TOO MANY STUDENT MESSAGES
I get a lot of Emails from my students. As I mentioned before, I am seriously spamming my hundreds of students with thousands of messages. So I get quite a few Emails back from them, usually telling me what they are doing to improve their English in response to my tips and encouragement. I also get a lot of Emails of holiday greetings from them during the holiday season. Often they ask me what I'm going to do for the holiday. Sometimes I see my students making common errors in their messages and I would like to send them a little guidance about this problem.
Normally, I could not keep up with such a large amount of incoming messages. I can read them but to try to reply to them all can be a huge effort and I may be only able to manage the briefest of replies. It may seem a little disappointing to the students to not get an answer to their Email but what can one person do? They understand and don't expect much.
But I want to do more.
I use Microsoft Outlook to manage my Email. It downloads all my incoming messages from my GMAIL.COM account and uploads and sends my outgoing messages.
THE SOLUTION
I use an Outlook function as a simple way to insert stock replies to my students messages. When my students tell me that they are reading a newspaper article everyday or are listening to podcasts from www.eslpod.com to improve their English, I have 10 different encouraging stock answers that I can choose from to reply to them. One of them is:
"THAT'S REALLY GOOD! KEEP IT UP! YOUR ENGLISH IMPROVES QUICKLY WHENEVER YOU TRY TO DO SOMETHING IN ENGLISH!"
If I want to point out a common grammar error I have a rather longer stock reply that explains the problem, the solution and several examples.
I can give really helpful and encouraging replies to students and it only takes me about 10 seconds. If you are a busy teacher and want to give more detailed replies to your students' messages, here is how you can do it, too.
HOW TO
In Outlook go to TOOLS -> OPTIONS... -> MAIL FORMAT -> SIGNATURES...
There you will find a function for creating your signature in your Emails. But the great thing is that you can put any text in there that you want to be able to select and insert into your Emails. When you want to use it in an Email, first you "Reply" to the Email, choose INSERT -> SIGNATURE and then you will be presented with a drop-down menu of all your stock replies and answers that you can select from.
You may want to develop several versions of one reply so that not all students are getting exactly the same thing and you may want to update them from time to time. Of course, this is not a way to deal with all messages but I find it useful to deal with almost all of them.
It really does a lot to help the students feel closer to their teacher. It really helps the teacher to not let the messages go unanswered and to send out some encouragement and guidance.
Showing posts with label innovative ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label innovative ideas. Show all posts
03 October 2008
Spamming my students with "BOB"
A teacher asked about spamming my students, "How much time do you estimate it takes to compose and send out a message?"
I use an Excel file and a Visual Basic program I wrote called "BOB". On one Excel sheet I keep the student names, Email addresses and some other information. On the other sheet I keep the "content" for the messages like message subject and message body.
Most of my BOB messages were taken from Emails I have sent to other groups of students in times past. Indeed, some students may be receiving a message I sent them years ago but probably forgot. So in this case composing a message is very fast. But since all of the messages are short, even if I write a new one it is also very fast.
HOW BOB WORKS
Keep in mind, each of these messages is stored in the Excel file and is reused. So once you write it, it gets used many times. The BOB program reads the student name, Email address and what message the student is on. For example:
John; john_zhou@yahoo.com; 27
Then the program will check on the content sheet and find message #27 which has a subject line for message #27 and body for #27.
BOB then creates the Email, first with the subject line and the body which begins with "Dear John," followed by my message. It ends with my signature name and my links like a regular message does.
Recently, I added a place for another line at the end of the message that I can customize. If it is a holiday time, I can send them holiday greetings. If I want to remind all of the students from one class about a homework assignment, I can do it there. If I found a new coffee shop to have my one-on-one class with a manager, I can mention it there.
It takes BOB about 3-4 seconds to make each message. After BOB is done making messages for all the students, it takes Outlook about 2 seconds to send each one out.
EXTENDING TEACHER PRESENCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Teachers have a wealth of knowledge on teaching that can benefit students. The beauty of this system is that it gets maximum use out of the teachers' resource of ideas, tips and pointers. The BOB system starts all students on message #1 and then works the student, message by message, through all of the teachers ideas and tips. Every student will receive every tip from the teacher. They will miss nothing. They will receive it in measured spoonfuls every couple days.
If any teachers would like a copy of the BOB spamming program please let me know and I'll send it to you. I'll let you have about 60 of my messages that I send out. It works only with Excel and Outlook. (It may not work with Outlook Express.)
I use an Excel file and a Visual Basic program I wrote called "BOB". On one Excel sheet I keep the student names, Email addresses and some other information. On the other sheet I keep the "content" for the messages like message subject and message body.
Most of my BOB messages were taken from Emails I have sent to other groups of students in times past. Indeed, some students may be receiving a message I sent them years ago but probably forgot. So in this case composing a message is very fast. But since all of the messages are short, even if I write a new one it is also very fast.
HOW BOB WORKS
Keep in mind, each of these messages is stored in the Excel file and is reused. So once you write it, it gets used many times. The BOB program reads the student name, Email address and what message the student is on. For example:
John; john_zhou@yahoo.com; 27
Then the program will check on the content sheet and find message #27 which has a subject line for message #27 and body for #27.
BOB then creates the Email, first with the subject line and the body which begins with "Dear John," followed by my message. It ends with my signature name and my links like a regular message does.
Recently, I added a place for another line at the end of the message that I can customize. If it is a holiday time, I can send them holiday greetings. If I want to remind all of the students from one class about a homework assignment, I can do it there. If I found a new coffee shop to have my one-on-one class with a manager, I can mention it there.
It takes BOB about 3-4 seconds to make each message. After BOB is done making messages for all the students, it takes Outlook about 2 seconds to send each one out.
EXTENDING TEACHER PRESENCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Teachers have a wealth of knowledge on teaching that can benefit students. The beauty of this system is that it gets maximum use out of the teachers' resource of ideas, tips and pointers. The BOB system starts all students on message #1 and then works the student, message by message, through all of the teachers ideas and tips. Every student will receive every tip from the teacher. They will miss nothing. They will receive it in measured spoonfuls every couple days.
If any teachers would like a copy of the BOB spamming program please let me know and I'll send it to you. I'll let you have about 60 of my messages that I send out. It works only with Excel and Outlook. (It may not work with Outlook Express.)
Tablet computers in the classroom
A teacher referred to my experimentation with a tablet computer so I'd like to tell everyone about that. Five years ago I bought an ACER C110 Travelmate 11 inch notebook computer. You can twist the screen on this computer and lay it down on top of the keyboard and use it like a tablet computer. It was quite small and had an external DVD drive. I bought it here in Guangzhou and it cost 16,OOO Rmb. This was rather expensive but cheaper than the larger Toshiba computer that could do the same thing. When I bought this I was intrigued about the possiblities of using a tablet in the classroom and wanted to experiment.
I still have this computer and am writing you with it now. A corner of the computer broke off due to an accident. I was running across a busy Guangzhou street and the buckle on my computer bag, heavily laden with not only my computer but those immensily weighty Interchange Teacher Books, broke and my bag hit the street hard. The corner broke off my computer and now the WiFi no longer works. My computer looks terrible today and even my students beg me to get a new one but I've grown attached to it the way an old man gets attached to an old easy chair or a favorite pair of old slippers.
But I have to say that I am not satisfied with the computer as a tablet. It was not as easy to use as I hoped to move around the classroom and make notes on students. With the computer in one hand and the special pen in the other, I could not talk with students and then very quickly look up the student on my Excel sheet and make a notation.
What I wound up doing is making notations on slips of paper and at the end of class transferring these to my computer. One of the main things I note in this way is the IELTS speaking level of the students.
I sacrificed the DVD drive for this tablet computer. My next computer, which I'm shopping for now, will have a built in drive. I think this will be more useful for me than the tablet function.
I now have a Windows Mobile phone. This phone runs Excel and I've tried to keep my student list on this. I also can write on it like a tiny tablet computer but the whole process of finding the student's name amongst 40 other names and making the notation is more cumbersome than jotting it on a slip of paper and then entering all the info in a couple minutes after class.
05 July 2008
Tapping the power of commercials
The following is a post of mine to the TESL-L teacher list in May 2006:
A teacher asks, "What makes a commercial more or less useful for classroom use? If you had to choose between two commercials to use in your class, how would you make the choice?"
I think commercials are becoming increasingly sophisticated as advertisers rely more and more on the soft sell approach. No longer can the housewife hold a box of Tide and say, "Cleans clothes whiter!" Now in 60 minutes you often have a drama played out by movie stars where a setting is created, characters introduced, a story develops, tension is added and then the plot twist with some ironic or funny ending. They are actually a mini-movie and sometimes more enjoyable than the TV show or movie that we intended to watch.
SOUND OFF. STUDENTS "A" WATCH. STUDENTS "B" FACE THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM.
In one Budweiser commercial called "Girlfriend" three girls are sitting at a sidewalk café when one nudges the other, points and says something that we don't hear as the audio is off. As they look on they see the back of the convertible at the stop light with a handsome guy and a girl with long blond hair. Then he reaches over and begins stroking her hair. We can see one of the girls is very upset. The guy answers his mobile phone ring and is saying something.
CUT! OK, STUDENTS "A" FACE THE BACK OF THE CLASS STUDENTS "B" WATCH THE SCREEN. ROLL IT!
As the guy is talking on his phone the camera pans over to his passenger, an Afghan dog with beautiful long blonde fur and he pats it on the head.
OK, STUDENTS "A" AND "B" TALK TOGETHER AND SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT THE STORY.
Watch this commercial here. As you watch it, think about the affect it will have on your students if they have seen half of the commercial and tried to talk with their partners about the other half.
I look for commercials with a plot twist that will at first perplex the students when they try to piece the story together and then surprise them when they see (and hear) it all together.
