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Hey everyone,I’ve realized that I haven’t introduced my Monday and Friday classes, so today I will quickly go through my morning courses for those days.Monday Morning = Friday Morning = Last SemesterActually, these courses are pretty much the same as last semester. I had planned to do both classes in a computer room, but unfortunately, due to various reasons, it did not happen, so this semester I am in a regular classroom, but it is not too bad because it gives me a change from being in the computer room most of the time.I had planned to do more focused listening activities like those I do in my other classes which take place in the computer room, but as that is pretty much impossible, I try to give them the regular listening practice that is done with a CD player. However, before I have them listen to a dialogue, I dictate the questions. The textbook also has, depending on the unit, some extra listening practice which I also use. Finally, I have students make their own conversation and present it after a specified time limit during which they have to practice and remember the dialogue. Here is an example:
As you can see, I give students a lot of support, but I encourage them to use their own ideas as much as possible. So, just to recap, both Monday and Friday morning communication classes follow this pattern:Review TestQuestion DictationListening ComprehensionConversation PracticeListening ActivityConversation Construction and PresentationImpression so farI think the class is going well overall, but it would be interesting to try this in the computer room as I could have them do more extensive listening and dictation-type activities. I guess in many ways, I am focusing more on students’ passive understanding rather than active this year, and I know that some of you may not agree with such a style, but honestly, I like this new direction, and it will be interesting to see the class evaluation in the future. Actually, maybe it might be a good idea to get their opinion sooner, but as I read on ELT news a while back, consistency is important and I agree with that. If I have to completely change a class midway, wouldn’t that interrupt everything?Cheers,eisensei
Whoops, I almost forgot. Thank you Darren, Karenne, Fernando and Angela for your comments on my last blog post commentaphobia. It’s nice to hear that you have felt or still feel the way I do. Recently, things have been busy, so I haven’t really been keeping up with what’s been going on, but I hope I can get back on the horse soon.Cheers,eisensei
Hello everyone,It has been a while since I posted anything about my classes, but to be honest, I am attempting something quite different this semester, something which doesn't give me a lot to talk about in the way I used to last year. For example in today's class, which focuses on academic English, I have my students work individually in a computer room. I give them a short quiz based on the academic word list in the beginning of class based on example sentences that I record and post on my site for them to listen to, and then I give them a handout that explains in detail what they have to do. Here is the handout I give them. If they do not finish before the end of class, I give them a deadline by which they have to submit the work.Lesson GuideAcademic English – Unit 3 Life Sciences May 11, 2010Read all steps before you start!1. Do pages 24, 25, 28, 29, 30 B. 2. Correct your answers. 3. Put your book away, and go to my webpage, ********************************4. Under ‘Basic Skills for the TOEFL iBT – Dictation Unit 3’, click on listening file.5. Do the dictation in your notebook. Double space.6. Check your dictation with your book. Use a COLOR pen (red, green etc). 7. Give me your notebook.8. On the same webpage, click on Academic Word List Official Homepage. Then click on Sublist 3.9. Read all the words. Look up the words that you don’t know in your dictionary.10. Go back to my webpage. Under ‘Academic Word List - Vocabulary Listening Practice WORD LIST 3 Vocabulary’ click on the listening file. Listen and repeat.11. Go back to the AWL Sublist 3. 12. Choose ONE exercise from each group (total SIX exercises) and answer the questions. Make sure you answer all questions correctly (A correct answer will have the :-) symbol). 13. Copy and paste all exercises in Microsoft Office Word.14. Save your file as, 03 ACAD ENG AWL 3 FIRST NAME LAST NAME STUDENT NUMBER. 