Learning Twigs

Teaching is... Seeing

 

Image: Trey Ratcliff

 

 

Of all the measures of 'good teaching ability', the one I personally find most intriguing is the notion of perceptiveness.

 

Really effective teachers seem to have an almost uncanny ability to see all sorts of things at multiple levels in any given classroom ecosphere. They can see how one change in seating arrangements has changed the whole potential dynamic of a lesson. They can see, well before the material comes off the page or screen, how receptive the learners of the moment are going to be to it. They can see that Bob in the back row is pretending to listen and write notes (while actually recruiting a gang of lesson assassins) without once glancing at him directly, and without losing their train of thought as they manage a demanding question from Sally on the opposite side of the classroom.

 

Really good teachers can see the effects of things like bullying almost as if they are super subtle ripples drifting over the surface of the group.

 

They can also see that Harry, when he abruptly blows up at the teacher in class one day, is not actually indicating that he is rejecting the teacher and the teaching. They know there is much more to it, in advance or not long afterwards (and quite possibly as a result of the combination of both before and after awareness).

 

At the other end of the spectrum are the teachers who appear to see very little, almost like they have walked into the classroom with blinkers the size of pillows attached to their heads. It's a common (and very understandable) trait for very inexperienced teachers in difficult contexts, but relative blindness doesn't automatically disappear over time or through the accrual of experience. In some cases, those blinker-pillows actually seem to grow until they become the size of mattresses.

 

The blinkered and blind teacher has no idea what a change in seating does (or will do) and is apparently stubbornly unaware how particular learning content will be received. He hasn't even noticed Bob is there, much less that he is not paying attention and is quite successfully facilitating the educational equivalent of the Great Train Robbery with half a dozen learners on one side of the room. He shows complete shock when the effects of the bullying (having gone on and festered over time) are revealed through some tragic event. And as for Harry... well he has a bad attitude and doesn't deserve any more of the teacher's time or consideration.

 

Now I've said that this intrigues me. While acknowledging that some people are just naturally very perceptive on multiple levels (including social awareness), I don't think it's all that fair to assume that less observant teachers are doomed to a career of blissful but eventually tragic fog. Over time I've become more and more interested in how blinkered teachers can be helped out of their pillows before they turn into mattresses.

 

Here are some thoughts...

 

A lot of classroom awareness can be developed through classroom observation. It's amazing what you notice about a group of learners and a lesson when you can watch it all without having to teach. When you help someone to observe well, more and more patterns and signs become easier to spot more quickly. As a sort of automaticity develops with this perceptiveness, it can then be combined with the teaching role, and the mentor can then observe and compare with the teacher what has or hasn't been noticed through the course of their lesson.

 

But this process really needs to be targeted and facilitated. Just having a teacher 'observe' other classes is no guarantee they will pick up on the things that really count.

 

Similarly, teachers video recording their own classes to watch later (alone or with a more experienced colleague) can be very powerful stuff, especially in combination with some reasonably disciplined reflective teaching journal work. 

 

I think a really crucial skill for teachers is the habit of pausing and checking. Remembering to look around the whole group at both regular and irregular intervals can help expose Bob at some point. Remembering to not react too hastily to Harry (and not automatically take it personally) and then calmly check what's going on in his life in the corridor or after class can help to avert an unfortunate assumption about his attitude. Noticing odd patterns of behaviour in the classroom and then checking with previous or more experienced teachers might shed very precious information about a bullying issue before it becomes (more) venomous. 

 

It's not a sin to not notice things. But often you won't see anything if you're not willing to check.

 

But...

 

What if, despite all kind and reasonable attempts to help a teacher increase their perceptiveness, and despite a fair amount of experience, it just isn't happening?

 

Let's say, despite all of our very best efforts, it is turning out to be one or a rather tragic combination of two things: complete lack of awareness and/or denial on the scale of an unpassable mountain range. And let's say the learning is starting (or continuing) to genuinely suffer as a result...

 

I mean, there are people out there who don't seem to notice anything amiss when a giraffe with hand grenades tied around its neck attempts to enter a fairy penguins only nightclub, and others who -- having just limped away from a car accident clutching the twisted remains of the steering wheel from their own vehicle -- will stubbornly continue to deny they were in any way shape or form involved (or responsible) until non-existant cows come home. 

 

What do we do then?

 

Is it fair to place basic classroom perceptiveness on the 'must have or develop' list of criteria in determining 'to be (a teacher) or not to be'?

 

 

;-)

 

 

Open (Source) English <-> Mind the Gap

 

 

 

This is the final 'Open Sauce' resource for 2011 -- not sure whether there will be more next year, but even if this is the 'end of the line' just remember that there are another dozen or so templates and themes with a variety of activities and applications demonstrated in the Open English Archive of the blog.