Directors put a lot of effort in creating a powerful sense of mystery, suspense, curiosity in their commercials. To simply show a commercial straight through crashes through all of that in 30-60 seconds. But you can stretch out the affect, a driving force of their tremendous desire to satisfy that curiosity.
Then this desire powers the students into the English. They search all of their English resources for a way to communicate with their partner to resolve this mystery. Students get fully engaged in these exercises. They even forget it is an English "lesson" yet they are using English.
After partners have tried to figure out the story of the commercial, I have one partner "B" tell the class what "A" told him. Then another partner "A" tells us what "B" told him. This offers the students a chance to tell a story and use reported speech. All students listen intently as they are very curious about the story as well.
To extend the exercise, while the students are telling what their partner told them, you can write it up for all to see. Write it the way they say it with bad grammar and all. Get suggestions on how to improve the grammar, vocabulary or even the story's facts. Students' curiosity is still powering their interest into the story writing activity and it won't be lost over mentioning some grammar or vocabulary issues. The teacher can guide the students to better language but should not correct the actual events of the story at this point.
After this, the students are still not sure if they really have the full idea of the story. Then play the commercial again with the sound. Every eye will be focused intently with a smile growing on their faces.
In the glow of satisfied curiosity, the teacher can go back and finalize the story that was written, perhaps a few facts are missing or better vocabulary can be used or other language points covered.
Of all the exercises I have done with my students, this has always been the most popular and the most requested.
A teacher asks, "What makes a commercial more or less useful for classroom use? If you had to choose between two commercials to use in your class, how would you make the choice?"
I think commercials are becoming increasingly sophisticated as advertisers rely more and more on the soft sell approach. No longer can the housewife hold a box of Tide and say, "Cleans clothes whiter!" Now in 60 minutes you often have a drama played out by movie stars where a setting is created, characters introduced, a story develops, tension is added and then the plot twist with some ironic or funny ending. They are actually a mini-movie and sometimes more enjoyable than the TV show or movie that we intended to watch.
SOUND OFF. STUDENTS "A" WATCH. STUDENTS "B" FACE THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM.
In one Budweiser commercial called "Girlfriend" three girls are sitting at a sidewalk café when one nudges the other, points and says something that we don't hear as the audio is off. As they look on they see the back of the convertible at the stop light with a handsome guy and a girl with long blond hair. Then he reaches over and begins stroking her hair. We can see one of the girls is very upset. The guy answers his mobile phone ring and is saying something.
CUT! OK, STUDENTS "A" FACE THE BACK OF THE CLASS STUDENTS "B" WATCH THE SCREEN. ROLL IT!
As the guy is talking on his phone the camera pans over to his passenger, an Afghan dog with beautiful long blonde fur and he pats it on the head.
OK, STUDENTS "A" AND "B" TALK TOGETHER AND SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT THE STORY.
Watch this commercial here. As you watch it, think about the affect it will have on your students if they have seen half of the commercial and tried to talk with their partners about the other half.
I look for commercials with a plot twist that will at first perplex the students when they try to piece the story together and then surprise them when they see (and hear) it all together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directors put a lot of effort in creating a powerful sense of mystery, suspense, curiosity in their commercials. To simply show a commercial straight through crashes through all of that in 30-60 seconds. But you can stretch out the affect, a driving force of their tremendous desire to satisfy that curiosity.
Then this desire powers the students into the English. They search all of their English resources for a way to communicate with their partner to resolve this mystery. Students get fully engaged in these exercises. They even forget it is an English "lesson" yet they are using English.
After partners have tried to figure out the story of the commercial, I have one partner "B" tell the class what "A" told him. Then another partner "A" tells us what "B" told him. This offers the students a chance to tell a story and use reported speech. All students listen intently as they are very curious about the story as well.
To extend the exercise, while the students are telling what their partner told them, you can write it up for all to see. Write it the way they say it with bad grammar and all. Get suggestions on how to improve the grammar, vocabulary or even the story's facts. Students' curiosity is still powering their interest into the story writing activity and it won't be lost over mentioning some grammar or vocabulary issues. The teacher can guide the students to better language but should not correct the actual events of the story at this point.
After this, the students are still not sure if they really have the full idea of the story. Then play the commercial again with the sound. Every eye will be focused intently with a smile growing on their faces.
In the glow of satisfied curiosity, the teacher can go back and finalize the story that was written, perhaps a few facts are missing or better vocabulary can be used or other language points covered.
Of all the exercises I have done with my students, this has always been the most popular and the most requested.
08 May 2008
The future just ain't what it used to be
A teacher describes his experience at using tele- & videoconferencing in teaching: "While teaching in France I was asked to teach on an online course. IMHO it was a disaster. People came and went from the virtual room and nobody seemed to know what was going on. It was a bit like one of those horrible dreams you have about having no control of a class. I think it MIGHT work IF you have the opportunity to meet the students in the real world before you go virtual - and have a limited number of well-motivated students."
I think we have to keep in mind that this is a moving target, very dynamic, constantly changing and improving. People, including our students, are using VOIP and videoconferencing more and more. Managers and staff in offices are using this to communicate with each other and with colleagues around the world. Everyone will get used to the protocols of usage and behavior.
It's not that it is a special tool for English teaching. It is becoming an increasingly common way of communication with all people around the world and something that we can use, too.
It is quickly reaching the point that it is not a cheap and convenient way to teach English but it is a more realistic way of teaching English because it is the way our students are actually using English. My students here in China report to me that of their spoken English communication, about 95% is on the phone and about 5% is face-to-face. Yet, just about ALL of our English teaching is face-to-face. So I think teaching by VOIP, videoconferencing and even by telephone, with all the associated difficulties, are not only authentic but necessary mediums for teaching.
Additionally, improvements are being made on audio and video quality. In ten years, many of us will be sitting down at a table looking at a life-like video image of our student(s) on the other side of the table. Except for the fact that it is two-dimensional instead of three, it will be the same as being there. I and many of you have seen demonstrations of this technology already.
It is no longer called "videoconferencing". Rather, it has become "Telepresence".
That is an interesting term to ponder, "Telepresence". Teachers could work in tandem. The primary face-to-face teacher could hand off to a telepresent teacher for ten minutes to explain some aspect of English and then carry on. When a question comes up he doesn't know how to answer he could bring up a colleague.
In a Friedmanistic style flattening of the world, teachers can be anywhere teaching students who are anywhere. These dynamics will change many things about our profession in unusual ways. British teachers living in the UK may find it more difficult to compete with British teachers living in China or India where the cost of living is vastly cheaper and a lower salary can be accepted. Indians have mastered call centers, even adopting American or other accents, and it wouldn't take too much for them to teach American English or whatever flavor is desired to anyone anywhere.
The future just ain't what it used to be.
I think we have to keep in mind that this is a moving target, very dynamic, constantly changing and improving. People, including our students, are using VOIP and videoconferencing more and more. Managers and staff in offices are using this to communicate with each other and with colleagues around the world. Everyone will get used to the protocols of usage and behavior.
It's not that it is a special tool for English teaching. It is becoming an increasingly common way of communication with all people around the world and something that we can use, too.
It is quickly reaching the point that it is not a cheap and convenient way to teach English but it is a more realistic way of teaching English because it is the way our students are actually using English. My students here in China report to me that of their spoken English communication, about 95% is on the phone and about 5% is face-to-face. Yet, just about ALL of our English teaching is face-to-face. So I think teaching by VOIP, videoconferencing and even by telephone, with all the associated difficulties, are not only authentic but necessary mediums for teaching.
Additionally, improvements are being made on audio and video quality. In ten years, many of us will be sitting down at a table looking at a life-like video image of our student(s) on the other side of the table. Except for the fact that it is two-dimensional instead of three, it will be the same as being there. I and many of you have seen demonstrations of this technology already.
It is no longer called "videoconferencing". Rather, it has become "Telepresence".
That is an interesting term to ponder, "Telepresence". Teachers could work in tandem. The primary face-to-face teacher could hand off to a telepresent teacher for ten minutes to explain some aspect of English and then carry on. When a question comes up he doesn't know how to answer he could bring up a colleague.
In a Friedmanistic style flattening of the world, teachers can be anywhere teaching students who are anywhere. These dynamics will change many things about our profession in unusual ways. British teachers living in the UK may find it more difficult to compete with British teachers living in China or India where the cost of living is vastly cheaper and a lower salary can be accepted. Indians have mastered call centers, even adopting American or other accents, and it wouldn't take too much for them to teach American English or whatever flavor is desired to anyone anywhere.
The future just ain't what it used to be.
04 September 2007
Thinking outside the book
One thing that students and teachers really struggle with is boredom. Maybe I'm just easily bored but I have yet to find a book or teacher that really keeps the student's interest from cover to cover, it doesn't matter how good they are.
Sometimes I think that the way English teaching works is that we often trap ourselves into thinking "inside the book". Publishers have little interest in helping teachers think otherwise and because we often lean on manufactured materials we always wind up with a book.
We are basically teaching the same way Socrates, Plato and Aristotle taught thousands of years ago except for the addition of the printed book invented by Gutenberg.
Of course, there are guys who have rebelled against the book. You can find a bunch of them at Dogme. They have a Yahoo group and their leader has published in The Guardian newspaper ELT pages.
But to me, they seem more readily identified for what they are against than what they are for. And from my experience, it really helps to have a course or plan for students as otherwise the training can seem a bit aimless to the students.
So how can we escape the book but still have a plan?
First, let's brainstorm a list of all the new tools and technologies and other things that are available to us since the days of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Gutenberg. Without much order, here is my list:
Computers
Email
Telephone
Phone messages
PowerPoint
YouTube
PDA
Chat rooms
Blogs
Websites
Fax
MP3
MP4
Video
Email spam
Voice spam
Television
Shopping malls
Perhaps your list is longer. Now, just as a thought exercise to stretch us "outside the book", what if you assigned yourself the task of using each of these to provide some part of a training course.
