Buckland Weekly #8 : Computers

Before I was a teacher I had a whole other career. I worked for over twenty years in I.T. I only mention this because I want to talk about computers in classrooms. It's something I used to rant about occasionally on my other blog. For example here or here or here.

Now my background makes me predisposed to like computers. I often do the quiz in my local bar where my quizzes always have animated powerpoints to accompany the questions. It's marvelous to be able to play music, show movies, have interactive games and do everything else you can do with computers in the classrooms

Almost every classroom here in China, in the big cities anyway, is fitted with a computer and a projector. Some, I am told, have actual smartboards. And I virtually never make any use of it at all.

Why?

Well, before I answer that, let me just pop in a quick disclaimer. More than any post I have made so far under this heading, this should all be treated as my personal opinion only – informed by my experience, but my own opinion nonetheless. You may have entirely different views. And if you do, I say, “Go to it!”

Right.

Why do I rarely use the computers that the schools have helpfully installed everywhere? It's quite simple. In the handful of times I have actually done computer or technology based lessons over the last four years there has never been a single instance where I completed more than two thirds of the classes without needing to go to my non-technology back up plan.

Ah, back up plans. Those of you who have already trained with me will remember that I mention them probably about twenty times a day. It's essential that you have a back up plan whenever you are intending to use any technology at all in class. Even working in England or America it's a mistake to assume that things will work.

Things won't work. That's the nature of technology. It breaks down. The more complicated the technology, the more likely it is to break down. Or to quote Mister Scott in one of the Star Trek movies, “The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.”

Progress is all very well but even small amounts of progress cause problems.

Hands up anyone who has ever found that writing with chalk on a blackboard suddenly didn't work.

No-one? I'm not surprised.

Now hands up anyone who has got halfway through a class with whiteboards and markers and had to send a student rushing off to another classroom to borrow more markers because all the ones you have are out of ink.

Everyone? Still, not surprised.

And that's a very minor bit of technology.

Computers are so much worse than that. For a start you can't borrow one from another classroom.

Let me tell you about my most recent attempt to use them. A month or so ago my students asked if I could do a music-based lesson with them. I have a music lesson. It's a good one – popular, fun, develops a lot of vocabulary, gets the students expressing opinions. I like it.

It requires me to be able to play short sections of about ten pieces of music in different genres – say about thirty seconds each. In the past when I've done it I have recorded things onto cassette tape and used a big cassette player to play it.*

However at the moment I don't have access to a cassette player to do that. What I have is a lot of MP3 files and a computer. I copied the files onto a flash drive and we were ready to go. You can certainly guess what happened next.

Of the twelve classes that I was intending to give the lesson, five didn't work.

In one we could get the computer working but wasted ten minutes trying to get the speakers to work before I went to plan B.

In another we couldn't get the computer to work at all. It had, the students informed me, been broken all year.

In the third we had a repeat of the non-functioning speakers.

And then there was the classroom where everything seemed to be working but the folder containing the files was invisible to the computer. I have no idea why.

In the last of the five everything was sort of working but the music sounded so horribly distorted that it was painful to listen to.**

My Plan B proved to be rather inadequate as it consisted of playing similar music through my minidisc*** player and a set of tiny speakers that I had taken in for the purpose but which proved to be much too quiet for the classrooms.

We had to stick with Plan B though. I hadn't gone as far as preparing a Plan C.

This is completely typical of my experience with computers in classrooms in China. It even happened often enough when I taught in England that I didn't like relying on them.

So, what can you do?

There are a few things.

If you need the computer to show pictures, have copies of the pictures also printed to hand out if necessary. 

If you need the computer to play music or any other audio, have an alternate source of music to hand.

If you need the computer for any kind of game or to show movies, plan an alternate activity that can be substituted.

If your whole lesson is a powerpoint, have a completely separate non-powerpoint version in you bag, ready to go

Of course all this raises an interesting question. If, when you prepare a computer based lesson, you also HAVE TO prepare a non computer version “just in case” then why not just prepare the non-computer version and halve your effort? Why not, as it were, go straight to the back-up plan.

And that's the answer to why I so rarely use computers. I am sure many of my lessons would be much better on computer but when I know that half the time I will be going to the back-up anyway I figure it's best to just save the time and effort and forget the computer altogether.

Of course, you may love computer lessons to the point where you will use them whatever the difficulties. Or you may feel confident that in your school the technology won't fail you. Great. As I said, go for it. But don't forget that back up anyway. Better safe than sorry.

(*Even the tape recorder version failed once when I got to school and was told the power was going to be off for three days.

** On one particularly memorable occasion, in my first year teaching in China, everything was working except that the student who looked after the key to the lockable computer desk was off sick. No student, no key, no computer.

***Yes, a minidisc. Made obsolete, I know, by the rise of MP3 players and their successors, but I like them!)

Buckland Weekly #7 : Packing for your trip

Probably the most commonly asked question from people planning to come and join the Buckland teaching programs is what they need to bring from home. Mostly you will be able to buy whatever you need in China but there may be a few things that you will find difficult.

