Lesson Study

Lesson Study is a new classroom-based system to consolidate and improve lesson plans and teaching performance that was created in Japan. Basically, a group of teachers get together to observe and analyse how the class of one teacher develops. Later on, they have a meeting and discuss ways to arouse, generate and stimulate students’ interest towards the subject.

This method has been applied in Australian public schools reaching great results due to the fact that a group of teachers think better than one single teacher. The group of teachers give feedback to each other so they get a better performance.

Finally, I can state that this method can also be applied in our Ecuadorian educational system to improve teaching process in all the subjects not just in the English classroom. I guess this also will create a better environment among teachers to reach one goal, which is changing students mind.

For further information on the topic, check the links:

Lesson Study

This website has extra information about the definition of this method.

http://scittls.weebly.com/lesson-study-methodology.html

Classroom Observation Strategies: Lesson Study

This is a video that shows how Lesson Study works in an Australian public school.

References

AITSL (Dirección). (2015). Classroom Observation Strategies: Lesson Study [Video].

Weebly. (2016). SCITT Lesson Study. Obtenido de http://scittls.weebly.com/lesson-study-methodology.html

Bloom's Taxonomy

Benjamin Bloom in an attempt to improve education thinking created his taxonomy with the help of his colleagues Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill, and David Krathwoh. (Armstrong, 2016).

Bloom’s taxonomy is a list of verbs that are used to create objective to our classes. It helps to make education observable. We can use verbs such as: analyze, describe, organize and so on.

For example, if a teacher writes in a lesson plan the objectives like “At the end of the class students will be able to understand the Present Perfect Simple tense”, how can we observe understanding? Can we measure that? Probably not. Using Bloom’s taxonomy, the objective would be like “At the end of the class students will be able to describe life experiences by using the Present Perfect Simple tense”, which is measurable and observable.

In addition to the stated before, we can use Bloom’s taxonomy to create rubrics to assess students’ performance in productive skills such as: writing and speaking where we can evaluate accuracy and fluency in a non-subjective way.

As a conclusion, I can say that Bloom’s taxonomy is essential when planning our class and assessing our students to avoid subjectivity.

For further information, check out the links below:

Bloom’s Taxonomy

The verbs used by Bloom that we can use in our objectives for class.

http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/oie/documents/assesments/Blooms%20Level.pdf

Bloom's Taxonomy Video

This video created by the LSU Center of Academic Success goes over Bloom’s Taxonomy in an easy and understandable way.

References

Armstrong, P. (2016). Vanderbilt University. Obtenido de https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Google Inc. (2015). Fresnostate. Obtenido de http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/oie/documents/assesments/Blooms%20Level.pdf

Success, L. C. (Dirección). (2012). Bloom's Taxonomy [Video].

Unit 8 Speaking

Perhaps this is the most important skill for our students. If they know how to speak they will certainly feel confident and proud of themselves, so we have to give emphasis to this productive skill.

Usually, students understand us perfectly but they cannot communicate with us. How to overcome this? I believe that to make them speak first we have to create the necessity by obliging them to speak English in class. With higher levels, we can create fees when they speak Spanish in the class. Any student who speaks Spanish should pay 5 cents. It is worth adding that this strategy can be inappropriate in some institutions so we have to be careful.

Another way to make them speak is by providing language chunks. Students can learn them by heart or memorizing, and according to experts chunks help students to build up confidence. (Spratt, Pulverness, & Williams, 2012). Later on, English as a Foreign Language students will hesitate less.

Finally, it is important to say that we always have to use lead ins when performing speaking activities in class due to the fact that they give context that implicitly will help them to internalize language.

On the following links we can find some resources to teach speaking:

Fluency Tutor: Texthelp

This is a Google app that we can use to teach students fluency when the curriculum is tight and doesn’t allow a lot of speaking practice in the class. Basically, students read some passages to the computer and it sends us to evaluate.

https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/products/fluencytutor

3 Fast Ways to Get Fluent in American English

This video goes over 3 strategies to improve our fluency; we can teach them to our students.

