Looking back

Writing a blog was an exciting journey into myself and my teaching practice. It allowed me to put things into context, examine my teaching performance and analyse and try to explain and interpret tensions.

It was also a battle of how to say things to the world that are important to myself without upsetting anybody (but is this really possible? And how important is that really?). I noticed that my words came out to easily and often, I thought 'I can't say that', but then again, my feelings were strong and too powerful to stop me from doing it.

However, if I had written and ordinary diary it would look differently. It would still have the same topics, I think, but I would probably be even more analytical, more critical with myself and others involved. It is hard to say what you want to say, if you don't really know your audience. How can you define your style and content? Adding (moving) pictures and sound helped somehow and they were used to emphasise on the issues raised and put the volume up.

Some of my students are regular visitors and have read some or all of the entries but who else might have found it interesting and why? Sometimes, I just wish I could 'see' who stopped by...

This blog became a medium to express my inner voice and make it heared (loud sometimes or most of the times!). It was important for me that my students knew that I am writing about what we are doing in class, how I feel, how I think it went and what else happens outside the classroom but is still related to what happens inside. For me, that is/was my audience, my students. Allowing them to have access behind the scenes, tasting a bit of what is going on in my messy head and getting their reactions is fascinating. Many, might think that it is dangerous and frightening. I disaggree. Self-centred people who believe they are perfect and know everything, don't encourage this form of communication, in my opinion... and it is their loss! Opening up is not a sign of weakness, in my opinion... One needs strength and confidence to expose himself to criticism. Openness and willingness to engage with others is beneficial for everybody involved. Believing in yourself and others are important factors too!!!

Tensions, frustrations and issues, mainly related to out-of-classroom factors and how they manage to creep inside and create upside-down situations and upset me. I realised what a big impact things have and how they influence me as a person and a teacher. This is one lesson I learned by writing this blog.

Reflecting on the actual content of each session and examining my teaching approach, style and resources opened my eyes even further and allowed me to see what I have to do, or at least what I could try to do in the future to improve teaching and learning in my classroom and make learning more effective and more versatile. During this term, the main issue that came up again and again whas GRAMMAR. Reflecting on individual lessons made me realise that I HAVE to improve the way it is introduced and make it much much more accessable to everything. This exploration has began already and my head is full of new ideas and plans. Some of my ideas are already tested in the classroom and they seem to make a difference. I will keep experimenting... and improvise, of course ;o)

I didn't experience any problems with my students. We always had a healthy dialogue and our communication was and still is effective. I always value(d) their views and take into account what they have to say or suggest and we have talked and shared things that are in my head and in theirs related to our common goal or mission.

I have learned a lot about my teaching and how important reflection is in order to improve, to move forwards. Being self-critical and accepting criticism is a strength that we have to develop as teachers if we really care about our jobs and want to get better and offer unique and effective teaching and learning experiences for our students.


Asking ourself and others directly involved in what we are doing, does not show weakness. In the contrary, opening up helps to see, helps to accept, helps to reflect, helps to evaluate, helps to improve and to introduce innovations. Helps us to become better people and teachers full stop.

Positive feelings about this blog
1. Reflecting allowed evaluation of content, promoted experimentation and introduction of innovative ideas.
2. Opening up and discussing issues with myself and others helped me put things into perspective, externalise and share feelings, emotions and tensions.

Negative feelings about this blog
1. Who was my real audience? I would like to know.
2. I would prefer: synchronous dialogue and/or offline reflective diary.

globalisation

Eurovision 2007, contribution from Greece. Why bother learning Greek???

if...

... YOU are reading this let me know why you are reading it.

I would be very interested to find out what you get from a blog like that and especially from this one. Please, please leave a comment and let me know why you keep coming back for more. Thank you very much.

You don't have to provide your real name, if you don't want to.

cooking

I am thinking a lot about Grammar and how to make it more accessable in the classroom. Reflecting on how I introduce it and the materials I use, I think it is very primitive and uneffective. It definitely needs to be spiced up and other senses should be included to make learning more effective.

