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Anna Gierska
Język angielski, Artykuły

First things first

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First Things First

As one of many teachers trying hard to excel in our profession I had do some observations of lessons by teachers from my school: XXXIV Liceum im. Miguela de Cervantesa and a few other Warsaw schools. I had a chance to observe lessons conducted by more experienced colleagues and young trainees I am supposed to help and prepare to become nauczyciel kontraktowy and nauczyciel mianowany. I would like to share my experience now after a few years of comparing and discussing.

To start with I would like to say that observing fellow-teachers proved to be surprisingly useful. I could both spot my own shortcomings and share my experience with the others.

The very first thing I make sure with a new group is to learn their first names. If there are three Magdas only the first one on the list is Magda. The other two have to adopt another name either Polish or English. They may chose a new name themselves or ask the group to help them but they have to approve of their new names. It usually takes me up to five meetings to learn all the names but for the next few years there is no doubt who is supposed to answer the question. From that moment on I always address my students by their real or adopted name. I would not do it if my students did not like it but they seem to be happy about being unique at least during their English classes. I noticed they use their adopted names and accordingly continue talking English even during the breaks.

That was one of the first differences between me the first three teachers I observed. I noticed the teacher-student attention spread in my case is more even. It turned out other teachers often ask questions without saying who should answer for the simple reason they do not remember their names or because they want to avoid misunderstanding when there are, for example four boys called Piotrek. They claim it is too time-consuming to explain every time who is supposed to do the task.

The teachers admitted my system works and makes life easier so they decided to adopt it in the future. The 'next, please' system did not work either as some students feel 'safe' when it is not their turn and tend to use L1 in the meantime.

With mix-level classes it is best to provide open-ended activities, so that learners can find their own level and so that both weaker and stronger students have something to contribute.
Teachers who encouraged students to contribute their own ideas and use their own experience succeeded in maximizing the speaking time of all the members of the given group.
I noticed that one girl stopped talking during the role-play activity whenever the teacher could not see her. Later I was told the girl never speaks unless asked and is reluctant to speak in front of her peers even in Polish. With such shy students the T-S closed pattern works sometimes. Different tasks were most easily done in groups when the students were given good clarification of the task in advance.

Open pairs are good when the teacher wants focus the attention of the class on two (good) students doing the set task together. But I would use this pattern mainly to offer an example of how a task is done. Only then closed pairs might be applied to follow the example while the teacher moves around offering assistance and suggestions. The latter is rather complicated in my classroom which is very small and I have to stumble over backpacks and chairs to reach every student. But this profession requires making sacrifices...

In one class pair-work did not work as the task was not explained clearly before beginning the activity. To give every student a chance to practice their speaking skills students should be set in pairs. If I know the relationship between my students it is possible to avoid ill-matched pairs. It is definitely better to set time limit. When learners had too much time they finished earlier and then felt free to speak Polish.

The 3-minute scheme: I have done it twice with one teacher conducting the same lesson with two groups. The results were totally different. When we discussed this fact after the lessons we came to the conclusion that even teaching the same material does not imply one ideal pattern. A lot depends on the group. If the teacher knows her students well she can adjust the pattern to the needs of the particular group. Sorry, for HER and SHE but I observed only female teachers.
I noticed that while doing the same activity with one class group-work proves to be very motivating, with less ambitious group SS end up using L1.

There are many other factors that affect the particular lesson. If I have a more difficult part of material I make sure students do not have a test in maths or chemistry after the break. If the material requires moving around the class, talking to five other students it is not the best idea to plan it after they had been playing basketball for two previous lessons.

It is wise to have a plan but the teacher should be flexible enough to alter it according to the mood of the group. Where the relationship between the teacher and the students is proper
a couple of minutes to find out what the situation is (tests, weather, other problems) at the beginning of the lesson definitely is not a waste of time. Moreover, students appreciate such involvement and in return try to do the tasks more eagerly. Such lead-in also gives them a chance to communicate in L2 talking about their feelings and events that are important for them at the moment.

The teacher may also say something about her mood but it is important not to bring your private problems into the classroom. I admired my friend who was understanding, patient, witty and cheerful during her lesson. I happen to know she had been operated on because of breast cancer and has all reasons to be depressed, tired and even angry. I will bear that in mind next time I feel exhausted or sad.

All in all observing other teachers' lessons seems more mutually inspiring then I expected.
 

Opracowanie: Anna Gierska

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