Unit 6
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2016 9:58 pmDear colleagues,
Here are my answers to the following questions.
1. Question 2. Solving problems:
- What do you do when students make lots of mistakes? I believe that one way to help them improve can be to ask them to rehearse their oral contributions at home. Students should know the questions / topics in advance so that they could prepare a bit. Obviously, not all speaking activities can be practised beforehand, but the majority of roleplays found in coursebooks follow a kind of similar script.
- What do you do when not all students participate? If the reason is the difference of levels, I normally pair weak students with stronger ones so that everyone has the chance to speak. When stronger students get tired of helping weaker ones, I pair students of similar level. I can ask those students who do not participate to prepare an activity they can feel confident with. I could ask them to choose a topic they like to talk about it or make an oral presentation in front of the class or in small groups.
- What do you do when sometimes students aren't interested in the topic? Well, this seldom occurs, because the coursebooks I generally use deal with topics that interest teenagers. Nevertheless, I sometimes allow students to choose those topics they want to discuss. One of such occasions is in June, when all my 4th ESO students have to make a speech, with some powerpoint slides, for five minutes in front of two English teachers who will grade their oral skills.
- What do you do when students spend a lot of time speaking in their mother tongue? This is one of the hardest problems I have to deal with with older students. They are really good at understanding me or the other teachers, but they don’t want to express themselves in English. I know it sounds terrible but sometimes I have to threaten them with low marks!!! Any ideas to help me??? With younger students, Catalan and Spanish is not so present in my classes. It comes out naturally!!!
2. Question 3. Comment on the lesson plan in exercise 5. Would you like to teach this class? Do you agree with the points the teacher mentions in exercise 6? Is there anything you would like to say in response to this teacher?
Yes, the lesson plan is a very logical one and the topic is very common and can be found in intermediate coursebooks. Yes, I would like to teach this class, because it is really very similar to some discussion classes that we prepare. I like the fact that it adds a text after the topic is introduced and after eliciting what information students have about it. Students like brainstorming and categorizing. I believe that individual work is necessary so that group work is successful.
As for the points in exercise 6, I agree with the ones that the teacher mentions. Nevertheless, I think that making sure that all the students in a class have a reason for speaking is a naïve idea. From my experience, I can say that there will be a group of them who won’t be interested in the discussion at all.
Greetings,
Marta
Here are my answers to the following questions.
1. Question 2. Solving problems:
- What do you do when students make lots of mistakes? I believe that one way to help them improve can be to ask them to rehearse their oral contributions at home. Students should know the questions / topics in advance so that they could prepare a bit. Obviously, not all speaking activities can be practised beforehand, but the majority of roleplays found in coursebooks follow a kind of similar script.
- What do you do when not all students participate? If the reason is the difference of levels, I normally pair weak students with stronger ones so that everyone has the chance to speak. When stronger students get tired of helping weaker ones, I pair students of similar level. I can ask those students who do not participate to prepare an activity they can feel confident with. I could ask them to choose a topic they like to talk about it or make an oral presentation in front of the class or in small groups.
- What do you do when sometimes students aren't interested in the topic? Well, this seldom occurs, because the coursebooks I generally use deal with topics that interest teenagers. Nevertheless, I sometimes allow students to choose those topics they want to discuss. One of such occasions is in June, when all my 4th ESO students have to make a speech, with some powerpoint slides, for five minutes in front of two English teachers who will grade their oral skills.
- What do you do when students spend a lot of time speaking in their mother tongue? This is one of the hardest problems I have to deal with with older students. They are really good at understanding me or the other teachers, but they don’t want to express themselves in English. I know it sounds terrible but sometimes I have to threaten them with low marks!!! Any ideas to help me??? With younger students, Catalan and Spanish is not so present in my classes. It comes out naturally!!!
2. Question 3. Comment on the lesson plan in exercise 5. Would you like to teach this class? Do you agree with the points the teacher mentions in exercise 6? Is there anything you would like to say in response to this teacher?
Yes, the lesson plan is a very logical one and the topic is very common and can be found in intermediate coursebooks. Yes, I would like to teach this class, because it is really very similar to some discussion classes that we prepare. I like the fact that it adds a text after the topic is introduced and after eliciting what information students have about it. Students like brainstorming and categorizing. I believe that individual work is necessary so that group work is successful.
As for the points in exercise 6, I agree with the ones that the teacher mentions. Nevertheless, I think that making sure that all the students in a class have a reason for speaking is a naïve idea. From my experience, I can say that there will be a group of them who won’t be interested in the discussion at all.
Greetings,
Marta