There was once a game called Majestic by Electronic Arts. They described it as "The suspense thriller that infiltrates your life through the Internet, telephone and fax, then leaves you guessing where the game ends and reality begins." To play this game you had to check websites and periodically you'd receive frantic phone calls with clues or cryptic faxes.
I think something so pervasive would be an exciting way to teach and learn. What would a "Majestic" English course be like? The student would be receiving training from so many directions at so many times. Of course, not all of this is possible with every teacher and every student, but employing some of these technologies could really get us "out of the book". Consider the possibilities that a ficticious Chinese student named Jerry Liang would experience:
- Jerry gets a daily Email that has a short lesson, story or MP3. This Email is pumped out to Jerry and all the other students by a program similar to those used by spammers.
- Jerry also receives a daily SMS phone messages that reminds him to study an assignment, do homework or join some activities that the teacher has organized.
- Every week, Jerry is directed to watch a certain TV program or movie which all the other students and teacher will be watching. Jerry doesn't have to participate if he is busy that night but he does need to participate in at least two per week. Jerry tunes in the program and starts the chat program on his computer. While he is watching the program on his home TV, other students and the teacher are watching it and chatting with him about it, about the story, actors, what they like or don't like, etc. ("Don't go in that dark room!...don't do it!...Ugh! I knew it!!!")
- Jerry posts assignments on the blog.
- Jerry gets SMS phone messages with new vocabulary on set days. After first contact with the new vocabulary in a lesson he receives the vocabulary in a message on day 2, 5, 12, 19, 33, 63. He has a look at the words and reviews them.
- He has some specially recorded lessons made by his teacher or other teachers in MP3 format in his MP3/MP4 player or PDA which he listens to throughout the day.
- When Jerry visits the popular local mall he takes a walking tour via MP3. The teacher has made a short recording and guides the him through the mall, describing interesting things about the mall and shops and introducing more new vocabulary. ("Starbucks took its name from a coffee-loving character in the famous American novel called 'Moby Dick', a story about a man hunting a whale. Starbuck's strategy is to become people's 'third place', the main place people go outside of home and work.")
- Sometimes Jerry receives a phone call from the teacher to practice his speaking, but more often than not, the teacher (randomly?) assigns Jerry and the other students speaking buddies, other students, who he calls to practice a particular speaking activity. Every week Jerry recieves an Email with a speaking lesson to practice and his speaking buddy's phone number. Sometimes the buddy is in his class but most of the time the buddy is a student in one of the teacher's other classes, perhaps a manager in a company. It's interesting to have this way to talk to various professionals that he wouldn't normally meet (and Jerry thinks it's always interesting to talk to girls).
- Twice a month, Jerry is given a phone number to a company in an English speaking country that provides information about their services along with one or more questions that he needs to ask about. For example, he once had to call Trump International Hotel in New York to find out if they allow dogs in the room. (They do if the dog is under 10 pounds but the guest must pay a non-refundable $200.) This provides a real English challenge and practice for Jerry.
- Etc, etc, etc.
All of this is possible with current technology but will never be offered by a book publisher. It just remains for the teacher to sort out his content and figure out the different ways to deliver it.
A student, going through a course like that, would have an experience they've never had before. But as I said, maybe I dream up this stuff because I'm the kind of person who is easily bored.
Sometimes I think that the way English teaching works is that we often trap ourselves into thinking "inside the book". Publishers have little interest in helping teachers think otherwise and because we often lean on manufactured materials we always wind up with a book.
We are basically teaching the same way Socrates, Plato and Aristotle taught thousands of years ago except for the addition of the printed book invented by Gutenberg.
Of course, there are guys who have rebelled against the book. You can find a bunch of them at Dogme. They have a Yahoo group and their leader has published in The Guardian newspaper ELT pages.
But to me, they seem more readily identified for what they are against than what they are for. And from my experience, it really helps to have a course or plan for students as otherwise the training can seem a bit aimless to the students.
So how can we escape the book but still have a plan?
First, let's brainstorm a list of all the new tools and technologies and other things that are available to us since the days of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Gutenberg. Without much order, here is my list:
Computers
Telephone
Phone messages
PowerPoint
YouTube
PDA
Chat rooms
Blogs
Websites
Fax
MP3
MP4
Video
Email spam
Voice spam
Television
Shopping malls
Perhaps your list is longer. Now, just as a thought exercise to stretch us "outside the book", what if you assigned yourself the task of using each of these to provide some part of a training course.
There was once a game called Majestic by Electronic Arts. They described it as "The suspense thriller that infiltrates your life through the Internet, telephone and fax, then leaves you guessing where the game ends and reality begins." To play this game you had to check websites and periodically you'd receive frantic phone calls with clues or cryptic faxes.
I think something so pervasive would be an exciting way to teach and learn. What would a "Majestic" English course be like? The student would be receiving training from so many directions at so many times. Of course, not all of this is possible with every teacher and every student, but employing some of these technologies could really get us "out of the book". Consider the possibilities that a ficticious Chinese student named Jerry Liang would experience:
- Jerry gets a daily Email that has a short lesson, story or MP3. This Email is pumped out to Jerry and all the other students by a program similar to those used by spammers.
- Jerry also receives a daily SMS phone messages that reminds him to study an assignment, do homework or join some activities that the teacher has organized.
- Every week, Jerry is directed to watch a certain TV program or movie which all the other students and teacher will be watching. Jerry doesn't have to participate if he is busy that night but he does need to participate in at least two per week. Jerry tunes in the program and starts the chat program on his computer. While he is watching the program on his home TV, other students and the teacher are watching it and chatting with him about it, about the story, actors, what they like or don't like, etc. ("Don't go in that dark room!...don't do it!...Ugh! I knew it!!!")
- Jerry posts assignments on the blog.
- Jerry gets SMS phone messages with new vocabulary on set days. After first contact with the new vocabulary in a lesson he receives the vocabulary in a message on day 2, 5, 12, 19, 33, 63. He has a look at the words and reviews them.
- He has some specially recorded lessons made by his teacher or other teachers in MP3 format in his MP3/MP4 player or PDA which he listens to throughout the day.
- When Jerry visits the popular local mall he takes a walking tour via MP3. The teacher has made a short recording and guides the him through the mall, describing interesting things about the mall and shops and introducing more new vocabulary. ("Starbucks took its name from a coffee-loving character in the famous American novel called 'Moby Dick', a story about a man hunting a whale. Starbuck's strategy is to become people's 'third place', the main place people go outside of home and work.")
- Sometimes Jerry receives a phone call from the teacher to practice his speaking, but more often than not, the teacher (randomly?) assigns Jerry and the other students speaking buddies, other students, who he calls to practice a particular speaking activity. Every week Jerry recieves an Email with a speaking lesson to practice and his speaking buddy's phone number. Sometimes the buddy is in his class but most of the time the buddy is a student in one of the teacher's other classes, perhaps a manager in a company. It's interesting to have this way to talk to various professionals that he wouldn't normally meet (and Jerry thinks it's always interesting to talk to girls).
- Twice a month, Jerry is given a phone number to a company in an English speaking country that provides information about their services along with one or more questions that he needs to ask about. For example, he once had to call Trump International Hotel in New York to find out if they allow dogs in the room. (They do if the dog is under 10 pounds but the guest must pay a non-refundable $200.) This provides a real English challenge and practice for Jerry.
- Etc, etc, etc.
All of this is possible with current technology but will never be offered by a book publisher. It just remains for the teacher to sort out his content and figure out the different ways to deliver it.
A student, going through a course like that, would have an experience they've never had before. But as I said, maybe I dream up this stuff because I'm the kind of person who is easily bored.
26 July 2007
15 ideas for mLearning projects
These are some things that have already been done. I don't post these here as suggestions of what you could do but to give you some ideas that you could adapt:
From: MOBILE LEARNING PROJECTS
- Students have to carry out scientific enquiry in the context of their discovering and exploring of an environment. Pairs of 11-12 year olds explored a woodland and were presented at certain times with different forms of digital augmentations.
- Students can send SMS that appears on lecturers laptop during the class. They can anonymously ask questions without interrupting the class. The lecturer can choose to respond immediately or wait until a number of questions arise. SMS are available after class.
- Players use GPStracked handheld computers to experience a virtual savannah that appears to be overlaid on a football pitch sized grassy field. Players act collaboratively to carry out a series of lion missions (such as marking their territory, hiding their cubs and hunting). Aim of the game is to encourage players to understand the behaviour of lions though personal experience
- Students in a economics course could acess course mateiral (slides, PDF) and contribute on the discusstion board.
- Composition students were asked to compose and perform music on PDAs. PDAs are equipped with MIDI module and portable keyboard.
- Evaluate to what extent and how a PDA can help students learning. PDAs are issued for the project time with the aim of collectiing application log data. Learn more about how students use PDAs.
- The project aims to test "just-in-time" access to knowledge on mobile terminals for medical students. Especially when they are practicing in medical institutions.
- Medical practitioners on ward are equiped with PDAs to build a portfolio of evidence. A detailed evidence of clinical activities, prior learning comopetencies, course materials, certificates. Furthermore they get acess to learning resources, clinical guidelines and a learning diary.
- Informatics students were required to develop and eavluate their own interactive learning experiences in collaboration with fellow students. PDAs with internet functionality were lent to them to consider as their own.
- Course materials were distriubted in e-book format. Followed by an investigation how students use these learning materials.
- A collaborative treasure hunt game that requires co-ordination between spatially seperated team-members. The teams have to visit locations in an urban area to collect symbols in order to complete tasks.
