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Monday, 21 January 2013
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
A student and his iPhone walk into a bar...
No, OK, into a classroom. A classroom with a whiteboard. And a teacher waiting who believes in a few things about teaching and learning, such as...
Memory and repetition are key aspects of language learning.
This doesn't have to be boring.
Nor does the teacher have to lead it all.
Figuring things out for yourself and monitoring your own learning are good ways to learn.
Teachers can help students do this.
(No rocket science so far.)
Technology can be a useful tool for such teaching and learning, depending on how it's used.
This does not mean technology is superior to less complex, more traditional tools, like 'normal' whiteboards, pens and paper.
But technology can expedite really basic processes and techniques like copying, hiding (later revealing), highlighting, checking and annotating.
A good example of the combination of these various points in practice came up in my elementary 1-2-1 lesson yesterday, so I thought I'd share it.
It was our first lesson together and we were revising the past simple. I asked him tell me a bit about his trip to London and how he came to be there with me on that particular summer afternoon.
1. He told me the story of what he'd done the day before in quite simple terms and I boarded each sentence, being careful to ensure different past simple verbs were included, without rendering the story unnatural -- regular (with the three different pronunciations of the 'ed' ending) and irregular.
2. After talking a bit around the information he'd given (how his flight was, etc.), I underlined the irregular verbs in one colour and the regular ones in another. His job was then to notice what the colours corresponded to. He got it.
3. I elicited from him the infinitives of each of these verbs and we practised the pronunciation.
4. We detoured a moment to focus on just the regular ones. I asked him to see if he could work out the spelling rules for the -ed endings. He got it, more or less. The rest, we worked out together.
5. Then I asked him to try and work out the pattern for why some were pronounced /t/ at the end, some /d/ and some /ɪd/. (He's Italian so tends to pronounce them all as /ɪd/.) He didn't quite get that so I helped him a bit.
Here's what the whiteboard looked like at that stage:
6. Here's where the technology came in (part 1). I got him to take a picture of the whiteboard with his iPhone, then he had about 30 seconds to study and remember the information in the pic while I wiped out all the verbs and annotations we'd made and replaced the missing verbs with gaps.
7. He put his iPhone to one side. I gave him the board marker. His job now was to try and fill in the gaps on the board with the correct past simple verbs. He spent a good 10 minutes on this, made quite a few mistakes, changed his mind a few times and in the end had done pretty well overall (to be fair, there was one sneaky passive lurking amongst the sentences, but he understood it - he just forgot the auxiliary). I didn't help.
8. Tech time (part 2). He picked up his iPhone and opened the image of the whiteboard he'd just taken. He used it to check (and correct, in some cases) his answers.
Afterwards, the whiteboard looked like this:
9. I set some homework: I dictated 12 regular verbs in infinitive form. Unbeknownst to him, there were 4 which end in /t/, 4 with /d/ and 4 with /ɪd/. His homework was to write them in the past simple and decide how they should be pronounced.
10. The following day... He'd spelled all the words in his homework perfectly and was pronouncing most of them well. We put them into three columns on the whiteboard (one for each ending sound) and practised once more for good measure.
(Note: If I did this again, I'd get him to re-tell me the story from the sentences he'd generated the day before, too. Due to various classroom and time issues today, we didn't.)
A while ago I was interviewed by a guy doing his MA dissertation on the use of technology in TEFL. I remember talking to him about how and why I use technology in the classroom, and having trouble explaining either (not his fault - I just couldn't seem to verbalise it!).
In the end I came to the fairly vague conclusion that I use tech the way I use any other resource - because it seems to be the best choice for helping a particular student learn whatever he seems to need at a particular moment in a particular lesson. (Same goes for groups.) I'm not a hardcore no-materials/no-tools kind of teacher, but I do tend to disagree with cluttering the classroom with these things unnecessarily.
What I like about this particular lesson was how it demonstrates how a common piece of tech that a student already has in his pocket can provide a really simple, neat, impromptu way of recycling and repeating new language.
What's more, now the student has a copy of the notes he can refer back to, without his having to spend 5 minutes of lesson time copying down everything from the whiteboard. We can also bring it back for some quick revision on Friday, the last day of his course.
Memory and repetition are key aspects of language learning.
This doesn't have to be boring.
Nor does the teacher have to lead it all.
Figuring things out for yourself and monitoring your own learning are good ways to learn.
Teachers can help students do this.
(No rocket science so far.)
Technology can be a useful tool for such teaching and learning, depending on how it's used.
This does not mean technology is superior to less complex, more traditional tools, like 'normal' whiteboards, pens and paper.