 

This particular template showcases material for a pretty much open unplugged approach to language teaching. It has a lot of crossover with Teaching Materials Design Masterclass 12 ('Summer Unplugged') and represents something of a journey from the first Open Source ('Picket Fence') resource, where a lot of specific applications were suggested.

 

 

Here are the teaching/application suggestions and ideas for Mind the Gap...

 

 

 

And here are the Open Source/'Open Sauce' downloads:

 

Open English - Mind the Gap (PDF)

Open English - Mind the Gap (MS Word)

Open English - Mind the Gap (Compatible)

 

 

 

On behalf of the team here at English Raven (me, myself and I), I hope you've enjoyed the Open Source materials and they've given you some new resources and teaching ideas to consider. I've certainly enjoyed making, exploring and sharing them here on the blog!

 

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

World Adventure Kids: Setting them free...

 

 

 

It's a complicated sort of decision, but in the end it wasn't terribly difficult to make.

 

The full 168-page digital version of World Adventure Kids is now a 100% free download. You can get it now by popping over to the WAK page on English Raven; look for the green bar inviting you to download the book for free. No strings attached.

 

I might blog in the near future about why I've decided to head in this direction, but for now let's just say that:

 

• I designed and wrote this because I wanted to enjoy the whole design and writing process. It was fun. Enormously enjoyable to make.

 

• I'm a truly lousy (and lazy) salesman. I honestly couldn't be bothered putting all the time into advertising and pushing it. I'd rather children just read it, liked it.

 

• It cost thousands to self-publish this sort of work (the illustrations alone put me back close to three thousand US dollars...), but it was bankrolled with part of the royalties from a massively commercial textbook series (and let's just say that, using that equation, I'm still well in front). 

 

 

There is the risk, of course, that offering something up for free means that people will be less disposed towards valuing and respecting it. We'll see, shall we?

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Open Sauce English: The PARSNIPs Edition (Warning - spicy!)

 

 

 

For those teachers willing (and able) to try out some more controversial topics with their students, I have some templates set up for some of the so-called 'taboo' PARSNIP (Politics, Alcohol, Religion, Sexuality, Narcotics, Isms, Pork) themes. The only one of those not represented here is 'Ism'. 

 

These are all open source (or open sauce, as I've become increasingly fond of calling it) materials, and if you are looking for application ideas to go with them there are dozens presented in various ways throughout the rest of the Open Source English material bank.

 

 

So, here they are, for the daring...

 

 

 

 

Open English - Stars and Sparks (PDF)

Open English - Stars and Sparks (MS Word)

Open English - Stars and Sparks (Compatible)

 

 

 

 

Open English - Cheers (PDF)

Open English - Cheers (MS Word)

Open English - Cheers (Compatible)

 

 

 

 

Open English - Like a Prayer (PDF)

Open English - Like a Prayer (MS Word)

Open English - Like a Prayer (Compatible)

 

 

 

 

Open English - Just a Couple (PDF)

Open English - Just a Couple (MS Word)

Open English - Just a Couple (Compatible)

 

 

 

 

Open English - Bitter Pill (PDF)

Open English - Bitter Pill (MS Word)

Open English - Bitter Pill (Compatible)

 

 

 

 

Open English - Ham it up (PDF)

Open English - Ham it up (MS Word)

Open English - Ham it up (Compatible)

 

 

 

Of course, these templates aren't specifically about just barging into the classroom space with a PARSNIP sledge hammer (bellowing: "Take that, yeah! Got you squirming yet?"); they work for a variety of different (perhaps less controversial) themes from which the PARSNIP element could just be an optional extension.

 

Anyway, see what you make of 'em!

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

TOEFL Speaking and TOEFL Writing: Free for all...

 

 

 

I've decided that I'm not comfortable charging for access to these resources (and there are a good many of them, built up over several years). It can be depressing making all of your online teaching income based around a loathsome English test, and it has always irked me that the people needing that test result are often some of the most disadvantaged people in the world.

 

Hence, all of my TOEFL iBT practice test materials, tutorials and sample answers are now 100% free for all learners and teachers to access.

 

Hope it helps.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Teaching is... Mobility and Mirth

 

Image: Trey Ratcliff

 

 

 

One of my current teaching colleagues is a bloke by the name of Brendan.

 

If you were to spend as little as ten minutes in our staffroom, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if you came to the quick conclusion that Brendan and I are like chalk and cheese.

 

Brendan teaches Numeracy. I teach Literacy.

 

Brendan claims to be a bit of an old-fashioned teacher, preferring to teach mainly from the front of the class to students in rows facing a whiteboard. I tend to teach from the back or middle of the classroom, very seldomly using the whiteboard.

 

Brendan does meticulous preparation in advance and guides the learners through very carefully and professionally designed workbooks with a clear sequence (that he has made himself). He spends a lot of time in front of the photocopier. I do a lot of exploring in advance and present taskwork fully online, with a very flexible sequence and very open to direct negotiation with the learners. I spend absolutely no time in front of the photocopier (excluding the times I find Brendan perched there and stop by for a chat).

