Can Continuing Professional Development change lives?

This is the third article in our series which presents extracts from the British Council publication, ‘Innovations in the continuing professional development of English language teachers’. Here the author, Ann Wiseman, revisits teachers from a CPD programme that took place 12 years before, to discover if CPD changes lives.

Extract from the editor’s overview (p14)

In Wiseman's chapter we are able to see in particular the long-term impact on the people involved. Impact came not just in the intended outcomes - improved skills as trainers, for example - but also in the unintended outcomes. These were both personal and professional. Yet again, the notion of a community of practice comes to the fore.

The participants in the original project have a lifelong bond, built on shared experiences and shared understandings of practice, as one said: 'The thing is that I say something, just two or three words, with Elena and she understands. With other people, even university people who haven't been part of this group, I have to explain myself.' Beyond the professional, the personal impact was often transformative too, creating a new sense of possibilities for project participants ('I learnt to swim at 40, I learnt to drive and now I am learning Turkish') and those around them.... Of course, change may not be without tensions, an 'inside struggle', reinforcing the lesson that one cannot underestimate the time needed for significant shifts in practice to be assimilated into an individual's professional frame of reference; and, as the narratives in this chapter show, for impact of an innovation to be felt in other parts of the education system.

Extract from Chapter 13 ‘'My life changed when I saw that notice': an analysis of the long-term impact of a continuing professional development programme in Bulgaria’

Personal development and 'life-changing' events

Part of my rationale to conduct this research was to explore what lay behind the comment which I had heard from time to time that the project had changed people's lives. Interestingly, this view was articulated unprompted in a number of interviews, for example:

I underestimated myself in many ways. I wasn't ambitious to make a career. But [through the project] I realised that relationships helped you. (Sara)

Yola talks about how, because of the project, she became inspired to learn new things, and continues to do so even now:

I learned to swim at 40, I learned to drive and now I am learning Turkish.

This inspiration to continue learning even spread to her family:

This [project] changed my life. So when my husband, for example, got involved in new things, it was thanks again to the fact that I encouraged him to do this. So at some point he combined computers with language teaching and now he has a better job than me.

Gail also feels that joining the cohort of trainers changed her life:

Actually, I think a single event which happened in the university changed my life significantly. And this event is when I saw a notice on the noticeboard saying that British Council Sofia is organising a kind of teacher-training course and anybody can apply.

Career progression and professional development

As mentioned in the preceding section, many of the participants were not aware of the exact nature of the trainer training and how it might impact on their lives and professional development. These reflective comments indicate that:

I somehow didn't foresee at that time the impact ... because I just thought I was going to some kind of seminar or something, it wasn't quite clear that it would be such a big thing that would develop. (Yola)

I had really no idea about what was going to happen, and whether I would stay there, I really did it quite accidentally. It was just somebody mentioning the project and encouraging us to try. We'll see whether there's something for us there. (Sara)

For some trainers the change to what was, to all intents and purposes, a new way of thinking and behaving, was quite shocking, although the team became very supportive towards each other.

It was Maria, if you remember her [...] while we stayed at the centre she supported and helped me. And later on I appreciated the fact that I had the courage to stay on. At some point I was on the verge of giving it up because I thought it was very difficult, I couldn't understand. (Yola)

As the training progressed it was clear that not only did we need to train more trainers in terms of the methodology of training, but time also needed to be spent on other areas of professional development such as materials design, syllabus development and issues around testing. Although not initially part of the intended outcome of the project, this broad foundation proved invaluable later on for some of the trainers who moved to different areas of training. For example, Vera found that when she moved to teaching in a medical university she was able to use her previous experience to help design a new syllabus and create materials, as she explains:

This teacher-training period helped me a lot in materials design and programme design and syllabus design. When we were about to train teachers, we had to design our own materials and somehow the fact that I always was used to sitting down in front of a white sheet of paper and writing down the plan of the seminar or the plan of the course, it helped me a lot, planning the syllabus for nurses, for midwives for pharmacy students as well.

Over a period of time the new trainers became respected and were asked more and more to deliver teacher-training programmes, as Syria said:

At some point I realised that quite a few people in quite a few places all over Bulgaria, had heard about me, I was known, I became known to many people. And I felt great about it.

