Room Overhaul

Room Update Fall 2013

I got a bunch of new and effective decorations which most of them double as learning centers and gave my classroom a major decorating and layout overhaul in the fall. Only now do I have the time to post an update about it.

My wall bulletins were looking shoddy and worn so I replaced them and made them clearer, also customizing them to my use pattern for how we use songs and rhymes. 

Moved the printer off that bookcase and use it for games I'm using and also for a lot of the little kids class props and printout materials. 

Made a new alphabet focal point since the old thing was peeling off and getting pulled off. This cannot be ripped or pulled off like paper can. Somehow the kids don't have the idea of peeling off the letters in their mind, they look so attached! 

Also got a new organizer wall pouch in Korea. Holds everything of multiple sizes. Works great! 

Classroom Management Tool

Classroom Management Tool: 
Climbing the Walls (so kids and teachers don't climb them first.)

Ages: 5-8 3rd graders usually know how to behave or have chosen not to behave before I have to decide if I should employ this technique.

Print characters. We had rockets, then I rotated the rockets to the other teacher. In fall we started squirrels, I wanted to change for winter but never did. The students get to choose their color or I choose if I think a battle of wills might take place but most the kids accept what they get. Sometimes they just want a magnet. If they break classroom rules then their rocket falls. If they are participating readily most rise to the top. This motivates the little kids great, and starts to loose effect for second and third graders who manipulate their rocket. However, they get a point for a point card if they reach the top, and when the points add up they can have a present from my prize box. That happens after six times. I've been using it about a year and a half now with great results, though students with certain behavior problems will need a different motivator. 

Songs for Students: 50 Nifty United States

If you are featuring the United States in a lesson, this may be a fun song. My private student who loves geography latched onto this song quite quickly, and we have done a number of bonus time fun time exercises just listening to songs, including 50 Nifty United States, and other youtube videos explaining the states. 

Also interested in teaching about other countries to my student, so if you are from another English speaking country and you know a classic song from your elementary education which kids might like, please let me know! 

Lyrics: 

Fifty Nifty United States  

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies;

Fifty nifty stars in the flag that billows so beautif'ly in the breeze.

Each individual state contributes a quality that is great.

Each individual state deserves a bow, we salute them now.

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,

Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,

One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the U.S.A.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut;

Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana;

Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan;

Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada;

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,

North Dakota, Ohio;

Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas;

Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,

Al -a -o ming.

North, south, east, west, in our calm, objective opinion,

(name of home state) is the best of the

Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies,

Shout 'em, scout 'em, Tell all about 'em,

One by one till we've given a day to ev'ry state in the good old U. S. A.

Some videos I enjoy to use when teaching this song: 

My student requested this for 2 classes during his free time/game time. 

Classroom Activities 7: Info Gap Monsters and Writing

Teaching 3rd Person Grammar to Elementary Students

The fun way! 

   By the time my students arrive at level 3 in English Land, they have a good working vocabulary and are proficient with I like..., I have..., I am.... So they talk a lot about themselves. I noticed that the switch to talking about others and other items and their qualities is quite difficult for elementary students in the foreign language classroom, and when I first arrived at my job I was intimidated by it. But now I know there is no need to be intimidated by this.

Activity: Info Gap Monsters With Writing
Draw and Write, First Learning of Awareness of the 3rd Person

Corresponds to English Land Series Unit 3 

All you need is some descriptions of monsters (using target vocabulary your students have been exposed to: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, wings, teeth, skin, legs, arms, etc...) written in a way students can easily understand.  Students are also learning important sight words like colors. 

All students can read about the same monster, but in my small language classroom I like to give each student a different monster. In a large class, each group could be given the same monster so that they can work on the reading together. Also fun would be to give them all different monsters and then when they finish drawing, they can find members from the other groups who had the same monster. 

Students have finished reading and drawing. They highlight I have...  and I don't have phrases. By this point they have already drawn their monsters and arrived in their groups if you are working in the group setting. 