I am now organising my thoughts and ideas and have started creating a number new resources to be used. The test phase will be very interesting and exciting. The beginning happened a few weeks ago with 'forming human sentences' or 'sentences alive' (see previous entry further down). It suddently clicked that a lot is missing!!! A major problem is, that grammar seems to be something separate and is therefor introduced separately. This is not right!!! It is part of the language and it should be introduced in a more normal and natural way.

Over the last years I have created a lot of thematic resources but not really much for grammar. Well, I have done some interactive exercises which are available online but at present these can not be used in class since we don't have any ICT access, which is a shame. Anyway. Even these though are, in my opinion, not very effective especially for people who struggle with grammar and need human interaction. Grammar just shouts theory. People need to touch it, make it real, add another dimension to it that they can understand.

This is the key and I need to work on this to create more versatile resources that will allow understanding and learning and build confidence and motivation. A lot really, but this is all part of the fun.

Grammar is the most challenging of all and unfortunately, I didn't think ealier of coming up with more original ideas to make it more accessable to everyone. Grammar can be boring, students find it boring because they have difficulties understanding the concepts. Concepts should be made accessable, deconceptualised, if this is possible... Learning Grammar or trying to learn Grammar 100% from a book is very un-inspiring!!!

Grammar shouldn't be boring. Grammar should be exciting and it will be if the approach used is fun and effective and promotes understanding and keeps everybody involved.

It would help to exchange ideas with colleagues but there is no dialogue. Everybody comes and goes. It is a shame really. Anyway, I will do my best and who knows, I might find someone on the path to join me on this fascinating journey.

Some ideas
Teaching Grammar

Yam! Yam!

Introducing Likes and dislikes has become one of my favourite topics since I discovered a fresh and unusual approach that involves more senses.

My surprise activity or game is low tech and could be used in and out-of a classroom, even in a park or any other public space. It is fun and unexpected but effective. I have used it with larger and smaller classes so far only in a classroom. I would love to experiment further to discover how it would work in a public space.

This time round, I used it in a small class and ask just one brave student to volunteer as a recap activity for new material introduced earlier in the same lesson. Nobody was passive, everybody got a task. In some phases students had to work together and in others they worked individually. It was great to improve speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in a more interactive approach and with maximum involvement.

Likes and dislikes where linked to food and drinks. The vocabulary used was familiar (I made sure before the beginning of the game that everybody was clear about specific terms and names), something which I didn't do well last time I used this game. Since I have noticed that this activity really seems to work, I have tried to introduce small improvements each time I use it and perfect it as a method. It is still very very basic and all I need is 3-4 different food items (drinks could also be included, not alcoholic, of course). This time I used, garlic, bread, chocolate and olives. I try to put 1-2 items people might not like at all to maximise the effect. I have used other items in the past such as ketchup, mustard, banana, jelly babies etc. The volunteer is of course asked about any known food allergies before the beginning of the 'experiment'.

There is no script. Instructions are given verbally. Maybe I could create a table to register all the information. I had thought about that in the past but then students would have one less thing to do and I think it is actually more valuable for the students to work together and create this table. It will take longer but they will learn by doing it.

The guinea pig or the volunteer, has to taste the food with the eyes covered and he is asked if he/she likes what is in his/her mouth. Information are registered on the blackboard in the table created and later everybody has to write a short paragraph about this person's likes and dislikes. This part could be expanded further if time allows and the information collected could be used as raw material for a letter to a friend maybe, carrying out a very small survey among students and/or the creation of a related poster.

Low-tech activities can be very fun and very effective!!! They stimulate and involve more senses.