Others took part in research projects, while many took up lectureship and professor posts in Bulgarian universities. In some cases the enthusiasm with which some of the trainers devoted themselves to the teacher-training programme and other associated professional development programmes meant that they neglected their own academic careers. In one or two cases some very expert trainers and methodologists did not get promotion because they had not devoted their time working towards a doctorate, which was required in the system. However, all the trainers in that position felt that instead they had developed professionally, as these comments demonstrate:

I would separate professional development and career development, because in terms of promotion, getting higher in the hierarchy, there's not much, not really, very minor; in terms of professional development and development as a person who deals with other professionals - a lot. The career development is perhaps personal. Because we had the option not to become PhDs we didn't, because it was not a university where you were required to grow in the hierarchy and have a PhD almost from the start. We were encouraged to do research work and develop like that but it was not so forceful. So we focused on teaching and good professional teaching. (Syria)

I don't think I would have gone this way without the British Council, definitely. I would probably have gone on teaching probably. Think of our colleagues who did not do any teacher training when we joined the university, some of them never did any teacher training, some of them just continued lecturing. They didn't become involved in many projects. Others wrote PhD projects. I didn't. This is a very sensitive subject ... I mean academically there is probably something more to be done. (Sveti)

The immediate result from the trainer-training programme and CPD programme, when funding was gradually withdrawn, was for the trainers to take it upon themselves to continue with their own professional development. Some did this via research, others through developing new courses at universities and colleges, others via writing, following up initial contacts and getting involved in new projects, as we see here:

And actually it was this event [undertaking the trainer training] which triggered off a chain of events. After that, the first thing I did, I established some contacts, and then I applied on an individual TEMPUS project, the same place in two year's time. Again, the University of Leeds, and again ESP area. It was a very successful one. I also established some contacts there with people at the university and I managed to publish my first article on Suggestopedia. (Gail)

Yola also commented that the project enabled her to learn a new way of doing things:

First of all I learnt things from you - how to write an article, for example. Nobody before that had ever told me how to approach a piece of writing, so these things are all things that I later on used in my job. All the seminars that we had in this project were very useful because they had practical aspects so this gave me the literacy for teaching in general.

Extract from ‘Innovations in the continuing professional development of English language teachers’ (A Wiseman, p309 - 312)

Click here to download the complete publication.

Who is responsible for continuing professional development?

This is the second in a series of articles which presents extracts from the British Council publication, ‘Innovations in the continuing professional development of English language teachers’. Here, the authors discuss who the stakeholders in continuing professional development might be and who is reponsible for CPD.

‘Continuing professional development policy 'Think Tank': an innovative experiment in India’

Learning from the Think Tank

Teachers' ongoing professional development is not a matter of concern for teachers alone. Various stakeholders - school heads, education authorities, state, society and parents - have interests in teachers' CPD for their own reasons, depending on their place in the education system. Consequently, each of these stakeholders may have differing priorities for and expectations of CPD. Teachers may have their personal developmental priorities, usually determined by their needs, interests and aspirations. Institutions may have different expectations from teachers' professional development, related to their concern with strengthening institutional performance, culture and image. Apart from these, the teaching profession also has interests in teachers' professional development, which are reflected in education policies, politics and administration. Figure 1 represents stakeholder priorities in a general way.

Figure1: Priorities in teachers' professional development

(Adapted from SACE, 2008: 5)

Though the figure shows a balance between the different priorities, in reality professional priorities (including administrative, social and political) and institutional priorities are seen to greatly outweigh teacher priorities. Such different priorities both stem from and lead to different understandings and interpretations of the very notion of CPD. This was the immediate challenge that the Think Tank faced when it commenced its work. Coming from different backgrounds, agencies and organisations, the members showed differing views of the notion of CPD. For example, the representatives of national and state teacher education bodies perceived CPD in terms of traditional INSET, particularly various kinds of training necessitated by curricular reforms, textbook changes, methodological shifts, and so on. In their view, equipping teachers to effectively implement the various programmes and policies of the state was the main objective of CPD. The practising teachers and representatives of teacher associations prioritised teachers' personal interests and professional needs such as enhancing competence in English, becoming trainers, attending conferences and publishing papers. The administrators looked at CPD in terms of enhancing teachers' teaching skills and classroom management, and ensuring the good performance of students in examinations. In the course of subsequent discussions it soon became clear that, while none of these perspectives could be downplayed as unjustified or unimportant, each represented only one aspect of CPD. The Think Tank members summed up this insight in terms of the 'elephant and blind men' metaphor, as in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Multiple views of CPD

It was therefore considered essential to arrive at a broad and inclusive understanding of the notion of CPD as an important prerequisite for the subsequent work. The unique contribution of the Think Tank was to bring all these differing, and at times conflicting, perspectives together face to face, which facilitated thrashing out of differences, identifying commonalities and arriving at a shared understanding. The outcome of this churning was the following working definition of CPD, which the Think Tank adopted as the basis for further thinking and action:

CPD is a planned, continuous and lifelong process whereby teachers try to develop their personal and professional qualities, and to improve their knowledge, skills and practice, leading to their empowerment, the improvement of their agency and the development of their organisations and their pupils. (Padwad and Dixit, 2011: 10)

The process of evolving a shared understanding of CPD also led to frequent discussions about key challenges in ensuring effective CPD. There was a general agreement that the CPD scenario in India was not a very happy one, and that there were no effective CPD mechanisms in place. Some of the reasons for this were easy to identify, such as the neglect of CPD in teacher education policies and programmes, the lack of a well-formed and comprehensive CPD policy and the lack of general awareness about CPD. But others only emerged in the course of animated discussions and debates. It was yet again the diversity of views and approaches within the group which helped in understanding the complexity of the challenges. The collective thinking within the group helped in evolving a clearer understanding of challenges, and also a more concrete and specific formulation of issues, even if it wasn't always possible to identify solutions.