Students then should be made aware that I is strange in this situation, because we are talking about the monster. So we change it to it, he, or she. The sentences are then changed from I have to It has. The repetition is good for the students.
They can then present their findings to the class, which is good reinforcement, and this is possible in group and small class settings.  Everyone enjoys to see the resulting monsters and everyone had a good time! 

The students who generated these monsters are 3rd graders. This activity works well for 3rd grade and above. 2nd graders usually read "I have" and draw a monster only, without having to write themselves. 

Classroom Activities 5: No Face His and Her All Ages

Classroom Activities 5

No Face Multi-Language Practice Exercise

And what's great about this activity is that it can be applied to a wide range of language! 


You Will Need: 
-paper, a drawn face

 This could be printed off the internet. Boy/Girl Human/Nonhuman Princess/Pauper... your imagination is the limit! 
-facial features for the face for target words eyes, ears, nose, mouth, 
-tape
-a wall or surface to mount the faces on
-a blindfold if one student or yourself will use it, or multiple blindfolds if you plan on allowing other students to participate for hygiene purposes

  Anyway, this face will also need features. So if you have any way to make a blank canvas... my classroom set has the facial features removable down to the hair! That's right, everything can be put on if you design your activity just so. And the principles of this activity can be applied to any vocabulary set, but the activity I'm featuring here focuses on face parts and his/her he/she and boy/girl. This would even work like the pirates I have previously featured. 

How to do the activity:
 -Think pin the tail on the donkey, with tape and face parts and students must use English
 -Use this activity as review, students must have a good working knowledge of the words, give them a brief refresher before beginning.
 -Students should know boy and girl, and for older students you can also introduce his/her with this activity
 -For the first round through you can blindfold yourself if you trust your class, and if you're good blindfolded and know your classroom spatially you can further clarify the meaning of his and her if your class has never been exposed to the words before
   Students are to say "his/her nose" as they hand the face parts to you one by one
   If they know right and left, you can allow them to say that as well
-For really advanced students, maybe they can learn "turn it" or "it's upside down" etc... a lot of practical spatial words come out when students are doing this activity
 -When all the pieces have been attached, announce "finished", have students tell you "finished" or "that's all" and unblindfold yourself or the student, and admire your work! 

Most students of mine have gotten a big kick out of this exercise! 

The blank face canvases. The hair is also removable. Not the prettiest but at least it gets the kids giggling.

This was my later evening class. I lost my touch.

My first time, the students gave me pretty good guidance. 

Underneath the star this little boy is smiling! 

This one too, the thumbs down is actually a good thing little boys love to be disgusted! 

Changes to my Classroom Spring 2013 (March)

Changes to my Classroom: Spring 2013

Now: Days of the Week at center, birthday poster to the side of the white board. 

The space where the blank faces are is reserved for decorations pertaining to current material we're covering and enrichment activities. I will explain the blank faces later.

Decorations from our new preschool curriculum "PLAYTIME" by Oxford University Press.

They came on flimsy, uninspiring and hard to fit to my classroom posters so I cut them up to suit my room and laminated the pieces. 

More Playtime items visible to the right of the Days of the Week poster. we have a weather wheel from something else, but the numbers look really nice and I have shapes and weather too. Counting has become part of our routine. 

BEFORE 

Gross old dry erase poster, days of the week poster was too close to the bookshelf and this became a problem in my larger classes, old posters which hadn't been changed out for a while which I rarely used in the lessons, and didn't seem to engage the kids well to begin with. Overall the decorations have become much more functional to the lessons and are making a marked difference for me in engaging my students of all ages.

Classroom Activities 4: The Prepositions Table

Classroom Activities 4: The Prepositions Table

What you need: a large table drawn on any surface, can be done in front of a large group or in a private lesson, writing utensil 

What to do: You can practice any prepositions: on, in, under, between

Usually I ask students what foods or things they like and don't like, the things they like I tell them to draw on the table. Then I tell them to draw a toilet under the table and they get really shocked. Some of them break out laughing because it is unexpected. Then they are allowed to draw their disliked foods in the toilet. You can give students the option of giving each other the commands of what to draw and where, using correct usage of prepositions! Easy as pie and effective! 