But technology can expedite really basic processes and techniques like copying, hiding (later revealing), highlighting, checking and annotating.
A good example of the combination of these various points in practice came up in my elementary 1-2-1 lesson yesterday, so I thought I'd share it.
It was our first lesson together and we were revising the past simple. I asked him tell me a bit about his trip to London and how he came to be there with me on that particular summer afternoon.
1. He told me the story of what he'd done the day before in quite simple terms and I boarded each sentence, being careful to ensure different past simple verbs were included, without rendering the story unnatural -- regular (with the three different pronunciations of the 'ed' ending) and irregular.
2. After talking a bit around the information he'd given (how his flight was, etc.), I underlined the irregular verbs in one colour and the regular ones in another. His job was then to notice what the colours corresponded to. He got it.
3. I elicited from him the infinitives of each of these verbs and we practised the pronunciation.
4. We detoured a moment to focus on just the regular ones. I asked him to see if he could work out the spelling rules for the -ed endings. He got it, more or less. The rest, we worked out together.
5. Then I asked him to try and work out the pattern for why some were pronounced /t/ at the end, some /d/ and some /ɪd/. (He's Italian so tends to pronounce them all as /ɪd/.) He didn't quite get that so I helped him a bit.
Here's what the whiteboard looked like at that stage:
6. Here's where the technology came in (part 1). I got him to take a picture of the whiteboard with his iPhone, then he had about 30 seconds to study and remember the information in the pic while I wiped out all the verbs and annotations we'd made and replaced the missing verbs with gaps.
7. He put his iPhone to one side. I gave him the board marker. His job now was to try and fill in the gaps on the board with the correct past simple verbs. He spent a good 10 minutes on this, made quite a few mistakes, changed his mind a few times and in the end had done pretty well overall (to be fair, there was one sneaky passive lurking amongst the sentences, but he understood it - he just forgot the auxiliary). I didn't help.
8. Tech time (part 2). He picked up his iPhone and opened the image of the whiteboard he'd just taken. He used it to check (and correct, in some cases) his answers.
Afterwards, the whiteboard looked like this:
9. I set some homework: I dictated 12 regular verbs in infinitive form. Unbeknownst to him, there were 4 which end in /t/, 4 with /d/ and 4 with /ɪd/. His homework was to write them in the past simple and decide how they should be pronounced.
10. The following day... He'd spelled all the words in his homework perfectly and was pronouncing most of them well. We put them into three columns on the whiteboard (one for each ending sound) and practised once more for good measure.
(Note: If I did this again, I'd get him to re-tell me the story from the sentences he'd generated the day before, too. Due to various classroom and time issues today, we didn't.)
A while ago I was interviewed by a guy doing his MA dissertation on the use of technology in TEFL. I remember talking to him about how and why I use technology in the classroom, and having trouble explaining either (not his fault - I just couldn't seem to verbalise it!).
In the end I came to the fairly vague conclusion that I use tech the way I use any other resource - because it seems to be the best choice for helping a particular student learn whatever he seems to need at a particular moment in a particular lesson. (Same goes for groups.) I'm not a hardcore no-materials/no-tools kind of teacher, but I do tend to disagree with cluttering the classroom with these things unnecessarily.
What I like about this particular lesson was how it demonstrates how a common piece of tech that a student already has in his pocket can provide a really simple, neat, impromptu way of recycling and repeating new language.
What's more, now the student has a copy of the notes he can refer back to, without his having to spend 5 minutes of lesson time copying down everything from the whiteboard. We can also bring it back for some quick revision on Friday, the last day of his course.
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Giving feedback on writing (#ELTchat summary, 13/06/12)
Last night's ELT Chat was attended by TEFLers from all over the world - the UK, Canada, Greece, Israel, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, and many more.
Most of the chat ended up being given over to how to correct students' writing, with not that much discussion of giving feedback more generally, though some interesting points did come up about focusing on the 'big picture' versus the 'nitty gritty', for example.
And so, without further ado, here's a digested version of the main issues discussed...
1. General feedback on/response to students' writing
Many chatters agreed that errors are not the only thing to give feedback on in students' writing - we also need to recognise what our students are doing well (e.g. good vocab use, good grammar, etc.), and how communicative and genuinely engaging their writing is.
Most of the chat ended up being given over to how to correct students' writing, with not that much discussion of giving feedback more generally, though some interesting points did come up about focusing on the 'big picture' versus the 'nitty gritty', for example.
And so, without further ado, here's a digested version of the main issues discussed...
1. General feedback on/response to students' writing
Many chatters agreed that errors are not the only thing to give feedback on in students' writing - we also need to recognise what our students are doing well (e.g. good vocab use, good grammar, etc.), and how communicative and genuinely engaging their writing is.