An interesting and enlightening example of this process was the discussion around the question of whose responsibility teachers' CPD was. This question is not much explored in research and policy documents on CPD in India, perhaps because it is generally assumed that the education authorities (in other words, the state) are responsible for teachers' CPD. A small-scale study carried out by two Think Tank members also found such an assumption clearly prevalent among the teachers and the authorities they interviewed (Padwad and Dixit, 2012). Even within the Think Tank the initial view of many members was that CPD was obviously the state's responsibility. However, as the cycles of discussions continued and as the members started bringing in findings from their individual studies and initiatives, it became clear that the issue was much more complex. Many studies by the members reported in the Think Tank publication (Bolitho and Padwad, 2012) indicated that teachers' taking responsibility for their CPD was the key factor in the success of the CPD activities in question. For example, Maya Pandit-Narkar's study (2012) pointed out how the member teachers' initiative helped them exploit the District English Centre set up in their town under an education ministry scheme for launching CPD activities. As Rama Mathew found out in her study (2012), the success and value of her experiment in promoting CPD through reflective practice were premised on the participating teachers' voluntarism and willingness to take responsibility for their development: '[a]lthough there [was] no acknowledgement/benefit of any sort in the school for teachers to take on CPD-related work.' (Mathew, 2012: 69) The account of the 30-year-long developmental journey of a voluntary teacher development group (Shivakumar, 2012) clearly established that the member teachers taking responsibility for their own CPD was the crucial and indispensable element in launching and sustaining the group. On a more theoretical level it was remembered that 'development' was not something that could be done by others to an individual; one developed oneself. In the final analysis, none but teachers could be responsible for their own CPD. At the same time some other studies reported in Bolitho and Padwad (2012) showed that support in the form of policy provisions, resources, incentives, freedom and opportunities was crucial for CPD, and that this would basically be the state responsibility. In a study exploring various stakeholders' views about CPD (Padwad and Dixit, 2012), expectations of state support were explicitly indicated by the participants, who included not only teachers but also administrators, managements and state officials. Another study into the use of school libraries as a resource by teachers (Waris, 2012) indicated that good support of resources like libraries led to better involvement in CPD by teachers. Pandit-Narkar's (2012) study of the District English Centre at Nellore quoted above also showed that the support and opportunities brought in by a 'top-down' intervention of the federal education ministry significantly enhanced the impact and success of the teachers' CPD initiatives. These observations about the need of supportive policy provisions, resources, incentives and opportunities were further corroborated by the two 'guest' contributions from Montenegro (Popovic and Subotic, 2012) and Serbia (Glusac, 2012), countries with explicit legislation and elaborate official provision for teachers' CPD. While underlining the value and significance of policy support for CPD, these studies also highlighted how the importance of school-based CPD was recognised and prioritised at the ministry level.

Eventually the Think Tank came round to the conclusion that CPD was a joint responsibility, and would succeed only through a combination of teacher responsibility (teachers' personal initiative and voluntarism) and state responsibility (support of policies and provisions for CPD), i.e. a combination of bottom-up initiative and top-down support. In this combination, schools, administrators, management and teacher education institutions (TEIs) played an important mediator role. Figure 3 shows a visual representation of this conceptualisation.

Figure 3: A model for effective CPD

The Think Tank thus led to the raising and analysing of a critical issue in CPD for the first time in India. It also helped in further clarifying the roles and responsibilities of teachers and other stakeholders in CPD.

Extract from ‘Innovations in the continuing professional development of English language teachers’ (Chapter 11, A Padwad and K Dixit, p258 - 262).

Click here to download the complete publication.

Tomorrow in our next extract we look at the theme: 'Can continuing professional development change lives?'

Don't forget to register for next Monday's CPD webinar with Silvana Richardson on 'CPD that works'. Silvana will look critically at the INSETT model of contining professional development and discuss more relevant, useful and personalised CPD approaches that put you in the driving seat of your development as a teacher and engage you as researcher as well as practitioner. This approach can have a positive impact for the CPD of other teachers, and also for the organisation you work for.

Find out more here: http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/continuing-professional-development/webinars

Innovations in the Continuous Professional Development for teachers of English

This is the first in a series of articles http://goo.gl/bpKsI4 which presents extracts from this free, downloadable British Council publication.

"Teachers across all professional life phases felt that heavy workload, a lack of time and financial constraints were important inhibitors in their pursuit of professional development".

Extract from 'Innovations in the continuing professional development of English language teachers’, David Hayes, Editor (p 5 - 6).

Click here to download the complete publication.