How many times, will I be able to use this game? How many times will it work? There are no guarantees. Every class loved it so far. But that doesn't mean that it will always work. I have to keep updating and altering it to make it even better. But do I have to? Should I? I am not sure. It concept works. It seems to work for everybody. Why change something that is good already? Will it get better or worse? Will I ruin it? What I could do it to try it with a different topic and I am thinking with colours and clothing. That would also be very effective if I do what I am thinking about. No, I am not going to say anything else here. My head has started boiling again and I am already planning a new activity based on the same principle but different! Wish me good luck ;o)

outside inside

When what happens outside class is impossible 'to forget' when entering the classroom.
We all have our little and big(ger) problems in life, it would be boring without them ;o) Managing to keep these little or big monsters outside the class is a task teachers are faced day-in day-out. We all want to present ourselves fresh and energetic and enthusiastic, inspiring etc. etc. but can we manage it all the time? Can I manage it all the time? No. I am not a person with a mask on, who pretends. (Un)fortunately. I do my best and I am guite good with leaving personal issues outside the door but when things happen at work just before you start a lesson, how do you handle these? You try to stay calm, you try to show that you are fine and you try and try but it doesn't work 100%. Escalations are dangerous creatures.

Many times problems in our teaching start outside the classroom but they manage to creep inside. And that is exactly what happened this evening. I felt very down and disappointed and NOT valued or appreciated at all. I was blamed and that hurts. It hurts a lot when you care. And I do care. I care about my students and I care about my job.


I think I need someone to talk to instead of writing in here now. I would like a dialogue on the topic. A monologue is not very helpful at the moment... ;o)

I just can't...

I can't stand un-important people who think they are important.

I can't stand un-knowedgeable people who think they possess all the knowledge.

I can't stand people who do anything to get everything.

full stop


... I just had the need to share this with you.

just average

The above is especially for Kristina who loves Mythos ;o) and enjoyed ordering Mythos during our role-plays in class.

We just finished our topic ordering and I feel that the last lesson was just average. Nothing exciting happened, nothing too bad happened. It was actually hard for me to reflect and try to pick out things that happened, didn't happen or should have happened... that is why it took me almost a whole week to write something down. Strange, but I guess it happens. Well, it happens to me.

The positive thing is that students who were present during the last session really seemed to understand now the concept of syntax and are able to cut sentences into pieces and put them back together again. So, my unusual approach worked.

I am wondering if I feel the way I feel because the class is shrinking (again or still) and I see less faces every week and I am concerned and make myself responsible for their departure. I love to teach full classes, loads of people and I love to teach smaller groups and one-to-one sessions. But when you start from a full class and slowly but steadily you loose students it is NOT encouraging and motivating. Seeing the numbers going down can act demotivating. However, it won't demotivate me. Other things demotivate me...

Just remembered something about the role-plays. Do students find them boring? Do they find boring how we carry them out? I am wondering? Role-plays should wake people up and encourage participation and liven up the atmosphere in a classroom and provide opportunities to practise what has been learned. Did this happen? Does it happen? How could it happen? Students will have to be encouraged to live the role-plays we do. Just reading the script is not good enough. It is a start and I fully understand that they need something to hold on. My students need to gain more confidence and don't be afraid to try. I think this is the key element to actually live a role and forget your identity. Be someone else for a while, have fun and learn. I might try some dressing up next time, and masks will probably also work well. We will see. I have to think of a plan and change by role-play practice. It definitely needs to be spiced up to become more stimulating!!!

Speaking about stimulating... I have a surprise for our next session. Will they like it? Will it be effective? I will let you know.

sentences alive

I did it, I did it! The anatomy of a sentence experiment is now over and it worked. Every student present was involved and they had to bring sentences and the different part of a sentence alive in a unique way. It definitely involved everybody and it was great for kinaesthetic learners. They had the opportunity to work in pairs, little groups as a whole class and individually.

I always believe that people need to get involved with the material in a unique way in order to make it theirs, especially if it appears difficult or unreachable. Making grammar points reachable, accessable and understandable is hard work but it is worth it. Experiencing the learning process in the process is very exciting. The results were amazing. Judging just from them, I am very possitive that students got something out of it and cleared shadows and dark and grey areas related to the syntactical terms we examined. Students learned and had fun at the same time. This is a very powerful condition to be in which definitely increases confidence and motivation!

By using different gadgets, toys and masks, and hats, and mouse ears and biiiiiiiig ears etc. etc. worked well. The acting part was also exciting and nobody refused to participate. I thought maybe some students would think that the whole was just silly and pointless...

All these low-tech resources helped to demonstrate the different part of a sentence, students were keen to try them on and use them and to understand what is what and why in grammatical terms.

