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DIDACTICS II
Dear All,
Below you will find a sequence of
mails I collected back in December 2002 related to a topic I
thought might be useful to all those who are soon to start their
Practicum : "My First Day Teaching".
The advice given by these experienced teachers might need a
tiny litle bit of adapting to your own teaching situations but I know you will
know how to take good advantage of it.
Warm regards
Omar
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Advice for Novice
Teachers
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 2:37
PM
Subject: Re: Student Teacher needs info - First Day
Teaching -
> On Sunday, December 01, 2002 2:08 PM, Bobbi MacDougall
wrote:
> " Hi, This is my 1st time using this site. I am working towards
my TESL
> certification and have to do a presentation on "First Day
Teaching" One of
> the things I'd like to cover is "mistakes" that
experienced teachers have
> made on their first days that they could warn
us novices about. I know it's
> good to learn from your mistakes, but I
think that it's even better to learn
> from someone else's!"
> Dear
Bobbi and all,
> I think that "mistakes" is something that even the most
experienced (and
> titled) teacher will eventually make. As for the First
Day Teaching context,
> my two-cents advice would be; Prepare your class
in advance! (You will
> ALWAYS have to do that anyway...) By
"prepare class" I mean, read your
> class material carefully, rehearse,
visualize your group of students,
> possibly using family members/friends
as "students", keep in mind your
> presentation topic and try not to stray
from it (but if you do, it's OK.
> Just get back on track as fast as you
can, so you keep the pace.) In my
> experience, EFL setting, the worst
mistake I have made on a first-day class
> was trying to "dance to the 'L1
only' dogma tune" as a colleague has put it.
> Rapport is something we
should try and build from day one and any first-day
>
misunderstanding can be disastrous for ss motivation. Instead, I have
used
> the "gradually imposing L2" approach with greater success, since
students
> don't feel "pressed" to understand EVERY SINGLE word the
teacher is saying,
> and usually by our third/fourth meeting L1 is no
longer NEEDED (as opposed
> to "forbidden"). But a good rapport has been
stablished, and if you really
> enjoy what you do, people will enjoy doing
it with you. After all, teachers
> should be the students' partners in the
learning process, not the "knowers"
> and students the "not-knowers" kind
of attitude that some
> teachers/institutions unfortunately keep still
alive and well in some parts
> of the woods.
> So, don't worry about
making mistakes, prepare your materials, go there and
> "do your thing".
You'll be fine.
>
> Celso Camargo
> EFL Teacher - FOCUS p.t.s.
> Porto Alegre,
RS- Brasil
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 2:52
PM
Subject: Re: Student Teacher needs info - First Day
Teaching -
> One of the things I'd like to cover is "mistakes" that
experienced teachers have
> made on their first days that they could warn
us novices about.
> Pacing is one of the hardest skills to acquire.
New teachers often prepare a
> lot of lessons for the first day but then
feel obligated to cover all of the
> material that they've prepared even
though the class might not be ready to go
> on. A related
issue is insisting on completing a lesson which has taken you
> a long
time to prepare for but your students are not ready for, instead of
>
junking it (even midstream) and starting over with something different.
>
> Barry Bakin
> Pacoima Skills Center
> Division of Adult and
Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District
> bbakin@lausd.k12.ca.us
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 4:46
AM
Subject: Re: Student Teacher needs info - First Day
Teaching -
> Celso Camarqo offers some very sage advice for a
novice teacher's first day.
> I would also suggest that the teacher not be
afraid to say that he/she
> doesn't know something. It is important,
however, how you say this. If you
> have that "deer caught in the
headlights" look, an image that connotes
> abject fear and terror-stricken
inevitability, you will be a goner. I have
> found it most effective
to try to adopt a pleasurable surprised look and
> say, "What an (fill in
your own adjective - I use "interesting" "good"
> "great") question!
I don't know the answer to that but I'd like to find it
> out, too.
I'll check it out and get back to you. Thanks for raising it.
>
There are different ways to deal with questions you don't know the answer
to
> and you have to find what works for you, but don't try to
bluff! Ss always
> know when you don't know.
>
>
Regarding mistakes of a novice teacher - Very early in my career - very
VERY
> early - I did an activity in which my beginner Ss were to read
through a
> list of simple vocabulary and tell me which items were
nonsense words. I
> know! I know! An absolutely stupid
idea - they were all pretty much
> nonsense words, not to mention that
there is no apparent teaching purpose to
> such an abysmal activity.
Anyway, we abandoned the activity when it finally
> became apparent to me
how meaningless it was and I learned to question the
> educational purpose
of the activities I planned. Teachers often do
> activities that may
seem on the surface to be good ones, but on closer
> examination reveal
themselves to be just time fillers and busy work. Asking
> yourself
what students are accomplishing through the planned activity is a
>
valuable step in the planning process.
>
> Joanne Pettis,
Coordinator
> Adult ESL Curriculum Development &
Implementation
> Adult Language Training Branch, Manitoba Labour &
Immigration
> CANADA jpettis@gov.mb.ca
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 3:25
AM
Subject: Re: Student Teacher needs info - First Day
Teaching -
> Barry Bakin said:
>
> >Pacing is one
of the hardest skills to acquire.
>
> [snip]
>
> >A
related issue is insisting on completing a lesson which has taken you
>
>a long time to prepare for but your students are not ready for, instead
of
> >junking it (even midstream) and starting over with something
different.
>
> I have to agree. One of the most important
skills as a teacher in my
> opinion is 'reading' the facial expressions of
your students (sometimes
> hidden for Asian students) to see if they are
'getting it.' And sometimes
> you have to be wide enough to know
when to swallow your pride and abandon
> that activity or approach that
you spent hours on for something less
> threatening and more suited to the
level and learning stage of your
> students.
>
> Laura
Kimoto
Hawai'i Community College
>Intensive English
Program
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 4:02
AM
Subject: Re: Student Teacher needs info - First Day
Teaching -
> Laura
Kimoto wrote:
>
> > One of the most important skills as a
teacher in my
> > opinion is 'reading' the facial expressions of your
students
> > (sometimes hidden for Asian students) to see if they are
'getting it.'
>
> I agree with Laura. I have made it a
goal--and kind of a game-- in my
> upper-level class (mostly Asians) that
by the end of the term, when I
> say, "Any questions?" or "Do you
understand?", ALL students will either
> nod their heads or shake their
heads to give me visual feedback. If I'm
> lucky, they might even
verbalize a no, yeah, or something more.
>
> It's important for
these almost-undergraduate students to feel
> comfortable giving feedback
to their professors, so that the professors
> know that they are
listening, paying attention and interested in the
> class.
>
> * Debbie
Anholt
> * Lewis & Clark
College
> * Portland, OR
97219