Active Engagement Strategies

Keeping students actively engaged throughout the day is critical for academic success. However, active engagement involves more than "hands on" instruction. Students need opportunities to work collaboratively with a partner or team in order to gain a deeper understanding of the content they are exploring.

On this page you'll find a two free webinar recordings with lots of practical and easy-to-implement active engagement strategies.

• Part One includes strategies for whole group engagement and partner activities.
• Part Two focuses on cooperative learning team management and strategies for teams.

Options for Active Engagement Strategies for Success Webinar

• Mp4 Video Version - Available on YouTube and embedded in this page above. You will not be able to see the chat panel.
• Full Recording in Blackboard Collaborate - Watching this format will make you feel that you are right there in the room with us! You'll be able to see the chat panel as you watch the webinar.
• Active Engagement Strategies Part One Chat Transcript - Over 250 pages long with lots of great strategies from participants. Just scroll and scan to find what you need or use the Find feature in Word if you are looking for something specific. The times listed in the chat will help you navigate.

Part Two - Taking the Chaos out of Cooperative Learning

Options for Active Engagement Strategies for Success Webinar - Part Two

• Mp4 Video Version - Available on YouTube and embedded in this page above. You will not be able to see the chat panel.
• Full Recording in Blackboard Collaborate - Watching this format will make you feel that you are right there in the room with us! You'll be able to see the chat panel as you watch the webinar.
• Active Engagement Strategies Part Two Chat Transcript - Over 70 pages long with lots of great strategies from participants. Just scroll and scan to find what you need or use the Find feature in Word if you are looking for something specific. The times listed in the chat will help you navigate.

 

Source: http://lauracandler.com/strategies/activeengagement.php

9 Ways to Correct Students Without Correcting Them

Try These 9 Simple Ways to Correct Your Students Without Correcting Them

1. 1

   The Stare

   If a student answers a question incorrectly or grossly mispronounces a word, fail to respond to him and rather stare blankly or with a raised eyebrow, like you heard no words. You will convey there was a failure in communication without correcting with your body language cues, and those cues are actually a more powerful way of encouraging a second, third, and even fourth attempt for a right answer. The student will naturally want to try harder to communicate with you.
2. 2

   “Is There Another Way to Say That?”

   Do not tell her she is wrong, but ask if maybe there is another way (with the implication of better way) to answer your question or communicate. The question will trigger a thought process in which she scans her mental thesaurus.
3. 3

   “What Word Did We Learn Yesterday?”

   This question inspires recall of lessons taught, and your student will not think you are correcting her, only seeking a different answer based on your lesson plans. It will trigger her brain to replace the incorrect word or usage with what you taught as well.
4. 4

   “Does Anyone Else Have A Thought?”

   Do not correct your student, but immediately ask if anyone else has a different answer. Keep asking until someone gives you the right response. Positively respond to all of the participation, but very positively respond to the correct answer once you find it and stop asking for more answers. The final answer will sit in their heads as the best and the most correct.
5. 5

   “Who Else Thinks That Answer Is Correct?”

   Turn it around on your students! Poll who thinks the answer is correct. The correct answer will emerge, but the student who was wrong will have commiseration from classmates that voted for her answer, diffusing the culpability in a lighthearted way.
6. 6

   “I Do Not Quite Understand You”

   This phrase indicates that the student is on the right track, but is not quite conveying what he wants to communicate. He will keep trying and rephrase his words or try another grammatical construction naturally to attempt to explain. This is much more effective than “That is not how you say that” or other negative correction tools.
7. 7

   The Repeat

   Nod in agreement with the student and then repeat what she is trying to say correctly. This shows she said it well enough to be understood and that her communication was relayed, but the correct pronunciation or grammar will stick in her mind. For example, if she asks, “I go to bathroom?” say, “Can I go to the bathroom? Yes you can go to the bathroom.”
8. 8

   Ask Someone Else

   If someone answers incorrectly, just ignore her and ask someone else until you receive the right response!
9. 9

   A Game with Rewards

   Do not correct wrong answers, but reward the right answer. This is the oldest teacher trick to inspire participation. Give candy, points, prizes, etc. if students answer you correctly, but do not even acknowledge wrong answers.

With a little bit of practice, you can succeed at never correcting your students but always finding the right answer! You will notice higher participation in your activities as well as increased learning in your classroom by employing these techniques and always making wrong right.

More from the author Devon Reeser

37 Tips for Teaching English

Tip #1 Greet them by singing: We all greet the students when we enter the class and expect them to reply back. Instead of a monotonous way, why don’t you use a song to greet them? This may be really fun especially for young learners. You can use the rhyme of a well-known children’s song and add your own lyrics or you can create a rap one with these lyrics. Here is very simple rap greeting I created:

Teacher: Hello Hello Hello everybody!

Students: Hello Hello Hello Mr. Jones!

You can also change the word ‘everybody’ with some other words such as 4B, my dear students, dearies, sweethearts etc. This will surprise your students.

