Professional Development

Originated by Birmingham MA TEFL/TESL students

A recent success story in the classroom
The groans from my class of elementary school students were getting louder each week when the homework was assigned. Unsurprisingly, the quality of the homework was going in the opposite direction. I noticed that before my class, the students were either drawing or reading Japanese manga to pass the time. So, the next week when homework was assigned, I closed the regular workbook and presented students with a blank sheet of A4 paper and explained that they should create an English manga for homework – “anything goes”. I had never seen such excitement on their faces at the prospect of homework. The next week, before class, the students were sitting in the hallway proudly comparing manga. As I opened the door, they all rushed to hand me their homework. I immediately put them up on the bulletin board, and gave some well-deserved high fives.

Comment
When students, of any age, have a personal stake in their learning, and are intrinsically motivated, they can surprise you – if you give them a chance.

A thought or idea in progress
Textbooks are often seen as a necessity for overstretched English teachers, a crutch to help us through the long week. I strongly believe textbooks have their place, but over the past year or so, I’ve completely done away with them in my intermediate and advanced classes. Every week I try to prepare an interesting, well-rounded lesson based on a current event. The one-hour lessons include discussion points, listening comprehension, vocabulary and grammar work, and more discussion. Recently I proposed to an advanced class of four middle-aged women that each of them take turns making a lesson in October. We had a 30-minute “lesson clinic” the following week in which we went through a lesson template and walked through some steps on the computer to make life easier when copying articles from the Internet. We’ve already had two student-led lessons and they’ve both been very successful. The students who prepare the lessons get the most out of the experience, spending more than an hour looking through articles, selecting appropriate vocabulary items to focus on, and preparing interesting discussion questions. The students in the class also seem to be more interested because they feel more autonomy.

Comment
The more responsibility and independence we can give to our students in the learning process, the more they will get out of it.

From teacher to teachers
Talk to your students and find out what they like to do in and out of class, what they consider to be their strong and weak points, and regularly check to see if they are satisfied. Most teachers can tell if their students are uninterested in their lessons, but it’s not until you ask your students that you can find out why and make some adjustments.

Chris enjoys discussing new ideas in EFL and is always looking for new research opportunities. He can be found online at chrisenglishsakata@yahoo.co.jp

Editor's note

Chris was one of our "Best of MASH 2008" presenters in Hiroshima last summer. In addition to presenting a well-researched topic, he speaks with a practical, easy-going interactive style that allows audiences to immediately connect with his message.

If you'd like to send in a piece of your writing, we are always looking for more Names, Faces & Ideas

Contact Steven Herder at steven.herder@gmail.com or check us out a little further at http://www.mash-collaboration-efl.com/

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• Learners' Voices (12)
• MASH Names, Faces & Ideas (12)
• Mark's Bookcase

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