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Week 18 – They won’t get it unless ….. September 10, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : TESOL , add a comment

Captain’s Log: I’ve heard TESOL is a beautiful and simple place. The climate is temperate and the people are sweet, there is abundant fresh food and a rich, diverse culture. Many who make the journey there choose to stay in this Utopia.  I am impatient to catch sight of it.   

I missed a class on role play this week (ironically, because I wagged uni and went to the theatre instead). I saw the STC production of August -Osage County… BRILLIANT!!

The second class this week- which I did attend - was a Creativity Implementation class. In this class, we all got to showcase a communicative activity we’d seen, delivered or wanted to deliver.

My favourite one was J’s. I liked it because J puts herself in the learner space and that provides a filter of empathy and simplicity you can’t fake.

I play to the audience. But a classroom isn’t an audience.  Teaching is a different kind of space. Everything has to be made explicit. So although my peers liked it, I believe it could have been much better as a learning experience.

Luckily Teacher S gives great feedback. She reminded me to keep asking will they get it? If I do that, I’ll establish the right register and reach my learners.

This sort of teaching is formulaic.  Some mainstream teachers I know don’t like such a formulaic approach to teaching – but for baby teachers like me, it provides a clear roadmap.

The directions are clear: Contextualise, elicit, drill, practice, produce and then if you need to cement the learning with some written exercise or debrief – do so at the end.

Whatever we do affects the learning experience. Our own language and instructions have to include absolutely clear and correct grammar. Unless modelled correctly we will pass on the wrong message to our learners.

So here I go for the last 2 weeks of this journey:  keeping it simple, remaining vigilant about my own language, being thorough, making things explicit, and working to the formula.

Can I see land?

PS Discovered a great Vocab tester on FreeRice It is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program.

Week 17 – bad case of.. September 5, 2010

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Captains Log: Doctor’s entry: Half the crew including the Captain have come down with severe case of black plague. It manifests in  muddled thinking and gastric complications. Am reommending we pull into the nearest island so that I can get a hold of clean water and fresh foods.  It means the voyage will go for longer than originally planned. But if we’re to survive this – there is no alternative.

No time to blog!

Too many assignments – including a major one that will take 3 weeks. Have decided to push out practicum. I may not be finished until Christmas!

Must dash (dot-dash – dash)

Week 16 Diving into the Tesol sea August 28, 2010

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Captain’s Log: Last night I dreamt I’d swum into Davy Jones’ locker. And in the dark depths of the ocean, I hovered, expecting to see the locker - full of old pirate graves, or meet face to evil face- old Davy himself.  I found myself, instead, suprised by a sudden shaft of sunlight that had made its way into the depths. And as it penetrated the darkness, I caught sight of treasure troves of gold and jewels, and heard  a faint whisper, “ not yet… not yet.. there is much to do .. much yet to do”.    

 Just completed a happy week on this Tesol journey.

This week,, the class dived into the power of shared stories and discussed their usefulness in the learning proces. We explored the bottomless pit of IT as a teaching aid, including the value of using wikis to strengthen collaborative learning. We even re-discovered Russell Coight and an unfortunate camp chair in the process.

And to top it all – I was delighted to be assigned a migrant prac teaching class.  

 Heave ho.. much to do.

All good indeed.

Week 15 -Bail or row? August 22, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : TESOL , 2comments

Captain’s Log: Bail! I shouted, and the crew not working the oars frantically scooped water over the side as the her prow reared into the sky. Row!! I bellowed, and the oars bit the water and we fell into a trough of the ocean with a crash that made her timbers tremble *

This week I am undone.

Just handed in a language analysis assignment that has removed all the joy from this TESOL journey.

I’ve also discovered that migrant education in Australia will require me to acquire even greater certification than the level I’m striving towards. This exhaustive mountain climb just got a whole lot steeper. Another significant leak has been noted. Bail!

And why shouldn’t migrant education be highly specialised?  I think it should ask the best of our teachers and I believer our migrant classes should receive the best. That’s not the issue.

The  issue  for me is about stamina and sense-making. But I’m too far out to sea to even recall the logic of commencing the course, save that it seemed a valuable addition to my skill set.  Alas not valuable enough.

I know it’s way too early in the process to estimate the value or otherwise. I haven’t even stood up in front of a class to see if I like teaching or if teaching likes me. But it’s not too early to be questioning the route I’ve taken.

