Tips for being observed

Teaching observations are perhaps the most stressful part of a new teacher in training. Here is a guide to acing your teaching practice. Don't make the same mistakes I made today in my TP (like the photocopier not working).

Lesson planning:

-If you're "borrowing" a class, communicate with your class teacher in advance what you're going to teach, as he/she may be able to provide good ideas or resources.-Make sure you are VERY thorough with your lesson plan. Proofread and spell-check it.

-Follow the framework required (e.g. if task-based learning is required, make sure you have all the components - pre-task/while-task/post-task. Even if you are not going to cover all the parts in that session, include it so that your tutor can see you know where the lesson will be heading.

-Consider your class abilities. If you are teaching an easy well-behaved class, use the opportunity to try something new and interesting. It is your chance to show off your teaching skills. Conversely, a tough class will be your chance to demonstrate your classroom management skills.

-Send in your lesson plan a couple of days in advance (or whenever it is required).

-Print a spare copy of your lesson plan just in case.

-Have all your materials prepared well in advance. You never know if the photocopier will break down the morning before your class.

Whilst teaching:

-Make sure the technology works. Test it beforehand. You really don't want a technical failure to ruin your lesson.

-Try to memorize what you're going to teach, avoid glancing too much at your lesson plan or reading out loud from it.

Other tips:

-Dress smartly.

-Arrive early if possible to show your observer to your class.

-Introduce him/her to your students when you enter.

An experiment with making tea

Technology works best if it is intuitive and unintrusive.

Today's lesson on making tea was an excellent example. A simple flash site on how to make tea integrated extremely well with the activity. I printed out the cards for each group, and they had to put it in order and fill it in by hand. Then having it on the interactive whiteboard and letting students drag them in the right order was simple, clear and a great point for discussion. The entire class was focused.

My biggest mistake was running out of time and trying to make another cup of tea for the class teacher whilst letting another student put the answers in the right order. I even forgot to say well done to the student for getting it right, so absorbed was I in making the tea.

If time had allowed, I should have let students do a hands on experiment to figure out the right order. Discovery learning is great too.

Art instructions / A system for tidying up

Today's mega art / instructions session wasn't too bad. The pack of activity cards "50 things to draw and paint" was a great resource.

Everyone had something to do, and the finished collage of their drawings looked great.

At the start

Need to focus more on giving clear instructions for an activity

- Set clear goals (e.g. We are going to put together a collage for display)

- Give clear instructions, write them out on the board, especially for EAL students.

Cleaning up

One sink, 22 students.

After an art activity, a good clean up system is needed when there are paint brushes, ink, paper and glue everywhere.

-What could be a more efficient way of tidying up?

-What about students who have already tidied up? How to keep them occupied?

Wrapping up

I forgot to ask 2 crucial questions, probably for any activity

- What had they learned from the activity

- How they could improve it if they did it again

Great short stories / novellas for teaching Year 5/6 (Key stage 2)

Here is a list of my personal favourites and the sorts of writing techniques you can teach in literacy lessons.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl

A lesser known Roald Dahl tale I use as a basis for writing a 4-part story. It's rather lengthy, but good for advanced readers to tackle at home. The 4-part story focuses on:

- character description

- story-in-a-story narrative techniques

- monologues

- narrative twists

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The original text is really tough, but there is an simplified version at eslreading of the beginning I use for teaching how to use "show, not tell" to introduce a character.

Fat Lawrence by Dick King Smith

A silly tale about a super-obese cat who tries to lose weight.

- Narrative voice (using interjections and asides)

- Colloquial language

- Writing in the conditional tense

The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

This book is a hilarious postmodern retelling of many "classic" fairytales.

- use of irony

- fairytale conventions, fractured fairytales

- effect of different graphics, letter styles

How to write a English tutoring lesson plan

If you work at a tutoring center or teach small groups of students English, you will know how difficult it is sometimes to come up with ideas to get through each session. Let me share some of my lesson planning tips:

Here is my formula for teaching writing to upper primary and lower secondary students.

1. Establish your genre and what your aim is

You need to know what students need to learn.

2. Find a good topic.

The topic has to be interesting and hopefully relevant to student's lives. Hopefully it's also a topic which is discussable and possibly controversial. The news is a great place to start. "Teachers adding students as friends on Facebook" or "Hong Kong tutor kings".