15. Email me the file as an attachment.16. Then go back to the same webpage and under ‘Academic Word List - Vocabulary Listening Practice WORD LIST 3 Example Sentences’ click on the listening file. Listen and repeat.NOTE: If you do not finish, the deadline is 1 PM Friday May 14, 2010.NOTE: Put your textbook work and your dictation in the SAME notebook.NOTE: On Tuesday May 18, 2010, there will be a REVIEW TEST for AWL Sublist 3.Impression?My overall impression so far is that I think this works quite well. This was our 3rd class following this style and after working out the initial bugs, for example, in the first class, there was too much to do, so I had to reduce the amount, and then there was getting students use to the format of the class, using computers and so on, I think things are now running smoothly. First of all, students are getting very intensive listening practice with the dictation I provide for them. The textbook is at a level that requires some preview before class, which some students are actually doing; in the past, this number would almost be non-existent. They are also able to learn much academic vocabulary in context as well as through example sentences provided on a website I have them use. Also, this style of class allows all students to finish even if some have to work throughout the week to do so. This would not be so easy to do if I gave instructions and time limits orally in class. Finally, as there are answer keys available, students are able to self-correct their work and get immediate feedback. Cheers,eisensei
Hi all,I know I haven’t been writing about my classes yet, but things have been busy this week, and to be honest, I don’t see things slowing down any time soon, so what I may actually do is make one post, possibly on Fridays summarizing the weeks up’s and down’s. It will be my own personal digest, if you well. However, today I will not be writing about my classes, but I have a question, which I am just going to go right ahead and ask because it has been bugging me for some time.Why can I not make comments? That is my question for today. I just read a great article from Mike Guest about research papers, and I wanted to make a comment, but no matter how hard I tried, after about an hour (Yes, an hour!) I gave up. And this is not the first time this has happened to me. It’s really bizarre. I start writing; I edit; I erase; I go do something else; I come back and try again; ultimately, I turn off my computer. I don’t mean to be a lurker, as I think that is what I would be called, but what is it exactly that stops me from finishing my comment and clicking that send button? Have any of you had this experience? How did you overcome this problem?Cheers,eisensei
Hi everyone!My second day of the new academic year is over. I just finished my 4-skill class. So far I have about 18 students, but I think that may increase next week.CLASS STRUCTUREThe textbook we will be using has a DVD with exercises and videos and that will be what we will be focusing on the most. The exercises can also be saved, so I will have them do the activities in class and email me their results. Another activity I hope to include is a dictation – students will watch the included video and try to transcribe it. Of course, there will be some names that may be difficult for them, but I will provide that information in advance. Therefore the structure of the class will run mainly like this:1. Students will work through selected activities on the DVD and in the textbook; the results of the activities completed on the DVD will be submitted to me via email, while the textbook activities will be written out in their notebooks.2. Students will watch the DVD and transcribe what they hear. This will also be done in their notebooks, which will be submitted to me each week. However, like I wrote earlier today, as this is the first time to use this book and to follow this kind of plan, there may be necessary modifications that I will have to make.TODAY’S CLASSI followed the same plan as this morning, so I won’t go into any detail. I started thinking however after today’s class that maybe I should have done introductions, but I think I have a good reason why I am leaving that until next class – there will be more or fewer students next week as students can still change classes, and there are always some students who take the wrong class etc. I think therefore that just explaining the course this week and then waiting until next week to really get into introductions may be a good strategy. What do you think?Cheers,eisenseiSYLLABUSこのプリントは重要です！紛失しないでください***************************Classroom: **************************Time: 4:20 – 5:50 ThursdayInstructor: *******************************E-mail: ******************************OFFICE: ************************REQUIRED MATERIALS: World English (Cengage)Earphones or headphonesDictionary NotebookNOTE: Students who do not bring these items will lose points.GOALS:By the end of the course, you should:-have a larger vocabulary-have a better ability in all 4 skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing)SCHEDULE: April 15 ORIENTATION22May 6132027June 3 10 TEST 11724July 1815 2229 TEST 2 GRADES:Grades will be based upon the following criteria: *AttendanceParticipationWeekly QuizzesMidterm TestFinal Test *If you come at 4:35 or later, you will be marked absent.*If you are absent 3 times, you will receive an F.*If you are absent for a valid reason, you must give me that reason in writing by 1:00 PM Friday. If you fail to give me this notice of absence, you will be marked absent.