- A collaborative problem solving application that attempts to support learners in constructing their own understanding of tshare their decisions with fellows.
- A application for percussion composition, allows users to create, manipulate, edit and save original pieces of percussion music through an intuitive interface.
- Children collect with scientific data on spot. Devices can collect data and communicate with sensors that are in the field while also providing instant feedback through on the spot data analysis.
- This project supports the participants in expressing their thoughts through a digital narrative. While the overall process is similar to other digital film projects, the tools used are different. The learners shoot all of their footage and record their soundtrack on smartphones. In addition, the smartphones allow the participants to make their multimedia available to collaborators by sending the images and sound via the multimedia messaging service (MMS) to a blog.
More ideas for mLearning projects
These are some things that have already been done. I don't post these here as suggestions of what you could do but to give you some ideas of how other teachers are using mLearning in the classroom. As technology improves and becomes more efficient we will be able to do more things similar to this:
"Students have to carry out scientific enquiry in the context of their discovering and exploring of an environment. Pairs of 11-12 year olds explored a woodland and were presented at certain times with different forms of digital augmentations."
"Students can send SMS that appears on lecturers laptop during the class. They can anonymously ask questions without interrupting the class. The lecturer can choose to respond immediately or wait until a number of questions arise. SMS are available after class."
"Players use GPStracked handheld computers to experience a virtual savannah that appears to be overlaid on a football pitch sized grassy field. Players act collaboratively to carry out a series of lion missions (such as marking their territory, hiding their cubs and hunting). Aim of the game is to encourage players to understand the behaviour of lions though personal experience."
"Students in a economics course could acess course mateiral (slides, PDF) and contribute on the discusstion board."
"Composition students were asked to compose and perform music on PDAs. PDAs are equipped with MIDI module and portable keyboard."
"Evaluate to what extent and how a PDA can help students learning. PDAs are issued for the project time with the aim of collectiing application log data. Learn more about how students use PDAs."
"The project aims to test 'just-in-time' access to knowledge on mobile terminals for medical students. Especially when they are practicing in medical institutions."
"Medical practitioners on ward are equiped with PDAs to build a portfolio of evidence. A detailed evidence of clinical activities, prior learning comopetencies, course materials, certificates. Furthermore they get acess to learning resources, clinical guidelines and a learning diary."
"Informatics students were required to develop and eavluate their own interactive learning experiences in collaboration with fellow students. PDAs with internet functionality were lent to them to consider as their own."
"Course materials were distriubted in e-book format. Followed by an investigation how students use these learning materials."
"A collaborative treasure hunt game that requires co-ordination between spatially seperated team-members. The teams have to visit locations in an urban area to collect symbols in order to complete tasks."
"A collaborative problem solving application that attempts to support learners in constructing their own understanding of tshare their decisions with fellows."
"A application for percussion composition, allows users to create, manipulate, edit and save original pieces of percussion music through an intuitive interface."
"Children collect with scientific data on spot. Devices can collect data and communicate with sensors that are in the field while also providing instant feedback through on the spot data analysis."
"This project supports the participants in expressing their thoughts through a digital narrative. While the overall process is similar to other digital film projects, the tools used are different. The learners shoot all of their footage and record their soundtrack on smartphones. In addition, the smartphones allow the participants to make their multimedia available to collaborators by sending the images and sound via the multimedia messaging service (MMS) to a blog."
"Students have to carry out scientific enquiry in the context of their discovering and exploring of an environment. Pairs of 11-12 year olds explored a woodland and were presented at certain times with different forms of digital augmentations."
"Students can send SMS that appears on lecturers laptop during the class. They can anonymously ask questions without interrupting the class. The lecturer can choose to respond immediately or wait until a number of questions arise. SMS are available after class."
"Players use GPStracked handheld computers to experience a virtual savannah that appears to be overlaid on a football pitch sized grassy field. Players act collaboratively to carry out a series of lion missions (such as marking their territory, hiding their cubs and hunting). Aim of the game is to encourage players to understand the behaviour of lions though personal experience."
"Students in a economics course could acess course mateiral (slides, PDF) and contribute on the discusstion board."
"Composition students were asked to compose and perform music on PDAs. PDAs are equipped with MIDI module and portable keyboard."
"Evaluate to what extent and how a PDA can help students learning. PDAs are issued for the project time with the aim of collectiing application log data. Learn more about how students use PDAs."
"The project aims to test 'just-in-time' access to knowledge on mobile terminals for medical students. Especially when they are practicing in medical institutions."
"Medical practitioners on ward are equiped with PDAs to build a portfolio of evidence. A detailed evidence of clinical activities, prior learning comopetencies, course materials, certificates. Furthermore they get acess to learning resources, clinical guidelines and a learning diary."
"Informatics students were required to develop and eavluate their own interactive learning experiences in collaboration with fellow students. PDAs with internet functionality were lent to them to consider as their own."
"Course materials were distriubted in e-book format. Followed by an investigation how students use these learning materials."
"A collaborative treasure hunt game that requires co-ordination between spatially seperated team-members. The teams have to visit locations in an urban area to collect symbols in order to complete tasks."
"A collaborative problem solving application that attempts to support learners in constructing their own understanding of tshare their decisions with fellows."
"A application for percussion composition, allows users to create, manipulate, edit and save original pieces of percussion music through an intuitive interface."
"Children collect with scientific data on spot. Devices can collect data and communicate with sensors that are in the field while also providing instant feedback through on the spot data analysis."
"This project supports the participants in expressing their thoughts through a digital narrative. While the overall process is similar to other digital film projects, the tools used are different. The learners shoot all of their footage and record their soundtrack on smartphones. In addition, the smartphones allow the participants to make their multimedia available to collaborators by sending the images and sound via the multimedia messaging service (MMS) to a blog."
The Bob Project - Are we ready for mLearning?
The idea of students interacting with an automated teaching system is central to the Bob project. Many other people are promoting an idea called mLearning or Mobile Learning:
"Given its definition m-learning could very well be a new form of personal learning that never ends, allowing more and more people to realize how much of our lifetimes on this planet are truly extended adventures in personal learning.
From MasterNewMedia.org
"The advocates of lifelong learning have been advocating this very change in how we conceive, design and deliver education. Individuals are constantly learning, searching, questioning and acknowledging new information from the environment they operate in, no matter what their interest or specialization is. Unless your work assignment is something that a computer or other automated machine could take over from you, an increasing number of work activities depend on your ability to learn and familiarize yourself with a continuosly growing array of new concepts and ideas." [Photo: mLearning at a museum]
Some researchers are testing the use of SMS messaging in the classroom. That would be interesting. Instead of teachers telling the students to put their phones away they'll be saying, "Turn to page 35, take out your mobile phone and send me a message on question #6."
From Using short message service to encourage interactivity in the classroom:
"Interactivity in the classroom is reported to promote a more active learning environment, facilitate the building of learning communities, provide greater feedback for lecturers, and help student motivation. Various definitions of interactivity exist in the literature, alternately focusing on the participants, structure and technology. The PLS TXT UR Thoughts research project builds on existing definitions to define interactivity as a message loop originating from and concluding with the student. The authors chose to introduce mobile phones and short message service (SMS) within the classroom due to the ubiquity of mobile phones among students and the interactive potential of SMS. SMS is a low-threshold application used widely by students to quickly send concise, text-based messages at any time. The research presented involved students sending SMS in real-time, in class, via their personal mobile phones. Using a modem interfacing with customised software to produce SMS files, the lecturer can view the messages and verbally develop the interactive loop with students during class. The SMS are available online after class, allowing interactive loops to further develop via threaded comments."
This is an idea rather close to mine about creating an audio tour for students at a popular student location like a shopping mall. It could even be interactive through SMS or MMS.
From Supporting Mobile Language Learning outside Classrooms:
"The continuous development of wireless and mobile technologies has allowed the creation of an additional platform for supporting learning, one that can be embedded in the same physical space in which the learning is taking place. This paper describes a computer supported ubiquitous learning environment for language learning, called LOCH (Languagelearning Outside the Classroom with Handhelds). In the environment, the teacher assigns field activities to the students, who go around the town to fulfill them and share their individual experiences. The main aim of this project, called One Day Trip with PDA, was to integrate the knowledge acquired in the classroom and the real needs of the students in their daily life."
mLearning can be used by students outside the classroom to make an instant blog of what they see, feel and experience.
From Moblogging for ESOL
"M-learning is a powerful tool for ESOL (English for speakers of other languages). In a recent example, ten adult ESOL learners became ‘photo journalists’ for the college open day. They created a photo diary of events using camera phones and sent their pictures, along with captions, to an e-mail address that automatically published them to a publicly-available web site. To prepare for the event, learners looked at published photo stories on the Internet and analysed the language and content to learn about styles and structures that would be useful in writing their own photo diary. The project proved so successful in engaging learners that even the most hesitant members of the class (e.g. a lady in her 60s, who had never used a mobile phone before, and a visually impaired learner) not only took part, but also found the experience very rewarding."
And of course, mLearning is being used to teach languages.
More ideas
Are these the actual tools that we will use in The Bob Project? No. These are actual wild and crazy ideas that will help us think out of the box and find the most effective way to build Bob. If we don't get out of the box we won't go anywhere.
"Given its definition m-learning could very well be a new form of personal learning that never ends, allowing more and more people to realize how much of our lifetimes on this planet are truly extended adventures in personal learning. From MasterNewMedia.org
"The advocates of lifelong learning have been advocating this very change in how we conceive, design and deliver education. Individuals are constantly learning, searching, questioning and acknowledging new information from the environment they operate in, no matter what their interest or specialization is. Unless your work assignment is something that a computer or other automated machine could take over from you, an increasing number of work activities depend on your ability to learn and familiarize yourself with a continuosly growing array of new concepts and ideas." [Photo: mLearning at a museum]
Some researchers are testing the use of SMS messaging in the classroom. That would be interesting. Instead of teachers telling the students to put their phones away they'll be saying, "Turn to page 35, take out your mobile phone and send me a message on question #6."