 

Brendan's desk is invariably so neat and tidy you could quite possibly eat off it. My desk usually looks like the lair of the Abominable Paperman.

 

Brendan seems to be able to turn his teaching mode on and off like a switch. When he reads this and realises I wrote it at home after work, he'll be thinking of smart ways to tell me I need to find a hobby...

 

Chalk and cheese?

Perhaps not.

 

This week, as we tie up the academic year, I had some groups of learners review and 'assess' all of their teachers via an open writing task. Given the different approaches and methods Brendan and I have, one might expect the learners to have very different reactions to us as teachers. In fact, reading the learners' assessments, I was surprised to see just how similar the comments were about us.

 

"Knows what he is talking about..."

"Very good at explaining things in different ways to help me understand..."

"Enjoys a good laugh, which makes the classroom a fun place to be..."

 

 

That was the general gist of many of the comments directed towards both Brendan and I, and this similarity was pronounced when compared to the comments other teachers received (not to detract from a wide range of positive feedback those teachers received, but the recurrence of three very similar comments for two teachers in particular was what struck me).

 

Based on this very limited sample, one could be forgiven for beginning to form the idea that, irrespective of methods, approaches and materials (and their mode or sequence of delivery), what learners really warm to in their teachers is:

 

• Strong awareness of their subject matter
• The ability to adapt and explain things in different ways for different learners
• A good sense of humour

 

 

These basic principles might seem to be self-evident to many readers, and to be honest they're not really anything new to me either. However, seeing this assessment applied to two very different teachers and teaching approaches certainly begins to increase the salience of them as essential teaching priorities.

 

It makes me think about the pre-service teacher education programs obsessed with documented lesson planning, regurgitation of discrete techniques and 'methodology', and teachers awarded salaries based on years of teaching 'experience' and the impressiveness of their 'qualifications' paper draw...

 

I don't think many learners give a fat rat's posterior about those things. Most, in my opinion and experience, want a teacher who knows what he/she is talking about and can apply it with both mobility and mirth.

 

Beyond those essentials, perhaps things like methods, styles and materials are purely peripheral?

 

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Open (Source) English <-> Turn the Page

 

 

Open Sauce Downloads:

 

Open English - Turn the Page (PDF)

Open English - Turn the Page (MS Word 2007)

Open English - Turn the Page (Compatible)

 

 

Application ideas:

 

 

 

 

Get some more open sauce to spice up your teaching options in the Open Source English section of the blog!

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Teaching Materials Design Masterclass 12: Summer unplugged (going 'materials lite')

 

 

 

 

If you're wondering how I managed to jump from Materials Design Masterclass 8 (last week's entry) to 12, take a look at this post from late October where I incorporated Masterclasses 9, 10 and 11 into a Halloween Materials offering (the one I invited you to wrap your pumpkin's laughing gear around).

 

This particular tutorial (and my last in this series for the year, most probably) explores the notion of teaching unplugged alongside materials design. You might be thinking that sounds a bit like taking a vegan smorgasbord to a meat lovers association dinner, but personally I've always seen a role for smart materials design in a 'materials lite' paradigm like Dogme.

 

For those who have been following the Materials Design Masterclasses, I hope you've learned something new and useful along the way. Remember that all 12 tutorials are permanently available on a dedicated portal over on the English Raven main site.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

;-D

 

 

Teaching is... Turning Corners

 

Image: Trey Ratcliff

 

 

 

I'm sure I'm not the first teacher who finds him/herself pausing from time to time to ask the question: Why do I do this? What keeps me in this profession?

 

It's certainly not the pay, is it? And the hours? For the dedicated and passionate teacher, the hours slip away into a stream, but when you stop to tally up those hours it can be a bit frightening to see how much of your life is given over to your 'work.'

 

Amongst a host of other rationales, I think one of the things that keeps me passionate about my profession is the sense of overcoming adversity. Wading through streams of can't and won't and emerging on the other side to find the negative suffix has disappeared and been replaced with an emphatic exclamation mark.

 

In essence, nothing fires me up more about my job than the sensation of having turned corners.

 

As the academic year peters out in my current (and new this year) teaching role and I struggle to cope with the exhaustion, there comes that warm glow as I contemplate the corners that have been turned.

 

I think about groups of learners approaching the Literacy classroom with expressions ranging from loathing to (much worse) complete indifference back in June, who last week walked in with friendly greetings, happy to be there and even happier knowing that not only have they passed Literacy but actually passed it quite well.

 

I think about those individuals who, in June (halfway through the year), did not have a single VCAL Literacy Outcome marked on their trackers, but now have 16-20 outcomes completed and a Year 12 High School pass as a result.