Corresponds to: English Land 3 Unit 4 

Classroom Activities 3: Practicing Can

Classroom Activity 3

Nonsense Animals and Actions

Type of activity: small group activity for practicing animals and verbs, and the grammar "Can it (action)?", "Yes it can" or "No, it can't", ideal for elementary students, for intermediate students

Text correspondence: English Land 3 Unit 5 

"Can a koala drive a car?", "Can a baby quail push a car?" 

What you will need: a stack of animal cards, the more interesting the appearance the better, and a stack of frequently used verb cards. I use animal cards from a set of Go Fish cards we had in the school, and the verb cards from the Great Verb Game, although the pictures on the Great Verb Game were a little ridiculous. Some students love it and some will refuse to look at the cards, saying they are simply too ugly. So strike a balance between interesting and repulsive.

What to do: have enough sets of cards for small groups. My classes are small so I only need one set of action cards and one set of animal cards, but this game is appropriate for groups of 3-4

    -give each group their stacks, after modeling the target phrase "Can it (a bear) drive?" Students usually take to this right away and start having fun. 

Classroom Activities 2: Prepositions Treasure Hunts

Classroom Activity 1

Prepositions Treasure Hunts
Corresponds to English Land Level 3, Chapter 4
OR
Good for: beginning prepositions (Elementary School Age) 

You will need:

- Paper, Scissors, laminator (if you want to make a long lasting treasure hunt set)

-An item representing treasure, or real treasure to give to the students if they gather all the cards for their assigned treasure hunting quest

What To Do: 

-Number the Cards 

The Treasure Hunt can be as long or as short as you'd like, each card describes the location of the next item, and should be unique to your environment or classroom

(ex. #6 is under the clock) 

-Hide them before the class, retaining the first card as a hint

-For Larger Classes: Prepare color coded treasure hunts for small group hunting: groups are only allowed to take the cards for their color           

                                                                and should do it in order

For more practice: 

Do this as a warm-up activity or an extension of the lesson. I feel it really engages them and gets elementary age students thinking about the structure of preposition sentences, as they often mutter the locations under their breath as they search. Students can take turns reading the cards or a reader can be assigned. However, I have seen even shy students take to this activity. 

This could be used for any foreign language.

Classroom Activities 1: Missing Parts Characters

This is my classroom. That is basically all of it. The table can be pushed back a few feet if it's standing. Like three feet maximum. Or, the table is collapsible and allows for more space for little kids class or active class. But it's still a small room and keeping those kiddos engaged week after week becomes a priority, and yet, no easy task at all.

I recall my predecessor telling me that the best part of the job is that no work comes home. That is not true. Even if I am not working I am always thinking of students: the good, the bad, the engaged, and the disengaged. Oh, genius-kid would love this. Or, I wonder if I can involve this problem student if I did such-and-such in class. My classes are small enough that I have all their names memorized, and even then, all my students have nicknames in my mind.

At any rate, this post is the first in, hopefully, a series that can help out other teachers of activities I have created for my classroom to help spice up classroom work for students who come see me week after week, some who have now been with me for upwards of a year and a half. 

Today's Activity: Classroom Activity 1

Missing Parts Characters

What you will need: 

-clipart of characters, a simple google image search will do you just fine

  some topics which may be of interest: pirates, zombies, princesses, One Piece, Pokemon, blow up the image during printing

  (You are not selling this, you are merely using it to engage student, let your imagination go wild or your target vocabulary drive this search, if you are studying clothes choose an image with interesting and complicated clothes and accessories. If you are teaching body parts, choose something a little more exposed.  When students are engaged and curious about other items they might see, such as the pirate's sword or the zombie's brain, I find they become motivated to ask the vocabulary and retain it pretty well. )

-cardstock cards

-optional: laminator, laminator sheets

-scissors

-printer

This is the set I made for "Pirates", it reviews clothes, "bird", and face parts.