Cutting a sentence into pieces in an unorthodox, unexpected and unusual way, by using students (bodies and gadgets) made grammar come out of the grave and become alive in front of our eyes. Distancing ourselves from paper based sentences, paper based explanations and rules down was definitely different. Different senses were involved in this experiment to maximise exposure, and students were not just passive participants but took protagonistic roles in forming, shaping and presentating sentences in a unique way which really gave a sentence a completely new dimension. The challenges integrated worked well.

The main part of the experiment was carried out in English, with English sentences to promote understanding and show similarities between the 2 languages which would allow students to learn stuctures that (re-)appear in Greek. If target language would be used from the beginning, I am very unsure if the experiment would have the same effect and result since it is a Beginners' course.

It was just a shame that 3 students where absent and they missed this unique experience. I decided to develop this experiment into a game, which could be used in any class for introducing grammatical points. I need to work on the structure, create instructions and worksheets to accompany the game and ask students for written feedback at the end. Also, sentences could be formed more related to the current topic under examination.

This time feedback was asked at the end of the experiment. Everybody seemed positive but I am not 100% sure if they were honest with me or if they just didn't want to disappoint me. I hope that I have created an open atmosphere that allows them to reflect and voice their real views about my teaching and how they experience it. For me these information are vital. I know that some tutors don't encourage an open dialogue and separate teaching from learning. For me this is impossible and would just not work!!! I am very much interested in finding out how my students experience what we do in class and how they feel about it, if they see any benefits or not. They might even have suggestions. Well, I am sure they have suggestions and they are very very welcome. Being a teacher is just being a lifelong learner and that is how I see myself and will keep learning in order to create a more effective learning experience for everybody ;o).

Read
Geoff Petty: How to be better at creativity

Last night after the lesson I found out that I am loosing one of my students. We are now in the middle of term 2 and I can forsee that there won't be any part 3 for this class with the current numbers even if everybody enrolled decides to continue... Yes, I will loose my 3rd class and my lovely students this academic year thanks to the system... and there is NOTHING I can do, or is there???

It puzzles me ;o)

I am putting together my plan for Tuesday. It feels like a puzzle, I am trying to solve ;o) It is exciting but I am unsure if it will work. There is only one way to find out. ;o) I am going to dare to try.

Familiarise yourself with terms and sentence structures in English

BBC skillwise

Learn English, Simple Sentence Construction

Basic Patterns and Elements of the Sentence


FunBrain.com: The Grammar Gorilla (interactive game)

Eureka

Creativity to the rescue
Uploaded by mcmentalninja

I have a concrete concept now. Concrete is probably the wrong word to use since it reminds us of concrete, as in building materials which sounds hard and inflexible. It is used here not to demonstrate that it is fixed or solid but formed, shaped, existing... my concept. I am sure it will need re-shaping but if the initial concept works then it will be possible to tune it and make it even more effective.

If it will work, I am not sure. Kinaesthetic and visual learners will love it... I think. I will try it and see how it goes. I have never used it before in this way and it will be very interesting to see what students think and if they can see any benefit and more importantly if it helps them to clarify what is what (grammatical terms) and organise their learning.

People seem to believe that there is no easy, good, effective way, to introduce grammar points and make it accessable to everybody. But I don't believe that. I am more optimistic than that and will keep searching for new and more exciting approaches that might work ;o)

If my experiment works, I could use it at the very very beginning of my courses to encourage the creation of a healthy relationship between grammar and students. If they don't know each other, how can they have (positive, negative) feelings about each other.

Grammar can and should be exciting!!!

Imagination and creativity are the main ingredients, together with refective practice (what I am doing here)that can bring innovation and change. They are powerful tool and if used effectively they can transform teaching and learning!!!

Details will follow...

Bad

Introducing grammar is always hard. It is hard for students to connect with grammar and understand maybe because they didn't do much in school, maybe because they don't like it (but how can we (dis)like something we don't know). Maybe because they feel it is boring. I am aware of the problem students experience related to grammar (some time ago, one of my students gave up learning because of verbs) and I am (still) trying to find a more effective way to introduce it without making students switch off.