Tip #2 Pick a game: Think about games which can be played in the class and write the titles of them on cards. Put the cards in a box. If you want, you can ask your students to write down the games they’d like to play but make sure that you check them to see if they are appropriate or not. Students can colour or decorate the box with stickers or pictures. Whenever you want to give a break, you or your students can pick a game from the box and play altogether.

Tip #3 “Teacher! You’ve got mail”: Sometimes, it is difficult for students (especially the shy ones) to communicate with the teacher. This is a great idea to make them share anything they want. Make a box with a hole (maybe a locked one) and ask your students to write you notes or letters and drop it in. When students send you their message, they can write “Teacher! You’ve got mail” on the board or leave a message on the table, so you can check. You can reply their notes or talk to them afterwards. Another thing you can do with the mail box is to encourage them to write messages on special days, to cheer up their friends or to inspire each other.

Tip #4 Get together at break: As teachers, we all need a break to relax, have a cup of tea / coffee or visit Mrs.Murphy:) but it is extremely fruitful to spend time with students at the break time. Stay in class, hang out in the corridor or go out to the garden to chat with your students. Not all the time of course. Once or twice a week. Play games, eat together, listen to music or just make compliments. This unthreatening atmosphere will make you get to know them better and create a special connection with your students.

Tip #5 Who’s the teacher today?: Students, especially younger ones like acting as teachers. They sometimes play games acting as teachers and students. I used to do that a lot when I was a kid. I even had a little chalkboard. Why don’t you ask your students to become the teacher for five minutes and continue the lesson? You can start with the volunteers and ask them what / when they want to teach. You can add their names on the class calendar, so they can plan and get prepared. When the time comes, let them go through an activity, carry out a discussion, lead a game and so on. I’m sure this will be great for the students to become more confident and it will also help to improve their empathy skills.

Tip #6 Bring lucky charms: You can invent lucky charms to motivate your students or reduce their stress. Bringing a ladybug toy / picture before an exam, drawing an Irish shamrock on the board during a competition or hanging a blue bead after they perform well can change the atmosphere for a while. It can make them laugh, increase their motivation and have fun, but you shouldn’t exaggerate. Avoid changing the class into a tent full of totems:)

Tip #7 Arrange a ‘Fun corner’: You can leave a part of the bulletin board for this. Ask students to bring jokes, cartoons, inspirational quotes and interesting news they like. They can put these on this corner and share. Make them change the stuff regularly. You can even create a rating game at the end of the term / year and choose the funniest, the mosy interesting or the weirdest.

Tip #8 Silence is normal: This may not happen very frequently, but when it happens it might make you feel weird as if you have to start speaking immediately. If your students just stare at you or keep silent, that does not mean that there is always something wrong. Students may need time to digest. They might be thinking about the topic / lesson you are busy with. They may be brainstorming or reflecting. Do not panic and give them time.

Tip #9 Let them enjoy a ‘crazy moment’: As you can understand from the title, this is a crazy activity. Try not to use this activity very often not to lose the magic of it. When you feel that your students are completely lost in thoughts, tired or reluctant, tell them that they have 10 seconds to do anything they like. They can stand up, walk around, scream, dance, sleep, look out of the window etc. Ring a bell when the time is over and ask to sit properly and silently. Don’t forget to warn them about the actions they will do. They shouldn’t hurt their friends, offend each others’ feelings or damage the school property. I recommend you to inform your neighbours next door (other classrooms or the administrators nearby), so they won’t get shocked when they hear the ‘crazy’ sounds:)

Tip #10 Make them reflect: Students make a special page /section on their notebook and decorate it if they like. After each unit / theme, tell them to think about the things covered in class and write what they can do. This will be very good to make them reflect on their own work and performance. Seeing their own progress will be motivating as well.

Tip #11 Give them awards for nothing: Awards always motivate students and they get crazily happy if they deserve one. Some students can really feel useless if they can’t get any and the whole thing can lose its effectiveness. You can sometimes award them not for the things related with the lesson but with the special skills or features they have. Award for a sweet smile, award for a tech wizard or award for a helpful fairy etc. Check here to see more ideas on this.

Tip #12 Make a ‘class’ wall: You can change the classroom wall into a Facebook wall. I hope you have enough space for this. If not, you can use the windows or the doors of the cupboards. Students can share their photos of special moments and add captions to them, write their feelings or opinions. You can add your own and motivate them to comment on each other. This can be turned into a spoken activity at the end of the day or used as a warm-up activity. If students like each others’ posts, they can draw little hearts on them.

Tip #13 Give no homework for today: Decide on a day and don’t give homework on that day. Share this with the other teachers as well and encourage them to do the same. Students will love this. Having a day without any homework will make your students release the pressure of the school and relax.

Tip #14 Keep calm and come back: Choose an area in the class and put a ‘keep calm’ sign / poster there. Tell the students that they can use this place to get better whenever they feel down or angry. You can put a chair or a pillow there. They can sit, close their eyes or put their headphones on to listen to some music. The time they use at this area should be limited. They should go back to their place after 2 or 3 minutes.You can use the same place to show that you are not happy with an attitude or a misbehaviour but avoid using it very often.

