|
“S” is “Select” which means what parts of the coursebook I definitely want to keep. |
“A” is “Adapt” which means what parts of the coursebook I basically want to keep, but need to change in some way to make them more suitable for my students, and in turn with my teaching style. |
“R” is “Reject” which means what parts of the coursebook I definitely want to leave out. |
“S” is “Supplement” which means what else I need to bring to the coursebook to fulfill the requirements of the overall syllabus I am working to, and to respond to the needs of my particular students. |
2) Before an activity, the teacher needs to determine if students understand the instructions and are ready to do the activity because: “[S]imply telling the learners what, how, and why of an activity doesn’t prepare them. They need to demonstrate either verbally or in action that they have understood” (p. 231 original pagination). What can teachers do to check and clarify their verbal instructions? How can teachers check to see if students understand the activity? Give a clear example or examples.
Asking and monitoring is the best way to check to see if students have understood the instructions and the activity. If I am a teacher, I will try to do it.
For example, if I want to make a small group which has 5 students, I would give them a number from one to five. After numbering, I ask them to gather the same number in each specific area I already indicated in the classroom. In this case, whenever I give them a number until five, I should ask a student. “What is your number?” Then the student should memorize his number correctly. Another example, if I want to have them make a list of the ten places of the world the students most like to visit, I can say “In your groups, just make a list of the ten places of the world you all most like to visit, Okay?” Then, I should check if they have understood clearly. So I can ask them “Georgi, what are you going to do first? Making a list or making a discussion?” During the activity, I should do monitoring walking around the classroom. I can check their list so if they have misunderstood, I can ask them “Which ten places do you all want to visit the most?” And after that, I get them to copy the list individually and make another group which is number one to five. And then, I ask them to hide their list. And ask them “Can you show the list to your group?” Then students will say “No!” This kind of asking and monitoring is the best way to check whether they have clearly understood the instructions and activity.
3) Explain what the authors means by: “Any activity actually has three parts: Preparation, implementation, and follow-up” (p. 233 original pagination). How does this relate to what you have learned in TESL 1&2: especially in terms of the activity route map? Does the Korean educational system allow for this? Why or why not?
Actually, “Activity route map” which is explained in the “Learning Teaching (by Jim Scrivener)” has six steps like below.
1 Before the lesson |
Familiarize yourself with the material and activity; prepare any materials or texts you need. |
2 In class |
Lead-in/prepare for the activity. |
3 Set up the activity |
Give instructions, make groupings, etc. |
4 Run the activity |
Students do the activity, maybe in pairs or small groups while you monitor and help. |
5 Close the activity |
Invite feedback from the students. |
6 Post-activity |
Do any appropriate follow-on work. |
However, “Before the lesson” is only teacher’s role so I’d like to compare between the others (2-6) and three parts (preparation, implementation, and follow-up).
2 In class |
Preparation |
To help raise motivation or interest. Organize the Ss and give clear instructions. |
3 Set up the activity | ||
4 Run the activity |
Implementation |
Monitor that Ss are doing what I intended them to do and allow the activity to close properly. |
5 Close the activity | ||
6 Post-activity |
Follow-up |
Ss can demonstrate what they have learned or ask questions about it or I can survey the class. |
In my humble opinion, the Korean educational system has to allow for this because in English class, teachers lead to raise motivation or interest by preparing materials and make activity plan. That’s because the students are able to have an opportunity doing activities for learning English instead of listening or watching the teacher’s lecture. Most students tend to learn from their friends. I’ve heard that only five students out of 35 in one class are focusing on their class. The others are ignoring it because some of them have already known it owing to the “prerequisite learning”, the others have already given up learning English. That’s why our educational system has to accept this kind of activities that are very useful to the whole students.