999 Questions for
Caring TeachersAnna Gębka-Suska
IATEFL Conference Cardiff 2005
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Overview1.Different ways to induct teachers
2.The origin of the idea (a holiday experience and Monika Cichmińska’s workshop)
3.Participants to guess the problem
4.Preparing your own ‘coaching’ questions
5.The metaphor for a language teacher
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1. Teacher’s handbooks, manuals, information packs, induction checklists, etc.
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“An unconscious mind is always
benevolent.”
2. An NLP statement
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Three men in Gliwice
3. A holiday adventure
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Is it easy for a person learning a foreign language to mix two different phonological systems in one sentence?
Can you imagine how an American person would pronounce the word "Pani"?
Will they ever be addressed “Pani Ewa” in real conversation when talking to a foreign person?
Will your students accept being called Tomek and Ewa if you explain why you do that?
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“Can Pan Tomek answer the question?"
“Is Pani Ewa ready yet?”
“Can Pan Michał write it on the blackboard?”
Teacher's talk:
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”What is she driving at?”What ways of presenting new vocabulary do you know?How often, to present new vocabulary or phrases, do you:- show real objects OR show pictures- draw on the blackboard- demonstrate or mime- present the new phrase in a context, give definitions in English- give the Polish equivalent How would you present to your students the following phrases:1/ red 2/ to ride a bike3/ half past eight 4/ Nice to meet you5/ a loaf of bread 6/ to the left7/ inexperienced 8/ under9/ expensive 10/ an onion11/ to sing 12/ Leave me alone!
How would you revise the above phrases in the following lesson?
Think of what you do when you listen to an Englishman speaking English. Do you translate the words and phrases into Polish before you are able to understand?
Is there time to translate the conversation into your mother tongue while speaking a foreign language?
A student is listening to English? Which model is more efficient? Why?
A/ cobweb pajęczyna
B/ cobweb If the teacher encourages translations into Polish which model does he promote?
It is known that a man can easily rremember a string of words that is not longer than eight syllables. Would you rather teach a phrase: ”at the same time” or the different phrases: ”at”, ”the same” and ”time”? Why?
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”What is she driving at?”
Do students make progress because they have been taught or because they have learnt?
Where does learning take place: - in the classroom - in the copybook - in the teacher’s notes - in the student’s head?
When does learning take place: - when the teacher is busy - when the student is busy - when the teacher has prepared for the lesson - when the student has prepared for the lesson
Who should work more in the lesson: the teacher or the student?
Is it OK to ask the students to help prepare teaching material for a lesson at home? Is it OK to ask them to bring pictures, cut out games, design simple exercises for other students?
Does the teacher have any influence on what goes on in the student’s mind?
Can the teacher make the students work harder in the lesson? Think about:
• organisation of the teacher’s materials
• organisation of the students’ work
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Imagine a problem that a teacher may encounter in his lesson
Write a few questions that would help the teacher follow your way of thinking about the problem. Avoid vocabulary that would make it too obvious.
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“When a brain is asked to solve a problem, decipher a
code, fathom a mystery, unravel a puzzle, respond to a curiosity,
answer a creative request, it immediately bursts into
life”.
4. Monika Cichmińska at the IATEFL conference in Radom
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The Metaphor
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This is a much more realistic picture.
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