http://weheartit.com/entry/1647335

Si bueno.. parece q no tengo taaanta consistencia con los post… el viernes tuve clase de Language 1 y TESOL Foundations…. la profe de TESOL Found. ya la conocia del curso de español (no comments)

Las clases estuvieron re buenas como siempre, te motivan pila y son re interesantes… ya nos dijeron  q vamos a tener pila de projects, assignments, etc.. bueno, ya nos marcaron algunos already… x ahora son bastante simples, ademas de que los discutimos en clase los temas entonces alguna idea ya tenemos

Estuve estudiando, o intentando este fin de semana… hice resumenes y todo eso.. es como estar back in school… so funny

ayer lunes tuvimos d nuevo linguistics y phonetics and phonology… super interesantes y aprendi pila!

bueno me voy a seguir trabajando

<3 Letty

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http://weheartit.com/entry/50938

El lunes empecé con el LITTI y estoy tan FELIZ! la verdad es q so far ha estado barbaro! obviamente q va a exigir bastante tiempo y estudio… (tengo q acordarme como estudiar jajaja es q estoy vieja!) pero seguro q es worth it!

El lunes tuvimos clase de Linguistics y despues de Phonetics and Phonology. Re divertido y super interesante!

Y ayer miércoles tuvimos Didactics y History… estuvo MUY bueno!!! Todos los profesores son re interesantes y se nota que aman lo q hacen… lo cual inspira y motiva!

Bueno, ahora ya tengo que leer varios capítulos para la semana que viene, cosa q ya empece a hacer y estoy haciendo esquemas y eso así ya me queda para los exámenes de mitad de semestre.. q nervios!!

Vamos a ver que materias tenemos el viernes… en total son 6, dos cada dia, y no se repiten en la semana… lo cual da tiempo para hacer los assignments and all that….

Ahh y lo mejor es que me encontre con una compañera q iba al IPA conmigo.. y nos llevabamos reeee bien!!! asi que estoy super contenta!!

<3 Letty

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http://weheartit.com/entry/364946

wooowwwwww en 3 horas tengo el primer dia de clase del LITTI! estoy TAAAAAAAN FELIZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!

cambie un poco los planes… x lo pronto voy a ver si puedo trabajar 6 horas en sabre asi puedo tener tiempo libre para dar clases, estudiar, y todo eso q quiero

voy a hablar con mi manager cuando venga la semana q viene a ver si se puede.. sino voy a seguir aca mientras hago contactos y ademas nos mudamos con lalo… entonces el año q viene capaz puedo conseguir algo mas fijo … o no se.. vamos a ver lo importante es q estoy feliz y me siento mejor… casi hasta para bancar estar en el cube… CASI CASI pero no del todo lol

bueno si.. como dice Diego.. y bue…vamo’ a ver q pasa…

me voy a seguir haciendo algo….. estoy reeeee emocionadaaaaa!!!!!!!

<3 Letty

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1. LITTI Diaries I & II

Teaching in the primary classroom is very different from teaching teens or adults because of the amount of energy children have! Knowing how to channel this energy, or when to ‘stir’ and when to ‘settle’ children will help you achieve balanced lessons without children becoming over-excited on the one hand or bored on the other.

Teachers need to take many factors into consideration when planning a balanced primary lesson and it is important to plan varied lessons.

• Different kinds of activities to practise the different skills need to be balanced against each other.
• Teachers need to be aware that children have a much shorter concentration span than adults and this will affect the number of different activities we plan for a single lesson.
• Pace and timing are important considerations – at primary level it is better to use short, sharp activities so that children can sustain their attention. If concentration flags, change the activity. Teachers need to plan a balance of ‘heads up’ and ‘heads down’ activities, alternating the interaction patterns between individuals/pairs/groups and whole-class activities.
• Likewise teachers will need to take into account the learning styles of the different children in the class. Different types of activities will be more suited to visual/ auditory/ kinaesthetic /tactile learners.
• Finally, there is often a need to build in some ‘quiet time’ into a lesson. This time helps students as well as teacher sanity. Silent reading or an individual quiet activity can help prepare a class for learning – for example if they arrive after a noisy P.E. lesson. The teacher can take the opportunity during these kinds of activities to deal with classroom admin, check who knows what and/or give individual help where necessary.

Analyse a lesson!
Think about any lesson you have taught recently and analyse the pattern and balance of the lesson. Draw a graph with a horizontal and vertical axis. Write the activities you did with the class on the bottom axis and then plot the noise and activity level. Remember noise is not always negative! Then analyse your graph. Are there any parts of the lesson which needed more ‘stirring’ or more ‘settling’? This technique is useful to evaluate a lesson you were not happy with and can help you to pinpoint the areas to plan in greater detail.