Here are some suggestions about things you may want to bring with you. There actually isn't that much.

Medicines

You can buy almost any medicines that you need here but if you have specific branded items that you want, then bring them with you. Things like ibuprofen or paracetamol are easy to get in any pharmacy. Anti-histamines, sickness/diarrhea/constipation meds can be harder to get hold off and I'd suggest you bring some.

If you need regular prescription medications, check with your own pharmacist before coming.

Clothing

If you take larger sizes (and by that I don't mean really large, just things that would be XL in our stores) you may find shirts and things hard to get in your size. If your shoe size is large bring enough pairs to last. Shoes above the following sizes can be hard to find. They can be found but you will not have a lot of choice.

Men: US 9/UK 8/ Europe 43/China 43

Women US 7.5/UK 5/ Europe 38/ China 39

I am also told that getting bras that fit is very difficult.

Cosmetics etc

If you have particular brands you like, bring them with you. Be aware that many Chinese cosmetics contain skin whitening agents. Deodorant can be hard to get in some places. I've also seen women on the group FB page suggest that sanitary products can be hard to get. Ditto for hair dye, if you use it.

Teaching Materials

Bring any favourite materials with you. Don't bother with books. You probably won't have a chance to use them and they just use up your weight allowance on the plane. If you think you will need file cards bring them. I've never seen them here. Also hard to get are good glue sticks and blutack.

Computer Stuff

I would seriously advise you to get a VPN before you come. Many sites, including anything at all connected with Google are blocked by the firewall. I'd recommend Astrill or Express but any good VPN will do. I'd advise against using any of the free ones as they are unreliable here in China. Get it before you come because you may not be able to download the software once you are here. It used to be possible to download them here but the Chinese Government is becoming more aggressive in blocking things.

Things like flash drives and even 2 or 4 terabyte hard drives can be got easily and relatively cheaply here in most large cities but I'd advise getting them from a shop rather than taobao (a bit like a Chinese Amazon) as the principal is very much "let the buyer beware" on taobao. I once bought some flash drives that didn't work. When I tried to return them the supplier was no longer in business and when I contacted the manufacturer I was told they were fakes.

Food

Obviously you won't want to fill your luggage with food but packing some dried herbs and spices is a good idea as some of the ones we commonly use in the west are very hard to get over here.

Reading Books

You won't find a big selection (or indeed any selection in some parts) beyond dual language classics for Chinese students. An e-book reader is probably best, loaded with your favourite authors.

Kitchen equipment

Mostly easy to get but bring a potato masher. I haven't seen any here. I got mine brought over from England by a visiting friend.

Emergency money

You won't get paid until the end of your first month and that month is the most expensive as you will want to buy extra things for your apartment. I usually travel with about $500 or equivalent in another currency. It's easy to change at any bank.

And that's all I can think of right now. As always, if you have any specific questions you can post them to me via the Buckland FB group.

Bob Hale

Buckland Weekly #6 : Not In Kansas Any More

Teaching is over, or almost over, for the year for the current teachers spread around China and it's getting close to that time of year when the new teachers, all bright and shiny and full of optimism, arrive here for the training before taking up their posts in schools.

As always, questions, both general and specific, have started to trickle in from the people who are coming so I thought I'd take this opportunity to address some of the more common ones and to introduce everyone to life at a school in China.

Let's kick off with some general advice. I've repeated it often enough and you will hear me repeat it again in training. “Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.”

Everyone coming will, I assume, be intellectually aware that China is a different country with different customs, social attitudes and laws – and different ways of doing things. But if you are new to living abroad or new to China, a lot of it will catch you by surprise. Knowing about differences and living with them are very different things. Some of the teachers who come are already experienced teachers or well-travelled but some aren't and the culture shock can be severe.

Part of the problem is that at a superficial glance China, at least in the cities, can look very similar to home – wherever home may be – but it is, in fact, often very different. This isn't a value judgment. I'm not saying China is better or worse but it is different. And you certainly shouldn't judge by Yangshuo which is far more like home than anywhere else you are likely to be posted.

So, what's different?

A lot of this will be covered in detail in training so I'll just list a few things here, maybe with the odd cynical comment thrown in.

Schedules and timetables. In a school back home you will know the schedule for the whole year at the start of the first semester. Here you will be lucky if you find out about days off, exams or the end of term even a day before they happen. They aren't messing about, they genuinely don't know.

Health and Safety. Initially you will be horrified that there isn't any. Open manholes. Workmen balancing on fifth story window ledges, bare electrical cables. You will have to get used to it. It's just the way it is. Take a little extra care yourself. And remember how often you saw some new pernickity* regulation or over-zealous H&S officer back home and muttered “health and safety gone mad”.

Driving. Just take care when you cross the road. Or when you walk on the sidewalk. As a pedestrian you need to keep your wits about you. Pedestrian safety isn't a priority. 