What I did: 

-print out enough copies for your class plus one to show as the model image as the students try to piece the character together: I have maximum three students so I chose to go with three, plus one 

-cut out the student characters, and then cut out various parts which clearly show target vocabulary, laminate the bodies and the cut out parts, the cut out parts are now game pieces which students will race to find under the card stock cards (you will need 8-10 cards, to have 8-10 items in play at a time) 

-cut up cardstock for a size which generally fits over the body parts you cut out

The Game: 

How to have fun with this in class

-elicit or teach new vocabulary with the full body image before beginning the activity and review I have/I don't have, or He/She/It has, doesn't have 

-pass each student, or each group of students, their altered copy of the goal image. Encourage them to shout out "He/She/It doesn't have... (x)!" or "He/She/It has (x)!" 

-tell students to close their eyes, and hide the various cut out parts, 8-10, depending on how many cards you cut out

-students only get one chance to look under a card, and must decide "He has/He doesn't have", each player or team gets a chance. When the game starts to reach its end some of the cards will be "empty"

-The first team to gather all it's missing parts wins! Routinely check in with students by eliciting what they still DON'T have so that they will know the vocabulary word to draw their card! 

Some of my kids were scared of this one.

                                        One of my Pirates, close up

                                         

 One of my classes requested a "Stinky Baby" character

Zombie edition

Don't stress finding the perfect size image, they can easily be blown up and the kids will have fun with the game, not how perfect the image is
. The better you know your kids, the better you can make a game that will engage them!  Just go wild. 

Happy Teaching! 

Corresponds to: English Land Level 2 Chapter 5
English Land Level 3 Chapter 3

ESL With Young Learners

That's pretty much what I do with the little ones. I try to change up the names and also incorporate storytime. Really high level students can already basically read and we practice activities that mimic spelling. They're capable of so much, it's just a matter of finding out what level the little ones are at, I feel. It's still really new to me but I think I'm doing basically the same as the guy in the video. :D

Other Helpful Sites About ESL for Young Learners:

Everything ESL.net

http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/pre_school_information_99051.php

ESL Songs and Ideas for Young Learners

Good for ideas but the sitemaster is promoting her book and CD

http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/eslsongs.htm#CD1

Rong-Chang.com, ESL, EFL For Children

http://www.rong-chang.com/kids.htm

ESL: Why Games, Stories, and Movement Activities Work

http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Teaching_ESL_Preschool_Ideas_and_Tips_for_Successful_Classes.htm

Malia Earns her Flight Wings (or Desk Apple)

I think the previous teacher wrote "Bai Bai" Actually...

And then the little black marker was a student writing...

Then I wrote (Heart) you too!

I must say, before I left the U.S. I was pondering what other jobs might be open to a Japanese speaking person with a lot of people-experience through teaching. One job I considered was Japanese speaking flight attendant for Delta. That may have been exciting, but I decided I would rather have something a little more settled that would still allow me to be in touch with Japan and seeing the world (or Japan, at least) rather than just the world's airports in the world's biggest cities.

I'm very happy with my decision.

My work started at long last, just over one week ago. (Although I came to Japan 3 weeks ago) So far so good. Funds are tight but the necessities of life are pretty affordable. I should be able to start saving in no time if I stop train-traveling around, which I find is my biggest expense.

I work at a casual small-business language school, not a chain or corporation. I'm not an ALT. So my experience is different than other bloggers out there. I'm very happy. Of course, no place is perfect, but I've found myself an excellent fit. I get to see all ages and all personalities, every one of my students is so different- there is never a dull moment at my school. I'm on my feet all day. I don't get the vacations of ALTs, or the down time in the teacher's room... And even though although maybe one day I would still like the immersion into a Japanese school, but for now I am ever grateful to my school and to the city I'm living in. It was good to me in high school when I was an exchange student and it is good to me now when I am working-same city! I'm going out with one of my host family's tonight. Their ages are very close to mine... maybe 10 years old. Only 5-7 years older than my husband. We're in the same age group. Even though I'm in eikaiwa it's not corporate. Like I said, it's a small business and exchanges with my boss and co-workers are warm. We're paid fairly and it's good to be working with happy people.