References

English, G. N. (Dirección). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OjTjPeAp8A). 3 Fast Ways to Get Fluent in American English [Video].

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Texthelp Ltd. (2015). Fluency Tutor. Obtenido de https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/products/fluencytutor

Unit 7 Listening

Listening is one of the two receptive skills and it has direct relationship with the productive skill that is speaking. Students in our context usually struggle with this skill due to the fact that they do not have exposition to the language, so our duty as English teachers is to give them as much input as possible.

The first step is in class where we have to create the necessity for understanding English at the beginning, and later on the necessity of communicating in English. We have to avoid speaking in Spanish especially with B1 and higher level English classes and when teaching A1-A2 classes we have to speak English as well, but when necessary Spanish can help. As a result, students will get used to English and then in the future they will produce English.

Another way to give students input is by using the coursebook that contains published material adapted to the level. Sometimes, coursebooks have recordings from different speakers around the world, which is a great tool to develop listening skills such as: distinguish accents, connected speech, stress and intonation. Additionally, we have on the internet several webpages where we can get authentic listening material for our students. This material we have to adapt to our level because they do not have educational purposes.

On the links below, extra information is provided to teach listening better:

5 Secrets to Improve Your English Listening Skills

This video shows some remarkable and curious tips to enhance your listening skills. You can teach them to your students.

British Council

This is a website where we can find a lot of listening activities and they are classified by levels. What makes this site wonderful is that each listening task has: answer key, audio in mp3 codec and students’ paper.

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening-skills-practice

YouTube

On this great tool there are lots of videos and also listening exercises for EFL. We just have to write the accurate words on the search bar.

https://www.youtube.com/

References

British Council. (9 de January de 2016). British Council. Obtenido de http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening-skills-practice

English, G. N. (Dirección). (2014). 5 Secrets to Improve Your English Listening Skills [Video].

Google Inc. (14 de February de 2005). YouTube. Obtenido de https://www.youtube.com/

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Unit 6 Writing

Writing is one of the two productive skills in learning English, therefore, we as teachers must give special emphasis to this skill. Teaching writing is not a matter of obliging students to write something, but it is a complex process of teaching them how to organize their ideas from brainstorming to proof reading.

In class, we should start by creating small compositions to essays and long letters. When students have Spanish as their mother tongue, they tend to create big sentences without punctuation and subject. Thus, the first thing we have to teach our students is punctuation in English using basic cohesive devices such: and, but, so, and because. Then, we can teach them the use of contrast, and addition transition words such as: In addition, and on the other hand. In the book “Writing from Within” by Curtis Kelly and Arlen Gargagliano, we can find a lot of lessons and exercises to teach students writing step by step and we can download it for free on the internet.

Sometimes correcting writing can be a daunting job for one teacher, so we can use peer assessment in the class because it helps us on the administrative issue and at the same time it helps students to develop essential skills when writing.

On the links below, we can find great information for teaching writing:

Grammarly

It is a website where students can get really good information for writing and grammar in general. It also offers a paid app to correct punctuation and writing mistakes.

https://www.grammarly.com/s?AT3079=2

Plagiarism

This website gives tips to avoid plagiarism, it can be helpful when teaching academic writing. To our students.

http://www.plagiarism.org/

TEFL Class Instruction: How to Teach Writing Skills in the ESL Classroom.

On this video you may find useful strategies when teaching writing.

References

Grammarly. (14 de January de 2016). Grammarly. Obtenido de https://www.grammarly.com/s?AT3079=2

IntTEFLAcademy (Dirección). (2011). TEFL Class Instruction: How to Teach Writing Skills in the ESL Classroom. [Video].

iParadigms. (12 de November de 2014). Plagiarism.org. Obtenido de http://www.plagiarism.org/

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Unit 5 Reading

This is one of the two receptive skills. This means it involves responding to text, rather than producing it. (Spratt, Pulverness, & Williams, 2012). This skill has great relevance because it helps students to develop vocabulary and grammar in a passive way. Therefore, we must work a lot on it.