The most important thing for @antoniaclare is to focus on the big picture (i.e. how well has the student conveyed the message, am I engaged as a reader, can I respond to it personally?), and feedback on content, before micro errors - @Marisa_C, @shaunwilden and @theteacherjames agreed!
Many chatters also agreed that class time, as well as homework time, should be dedicated to different stages in the process of writing - writing itself, reviewing, correcting, editing, re-drafting, and so on.
2. ...and more detailed feedback
@lauraahaha said that when she is the student, she likes all the time and effort she put into the writing to be recognised by the teacher in terms of detailed feedback (not just on the 'big picture). @leoselivan agreed, noting that students also like feedback on the nitty gritty of their writing too, though, so this shouldn't be neglected. But he also noted that since becoming an IELTS examiner, he's focused more and more on the 'big picture' when marking students' writing.
3. Agreeing with students how their work will be marked
@lauraahaha suggested that the teacher should agree with students before the work is marked, or perhaps even written, what he/she is going to correct (e.g. only 5 mistakes, or only verb tenses). Similarly, @purple_steph suggested it's important to communicate the marking standards you'll be using to students. @louisealix68 also suggested that students could give each other feedback and re-draft their writing before the teacher sees it. And @theteacherjames said he gets students to create their own feedback criteria before writing a draft so they know what is expected, with @Marisa_C noting how surprisingly strict students can be with each other if they do this!
@Marisa_C mentioned Wilga Rivers' "percentages" for marking writing, e.g. 20% vocab, 20% grammar, 20% ideas, etc. (as in, you cannot deduct more than 20% or 30% of the total mark for bad grammar)
4. Using correction codes
@Marisa_C shared an amusing correction code
@leoselivan observed that it's difficult to use a marking code where you highlight every error AND focus on the big picture at same time. Using a marking code effectively encourages teachers to be a bit more 'petty', focusing on small details, he says.
@theteacherjames said one of his most useful projects in the past has been co-creating a school-wide correction code for all teachers to use. @lauraahaha didn't have such a good experience (one 'senior' teacher created a code which was then enforced on everybody) and suggested that the concept of "CO-creating" was important if this was to be successful. @purple_steph has also had trouble implementing this in her college.
Several chatters noted that consistency of code use between teachers does help if students are to work and progress long-term in their writing. @theteacherjames later said that he'd stopped using a correction code - students seem to get on fine without it. If they're just pointed towards an error, they can often work out what it is.
5. Using coloured pens to mark work
@David__Boughton asked how people felt about using red pen for correction. @Marisa_C said it doesn't have to be that scary, but conceded that most books argue against it. @leoselivan and @antoniaclare agreed that red pen isn't necessarily that harsh - and @shaunwilden observed that it's more the amount of colour on the page than what colour is used which might frighten students!
@stiiiv suggested teachers could use two colours - one for marking the good bits in students' writing, and another for marking the not-so-good (though @purple_steph and @esolcourses advised against red and green for this purpose, in case students are colour blind!). He also mentioned a colleague who uses different colours for different errors (e.g. green for grammar, red for vocab) to help students see patterns. @Marisa_C said she does this in Word - using different colour highlighting for different purposes.
6. Other tools and techniques for writing feedback
@singernick, @shaunwilden and @lauraahaha all talked about using screencasts as a means of giving students feedback. @lauraahaha shared a link to her blog post featuring an example of this. Several chatters mentioned how well students receive this - @Marisa_C says it adds the teacher's 'personal touch'. @antoniaclare shared a collection of links and thoughts about giving video feedback on written work here (by Russell Stannard).
@Noreen_Lam suggested teachers might highlight errors on the whiteboard without identifying which students' writing they came from, then let students peer correct. @stiiiv noted how this brings students together around the board - they work together with a real focus. @shaunwilden added that this could include putting things on the whiteboard that were GOOD, so students could learn from each other's strengths as well as their weaknesses.
@stiiiv mentioned a way of raising learners' awareness of common error patterns (possibly caused by L1) - get them to translate a short text into their L1, then translate it back without referring to the original, then explore the 'why' of the differences.
@harrisonmike mentioned a technique in which the teacher asks students to tell them something, then writes what they say verbatim on the whiteboard, and then learners edit this together. @samshep confirmed this is a "Language Experience Approach" taken from literacy teaching.
@Marisa_C suggested the converse of this activity (CLL-style) - the teacher asks students to read out what they've written, then repeats it back to them, correcting their errors.