For the first week I was training under the teacher who's leaving. Since I have experience with returnee students, middle, high, college, and adult students I was able to start out in those classes on my own from the beginning. All they require is patience and skill in moving from subject to subject and keeping the students talking (and knowing when to nix the Teacher Talking Time... because Teacher already knows English ;) ) All that ended yesterday when I took the reigns and did six classes or so... all age ranges. It was just fine. First week was a lot of planning and going to school early and staying late, but I think I've more or less got the hang of it. Just need to expand my repetoire of games for the kiddos. Usually we spend the last 5 minutes of our classes playing a game to leave them with a positive memory of English class.

Anyway, one of my little girls wrote "Bai bai" to the last teacher and "Malia-Teacher" on the white board in front of our school. It was a d'aww moment and my first little kiddo note about me. The picture is in the blog.

Peace.

The Hook (Story for Discussion)

The Hook

(Source unknown, but probably an ESL resource website)

A teenage boy drove his date to a dark and deserted Lovers' Lane for a make-out session. After turning on the radio for mood music, he leaned over and began kissing the girl.

A short while later, the music suddenly stopped and an announcers voice came on, warning in an urgent tone that a convicted murderer had just escaped from the state insane asylum,--which happened to be located not far from Lovers' Lane--and that anyone who noticed a strange man lurking about with a hook in place of his right hand should immediately report his whereabouts to the police.

The girl became frightened and asked to be taken home. The boy, feeling bold, locked all the doors instead and, assuring his date they would be safe, attempted to kiss her again. She became frantic and pushed him away, insisting that they leave. Relenting, the boy peevishly jerked the car into gear and spun its wheels as he pulled out of the parking space.

When they arrived at the girl's house she got out of the car, and, reaching to close the door, began to scream uncontrollably. The boy ran to her side to see what was wrong and there, dangling from the door handle, was a bloody hook.

What is the moral of the story?

___________________

I'm not sure what to think of this story, I found this going through the ESL resources at the school I'm teaching at. Hm. Probably from Dave's ESL cafe or something... I'd love to give the original author credit though.

Enjoying Local Trains

Do you enjoy watching the countryside flash by from the Shinkansen? Well, just imagine how much longer and more intimately you could enjoy it by spending much extra time heading to your destination on local trains~! I visited Tokyo, and money was tight, so I chose this route. One way on shinkansen runs about 105 dollars from where I live. Round trip for one person on local trains ran about 120 dollars or so. So I had a great savings of about a couple hundred dollars. Bus takes about the same amount of time and there' no transferring involved. Huh. Oh well it's a good experience. Enjoy this video I just compiled.

I'm no professional, just warning you.

Living Language Learning: Penpals

I credit my success at becoming relatively fluent in French and Japanese, during high school (when we had relatively little contact with native language speakers outside of class) with my choice to have pen-pals. Pen-pals really opened the world to me and allowed me to experience warm interactions with speakers of the languages I was studying. Thus, given the opportunity, I hope to acquaint students of mine with this website to help them get in contact with other speakers of the target language who can acquaint them with the reality of daily life, culture, and natural language. There was nothing like writing letters in English and translating them into Japanese and French for my pen-pals. It was an immense learning experience and I am thankful for it everyday. I was able to enjoy the French countryside in Normandy with a good friend, host my friends in my home, and hear many stories of many different lives all around the world. Receiving colorful pictures, mail, and letters brought joys to my day when I picked them up at the mailbox and read their contents. I hope there will always be people interested in penpals.

Please, have a look!

Pen-Pals from Any Country you can Imagine!

www.studentsoftheworld.info

I was inspired when my Japanese teacher announced she would have us partner with a class in Japan to exchange letters. Ultimately, since it was made an assignment and only required letters be turned in about once per year, I gave up and moved on to seek out other pen-pals. And I sure am glad I did.

