Wow, what an experience!

I have just returned to Poland from Baku. Although I am still a bit disoriented from the 3 hour time difference, driving my wife crazy with waking, falling asleep and requesting meals at strange hours, (plus also complaining, ‘It’s cold here.’ referring to +25 C), I would like to formulate some of my impressions while they are still fresh in memory.

A trainer goes somewhere to share knowledge and expertise, to make positive change, but there is always this added value for him or her: you teach but you also learn from others and grow as well. This is what I got from my Baku experience; this is what enriched me:

1.) The understanding of what the Turkish schools contribute to education in Azerbaijan. The teachers and school administrators attach great importance to quality education, and channel incredible resources into it.

2.) Living briefly in this country. Before I went, I did a bit of homework reading about Azerbaijan and also contacting people who have also been there, but nothing prepared me for the grandeur of Baku and the dynamism of its growth. In my part of the world there is always talk of economic crisis, followed by budget cuts for education and worry caused by low demography. This part of the world , in turn, looks extremely vibrant, with incredible potential. For instance, I was impressed by the facilities in which I was to work with IWBs in every classroom.

3.) The contact with my teaching group that came from Nakhchivan, a place I had never heard of. They turned out to be pleasant, gentle, and good-humored people. We had a lot of common knowledge in terms of global culture, but it was exciting for me to pick up all these little ‘exotic’ elements: the way they addressed me and the others in formal situations, (Hasan Teacher), the gesture of crossing their hearts, the little dance that my people did in class, or the literal meaning of their first names: Sahil, Jahid, Elkhaz, Elchin, Niyameddin, Sakhavat, Sumer, for example.

4.) Finally, the contact with my team, my co-teachers at the smartboard: Anette, Ola, and Vanessa, but also the ‘mission control’ people (Houston, we have a problem!), Kristina and Andi, working hard behind the scenes, making things happen. When you are blessed with a good team, their special combination of EFL expertise and international teaching experience, they share with you tips and materials, they support you, plus you have good fun with them after hours (every good trainer is a superb storyteller and an actor).

I will remember all these things, but what am I not going to miss? The situation when, before a class, I carefully arranged my notes and handouts, and then, because of the heat, my somebody opened the windows and the doors and turned on a fan. Guess what inevitably happened next ;)

Krzysztof

Baku course reflections 1 by Ola

On the first day of the course we met our trainees. It was a challenge for me to get a group of ten energetic men (in alphabetical order): Adalet, Ahmet, Cem, Emil, Ilkin,Mustafa, Reshad, Rufet, Sarvan and Yakup. They all came rather unprepared (no pens, not notebooks) but we have managed to get them organized! At the end of the course theY ALL produced folders with their handouts and microteaching stuff! 

Their expectations were very concrete: to get an insight into the EFL methodology to become better teachers. I myself also had goals – I wanted to learn the Azeri EFL context and… to have fun :). Teaching and teacher training is a job, but doing it without pleasure is a dreadful thing.      

One of the activities all my trainees enjoyed a lot was called 'It’s a bad line'. I have used it many times with all age groups of students, including adults. It always works! Students sit on the chairs in two rows, each person facing a partner about 2 m away, like this: 

x  o  x  o  x  o  x  o

o  x  o  x  o  x  o  x  

The ‘o’ students have a piece of paper with personal info about a person (name, address, telephone). Their task is to dictate/spell the info to the partner opposite (‘x’) whose task is to write all this down. The only problem is there are other people around who have the same task! Can you imagine the noise? Yes, it is a noisy activity but also fun and you practice spelling. Can you imagine 10 grown up men shouting like crazy to get the message across? I wish I had taken a photo of that activity. 

So, the teachers enjoyed the activity, they also practiced spelling. But what about the noise? Some of the teachers said they would not be allowed to do such an activity with their students because this would mean other teachersconducting their lessons nearby would get upset. They told me noise in the classroom means you are not controlling you students. Well, there is bad noise and there is good noise. If you are in control and know how to install order once the activity is over – that’s good noise! How can learn a language without using it? Even if my trainees decide not to use this activity in the classroom they at least had some fun and learnt at the same time!         

