- Details
- Written by Renata Jonina
- Parent Category: English
- Category: English 16-19
- Created: 14 December 2011
Dec 14.
After my first attempts to introduce TA-like work with grammar, namely, the system of tasks to speak about the past, I came up to the following conclusions:
- I did not explain students the whole approach I am going to implement: a) we are going to work in a different way b) explanation why c) what is that different way like in general d) in particular, how the work with the system of tasks to speak about the past looks like.
- As the result, students were puzzled all the time and saw no sense in what they did. Though the idea of the ENV was introduced and some students tried to apply it for grammar, they were continuously coming back to their pre-learnt rules.
- Suggestion: If you start TA-like work be explicit from the first lesson what you are going to do and why. Speak about education as such and your views on how things should be done and why. Then give a bigger picture of how you are going to work.
- Taking into account that was the first time I myself tried to explain grammar via ENV, the understanding on how it works came up gradually. Only now I have a clearer view on what is ENV-grammar for the past. This is a draft ENV model for the past tenses I came up with for myself only after few months.
- Speaking metaphorically, I was asking students to follow me but didn’t know myself where to go. As the result, it was even more difficult for students to understand what do I want from them.
- Suggestion: I’d suggest having a bigger idea of ENV-grammar before you start teaching it.
- Positive point is that I now have at least some idea of ENV-grammar.
- Working with the system of grammar tasks means that not only the teacher but what is more important STUDENTS see the system and go though it. In my case, it was me who was trying to pull students through the system that they had no idea about.
- Introducing idea of grammar banks is an essential part of the system (incl. system of grammar tasks) but so far it’s an unsolved issue for me how to introduce it.
- Students build ENV-rules via their experience (they build models and CHECK them and only then ADJUST). It is natural they have poor drafts of models first. In my case, I had the correct answer in my head and expected them to come up with it as soon as possible.
- We do not have to teach ENV. We have to provide grammar-challenge and then offer ENV-grammar as a solution. In my case, I was doing teaching. As far as I see it now, the teacher in general should NOT be teaching. (S)he should ORGANISE LEARNING. So it would be correct to change the word ‘teacher’ for ‘learning facilitator or tutor”. Whatever I did was connected with teaching. The motto to keep in mind now is: Don’t teach – make them learn.
- Though looking back at what I did I do not feel positive about the process and the result, I believe it was an important step in my own understanding of what ‘teaching’ is in general, and TA-‘teaching’ in general.
- I think that I should stop at this point with “bringing systems to my lessons”. I should first understand what is my ‘teaching’ system like and then gradually build TA-systems within my own.
Comments
" The motto to keep in mind now is: Don’t teach – make them learn."
Some of our trainees find it difficult to understand this. They are mainly in the classroom to make the pupils to learn. What a waste if the teacher tries to do everything and thinks that it is the way the pupils will learn the best! The ways how we have been taught ourselves are so strongly inbuilt in us.
Thank you for sharing Renata!
I am suffering from it all the time now - my 30 years' experience of teaching is dragging me back - I still try to get them to give the desirable answer which is impossible and does not work of course.
This might be a good idea if they really bother about what education as such is :) , what also could be a good way to motivate them is to challenge their pre-learnt rules, to show that the rules often misinterpret or even contradict the 'real' language, like ' always ' is for present simple, 'never' for present perfect, etc. Of course, if the case is that their rules always bring them to a good result- correct answers in traditional 'grammar book' exercises then the students won't understand the point of changing them.
Suggestion - show the students that using a more systematic approach to describing, comparing and choosing a certain grammar structure guarantees a quicker and better result so that they themselves would like to build these systems.
Don’t teach – make them learn - what about 'help them enjoy learning"? :)
Renata, what do you mean by ENV-grammar?
Susan, pity to say but I belong to that part of teacher/trainees who do not understand how to make students learn. So, unfortunately, pure teaching is deeply inbuilt in me.
'Help them enjoy learning' is of course an essential addition to the motto. Thank you, Irina. So instead of having one headache I will now have two:)
Re challenge, I tried to provide it but i think I do not cope with what follows, or more precisely, has to follow after.
By ENV-grammar I mean building ENV models for grammar (describe difference between the past/future/etc. via ENV)
Enjoyment is the key thing here I think - nothing good comes out if we do not enjoy teaching.
Irina told me once, 'Choose what you like, do not try to reform all at once and do not expect results at once (in my case in working with texts). ' It helps a lot. This is what I am trying to do now. And it works. I have not succeeded in making them consciously build and use algorithms, but I have some result as the shyest students have opened and started to talk and create interesting texts.
I am proud of you, Renata!