Sometimes we don’t see what is in front of our eyes.
Today I learned a bit more about my own website from a fellow English teacher and friendly fan.
A gentleman from Tennessee called my home, thanked me for the sample conversation materials, and asked some insightful questions about the updated Compelling Conversations website. I appreciate his call – and his giving a practical suggestion on how to improve the site for adult educators by adding clearer language. The influx of new immigrants, mostly Spanish speaking with limited formal education, can be seen across the United States. As you might expect, many churches are providing many education and literacy programs for new immigrants in the South – often on a shoe string budget. I’m glad that the free reproducible worksheets can be of some assistance.
Second, the gentleman’s call encouraged me to take a longer look at my own website through new eyes. Designed more for English teachers than English language learners, the revised site does include an entire section for students. The materials, however, are probably too hard for most English students to understand since they are written for high intermediate and advanced ESL students.
Fortunately, there are also rough Google translations for the Compelling Conversations website now for speakers of 46 languages. The long list goes beyond the usual suspects (Chinese, French, German, Korean, Spanish) to cover tongues ranging from Albanian and Arabic to Vietnamese and Yiddish! That’s sort of amazing – even if the computer translations remain imperfect and contain many errors. Consider me jealous of my computer’s language skills! Wouldn’t it be great to just know 10 words in 46 languages?
Perhaps in the future. For now, I’m grateful for Google translations – and dedicated English teachers who share their experiences about my small, evolving website and niche conversation textbook. Maybe it is silly, but I still get a kick when – like today – an adult education teacher tells me about how their students enjoy the book – even when it is a bit difficult.
So please feel free to share your experiences, positive or negative, because we are learn from each other. As the cliche goes, “everyone is a student; everyone is a teacher.” Today I learned quite a bit about my own website, its strengths and flaws. Have you visited the revised website yet? What worked? What could be improved? Do you have some suggestions for the next version?
“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.”
Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), Nobel Prize winner for Literature
Holidays and anniversaries often prompt personal reflections. As 2010 ends and a new year beckons, millions of English language learners and thousands of English teachers reflect on their lives and make new year resolutions.
· What did you find satisfying in 2010?
· What were some magic days and memorable moments?
· What English words will you choose to remember?
· What English lessons would you prefer to forget?
Sometimes we look back with satisfaction on our classroom achievements, and sometimes we look back in regret. A USA Today article proclaimed “2010: The Year Technology Replaced Talking. Yet here we are facing 2011.. Almost everyone hopes for a happy, healthy, and more prosperous and productive new year. The challenge remains how we can move forward, and talking about change and hopes for change seems like a natural place.
Often, we openly declare our hopes and goals for the New Year with bold resolutions that require serious change in our habits. We also know that change can be hard, surprising, and sometimes liberating in our classrooms and in our personal lives.
· What do you hope for in 2011?
· What changes would you like to make? Why?
· How do you plan to realize your goals in the next year?
· How will you measure personal success in 2011?
· How will you measure your academic success in 2011?
· Are you ready to keep your New Year resolutions?
Given the rate of exceptional technological and social change in the 21st century, I find that discussing the topic of Change a perennial winner in my advanced English classes. I often open the Spring semester with this popular conversation activity in the first two weeks. Although public opinion surveys show that only a small percentage of Americans keep their New Year resolutions to change after a month, I suspect we can increase those odds of our English students by candidly discussing our hopes and plans to change.
What are your core beliefs? More importantly, what are your students’ core beliefs? How can you help English language learners improve their listening skills while exploring their own personal philosophy? Do you use radio podcasts in your English classrooms or ask students to write personal essays? If so, you might want to visit www.thisibelieve.org for excellent, fascinating authentic listening materials.
This I Believe, originally a radio program hosted by legendary American journalist Edward R. Murrow, has been resurrected by National Public Radio. Here is a sample podcast and personal essay by Jim Haynes that should appeal to ESL teachers, EFL tutors, and English students everywhere called “Inviting the World to Dinner”.
The “This I Believe” website includes a tremendous amount of free resources for teachers and students. Naturally, I also have a simple reproducible worksheet that allows students to find, summarize, and share their own favorite podcasts. Students can choose between thousands of essays and hundreds of podcasts on dozens of themes. In my oral skills class, students will present their own “This I Believe” presentation for the final assignment. Consider me curious about what they will choose to share.
English teachers can sign up for the free mailing list and download an exceptional discussion guide at the www.thisibelieve.org website. Check it out if you are looking for quality, reflective materials to enliven your ESL classes. Feel free, as usual, to use the worksheet below for your English classes.