Tip #15 You’ve got a message: Tell the students to write their names on a piece of paper and leave them in a box or plastic bag. Then allow them to pick one. If they pick their own names, they should change. Ask them to write an inspirational message for their friends and give it to them. Students will learn how to cheer up each other and improve their friendship with the help of this activity.

Tip #16 Help your buddy: Put the students into pairs at the beginning of the year. Tell them they are ‘help’ buddies during the first month. They are supposed to help each other about lessons, the new school / system and so on. This might be really good for the newcomers.

Tip #17 ‘Joker’ for homework: Homework can be boring for some students although you do your best to make it fun and catchy. Tell your students that they can have a ‘joker’ after each 5 / 10 homework. Once they get a joker, they can use it for any homework they like and skip that one. This can have some weaknesses such as missing things on the related piece of homework or receiving complaints from parents, but it can also motivate students to do more homework.

Tip #18 Reading time: Ask them to bring the book they are reading on a specific day. Friday can be a good day as it is the last day of the week and most of them can be tired. If a student does not fancy books, this can be a good start. Tell your students it is the reading time and allow them a specific time. You can begin with 15 minutes and extend the time later. You can also play classical music during this time. By the way, don’t forget to bring your own book to join them.

Tip #19 Share what you read: Bring a book you already read or you are reading and put it on your table or another place in the class. You can allow the students to have a look at it and raise questions aterwards. Then, ask a volunteer to bring a book and do the same. You can continue this activity till everybody talks about a book.

Tip #20 ‘Special days’ congrats: Use the doors of the students’ lockers for this activity. Learn their birthdays at the beginning of the year and put messages on the door of their lockers on their birthdays. You can also congratulate them for other special stuff like winning a school match or getting a poetry award. They will feel that you care about them.

Tip #21 “Who is the ‘prefect’ this week?”: Choose a prefect from the students. If you want, you can choose more than one at each time. The prefects can be your assistants during the week and learn to take responsibilities and maybe gain more confidence. You can change the prefects every week till everyone becomes a prefect at least once.

Tip #22 Group names: Divide the students into groups according to their seating plans and ask them to find a name for their groups. It might be good to call out their group names while warning instead of using the names of the students. This way, they can warn each other to stop the misbehaviour, listen to others more carefully and participate. You can give and take points to encourage the students and choose the champion group of the day / week / month.

Tip #23 Dance dance dance: This can sound a bit crazy if you have never taught young learners, but believe me it even works with university prep students. Just play a popular song and dance with them. You can do it in the middle of the lesson when you see that they are lost or before you start a lesson or a specific activity. Tell them that they are free to do any dance moves for blah blah minutes. When the music stops, they should calm down and sit quietly to get ready for the lesson / activity. Remember that moving can increase the brain power.

Tip #24 Make them talk for one minute: Tell them they have to talk to their pairs for one minute without stopping. They may talk about anything that comes up to their minds or on a specific topic. After some time, you can extend the time and make them talk for a longer time. This is a very helpful activity for their fluency. You can find more details about this activity here.

Tip #25 Share something about your childhood: Students can sometimes be very curious about their teachers. So why not using this for the sake of your lessons:) Show them photos from your childhood and tell them ‘stories’. Be sure that they will listen more carefully than they listen to other stories, because it is all about you. They can ask you questions when you finish or guess the end of the story.

Tip #26 Do not fear to share your feelings: If you are having a difficult time or if you are overjoyed, do not fear to share this with your students (unless it is very private:p). You can just tell them or write it on the board like a Facebook status and if they want, they can ask you questions about the details.

Tip #27 Watch a video: Do not wait for the perfect time to use videos. A short youtube video can change the mood of the students. It can make them smile and motivate for a hard work coming up or inspire them before a writing activity. Bookmark the videos you can use in your class and use this library whenever you need.

Tip #28 “Do you know what I did last weekend?”: Tell the students to bring an object related with what they did at the weekend. Tell them to show it to others and take a guess about their weekend. They can ask questions to learn about the details. If you want to save time, you can make students work in pairs / groups.

Tip #29 Tell them to dream on: This is one of the silent moments you can all enjoy:) Choose an appropriate piece of music preferably instrumental ones. Tell them to close their eyes and just dream on. They are free to dream about anything they like and they don’t have to talk about it afterwards.

Tip #30 Remember: Music is a therapy: Music can reduce stress, encourage positive thinking and even implant creativity. Do not fear to use it during the lessons. The only thing you should be careful about is to choose the right piece of music for the right time. Considering the activities you are dealing with, decide if you need something stirring, calming or relaxing. Hereis a great link to choose a piece of music according to your mood. Some titles here may not be appropriate for the age of your students, so check before you use it in your class.