 

It is, I have to very selfishly admit, pleasing to contemplate that this time last year, of the failed students well over 60% of them didn't pass on account of a fail for Literacy, whereas this year the figure is going to be more like about 10%. 

 

Grades and bean counting aside, one of the most pleasing things about this year has been the transition in so many students from 'I want to be anywhere but here in this classroom' to 'I like being here'...

 

Watching learners turn major corners is probably the most exhilarating part of being a teacher, and knowing you played a facilitative role in that ought to (quite rightly) lead to a sense of genuine satisfaction and pride. Their corners as learners are linked ineluctably to our own as teachers.

 

There are always other corners to turn, however, and I sure as hell know what some of my more pressing ones are for next year. Some of the hardest yards have already been completed and that makes new challenges that little bit more exciting and interesting... Successful foundations mean that building can commence; survival and 'basic needs' have given way to more of a sense of aspiration.

 

That's why turning corners (and recognising that they've been turned) is so important. These become the catalysts and sources of energy we need to overcome the next obstacles, slip through or around other adversities, identify and chart a course towards turning those next corners.

 

 

I'm sure you've managed to turn at least a few corners this year... What were they?

 

And, just as importantly, which corners are you going to try and turn next?

 

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

What they win by cheating at THIS game...

 

 

 

Extensive reading...?

Intensive reading...?

VOLUNTARY reading?

 

These are terms you might have seen bandied about a lot of late. We do, of course, want our learners to read extensively, read intensively, and do so based on voluntary interest in what they are doing.

 

It's not always as easy as it sounds, especially for highly reluctant readers and/or those children who are reading (or being 'forced' to read) based on a study schedule where, despite all of our best intentions and slogans, the rewards for reading are more often extrinsically motivated than intrinsically driven.

 

These were the sorts of issues that inspired me, several years ago, to write choose your own adventure style stories that address the reader directly and focus on the idea of having grand adventures, and for it to almost feel like a game.

 

One of the most interesting aspects of this came in the form of 'cheating'...

 

With both the print and digital versions of World Adventure Kids, the narratives are divided up into chunks and spread at random around different page numbers in the book (with directions on which part to go to next, often with a choice to make).

 

A common result, as with the pages illustrated at the top of this post, is that the readers find themselves looking at one part of the story on one page but also get a juicy preview of another stage of either the same or a different adventure thread in the book. The temptation to at least glance over that facing page (knowing that it might inform you about what is coming up later in the your adventures) can be quite irresistable.

 

Hence the reader looks beyond the section of the story to other sections (extending what they read), and does so voluntarily.

 

A similar sort of thing happens when readers are presented with choices. The temptation to do a little cheating and glance over at the results of both choices before selecting one to follow is natural (with more opportunities for voluntary extension outside the bounds of a single narrative).

 

The facilitation of these forms of 'cheating' is deliberate on my part in World Adventure Kids.

 

The readers may be cheating a little when it comes to 'playing' this story as a game, but they are winning (without actually realising it) when we consider the extra reading and critical thinking they engage in quite naturally through this process.

 

So, dear younger readers of World Adventure Kids, cheat to your heart's content. I'm all for it!

 

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Open (Source) English <-> Think Deeply

 

 

 

Open English - Think Deeply (PDF)

Open English - Think Deeply (MS Word 2007)

Open English - Think Deeply (Compatible)

 

 

 

 

 

More of this sort of stuff in the Open (Source) English section of the blog.

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Teaching Materials Design Masterclass 8: The Bamboo Mega-Tutorial (making a full top-quality resource)

 

 

 

The eighth instalment in the Teaching Materials Design Masterclass Series really throws the gauntlet down and showcases a rather long list of design skills integrated with content writing and presentation considerations.

 

At close to an hour in length, it is not for the faint-hearted... But for those blog visitors who have been following the Masterclass series so far and have a genuine passion for professional materials design I think there is nice full spread meal to chew on here.

 

Here's the final product of the tutorial in terms of the materials themselves:

Download Bamboo worksheet

 

 

And here are the hows and whys in terms of building and design:

 

 

 

 

If this all feels a bit too much for you at this stage, you might like to check out some of the earlier (and shorter and simpler) tutorials in the series at the link here.

 

 

Oh, and I've just noticed that this year's Edublog Awards have opened for nominations (hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge).

 

If you've liked the Teaching Materials Design Masterclass series and/or the Open (Source) English materials and video tutorials I've featured this year, or anything else on this blog for that matter, perhaps you'll consider doing me the almighty favour of a nomination for this year's awards :-)))

 

 

Happy teaching (and designing)!

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Exploring the write to read

 

Image: Quinn Dombrowski

 

 

 

I've just deleted a rather lengthy post on this topic with the expectation the depth and length would turn blog visitors off reading it properly and responding to the central issues explored.

 

So I'll put it to you as a simple notion instead...