From Using short message service to encourage interactivity in the classroom:
"Interactivity in the classroom is reported to promote a more active learning environment, facilitate the building of learning communities, provide greater feedback for lecturers, and help student motivation. Various definitions of interactivity exist in the literature, alternately focusing on the participants, structure and technology. The PLS TXT UR Thoughts research project builds on existing definitions to define interactivity as a message loop originating from and concluding with the student. The authors chose to introduce mobile phones and short message service (SMS) within the classroom due to the ubiquity of mobile phones among students and the interactive potential of SMS. SMS is a low-threshold application used widely by students to quickly send concise, text-based messages at any time. The research presented involved students sending SMS in real-time, in class, via their personal mobile phones. Using a modem interfacing with customised software to produce SMS files, the lecturer can view the messages and verbally develop the interactive loop with students during class. The SMS are available online after class, allowing interactive loops to further develop via threaded comments."
This is an idea rather close to mine about creating an audio tour for students at a popular student location like a shopping mall. It could even be interactive through SMS or MMS.
From Supporting Mobile Language Learning outside Classrooms:
"The continuous development of wireless and mobile technologies has allowed the creation of an additional platform for supporting learning, one that can be embedded in the same physical space in which the learning is taking place. This paper describes a computer supported ubiquitous learning environment for language learning, called LOCH (Languagelearning Outside the Classroom with Handhelds). In the environment, the teacher assigns field activities to the students, who go around the town to fulfill them and share their individual experiences. The main aim of this project, called One Day Trip with PDA, was to integrate the knowledge acquired in the classroom and the real needs of the students in their daily life."
mLearning can be used by students outside the classroom to make an instant blog of what they see, feel and experience.
From Moblogging for ESOL
"M-learning is a powerful tool for ESOL (English for speakers of other languages). In a recent example, ten adult ESOL learners became ‘photo journalists’ for the college open day. They created a photo diary of events using camera phones and sent their pictures, along with captions, to an e-mail address that automatically published them to a publicly-available web site. To prepare for the event, learners looked at published photo stories on the Internet and analysed the language and content to learn about styles and structures that would be useful in writing their own photo diary. The project proved so successful in engaging learners that even the most hesitant members of the class (e.g. a lady in her 60s, who had never used a mobile phone before, and a visually impaired learner) not only took part, but also found the experience very rewarding."
And of course, mLearning is being used to teach languages.
More ideas
Are these the actual tools that we will use in The Bob Project? No. These are actual wild and crazy ideas that will help us think out of the box and find the most effective way to build Bob. If we don't get out of the box we won't go anywhere.
23 June 2007
English Safari - 10 students at the mall
I just got back from an English Safari to the mall this morning with 10 of my students. This time it was with a group of students from a training center. Most are adults with a couple young people.
I've been doing about one or two safaris with students every week. This was the biggest group. We attracted some attention. Some shoppers realized there was something special about us and some stood near to hear what we were talking about. The training center sent along a minder in anticipation of this. She gave out flyers about the school. Generally, I don't think you would want to attract too much attention as the mall management may be disturbed if you have a big crowd or are blocking entrances or aisle ways.
What do we do on an English Safari?
Well, in a way it is odd to even ask the question. After all, we are out in the real world. We are surrounded by realia. The environment is dense with the necessities and even luxuries of life. As long as everyone is speaking English about the things they do and experience there then it is improving their English.
Look at a definition of Task Based Learning:
"A task-based approach assumes that speaking a language is a skill best perfected through practice and interaction, and uses tasks and activities to encourage learners to use the language communicatively in order to achieve a purpose. Tasks must be relevant to the real world language needs of the student. That is, the underlying learning theory of task based and communicative language teaching seems to suggest that activities in which language is employed to complete meaningful tasks, enhances learning."[1]
If we are in a mall how can we not be talking about things of the real world? This is no book learning and there is no book.
But if you want to make a clear outline or have some goals to accomplish or check your students on here are some competencies taken from the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment". In the scale given below, A1 is beginner and C2 is the most advanced.
Can speak well about...
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
A1
Themselves & others
Home
Time
A2
Simple routine
Limited work and free time activities
Simple directions & instructions
Pastimes, habits, routines
Past activities
B1
Detailed directions
Accumulated factual information on familiar matters within their field
DESCRIBING & NARRATING
A1
Where they live
A2
People, appearance [they could describe people in the mall, even mannequins]
Background, job [jobs of people who work there, what duties do they have]
Places and living conditions [nice and poor conditions, luxury]
Objects, pets, possessions [their possessions compared to those in the shop]
Events and activities [what do you need/want on holidays]
Likes/dislikes [preferences]
Plans/arrangements [what big things do they plan to buy, when, why and how often] Habits/routines [how often do they go shopping, to the restaurant, to movies, what do they usually do when they go there]
Personal experience [did anything funny or exciting ever happen when they went to a mall]
B1
Plot of book/film, reactions [the mall has a cinema, this is a good one to talk about there]
Experiences, reaction
Dreams, hopes, ambitions
Tell a story
Basic details of unpredictable occurrences, ie: accident
C1
Clear detailed description of complex subjects
Want more ideas?
Here are some topics related to our society, also from the Common European Framework. Nearly all of these topics can be touched on or discussed in detail during an English Safari to a mall. You could get ideas from below and together with your own ideas make a checklist and check items off as you discuss them with your Safari group. If your students show difficulty in some things you can make a note and cover it more deeply in class.
5.1.1.2 Sociocultural knowledge
1. Everyday living, e.g.:
• food and drink, meal times, table manners;
• public holidays;
• working hours and practices;
• leisure activities (hobbies, sports, reading habits, media).
2. Living conditions, e.g.:
• living standards (with regional, class and ethnic variations);
• housing conditions;
• welfare arrangements.
3. Interpersonal relations (including relations of power and solidarity) e.g. with respect to:
• class structure of society and relations between classes;
• relations between sexes (gender, intimacy);
• family structures and relations;
• relations between generations;
• relations in work situations;
• relations between public and police, officials, etc.;
• race and community relations;
• relations among political and religious groupings.
4. Values, beliefs and attitudes in relation to such factors as:
• social class;
• occupational groups (academic, management, public service, skilled and manual workforces);
• wealth (income and inherited);
• regional cultures;
• security;
• institutions;
• tradition and social change;
• history, especially iconic historical personages and events;
• minorities (ethnic, religious);
• national identity;
• foreign countries, states, peoples;
• politics;
• arts (music, visual arts, literature, drama, popular music and song);
• religion;
• humor.
6. Social conventions, e.g. with regard to giving and receiving hospitality, such as:
• punctuality;
• presents;
• dress;
• refreshments, drinks, meals;
• behavioral and conversational conventions and taboos;
• length of stay;
• leave-taking.
7. Ritual behavior in such areas as:
• religious observances and rites;
• birth, marriage, death;
• audience and spectator behavior at public performances and ceremonies;
• celebrations, festivals, dances, discos, etc.
I make note of the new words we learn together. I sometimes do this on my cell phone and after the class is finished I send a copy to each student.
[1] http://iteslj.org/Articles/Rabbini-Syllabus.html
I've been doing about one or two safaris with students every week. This was the biggest group. We attracted some attention. Some shoppers realized there was something special about us and some stood near to hear what we were talking about. The training center sent along a minder in anticipation of this. She gave out flyers about the school. Generally, I don't think you would want to attract too much attention as the mall management may be disturbed if you have a big crowd or are blocking entrances or aisle ways.
What do we do on an English Safari?
Well, in a way it is odd to even ask the question. After all, we are out in the real world. We are surrounded by realia. The environment is dense with the necessities and even luxuries of life. As long as everyone is speaking English about the things they do and experience there then it is improving their English.
Look at a definition of Task Based Learning:
"A task-based approach assumes that speaking a language is a skill best perfected through practice and interaction, and uses tasks and activities to encourage learners to use the language communicatively in order to achieve a purpose. Tasks must be relevant to the real world language needs of the student. That is, the underlying learning theory of task based and communicative language teaching seems to suggest that activities in which language is employed to complete meaningful tasks, enhances learning."[1]
If we are in a mall how can we not be talking about things of the real world? This is no book learning and there is no book.
But if you want to make a clear outline or have some goals to accomplish or check your students on here are some competencies taken from the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment". In the scale given below, A1 is beginner and C2 is the most advanced.
Can speak well about...
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
A1
Themselves & others
Home
Time
A2
Simple routine
Limited work and free time activities
Simple directions & instructions
Pastimes, habits, routines
Past activities
B1
Detailed directions
Accumulated factual information on familiar matters within their field
DESCRIBING & NARRATING
A1
Where they live
A2
People, appearance [they could describe people in the mall, even mannequins]
Background, job [jobs of people who work there, what duties do they have]
Places and living conditions [nice and poor conditions, luxury]
Objects, pets, possessions [their possessions compared to those in the shop]
Events and activities [what do you need/want on holidays]
Likes/dislikes [preferences]
Plans/arrangements [what big things do they plan to buy, when, why and how often] Habits/routines [how often do they go shopping, to the restaurant, to movies, what do they usually do when they go there]
Personal experience [did anything funny or exciting ever happen when they went to a mall]
B1
Plot of book/film, reactions [the mall has a cinema, this is a good one to talk about there]
Experiences, reaction
Dreams, hopes, ambitions
Tell a story
Basic details of unpredictable occurrences, ie: accident
C1
Clear detailed description of complex subjects
Want more ideas?