Coursebooks always have readings that are adapted according to the level of students and we must work on them during the class, but we have to be wise because reading is not a matter of asking students to read and solve the questions. We have to teach reading strategies such as: skimming to get the main idea and scanning to get specific information. According to the level, there will appear different reading skills such as inferring or deducing meaning from context, but since the very beginning we have to teach students to read without dictionaries, which is a common learners’ misconceptions when learning a language.

Sometimes reading from coursebooks do not cover all the reading skills, so the best solution to it is using Cambridge international proficiency exams’ readings because they cover all the skills that our students must dominate when learning a foreign language. Additionally, those reading exercises are not limited to a specific lexical set or grammatical tense, which help students to get real or authentic input that in the future will benefit them when producing language.

On the following links we can find useful information and material to teach reading in the correct and competently way.

Powerful Method for Teaching Reading to Classroom of Students

This video goes over absolutely useful strategies when teaching reading.

Flo-Joe

This website has a lot of free but useful material for proficiency exams such as: reading, vocabulary, grammar and even Cambridge proficiency mock exams.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/

References

Flo Joe. (13 de January de 2016). Flo-Joe. Obtenido de http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/

Key, R. (Dirección). (2012). Powerful Method for Teaching Reading to Classroom of Students [Video].

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Unit 4 Functions

Basically, a function is the reason why we communicate (Spratt, Pulverness, & Williams, 2012). In other words, when we speak or express we always have a purpose for doing it, some examples of language functions are: greeting, predict, apologise, and so on.

Nowadays, coursebooks are based on functions and at the same time they explain the structure for each of the functions. It’s worth adding that most of the modern books teach writing using functions.

As English teachers we can take advantage on this books and we can make our students produce the language by using functions. For instance, we can use role plays where functions must be used, this help a lot to kinesthetic learners. Additionally, we can make students practice the correct register and at the same time they will develop fluency and confidence with the language. It is important to mention that we must give students some chunks and exponents so they will be able to perform the activity.

Finally, we can also use functions to teach writing skills. Usually, we can follow the coursebooks’ activities, but if the book that we use in the class does not have it, we can use Cambridge international proficiency exams to practice writing such as: KET, PET, FCE or CAE according to the students’ level. In the writing sections of the mentioned exams the prompts require students to use exponents in different kind of registers according to the level. Thus, we can work in class with the different free exams’ preparation material that is available online.

On the following links, we can find useful information that can help us in the class to work with functions.

Simple English Videos

It is a YouTube channel created by two native speakers to teach grammar tenses, vocabulary and language functions. It is really useful to reinforce knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskz5P7AEEVieGX2-Vtc4Dg

uTorrent

On this link we can download the software where we can find the official Cambridge material to practice writing skills.

http://www.utorrent.com/intl/es/

References

Simple English Videos. (7 de May de 2016). Obtenido de YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskz5P7AEEVieGX2-Vtc4Dg

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

uTorrent. (2016). uTorrent. Obtenido de http://www.utorrent.com/intl/es/

Unit 3 Phonology

Phonology is the science that concerns and studies the sounds of a language. Is it important to know this? Shall we teach phonology to our students? It seems to me that as teachers phonology is a must-know feature of the language. We must know how to pronounce all the phonemes from the international phonemic alphabet, we must know about the schwa sound and so on. However, teaching the language in such a technical way can make demotivate our students, so again as in grammar we must be wise when teaching pronunciation.

English as a Foreign Language Students must distinguish the sounds of the different words and also they must be aware that there are different accents and dialects in English. Thus, in class we can use videos or TV programmes from the USA or the UK to raise awareness among our students about the different accents in the target language. Where can we get them? A great tool is the downloading software “uTorrent”. There you can find a lot of TV series for free and in English such as: Malcom, Friends, Off The Hook, Hey Arnold, etc. It’s worth adding that the audio and video codecs quality are Top Notch.

Another important skill students must develop is the pronunciation and distinction of minimal pairs. To accomplish this, we do not want our students to get bored with tedious phonology explanations, but we can make students learn the sounds by heart with some reference words such as “cat” for the sound “æ” in the vowel. Then, we can create a phonological “Bingo” with minimal pairs. We may have some prices for our lucky students.