 

Do you think texts written by students are potentially legitimate sources of reading skills outcomes for the other students in the class or -- by extension -- any other learners of the same age and/or level in a variety of other contexts?

 

In other words: is it possible or even desirable to use the texts our students write as actual reading texts for peers?

 

 

This is a question that has been brewing in me for almost a decade, and has come to a sort of head over the past six months in particular.

 

So what do you think?

 

 

;-D

 

 

Teaching is... Accountability

 

Image: Trey Ratcliff

 

 

 

Outcomes. It's a word we hear and supposedly consider a lot in our profession as teachers. Results is another (related) one.

 

When outcomes and/or results fall short of reasonable expectations, whose fault is it?

 

Given that the classroom space encompasses both teachers and learners, the idea of accountability can be a slippery one. From the teacher's perspective, I'm constantly amazed by how far to either end of the spectrum teachers' explanations for 'failed' educational experiences tend to range.

 

At one end, I hear this:

Those students only have themselves to blame... I prepared everything well, made sure the instructions were clear, gave them more than enough time to complete work, and I was always available to help if they were willing to ask for it. They chose to do almost nothing, and the result speaks for itself...

I often refer to this as the 'attack is the best form of defense' approach.

 

And at the other end?

This is all my fault. I haven't tried hard enough to find the materials and activities that will interest them. Learning this is tough enough for them as it is without having to try and make things work with an inexperienced teacher like me. I haven't used the right methods. The failure of this group is totally down to my failure as a teacher...

This is the 'humble to the point of ridiculous' approach.

 

If you've found yourself saying anything that comes close to either of those interpretations, I would urge you to rethink your reflective practice. Neither of them can ever be completely true, and certainly neither of them turn out to be very effective in terms of turning a teaching/learning dilemma around.

 

There's also the view that a school or set of regulations are wholly to blame. Perhaps it is the (unhelpful) attitudes and expectations of parents. But again, I don't think they can ever be really wholly to blame and I don't think a focus on 'fixing' them will by itself create any miracle solutions.

 

The hardest (but I think most accurate) way to look at it is that the classroom is a shared space and experience. Relative success or failure is likewise something to be viewed and acted upon as a shared accountability.

 

Help the learners see where, when, why and how they might have let themselves down in the learning process, hand in hand with a good hard look at your own teaching. Be willing to criticize the school and the regulators and even the parents, but not without coming to the table with potential solutions and evidence of efforts to try and facilitate them.

 

And... if you're the sort of teacher who automatically responds with something along the lines of 'but that's their issue to sort out -- not my responsibility!' then just try pulling your head out of your own posterior for a moment or two, would you?

 

You're supposed to be a teacher.

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Open (Source) English <-> For Rent

 

 

 

The sixth instalment in the Open Source English series goes with the theme of 'For Rent'. While the grid presented here is precisely the same as that featured in instalment five ('Time Flies'), in this case I explain how to use it for a chain story application, one of my favourite collaborative and interactive writing activities.

 

 

 

 

And the open source downloads...

 

Open English - For Rent (PDF)

Open English - For Rent (MS Word 2007)

Open English - For Rent (Compatible)

 

 

There are also other Open Source English resources with accompanying video tutorials/ideas in the Open English section of the blog.

 

 

- JR

 

 

Catapult! (Never underestimate your students)

 

GTEC Catapult Day, October 2011. Aden prepares his unique trebuchet for action...

 

 

 

I work in a teaching and learning environment which is special in all sorts of ways, but probably the most special thing of all about it is what our 17 and 18-year-old (so-called 'disengaged learners') manage to achieve.

 

Let me tell and show a little story about a student named Aden Nadoh, one of our GTEC Year 12 VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) Building and Construction students...

 

Let's start with a quick interview I did with Aden in June, as part of the Oral Communication section of his curriculum (Outcome: Oracy for Practical Purposes), when he was just getting into the workshop to actually start building the catapult he'd finished designing through meticulous work with CAD (Computer Assisted Design):

 

 

 

 

There were all sorts of other tasks integrated into this project across several subjects. In the Literacy strand (for example), the students needed to complete design briefs, essays about the history of various catapult designs, assembly instructions, safe operating procedures and evaluations, etc.

 

Anyway, back to the story...

 

Five months later, I watched Aden testing out his finished catapult in the school courtyard (with adequate safety precautions in place, of course) and made the prediction he would get a distance of 100-150 metres in the official Catapult Day competition our design and tech teachers had so painstakingly organised.

 

Brett Smith (one of our carpentry teachers) scoffed in the staff meeting when I announced this prediction, and enjoyed a series of jokes about how the literacy teacher had no skills in numeracy or estimation (hey: this is an Aussie staff room after all!).

 

 

Rightio Smithy... Watch and see what happened on Catapult Day:

 

 

 

 

 

125 metres on the full. Well and truly beyond 150 metres once the projectile had stopped rolling!

 

Not bad estimation skills for a mere literacy teacher, eh?