Hello everyone!Well, I just had my second class of the semester. This class focuses primarily on reading and writing, but this year I’ve decided to include some listening as well. Unlike yesterday’s class which has only eight students, this one has thirty-eight, but for this class in particular, it’s common. Something I think I forgot to mention yesterday is that both of these classes are open to first and second-year students, although first-year students are predominant. Also, like yesterday’s class, I am conducting this one in a computer room. Actually, with the exception of textbook and primary focus, TOEIC vs Reading/Writiing, this class will be fairly similar in structure. CLASS STRUCTURE:Independent Listening with MLHStudents will go online and register to be able to listen to the class audio files independently. Macmillan Language House has a great service called My School; all you have to do is request it and you have access to your own personal page that students can access, too. I wanted to have students do the listening activities independently because it allows them to focus more on the task than if I had them do it as a group where some students would be at a distance from the stereo. Furthermore, this allows me to check their ability, give feedback and evaluate their performance more easily as they will be expected to hand in the work they do.Once they have registered for the page, they will have to listen independently to a short paragraph, which will also act as a model paragraph for the writing task later. They will listen and repeat after the audio; they will have headphones or earphones, so the amount of embarrassment experienced will be reduced somewhat (I say reduced because I think some will still be shy even if no one can hear them.).SIDENOTE on EMBARRASSMENTWhat I refer to is the feeling some students have when they have to read or speak in front of others. I have had some students speak more quietly than usual, and I’ve even had one who turned red. Of course, I tried as much as possible to encourage a relaxed atmosphere, but for some students it is still difficult to perform such tasks, hence I decided to try such a task this year.CLASS STRUCTURE CNTD:Textbook focusAfter practicing the paragraph alone, they will then practice with a partner, changing the highlighted words in the paragraph with ones provided in the book. Next, they have about two writing activities that will be written out in their notebooks. These activities mainly consist of comprehension and grammar or vocabulary questions. Once they finish that, there may be one or two listening questions, depending on the chapter, that will have to do on their own. Again they will write the answers in the notebook. Finally, they will have to write a short paragraph based on the theme of the chapter, and that too will be written in their notebooks. Finally, these notebooks will be submitted to me for review at the end of class.Internet FocusHonestly, I am not sure if they will be able to complete all of what I am planning to have them do since I have not done this before, but once they finish the textbook tasks, they will have to go on-line again to the academic word list practice site where they will have to work through the list and some of the questions for that list. I will also expect them to email me this work as this will be included in their grade.TODAY’S CLASS:I won’t go into very much detail about what I did because today’s class followed the same pattern as yesterday’s class with the exception of having them write down their information in Excel. However, I was able to get this information (name and student number) via a questionnaire I distributed to find out which units they would like to do this semester. I did this because there will only be 12 classes this semester (two classes will be tests, and today’s class was orientation) and one of those 12 will focus on introductions. Therefore, that only leaves 11 classes, but there are fourteen units, so I had them choose them, which I think is better than me choosing them. It also allows me to get an idea of their interests, which is important, too. Next week will be the real start and I’ll be able to get a better idea of who my students are and what they can do. I will also be able to see how my plan will work, but of course, like all tentative plans, I’m sure that some things will probably have to be altered, but that’s one of the ways we learn how to teach, isn’t it? Trial and Error?Cheers,eisenseiSYLLABUS:このプリントは重要です！紛失しないでください**********************************Classroom: ********************************Time: 10:40 – 12:10 ThursdayInstructor: ******************************E-mail: ********************************OFFICE: ***************************REQUIRED MATERIALS:New Easy Writing (MLH)Earphones or headphonesDictionary Notebook NOTE: Students who do not bring these items will lose points.WEBSITE:Academic Word List (http://www.academicvocabularyexercises.com)New Easy Writing (http://www.mlh.co.jp/sp/school?type=28)GOALS:By the end of the course, you should:-be able to write a short paragraph on various topics-have a larger vocabulary-have a better listening abilitySCHEDULE: April 15 ORIENTATION22 Unit 1 IntroductionsMay 6132027June 3 10 TEST 11724July 1815 2229 TEST 2 GRADES:Grades will be based upon the following criteria: *AttendanceParticipationWeekly QuizzesVocabulary ExercisesMidterm TestFinal Test*If you come at 10:55 or later, you will be marked absent.*If you are absent 3 times, you will receive an F.*If you are absent for a valid reason, you must give me that reason in writing by 1:00 PM Friday. If you fail to give me this notice of absence, you will be marked absent.
