At the
end of the CTS we talk to our trainees about continuous professional
development. I feel passionate about advocating CPD and never want to be one of
those educators that reaches a point and decides ‘I’m good enough let’s just
stop here’. I like to keep myself on my toes and try out all sorts of ways to develop
both as a trainer and teacher. Courses, webinars, conferences, observations,
DELTA, Masters, reading journals, action research…You name it, I’ve been there
done that, worn the t-shirt. However, anytime I’m asked what has been the most
influential, my answer is always the same. Learning another language myself. I
tend to forget many of the things I read or even see and hear but experiences,
at least for me, tend to bring about more self-reflection and real change. I’ve
learnt so much by attending Czech class. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t learnt a
great deal of Czech, but I have learnt a lot about myself as a learner and
about teaching.
- It was in Czech class I really learnt the value of a smile and a pause from the teacher. I remember being told many times during CELTA all those years ago to pause and give students time to reply, to reduce TT, to do everything you can to induce student talk etc. but I didn’t really understand until I was the student not being given enough time. Prior to that, as a teacher, I’d underestimated how much time a student might need to process the questions and formulate the answer. I suspect I was also a little afraid of too much silence or what might be seen as ‘dead time’. My favourite Czech teachers were the ones who smiled, nodded and paused. Gave me time to show I could do it. Or at least try.
- It was in Czech class that I got really annoyed and lost my motivation to learn because one of my teachers always had her back to my side of the room.
- It was in Czech class I realised, to my surprise, that actually gap fill activities aren’t boring if they are relevant, the right level of challenge and not too long.
- It was in Czech class I learnt that a fun game doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated and really can lighten the mood and motivate language use if done right, but it was also in Czech class that I learnt that the fun soon wears off if it’s too easy or it’s not clear what the point is.
It
helped that I did my DELTA around the same time I was learning Czech, so I made
a conscious effort to reflect on my feelings as a student and how my teacher,
the teaching style, the material, the classroom environment etc. may have
contributed to them. Because of course, real development takes place when there
is a conscious effort to reflect, adapt, accommodate, process what we’ve
experienced.
If
you’ve read this far, I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that I’m a big
fan of Tessa Woodward and an even bigger fan of Loop Input. That cycle of
experiencing and reflecting always feels right for me both when I’m the
learner, and the trainer. I also love getting trainees to try out practical
ideas from the perspective of the learner, whether that be an activity, or a
classroom management technique. I love seeing the ‘aha moment’ on the trainees
faces during the reflection stage. I equally love it when something goes wrong,
therefore giving us the opportunity to analyse and discuss why a problem
occurred with real live examples and experiences.
I really
appreciated that the CTS course materials supported a balanced approach. It
included my beloved Loop Input and there were plenty of opportunities to try
out practical ideas from the perspective of the student, but there was also
plenty of reflection and focus on information and ideas without too many frills
to distract away from what is important. I’m a big fan of the practical, but a
firm believer that a box of tricks is far more valuable and generative when a
trainee really understands the whys as well as the hows.
Some
examples to share….
One of
the activities demonstrated during the CTS Primary course in Konya, was getting
two teams to line up, showing the person at the back of the line a letter of
the alphabet, then each member of the team writing the letter on the next
persons back without saying a word until finally, the person at the front of
the line writes what they think it is on the board. That person then goes to
the back of the line with the process continuing until it spells a word for the
team to guess. For this activity I focussed on giving clear instructions and
setting up the activity well etc., but I intentionally drew really ambiguous
looking capital letters on cards that I then used for the activity. I was
really pleased when I saw that both teams struggled at times to get all the
letters correct. Following the activity I told trainees that I’d intentionally
done something badly and that they had to guess what it was. It was great as it
helped them analyse the activity, the stages etc. and work out for themselves
if it was a big problem or not and how important or otherwise clear lettering
is. We also discussed whether they felt comfortable writing on each other’s
back, whether they would have felt more uncomfortable if it were a member of
the opposite sex, somebody they didn’t like, somebody they didn’t trust etc.
For me
personally, I rarely do role plays in my classes, so I really enjoyed seeing
the suggested set up in the CTS notes and wish I’d spent more time on this (we
had to rush the end) as I feel it’s a great way to demonstrate how a different
approach can result in more language and cooperation and just generally a more
successful and worthwhile activity all round. When demonstrating the role play,
I started by mentioning role plays, then asked a trainee to come to the front
and boom! Do one. I could tell from the expression on her face she was about to
and no one in the room indicated with their face or body language that this was
anything less than normal, but before she could start I stopped her and said
‘actually, let’s try this a different way’. At the end of the session we compared
which approach would get the most out of the students. I think if I had just
told them instead of showed them. Let them be the students. They wouldn’t have
really ‘got it’ in the same way.
My
trainees didn’t really get the chance to sit quietly and take notes. I’m not
that kind of trainer. But…we had a lot of fun with jazz hands and enormous
elephants walking to New York. During the final feedback for the course
trainees told me one of the things they loved the most and gained the most from
was ‘feeling like the students’. This made me really happy, as it was my
intention to focus on this. I knew from the moment I met the trainees they were
knowledgeable, intelligent, competent teachers. I knew they would be able to
recite the theory to me, but I wasn’t convinced they really understood the
practical implications or even if I could help them reach those aha moments. I
also wanted to show them, as opposed to telling them that one of the most
important things in a YL classroom is to create an environment that’s not only
conducive to learning, but also one where the students really want to use the language. I’m so happy that my trainees reached that
point. They saw it for themselves. And I love that they can relive it every
time they look back on photos and videos of themselves, fully grown adults,
reciting the elephant TPR story in the park. On a weekend. By choice!
I will
miss both my wonderful colleagues and inspiring Algerian trainees from my time
in Konya. With any luck they will create that same lovely atmosphere in each of
their classes around Turkey and keep our special time in Konya alive. Thank you
Kristina for inviting me to be a part of this experience for a second year. I
look forward to 2015!