 

 

And I think this pic shows (in addition to the secret mechanism that makes Aden's catapult so effective) just how well our wood and metal teachers pass on skills to our students:

 

 

 

 

Anyway, congrats to Aden on a brilliant piece of work from start to finish, and congrats to the design/tech/wood/metal teachers who helped him achieve it.

 

 

Lesson?

 

Never underestimate your students!!!

 

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Teaching Materials Design Masterclass 7: Setting up a bricks n' bubble background

 

 

 

 

JUST in case you were getting a bit sick and tired of background and header/footer style used in many of the previous tutorials, this week's Teaching Materials Design Masterclass takes a bit of a turn and looks at a different design concept that might be good for some variety and/or could be a little more attractive to younger learners.

 

The tutorial here shows you how to built a 'textured' header and footer with a curved 'bubble' window covering the main part of the page. Some variations on that are demonstrated a little later in the video as well, hopefully presenting you with even more design options to consider.

 

This is tutorial seven in the series, so if you'd like to learn more I encourage you to check out the full bank of materials design lessons over on the English Raven site here.

 

 

Happy designing!

 

 

;-D

 

 

Exploring the 'values' curriculum

 

 

 

Rilla Roessel is one of those people you meet and work with in publishing who constantly surprises you and -- occasionally -- makes you realise there are people out there who see things you never even guessed at.

 

Rilla was kind enough to look over a very early draft of World Adventure Kids for me (I'd worked with Rilla extensively at Pearson through the whole process of making and then marketing the Boost! Integrated Skills Series) to give me some feedback and provide a few angles I might have missed.

 

She really liked what she saw/read, acknowledged that it ticked a lot of those boxes like CLIL, extensive reading, etc. and then made a comment along the lines of "another thing it really has going for it is that it has such a strong values curriculum embedded in it."

 

Values curriculum?

There was a new term to add to my thinking box...

 

Rilla is right, of course. There are a lot of different values and ethical or moral perspectives presented in World Adventure Kids. In fact, several of the decision pathway options in the reader-directed story deliberately target choices that could be said to embody ethical issues and 'values.'

 

I featured 'values' in this way in World Adventure Kids because it seemed to come naturally to a story for children -- young people still exploring ideas and choices in the world and trying to figure out what is inherently right or wrong about what they choose to do and why.

 

However, having identified (thanks to Rilla's astute observation) that my work definitely did have a 'values' orientation, I must admit that I started to feel a little uneasy...

 

Was I preaching at and attempting to moralize children in this story? In embedding a strong 'values curriculum' was I in actual fact falling prey to something more along the lines of the 'hidden curriculum'?

 

I looked back through the stories and choices again, eventually realising I was comfortable with the ethical choices presented. From the very start, World Adventure Kids are presented as having a very specific mission: to protect the world's environment, animals, people and cultural treasures. If you want to be a World Adventure Kid, lead a mission and use all the cool resources this mysterious movement has at its disposal, your actions and decisions need to reflect the values identified as being synonymous with WAK. 

 

Hence I feel quite comfortable with choices presented to young readers along these lines (warning: may contain some plot spoilers!):

 

 

Free the anaconda?

You've found an anaconda trapped in a cage in the depths of the Amazon Rainforest. Do you let it loose (which could obviously present some danger to yourself) or leave it right where it is (a course of action very enthusiastically supported by that member of your team who is absolutely petrified of snakes)? Should the fact that anacondas are illegally caught and sold as pets in other countries really matter?

 

Be the first to meet the Hi-Merima?

You accidentally stumble upon the village of the Hi-Merima tribe, an uncontacted people secreted away in the Amazon (this one is based on actual fact). Be the first modern humans to meet them and get your name in all the newspapers and research journals, or leave them alone? Does the fact the tribe is hostile to outsiders and at serious health risk based on lack of immunities (from things like the common cold) warrant consideration? What about their right to continue living their lives the way they always have, not bothering the outside world?

 

Touch the treasure?

After a perilous underground journey, you've finally discovered Pharaoh Sety's hidden treasure and it is truly SPECTACULAR! Haven't you earned the right to be the first to touch and examine it all, even if there is a bit of a risk that your inexpert hands might break something? And does the notion of the treasure rightfully belonging to the people of Egypt (first and foremost) really carry any water? Why is Tootenhootin in the British Museum, anyway?

 

Worth the risk?

This one is presented in World Adventure Kids in various guises in the face of different dangerous situations where a specific item of equipment hasn't been chosen by the adventurers and is necessary for safe navigation through the danger. Swim across a river full of Black Caimans? Sprint along a corridor despite a specific warning it needs to be walked in complete silence? What about your responsibility as team captain to ensure the safety of your team members and not take any unnecessary risks?

 

 

I'm not sure about other people's feelings on these issues, but I don't personally think these dilemmas represent ethical consideration that is inappropriate for children to tackle.