My name is Ola and I’m Polish. I have been teaching English (and Geography) for 25 years. For the last 8 years I have also been engaged in teacher training as a freelancer – mostly in Poland (especially in Geography and bilingual education) but also in the UK (EFL teacher training courses for Pilgrims and Bell). As a professional geographer I like travelling so combining English teacher training with visiting new places is what I like best! So far I have worked with teachers in Uzbekistan, Qatar and now in Azerbaijan as part of the CTS wonderful teacher training team. Thanks a lot for this opportunity, Kristina :).        

A guest post from Ali Bilgin Bey

Today we have a special treat. 

Ali Bilgin Bey, the Fatih Schools' Head of English, whose opinions I respect very highly, kindly consented to contribute a post on lesson planning. Here is his guest post:

I have been practicing teaching English for 16 years,

and let me tell you, in these 16 years, whenever I planned a decent plan 

and wrote it down, and went to my classroom, that lesson always went well.

The possibility of any planned lesson going bad is almost zero, and 

the possibility of any unplanned lesson going well is most probably again zero...

OK, it isn't easy to do the planning every time before the lessons.

It is time consuming and in this era when the teachers are super loaded,

it takes a lot from the teachers; but it gives us a lot too as an English teacher...

In Bediuzzaman's books (risales) there is a simile for the sins,

Bediuzzaman describes the sins as poisoned honey,

They first give us pleasure but then poison us when we eat that honey...

For that 10 seconds pleasure, we mustn't risk our life...

Like this simile, lesson planning is also like a reverse poisoned honey comparison...

It first gives you pain for 15 minutes, but then when you get accustomed to do,

you get a lifetime long of pleasure of teaching English properly.

Just try it and keep doing it, you will never regret it...

I hope it works for you.

Best wishes...

First Day Stresses

26.06.2013

First day stresses of any PD course…

Will we get started on time?

Yes! The director of the schools in Azerbaijan made a fantastic speech to all the course participants who were gathered in the amphitheater the first morning.  He welcomed all the foreign trainers (more about them later.) He clearly explained that as everything is in motion, from the stars and the the planets to the molecules in our bodies, we must accept that change is the norm. In short, all teachers need to study throughout their professional lives to learn more so that they can help students better.

As trainers we appreciated this support at the start, since there are always differing levels of motivation on a required PD summer course. A nudge from the ‘boss’ helps make some participants work more J. We also have a demanding course – with homework every night!

The director also reminded people about cell phones – we are at the ‘let’s keep them off’ level here. No mobile learning apps on this course. (Sorry, Işil Boy) And 100% attendance is expected. Work hard, play hard (but after the course finishes.)

There was almost nothing left for me to say to the audience except to joke that we are working on ‘German time’, where 9.45 means 9.45 and not 10.30 like some places I have been to! An ambitious statement. Let’s see what happens. Then I introduced the trainers and got them matched with their groups.  They went off to show the groups to their classrooms and find tea. I breathed a sigh of relief and checked my watch.  9.30 - right on time. Fifteen minutes before we should start the first session.   

The last fifteen minutes …   

We rather cleverly(if I do say so myself) organized a 30-minute session from 9.00-9.30 in the morning of flexi time where the trainer can go over homework or review a point from the previous day before the first major input session starts. Why? Think Maslow. It allows us to all get a cup of tea or coffee before getting stuck into the main input. Very important. I don’t function very well without enough liquid caffeine. (Hint, hint.)

For a moment that nervous tension before that first session made me feel like there is something I was supposed to do for trainers (but had forgotten.) Then I snapped out of it. They looked like I felt. Thoughts and energy inside getting focused for going ‘on stage’. Finally we are heading down the corridor at 9.45. German time. Hmm. I am going to live to regret that remark.

Who are the participants? What are our aims?

