Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn
Oct. 12-15 2012, Act City, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
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This one-day mini-conference hosted by Shizuoka JALT and the JALT Teacher Education and Development(TED) Special Interest Group is intended to spark new conversations around the broad theme of EFL Teacher Journeys. Presentations will recount stories of teacher journeys, either the presenter’s own, those of students or classes, or other teachers.
We stand at the front of our classrooms looking at our students, hoping to understand what they are thinking about our thoughtfully chosen materials and our carefully created activities. Observing students in this way can help us build a picture of what they do, but it cannot really help us understand what they think or feel. As an alternative, occasional short questionnaires combined with short regular student reflections can provide a small but useful window into our students' minds and hearts. This workshop will illustrate how to create and use such questionnaires and student reflections in your classroom, to better understand your own teaching and your students' learning.
Marcos will outline his how his experience as an ESL learner influenced his approach to teaching, and in turn how both continue to inform his work as a writer of ELT materials. This presentation will be of interest to most teachers at any level, but especially to those who want to explore some of the complex connections between learners, teachers, and coursebooks.
Positive, motivated students -- engaged in what they are studying and with each other -- learn more. How do we facilitate that positive attitude in the language classroom? This activity-based session looks at ways positive psychology (TIME magazine calls it "The Science of Happiness") can be combined with clear language learning goals for active, invested learning. This is more than "positive self-talk". It is sharing with our students the concrete behaviors that happy people engage in. A handout of 20 positive psychology ELT activities will be provided. :-)
Daniel Pink in his book DRIVE (2009) writes about how education and business have not kept up with research finding on motivation. Yes, we still sometimes are motivated by the old carrot and stick (positive reinforcement and threat of punishment) but more and more we are seeing people acting altruistically and irrationally refusing the carrots and not caring about the sticks. I will talk about ways to tap into these new ways of conceiving motivation and give examples in education.
If critical thinking activities don’t lead to changes in behavior & real world action, are they of true value? Maybe not.
For people with some extensive reading experience or none at all, this presentation will go over its benefits as well as how to get students engaged with reading books that are appropriate for their levels so that they make reading a routine. Reading circles will also be explained and how they can be incorporated into speaking classes to make engaging conversations.
At this meeting, four Shizuoka chapter members will be sharing some activities that have been successful in their classes. Regardless of what kind of students you teach, there will be something for you!
Looking for some alternative conversations about teaching which: substitute analysis of transcripts and recording of lessons for judgments made about recollections of lessons; focus on details rather than general points; are exploratory rather than cut and dried; engage students in the exploration of teaching practices rather than exclude them; are intended to liberate rather than control; move beyond the conventional to the unconventional - even iconoclastic; encourage very small changes rather than big ones; and value the constant testing of the consequences of our usual practices in order to better understand teaching and learning? If you are, I invite you to engage in some of the activities I will discuss at the April JALT meeting in Shizuoka. I say, “engage” because to understand our teaching, we have to act, not just read and write. You will, I hope, become exhilarated by the many possibilities for your teaching that previously you might have dreamt about but not considered possible. — John F. Fanselow
As the end of the academic year unwinds, let's look back on the past year. In a relaxed, informal setting, please share some stories of your teaching and research successes and failures. If you have a useful activity that you would like to share with others, please feel free to bring it. If you have a "broken" activity that you would like to fix, bring it as well!
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