I didn't really do a good job last night. Some of the students could follow, others couldn't. There was too much detail, too much information, too much terminology!!! I didn't manage to demonstrate clearly how and when to use these different cases in simple terms. My examples were not good enough. The whole thing whas too abstract. There must be a way to do it better!

I felt that I let my students down, that I was incapable of providing the piece of information they needed (in the way they needed it) so badly to understand and make the material theirs. Mechanical drills and communicative drills were combined without success. The rules were described, students were asked to practice and use the new grammar point. But it didn't work. No, I am not giving up. I hope they don't give up! I will think and come up with a more learner friendly way, I must.

I will ask students want went wrong and why, to get their views on the subject. Is it the way I explain, is it the material, or them. Probably a combination of all three. But I think I need their input.

Maybe grammar could (or should!!!) be taught by using non paper based resources. I have an idea in my head (it just clicked, yes, right now!) but I need to give it structure, make a concept out of it and try it. Hopefully, I will be ready next week when I see them again.

It is not right to blame the topic (in this case poor grammar!!!) if we can't do our job properly and feel that however hard we try to explain things they remain unexplainable...

Read about
Teaching Grammar

Just finished

I ran an intensive Greek Grammar course at the CLL on the last two Saturdays. It was intensive for everybody, which is not necessarily a bad thing especially if everybody (or at least the majority, or some) gets something positive out of it. I know I started saying everybody. But is it really possible to please everybody? I have to be realistic. Anyway.

It was the second time this course was running and I was much better organised than the first time, especially with handouts. However, they still need to be improved. I think I will have to create a set of materials for the whole course, something like a booklet (binded would even be better) with a theoretical part and activities. Too much stuff can be confusing. I also have to encourage students to put materials in folders immediately after handing them out, for easier use. But would this be necessary? Should I actually tell them what to do with the handouts and how to use them more effectively? Would they get upset if I suggested a way to organise them? I think, next time, I will ask students to bring a folder and some separators and we will do it together in the break. I have to try it! Also, it was a more spiced up version of the first time I did the course. This time I used more resources that stimulate different senses to maximise learning and increase the attention span. I recycled an activity used in one of my other classes and introduced an alternative approach to teaching grammar which can, but doesn't have to, be dry and boring etc. etc.

The best comment about the course came from a student during the second session who stated (out of the blue) "With you I never know what is coming next!" I smiled and I am still smiling ;o)This view reflects so much my approach to teaching and learning and my wider philosophy which I will record further down because it so relevant. A few days ago, I was asked to verbalise my philosophy and it made me think and re-think and reflect what was most important for me when teaching. So, here comes my teaching philosophy, which will probably change. I don't think it something static, something you formulate ones and that is it. You might stick to the principles but even these (might) change with time and experience. So maybe I should actually say, here comes my teaching philosophy in February 2007:

"My teaching philosophy in February 2007 is to experiment, to create unexpected, effective and interactive learning experiences, for all, that don't de-motivate and create appetite for more."

The majority of students knew me but not each other. This soon changed. During induction (which I have to admit took too long...) they had the opportunity to get to know each other and immediately everybody felt part of the class, part of the team. I really enjoy seeing this transformation from a somehow cold environment into a more open and warm atmosphere. It is just unbelievable how fast it can happen. Great stuff!!! For me, it is important to include everybody because I believe in a classroom situation we need each other, we learn from each other more that we do from the teacher. My teaching style is student centred, I love to involve them all. Pure transmission does not suit me, somehow. I use, however, teacher centred elements from time to time but not all the time. But they can be useful when time is tight and there are behavioural issues (with adults?).