Tip #31 Why don’t you go out?: You don’t have to lock your students in the class all the time. Take your students out to the garden or use the other parts of the school. Make a good plan about the lesson you will follow there and be sure everything is under control. Inform your head of department or the vice principal beforehand not to cause any problems.

Tip #32 Invite guests: You can invite your colleagues (English teachers or teachers of other subjects), the head of department, vice principals or the principal to your class not to observe you but to encourage the students. When they are ready to perform pair work or group work activities, show & tell projects or just to play games, you can invite someone to your class. (Inviting more than one person can be threatening for them.) The aim here should be to praise the students. When they hear that a teacher or an administrator they care is appreciating their work, they will be really happy and motivated.

Tip #33 Give them coupons: Make coupons to be given as awards after any good work your students perform. Tell them to collect their coupons to reach other series of awards. You can learn more details about this activity I created here.

Tip #34 “What was the best thing today?”: Make students reflect on the lesson and their work at the end of the day / lesson. Then ask them to share it in pairs or groups. You can also tell them to share the same with their family when they go home. You can inform the families beforehand. This will help your students to focus on the positive things more and create a bridge between the school and home as well.

Tip #35 Change is good: You can change the decoration of the classroom by playing with the desks and chairs (if you can) or the seats of the students. You can make your students look after plants, add new parts on the bulletin board and so on. Change is good but it might drive some students crazy, too, so you should know your students well before you decide on a change. You can make it in steps and try to prepare them.

Tip #36 Enjoy the Colour’ful’ days: If wearing uniform is not mandatory at the school you are working at, this can bring ‘colour’ to your classroom. Decide on a colour and tell your students to wear something with that colour on a day you will announce. If they can’t, they can also bring some accessories. You can join them as well. You can read a text, sing a song or watch a video related with the colours. You can discuss about the effects of colours on people, colour therapy or play games related with colours.

Tip #37 “What’s your favourite photo shoot?”: Ask your students to take as many photos as they can at the weekend or on winter / summer holiday. After deciding on their favourite photo shoot, they can bring it to class (hard or soft copy) to share with their friends. Then, they can come to the front, show and tell. They can ask questions to each other. With the help of this activity, they will be sharing their experiences and have some fun.

Hope you will find these tips fun and useful for your students. Please feel free to add your own and share your ideas.

Can I learn English in 18 months?

Here´s a very interesting article written by Luiz Otavio Barros, and it deals with the issue of the time in which a person can become fluent in English, I recommend you to read it.

Can I learn English in 18 months?

10 Tips to Improve Behavior Management

1 Be in charge.

As the teacher, and the adult, you are ‘in charge’. It is your classroom and you must actively and consciously make the rules and decisions, rather than letting them happen out of habit, poor organisation or at the whim of the pupils.

Demonstrate your ‘in-chargeness’ by the position you take in the room; keep on your feet as much as possible and be where you can watch everything that is going on. Pupils should be convinced you have eyes in the back of your head! Pick up the good things they are doing (see number 3 below). Keep moving around the classroom to establish yourself as the focal point of interest and authority.

Remember that the pupils need to feel safe; they can only do this if you are in charge. Do not justify or apologise for your rules, your standards or your insistence on compliance.

2 Use positive classroom rules.

Pupils need to know what is expected of them in your classroom. Establish a set of rules, no more than 4 or 5, which make desired behaviour explicit; display them prominently in the room and refer to them frequently so that they don’t disappear into the wallpaper!

The rules should tell the pupils what to do, rather than what not to do, eg

O Don’t call out.

          P Put up your hand and wait to speak.

O Don’t walk around the classroom.

          P Stay in your seat.

O Don’t break things.

                    P Look after classroom equipment.

Praise good behaviour and refer to the rule being followed. Use the rules to point out inappropriate behaviour, “Remember our rule about …”

Have a ‘feature’ rule now and again, written on the board and tied to a special individual or class reward to be given to pupils who follow the rule.

3 Make rewards work for you.

Give pupils relevant rewards for desirable behaviours, starting tasks, completing tasks, following class rules, etc. The goal is to establish the HABIT of co-operation. Standards can be subtly raised once the habit has been established. The easiest, quickest and most appreciated reward is descriptive praise.

Other possible rewards, besides those used as a school-wide system are:

• a note home to parents
• name on a special chart which earns a later tangible reward
• being given special responsibilities
• being allowed to go first
• having extra choices

4 Catch them being good.

Praise is the most powerful motivator there is. Praise the tiniest steps in the right direction. Praise often, using descriptive praise, for example, ‘It can be annoying having to look up words in the dictionary. I can see you are getting impatient but the dictionary is still open in front of you. You haven’t given up.’ Or, ‘I can see you don’t want to come in from break, but you are facing the right direction for coming in.’ Be willing to appreciate the smallest of effort and explain why it pleases you.

Pupils will not think you are being too strict and will not resent your firm decision making if you remember to smile, to criticise less and to praise more. Tell the pupils there will be positive consequences for positive behaviour, then follow through and show them.