 

Yes, they do make an attempt at a set of values to be thought about and exhibited, and to that extent they perhaps do comprise a 'values curriculum.' But given World Adventure Kids are up front about what they expect from their team members, I would hardly say they form any kind of 'hidden curriculum.'

 

And in any case, the 'values' stuff isn't the only criteria for challenges and choices. Most of the other pathways depend more on critical thinking skills, which is something I will blog about in the near future.

 

Then again, isn't a values curriculum yet another way to encourage and facilitate critical thinking?

 

 

Mmmmm...

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Mantano Reader for Android: Great for reading World Adventure Kids!

 

 

 

When I designed and formatted World Adventure Kids, I saw it mainly as an e-reading text ideal for desktop computers, laptops, notebooks and tablet devices.

 

Trying it out on my Galaxy S smartphone confirmed my suspicion it wouldn't work that well on a mobile phone. The screen still feels too small for comfortable reading, and the Adobe Reader for Android (for some baffling reason) rendered out the interactive functions that make World Adventure Kids a fluid and pleasant touch/click experience.

 

As it turns out, it wasn't the smartphone (or its size) that was the problem; it was the e-reader app itself.

 

I uploaded a different e-reading app for Android by a company called Mantano (easy to find in the Android store connected to the phone) and I was blown away by what this reader did for an interactive text like World Adventure Kids. Not only could I now read and interact with the story on a smartphone, it was really clear and easy and... fun!

 

Mantano features excellent display properties (as well as customisation options for viewing the text) and I found WAK 2-1 beautifully clear and easy to read by turning the phone for 'landscape' mode. Scrolling down was easy, the interactive links to different 'next stages' in the story worked flawlessly on the touch screen, most illustrations fit perfectly on the landscape screen (and those that were more of the full-page format in size could easily be seen by simply turning for vertical portrait mode, before returning to landscape to continue reading text) and the colour and detail in the pics were wonderful!

 

There's also an excellent and beautifully simple bookmark function which allows you to save your current page, and unlike the crippled Adobe Reader app, Mantano automatically opens to your last viewed page if you happen to be returning to the text after a break of some sort.

 

But the Mantano Reader comes with a lot more than just a clear, clean and easy interface.

 

 

 

 

With a simple touch to the screen, the extra Mantano features pop up around your text. You get a convenient 'slider' to move back and forth across the entire book, navigation and display options, as well as really easy to use annotation and highlight functions.

 

One function I particularly enjoyed, however, was the TTS (Text to Speech) option, which when activated basically reads the text to you out loud. It does have that flat, somewhat expressionless monotone you expect from a computer-generated TTS function, but it was much better than I thought it would be and for the reader who enjoys the aural supplement I think it does a wonderful job.

 

Despite the fact that I actually wrote World Adventure Kids and must have read over the story a million times, viewing and reading it on my Galaxy S with the Mantano Reader app became almost an addictive experience! With a single thumb I was able to scroll through and navigate to next sections of the adventure, activating Text-to-Speech here and there to have my adventure story read out loud to me, and enjoying the full colour illustrations.

 

It felt much more like playing a game than reading a book...

 

I couldn't help envisaging kids in the car on a family trip, enjoying an interactive adventure on their parent's smartphone. A tablet device would probably make for an even more enjoyable reading experience, but knowing that WAK 2-1 really can work on a smarphone is music to my ears.

 

Just make sure you have a good e-Reader App, and Mantano Reader comes top of the list as far as I am concerned!

 

 

;-D

 

 

Teaching is... Aspiration

 

Image: Trey Ratcliff

 

 

 

Aspiration is a great word to bear in mind when it comes to teaching.

 

The first and most obvious application refers to basically wanting to succeed at what you do. Personally I think it is important to see this in the plural sense; the aspirations you have for yourself as a teacher are more often than not bound up in the aspirations you have for your learners, and of course the aspirations they have for themselves.

 

Well, I think they should be.

 

If it's more about you and less about your learners and the overall learning space, you've probably slipped along the synonym scale (and across parts of speech) to land somewhere around the word ambitious. 

 

Why would I prefer a word like aspiration over ambition, then?

 

Aspiration also refers to breathing (as a general action) but also to the idea of releasing a breath. Aspiration is therefore a fundamental part of living; we might even interpret breathing and individual breaths as essential criteria for the success involved in just being...

 

Likewise, without breath, speech and talk are (in most instances) impossible.

 

I've occasionally worked with teachers who thought they were talking, but were pretty much just making inarticulate vowel sounds deep in their throats that only they could really interpret. Okay, so maybe I've been one of them myself at various times in my teaching career...and perhaps the talk ('career'?) has sometimes slipped more into the ambitious stable than the aspiration landscape.

 

In any case, I think it's vitally important to find and give breath to your teaching/learning aspirations.

