On Monday, I met the class for the first time. It was supposed to be the previous Monday, but due to misunderstandings or misinformation, they weren’t told. This is a group comprising of primary, and some secondary, school teachers (from the same school), and my task is to bring them up to B2 level by June. *clears throat*
Class will be once a week, and lasting 2 hours.
Present: 9
Room: Computer lab! Whoopee! Computers on each table, projector, and a chalk board! Wow – do these still exist? Haha. Thankfully, I could write quite well on it unlike some I’ve come across! There is also enough space between the tables for me to weave in and out.
The first thing I did, without even introducing myself, although some of them, no doubt, would have been told about me, I wrote five words:
British
English
Indonesia
Singapore
nineteen
Their task, I said, was to ask the questions of which these were the answers. The first responses were yes/no questions such as “Are you British?”, which had to be reformulated, naturally.
This activity went quite well although it became clear to me the enormity of my goal, or rather that of my employer. I would categorise these students at A1 or A2 level. *Great! Another challenge! Haha*
After some coaxing and prompting, they succeeded in coming up with legitimate questions. I then asked them what level they thought they had. Without exception, they said, “Basic”. So, in no uncertain terms, I told them that they would need to work extremely hard by themselves, and that we would then devote the 2-hour class to conversation and clarification of doubts.
Extending the questioning activity, I directed them to a needs analysis I’d previously prepared in Google Docs. They were tasked to “interview” each other to fill in the information of their partner, and this was what I sought:
Name
Subject taught
Level taught
Topics of interest
Hobbies
Tech Level (0-5)
email
I also asked “What would you like to do in class?” grading from 0 (= never) to 5 (= always).
Speaking
Pronunciation
Grammar
Vocabulary
Writing
Reading
Listening
This part of the lesson suffered some delays, principally because Internet Explorer doesn’t cope very well with Google Docs. Fortunately, albeit surprisingly, they were allowed to download Chrome. The other initial hiccup was that they weren’t used to seeing a document being updated “live” by someone else, and they kept writing over someone else’s details!
When this was done, I told them that I will have another document, and this will be the class notebook, where all of us can write on it. This will work better than having a blog, for example, especially seeing that all of them classified their tech level as “2″ or “3″ in the needs analysis.
Here, I had the links to Flo-Joe’s word bank, my blogs (directing them, in particular, to my Useful Resources page), and my ScoopIts on International Exams and Grammar Exercises. I also told them that I will inform them of any tasks that I want them to do in this document. When I got home I appended these three questions:
What did you learn today?
What would you like to do in the next class?
What did you like or didn’t like about today’s class?
I added that they should choose a colour each to identify themselves, but if they wish to remain anonymous, they could write in my colour, which is black.
Going back to the day’s lesson, here are a few other activities I did:
- A short Move-it! around the halfway stage to liven things up a little.
- Truth or lie (with just one student only as it didn’t work very well because he didn’t do it seriously. It did, however throw up a word new to them: six-pack).
- I asked each student to construct two sentences about themselves. Just to ensure that they were paying attention and that they could manage third person constructions comfortably, I surprised them, every now and then, by asking about someone else instead: What did she say? Are you sure?
- At the end of the lesson, we reviewed what they thought they’d learned.
Emergent language
Grammar
this/that/these/those (Those who are wearing trainers, sit down!) Also: pronunciation drilling.
have/have got (He doesn’t have/hasn’t got a six-pack) Especially: negatives and interrogatives.
like/hate + -ing (I like sewing)
depend+on
Vocabulary
sew
flat (Who lives in a flat?)
trainers
six-pack
Reflection
What I liked: They understood my instructions; they understood the context of what I was saying, if not all the words. All of them had a chance to speak.
What I didn’t like: I wasted some time on the tech side, and I was, perhaps, talking more than I would have liked to. However, this being the first lesson, there were a lot of instructions, clarification, etc.