The recycled activity was used for waking up on a Saturday morning and was a link to common errors students made in the summative assessment the previous week. It worked (sort of!!!), but it was too long and as I realised later when marking the written activity carried out at the end of it, it was more problematic than I thought, and less successful than I thought. First of all, I should have used only 2 students to save time. It just took too long and some students were probably bored... The volunteers possibly regreted volunteering, at least one of them did, I could tell afterwards. The activity involved the whole class. The three volunteers were brave. They were asked about allergies before we started. They had to eat chocolate, garlic, bread, mustard, gummy bears with covered eyes and at the same time respond to questions from the class in Greek. We got all the information we needed from them in order to complete the activity which reminded everybody of the likes and dislikes structure in Greek. I failed to provide all the necessary information about how to do it and assumed that students knew. Very very wrong of me. I should have explained the 'likes and dislikes' structure again (it is not very easy anyway!) before asking them to complete the activity. It wouldn't really matter that much(me not telling them then), if there was another session but this was the last one and I would not have the change to go over this material again and explain. I missed the perfect opportunity to clarify the main issues, which is a shame. I plan now to email the whole class and offer useful information related to the above to clarify issues. This will be better than nothing. I can't just say 'ok, let's forget about it'. I can still do something about it and I will.

In general, I think, the second session was better than the first one. Maybe it was the material. Maybe because students knew each other a bit better now and felt more relaxed. Maybe it was better planned. Looking back makes me think that I could have used more versatile resources. The second one, had definitely more variety and it definitely felt faster but not too fast. There was a lot of repetition, but necessary repetition which actually helped the students (I hope it did!) to organise their thinking and digest the information in a more structured way by creating links between key concepts. Students were not afraid or embarrased to ask questions and to admit when understanding was not possible.

Reflecting upon the content of this course I think I had planned too much. Less is more. There was no need to prepare that many different topics. But then again, it was an intensive course and people expect a lot. What counts? Quantity or quality or both? Last time the course was running we covered more but it was with a different group of people. You can't really compare and expect the same to happen. Every class is unique. We should learn from our experiences and adapt a flexible approach that suits the situation best. And that is what I try to do. To be flexible and leave things out that were, in my opinion, less important or less problematic than others. Should I have asked the students? Next time, I might involve them in the decision making about what to cover and what not. But should I? It is a dilemma and who knows best? They or me? The students or the teacher? Whatever the answer, they can be involved in the teaching and learning process since they are part of it anyway. We could discuss it. Ok, I will try it next time.

Looking back, I feel (almost) pleased and can see that students took a lot away from this course, despite all the imperfections. Teaching is learning and I learned a lot. This teaching experience has enriched me as a person and as a teacher. It has showed me that a lot can be achieved if you give the right stuff. If you involve people, if you create a thinking classroom and connect with them. A classroom full of alert people who are there to learn and learn with and from each other.

Diving

Learning a language is an exploration and adventure into the cultural, past, present and future. It is a journey full of surprises and fun (it should be anyway... in my opinion). It is experimenting and daring to try. It is like when we learn to walk. We will fall, hurt ourselves but we will get up again. We don't give up. We have determination.

When we learn a language we dive in the new and unknown and are excited and want to learn everything now. This is impossible. There is no language learning injection or pill yet and I don't think there will ever be one.

Learning a language takes time. How long does it take a child to master speech? And we want to be able to learn a foreign language instantly? It would be nice but... We are not robots and we should not learn a language in a robotic way. Robots fet with sterile phrases by humans that spit them out after the right commant. We are not robots. We are creative (we create robots!), have feelings (and an imaginative brain that wanders and wanders)we are interested in real communication that will enrich us and our society and will allow us to communicate in a unique and effective way.

Learning a language needs to be systematic. Memorising phrases is bad for anybody. We all loose our memory with time anyway... so what's the point? Memorising is surface learning, or just surface full stop. The material will never be ours. We want to understand, make the language ours and use it. Use it in a new and fresh way we understand and are understood and expand, learn more, become autonomous learners.

We can't and should not depend on memorised 'wooden' phrases and make them the centre of our existance in a foreign environment. The 'wooden' phrases will transform us into 'wooden' individuals, wooden robots... They might be good as starters, to make someone smile (or cry!) but that is it!

We want to be part of the society this language is spoken and that means diving into the language. Language exists on various levels and it is used for communication. We speak and we listen, we read and we write. We will have to master these 4 skills in order to become effective communicators. All 4 skills will assist us on our journey and should not be isolated from each other. We can't learn them in isolation. We can't master them all at the same time. But we should be exposed to them from the very beginning! We need them all, to communicate and to learn more. More of it, more on our own because we want to. How on earth will we be able to use a simple dictionary and look up words if we have no idea how the building blocks of this language look like. How will we be able to read any sign and understand? How will we be able to read the ingredients of an everyday product in the supermarket? How will we ever become autonomous learners if we are completely unfamiliar of the written code of this language?

