I wonder which of these types of teacher I belong to

twitter: @eugenio_fouz

Yes. Have your say, if you know me 😉

                                 

 

Writings and thoughts in a notepad

( Film: To Sir, with Love )

Those notes following below are the notes written by a language teacher. The writings in a notepad were based on his experience at teaching English to kids. I have taken this book at least twice in my hands and I wouldn´t dare say that it has been the last time. There are lots of interesting conclusions on the work of teaching and the experience of communication, learning and understanding teenagers. But the issue goes further. It is the footprint that a relationship of authority, friendship or whatever the scheme should be makes into the teacher himself. I think this diary is hard to read for any teacher. It is also an uneasy book in which a teacher sees the most unkind side of teaching.

From the very beginning of Joachim Appel´s diary a headteacher warns him not try to be the children´s friend.

…

NOTES WRITTEN BY JOACHIM APPEL:

“19th August- A new pupil-

First lesson in grade 10. What a difference! They burst out laughing when they saw me. They thought I was a new pupil. I didn´t stand a chance. Their boisterous welcome had intimidated me

31st August-As long as it isn´t grammar-

They say they hate grammar. Anything, as long as it isn´t grammar.

9th December –I want to work with my friends-

Today I tell grade 6 to work in groups of four. They are to read a piece of dialogue in groups and then act it out in front of the class. Hardly have I said they are to work in groups (each group corresponding to one row of seats) than pandemonium breaks out.

20th December-What a fool-

I am still used to measuring my success as a teacher in terms of the silence I am able to produce. “

(Joachim Appel, Diary of a Language Teacher. Heinemann- Oxford, 1995)

…

One hour plus one hour makes a hundred hours

(The American actor Tom Berenger, The substitute -1996- a film directed by Robert Mandel)

Teacher´s notepad: Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

The ideal period for teaching a Foreign Language consists of lots of activities.

One student must receive information, get examples, do a little reading, practise, listen to audios from the textbook or wherever, and above all, writing words and phrases in their notebooks.

The teacher tests oral skills by motivating students to speak aloud, read and pronounce well. One way is by means of choral repetition.  Some people are shy and need the help of a group to sing or talk. And this could be the way for them.

If possible, a pack  of paper copies to unify criteria, exercises or basic concepts-a kind of Parallel Papers– should be another opportunity for extra work in class and revision at home. There the teacher might show lists of words, false friends or explanations on how to  tell the time, etcetera.

The textbook is the basic activity but not the only one: there are texts, audios, exercises, grammar, lists of vocabulary, tips, and a variety of topics to deal with such as dialogues and reading comprehensions. There are more activities, of course. One must get the students involved in the work of the activity book or workbook.

It has been observed that some students are not good at communicating their feelings or just saying what they need or want. The exploitation of writing grammatically correct sentences and the memorizing activity of getting new words should not be forgotten.

If the students are being evaluated with marks they make an effort to learn words or to make sentences in the right way.

These sentences might be called SMS or Short Messages and dictated or copied on the blackboard in packs of seven or ten, for example. Mini-tests on vocabulary is another possibility to keep their interest and tension at the highest level.

Most teachers know that creating habits in the student can transform a passive pupil  into a participative individual and the other way round too, of course.

Good habits for study are listening actively to podcasts (BBC), listening to the BBC radio programmes online as one is doing some work on the internet or just listening to the Vaughan radio programmes on a digital FM radio gadget.

(There is a new link on the blogroll at BBC radio online)

The relevance of listening and speaking is essential to be good at English language and to communicate. There should be direct, short Question & Answer exercises between teacher and student and between students.

Dialogues, situations and drama. Using images from magazines or newspapers to learn vocabulary and get the students´attention. Anything, from a new film to a pop star new song, the latest gossip or a piece of news on a newspaper makes the best of the learning a foreign language.

Moreover, dedicate some days to dictation, translation and reading. Try to make of writing opinions onto slips of paper a routine. From these notes the essay writing becomes an easy activity.

There is also something in a class of great importance, namely, the correction of all exercises. Students must learn lots of things and learn them academically right.

Una voz, dos voces

(Edward Hopper, Nighthawks)

Leo periódicos y a veces leo las cartas de los lectores. El mes pasado leía una carta sobre Educación con la que no estaba de acuerdo. Escribí al diario ELPAIS a los dos días con una respuesta. Tras un plazo prudencial de espera para ver mi respuesta publicada, y teniendo en cuenta la prisa de los que trabajan en los medios, compruebo que no ha sido publicada.

A continuación copio y pego la carta que motivó mi respuesta y dejo que escuche su voz. Finalmente dejo la mía. La primera carta ha sido publicada en Cartas al director, la segunda, no.