What I subsequently wasn’t too pleased about is the fact that only three so far had written on the class notebook, so the tasks remained undone. The three questions I asked there are to be the springboard from which the course will spring, but now?
And I thought they were motivated…
Hi Chiew,
This sounds very cool. You have clearly put a lot of thought into this course design and I like all the follow up activities, extra resources and the integration of the computer resources. I have heard a lot about Google docs but haven’t got round to checking it out yet.
It sounds a lot like most ‘first classes’. Everyone is sounding each other out and just testing the water. I imagine that they were a bit taken aback by the style in which the course is delivered and maybe the lack of coursebook. Was this mentioned to them before the course started? Was it mentioned in the class? Have they had previous English classes that involved a course-book?
It sounds like they are going to have a great course and good luck with getting them up to B2 in such a short time. Quite the challenge, but I’m sure you will succeed.
Looking forward to hearing more about this project.
Adam
Thanks for your comment, Adam. Much appreciated. Google Docs is a terrific tool – I don’t use all that it offers, but being a paperless man, I encourage others to follow suit. The problem, I find, is that not many students use it as I would like them to – like their own notebook. It’s as though they don’t feel the ownership. I’m working on that! If you need any help, just let me know.
Yes, first classes are always a bit of a checking-each-other-out time. I’m surprised that they wanted more listening than speaking, and grammar scored quite highly, too. I suspect that 1) their level is still very low, and 2) they don’t want or can’t dedicate much of their own time to studying and research.
Nothing was mentioned to them about the style of the course nor the presence or absence of coursebooks. I did mention that we ought to devote our class time to speaking more than anything else. I think they’re wondering how they’re going to “learn”. Today’s the second class, so let’s see if they get a clearer idea or I’d have to reassure them.
Basically, they are all subject teachers (meaning other curricular subjects than English) and their school would like to go “CLIL”. It’s a private (subsidised) school, so if they don’t have the level to teach CLIL, they may not have their contracts extended. However, the school is the one paying the course (and it’s a ridiculous amount, at that – I’m crazy to accept it, but I hate closing doors), and frankly, I think they’re rather mean, not to mention hoping for a miracle, providing a 2-hour/week course. Mind you, it’s a Catholic school, so they do believe in miracles! Haha. And I believe in hot chocolate! Do you like my new header?
My project class recently asked for more listening too. So, I have responded, albeit with mixed results. More to come about this in my next blog post.
What with the CLIL thing, will you be developing the course structure around that? Perhaps building up the lexical knowledge of those particular subjects through reading and listening texts? Would love to watch you in action with this class.
Nice header. Is it one of your own photos?
The answer to the CLIL question is a resounding NO! They’d have to pay me much more for that. But, sure, if a topic comes up in conversation, I may take that road, but from the language learning angle, and not from the teaching. Of course, if they picked up on it themselves, and thought, “Hey, I must remember that one – it’s something I can do in my class”, then, great!
As for the listenings, I may introduce some later on if they fit into what happens in class. I’ll be keeping an eye out for your post on this.
And, yes, the header is my own work, as part of Project 366. Take a look at this one, too.
Interesting stuff Chiew. I’m also teaching a class of teachers at a school which is set to become ‘bilingual’ in the next academic year; fortunately they are actually at a decent level. The problem I have is with attendance – they’re appalling!
I generally follow materials-light, conversational path and have since the beginning. They have never questioned it or wondered about a course book at all. I’m helping them prepare to do a Trinity speaking exam in a few months as well. What B2 level exam are yours supposed to be taking, if anything?
Thanks for the visit, Rich. Shall we swap students? Hehe. I think I’d rather have yours!
I think they’re aiming for the First Certificate. I’ve told them to do Flo-Joe every day, but only some of them have done so, and 2 or 3 days only at that.
I suppose they themselves haven’t got much faith! We’ll see by the end of the 4th lesson if they’ll feel more confident.
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