 

Give them life... and articulation.

 

 

 

;-D

 

 

Open (Source) English <-> Time Flies

 

 

 

Here is the fifth installment in the Open (Source) English series of materials I've been presenting on this blog. Open Source (I also like to think of it at time as 'open sauce'!) is a very apt name for this sort of material, because you can adapt it at will for your own classroom use but it also works very much from the idea that we are opening the learners (and the learning space itself) as rich sources of potential communicative content and language.

 

Here's a quick look at the Time Flies edition, why it was made this way and how you might use it.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are those open source downloads:

 

Open English - Time Flies (PDF)

Open English - Time Flies (MS Word 2007)

Open English - Time Flies (Compatible)

 

 

Remember there is a variety of other Open Source English resources with accompanying video tutorials/ideas in the Open English section of the blog.

 

Whether or not time is on your side, hope this helps... :-)

 

 

- JR

 

 

 

Teaching Materials Design Masterclass 6: 1:3 design principle for flexible teaching methodology

 

 

 

 

Here is the sixth tutorial in the Teaching Materials Design Masterclass series, and here we look at how 1:3 design (see last week's tutorial for more information on that, or use the link above to access all the previous tutorials) creates a simple template for you to experiment with different sorts of teaching methodology and a variety of different practice or extension applications.

 

This tutorial isn't so much about technical aspects of building or designing something; it looks more at the interesting interface between your teaching methods and the materials used to express or facilitate those methods.

 

Next week's tutorial will introduce a new kind of background option, one that might be more appropriate for younger learners or just as an alternative way of presenting your material.

 

Hope you're enjoying and getting something out of the materials design series so far -- see you same time next week!

 

 

;-D

 

 

Mourning the missing makers

 

Image: Todd Lappin

 

 

 

Following my Halloween Materials Design Challenge in October, I have a small confession to make.

 

In addition to hopefully generating some nice materials with interesting variations on a central theme across the broader 'PLN', I was actually watching to see what would happen and whether it would confirm an impression that has been slowly building up for me over a matter of years.

 

The impression was basically confirmed, and that is: Across an extensive 'PLN' that features literally dozens and dozens of learning materials writers--and I'm referring here to the 'famous' ones, the ones many of you line up to see strut their stuff at conferences and the like--it's remarkable how very few of them appear to enjoy making and sharing stuff simply for the sake of it.

 

Okay, there was one enigmatic exception (in the case of Patrick Jackson -- who in all fairness has always been the sporting sort willing to get involved and do stuff), but generally speaking the silence when it came to acknowledged experts throwing in 10-20 minutes to generate some material was deafening.

 

Of course, the stuff that WAS generated, from at-the-chalkface teachers, was excellent. And that WAS the point.

 

And we could of course put this down to me not really having anywhere near as prominent a role or influence in certain materials design and ELT author circles as I might have erroneously and naively presumed (read here: they don't bother to read this blog!--and who could blame them?).

 

But before anyone dares mention the idea: don't for a second claim these folks are too busy. They're certainly no busier than your average language teacher, several of whom managed over a period of 4 weeks to throw something together and share it with the wider blogosphere.

 

And anyway, let's face it: for an expert writer who knows his/her stuff, it would have taken less than 15 minutes to make something.

 

Let's get away from the idea of the Halloween once-off, however... I look around at blogs and what happens on Facebook and Twitter, and you know what? Most of the so-called expert and famous ELT writers out there share very little of anything directly to do with their 'craft.'

 

I think it was Jeremy Harmer who recently wrote on his blog that some people just write (or create) because they have to. It's a burning in them that can't be held down or in. It rewards itself for the person who loves doing it. It must out. 

 

Based on the fact I see very few ELT authors writing, designing and sharing materials for the sheer enjoyment of it (as in, outside the bounds of commercial publications and author appearances), I'm beginning to wonder how many of them do in fact love what they do.

 

Is it a passion, or just a job?

 

And I'll confess that I don't really get it. Part of being a great materials writer is experimenting and connecting with the sorts of people who want to use new materials. Experimenting in an established publishing house can be rather like being in a lemming reserve and finding more creative ways to encourage the poor little blighters to run for the cliffs, so I've often wondered why I don't see the so-called experts doing more public and shared experimentation with materials writing and design.

 

If good materials writers genuinely love what they do and want to be better at it, why do they apparently do so little of it (outside the bounds of a protective but otherwise muffling contract where almost everything about the material is predetermined to start with)?

 

I'm known to have an opinion from time to time (!), but I've lit this potential fire and I might as well follow through with it: in this day and interconnected age of professional community, if you are presenting/announcing/claiming yourself to be a professional and passionate author of learning materials and you aren't regularly experimenting with your craft in a way that shares it and invites participation across the broader teaching/learning community, you are at serious risk of retarding both your development and relevance in an emerging brave new world of educational resources.

 

 

 

;-D