This particular week  included 2 classes on integrated skills – Dictogloss (and reconstructing a text).  2 new books, a plethora of reading and the bitter sweet victory of completing an assignment.

Whatever they do with this certification – I believe their classes will be richer for knowing them.

Our 6 hours of prac classes start in a minute, and with that challenge comes a whole new sea of white caps!

Bail!? or Row!!!

 

*With apologies to B Cornwell

Week 14 – what the?! August 10, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : TESOL , 1 comment so far

Captain’s Log: Adjustment by First Mate. I hate to be the one to say this, but the Captain drank too much rum last week and lost her lexical head. Let’s face it she wouldn’t even know a collocation if it reared up and bit her, let alone something so elusive as a  LH. It’s not that I want to rub it in, but a lexical head has to appear at the start of a sentence and is one of those sacred items only the true followers of lexis can understand.

I learnt about dense semantics, and discovered the semantic issue wasn’t the only dense one in the room

What is a lexis if it isn’t an expensive car?

It is vocabulary and was the subject of yet another great class with D.  The woman has unstoppable enthusiasm for making us think for ourselves. How cool to be able to do it for others in a classroom. How frightening to realise the chasm between what she does and where I am.

Educating with enthusiasm! Well that’s the goal. How goes it?  mmm (semantically dense sound)

I’ve got to say instead of feeling a sense of progress, I feel once again as if at the foot of a huge learning curve, but one that is now turning back on itself. Surfing a white crested wave without the board.

If the course deliverers  ever ask –  I’d probably recommend doing it over a longer period, as it is almost impossible to keep up with full time work and the pressure of class attendance, assignments, contact hours, observations, practicum. God forbid actually remembering anything from week to week.

But I can say for sure that I finally now know the difference between a collocation and  lexical head. Great! Like they’re going to be lining up for that lesson!

 I also understand that simpler looking words aren’t always simple to learn or teach! But if they are used frequently and are useful to students then the word should move up the list of lexis to teach. That’s a great way of thinking about useful vocabulary.

When all’s said and done, without making too fine a point of it – the future will be forged not by a paper clip but by a bunch of old boyfriends and a carrot or two.

Week 13 – A Sliding Door Moment August 6, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : Into the new space, TESOL , add a comment

Captain’s Log: Sometimes I wonder what a land-life would be like.

Tally for the week

• 1 missed observation class
• 1 lesson in classroom management and learner levels
• 1 lesson in reading skills and
• 1 sliding door moment

Have you ever had a moment in which you observe the life you’re leading with greater clarity than normal?

As if a camera framed for a close-up pans back suddenly to show the bigger picture.

And in that picture you also get a glimpse of the person you might have been had you gone through a different door, down a different path.

That’s a sliding door moment.

This week in my TESOL class, I was pulling a text apart in order to identify cohesive devices (aka discourse markers). And it reminded me of the other thing I’m trying to pull apart – my professional life to find meaning

My understanding of meaningful work has its genesis in my family ideals of purpose and success. And in the past, when work opportunities appeared “out of the blue”, suddenly, as if in answer to a wish or a prayer, the process often felt part of a pre-destined plan – ie I was on the “right” path. The markers clear. 

That path and the bigger plan has changed though. I now make sense of things in a different way.

Residues of the old markers will always be there. Because  habits take time to change. The challenge is to know the difference between the accidental (or left-over markers) and the intended (or new markers).

So that when I pull apart the text of this hoped-for joyful, authentic life of mine, I’ll be able to identify the discourse markers that indicated a meaningful and honest connection with others and (please god!) a skilful contribution to the world. 

And then, if the door ever slides open again, I hope I can say, hand-on-heart that I ended up on the right road, simply because it was my road.

Week 12 -We’re going through a mixed up phrase July 30, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : TESOL , 2comments

Captain’s Log:  Have made great headway this week. The winds have been in our favour. I’ve spent most nights studying the maps of these new waters, and commissioned a new map from Cartographer Multi. A productive fellow and the best at the trade..he should be for what we’re paying!  His latest map of the phrasal reef  is the finest he’s done. I must admit it is splendidly detailed. When pouring over it, I found he’d named a shoal after himself – the rake!