Una apuesta por la enseñanza pública. ROSARIO MUÑOZ – Alcobendas, Madrid – 19/06/2010

“Daría por buena la crisis económica que nos asfixia si como resultado de la misma, todos, pero en especial la clase media española, cayera en la cuenta de lo importante que es siempre y en todo momento la enseñanza pública. No los colegios concertados, a los que nuestra clase media está sometida por razón de estatus social, porque así lo han diseñado ciertos partidos liberales, del estilo al que gobierna en mi Comunidad Autónoma, Madrid. La escuela pública es garante de un derecho fundamental de todo ser humano: la educación, salvando cualquier desigualdad que provenga de la situación social inicial de la persona. De ahí su riqueza, su multiculturalidad, su diversidad, su realidad heterogénea.

En este derecho han de invertir nuestros Gobiernos autonómicos y nuestro Gobierno estatal. Debe ser nuestra exigencia ciudadana permanente salvaguardar que doten de los mejores, adecuados y suficientes recursos a todas y cada una de la escuelas e institutos públicos y las universidades públicas.

Pero lo que vemos es un panorama muy diferente: Universidades ahogadas por los recortes del Gobierno regional de turno, inversiones millonarias en publicidad de bilingüismo inglés en Primaria y Secundaria que ha mermado otro tipo de inversiones educativas, políticos preocupados en medir los resultados sin ocuparse de poner los medios para que los resultados varíen al alza, reuniones sobre pacto educativo que naufragan porque el modelo lo pretenden imponer los políticos según les vaya el aire…

Y lo digo ahora, que hay crisis, porque es entonces cuando más hay que invertir en educación para que podamos salir de ella. De la enseñanza pública depende el futuro.”

(Rosario Muñoz)

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/apuesta/ensenanza/publica/elpepuopi/20100619elpepiopi_10/Tes

…

Algo más que una apuesta. EUGENIO FOUZ – Murcia – 21/06/2010

En la sección de Cartas al Director de este diario el pasado sábado 19 de junio una lectora defendía la enseñanza pública. De manera explícita descalificaba la enseñanza concertada y citaba el derecho fundamental a la educación, pero sólo de la educación pública.

No contestar a esa carta significaría darle la razón. Y uno cree que no la tiene, o por lo menos se plantea la duda sobre el derecho fundamental a la educación pública.

La duda y las opciones implican a botepronto dos cosas: inseguridad y libertad. En el Estado de Derecho no puede haber pensamiento único, o si lo hay, es que todo está descubierto y nada nuevo. Y, ciertamente, este profesor sigue con dudas. Aceptar que sólo un tipo de educación es válido implica asumir que la Enseñanza de Idiomas tiene sentido en los institutos de Enseñanza Secundaria y que en las Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas no se enseña ni se aprende o que en los Centros Privados o en los Centros Concertados no se educa. No ver algo no significa que no exista. O eso, o esta carta no está escrita ni usted la ha leído porque la firma un profesor de un Centro Concertado que apuesta por la Educación.

Showman and lecturer, Sam Pickard

On this occasion the lecturer was a showman. I mean, the presentation was really personal and cheerful. The teacher trainer seduced his audience from the very beginning with gestures, puns of words and winks. One had to be very dedicated to his talk not to miss any detail. Now I remember his sincere example of the discovery of a plural form for “mouse”. Of course we said “ mice” and he said “no, it is mouses”. Strange, isn´t it? If you are talking about computers, then if you happen to see more than one mouse you should be thinking on a mouses meeting.

This lecturer was sincere and weird. He enjoyed the use of a virtual stopwatch with extra sound effect and taught us how to cope with the digital pages and icons on the textbook proposed by Burlington Books.

Now that I come to think of the lecture, I remember the ambiguous impression he might have made on us of criticizing the usefulness of digital boards. Sam Pickard was there with Burlington Books Group to convince teachers of the advantages of the internet and digital materials. Excellent strategy, the ironic view about the disadvantages of smart boards.

I could meet some friends there too, such as Francisca and Yolanda.

Ben Wetz´s wit and Robert Quinn´s queens

I had been invited, as many other teachers, to some lectures on teaching English by Oxford Publishers in Murcia. The thing is that I attended another lecture many years ago and by then I had the chance to enjoy the experience a lot. There were attractive ideas full of wit on the part of the teacher trainer Ben Wetz. On that occasion, he told us about some trouble he went through with his luggage and material ready for that lecture. Despite of that, Ben managed to keep all of us- his listeners- completely fascinated by his drawings and crazy, creative plans for a class.

Listening to him was the first intention when I attended this meeting. It all happened in Murcia, Auditorio Víctor Villegas on the 21 st of April this year.  Ben was awfully good again. The project was about ourselves- teachers- creating our own material and textbooks. The idea is making textbooks a customized tool for a class by means of a digital platform on the Internet and web page from Oxford.

