In our teaching we use textbooks that our students use in their teaching. In Sichuan the text is, Fun With English. We have book 8A, the one for the first half of eighth grade. The Ningxia textbook is, Go For It! The one we are using is for the second half of grade eight. We will teach from these books every morning in classes one and two. ELIC is purchasing copies of the textbooks, and they will be given out at the teaching sites. As the summer progresses we give the teachers who are our students increasingly more opportunities to apply the methodologies that we model and help them refine.
On May 11 textbooks went in the mail. Everyone received the first half of Fun with English 8A. We only have a maximum of 12 teaching days in Hanyuan County of Sichuan. The first half of the book may be as far as we get with that book designed for a full semester of teaching. We probably will not get into the second half of the text. Those joining the Team this year also received Go For It! Returnees probably still have one from last year. We don't have teachers' editions for Fun with English, but we do have them for Go For It!
Look over the textbooks and the bookmark we produced last year. During our preparation week in Beijing, we will devote time to planning our teaching. We can all become familiar with the two books. Let's divide up responsibilities and have "Resident Experts" for several of the units. As Resident Experts we should find ways to apply principles from the Methodology and Teaching Tips topics printed on the bookmark. Also give attention to ways to help the Chinese teachers apply these ideas. Resident Experts will have time to meet together with their "partners" in Beijing before leading sessions with the Team.
During our preparation week we will discuss the five units in Go For It! and the three units in Fun With English sharing ideas about how to encourage and help our students teach the various sections effectively. As Resident Experts you will be our leaders/resource specialists for prep sessions for your units. Each one of us will adapt, adjust, modify fine tune, what we work to fit our style of teaching and to target the unique needs of our students.
As we begin we need to remind ourselves that they approach teaching with a heavy, most exclusive emphasis upon subject matter with a strong inclination (pressure) to follow the textbook. They find it refreshing and encouraging to study and learn from us about how to apply teaching methodologies.
During our preparation week we will discuss the five units in Go For It! and the three units in Fun With English sharing ideas about how to encourage and help our students teach the various sections effectively. As Resident Experts you will be our leaders/resource specialists for prep sessions for your units. Each one of us will adapt, adjust, modify fine tune, what we work to fit our style of teaching and to target the unique needs of our students.
As we begin we need to remind ourselves that they approach teaching with a heavy, most exclusive emphasis upon subject matter with a strong inclination (pressure) to follow the textbook. They find it refreshing and encouraging to study and learn from us about how to apply teaching methodologies.
Go For It Unit 1 Jene & Meggi
Unit 2 Mary & Joanne
Unit 3 John & Merlynn
Unit 4 Roxanne & Jack
Unit 5 Dave
Fun with English Unit 1 Roxanne, Jene, Jack
Unit 2 John, Mary, Joanne
Unit 3 Dave, Merlynn, Meggi
Here is another idea. Let's volunteer here to help each other by generating ideas and sharing those ideas on teaching and mentoring on topics you see in the texts that cut across many lessons. Everyone will probably think of a topic or two. Add a comment telli g us the one(s) you want to work on. Here are some for starters:
- Pronunciation
- Grammar
- Listening
- Reading
- Finishing lessons effectively without rushing to "cover" everything
- Using groups in crowds, i.e. classes of 55-80
- Evaluating progress
- . . .
If you want, leave comments as ideas/suggestions come to you. Come to Beijing prepared to share.
got a couple ideas about groups in very large classrooms
ReplyDeleteone is a way to divide your class and the other is using colored dots to easily assign tasks
Joanne said:
ReplyDeleteMy first time in a blog. Hope I am doing this right.
Don't know where to post this:
Jack mentioned gifts for the officials. What are we doing for that?
I could try to get a softcover picture book of California as one gift. Since we are going to two places should I buy two?
What ideas does everyone have?
Hi Joanne,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blog. I'm just getting used to it, too. Where are you from in California? I'm from Redding (Shasta County), north of Sacramento, almost to Oregon. I'm not sure if we'll need to present geography from our area, but if you're from this area, I'd be happy to talk about Southern California instead and include San Diego and Los Angeles, etc. Of course, if you're from there, I'll do NO CA.