Chinese hospitals. If you need to visit a hospital don't worry. Standards are good but practices can seem odd to us. For example they never give injections. Medicines are always administered on an IV drip.

Chinese medicine. I always insist on western medicine but your Chinese friends will try to persuade you to use traditional Chinese medicine or acupuncture or cupping or whatever. The choice is yours.

Food and drink. There are lots of foods you can't get – decent cheese for one – and lots of odd things that you have never eaten before – chicken feet spring to mind. Try the new stuff, you might like it. And try not to miss the stuff you can't get too much. Eat as much western food as you can while you are in Yangshuo. You might mot have a chance later. In bigger cities you may find shops with things you like. Or not.

Drinking culture. If you go out with Chinese friends just be careful of Baijiu. And you will find it very odd that beer is often drunk from shot glasses. It's easy not to realise how much you are drinking. If you don't drink at all people will respect your wishes but drinking just a little is not an easy option.

Hospitality. If a group of people go out for a meal it's normal for the person arranging it to pay. If you invite people out to dinner don't be surprised if your suggestion to split the bill doesn't go down well.

Crime. This is a definite plus. While I wouldn't want to encourage you to be reckless, I've wandered around China now for four years and never once felt unsafe. Crime rates here, especially against foreigners, are much lower than you are used to. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but I've never felt even slightly anxious about it. I feel less safe in my home town.

Home living. Apartments provided by schools vary. Some are better than others. Some things will be similar everywhere. Baths are almost never included. Showers are always of the wet room type. Kitchens are generally tiny. The fridge will probably be in the living room. They may be quite sparsely furnished. It's the same for everybody, Chinese or foreign.

Well, that's a few of the things you may find different. If I can give one piece of advice it's to come with an open mind. Leave your expectations in storage back home because the chances are that – good or bad – they won't be met. And if you do find that things here are causing you problems – whether it's the culture shock, your school or anything else – talk to someone. Talk to me. Often things arise because of miscommunication or mismatched expectations between the teacher and the school. Those things can be sorted out but it can take a little time and patience.

I'll post again soon with a list of things it's advisable to bring with you and any other differences that occur to me.

And remember, if there is anything specifically you want to know. I can be contacted on the Buckland Facebook group. Just send me a message.

Bob Hale.

(*Yes, I'm aware that Americans spell it persnickity, I'm British and we don't. :D )

Buckland Weekly #5 : Exams

A couple of reasons that most of our students love having a foreign teacher are that we don't usually set homework and our courses don't usually have exams. Note, however, the word “usually”. It is possible that you school will want you to set homework or conduct exams. I can't really comment on homework as every school I have been at has told me specifically not to give any. I set some when I first got here and was told not to do it again and since then I've made a point of discussing it at each school and always been told not to. I have heard of other teachers setting homework but it hasn't happened to me and it is very much the exception rather than the rule.

Exams are a different matter.

All my previous schools didn't want me to do exams, requiring just a single paragraph report on each class at the end of the year. The school I'm at now is different. They insist on oral exams for the students and I confess that at first it had me scratching my head.

I used to be an English teacher in England and our oral exams there were one to one with each student getting from ten to twenty minutes. They were recorded and then graded by someone else. It was all fairly professional. A little mathematics will tell you that if you give ten minutes to each student and you have 80 students in your class the exam will take 800 minutes. Given that a lesson is 40 minutes long that's twenty weeks just for exams. This is obviously not possible. Even if you give only one minute to each student and can somehow manage to organise it so that zero time is lost between students it's still two weeks. And it can sometimes take far more than a minute to coax a single word out of the shyer students.

I asked around and took advice and ended up with a way of doing oral exams that while, in my opinion, still far from satisfactory is, at least, doable.

Here then is my method.

First of all it's imperative that you allocate two weeks. It simply can't be done in one week. If the school tries to insist that it's one week you'll have to stand your ground. Explain why it can't be done in one week. Enlist the help of teachers in your department. Do whatever it takes but make sure that you get two weeks.

Having done that, this is how I proceeded.

I had a Chinese teacher translate some written instructions into Chinese and print up a lot of copies. These I placed on the students desks before the lesson began. They said, in Chinese,

"Today is an exam.

The teacher will call four students at a time to the front.

He will ask you each some questions.

Answer the questions using the best English that you can.

Tell the teacher if you do not understand his question.

If it is not your turn, you must remain quiet.

You can read, revise or do your homework."

When I had checked that they all understood I called them, as promised, to the front in groups of four.

I had about a dozen pictures of people in different situations - for example a boy surrounded by the things he used in his hobbies; a grandmother, mother and daughter baking cookies; a man and a woman looking at a map because they were lost; a teacher helping a student.

I showed the group one of the pictures.

I asked each student in turn these questions, "What is it? What can you see?" 

I asked a couple of follow up questions, prompting with partial answers where needed.