The written code needs to be mastered from the very beginning when we learn a language as a foreign language (not as a second language!) The alphabet, letters and sounds are of highest importance and that is were someone should start!!! We can't ignore them. We should not ignore them!!! We need them!!! We despirately need them to become effective communicators in simple and more complex situations and that means two way communication. To listen and to understand. To speak. To read and to write. To explore, to try and to learn and learn more ;o)

Read about
Teaching Speaking
Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills

Calming down...

Last_autumn_journey
Uploaded by guygilles

Music helps (watch the video it is great!!!) but something happened again that unsettled me... This time it was a statement about foreign language learning. More detail to come very soon. I just need to digest what my ears heared in order to be able to articulate my response...

Speak to you very soon.

Everything or nothing

This little clip is just perfect and shows exactly how I feel. Watch, enjoy and learn!!!

I will try to explain my frustration which I mentioned in my previous entry. I think I am in the perfect state of mind to do that. Mad ;o)

Well, I love teaching, I love my students, all of them and I love the fact that they love learning with me. It is a great feeling that makes you feel responsible. You don't want to disappoint them, you want to give them more and better stuff that will help them learm in a more effective way. I seem to manage to increase their appetite for learning doing it my way and always looking out for things to improve and to dare to try, to experiment.

First term this academic year, finished and the second term starts about 2 months later. This gap is massive for everybody and it shouldn't be there, in my opinion. I cultivate the contact during this period and provide e-learning opportunities in between lessons and courses which can be accessed by anybody from anywhere. So I don't really loose anybody, or almost anybody, or just the ones with limited interested in the subject and low(er) motivation... and I have loads more 'learners' than I think who use my e-learning materials without me knowing it because everything is on the web and is freely accessable by anybody. However, these 'learners' are not my learners, since I am not their tutor in any way. They just use the resources I created for their learning without getting in contact with me. Occasionaly people contact me to thank you for all the materials and let me know how useful they find them for their learning and that is great. I am very glad that so many people find them so good.

Communication is vital in teaching and learning and needs to be cultivated so that everybody feels part of the team. This is what I try to do with my very own students, we are all in this boat together and learning with and from each other is encouraged and practiced all the time.

Anyway, I was going to write about my frustration with the system. After each term students re-enrol manually on the next one if they are interested. There are a number of ways to do that: in person, phoning, emailing or even pre-enrolling very close to the end of a course. If everybody interested in the next course would pre-enrol there wouldn't be any problem and I would instantly know if I would have a class next term or not. Working as a Visiting Lecturer is hard. You don't know what you will get until the last moment, or to be more precise, 3 working days before the term starts. This means, you prepare your courses and there is no garantee that any of them will run.

Last term I offered my students the option to pre-enrol. Nobody did! Where they not interested? Why, if they say, they enjoy my courses, did they not use this opportunity?

My role as a teacher does not involve recruiting, I am not an administrator or recruitment agent. Or am I and am not realising this? Is this one of my responsibilities? I don't remember reading anything related to that on the job description. If I am there to recruit students, maybe I should receive some training to do it properly and become more effective.

Anyway, all students stated that they would call the office and do that in their own time. Fine. I accept and respect that. I am not a sales person, I should not be pushy to enrol them on my courses. I sell my courses through teaching and not by pre-enrolling them. They are free to do if they want to do that, when they want to do that and how they will do that. Time started to pass, days and weeks went by, and only a few had enrolled on my courses. In theory I should have 3 this term. But how many would actually run? Students started contacting me and expressing the problems they had enrolling. So there was a problem with administration. So they couldn't get through the office. I don't know how the system works and what everybody does in the office but my students complained that they had tried for days and weeks to enrol without success. Some of them probably gave up! Others contacted me and I tried to sort things out and help them to access the office in a different way. I was getting now involved in the enrolment process again. Some of them managed to enrol but others didn't. The result was that 1 of my courses was cancelled. On paper it showed 5 enrolments but I had actually 7 names. I find out just a few days before term started. There was no flexibility! None! Why cancel courses 3 days in advance especially if you know that people experience problems getting through??? This is one of my biggested questions. And I later found out that not only my students were affected but a number of classes were cancelled. Unhappy students and unhappy visiting lecturers. Unhappy institution? Hmmm... Who knows.