Here are some topics related to our society, also from the Common European Framework. Nearly all of these topics can be touched on or discussed in detail during an English Safari to a mall. You could get ideas from below and together with your own ideas make a checklist and check items off as you discuss them with your Safari group. If your students show difficulty in some things you can make a note and cover it more deeply in class.
5.1.1.2 Sociocultural knowledge
1. Everyday living, e.g.:
• food and drink, meal times, table manners;
• public holidays;
• working hours and practices;
• leisure activities (hobbies, sports, reading habits, media).
2. Living conditions, e.g.:
• living standards (with regional, class and ethnic variations);
• housing conditions;
• welfare arrangements.
3. Interpersonal relations (including relations of power and solidarity) e.g. with respect to:
• class structure of society and relations between classes;
• relations between sexes (gender, intimacy);
• family structures and relations;
• relations between generations;
• relations in work situations;
• relations between public and police, officials, etc.;
• race and community relations;
• relations among political and religious groupings.
4. Values, beliefs and attitudes in relation to such factors as:
• social class;
• occupational groups (academic, management, public service, skilled and manual workforces);
• wealth (income and inherited);
• regional cultures;
• security;
• institutions;
• tradition and social change;
• history, especially iconic historical personages and events;
• minorities (ethnic, religious);
• national identity;
• foreign countries, states, peoples;
• politics;
• arts (music, visual arts, literature, drama, popular music and song);
• religion;
• humor.
6. Social conventions, e.g. with regard to giving and receiving hospitality, such as:
• punctuality;
• presents;
• dress;
• refreshments, drinks, meals;
• behavioral and conversational conventions and taboos;
• length of stay;
• leave-taking.
7. Ritual behavior in such areas as:
• religious observances and rites;
• birth, marriage, death;
• audience and spectator behavior at public performances and ceremonies;
• celebrations, festivals, dances, discos, etc.
I make note of the new words we learn together. I sometimes do this on my cell phone and after the class is finished I send a copy to each student.
[1] http://iteslj.org/Articles/Rabbini-Syllabus.html
15 March 2007
It's a small world when the world becomes your classroom
A teacher wants to know what students can do to help themselves improve their English outside of class.
One of the hardest things to do with students who do not live in an English speaking country is to help them practice their spoken English. Thanks to today's modern technology, this no longer has to be a problem.
Skype is a free "telephone" program with which you can call another person computer to computer. The sound is of such a high quality it rivals a telephone call. Skype is currently the most popular downloaded program in the world. It's completely free.
Students can call each other or people all over the world to practice their English. There are some businesses which use Skype (search Skype for "hotel" or "services") which may be more ready to speak, especially to people perceived as potential customers.
Teachers can also have conference calls with students.
Additionally, for about 2 cents a minute Skype users can call normal telephones. This opens up just about every phone in the world. They could spend hours and just a few dollars practicing their English by getting information on ski trips and lodgings, cost of notebook computers and their features, and how the services of a personality consultant can makeover their life.
One of the hardest things to do with students who do not live in an English speaking country is to help them practice their spoken English. Thanks to today's modern technology, this no longer has to be a problem.
Skype is a free "telephone" program with which you can call another person computer to computer. The sound is of such a high quality it rivals a telephone call. Skype is currently the most popular downloaded program in the world. It's completely free.
Students can call each other or people all over the world to practice their English. There are some businesses which use Skype (search Skype for "hotel" or "services") which may be more ready to speak, especially to people perceived as potential customers.
Teachers can also have conference calls with students.
Additionally, for about 2 cents a minute Skype users can call normal telephones. This opens up just about every phone in the world. They could spend hours and just a few dollars practicing their English by getting information on ski trips and lodgings, cost of notebook computers and their features, and how the services of a personality consultant can makeover their life.
07 March 2007
Business English or Office English - There is a BIG difference
A teacher asked: "Can anyone recommend some textbooks or references that I could use in class and what is the course structure for teaching Business Communication?"
A lot depends on your students and their level.
College/university students have little idea of what kind of business English they will need and they have little or no real knowledge of English in the work place. Publishers have rolled out tons of material for these types of students which cover such a wide spectrum of business subjects, everything from stock portfolios to business travel, to be of little specific good.
On the other hand, you will find that professionals, who are already working in a business, have already mastered the vocabulary of their business but not the grammar. Here are samples of actual work Emails that I collected when researching needs at three different companies:
TO A CUSTOMER: "As per your request, we offered 7-cup & 10-cup rice cooker, single & double burner. Please kindly see the attached to re-fresh your memory. You like our product, and want to mix container of rice cooker and burner. Our Manager agreed that you can mix 4 items, 7-cup & 10-cup Rice cooker, single and double burner in trial order."
TO A CHINESE COLLEAGUE IN AMERICAN COMPANY: "Please advise the factory must check for lose color stones, the customer is complain last orders 993105, 993106, 993107, 993109, 993110, 993111 most of them the color stones are lose, please make sure factory double check for lose stones on these present orders..."
TO A CHINESE COLLEAGUE IN AMERICAN COMPANY IN CHINA: "we certify blue card of OBA or QC for those who were on board this month as per the training flow.[OBA&QC duration of OJT(red cards) are 15 working days to 20 working days ] . However we will certify blue card within this week if they had ability to working on their station. If not certification of blue card will be postponed to end of OJT by trainers. The OBA persons total 8 in A shift. We will certify their blue card in this week if they were able to work absolute. I will certify those who am I follow up persons. You certify those who are you follow up persons."
This latter type of students, the professionals, need what I call "Office English" but there is as yet no such textbook. Such a textbook would guide the student in making formal and informal business requests, confirming and checking information, accepting and rejecting suggestions, etc. Failing an Office English textbook, some of these needs are covered in General English and General Business English textbooks.
A lot depends on your students and their level.
College/university students have little idea of what kind of business English they will need and they have little or no real knowledge of English in the work place. Publishers have rolled out tons of material for these types of students which cover such a wide spectrum of business subjects, everything from stock portfolios to business travel, to be of little specific good.
On the other hand, you will find that professionals, who are already working in a business, have already mastered the vocabulary of their business but not the grammar. Here are samples of actual work Emails that I collected when researching needs at three different companies:
TO A CUSTOMER: "As per your request, we offered 7-cup & 10-cup rice cooker, single & double burner. Please kindly see the attached to re-fresh your memory. You like our product, and want to mix container of rice cooker and burner. Our Manager agreed that you can mix 4 items, 7-cup & 10-cup Rice cooker, single and double burner in trial order."
TO A CHINESE COLLEAGUE IN AMERICAN COMPANY: "Please advise the factory must check for lose color stones, the customer is complain last orders 993105, 993106, 993107, 993109, 993110, 993111 most of them the color stones are lose, please make sure factory double check for lose stones on these present orders..."
TO A CHINESE COLLEAGUE IN AMERICAN COMPANY IN CHINA: "we certify blue card of OBA or QC for those who were on board this month as per the training flow.[OBA&QC duration of OJT(red cards) are 15 working days to 20 working days ] . However we will certify blue card within this week if they had ability to working on their station. If not certification of blue card will be postponed to end of OJT by trainers. The OBA persons total 8 in A shift. We will certify their blue card in this week if they were able to work absolute. I will certify those who am I follow up persons. You certify those who are you follow up persons."
This latter type of students, the professionals, need what I call "Office English" but there is as yet no such textbook. Such a textbook would guide the student in making formal and informal business requests, confirming and checking information, accepting and rejecting suggestions, etc. Failing an Office English textbook, some of these needs are covered in General English and General Business English textbooks.
Stimulate their minds with enjoyable learning
When one teacher suggested that we should make our English lessons enjoyable another teacher countered sharply saying, "I disagree.... Are mathematics lessons enjoyable?"A) If Bill Gates dropped a hundred dollar bill on the floor would he be gaining money or losing money if he stopped what he was working on and took the time to reach down and pick it up?
B) If it were possible to fold a sheet of paper of average thickness 55 times how thick would the result be?
I think the mind works much better when it is enjoying something interesting, don't you? Do you remember the day you first learned the Pythagorean Theorem? Probably not. Do you remember the day when you were first kissed? Probably.
I have forgotten much of the math that was forced into my brain even though there were probably many instances later when it would have helped me. I don't even remember the name of the teacher. I don't remember the day. I do remember the first time I was kissed.
I remember many interesting things from The Teaching Company audiobook lecture on mathematics and geometry with the 'unboring' title "The Joy of Thinking". The first lecture was fascinating. It was all about "counting". Answer "A" = Bill Gates would be losing money. Answer "B" = It would reach out of our solar system.
Lesson from all of this: Things that are normally boring can be made interesting and memorable.
Anyone can teach a boring lesson and demand students endure the pain in order to gain. It takes a real artist to find the key inside the student to inspire learning.
Photo: Two of my corporate English students on an English Safari with me. We're "thinking outside the [teacher] box". Instead of a lesson in our classroom we went to the local mall to talk and practice our English about...well, everything! They loved it.
Cranking up your class with the power of TV commercials
A teacher is looking for some ideas to make his classes more lively. Here are some suggestions on how to power-up his classes and get his students excited about learning English.
You said you were playing videos in English with Chinese subtitles. As I said, movies are a little bulky to use easily in English training. But the good news is that most of the time when the students say "We want movies," they really mean they want some variety. They are getting bored with the book and the routine.
I've found that commercials, especially to promote speaking, are just fantastic. Try it in your class. Download this video: FISHING
1. In your classroom divide your students into pairs and then divide the pairs into partners "A" & "B".
2. Tell "A" to watch the screen and "B" to turn around. With the sound off, show the first 31 seconds of the commercial to your "A" students.
3. Now "B" students face the screen and "A" students look away. Show the rest of the video to the "B" students.
4. Now "A" and "B" students talk to each other and try to figure out the story of the commercial. Remind them to speak to each other in English. Walk throughout the classroom checking on them and helping them. You will soon have an animated classroom full of excited students.