So, for example, with the boy surrounded by his hobbies I pointed at different items and asked what the boy liked to do.

When I had answers to some questions I put the pictures down and asked each student about his or her hobbies.

And that, because of time, was the end for that group.

I had each student write his or her name on a list with numbers and on a separate list of the numbers only I graded A-E. I did it this way so that the next group couldn't easily identify their classmates results. (I actually wrote //,/,-.\,\\ rather than A-E, to make it more difficult.)

A meant that they had given extra information that I hadn't asked for. 

B meant that they had answered the questions with mostly correct information. 

C meant they had answered the questions but with mistakes, 

D meant that they had had difficulty in answering and 

E meant they had been unable to answer anything.

Each group took about five minutes.

Now you, like me, may think this isn't really providing any meaningful data to the school and they also may be unhappy if you don't hand out enough higher grades. They may even insist on you bumping everyone up a grade .

I have to do it all again in a few weeks and this time plan to vary it by using a set of topic cards rather than pictures. I haven't thought it out completely yet but I'm thinking that the cards could be HOME, HOBBIES, ANIMALS, FOOD, FAMILY, SPORT and maybe a few more. Apart from that the organisation will be essentially the same.

If anyone has any other ideas, I'd welcome them, but if you are asked to do exams for large classes this at least seems practical if not especially useful.

Buckland Weekly #4: Error Correction

In this series of posts I intend to address various questions that teachers, both old and new, have raised with me from time to time. All my answers are based on a combination of my own experience as a teacher, both in China and the UK, and published studies. Because of the element of personal experience, all posts should be treated as my opinion only. As they say on the internet, your mileage may vary.

Let's talk about error correction.

Before we get to the point, let's think about what exactly we mean by an error. Some people like to make a distinction between errors – things you get wrong because you don't know the answer – and mistakes – things you get wrong through carelessness or inattention, even though you should know the answer. It's a distinction of terminology that I personally don't find useful, particularly as most people use the terms interchangeably.

Terminology aside, though, these are definitely different types of error. Think about it this way. If you are writing a letter and write “it's” when you meant “its” or vice-versa, it's unlikely that you, as a professional English teacher, don't know the difference. But don't tell me you never did it. We all have. Honestly, in this case, it doesn't matter and would never prevent or damage understanding. But you have done it. So have I. So has everyone. This is an error of inattention. On the other hand if you consistently misspell “misspell” as “mispell” or mispronounce “mispronUnciation” as “mispronOUnciation” this is probably because you genuinely believe your version to be correct.

When you see that a student has something wrong in their writing, it's easy to identify the difference. Point at the wrong word and wait. If the student looks at you blankly then it's likely that they think what they have written is correct. If, after a moment's though they change it then it's likely that they knew the correct answer and just produced the wrong form through haste or carelessness.

There's one more thing to consider before we look at error correction – the reason we are in the classroom in the first place. As foreign teachers in China, our role isn't to teach reading, writing or grammar. It's to teach speaking and listening. Of course it's virtually impossible to do it without involving some reading and writing, but our main focus is speaking and listening. So we need to consider separately what we do about errors in the skills that we are here to teach and errors in the incidental work that is supporting those skills.

When I begin teaching a new class there are two things I try to get through to them very quickly. The first is that I want to hear lots of speaking. The second is that I'd rather have them speak with mistakes than not speak at all. No student in my class will ever be punished for getting something wrong. This is often not the case in their other subjects. Getting students to understand that if they make a mistake all I will do is help them to fix it can be an uphill struggle, but it's important that they understand this.

Right. Time to get to the important bit.

There are three questions that you need to answer.

What do I correct?

When do I correct?

How do I correct?

What do I correct?

Students will get things wrong. Some students will get lots of things wrong. You have a whole range of possible responses available to you from “correct nothing” to “correct everything.” Neither extreme is productive. While accuracy is important it shouldn't be at the expense of fluency. Stopping to correct every little thing will not only eat up far to much of your limited lesson time it will actually hinder learning and understanding rather than helping it. If you make half a dozen corrections to a reply of a couple of sentences then by the time you have finished the student, the class and most likely you too will have completely lost the thread of what the answer actually was. As well as that, there is the problem that by actively fixing every error you are discouraging the students from speaking as they become so focussed on not getting it wrong that they are reluctant to say anything at all.

When I worked in college in England I wasn't just teaching speaking and listening, I was teaching all the skills. Occasionally I saw teachers correct pieces of writing to the extent that the red ink on the page obliterated sections of the original text. This is disheartening and demoralising.

Of course correcting nothing is no better. If you leave every error not just uncorrected but unacknowledged then the students won't be able to tell what's right from what's wrong and there is no point in your being present at all. There's no learning going on.

Like everything in life the best answer lies somewhere between the extremes.

I take a threefold approach to what I correct. Small, easily corrected errors, where I am fairly sure it's something the student knows but has just got wrong this time, or individual errors that seriously impede understanding, I will correct as we go. (We'll come to how and when to correct later.)

