.

Alternative education: http://www.centrowaldorf.com/sitios.htm

A learner asked me if I could understand Spanish today! My pronunciation must be crap! Sometimes I feel there are far too many assumptions in the language classroom. Simply by attending classes doesn’t mean a learner is going to learn a language. We should be talking about why someone wants to learn. What is the motivation? How to learn? What is the best way for this particular learner?

Talked to a learner who had seen the Beatles in Madrid bullring in 1964. He wasn’t allowed to go by his father but he escaped and went to the concert. I sent him some Frank Sinatra lyrics. Music is a good way to build and remember vocabulary.

I didn’t like the material on offer to today so I invented a class in 10 minutes. I took an interview from the Guardian with Beryl Bainbridge – ‘How I write?’ I cut the article up into paragraphs and separated the questions. 2 learners read their paragraphs and paraphrased the text to their partner. They decided together where the questions went. They then read the whole article and asked and answered the questions.

JOKES
I’ve been starting each class with a gap fill joke. I stick the paper on the baord and ask the learners to fill in the gap.

LAWYERS
A new client had just come in to see a famous lawyer.

“Can you tell me how much you charge?”, said the client.

“Of course”, the lawyer replied, “I charge EUROS 200 to answer three questions!”

“Well that’s a bit expensive, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is”, said the lawyer, “And what’s your third question?”