Where oh where do I start... Maybe with the realization that I have a parrot in class or that I am a monological dictator in a little province known as John Teacherstan... Well those will have to wait, because I want to start with how I talk to my kids like they are idiots.
Last class, Lawrance made a comment about how he hated when people would leave out articles when talking to nonnative speakers. I thought to myself, that I totally agree with him and that its more detrimental to the learner when their interlocutor does this. Then low and behold, first class Monday morning I caught myself doing that exact thing!!! The sentence, "Oh, you went to park" tried to escape from my mouth. I don't know if it was because of our previous discussion that made me aware of this, but I had stopped before finishing the sentence and corrected myself. This makes me wonder how long I have been doing this. In the recent readings I was just introduced to Long and the interaction hypothesis. That if L2 acquisition is going to happen, then there needs to be modified interactions. Would this be an example of such a thing... Maybe, but I feel that leaving out articles is a bad habit to form... And I heard that all bad classroom habits are the teachers fault.
Now, on to the bird problem that I never knew I had. Besides not using articles, I also noticed that I repeat (T Echo) almost everything that my kids say. Like having a pet parrot in class but not so pretty to look at. I must have been doing this for a long long long long time because after I realized it, I couldn't stop. It took me a bit before I could actually proceed in the lesson and not TE. I think it might have started out as corrective feedback, but from what I noticed, right or wrong I wanted to TE what they said. This is bad for two reasons. First one being that there is no L2 acquisition from me TEing. Second, this means that I am talking WAY TOO MUCH!
Which gives me my Hat Trick for things not to do in class and thats just use a Monological discourse. I noticed it wasn't as bad with my older kids, but I am just dominating my little ones. They have no opportunity for Ss free talk. It's all T driven and when I do give them an opportunity it's the monological IRF, where it's a closed/display question that I'm only asking to check their vocabulary.
I view the STG program like going to the eye doctor for the first time because you think that you might need glass... Before going you think to yourself that your eyes aren't that bad, things are just a little blurry. Then when you get your new glass and put them on for the first time... Things become so vibrant, clear and beautiful, like full HD! You can't believe that it took you so long to go get them. And then the time comes that you see yourself in the mirror. Pit stained shirt, tattered jeans, socks don't match... Looking like you were dressed by a 3 year old. You can't believe that's what you actually look like. This is how I feel about this program. Helps me see whats really going on around me good or bad.
This being said, my Monday morning wasn't quite such a bust. For my next class I was able to change how I approached my classroom discourse. I know that some of these aren't huge changes but I believe that they are steps in the right direction.
My 6 year old class always has vocabulary to review. This time as I went through the colors I asked certain a S if they liked or didn't like said color. Then I addressed the class with the same question. At first they really didn't know what to do, maybe because of the way I was changing them from discovery to transmission, but they soon caught on to it. By the end they started to tell me other things that they liked that weren't color related.
Another way I tried to change class discourse was to relinquish my control, simply by asking what they wanted to sing at song time. We sing an emotions song that has 10 different verses. I have always chosen the order that we sang. Instead I asked them which ones that they wanted to sing. Again they were lost for a bit, but then picked it up quit well.
With my 7 year old class I broke them up into pairs for S-Q-S to replace T just reading and asking Q. This was also difficult and will take some time, but I believe through scaffolding they can pick this up quickly.
With group/pair work, asking open ended questions and letting the Ss choose the direction of certain activities will significantly help change my classroom discourse!
John, I enjoyed reading this. I've only reflected on my After School classes and I'm quite sure that if I recorded my morning program (5 year olds), there would be lot of monologic discourse - some referential questions...but probably not that many. I think as Tom mentioned, there is going to be some monologic discourse for sure - and with younger kids, I think this is especially true as they start out.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever played that game, "I went to market and I bought..." where each child gets to tell you one thing they want to buy? On their turn, children have to remember what everyone has bought before them, before adding what they want. I sometimes find something like this can really help children to become a little more expressive - letting them make their own choice - but also, as they get used to doing it, I found children would comment on what each other 'bought.' My 6 year olds loved that game last year... just a thought ;)
Here's moving onwards and upwards!! xx
DONE and DONE
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