On the following links we have extra information that can help us to teach pronunciation and phonology in general.

Minimal Pairs Bingo

A deepest explanation of the minimal pairs bingo.

http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdf-content/pronunciation/pronunciation-minimal-pairs-pronunciation-lesson-plan/147626.article

How to Teach Pronunciation

A video created by TEFL academy on ground-breaking ways to teach pronunciation in our classroom.

 References

IntTEFLAcademy (Dirección). (2011). How to Teach Pronunciation [Video].

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Williams, M. (12 de January de 2004). One Stop English. Obtenido de http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdf-content/pronunciation/pronunciation-minimal-pairs-pronunciation-lesson-plan/147626.article

Unit 2 Lexis

Lexis refers to vocabulary in general. It is about words form, collocations, compounds, suffixes, prefixes, etc. Vocabulary is really important for English as a Foreign Language learners, I would say it is like “legato” for guitar players. Without a wide range of vocabulary productive skills such as: writing and speaking would not be possible. Therefore, we must work a lot on this feature of the language.

If we want to widen students’ vocabulary, we must work a lot on affixation. For Latin-based languages speakers such as Spanish or French, affixation is something common, so we can explain them the meaning of some affixes by using matching activities. For instance, our students can learn that the meaning of the prefixes un-, im- and in- is negative or opposite. As a result, when reading they are not going to need a dictionary because it is easier for them to deduce meaning from the root and its affixes. Thus, they will be able to produce more when writing or speaking.

Sometimes our students just use basic words like: nice, very, interesting, and so on. This make their production limited, so as teachers we may want them to produce more complex and sophisticated vocabulary. Hence, we can practice lexical sets in the class to activate their passive vocabulary by doing some games. For instance, we can divide the class in groups and write a lexical set on the board. Students have to write as many words as they can with the vocabulary they know and to make it more interesting we can create a contest in the class with some prices that could be: candies, chocolates or, if appropriate, extra points.

On the links below, there are some useful strategies we may use in our class:

Teaching Vocabulary

This video shows some strategies to introduce vocabulary avoiding the dull and daunting old-fashion strategies.

How to Remember Vocabulary

This video shows some tips that we can give our students to remember vocabulary.

References

Lessons, E. (Dirección). (2013). How to Remember Vocabulary [Vídeo].

Scott, J. (Dirección). (2008). Teaching Vocabulary [Video].

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Unit 1 Grammar

Is Grammar important when teaching? My answer is yes. Every teacher must know tenses, functions and forms. However, we must be wise at the moment of teaching because some students don’t have the necessity of learning it, we just need to apply discovery learning. At the same time, other students feel frustrated when they do not have an explicit explanation of grammar.

In my experience, I have noticed that young learners usually are careless about grammar, therefore, it is possible to use chunks, and a clear context to explain grammar. Nowadays, we have a lot of resources on the internet to teach grammar such as: videos and comics. We can use them to engage students. They will learn it quickly and they will be able to convey meaning.

On the other hand, when teaching adults discovery learning is not likely to be successful because they tend to be more logical, so explicit grammar, in this case, is acceptable. It is worth adding that when teaching grammar rules, we have to tell students that every rule has an exception due to the fact that language is not something unchangeable but something that evolves with time. Thus, students are not going to get confused when facing an exception and at the same time we can avoid fossilization.

On the links below we can find some resources to teach grammar:

Strip Generator

It is a free, friendly user, easy-to-use and amazing website, where you can create comics in minutes.

http://stripgenerator.com/

Simple English Videos

It is a YouTube channel created by two native speakers to teach grammar tenses, vocabulary and language functions. It is really useful to reinforce knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskz5P7AEEVieGX2-Vtc4Dg

References

Simple English Videos. (2016, May 7). Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskz5P7AEEVieGX2-Vtc4Dg

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Strip Generator. (2015, November 14). StripGenerator. Retrieved from http://stripgenerator.com/