We’re going through a phrase of multiple verbs. Verbs you can’t separate. Verbs that are increasingly popular in modern venacular, and all because of the Norman Conquest. Why those Saxons didn’t defend their phrasal territory a little better I’ll never know. Pesky romance and germanic languages!!

D reckons a set of coloured boxes will sort it out. I find her box technique as perplexing as her use of improvisation skills. What she lacks in acting ability she makes up for in enthusiasm and it’s impossible NOT to applaud such a bold attempt.

S taught us how to teach writing. 4 models to chose from (of course!) There are always 4. The class decided a mixed up version was the best to hone foundation skills and increase fluency. And produce an academic essay, flowery love letter or application letter at the end – fit for purpose.

So as we start Semester 2 with a multi-page 100 point essay that has turned my hair more grey (if that’s possible?) I craft this  blog as testament to the e-genre -ation with this final verse:

It’s  too late to pack up
And don’t believe we’ll get off (lightly)
So still sort of mixed up
but not sure that I’m put out (nightly)

Thank God this is just a phrase we’re going through!

Week 10 and11 in TESOL town July 16, 2010

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Captain’s Log: Scraping barnacles at the moment.. this old gal’s holding up but only just!

 

We’re all enjoying a blissful 2 weeks away from classes. However that still means assignments must be done. Sigh.

While we’re in safe harbour, I’ve decided to amp up the research on teaching opportunities overseas via the famous cafe of Dave’s and an agency in Canada my friend P has used successfully.

P came out of the past just like a balmy sea breeze. We taught together many years ago in PNG. I am so grateful he recognised me. God knows how!

P’s  own TESOL travels have been rich and clearly rewarding if his Korean blog is anything to go by. He has encouraged me to think it is possible to do the same and is such a godsend to me at the moment as I navigate through the potentially treacherous shallows of job opportunities.

Had a second blast from the past via Facebook just this a.m. This is such a new phenomena for me to be uncovered by people who knew me and (thankfully) still recognise me.

D was a delight when we worked together in television many years ago. I’m not sure what her message will be, but I look forward to hearing her story. There is no such thing as an accidental meeting on this book of faces.

Well my hearties, let’s scrub the deck in bristol fashion with a heave ho and big hi to the future that awaits.

Week 9 -’Tween test times July 7, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : TESOL , 1 comment so far

Captain’s Log:  Midshipman Suprasegmental shot an albatross yesterday. The feeling of fear in the crew is palpable.

It’s the lead up to a TESOL test

A quiz, a trial that needs my best

But all I’ve got is mild distress.

The time invested studying

Has only worked at muddying

This addled brain of mine.

My skin in the game isn’t Wall Street inflated

It’s more like a ball of potential deflated.

So now when my rubber

is hitting the road,

Assessment is stymied

by mind-bending loads.

I’d decided to write upon my sleeve

when lo –there came a day’s reprieve.

so….

As English is stress-timed

and meaning is made

with focus on key words

once rhythm is laid.

A rhyming verse

Would do me well

To practice my phonemes

And suprasegme’ls.

Alas this mess of homophones

Is surely not a verse

But crafting it ‘tween test times

Has hardly made it worse!

Week 8 – This ‘aint simple! July 2, 2010

Posted by Liz Mead in : TESOL , 1 comment so far

Captain’s Log: Full fathom five thy father lies, of his bones are coral made,  those are pearls that were his eyes, nothing of him that doth fade, but doth suffer a sea change – into something rich and strange. (The Tempest)

This week has been like a runaway train.

It began by watching a brilliant pronunciation teacher identify and correct erros to the beat of syncopated jazz. I am deeply admiring of those who do this for a living.

Later that night in a language analysis session, I took on way too many functions and way too many forms! Though S and the watch were pretty funny.

In the following class we got the dirt on the phonology assessment: Piece of Cake! In 20 mins - translate phrases of phonemes into words and vice versa, describe where in the oral cavity we form sounds, tick off inflections and stress, and throw in a few suprasegmentals – what IS  suprasegmental??  Let me say our booking agent wasn’t overwhelmed with offers.

Chugging into the station for the micro teaching class, where we unpacked the food chain and designed a zoo with passive verbs and polite suggestions, I realised my train was starting to de-rail.

By the time we got to the last lesson, where we learnt how to describe things that will have occured sometime between now and the future that hasn’t happened yet, I was ready to pull the emergency switch.

And the coach wants me to keep it simple.

Sigh.

Choo Choo.