After they've had enough time to discuss it ask a few students to explain what their partner told them. Don't ask what they saw. Ask what their partner told them. This extends the speaking exercise as they have to orally report what they heard. Afterwards show the video again to the whole class with the sound on.
The commercial is made by McDonald's. A woman drops off her husband so he can go fishing on a wooden dock. It's clear that she doesn't approve of him fishing or perhaps doesn't approve of him in general. He gets his equipment ready and sits down to begin. He pulls out a lunch, a take-out bag from McDonald's and sets it next to him. Suddenly something huge comes out of the sea. We don't see what it but it must be a Great White Shark or similar monster. The man is terrified. Next we see the man is safe but a large section of the wooden dock, right where the McDonald's lunch was, is bitten off. That's the end of the first part, the part Student A would see. Student A doesn't know what happens next.
Now the plot twist.
Student B watches. It appears that the man has convinced his wife to go fishing with him. He helps her get set up on the dock next to him. Then he pulls out a McDonald's lunch and sets it in front of his wife and smiles. Student B doesn't understand the significance of what he has seen.
The students love this sort of thing. They are mystified. They are curious. They are eager to figure out what is happening. And they have to do it in English. It is a super fast way to get students talking and talking and talking and in English.
You said you were playing videos in English with Chinese subtitles. As I said, movies are a little bulky to use easily in English training. But the good news is that most of the time when the students say "We want movies," they really mean they want some variety. They are getting bored with the book and the routine.
I've found that commercials, especially to promote speaking, are just fantastic. Try it in your class. Download this video: FISHING
1. In your classroom divide your students into pairs and then divide the pairs into partners "A" & "B".
2. Tell "A" to watch the screen and "B" to turn around. With the sound off, show the first 31 seconds of the commercial to your "A" students.
3. Now "B" students face the screen and "A" students look away. Show the rest of the video to the "B" students.
4. Now "A" and "B" students talk to each other and try to figure out the story of the commercial. Remind them to speak to each other in English. Walk throughout the classroom checking on them and helping them. You will soon have an animated classroom full of excited students.
After they've had enough time to discuss it ask a few students to explain what their partner told them. Don't ask what they saw. Ask what their partner told them. This extends the speaking exercise as they have to orally report what they heard. Afterwards show the video again to the whole class with the sound on.
The commercial is made by McDonald's. A woman drops off her husband so he can go fishing on a wooden dock. It's clear that she doesn't approve of him fishing or perhaps doesn't approve of him in general. He gets his equipment ready and sits down to begin. He pulls out a lunch, a take-out bag from McDonald's and sets it next to him. Suddenly something huge comes out of the sea. We don't see what it but it must be a Great White Shark or similar monster. The man is terrified. Next we see the man is safe but a large section of the wooden dock, right where the McDonald's lunch was, is bitten off. That's the end of the first part, the part Student A would see. Student A doesn't know what happens next.
Now the plot twist.
Student B watches. It appears that the man has convinced his wife to go fishing with him. He helps her get set up on the dock next to him. Then he pulls out a McDonald's lunch and sets it in front of his wife and smiles. Student B doesn't understand the significance of what he has seen.
The students love this sort of thing. They are mystified. They are curious. They are eager to figure out what is happening. And they have to do it in English. It is a super fast way to get students talking and talking and talking and in English.
Choose between "static" or "dynamic" teaching materials
During one of my rants against coursebooks a teacher challenged me: "Dave Kees would like to see coursebooks that are more alive and dynamic. That would be wonderful. However, it is the teacher who brings life to the material. A dull teacher could make the most creative material tedious and mind-numbingly boring."I agree with her 100%! But forgive me for my lack of clarity. I don't mean to make or conduct an engaging and interesting lesson. I mean that parts of the course can quickly and easily change according to various needs. It's time to have dynamic teaching materials.
One definition for "dynamic" in The American Heritage Dictionary describes is: "An interactive system or process, especially one involving competing or conflicting forces."
It is interesting how the Computer Desktop Encyclopedia puts it: "Refers to operations performed 'on the fly,' which are based on decisions made while the program is running rather than beforehand. The expression, 'buffers are dynamically created,' means that space is created when actually needed, not reserved ahead of time. The expression, 'data is compressed onto the disk dynamically' means that the compression algorithms are being applied when the data is being written rather than before. Contrast with static."
Hmmm, contrast with "static". Are you static or dynamic?
Photo: Get the students out of the classroom and take them to Ikea. My corporate English students learning how to talk about Ikea's innovative marketing experience at Ikea.
The adaptable customizable dynamic coursebook -- Are you ready for it?
In a discussion we were having Betty Azar explained: "It seems to me that a textbook that provides a solid core of good material is crucial in a classroom..."
I really don't wish to argue with Ms Azar. She is certainly my senior in this profession. I haven't used her books but they are being sold here in China and I have never heard a single criticism of them but I have heard considerable praise. As for myself, I am a mere teacher sans-MA and unpublished and holding a mere certificate with only a few years of experience under my belt.
I don't wish to argue against the coursebook. I want to advocate for a better coursebook. I would like to see coursebooks that are alive and dynamic. I would like to see coursebooks that can adapt to teachers and students. Teachers and students should not have to adapt to coursebooks.
Today's coursebooks are too static. They are written for a mass market or even for a specific market that is not the market you are teaching in. All of the business English coursebooks I have to use were written for Europe. My students are learning about entertaining in London and doing business in Poland. I'm in China. My students are not going to Poland but they may need English to negotiate a contract in Tokyo and check on suppliers in Korea. There's a new business English book that is for Asia but it's more centered in Thailand and it doesn't focus on the language well enough for my students' needs.
Why can't we have an adaptable coursebook? Why can't we have coursebook templates that a teacher can use to fill in the details specific for his class? Why can't we have a coursebook Wizard like MS Office has so that you can fill in some information and it will generate a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation or a coursebook for us? Why can't we have a coursebook format for upper intermediate students that we can use for business English and shift to logistics English and flip to warehouse English.
Do you know there are actual computer programs that can help script writers write a script for a movie? They step the writer through the structure of a script and help him keep control of character development and story line. Is it going to win an Oscar? No. And are you going to teach the world's greatest lesson tomorrow? No. We don't need magnificent lessons. We need good lessons that are geared to the specific needs of our students.
I am making my lessons in PowerPoint. I sometimes make changes in my lesson in mid-exercise if it is not just right. I can even include pictures of my students in the lesson or pictures of our city.
Wouldn't you like to have a "Betty Azar" Wizard to step you through the process of customizing the grammar focus for your particular students? Wouldn't it be cool if a virtual "Jack Richards" was at your elbow making suggestions on more activities to reinforces some new vocabulary for tomorrow's lesson?
We don't need less Betty Azar, we need more Betty Azar. So when can we have something like this? We will have to wait until the big publishers figure out how to make money out of it. But the longer the big publishers take to do that the more we will start doing it ourselves.
I really don't wish to argue with Ms Azar. She is certainly my senior in this profession. I haven't used her books but they are being sold here in China and I have never heard a single criticism of them but I have heard considerable praise. As for myself, I am a mere teacher sans-MA and unpublished and holding a mere certificate with only a few years of experience under my belt.
I don't wish to argue against the coursebook. I want to advocate for a better coursebook. I would like to see coursebooks that are alive and dynamic. I would like to see coursebooks that can adapt to teachers and students. Teachers and students should not have to adapt to coursebooks.
Today's coursebooks are too static. They are written for a mass market or even for a specific market that is not the market you are teaching in. All of the business English coursebooks I have to use were written for Europe. My students are learning about entertaining in London and doing business in Poland. I'm in China. My students are not going to Poland but they may need English to negotiate a contract in Tokyo and check on suppliers in Korea. There's a new business English book that is for Asia but it's more centered in Thailand and it doesn't focus on the language well enough for my students' needs.
Why can't we have an adaptable coursebook? Why can't we have coursebook templates that a teacher can use to fill in the details specific for his class? Why can't we have a coursebook Wizard like MS Office has so that you can fill in some information and it will generate a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation or a coursebook for us? Why can't we have a coursebook format for upper intermediate students that we can use for business English and shift to logistics English and flip to warehouse English.
Do you know there are actual computer programs that can help script writers write a script for a movie? They step the writer through the structure of a script and help him keep control of character development and story line. Is it going to win an Oscar? No. And are you going to teach the world's greatest lesson tomorrow? No. We don't need magnificent lessons. We need good lessons that are geared to the specific needs of our students.
I am making my lessons in PowerPoint. I sometimes make changes in my lesson in mid-exercise if it is not just right. I can even include pictures of my students in the lesson or pictures of our city.
Wouldn't you like to have a "Betty Azar" Wizard to step you through the process of customizing the grammar focus for your particular students? Wouldn't it be cool if a virtual "Jack Richards" was at your elbow making suggestions on more activities to reinforces some new vocabulary for tomorrow's lesson?
We don't need less Betty Azar, we need more Betty Azar. So when can we have something like this? We will have to wait until the big publishers figure out how to make money out of it. But the longer the big publishers take to do that the more we will start doing it ourselves.
05 March 2007
Terrific free lessons based on current news
You can find some excellent news based lessons at Breaking News English. Every couple days two lessons, simple and difficult, are produced on some news article that is hot that day. The lessons are free.
They are in HTML, Word and PDF and come with an MP3. They can be easily adapted by the teacher, shortening them or adding additional focus.
Sean Banville has done a wonderful job at this. I have created lessons in a similar fashion and it takes me all day to do half of what Sean does everyday.
A few folks producing good course as Sean has done, news based or otherwise, could threaten to put publishers out of business.