Errors that relate to whatever the specific point of the lesson is, I will also correct, either as I go along or as a separate phase of the lesson.

Finally errors that aren't necessarily related to the specific point but that many students or groups are making I will either correct in the lesson or in another lesson.

Other errors may incidentally get fixed simply by the fact that when speaking to the students I won't have those errors in what I say, but they won't be specifically mentioned or discussed unless a student actually raises a question about them.

When do I correct?

There are of course different types of activity that we do in the classroom. Sometimes we ask directed questions to individual students. Sometimes we ask open questions to the whole class. Sometimes we encourage the class to offer opinions or to simply speak up on a topic. Sometimes we walk around and monitor pair and group work. Whichever you are doing, having made the decision to correct, the choice of when to do it comes down to a) immediately, b)at the end of the activity or c) sometime later (maybe in another lesson).

For those activities where I am getting responses from class members – whether in directed questions or more open discussion – I like to correct immediately, if it's something that can be done quickly. This, as we'll see later, needs to be done sensitively. It should never seem as if you are picking on someone for giving a wrong answer. If the error is something that you think it would be useful to explain to the whole class, you have to decide whether to interrupt the activity and give an explanation or acknowledge but defer it. This is obviously a judgment call. More often than not I will give a brief explanation or, at the end of the phase of the lesson I'm in tell the class that we will take a brief time-out from our speaking and listening to to a quick bit of grammar. I never spend more than a few minutes on it though. If it's going to take longer than that I tell the class we'll look at it another time.

When I'm walking around and monitoring class activities correction is almost always done immediately, though the specific form of the correction varies. It's far easier, and far less damaging for the student if you do this correction carefully and just for the small group than publicly in front of the whole class. The only exception is that if I see lots of people in different groups making similar mistakes AND THEY ARE RELATED TO THE TASK, I will talk about it at the end of the task, not indicating any particular group or student, but just in general. Rarely, if one group has raised a point that I think is important to the whole class I will also raise that at the end of the task but I always tell the little white lie that it is something many groups did, so that the group that actually made the mistake don't feel singled out.

How do I correct?

This is the most important question. There are lots of techniques that you can use and lots that you shouldn't use. The most basic rule is not to correct in a way that will belittle, humiliate or alienate the student. The best form of correction is always self-correction, so, if you can, you should respond to an error in a way that lets the student fix it rather than you fixing it. Repeating the sentence with a questioning tone or simply the word that was wrong will often result in the student realising what was wrong and changing it. Similarly when looking at something a student has written just pointing at the word with a questioning look on your face can get the same result.

A good tip is not to step in too quickly. A few seconds silence and a questioning tilt of the head will sometimes be enough of a prompt for a student to realise they made a mistake and try to fix it without you doing anything at all.

Of course, rather than repeating the sentence and hoping they figure it out you can always simply repeat the sentence, as if checking that you understood, but with the error fixed or change it to a comprehension checking question, modeling the correct form. So if the student says,

“Yesterday I go to the park?”

You can respond with

“You went to the park? What did you do there?”

which simultaneously corrects the error and opens up the possibility of further interaction.

As I suggested above, when you are monitoring group or pair work you will come across errors that are either being commonly made or that you think need to be explained to the whole class.

If you decide to do this after the activity then it's a good idea to paraphrase the original error to disguise which group it was and then write it on the board and invite corrections. I usually ask one of the groups that I explained it to as I was walking around to explain it to the class, without indicating in any way that it was their error to begin with. Then, to make sure that it's I clear, I explain it again and ask a few questions around the class to check that everyone got it.

Things you should avoid are mostly a matter of common sense.

Don't make a point of telling students that they are wrong, especially in front of their classmates.

If a student is repeatedly failing to get it right then don't labour the point endlessly. (Instead, let it go for now and then, during the next group activity, take time to try to help that student individually rather than openly).

Don't get frustrated or angry at students mistakes. The fact that they are speaking enough to make mistakes proves that they are trying.

Never tell students that this is something they should already know so why are they getting it wrong?

(If this really is the case you can ask the students if they would like you to go over it again with them. I usually find that they really do want to get it right and are grateful that you will explain again.)

Don't begin your error correction by telling students that they are bad/terrible/awful or whatever. It's better to help them feel good about their achievements not feel bad about their failings.

Finally, if you want to read more just search the internet for “ESL Error Correction”. There are many people out there writing advice and making videos on this topic. Some I agree with. Some I disagree with. You should look at as many as you can. It never hurts to get a variety of different views on a subject.

Oh, one final thing. You may have seen the viral video where a Russian teacher is soundly chastising a little girl who, having finally had enough, turns and gives him a powerful kick where it hurts most. That, were it true, would be the most appalling kind of error correction. But you should always check your facts. Though it's been presented as true, a bit of research reveals it to be a cunning bit of PR marketing for Russian TV channel. That doesn't mean you can't learn from it though.

