8th September (3rd blog entry)
Hi everyone!
Now Simon seems to be "missing in action" but I continue my blog anyway.
Today was my first day in the CELT-course. The course started at 9:30 a.m. which seems a bit late, because I prefer an earlier start.
But anyway "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
I met a few familiar faces from the day, when we were at the school for the interview. That was nice, because I had someone to chat with, which came handy because when our teacher came in, he asked us to introduce our neighbour instead of ourself!
During the first 90 minutes we got general information about the course, our curriculum and the requirements (especially those concerning the written reports, there are six of them - not three as I said last time).
After coffee break our teacher surprised all of us by talking Spanish to us. Suddenly we found ourself not as teachers but as language students.
He taught us some basic phrases like "S'Quin es?" (Who is he/she?), "De dondees?" (Where is he/she from) or "Me gusta...!" (I like...)
We also listened to the song "La Bamba" and with the help of our teacher we figured out the meaning of the lyrics (it's about a captain - not a sailor - who flirts with a small, but graceful dancer).
After the lunch break we made a kind of brain-storm about the tools of the teacher. By that he didn't just mean the technical tools like blackboard and overhead projector. But also "tools" in a wider sense of the word like: voice, body, personality, questions, classroom, plan, materials, eyes & ears, timing, knowledge, activities, evaluation ,and incentives.
In our last session we had to draw out our own teaching plan. I've to teach an intermediate class, how to ask about and describe things.
I decided to design my lesson like a cooking class; to bring foot items and kitchen utensils into the class. I would pretend I'm an alien from another planet and ask them to describe those objects to me. I plan to draw a grid on the white board. At the right side I'm going to list the answers. At the very left side I'm going to write the categories, like size,shape, material, purpose and origin. Then I would ask them to formulate questions to ask for those category, like: How big is it? What shape is it? etc
In the next stage I would introduce a guessing game: I group the students in pairs and one of them gets a bag with an item inside. The other student has to use those questions she or he has just learned to find out what kind of object is in the bag. I like to introduce a competitive element, like the team who guesses the most items will win!
Most of the fellow students are in their early twenties. A few around thirty and me and another fellow are in their late thirties. I'm not the only non-native speaker in the course. There is one gentleman from India as well. But the rest are Irish.
Well - as a homework I have to write a short paper about the difference between "objective" and "outcome" in a class plan. The technical definitions are pretty straightforward: "objective" is what the TEACHER wants to achieve during the lesson. "Outcome" is what the STUDENT actually learns during the lesson.
But I think in practice those borderlines are getting pretty blurry! At the end of the day, it isn't the teacher's job to present himself as a brilliant teacher, but to help the student to learn. Ideally - what a good teacher should want is what the student learns (effective and in a fun way)!
I'm not sure I get good grates on this paper...
Enough of this "wanna-be teacher" talk - I probably bored everyone to death!?
But that's what on the agenda - folks ("You get what you see!")
Good wishes to all of you!
Bye
Marvin
Comments
Hi Marvin!No you didn´t bore me to death. In fact, I found your teaching plan very nice :-). Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Hi Marvin, You had a good start on your course. It wasn't boring to read about how it went. It was amazing to see that your teacher started to speak in Spanish ...Quién es? De dónde es? Me gusta..... Did you learn a bit of it? If you need some help ask me please.I'm very interested in this course so I'm looking forward to your next entries about it. Best wishes, Cris
Could you explain me what is it CELT-course? Sorry, it is my first time in this blog.
Your curriculum sounds expecting, Marvin, and your design of your lesson is marvellous. You doubt about difference between "objective" and "outcome", please allow me to compare to shot--subjective is teacher's target,and outcome is your score. Am I right? Good luck!
Hi, Marvin. I really liked your blogs, 'cuz they are written in the interesting way... I've noticed that you're very talkative, and you like 2 quote, and I think it's very helpful for those people who learn English. These quotations help people to portray different situations by the words. So, I wanna thank you and ask you to continue using citations in your blogs. Then... I want to ask you a question, and I hope that you'll answer it: What made you think that your future profession should be the teaching? Why did you choose it? Do u like to explain information to them who doesn't know it? I'm waiting for the explanation of the reasons of your, I hope, right choise. Thank you. Good wishes and good luck!!! Cya.
Marvin, this entry is my first one to you, I regret I haven´t talked to you earlier. So many other issues have totally occupied my days. However I have briefly had a look at your entries and I am aware that you are in Ireland at the moment. I wish you all the best. Like you, I did a similar visit to England a few years ago: I went to language school in Strafford-Upon-Avon. Not to become English teacher but to polish my ability in business English. La Bamba sounded great… Brainstorming is also always very useful and your exercise “objective and outcome" sounded very interesting. Good luck to you!
On the contrary, Simon, I find your post very interesting, you have explained clearly your experience. I'm looking forward to hearing the following. Good luck with your hard tasks!
Hi Marvin I think you are having a good beginning in your CLT course, thans for show us the development of your first class. best wishes
Don't worry Marvin, your post wasn't boring at all. I think you had a great idea planing your hypothetical class as a kitchen visited for an alien. Very creative in my opinion.
Hello Marvin, The first day went fine. your enthusiasm inspires us to take the course and become an English teacher :-) Hope you'll get good grades on the paper. All the best, Yen
Hi again Marvin! I'm glad your first day was good. I'd also like to transmit some of the things I know about Enlgish to other people, but right now uni absorves a great deal of my time! I was wondering what do you do when you're not in the course? Sitghseeing? Hope you have another good day. Liz
Hi Marvin, I'm Mercè, a woman from Spain. It's my first entry in your blog. Definitely, it wasn't boring to read about how was to start your course. Really, everything that you are telling all of us sounds very very interesting. I'm here to improve my English skills and, of course, for knowing many people around the world. Sorry if my English is not so good. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Best wishes and have a nice day!!!! Mercè
Hello Marvin Best of luck in your courses. You didn't answer my last question??!! I'm looking forward to read your comments on the readers comments in addition to your daily experiences. All the best Bïa
Hi Marvin, You have written this entry in plain language, I am very interested this entry. I think you have to work hardly to complete this course.I wish i can join a similar course in the feature Best wishes,
What a "Spanish" surprise right in the middle of your training! Certainly, facing an impossible task is a tough experience. But it undoubtedly can whip up a positive insight as regards another person's learning difficulties. You've experienced the soothing effect and the universal power of music (La Bamba). We have to think over the importance of Arts in everyday's life - as teachers, as human beings -. Maybe a good teacher is someone that is able to show up the beauty inherent in more and more elevated desires.
for the last 10 years I have been learning English language and Iam not speak correctly so what can I do? thanks
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