(Unfortunately, this website is blocked in China and can only be accessed by applying some sort of workaround. Ask your IT friend to help you.)
They are in HTML, Word and PDF and come with an MP3. They can be easily adapted by the teacher, shortening them or adding additional focus.
Sean Banville has done a wonderful job at this. I have created lessons in a similar fashion and it takes me all day to do half of what Sean does everyday.
A few folks producing good course as Sean has done, news based or otherwise, could threaten to put publishers out of business.
(Unfortunately, this website is blocked in China and can only be accessed by applying some sort of workaround. Ask your IT friend to help you.)
23 February 2007
What would "distributed teaching" be like?
Perhaps you've heard of the idea of computing tasks being farmed out to many different computers? Science and business use distributed computing to solve complex problems when the power of one computer is not enough. SETI is a rather big and public example of this. It uses tens of thousands of computers around the world to help with computations related to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
Already technology is playing a role in our teaching. Ten years ago Email was not widely used. Ten years ago the Internet as we know it was just a baby. Now we use these things quite extensively. Many of us are using them in our teaching as well. We have set up websites, we communicate with our students and other teachers through the Internet. Email and VOIP (Internet telephony) technology have eliminated the sense of distance between each other and makes almost everyone in the world feel
close.
Each new technology opens a new door to opportunities we didn't think of before. So we have to be constantly reevaluating the possibilities because what we can do today is something we couldn't do yesterday.
What would "distributed teaching" be like? Seeing how distributed computing has impacted computing, how would distributed teaching impact teaching? What would distributed teaching be like?
Perhaps a network of teachers in different locations forming a team and each one applying his specialty to work together on each other's students?
These are some questions I've been asking myself lately and, frankly, I don't really know but think there might be some interesting possibilities there. What do you think?
Already technology is playing a role in our teaching. Ten years ago Email was not widely used. Ten years ago the Internet as we know it was just a baby. Now we use these things quite extensively. Many of us are using them in our teaching as well. We have set up websites, we communicate with our students and other teachers through the Internet. Email and VOIP (Internet telephony) technology have eliminated the sense of distance between each other and makes almost everyone in the world feel
close.
Each new technology opens a new door to opportunities we didn't think of before. So we have to be constantly reevaluating the possibilities because what we can do today is something we couldn't do yesterday.
What would "distributed teaching" be like? Seeing how distributed computing has impacted computing, how would distributed teaching impact teaching? What would distributed teaching be like?
Perhaps a network of teachers in different locations forming a team and each one applying his specialty to work together on each other's students?
These are some questions I've been asking myself lately and, frankly, I don't really know but think there might be some interesting possibilities there. What do you think?
21 February 2007
"Google Alerts" to alert you to interesting news
Teachers are always looking for material to interest students. I'd like to say I've had great success using Google Alerts.
Alerts is a service that scans about 4000 news sources every day and sends you an Email of links to these sources that fit your criteria. For example, I'm teaching at an American company that works with McDonalds. I have alerts set for "mcdonalds" "kfc" and "logisitics china" (without the quotation marks).
I get lots of interesting news from these alerts. I found out about the death of McDonald's CEO before my students did so they heard about it from me first. I have passed on to them detailed information about McDonalds new menu in the U.S. which, with all likelyhood, be coming to China in a couple years. I also passed on information about new technologies in logistics and warehousing.
This also helps you to tailor your class to your students need, as in English for Special Purposes.
The feedback from my students has been very enthusiastic. They said they are learning lots of interesting things about their industry and also how to explain things in English about their industry.
These students are managers or department heads and all use computers. Using features of Outlook I can put this news into messages and set the date for each message to go out. I usually gather up about 5-6 news stories and set them to go out one a day. Of course, if your students don't have computers you can make printouts to work with.
Using highly interesting material you will see students make a greater effort to apply themselves to understanding and learning it than they would with generic material that is of little personal interest. Students will tackle material that would normally be over their head.
You can set the search criteria in exactly the same way you would a regular Google search. Have fun!
Alerts is a service that scans about 4000 news sources every day and sends you an Email of links to these sources that fit your criteria. For example, I'm teaching at an American company that works with McDonalds. I have alerts set for "mcdonalds" "kfc" and "logisitics china" (without the quotation marks).
I get lots of interesting news from these alerts. I found out about the death of McDonald's CEO before my students did so they heard about it from me first. I have passed on to them detailed information about McDonalds new menu in the U.S. which, with all likelyhood, be coming to China in a couple years. I also passed on information about new technologies in logistics and warehousing.
This also helps you to tailor your class to your students need, as in English for Special Purposes.
The feedback from my students has been very enthusiastic. They said they are learning lots of interesting things about their industry and also how to explain things in English about their industry.
These students are managers or department heads and all use computers. Using features of Outlook I can put this news into messages and set the date for each message to go out. I usually gather up about 5-6 news stories and set them to go out one a day. Of course, if your students don't have computers you can make printouts to work with.
Using highly interesting material you will see students make a greater effort to apply themselves to understanding and learning it than they would with generic material that is of little personal interest. Students will tackle material that would normally be over their head.
You can set the search criteria in exactly the same way you would a regular Google search. Have fun!
Can we get ourselves and our students out of the box?
A teacher wrote: "Can you imagine a scenario like this? A Chinese with an undergraduate degree in history from America and a master degree in sociology from UK came back to China and tried to explain to a bunch of EFL students how Electoral College system from America can be adapted in Chinese countryside."
As an EFL teacher you have a duty to help your students learn the English they will need. If they are going to be involved in teaching villagers how to vote then this would be useful.
Aside from that, while I applaud your desire for an unconventional approach I believe you are still operating much too much inside the confines of the "box".
Here is a little story I plucked out of one of Tom Peter's books. Although it is more business related and a bit long please bear with me as there is an important lesson here.
Corporations are so boring. Stanley Bing in Esquire encounter with a job candidate that went nowhere.
Whom do I suggest we hire? I suggest we search for the young woman who went to MIT to study computer science, was doing fine, and then mysteriously dropped out midway in her sophomore year, said the place was the dreariest institution ever created, and took off around the world, maybe to work with Mother Teresa, maybe just to hang out. We really don't know.
Why would I hire her? I'll tell you. She's demonstrated - at least one point in her life - the gumption to do something exciting, maybe extraordinary, something that breaks the mold.
Too many of our students are climbing academia as if it were the ladder to success and happiness. As Stephen Covey pointed out, too many people climb the ladder of success only to find that it's leaning against the wrong wall. Their definition of living has become money.
If you want to be able to offer your students something of real meaning then why don't you go off to the countryside for a year yourself and experience the tribulations and the joys these people experience. It's different if people go to experience this themselves as opposed to being forced to do it by political ideology. Then go to India and do the same for a year, maybe with Mother Teresa's people. After that go spend a year as an intern at a corporation in Manhattan and then a year in Iraq as part of the rebuilding process.
At the end of that four year plan you will have something to think about. After you put all of those experiences into perspective and make personal sense out of all of that then you will have something to talk about.
As an EFL teacher you have a duty to help your students learn the English they will need. If they are going to be involved in teaching villagers how to vote then this would be useful.
Aside from that, while I applaud your desire for an unconventional approach I believe you are still operating much too much inside the confines of the "box".
Here is a little story I plucked out of one of Tom Peter's books. Although it is more business related and a bit long please bear with me as there is an important lesson here.
Corporations are so boring. Stanley Bing in Esquire encounter with a job candidate that went nowhere.
He comes in and seats himself carefully on the edge of my guest chair. He is staring at the toys on my desk, trying to suppress the realization that I am an infantile nit whose job he could probably do much better...Of course he does not play with the toys. He looks out my window instead. 'Nice view,' he says rather perfunctorily, but he does not say, 'Wow!' - which is what my view of the canyons and spires of high-mercantile capitalism deserves...
'I'm looking for an entry-level position in public relations. Maybe corporate marketing, if I get lucky.' he says.
'Really?' I say. 'Like out of the entire realm of human possibility, that's what you want to be doing?' I'm sorry. He's really starting to tweeze my bumpers. What 24-year old really and truly wants to be in corporate marketing for God's sake? I look him over as he burbles on about targeting demos or retrofitting corporate superstructures or some frigging thing like that. The guy makes me want to stand up o my desk and yell, 'Booga-booga!'
Instead I say, 'Didn't you ever want to be a rock musician or a forest ranger or anything?' He looks at me like I have a banana peel on the end of my nose. It's quite clear to me that since he was in high school, he's been preparing to be a ... communicator. That's actually what he says.
Screw it. There's no poetry in this dude. No soul. No surf or wind or whalebone in his eye. He's ... desiccated. He makes me sad. I kick him out of my office.
Whom do I suggest we hire? I suggest we search for the young woman who went to MIT to study computer science, was doing fine, and then mysteriously dropped out midway in her sophomore year, said the place was the dreariest institution ever created, and took off around the world, maybe to work with Mother Teresa, maybe just to hang out. We really don't know.
Why would I hire her? I'll tell you. She's demonstrated - at least one point in her life - the gumption to do something exciting, maybe extraordinary, something that breaks the mold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Too many of our students are climbing academia as if it were the ladder to success and happiness. As Stephen Covey pointed out, too many people climb the ladder of success only to find that it's leaning against the wrong wall. Their definition of living has become money.
If you want to be able to offer your students something of real meaning then why don't you go off to the countryside for a year yourself and experience the tribulations and the joys these people experience. It's different if people go to experience this themselves as opposed to being forced to do it by political ideology. Then go to India and do the same for a year, maybe with Mother Teresa's people. After that go spend a year as an intern at a corporation in Manhattan and then a year in Iraq as part of the rebuilding process.
At the end of that four year plan you will have something to think about. After you put all of those experiences into perspective and make personal sense out of all of that then you will have something to talk about.
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