Buckland Weekly #3: Dictionaries and Discussion Monitoring

In this series of posts I intend to address various questions that teachers, both old and new, have raised with me from time to time. All my answers are based on a combination of my own experience as a teacher, both in China and the UK, and published studies. Because of the element of personal experience all posts should be treated as my opinion only. As they say on the internet, your mileage may vary.

An activity that I sometimes use in class for vocabulary development is to give a text (appropriate to the grade and level of the students) with several of the more difficult words underlined. I then get the students to read the text and write down the meanings of those words, in English. If they don’t know the words they are allowed to use their dictionaries to find them. This is a short activity (usually near the start of a lesson) designed to give them the necessary vocabulary for a subsequent discussion activity. By doing it in groups there is an element of speaking and listening added as they give each other the answers. It’s unremarkable and uncontroversial.

Where I sometimes run into opposition from the Chinese teachers is in allowing the use of the dictionaries on their phones. The schools often have a “no phones in class” policy and like to stick to it. My view is that we are living in an age where electronic dictionaries are more commonly used than paper ones and, after all, a dictionary is a dictionary. I allow it. More than that, I encourage it. I tell my students that dictionaries are always OK in my lessons, though I encourage them to ask me if there are words they don’t understand. Students tend not to use their phone dictionaries anyway unless I actively tell them to, though they often use paper dictionaries.

Your policy is, of course, up to you, but if you decide to allow phone dictionaries and the school raises an objection then I suggest that you explain exactly why you are doing it, tell them that you allow phones to be used strictly for the duration of the activity and ask them what they think. If the school absolutely insists or (as I have occasionally seen) does not allow phones to even be taken into the classroom, then there is nothing you can do but follow the rules. Personally, I see no difference between using either type of dictionary.

The main activity of many of my senior lessons is a discussion activity: usually with groups talking about a series of questions on the topic of the lesson. For an example, look at my lesson plan for “Charity Begins At Home”.  When planning this type of activity I always try to think of answers on both sides of the topic. If the students are discussing, say, whether a good diet is more or less important for your health than exercise, I try to think of reasons that it is and reasons that it isn't. Then when I monitor the discussions by walking round the class and joining each group in turn, I can take the opposite view to whatever they have decided. I find this “devil’s advocate” approach stimulates discussion far more than presenting my genuine views. It’s also helpful, because thinking about it in advance speeds up your response and lets the discussion run more smoothly.

I will do a longer piece on error correction later, but the approach that I take when monitoring discussion activities is that I only correct where there is an error that seriously impedes the activity. Where a student manages to express what they want to say clearly, even if it has some small errors, I don’t generally correct. There are a number of reasons for this. Practically it would slow down the class but more importantly is the matter of confidence. The students are trying hard to express themselves and nit-picking their grammar in this type of activity undermines them and discourages participation. It’s often better to allow the flow of the discussion to continue uncorrected. If there is a point that comes up in several groups, I will often take a couple of minutes AFTER the activity to go through it on the board for the whole class.

Lesson Plan: Charity Begins At Home

Lesson Level:    Senior                    Duration:  40 Minutes

Lesson Title:     Charity begins at home.¹

Grammar and Vocabulary

Wealth, fortunate, donate, purchase, volunteer, distribute, participate, labour

 .

Lesson Objectives

Students will practice dictionary skills.

Students will learn target vocabulary (associated with charity)

Students will discuss questions associated with charity.

Materials Required

Reading text.²

Preparation

Prepare enough copies of reading text to give one to each group of four students.

Check that students have access to dictionaries.³

Divide class into groups of four.

Procedure

1

Write “Charity” on the board as a title for the lesson and elicit ideas about what it means.

Write definition below the title.

(giving your money or time to people who need your help)

2

Ask class to give ideas for who can benefit from charity.

Write list of suggestions at left hand side of the board. Give examples to get started if needed.

(poor, old, young, sick, disabled, homeless… also animals should be the minimum list)

Ask a few students which of these groups they would give their charity to. (Remember to always follow up with “Why?”)

3

Write “Charity begins at home”  on the board.

Elicit the meaning of the phrase.⁴

(Look after your own family and community first.)

Give the class two minutes to discuss whether they agree or disagree with this statement.

Monitor and assist the discussions.⁵

Get feedback from class.

4

Tell class you will now give each group a reading text.

Tell class they will need their dictionaries. (books or electronic)

 Write on board.

Read the text.

Use your dictionaries to find the meanings of the underlined words.

Write down the meanings IN ENGLISH.

While class work on that, write the list of words on the board.

Monitor and check that students are  working on the task.

Elicit the meanings and write them on the board.

5.

Read the text out loud to the class.

Elicit the three ways that it says you can help (donate money, purchase gifts, volunteer) and write them on the board.

Ask questions about text to check understanding.

6

Write discussion questions on board.

For most classes use the questions.

Is charity always a good thing?

Which kind of charity would you like to support?