As a Visiting Lecturer you depend 100% on your courses running or not if you are getting paid or not. You plan, your organise, you get ready and last minute you are told that your course is not running and you don't have the privilige suddenly to search and accept courses somewhere else. IT IS TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LATE!!! Yes, it is a big gamble to which courses you commit yourself. I AM NOT A GAMBLER and I DON'T WANT TO BECOME ONE!!! The whole thing doesn't make you/me feel valued. You are just there to do the job if there is any and full stop. The end of story. It is hard to live like that if you don't have another income. You can't live like that if you have a family. Visiting Lecturers in my field (MFL) seems more like a hobby than a profession. You must love teaching in order to do it or don't care at all and you are just doing it for some extra cash. However, if you invest time and energy, are enthusiastic and see that your students do learn and you manage to motivate them and encourage further learning, teaching becomes a passion and you infuse your enthusiam into your students. But then somebody, the system, takes all that away from you, because it can. It is not nice, it is not nice at all. It breaks your enthusiasm and your will to go on and offer what you have to offer and even more. If you feel that you are not appreciated for your contributions, you feel down, I feel very down.

So,
my frustration was caused by the system that says, cancel courses 3 days in advance of course start if less than 7 enrolments.

My frustration was caused by the system that says no recognition or priority for qualified and experienced lecturers who have shown and prooven real interest in their job, have contributed in a number of ways and try to make a living from this job.

And it all had happened before... not so long ago.

Why should my students end up in somebody else's classroom because my course was advertised earlier in the week and had theoretically and practically less changes ?
Why not let courses run the first week and then establish if the numbers are right? How many times did students enrol after course start? How many come for the first lesson to see if it is for them or not?
Why not offer this chance to maximise learning opportunities and be more liberate?
Why not give everybody the change to try first?

My contributions have come purely from my very own interest and passion for teaching and my students. The library has been enriched with materials, calendars have been produced, parties and outings organised, e-learning opportunities created etc. etc. I feel that it is my responsibility to offer a unique learning experience to my students, that will encourage further learning and that is what I am doing. I didn't and I don't expect to get any promotion, I just would like to be able to do my job, carry on and be recognised for my contributions. My wings are broken. The system broke my wings.

At the end of last term, I was approached by other lecturers to prepare a presentation on how to be a better teacher. I found that very flattering and started preparing a presentation. I had it all ready and called it 'Memorable Lessons'. The powerpoint was ready, all the props in place, the activities and even a prize for the participating lecturers. I had it all worked out and couldn't wait. But then the system came and slapped me in the face and I decided to cancel my presentation. What was the point? I had not been able to keep my classes, so what do I know about good teaching, what do I know what do to, if I can't even keep my own students coming... I was looking forward to that training session but it all fell apart.

Looking back I just wish I would be able to change things, change the way the system works, change the way it is decided who gets what course, when and why and so many other things. However, I know that I am only a Visiting Lecturer who probably shouldn't have any opinion, who just comes and goes. There is no sense of community or belonging or targets. It is all just for the moment, for now. It is a shame...

I will be back very soon for more.

frustration and pain

Parapente
Uploaded by YVESS

Very meaningful clip!!!

I am a very positive person, optimistic and a fighter but the new term that started 3 weeks ago didn't start great at all. The system let me and my students down. I felt extremely disappointed, bitter and angry!!! Not against anybody but against the system and the system only.

The very first milestone of my narrative is this frustration which made me loose a class and some lovely students!!! I will be back very very soon to explain, reflect and interpret in my very own way... so please come back and feel free to contribute if you are one of my students and affected by the messy situation. Speak to you soon ;o)