Settling students
‘Settlers’ are activities which are designed to calm students down and settle them into a routine. Basic classroom management and routines are essential to establish as a pre-requisite for learning. Make sure children know what the routine is when they arrive in class e.g. coats off, books out, files or folders on the desk/under the chair. This is especially important in larger classes or tight working spaces so that valuable teaching time is not lost.

Have a clear signal to get the children’s attention and make sure children know what it is. Clap your hands, bang the board rubber, say a signal word clearly and hold up your hand – try not to just shout at your students.

Settler activities
Use simple vocabulary categorising or brainstorming activities. For example give children 12 words randomly across the board and ask them to put them into the correct category. Revise familiar lexical sets – clothes, colours, numbers, animals or reinforce the topic you are currently teaching. Ask children to add other lexical items.

• Prepare for listening or speaking exercises by asking children to copy simple prompts from the board. For example, give children a list of five food items to copy and ask them to add five more. Then use the list for simple pair work or listen and tick practice.
• Wordplay activities
  Use matching activities with pictures and words or phrases, anagrams, missing letters, definitions games, jumbled sentences, wordsearches, crosswords. Children love puzzles so get them using their brains!
• Whole-class listening activities or games
  Try doing a simple picture dictation asking children to draw a fun or crazy picture. With very young learners you could dictate a monster or alien to practise colours/parts of the body. With more advanced learners you could build up a crazy scene, practising all the prepositions.
• Read and draw activities
  Give children a short reading text e.g. description and ask them to draw what they read about. For a good example see the worksheet ‘My Ideal Room’ on the Learn English Kids website. Go to http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-print-ideal-room.pdf
• Use stories or storybooks
  Practise your story-telling technique! Alter your classroom if you can for ‘storytime’. Small classes of Very Young Learners can sit on the floor in a semi-circle round the teacher to enable you to exploit pictures and explain meaning.
  With larger classes make photocopies and enlarge pictures of characters and places to stick up on the board as you tell or read the story.
• Arts and crafts activities
  This type of activity requires thorough preparation! Introducing creative and design elements caters for a wide range of learner. Give clear instructions so that children can settle into the task once they start. Try making class wall displays, mini-projects, a class book or other cut and stick activities.

Stirring students
Let your students move around as much as possible. In large classes with a lot of furniture this will require some planning. Vary pairs and groups by assigning random numbers. With large classes organise ‘Home’ groups so that children move into these automatically for group work.

Encourage movement as much as possible. Even asking children to come out to the front and write an answer on the board provides variety and livens up dull exercises.

Stirring activities

• Mingles or surveys
  Use games which encourage children to act with lots of others if you have the space. Activities such as ‘ Find someone who..?’ are a good way of drilling without being boring. Try this game: Animal stickers. Prepare a sticker with an animal name for each child and stick it on their backs. Children walk around asking questions to find out what they are.
• Use action/movement games
  Word circle games e.g. throwing the ball to revise interchanges or vocabulary sets are a useful way of getting all children moving and participating. Clapping and clicking games are good for larger classes as they involve movement without too much hassle. Any team games running to the board are extremely motivating because of the competitive element. Mime games are also a good way of getting children moving.
• Use TPR as a regular part of classroom routines and activities. For example in listening activities : Put your hand up when you hear …!
• Use songs, chants and raps
  All children are motivated by songs and these kinds of activities are all-inclusive, catering for all levels of learner. Sing songs or say chants faster and faster to really stir them up! A really good example of this can be found in the Learn English kids website with the traditional song ‘If you’re happy and you know it’. Or divide your class into groups and allocate parts to sing or sing in a round.
• Use drama/acting out
  Puppets or masks can really bring alive a dialogue, role-play or story. Make simple masks out of paper plates for main characters. Bring in realia and props for children to use for acting out e.g. some real money and a bag for shopping. Have a dressing up box of simple props such as hats, glasses etc. Puppets or finger puppets can be used to liven up even the most boring dialogue, especially when accompanied by funny voices!
• Make the most of technology
  If you are fortunate enough to have a computer in the classroom exploit the free resources available on the internet fully. The LearnEnglish Kids website provides a huge range of games, songs and stories to liven up and ‘stir’ children. Another very useful site providing materials on a huge range of topics is ‘Enchanted Learning’. Go to http://www.enchantedlearning.com/

Written by Sue Clarke, Teacher and teacher-trainer, British Council, Coimbra, Portugal

First published in 2008

Link to the original Article: Stirrers and settlers for the primary classroom.

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Mi trainer es español y se llama Vince. Le tengo que enviar los trabajos por email y el me va a mandar las correcciones y notas que correspondan.

Por ahora ya llevo terminado la Unit 1, que era introducción y cómo motivarse a estudiar a distancia. Y el Pre-Module de gramática. Ahora estoy trabajando en la Unidad 2 Module 1.

http://www.intesolinternational.com/

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