Which way to support a charity is best (donate, purchase, volunteer)?

Does getting charity make people lazy or dependent?

For stronger classes, use harder questions.

Does giving to charity encourage people to become lazy and dependent?

The text says that giving to charity makes us feel satisfaction. Is this a good reason to give to charity?

Is it better to give to charities for people or animals? Why?

Is it better to give money to charities or to volunteer? Why?

7

Tell classes they have ten minutes to discuss the questions.

Monitor the groups and assist the discussions.

8

If there is time elicit feedback from whole class to share ideas.

Notes

1.

This lesson is based on material in Practical Oral English, Senior 2, Volume 2, Unit 6

2.

(This reading text comes from Practical Oral English, Senior 2, Volume 2, Unit 6)

Sharing our wealth and helping others is part of being a good person. There are many ways you can help less fortunate people than you. You can donate money, purchase a gift or offer your service for free as a volunteer. Lots of people volunteer to help others for free. It is a way to show others that  you care. Caring for others often gives us a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Ways of volunteering vary greatly, such as helping to distribute leaflets for charities, collecting money for charities or offering your labour in the local community. Helping your local community is fun, you can do the shopping for an old person or help to look after children for a person who is sick. You can also go to other less fortunate countries where people are in need of your help. You can participate by helping to plant trees, build wells and houses for the local villages.

Whatever way you want to help others, it will be rewarding.

3.

Some teachers disapprove of this but whenever I do dictionary work in class I also allow students to use the dictionaries on their mobile phones. A dictionary is a dictionary and we are living in the 21^st century here.

4.

The phrase “Charity begins at home” in the UK usually has the meaning that you should look after those closest to you before you give charity to others. There is another interpretation that I have sometimes heard which is that if people are charitable at home they will be more likely to be charitable in general. I usually stick with the traditional meaning and only discuss the alternate if someone in class raises the idea.

5.

When monitoring discussions like this. I find it useful to take the opposite view to whatever the group answers.

For example if they say “yes” I ask about whether it’s better to look after our own family who are already healthy and well-fed or to give our money to charities that help starving people in other countries.

Buckland Weekly #2a: Observations Redux

Observations Redux

After some conversation in the comments when I linked the “Observations” article on Buckland’s Facebook page, it occurred to me that the comments I made about observations give the impression that I think they are a pointless waste of time and effort. Actually, I don’t. I think a properly conducted observation with appropriate feedback can be an excellent tool to help the teachers and the school. It's just that they so rarely happen.

In my classroom I have an open door policy. I am confident enough in my lesson planning that anyone is welcome to come and observe at any time and at zero notice. If people do, I have one rule and one request.

The rule is that observers observe. They don’t join in and they don’t try to take over. I used to teach a summer school in England and one year we were observed by the British Council, a process that has to take place to maintain accreditation. Two observers came in and initially sat at the back taking notes. Then they stood up and started looking at what they students were doing. That’s also OK if they are discrete about it. Then they started joining in, correcting students work, suggesting improvements. By then I was quite an experienced teacher so, at that point, I asked them if I could speak to them outside for a moment. I politely requested that the stop trying to do my job for me. They agreed and returned to just sitting down and taking notes.

Of course it takes a lot of self-belief and confidence to do that. You don’t need to do it but you should try to ensure that having observers doesn't disrupt your lesson.

That’s the rule. The request is simply that after the class the observers talk to me and tell me what they thought. OFSTED gave me a thick skin. There’s nothing they can say that’s going to hurt my feelings and sometimes they say things that make me think, “Hmmm, they have a good point there. Maybe I should do this instead.”

When I observe people, and I do it a lot, I try not to focus too much on the negatives and I always start feedback by asking how they think it went. Nine time out of ten they have picked up in their own lesson any points that I picked up and if I follow up with asking what they intend to do to fix any problems, nine times out of ten they can answer that too. I find that having to just discuss your lesson after a class focuses you on what was good and what wasn't so good and once you think about it you are half way to getting it right.

With all that said, it’s still unlikely that you will get feedback in China and even if you do it’s even more unlikely that you well get serious negative feedback. It just isn't the way things are done here. All my previous remarks still apply. Observations in the UK are usually counter-productive and destructive and observations here are often more of a political exercise than an educational one. That doesn't mean you can’t get good observations though. If you are serious about improving your work I suggest that you actively seek out the right kind of observation. If you have western colleagues in your school, arrange to observe each other’s lessons and then sit down over a pint and talk about them. If you don’t, then try to find a friendly English department Chinese teacher who will observe. Explain what you want them to do and afterwards grab a coffee in the staff room and chat about your lesson

If you can get good observations with sensible feedback, I guarantee it will help you in the long run.

Buckland Weekly #2: Observations

Observations. Everybody hates them.  Everybody feels that “why me, why now” pang of resentment at having an interloper, sitting at the back of the class, watching and listening and taking notes. If you have ever been a teacher anywhere in the world it will almost certainly have happened to you.

