Continually collect pictures of people and places from newspapers and magazines. One picture can become the source of dozens of learning activities. Photography magazines are excellent sources of “mood” photographs.
Keep a box in the staff room into which teachers can drop pictures at any time. Roster people to laminate them from time to time. Distribute them at Panel meetings, when everyone can take a few minutes to write some suitable activities for a handful of pictures. Place the pictures and their associated activities into plastic sleeves, and devise a filing system. Any one photo might have a whole collection of activities filed away behind it. Try to avoid “one picture - one activity”.
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Autobiography/biography. Write about the person’s life. Each member of the group concentrates on a different age, and then they work together to try to fit the different accounts into a coherent life story. Two students could imagine the same period in the person’s life, and then compare notes. Who does the person remind you of? Does their“mood” remind you of times when you felt the same way? What is happening just outside the picture? Fold or cover the picture and show it to someone else; ask them to comment on the character. Lead into other types of “biographies”. Interview a relative, a friend, a teacher, and write their biography.
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Pairs of photographs. Obtain two copies of the same newspaper/magazine and make two identical sets of photographs. In pairs, students describe the person they are looking at, and their partner has to guess which particular photograph they are describing.➢
Blind date. You are going on a blind date with the person in the photograph. What will you wear? Where will you go? What will you talk about? How do you feel about it?➢
Action photographs. Sports and news photos are useful for describing actions, conflicts and interactions between people. You are one of these people. How do you feel right now? How would you react if you were in this situation? How will you relate this incident to your parents when you go home?➢
Places. Extremes of weather, unusual landscapes, other cultures, natural disasters. Describe the scenery, both favourably and unfavourably. Design some creative writing activities.➢
Animals. This animal is your pet. Where will you keep it? How will you feed it? How will you exercise it? How did you acquire such a pet? This animal is unwell. You are a vet.What is wrong with it? How will you treat it?
A picture is worth a thousand words ...
TALKABOUT FOR TEACHERS
Review the ways in which you devise and collate school-based materials.
Could this be done more effectively?
At Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School the NET has led an English language proficiency course for both teaching and support staff. There have been weekly one-and-a-half-hour sessions on Monday evenings since September, 1999. The course is strongly supported by the Principal, who has attended many of the sessions.
On average, twelve members of staff have attended each session. Cakes or other refreshments are an essential part of the introduction on each occasion! The venue is a recently-refurbished small conference room which provides an excellent base for language work.
The NET’s approach to language teaching with the group is based on a wide range of teaching and learning strategies. She bases much of the work on group discussion of contemporary social issues. Significantly, several members
reported that their approach to teaching and learning has been infuenced by the NET’s approaches to teaching and learning on the course.
The Principal has made an allowance for the NET’s commitment to the course by increasing the amount of non-contact time in her mainstream teaching programme.
The course will continue until the end of May.
A summative evaluation is planned, as well as an end-of-course party!
The NET supports her colleagues’ English language development in other ways. For example, at their request, by checking the model answers they provide for Form 6 students to essays and follow-ups for science experiments. She also clarifies for them the pronunciation of key words in subject text books.
The course in action at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School
2.4 SUPPORTING COLLEAGUES’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
The NET’s teaching m e t h o d s a r e v e r y interesting and have influenced my own classroom practice.
I enjoy the course as the NET is friendly and pleasant and everyone can speak freely. I have l e a r n t m a n y u s e f u l colloquial expressions.
Participants are actively involved in the session in various activities, for example group discussion and presentation. It’s a good English-speaking e n v i r o n m e n t , s i n c e Chinese is not allowed.
A TYPICAL COURSE SESSION...
The sessions I enjoy the most are the discussions on issues. I feel the urge to express myself. I’m happy that what I say can be understood by others.
WHEN THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED TO COMMENT ON THE COURSE, THIS IS WHAT THEY SAID:
The course helps a lot in building my confidence to speak English. I enjoy the cozy, convivial atmosphere.
S p l e n d i d ! A g o o d c h a n c e f o r c u l t u r a l exchange in a friendly, relaxing climate.
1 In the introduction, the NET asks the course members to explain some of the colloquialisms they discussed in the last session. For example, “I have itchy feet”, “to do something in cold blood”,
“I’m having cold feet”.
2 They then work in pairs, finding their partner who has an opposite word written on paper. Partners write their words on the whiteboard: for example (lethargic/energetic, serious/frivolous).
3 There is then whole class discussion on a poem suggested to the NET by a course member. This reflects on the need to enjoy life’s many opportunities.
Members take turns to read the poem a l o u d . U n f a m i l i a r w o r d s a r e highlighted by the NET.
4 Groupwork follows on a worksheet prepared by the NET.
Life is short: enjoy it!
• What is your favourite way of unwinding?
• How often do you indulge in this activity?
• Do you think you really listen when people talk, or are you too busy?
• W h a t a r e s o m e o f t h e b e s t experiences you’ve had?
5 In a concluding plenary session the course members share their responses to the worksheet.
You’ll find “Classroom Discipline” in
“Three Easy Lessons” in fiction.
2.5 THE WORK OF THE NET BEHAVIOURAL SUPPORT GROUP
WHY THE GROUP WAS ESTABLISHED?
When the original cohort of NET teachers were asked what their priorities for professional help were, the loudest voices came from those staff in schools with a significant number of low achieving students and in prevocational schools. Quite often they felt that the topics covered in NET workshops were not addressing their needs and reflected a level of ability and attainment that their students rarely possessed.
These NETs face difficult challenges. There was therefore a strong desire to share experiences with others in similar situations.
A self-help Group
A preliminary meeting acknowledged that answers were not going to come from anyone but the teachers themselves, and that self-help had to be the order of the day. The process was one of sharing problems and whatever solutions could be found. This was to be done within a framework of published material on behaviour management.
Included in the Group’s early promotional material was the cartoon shown below. The point it makes proved to be very true for the teachers. Their support for each other and their ability to share and offer constructive advice proved to be the core element of the Group’s work.
AIMS AGREED TO BY THE GROUP
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To share ideas and constructive suggestions about how to establish and maintain a classroom situation where it is possible to teach, rather than just battle for order and quiet.➢
To develop some effective and continuing methods of both positive a n d n e g a t i v e c l a s s r o o m reinforcement “carrots and sticks”.➢
To look at low-band schools that“ w o r k ” , e x a m i n i n g d i s c i p l i n e structures in situations that are successfully creating a workable teaching environment.