For teachers, this can be an excellent recommendation for students, especially if they come asking on how to go about finding a pen-pal.

Feast or Famine

I think it's safe to announce that:

*drumroll*

My job search is over! (for at least a year, but likely longer than that!)

After facing some setbacks with my school and some companies! (Including ones that I trekked all the way to Japan to see!) I was successfully hired after a skype interview at a small, informal, but very warm English school in the town were I lived for my first study abroad. So advice to all the hopefuls out there, dreams will come true, just be patient! (Moral of the story: try to interview in your home country, unless you really have the itch to travel, enjoy the travel but if you're not there for an extended time, don't expect anyone to hire you because you went to see them, but also don't be discouraged if a door slams shut in your face-the universe has something better in store.)

I really do dream of working in the countryside one day (the place where I'm going to is suburban/medium-large, but some areas of the town feel small), but I declined a job as an ALT in Nagano, just because the opportunity to be near friends and in a central area of Japan (Aichi) is too good to pass up.

And on the website I'd definitely recommend, www.gaijinpot.com, a similar small, warm, and personal eikaiwa school requested I contact them. Not that it's a job offer, but it made me happy all the same to be contacted.

I will be going back to Aichi-prefecture, sometime in September with work starting in Fall! After my long job search, it doesn't even feel real! But it is!

Fun ESL Teacher Blogs

I enjoy these blogs, and don't want to lose track of them (not all of them are conveniently "follow-able" via blogspot, hence I provide the links here so that I can keep track of them and others may browse them. I was sure I posted these somewhere, but couldn't find them when I went looking for them today.

*http://kylemullen.wordpress.com/

Fellow Uni-Friend's blog about adventures 40 minutes outside of Tokyo in Chiba-prefecture as a JET ALT

*http://www.kaleyinjapan.com/

Just starting out as an ALT with a dispatch company, Fall 2011

*http://justawordinthegrandstory.wordpress.com/

this one includes lesson plan ideas and stories from countries less commonly visited by EFL teachers

*http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com/

I always always always have a good time at that blog. The teacher was working at AEON, has done a stint in Korea, and has gone back to Japan and is currently a volunteer in Tohoku helping with the tsunami clean-up. I feel it's well written and provides a good balance of positive writing with challenges teachers face in a foreign culture, particularly in Japan.

*http://lovinlife1902.blogspot.com/

I found this one through a newsletter published by the TEFL online course that I'm taking, TEFLBridge Online. It's about someone enjoying Korea, who will be starting as a University Teacher. I'm excited to follow it.

*http://kimberlykorea.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-korean-english-students-have.html

Idaho to Russia to Korea. This blog looks like it should chronicle a great mix of experiences.

*http://abbysline.com/

About teaching in Chile! How cool! Love the picture of the alpaca~~

http://dianeclark.typepad.com/popcorn_and_sushi/

http://www.expatwomen.com/expatblog/index.php?c=111

That's all for now! I'm finding new blogs I like all the time so stay tuned.

Teacher Pitfalls: Making the Most of Teacher Talking Time

The most important part of EFL, to me, in any country is fulfilling my duties as a teacher.

Thus, in every capability, I am working on improving myself as a teacher. So currently I am doing an EFL course online and tutoring as temporary work. I will publish my essays here. The word limit is 700 words and it feels constrictive at times, maybe I will edit them in my free time.

(c) Malia Autio 2011, please cite if the information is used anywhere


New Teacher Pitfalls: Making the Most of Teacher Talking Time

On Teacher Talk Time: Why and How to Avoid It

Teacher Talk Time is so important in the training of educators, especially in the field of EFL, that it has received its own abbreviation of TTT. It is important for teachers and teachers-in-training to consider TTT because of the inverse relationship between TTT and STT, STT standing for Student Talking Time. Student talking time in the EFL or foreign language classroom is the time in which students are able to express their ideas and to receive quality feedback from the instructor. They pay for their time in class, thus when it is cut short by teacher-talking-time it becomes a failure of the teacher. Teacher Talk Time is covered early on not only due the importance of increasing student talking time, but also because that excess TTT is the most common error made by inexperienced teachers while experienced teachers continue to consider it. Efforts to reduce TTT should always be made in conjunction with efforts to improve the quality of the teacher’s classroom communication.