7. Long-term learning from writing feedback
@Noreen_Lam mentioned a writing record sheet she uses on which students can record good language and frequent errors, for later reference. @lauraahaha also argued that it's important for students to keep a record of good language use and their common errors somewhere other than on one piece of written work itself, so they can refer back to it for later writing (something like keeping a vocabulary notebook for later study/reference).
@stiiiv similarly suggested getting learners to share the feedback they got on GOOD language use, pooling it all together into one class log for future use/reference.
8. What about working on writing with 1-2-1 students?
@marcosgazzana asked about getting 1-2-1 students to write (despite their not often wanting this, but preferring speaking practice) and how to give feedback, or coach them on this
Many chatters also agreed that class time, as well as homework time, should be dedicated to different stages in the process of writing - writing itself, reviewing, correcting, editing, re-drafting, and so on.
2. ...and more detailed feedback
@lauraahaha said that when she is the student, she likes all the time and effort she put into the writing to be recognised by the teacher in terms of detailed feedback (not just on the 'big picture). @leoselivan agreed, noting that students also like feedback on the nitty gritty of their writing too, though, so this shouldn't be neglected. But he also noted that since becoming an IELTS examiner, he's focused more and more on the 'big picture' when marking students' writing.
3. Agreeing with students how their work will be marked
@lauraahaha suggested that the teacher should agree with students before the work is marked, or perhaps even written, what he/she is going to correct (e.g. only 5 mistakes, or only verb tenses). Similarly, @purple_steph suggested it's important to communicate the marking standards you'll be using to students. @louisealix68 also suggested that students could give each other feedback and re-draft their writing before the teacher sees it. And @theteacherjames said he gets students to create their own feedback criteria before writing a draft so they know what is expected, with @Marisa_C noting how surprisingly strict students can be with each other if they do this!
@Marisa_C mentioned Wilga Rivers' "percentages" for marking writing, e.g. 20% vocab, 20% grammar, 20% ideas, etc. (as in, you cannot deduct more than 20% or 30% of the total mark for bad grammar)
4. Using correction codes
@Marisa_C shared an amusing correction code
@leoselivan observed that it's difficult to use a marking code where you highlight every error AND focus on the big picture at same time. Using a marking code effectively encourages teachers to be a bit more 'petty', focusing on small details, he says.
@theteacherjames said one of his most useful projects in the past has been co-creating a school-wide correction code for all teachers to use. @lauraahaha didn't have such a good experience (one 'senior' teacher created a code which was then enforced on everybody) and suggested that the concept of "CO-creating" was important if this was to be successful. @purple_steph has also had trouble implementing this in her college.
Several chatters noted that consistency of code use between teachers does help if students are to work and progress long-term in their writing. @theteacherjames later said that he'd stopped using a correction code - students seem to get on fine without it. If they're just pointed towards an error, they can often work out what it is.
5. Using coloured pens to mark work
@David__Boughton asked how people felt about using red pen for correction. @Marisa_C said it doesn't have to be that scary, but conceded that most books argue against it. @leoselivan and @antoniaclare agreed that red pen isn't necessarily that harsh - and @shaunwilden observed that it's more the amount of colour on the page than what colour is used which might frighten students!
@stiiiv suggested teachers could use two colours - one for marking the good bits in students' writing, and another for marking the not-so-good (though @purple_steph and @esolcourses advised against red and green for this purpose, in case students are colour blind!). He also mentioned a colleague who uses different colours for different errors (e.g. green for grammar, red for vocab) to help students see patterns. @Marisa_C said she does this in Word - using different colour highlighting for different purposes.
6. Other tools and techniques for writing feedback
@singernick, @shaunwilden and @lauraahaha all talked about using screencasts as a means of giving students feedback. @lauraahaha shared a link to her blog post featuring an example of this. Several chatters mentioned how well students receive this - @Marisa_C says it adds the teacher's 'personal touch'. @antoniaclare shared a collection of links and thoughts about giving video feedback on written work here (by Russell Stannard).
@Noreen_Lam suggested teachers might highlight errors on the whiteboard without identifying which students' writing they came from, then let students peer correct. @stiiiv noted how this brings students together around the board - they work together with a real focus. @shaunwilden added that this could include putting things on the whiteboard that were GOOD, so students could learn from each other's strengths as well as their weaknesses.
@stiiiv mentioned a way of raising learners' awareness of common error patterns (possibly caused by L1) - get them to translate a short text into their L1, then translate it back without referring to the original, then explore the 'why' of the differences.
@harrisonmike mentioned a technique in which the teacher asks students to tell them something, then writes what they say verbatim on the whiteboard, and then learners edit this together. @samshep confirmed this is a "Language Experience Approach" taken from literacy teaching.