Hello everyone!
Well, I've officially started my second year today. My first class of the new academic year was an advanced TOEIC preparation class. This class only has 8 students so far, so it should be an interesting semester. Also, unlike last year, I am conducting this class in a computer room. There are three reasons that I decided to do this:
1. Academic Word List
There is a very good site, in my opinion, that has all the lists plus loads of questions to practice the vocabulary with immediate feedback.
2. Listening Practice
I think sites such as VOA or Breaking News English are good for practicing listening comprehension.
3. Email
Something that I am considering trying, although I am not sure if it will work well since it is my first time to try this, is have the students email me at the end of class vocabulary lists of words that they did not know. I would then take these lists and make vocabulary quizzes for the students based on the most frequent words in their lists.
CLASS STRUCTURE
Like the email idea above, I am not sure how this will work out either, but each class will follow a similar structure.
1. TEXTBOOK
Students will first work through the textbook (see below), but it is up to the student to choose the order; I have given them complete freedom in this matter. As they finish each question, they will submit their answers for marking, which I will do in class since there are so few students (one of the many advantages of a small class). Next, they will go back through the questions, highlighting the words they did not know. They will then make a list of those words with Japanese translation using Excel.
2. AWL
After a certain time, they will be expected to go online to work on the AWL, first starting with list 1 and so on. They will have to go through the vocabulary making sure they know the pronunciation, part of speech and meaning in Japanese of those words they don't know, and they will include these words in their list as well. After that, they will work through the questions on the website. Each list has 6 groups of 3 sets of 10 questions, so I am thinking of asking them to do only 1 set from each group. Also if there is time, I will ask them to add the words they don't know from the questions to the list they have already made that class.
3. INTERNET LISTENING (COOL DOWN TASK)
Finally, they will email me this list and with the remainder of the time they will listen to an article from VOA or BNE. This will not only give them some listening practice, but it will also work as a post-task activity, or more importantly, a way to relax a little after having worked so intensively.
TODAY'S CLASS
The purpose of today's class was to explain the course. I first introduced myself, stating explicitly what we would be doing in the course. I then had them write their names on cards with a marker - these cards will be placed on the computer they use to help me remember their names. I also had them hold these cards in front of them and I took a picture of them in pairs. Again, this was also for the purpose of remembering their names. Since there are so few students, however, I am quite confident that forgetting names in this class will not be a problem.
Once I finished taking their photos, I went through the syllabus (see below) explaining things in more detail, stopping at certain times to ask them if they had any questions. I also told them that if they ever had any questions they could email me or come to my office. Finally, I had them enter some personal information into the computer that I will use to make the student list for this class.
Well, I think that is it for today. Things are going to be busier for me this year, so I really can't spend so much time writing these, but I will do my best to continue them throughout the year. For those of you who are starting like me, good luck and all the best this year!
Cheers,
eisensei
-------------------------CLASS SYLLABUS-------------------------
このプリントは重要です！紛失しないでください*******************************Classroom: ***********************************Time: 9:00 – 10:30 WednesdayInstructor: ********************************E-mail: ************************************** OFFICE: ********************************************REQUIRED MATERIALS:Reading Guide to the TOEIC Test (Thomson)Earphones or headphones Dictionary NOTE: Students who do not bring these items will lose points.Academic Word List (http://www.academicvocabularyexercises.com)GOALS:By the end of the course, you should:-be able to improve your TOEIC score, especially in the reading section-have a larger vocabularySCHEDULE:April 14 ORIENTATION2128May 121926June 2 9 TEST 1162330
July 714 28August 4 TEST 2GRADES:
Grades will be based upon the following criteria:*AttendanceParticipationWeekly QuizzesVocabulary ExercisesMidterm TestFinal TestTOEIC Test Score*If you come at 9:15 or later, you will be marked absent.*If you are absent 3 times, you will receive an F.*If you are absent for a valid reason, you must give me that reason in writing by 1:00 PM Thursday. If you fail to give me this notice of absence, you will be marked absent.
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