Stick to your guns and don’t be ‘bullied’ into giving rewards that haven’t been earned.

Some positive behaviours are easily overlooked. Try to remember to praise pupils for:

• homework in on time
• homework in late but at least it’s in
• working quietly
• good attendance
• neat desk
• not swinging on chair
• smiling
• contributing to class discussion
• helping another pupil
• not laughing at another pupil’s mistakes
• promptly following your instructions
• wearing glasses
• using common sense

Use the reward systems of the school consistently and fairly.

5 Be specific and clear in your instructions

Get a pupil’s full attention before giving instructions. Make sure everyone is looking at you and not fiddling with a pencil, turning around, looking at a book, etc. Only give instructions once; repeating can unwittingly train a pupil to not bother to listen properly the first time. Smile as you give instructions.

Don’t be too wordy and don’t imply choice when there actually isn’t a choice by tacking ‘Okay?’ on the end, or sound as though you are merely suggesting, ‘Would you like to …?’ ‘How about …?’  ‘Don’t you think you should …?’

Be very clear in all your instructions and expectations. Have a pupil repeat them back to you.

6 Deal with low level behaviours before they get big

Low level, or minor, behaviour infringements will escalate if they are

not dealt with quickly and consistently. A pupil’s behaviour is reinforced

when he gets attention for it, but don’t be tempted to ignore it. Find a

calm and quiet way to let the child know that you see exactly what he is

doing and that there is a consequence, without making a fuss, getting

upset or sounding annoyed.

Give your instructions once only. If the pupil continues to misbehave, instead of repeating your original instruction, try one or more of these actions:

• point to a place (eg on the board, on a post-it in the pupil’s book, a note on your desk) where you wrote down the original instruction at the time you first gave it
• use a description of reality, ‘Alfie, you are tapping your ruler.’
• stop everything and look at the pupil pointedly and wait for them to figure out why
• descriptively praise those who are behaving appropriately, praise the target pupil as soon as  he complies
• ask other pupils what is needed (the squirm factor)

Always follow through, even on minor infractions, so that pupils know there is no point in testing. They should know what will happen. Only give second chances after a period of good behavior.

7 The consequences of non-compliance.

Help the pupil to do whatever you’ve asked him to do. If he has thrown pencils on the floor, help him to pick them up.

If a pupil does not obey instructions straight away, do not give up. Keep waiting. Praise every little step in the right direction, even the absence of the wrong thing. For example, if you’ve just asked a pupil to stand up and he’s not doing it, you could say, ‘You’re not swearing now, thank you.’

Do not protect the pupil from the consequences of his action or lack of action. The pupil is making a choice and you will have told him this, and given a clear warning of the consequence.

A consequence should be uncomfortable and not upsetting enough to breed more resentment. The purpose of the consequence is to prompt the pupil to think, ‘I wish I hadn’t done that.’

Have a ready repertoire of easy to implement and monitor consequences. These might include:

• loss of choices (eg where to sit)
• loss of break time
• loss of a privilege
• sitting in silence for a set amount of time

8 Find a ‘best for both outcome’.

Avoid confrontational situations where you or the pupil has to back down. Talk to the pupil in terms of his choices and the consequences of the choices, and then give them ‘take up’ time.

‘Fred, I want you to leave the room. If you do it now we can deal with it quickly. If you choose not to then we will use your break time to talk about it. It’s your choice. I’ll meet you outside the door in two minutes.’ Then walk away and wait.

‘Joe, put your mobile phone in your bag or on my desk. If you choose not to do that it will be confiscated,’ then walk away and wait.

9 Establish ‘start of lesson’ routines.

Never attempt to start teaching a lesson until the pupils are ready. It’s a waste of everyone’s energy, giving the impression it’s the teacher’s job to force pupils to work and their job to resist, delay, distract, wind up, etc. Often this task avoidance is a ‘smoke screen’ hiding worries about what you are going to ask them to do.

Have a routine way of starting a lesson; a quiet activity that pupils can get right down to, without needing any explanation. Handwriting, copying the lesson objectives from the board, spelling practice (familiar key language from the current topic), mental arithmetic are good activities to set a quiet tone. Do not allow discussion or be drawn into discussion yourself – say there will be time for that later and make sure you follow this through.

If you take the time to establish this, lessons will start themselves! You won’t have that battle at the beginning of every lesson to get yourself heard.

10 Manage the end of the lesson.

Do not run your lesson right up to the last minute and then have to rush because the next class is waiting. Allow time to wind down, answer questions, put equipment away, refer to WILT and how this has been met, outline plans for next lesson, etc.

Have a short, educational game up your sleeve if there is time to spare.

Manage the pupils’ exit of the room, have them stand behind their chairs and wait to be asked to leave. Address each pupil by name and have them tell you some good news about the lesson, or you tell them something they did well today. Send them out one-by-one.