The evening had another nice moment. There was another teacher trainer who talked about the relevance of words. Robert Quinn convinced us of the importance of every word in communication. That was it, a speech for words. We cannot use language without words. “Words are like bricks in a wall”- and that simile he used.

I loved this issue. I think I needed to hear this. I agreed with him.

Apart from the presentation of new material from the Publishers, which is a logical matter, we were offered to learn about teaching, new tendencies and invited to have a drink and some appetizers.

I could say hello to Ben Wetz at the end of the lecture. He remembered that lecture in which he couldn´t find his luggage and material.

You know, it is a nice feeling when you are in class and you have a handbook from which you are able to say, “Listen, boys, I know the author of the textbook, the one who writes these things and I tell you that he is as witty as the stories he tells”.

A Foreigner in Australia de Fiona Smith

La lectura graduada para un curso de 1º de Bachillerato este tercer trimestre es esta:  A Foreigner in Australia de Fiona Smith. Desde hace unos años leemos libros de lectura graduada o Graded Readers en clase y fuera de clase, al menos, esa es la intención. Este año por primera vez se han recomendado 2 lecturas en inglés a cada curso. La primera lectura comenzó en el trimestre anterior, con un nivel inferior al propio del grupo para aumentar la facilidad y agilidad lectora. Antes de ese segundo trimestre dedicamos un día por semana a ejercicios de traducción con diccionario.

De ese primer paso en el primer trimestre a este otro paso de la lectura de un texto largo y adecuado al nivel de 1º de Bachillerato han pasado semanas de trabajo.

Aunque los alumnos desconocen mi trabajo en este libro como colaborador y revisor para Burlington Books por primera vez- y espero que haya muchas más colaboraciones-, puedo decir y escribir aquí que guardo este  ”scanner” de esa página 2 con mucho orgullo y mucha humildad también.

Louis Gossett Jr as Emil Foley

One of the best films I have ever seen on the movies about teaching and learning was that one An Officer and a Gentleman (1982, directed by Taylor Hackford) and there I felt fascinated by the personality of the ideal teacher, the character of sergeant Emil Foley (the actor is Louis Gossett Jr.). The plot is awesome good and the roles of Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) and his girl Paula Pokrifki (Debra Winger) were wonderfully done too.

Now, I copy here my conclusion notes about the opinions or feedbacks on my classes written by some sixteen-year-old students.

Conclusion notes:

I have read quite intelligent analyses on the class of English. On the one hand, I see that my students need a clearer explanation of grammar on the blackboard and want to make their horizons bigger when someone suggests that writing works on any topic different to those from the textbook.

Some students require lists of vocabulary, lots of words. I agree with them absolutely. In fact, we are constructing lists now.(These students choose some words from every unit and I type them on a sheet of paper.The lists from Spotlight are in alphabetical order and it is hard to learn lists without a classification or little doses from every unit).

Most students would love listening to songs and learning the lyrics. Someone suggests making dialogues in class and speaking English all the time. I agree, too.

These students would enjoy listening audios from different sources and reading appealing texts and I am going to try these as well. As a matter of fact, I have been telling them via the “Plataforma Educativa” and some others to download podcasts from the BBC. English culture is another point to deal with.

One student says that I divide the class into lots of small parts such as SMS, “Parallel Papers”, listenings, etc and what could seem a negative point is just the opposite, a good compliment.

EULie or Extremely Useful Links in efnotebloc

(Ricky Martin, cantante y artista)

As you can check in the lateral column on the right side of this blog, the so-called blogroll, there are a lot of important links or keys to open doors to spaces of podcasts, English newspapers, Spanish press, technical blogs, articles, tests and some others.

Today I would like to remark the extreme usefulness of three links. These links are web sites where you can find meanings, context and pronunciation examples.

Onelook dictionary, the Farlex freedictionary and AT speech online.

The free dictionary by Farlex

(Photography taken from Fernando Castillo´s blog TOCINO Y VELOCIDAD)

http://blogs.laverdad.es/tocinoyvelocidad/posts

I was looking for an idiom, you know, a set phrase of those you find from time to time in language. Some of those we have in our mother language such as “por los pelos”. And I have books and dictionaries, however I could not remember the English idiom. So, I tried on the internet and the key was there in thefreedictionary.com which I had discovered as a treasure. It is much more than a dictionary, it has got lots of other points: curiosities, phonetics, short texts and games online and other languages. I believe this dictionary deserves a space in the list of favourites of any student of foreign languages. From today I have thefreedictionary.com linked in efnotebloc blogroll at the vertical column on the right.

By the way, to say “por los pelos” in English language one can say “ it was a close shave” or “ it was a near miss” and lots more.