Back in England there’s something called OFSTED – the OFfice for STandards in EDucation.  Its job is to inspect schools and part of that process is observing teachers. I’m certain that America and Australia and every other country that English teachers here come from will have similar bodies… or maybe I mean busybodies. The trouble is, and here I can only speak for England, that observations are not what they should be. They should be a formative tool that helps teachers develop their skills and encourages them to try new techniques and become the best teachers they can. Instead, OFSTED observations, and the internal school observations that go hand-in-hand with them, have become a blunt stick for beating the teachers and usually leave everyone concerned feeling useless and worthless.

Before I come on to observations in China, let me reminisce for a moment about the worst  observation I ever had. I like to think that I’m a pretty good teacher – maybe not the best in the world but certainly able to do my job well and even, from time to time, inspire a few of my students. Of course even the best teachers have off days.

I was, at the time teaching a group of what, in ESOL terms, are called Entry 1 students. This, in theory means they do have a little, very basic, English but not much. The group had started out at sixteen students but – for reasons that have more to do with UK immigration policies than with education – had dwindled to ten regular attenders. On the day of the observation – practice for OFSTED – only six showed up. That shouldn’t have mattered; I was prepared for a small group. The trouble was that they liked me and the way they showed that they liked me was to sit paying rapt attention to everything I said but barely speaking at all. Nothing I did, and I tried every trick in my repertoire, could get more than a few monosyllabic answers from them.

After the lesson it was time for feedback and the observer started with the most positive thing in the whole process.

            “You worked,” she said “Very hard, but to very little effect.”

After that she proceeded to rip everything apart. My lesson plan wasn’t adequate (it was); my activities weren’t suitable for the group (they were); the classroom environment wasn’t suitable (out of my control); my delivery was, apparently, both too fast and too slow (how?); the students were in the wrong level (there was no lower level for them); the students didn’t participate (at least that we agreed on).

And on it went. Twenty minutes of pure negativity. Fortunately it wasn’t my first go on the roundabout. I knew enough by then to know that no one ever said anything positive. that the whole thing was an exercise in nit-picking the tiniest flaws and in blaming the teacher for things entirely outside his control. I listened, nodded and agreed like a good little sheep. Anything else would have been pointless. The tick-boxes had already been ticked and the conclusions already drawn. And that was that: a failing grade on the observation.

Now that story isn’t meant to scare or demoralise you. It’s meant to show you what teachers in our own countries routinely go through. It’s meant to put into perspective the observations you might get here. It’s meant to help you understand that observations in your EFL class in China aren’t the nightmare that they could be.

So, who will observe you? There are a number of possibilities. In my time here I’ve been observed – at different schools – by my FAO, the head of the English department, Chinese English teachers, other foreign teachers, the school principal and, on one memorable occasion, all of the above simultaneously, seated in a row along the back wall of the classroom.

Before you panic you should ask the question – why are they here? And now that you have asked it I’ll answer it. It’s nothing sinister. If the school principal observes you, it will probably be for a couple of minutes and it’s purely political – acknowledging your presence, showing that he or she is aware of your contribution. If it’s the FAO they just want to know that you are turning up and doing your job and that you aren't doing anything that’s massively wrong. If it’s your department head, other teachers (Chinese or foreign) then they almost certainly want to learn from you – to get new ideas for their own teaching. This is just basic good practice. One colleague in Baiyin watched every single time I taught his class, sitting in the room writing down everything I did or said. When I asked why, he told me he wanted to copy my style for his own teaching. If it’s a whole damned coach party then it will be part of the school’s policy and you can be sure they do the same to each other too. You might even get invited to come along. I have on several occasions.

The bottom line is that unless you do something ridiculously wrong, it’s unlikely to have any consequences at all. You won’t get any feedback or criticism and nothing will happen. As long as you have prepared your lesson and deliver it reasonably well everything will be fine. It can even work to your advantage as the most unruly classes behave a whole lot better when their Chinese teachers are in the room. The key is not to worry about it. Just go ahead and teach as you normally would. Keep everything appropriate (remember that list of things not to do or talk about) and ignore the observers altogether. They won’t join in and they won’t say anything.

Of course now you are thinking “But what if I DO do something ridiculously wrong?” Trust me, you won’t. They may not like your style but that’s not an issue. Short of losing your temper, hitting a student or having a panic attack that renders you speechless, there is little you could do that’s wrong enough to cause a problem.

Feedback, if it exists at all is likely to come to us here in the Yangshuo office rather than directly to you. In Chinese culture negative feedback is almost never given, or at least given by very circuitous routes, because of the loss of face. If that does happen, then someone (probably me) will talk to you about it, make a few suggestions as to how you can fix any problems.

In any case, observations aren’t a big deal and aren’t a problem. Just treat them like any other day in the classroom

Of course you might get observed by me… and I learned all I know from watching OFSTED. Then you’ll be in trouble.