On our Baku course we have 4 groups of teachers – three male and three female. They are all secondary school teachers working at Turkish schools around Azerbaijan. To make everybody more comfortable, the ladies were one floor higher up with their own room for breaks. Obviously we gave them female trainers since we had enough. The male teachers were mostly people I have met or observed except for one group.  (After 7 months of working in the country we didn't even know they existed!)

Almost all the participants have been observed and certain common points have come up: In general ….

1.)    Lack of planning for lessons means there are a lot of classroom management problems and a LOT of potential learning time is wasted.

2.)    Classroom management problems are compounded by a “We talk about it in the first week for 10 minutes” attitude. Teachers are not aware that they need to spend time in the first weeks and months setting clear expectations and creating (and enforcing) natural consequences to get the students behaving the way they want them to.

3.)    Classes are very teacher-centered (in general). Most opportunities for genuine interaction in the course book are skipped. As a result, students do very little speaking. I have not seen any communicative activities with an info-gap.

4.)    Students do very little reading – just reading aloud or listen and read with the book. Reading skills are not really taught directly (and are probably not tested.)  

5.)    Skills work in class needs a much stronger focus. Skills are tested, not taught.

6.)    We have never seen teachers use any Concept Checking Questions or timelines, which are pretty standard tools in a teacher’s toolkit.

7.)    Instructions tend to be unplanned and therefore too long, not checked, etc. which again brings us to the classroom management problems in (1).

Our course is organized to help teachers think about these points (1-7) and have strategies for improving student learning.  

Downstairs I went to my class. One trainer, Vanessa Esteves, hadn't arrived yet due to visa problems so I took her group for the first day.

What did I notice? Well, again I was struck by the number of teachers turning up with no pens and no paper. Is it really such a gender issue? Don’t men ever write anything down?  I’m not expecting color-coordinated Galatasaray pencils and erasers but a workmanlike set of stationery for a two-week course shouldn't be too much to ask…. Especially when it is Part A and they have to bring their completed portfolios to the next two-week sessions. We will have to make it a requirement that everyone has an A4 notebook and a file for handouts. (Note to self to organize this next time.) 

The Final Preparations

25.06.2013

The day before our course started we were all busy. We checked all the arrangements to ensure the course would run smoothly.  The suitcase full of stationery items has been unpacked - thank you Ali Bey for bringing that!  The books for micro-teaching are on the table. Our laptops are connected to the Internet and the printers. There is enough paper for photocopying. Tea and hot water have been arranged for the next day. To be done... get a good night's sleep before meeting the teachers.

This picture is taken in front of the main Turkish school in Baku, 'Baku Privat'.  A big thank you to Cag Egitim Merkezi for making all the arrangements.

What is the CTS-English course?

SeltAcademy has been very busy these past few months preparing for our first 'Certificate in Teaching Skills' course for English language teachers in Baku, Azerbaijan. CTS-English is our  flagship course for primary and high school teachers. We aim to add more versions later - one for Young Learners and another for Very Young Learners. Perhaps later some others will come... like a Diploma level one for teachers who have CTS, CELTA or ICELT.

The course is given in two parts (A and B), each one lasting two weeks or a four-week version. Generally speaking, splitting the course into two parts works better because teachers have more time to digest the material and try to incorporate it into their classes before we start the next half. Conditions permitting, we also visit teachers to observe their classes between the two parts to help them with their lesson planning and lesson execution.  In Baku the plan is to go back in the spring break to do the second part.

The CTS-English course is similar to CELTA in that there is micro-teaching, but it is done with the other teachers in the group as the language learners. Participants use an adult course book close to their own level of English so that there is some language development for teachers as well.

The course is driven by the micro-teaching. Trainers are asked to respond to what the participants need so although there is a program and we provide PowerPoint presentations, Trainers Notes, Handouts and articles with homework tasks for the participants, we are happy for trainers to interpret the session titles and aims according to their group's needs. This provides a flexibility within a consistent structure. Teachers who attend this course anywhere in the world will have received input on roughly speaking the same topics but with local variations.

On this blog we will be sharing some insights into the course, the way teachers develop and the way the trainers work with the teachers.