@Marisa_C suggested the converse of this activity (CLL-style) - the teacher asks students to read out what they've written, then repeats it back to them, correcting their errors.
7. Long-term learning from writing feedback
@Noreen_Lam mentioned a writing record sheet she uses on which students can record good language and frequent errors, for later reference. @lauraahaha also argued that it's important for students to keep a record of good language use and their common errors somewhere other than on one piece of written work itself, so they can refer back to it for later writing (something like keeping a vocabulary notebook for later study/reference).
@stiiiv similarly suggested getting learners to share the feedback they got on GOOD language use, pooling it all together into one class log for future use/reference.
8. What about working on writing with 1-2-1 students?
@marcosgazzana asked about getting 1-2-1 students to write (despite their not often wanting this, but preferring speaking practice) and how to give feedback, or coach them on this
@leoselivan suggested it's not worth forcing them if they don't want/need it, and @Noreen_Lam suggested if they do want/need it, it just becomes more collaborative between teacher and students, working through a piece of writing together and letting the student choose the final version.
@antoniaclare also suggested keeping pace and variety helps - doing lots of little writing activities with them throughout lessons.
9. What difference does teachers' feedback actually make? How else can students develop their writing?
@Marisa_C asked the $64,000,000 question(s): do students actually benefit from correction, and how much can they really assimilate? @lauraahaha said they only benefit from it insofar as they engage with it (not just read then ignore it, or blindly follow teachers' corrections), like with anything else; and @antoniaclare mentioned some SLA research that suggests students don't actually get as much as they feel they do from teachers' corrections!
9. What difference does teachers' feedback actually make? How else can students develop their writing?
@Marisa_C asked the $64,000,000 question(s): do students actually benefit from correction, and how much can they really assimilate? @lauraahaha said they only benefit from it insofar as they engage with it (not just read then ignore it, or blindly follow teachers' corrections), like with anything else; and @antoniaclare mentioned some SLA research that suggests students don't actually get as much as they feel they do from teachers' corrections!
@David__Boughton said that, regardless of what research may say, he sees that it helps his students. @lauraahaha countered that this is exactly why objective research is done, however - because we can't always trust our intuitions as teachers. @leoselivan suggested we google someone called Truscott, who's an active voice against error correction.
On a slight tangent - @antoniaclare noted that intuition is such an important part of a good teacher's toolkit. @lauraahaha mentioned a good book she's been reading recently about intuitive practice.
@marcosgazzana feels that students at lower levels can't necessarily spot errors, even if they're pointed in the right direction, but @theteacherjames and @shaunwilden countered that this is where the teacher comes in - to help them, guide them and train them to spot errors. @David__Boughton also noted that multilingual classes can surprise you with how many things they can spot.
@Marisa_C and @antoniaclare noted that exposure to written language is key in developing students' writing skills - students who go through intensive AND extensive reading programmes end up being better writers.
10. So, what can we conclude from all this?
@Marisa_C concluded from the chat that we need to experiment with different ways of giving feedback on students' writing, and potentially do some action research, including asking students themselves what they feel works for them.
11. Summary of links that were shared
And... that's about it for this week's #ELTchat! See you at the next one...
On a slight tangent - @antoniaclare noted that intuition is such an important part of a good teacher's toolkit. @lauraahaha mentioned a good book she's been reading recently about intuitive practice.
@marcosgazzana feels that students at lower levels can't necessarily spot errors, even if they're pointed in the right direction, but @theteacherjames and @shaunwilden countered that this is where the teacher comes in - to help them, guide them and train them to spot errors. @David__Boughton also noted that multilingual classes can surprise you with how many things they can spot.
@Marisa_C and @antoniaclare noted that exposure to written language is key in developing students' writing skills - students who go through intensive AND extensive reading programmes end up being better writers.
10. So, what can we conclude from all this?
@Marisa_C concluded from the chat that we need to experiment with different ways of giving feedback on students' writing, and potentially do some action research, including asking students themselves what they feel works for them.
11. Summary of links that were shared
- Links and thoughts about giving video feedback on written work (by Russell Stannard).
- @lauraahaha's blog post on a screencast she sent a student for writing feedback
- Voxopop and Voicethread (shared by @antoniaclare as free tools for giving feedback in which people can leave video, audio or text comments)
- Language Experience Approach to developing writing (thanks @samshep)
- An article on superficial error correction being ineffective (thanks @antoniaclare)
- And another one (thanks @antoniaclare again!)
- TEFLtastic's Alex Case talking about writing correction codes (thanks @harrisonmike)
- Book recommendation: The Intuitive Practitioner: On the Value of Not Always Knowing What One Is Doing (via @lauraahaha)
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