3. Find source reading material

This will usually come from books, websites, emails or your brain. Videos are also a great way to hook your students and give them background information on the topic. Simplify the text if necessary, but it should contain some challenging new vocabulary. Highlight those.

4. Construct some reading comprehension questions

If you are lazy, simply do it as you go in a pop quiz style format. But it helps to prepare a list of questions beforehand.

5. Find a language focus

Ideally it will be linked to text genre.

It could be grammar - using adjectives, passive voice, imperatives or structure etc. If the class is 2 hours, I like to try and make my language focus a game to refocus them after the break.

6. Homework prep / wrap up

Have some planning (e.g. storyboard / story map / vocab recap) for homework so weaker students are clear on their homework task.

7. Final game

Wind down with a game of DODO or Pass the Hamburger and end the class on a high note. I sometimes give extra points / rewards if the word is related to the day's topic.

Teacher/students as friends on Facebook

At today's staff meeting, our principal brought up the topic: "Should teachers be allowed to befriend their students Facebook, and she asked for the staff's opinion on the issue. The verdict was an unsurprising "no", but what shocked me was the lack of discussion and unanimous stance my colleagues took. No-one pointed out the potential benefits of it at all.

Pros in a nutshell:

- Easy know more about your students, making it easier to communicate with them.

- Opens an easy channel for teacher-student communication

- A simple way to keep in touch with graduated students

My thoughts:

Cons in a nutshell

- Change in teacher / student dynamic, possible loss of respect

- Students might see things in your profile you may not want (like your late night romps in bars)

- Students can judge the way you interact online

- Loss of professionalism in some people's eyes

There are clearly ways to get around the cons, such as using education portals or alternative teaching sites designed for the purpose. But they have their own drawbacks, as they are time consuming to manage, and students are far less likely to use them.

Here is my suggestion:

- Open a new Facebook account with an alias name

- Only add school alumni (not existing students still in the school)

- Only post school related content

This allows you to keep in contact with your students, and have a separate

Soon, you may be surprised (and depressed) by the kind of things you ex-students get up to, that you won't want to log on to it very often anyway.

Small classes vs big classes: the pros and cons

Individual sessions

- Really different from other types, as it is completely teacher-student interaction
- Can easily work at own pace
- Perfect for very low ability students
- Students may easily get bored. Difficult to sustain concentration for>45mins

Comments: It's very easy to slack off and not prepare (I am guilty sometimes), but a little planning goes a long way. Some simple worksheets or appropriate reading comprehension exercises can go a long way. Make sure you have a ton of reference resources available (a visual dictionary is exceptionally helpful, as is easy access to the internet).

2-3 People in a class
- Paired activities are possible, which makes the class more interactive.
- Very dependent on student matching. Try to ensure they are of similar ability level.
- Ideal size for idea sharing, reading aloud and writing workshops.

Comments: I dislike working with 2-3 students, but it is possible to have good discussions and fun activities. However, it's difficult to have anything competitive since it's rare to have students of matching ability. Ideal for idea sharing and individual writing though as they can give each other feedback.

Tutoring style (4-6 students)
- A good balance between individual attention and group energy.

- Good size for in-depth discussions.
- Very good for multiple high ability students, as they can give each other pressure.
Can give substantial feedback on homework.

Comments: a good size for task based learning, as you can focus all your attention on the one group. It is also an ideal size for debates, peer reviewing, and counseling. One of my favorite class sizes.

Mini class (8-12 students)
- Good size for team competitions / games.
- Less individual time spent with students in class.

- Task based activities possible.

Comments: Very energy consuming. Requires ample planning and interesting activities. Task based learning and group based projects are ideal. Assign individual work for homework.

Small class (12-18 students)
Can be more open with projects and let students work at their own pace and level.
Possibility for big projects.
Less feedback to students, minimal indivudual attention to individual students.

Comment: Classroom management skills are important. Design activities for a wide variety of levels and encourage task-based learning.

Medium classes: (18+)

Must plan for a large range of abilities - scaffolding, reading texts should be pitched around the middle, never too high.

Classroom management skills are imperative

Class discussions must be tightly controlled

Very important to give clear instructions.

Comments: This is where it really starts to get challenging for me. Don't forget about the oddballs at the end of the ability spectrum, as well as trouble-makers. I think this type of class requires a lot of experience to manage well and at the same time deliver a great lesson. You could have a great idea, but without good management skills, it will all go to hell.