—————————————————————————————————- This I Believe Homework Worksheet
Please select one radio segment, based on a personal essay, and read by writers. Find a story that resonates with you. Listen carefully. Take notes. Fill out the worksheet below. You will be asked to share your selection with classmates in both a small group and the entire class.
Student:
This I Believe Title:
Author/Reader:
Length:
Who is the author?
What’s the main idea?
Why did you choose this podcast?
Did you hear any new words or phrases?
1.
2.
3.
Who do you imagine is the audience for this podcast? Why?
What do you do while students are having conversations or talking in pairs? Do you have a “formula” for taking notes? Do you focus more on fluency or accuracy?
Many English teachers, especially novice ESL instructors, talk more than ideal – and allow their English students to talk too little. Ironically, many ESL instructors make this “good mistake” because they are so dedicated. What, after all, are they supposed to do while students exchange ideas and practice their speaking skills?
When I taught an advanced ESL conversation class to immigrants and international students from many different countries at Santa Monica Community College, I developed a little routine.
First, I introduced conversation topics with a quotation or proverb and briefly introduce the day’s topic. Then I distribute worksheets (which became chapters in Compelling Conversations) with 30 or so questions, 10 or 12 key vocabulary words, and a few selected quotations or proverbs. Then students would be paired up to interview each other and share experiences for 20-30 minutes.
What did I do? I simply circled around the room, briefly joining in conversations, taking notes, and indirectly correcting students by modeling a better way to ask or respond to questions. I also jotted down key comments and “good mistakes” – both grammar and pronunciation – that I would later share with the entire class. Further, I focused on the content of student comments so fluency and meaning was more important than accuracy. Ideas and perceptions mattered more than perfect grammar.
These notes, however, helped me guide the classroom discussion because it closely echoed their previous conversations. It also lead to dynamic discussions because several perspectives were acknowledged and considered.
Taking notes also gave me a chance to emphasize certain sound groups or related word forms. While the students were talking to each other, I was playing reporter and taking notes.
Here is a reproducible worksheet that captures that process of monitoring conversations and leading discussions. Use or lose.
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Compelling Conversation Classroom Worksheet for Teachers
Topic: Pages: Date:
# of participants: # of groups: Room:
Opening Quote:
Opening comments to class:
Starting time for conversations:
Conversation content:
- What did you hear the students say? Summarize.
Follow-up class discussion questions:
Review Vocabulary:
Pronunciation tips:
Grammar issues:
Other comments/observations:
———————————————————
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
How can English teachers encourage adult and university students to expand their language skills and improve their employment opportunities in a difficult economic climate?
Personally, I’ve slightly modified my oral skills course this semester to provide greater emphasis on interviewing skills. Students interviewed each other for 10-15 minute videotaped mock job interviews for their first assignment.
The use of videotaping students in class has gained far more acceptance in the last few years, partly due to the technological advances. OTAN, the adult education website established by the California Department of Education, even created an entire section devoted to using videotapes and videocameras in the adult ESL classes.
Another factor has been the increasing popularity of YouTube videoclips by students seeking practical information. I’ve combined those two trends by requiring students to find and review YouTube clips on vital employment skills and speaking skills. Students found and reviewed videoclips, and emailed them in as homework. Afterwards, I combined all the student evaluations into a single email that I sent to the entire class with a few editorial comments and minor editing.
Here is the homework sheet for that assignment. As with the reviews, “use or lose.”
Getting Job Interview Advice from YouTube!
Student Name:
Class:
Teacher:
School:
Date:
Please find an YouTube videoclip that helps people successfully interview for jobs – in English – that you would like to share with your classmates. Watch the video, take notes, and review it for your classmates.
Video title:
Web address:
Length:
Creator:
Please describe the video.
What interview tips did the video provide?
Where do you think the video was produced? Why?
How practical did you find the advice? Why?
What was the strongest part? Why?
What was the weakest part? Why?
Who do think is the target audience for this video?
Why did you choose this video?
How would you rate this video 1-5 stars? Why?
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This simple worksheet combines research, critical thinking, and language skills. As English teachers, we can use simple technology to help English language learners develop their language skills, especially when they are motivated to learn and search out new sources. Instead of dismissing YouTube searching as a waste of time, let’s turn their interests into productive learning opportunities and share insights. After all, employment interviews often serve as a real-world language tests for our ESL students.
Let’s make sure we give them the tools to pass those crucial tests.
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
