Chapter 1: Teachers and Learners In this unit we will examine the qualities, roles and responsibilities of bothteachers and students in the classroom. Lesson 1: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teachers There is a saying "Poor teacher tells Good teacher teaches Best teacher inspires the students" and as Aristotle says "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit". Our character, basically, is composite of our habits Sow a thought, Reap an action, Sow an action, Reap a habit, Sow a habit, And reap a character". Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily express our character and produce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness. To become a highly effective and best teacher one should posses's sound character and good habits. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teacher is Habits of Effectiveness. They are based on principles, they become the basis of a person's character, creating an empowering center of correct maps from which a teacher can effectively inspire the students and continually learn and integrate other principles in an upward spiral of growth. The seven habits are 1. Be proactive Principles of Personal Vision over Teaching a:nd Learning. 2. Begin with the End in mind Principles of Personal Leadership 3. Put first things first Principles of Personal Management. 4. Think win-win Principles of Interpersonal Leadership 5. Seek first to understand. . . Then to be understood Principles of Empathic Communication with students 6. Synergize Principles of creative cooperation 7. Sharpen the saw Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal We can use these seven principles to help guide our actions as we improve our ability to provide access, equity and success for our students. Lesson 2: The Ideal Taecher Observation of teachers over a good many years indicated that the personality of the teacher is key factor in success or otherwise. Traits and skills which students appear to value are indicated below. How do you measure against the ideal teacher? The Ideal Teacher: • is expert in own subjects • is expert in the teaching role, well organized, well prepared • is confident, open to suggestions, other viewpoints, • is flexible and approachable • is interested in individual students, and spends time with them • is consistent in the treatment of everyone • is consistent in behaviour - always fair, always even tempered • is friendly, with a sense of humour • shares with students the teaching aims and objectives • knows the students as individuals - their strengths and their weaknesses • communicates well in a variety of modes including non-verbal • leads well, with appropriate pace • is flexible and willing to change the approach • gives feedback within an appropriate timescale. within the college • start the dialogue • greet the students in corridors etc • do not ignore standards of speech, manner and dress • enjoy relating to students In the Classroom • arrive before the class and begin on time • be prepared for the less interested class • keep everyone occupied and interested • extend and motivate all students • mark all work promptly and constructively • encourage student contributions • keep the room clean and tidy • maintain interesting display Try to avoid • humiliation Students resent it: • shouting it diminishes you • overreacting the problem will grow • blanket punishment the innocent will resent it • over punishment reserve always have something in • sarcasm it damages you Try to • Use humour • listen it builds bridges it earns respect • be positive and build relationships. • know your students as individuals. • be consistent If you have a problem, do not brood. Talk over the issues with a colleague Lesson 3: Teacher Roles In recent years there has been more emphasis upon ‘student-centred’ lessons, as opposed to ‘teacher-centred’. The reality is that some stages of a lesson will be more centred on the teacher and others will be very much more centred on the students. This will largely be dictated by the type of activity concerned. If we are able to make these changes appropriately our effectiveness as teachers will be greatly enhanced. During a typical lesson a teacher will have some, or all, of the following roles: • 1) Planner – prepares and thinks through the lesson in detail before teaching it. Thinks about appropriate activities and materials to make variety. • 2) Informer (explainer) – presents and lectures language or gives detailed information about an activity. • 3) Manager – organizes physical or group context to run smoothly an activity. Sets up rules and routines for behavior. • 4) Monitor (enabler) – goes / looks around the class and checks learning. • 5) Involver – makes sure all the learners are taking part in the activities. • 6) Parent/friend – comforts learners when they are facing difficulties. • 7) Diagnostician – Is able to recognize the cause of learners’ difficulties. • 8) Resource – can be used by the learners for help and advice. • 9) Model – The teacher is the fount of all knowledge on English vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. • 10) Participant – At certain satges of the lesson the teacher may to participate in the lesson as an equal, not as the teacher Lesson 4: Qualities of Good Language Learners These are all qualities that successful learners usually have and it is the teacher’s responsibility to encourage and foster these attributes in the classroom: 1. Good language learners find their own way and take charge of their learning. They determine the methods that are best for them as individual learners. They learn form others and experiment with different methods. 2. Good language learners organize their study of the language, and they organize information about the language they study. 3. Good language learners are creative. They understand that language is creative. They experiment with the language and play with grammar, words, and sounds. 4. Good language learners make their own opportunities for practicing the language inside and outside of the classroom. 5. Good language learners learn to live with uncertainty by focusing on the meaning of what they can understand, by not getting flustered, and by continuing to talk or listen without necessarily understanding every word. 6. Good language learners use mnemonics and other memory strategies to recall what they are learning. 7. Good language learners make errors work for them and not against them. 8. Good language learners use linguistic knowledge, including knowledge of their first language, in learning a second language. 9. Good language learners use contextual clues to aid their comprehension of the language. They maximize use of all potential contexts around the language attended to for enhancing comprehension. 10. Good language learners learn to make intelligent guesses. 11. Good language learners learn chunks of language as wholes and formalized routines to help them perform beyond their competence. For example, they may learn idioms, proverbs, or other phrases knowing what the whole phrase means without necessarily understanding each individual part. 12. Good language learners learn certain tricks that keep conversations going. 13. Good language learners learn certain production techniques that also fill in the gaps in their own competence. 14. Good language learners learn different styles of speech or writing to learn to vary their language according to the formality of the situation. Lesson 5: Language level Distinctions between different levels of ability in the English language clearly have to be made. The most common breakdown is as follows: Beginners – From zero knowledge of English to a very basic knowledge of English which cannot be quickly or easily activated. Elementary – Students at this level are likely to be able to form basic sentence structures and communicate on simple topics. Pre-intermediate – Able to communicate and understand a greater variety of topics but lacking general fluency and depth of language awareness. Still likely to make many errors even with basic structures. Intermediate – Able to understand and communicate on a wide range of issues using limited vocabulary store but still lacking in accuracy and fluency. Upper Intermediate – Should be able to actively communicate on almost all topics using a greater range of language but still lacking in accuracy. Advanced – Students should have a very good knowledge of the English language and now will be studying more subtle language items. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language ability. It is used around the world to describe learners' language skills. The CEFR describes language ability on a scale of levels from A1 for beginners up to C2 for those who have mastered a language. This makes it easy for anyone involved in language teaching and testing, such as teachers or learners, to see the level of different qualifications. It also means that employers and educational institutions can easily compare our qualifications to other exams in their country.