The first step to conquering excess TTT is an awareness of the problem and studied patterns of ineffective teacher-talk. The first, and most cited, is echoing. Echoing is the teacher’s repetition of a student’s response, which is detrimental to the students in two ways. One, they are less likely to listen to one another answer questions and remain overly dependent on the teacher in all class exercises in general. Second, even when answering an open ended question a student may be discouraged from continuing to respond. A far more effective use of teacher talking time would be to provide positive response (yes, good), or provide further questioning. (Springer, 2009) Ilene Springer’s article provided the example of asking “What did you do this weekend?” If a student were to answer “I went to a movie,” the teacher would not ask, “You went to a movie?” But rather, “Where? With who? What movie?” to continue the line of questioning and provide more effective modeling to students. A student may continue to talk, and others will be more likely to be motivated to participate as well.

Other notably noxious forms of teacher talking include self-talk and filling up silence. (Springer 2009) Excess self talk (the teacher talking about him or herself) can easily be eliminated in favor of solid lesson planning and class time to cover new material. Filling up the silence occurs when the teacher completes student sentences at the slightest pause before allowing the student to complete his or her idea. The inexperienced teacher must learn to increase their patience with and faith in the students to reach a satisfactory response when given the appropriate amount of time. When students are given time to express their thoughts completely, the teacher can better assess strengths and weaknesses for future lesson and assignment planning. The video included in the TEFL online lesson included the suggestion of keeping a class journal of common student errors. Such errors will not be observed and learned from if students are not given the opportunity to make those errors in the first place.

With the most notorious of the forms of non-constructive teacher-talk eliminated, the teacher may shift the focus to developing quality communication with students. Directions and explanations should always be as clear and concise as possible. Some specific examples of constructive teacher talk include: explaining and modeling usage of new vocabulary and grammar forms, modeling the days tasks and exercises, retelling student stories (after they are completed, of course), and eliciting responses—which is essentially providing casual chatting to the student that allows them to exercise new forms while reinforcing past learning as they are given enough class time and are given time to use their recall skills. (Ammaranas2005 2010) Excessive teacher talking should always be avoided, but at the same time it does not dismiss the roles the teacher must fulfill when he or she does speak.

Sources:

Ammaranas2005, (2010, June 19). Avoid teacher talking time for a better classroom [Web log

message]. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/ammaranas2005/avoid-

teacher-talking-time-a-better-classroom

Springer, Ilene. (2009, December 30). How to reduce teacher talk time in efl classes [Web log

message]. Retrieved from

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2.html?cat=4

On the Role of Teachers

My inspirational teacher (bottom right corner)

The most important part of EFL, to me, in any country is fulfilling my duties as a teacher.

Thus, in every capability, I am working on improving myself as a teacher. So currently I am doing an EFL course online and tutoring as temporary work. I will publish my essays here. The word limit is 700 words and it feels constrictive at times, maybe I will edit them in my free time.

(c) Malia Autio 2011, please cite if the information is used anywhere

Role of the Teacher

Section 1.2 highlights many of the roles teachers fulfill as well as their positive qualities. In their main functions, teachers are lecturers, counselors, and great organizers who should always be prepared. The avoidance of excess teacher talking, interrupting students, and over-planning for them should is important to maximize the positive traits. To introduce these qualities and potential trouble areas for instructors in a practical manner, I would like to introduce two experiences with teachers I had during my life as a student.

A great teacher of mine was my high school Japanese teacher. She fulfilled her role as lecturer, counselor, and organizer—as well as exceeding these expectations in many areas. I always felt she was wholly invested in educating her students and helping them achieve their dreams. Class was well organized and we learned through many different formats. She integrated lecturing, listening, and reading and she consistently monitored our progress through providing warm-up activities that stressed continuity as they subtly forced us to think about material we had long since finished. She was always personable and organized, and was never overly serious about the subject. Her teacher talking was brief, informative, and made colorful by cultural references that were, from time to time, familiar—such as integrating pop-icons from Japan that had also had some impact in the US, while sometimes she asked us to push our comfort zones by encouraging us to do research on more challenging and unfamiliar topics.