David suggested that we each bring 2 gifts from our area. I think those gifts are for the officials. I'm not sure if we need to bring gifts for our students, as well. If we do, how many? David, do you have an idea of that number yet?
About the gifts, a teaching-aid company here in Texas is donating some aids that could be gifts. As soon as I receive them, I'll blog about what they are.
ReplyDeleteI know that there will be 125 of what they call "critical thinking wheels." These are hand-held, wheels that turn to generate stems for (Bloom-based) critical thinking questions and answers.
I will have a gift for Mr. Ma in Yinchuan. I'll give it to Ms. Pittard (it's a little book I wrote about teaching in various places in the world).
As for gifts for people in our class, I usually give each a dollar bill, a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a penny. (And I give them out, one day at a time, starting with the penny, as the program begins to wind down, during the last session of the day.)
I have an exercise that goes with the coins. What can you do with it besides spend it?
What does it remind you of?
How would you describe it to a sightless person?
What does it look like, sound like, smell like, taste like, feel like?
And then there'as everything you can say about what's written on the dollar and the coins.
Mistake in the next-to-the last line:
ReplyDeletethere'as should be there's.
This is a great idea for a gift. I've given coins before, but may I copy the rest of this idea to use with my students?
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm on the right section of the blog. If this is about curriculum, I have one thing to say. I really hope we're including the Genesis Hour again this year.
ReplyDeleteThe students really profited and enjoyed being taught by all teachers. I really enjoyed having an opportunity to be in each classroom. Jene and I have already discussed topics to teach. Please respond Dave.
Never mind responding Dave, I didn't go far enough with your very "indepth" blog. So much information might be mind-boggling to the new guys.
ReplyDeletethanks for the great stuff on the coins, John (AKA) anomymous.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on unit 1 of Fun With English, sort of bogged down in the grammar part, trying to be creative with a small group approach. I'll need your help, Jakc and Roxanne
Jene, I'll take the grammar part for Unit 1 of Fun With English and have something for us in Beijing. Will that work?
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteWill the CTs have Teachers' books? In previous years, have the NA teachers taught the CTs as if they were a class of students using the Chinese Student books for the first time? Or do the NA teachers work with the CTs, giving them ideas on how to use their Teachers' books more effectively?
thanks, Roxanne. that will be great
ReplyDeleteI'm going through all the lessons and thinking about where you could insert the two topics I did for the Genesis Hour: cognitive maps and The Five Read if that's OK.
ReplyDeleteOne miracle has already taken place. Meggie has ventured out into the world of blogging, a feat long considered improbable.
ReplyDeleteThere is now no limit to the heights, depths, and breadths of amazement our team(s) will experience both now and forever.
Merlynn, about your question as how we teach the CTs, my answer is yes. I did it both ways, as students in the beginning to model, and then more and more they began to plan how to teach sections and to practice that, in small broups and then for the whole class.
ReplyDeleteMeggi, thanks so much for doing that. I'l try to go through both texts and identify different parts of the methodology.
Thanks, Jene, that gives me more of an idea of how to plan.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I'm proposing to present. If someone else is planning something similar, let me know and I'll change. I'm leaving the States June 9, so I'd like to get this figured out before I leave.
ReplyDelete1. LEA (language experience approach - emphasizes verb tenses and using vocabulary generated by the students
2. a lesson on family values - with emphasis on "family" vocabulary and ways to get students to discuss relevant issues
3. learning styles - an overview of various learning styles and the need to use all of them in a classroom
Again, if someone is already planning lessons in these subjects, let me know.
Strike the "learning styles" lesson from my list. I think it will be covered in the methodology lectures. Instead, I'll develop a lesson on something less theoretical...perhaps a lesson on using question words.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone. My 2 topics for Genesis hour are both about teaching. The first is information that I got from the Net, the topic is "What is the most important role of the English Teacher.
ReplyDeleteThe second, the one I like most, is: "Teaching to Change Lives." A few years ago ELI sent us a book by the same name written by Dr. Howard Hendricks. I've incorporated his ideas with some good activities. I'll also come up with a song for each class. The students really love learning and singing English songs.
See you all VERY soon.