One role of the teacher that section 1.2 does not mention is Integrator, or the trait of being integrative. Japanese did not feel like an untouchable experience to the students in class. Frequently she invited us to take part in community events such as the local Japanese speech contest. She encouraged us to find pen-pals, or go to community restaurants and venues reflecting the culture, and helped guide us to those connections where it may be daunting for students to find those connections alone. She made herself available during lunch-time and played recorded videos, television shows, and music from her home country. These activities I felt made the subject seem real and the subject became engaging to most students who took the class. When students felt like the subject had a connection to their life, they became motivated to continue to study past the two year language requirement for graduation.

College organic chemistry lecture was a completely different experience. I took two courses of it and experienced two poor educators. The situation was much exacerbated by the tremendous class size of upward of 330 students. Our professors tended to go by the book in both lecture and exercises. We prepared for multiple choice tests and had very little contact with our professors. At office hours or test review sessions there could be upwards of 100 students sitting before the teacher. They were not horrible instructors, always seemed as rushed and hurried and their attitudes definitely transferred into my experience in their classes. When the teacher’s attitude is not confident, students lose confidence in the teacher. It also gives them a sense that the teacher is inapproachable, and based on my experience I agree with Section 1.2 that approachability is a key trait for a teacher as it encourages the student to fulfill their duty to engage and ask questions honestly.

The classes also did not offer any sense of community, as students were not actively encouraged to seek one another’s help. This would help them act independently of the professor. I realize how much the sense of community in the classroom and feeling tied to my peers helped me to succeed in many different fields of study in high school. Even in the university, my performance was much better in classes where peer discussion was encouraged.

Overall, my experiences give me a sense of the role I seek to fulfill as a teacher. I may find myself to be 15% lecturer, and definitely incorporate integration of subjects and knowledge into my classes through the role of counselor and guide, approximately 20% of my efforts. The rest of the energy I will invest in uniting students with effective materials and lesson plans.

Eiken Writer, Editor, Consultant Interview

Link to interview with Mr. Graham McDarmott (spelling? guraamu makkudarumotto-san)

http://careercenter.ecentral.jp/ja/2011/05/31/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8A%E3%81%AE%E5%9B%BD%E9%9A%9B%E4%BA%BA%EF%BC%9A%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2%E6%A5%AD%E7%95%8C%EF%BC%9A%E8%8B%B1%E6%A4%9C%E3%81%A7%E6%B4%BB%E8%BA%8D%E3%81%95%E3%82%8C/

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I recently got official word that I company I thought I was set to work for couldn't place me for fall. So I and my husband continue to browse the gaijinpot and Japan English Teacher. We also came to the conclusion that I may start out in Korea. Not being single, or rather, having a spouse accompany me, locks me out of a job market designed for singles but I know ALT companies tend to be more flexible and are still an option in the future if I do what I need to do to make myself competitive. The interview above is with someone who works writing the Eiken exam. It sounds like an interesting position and the interview is not that hard to read (easy kanji), and would be good for anyone interested in working in Japan someday to read.

My friend just made it through the AEON interview. As I said, these common entry-level teaching jobs are exclusive to singles or those who intend to come to Japan alone, or come without co-habitating with a spouse. I ran into this issue at an interview for an independent eikaiwa chain in Aichi. If there are any readers out there who are married (especially to an international... his English is excellent but he can't be considered native-born English speaker), perhaps they can identify. But I'm thrilled for him as he does not only have solid interpersonal skills for a position like AEON, but is also business minded so it will be a great experience for his future.

I have a phone interview tonight with a school near my husband's parents' home in Korea, and perhaps one ALT company that would probably be able to place me by spring. All the Japan stuff is yet to come though. It's so competitive these days!