ZGUČAN teaching practice as a subject consisted of primary classroom observation (1st part: 5 lessons or more, 2nd part: 15-20 lessons) and teaching lessons independently (8-10 lessons), all of which then had to be documented in a portfolio. I have to point out that we had other microteachings beside teaching practice. Actually, you had to do at least one for pretty much every subject we had in the ZGUČAN programme. So lots and lots of practice. Time-consuming as it was, it was the best part of our programme since we got to see fellow teachers in action and this gave me lots of new teaching ideas. However, the problem was we were all tired of doing so much work at the end and what happened was we just started doing the same lessons in different courses to save time and energy. Therefore I feel a lot of the time meant for teaching practice and microteachings was wasted. In my opinion, the same effect could be achieved in less time devoted to teaching practice - especially since the programme is primarily meant for teachers with experience, not students.
As for the classroom observations, there is a thing or two I think language teachers could learn from primary teachers. The first thing I noticed was something about YL attention span. The general opinion among language teachers is that young learners' concentration span is extremely short. The idea is that the activities we use with young learners should only last a few minutes each and then we should switch to something else. However, as I've been doing my class observation tasks, I now know that regular primary school teachers don't hold the same beliefs. Yes, with proper classroom management, children can absolutely do maths or whatever for twenty minutes IN SILENCE. Yes, successfully. No, they won't burst into madness and start running around or fall asleep behind their desks. Yes, I've seen it with my own two eyes. And classroom discipline? Top-notch. Who knew. Anyway, I'm not saying that we should start having boring lessons but I don't think using activities longer than three minutes is always bad. And the second thing that caught my attention? The handwriting primary teachers use is flawless. We all know why that's important for YL students but I'm afraid language teachers often neglect it.
As part of our teaching practice, we also had to prepare a list useful YL websites and a list of YL activities that work. I published a blog post with useful websites a while ago and I'm sharing a few activities in this post.
- The one and only Simon Says. It's probably the most (over)used game among English teachers and for a good reason. It's incredibly versatile, you can use it for pretty much any vocabulary field, and students love it! I'm pretty sure you know the rules to Simon Says and if not, click on the link. Simon says is a TPR activity but in time (and in small groups) you can get students to make up their own instructions and assume the role of Simon. Here are some instruction ideas:
- Simon says stand up/sit down/turn around/jump/swim/fly/dance (movements)
- Simon says open your pencil case/close your notebook/take your pen (classroom language)
- Simon says touch your nose/ears/legs/trousers/slippers (body parts/clothes)
- Simon says stand next to/behind/on/in front of your chair (prepositions)
- Simon says play basketball/football/tennis, go surfing/skiing (sports)
- Washing line: I've been using this activity for years and I wouldn't think about even putting it on this list but I've recently had a group of English students with their mentor in my classroom and they loved it. So here goes. You need a washing line, some pegs and some old clothes. Tell your students that you've washed some clothes which now need to be hanged on the washing line. Ask two students to hold the washing line (or attach it in some other way). Then put all of your clothes on a desk and tell individual students: "The (T-shirt) is wet. Can you hang the T-shirt on the washing line, please? Do you need any pegs? How many pegs do you need?" etc. Once all the clothes are hanging on the washing line, call individual students and tell them: "The (T-shirt) is dry. Can you take it off the washing line for me, please? Can you fold it, please?" until the clothes are folded. The students can then do this activity in pairs or groups. Due to shortage if clothes you have probably brought with you, they can do this activity with clothes they have cut out of paper.
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- Fruit tasting: Prepare pieces of different fruits. Have the students sit in a circle. Blindfold individual students and ask them to open their mouths. Put a piece of fruit in the student's mouth and then he/she has to guess what fruit it is.
*Don't force students to eat fruit. Some of them might be allergic to something, others might simply not like it.
*Think about all the regulations that might apply to activities involving food, such as HACCP.
- Fruit market: prepare pieces of different fruits. Bring some Monopoly money or have the student make some. Improvise a fruit stand. The children should individually approach the fruit stand and buy what they like. The conversation between the costumer (student) and the costermonger (you) should go like this:
- Hello!
- Hello! Can I help you?
- A (banana), please!
- Here you are!
- Thank you!
- One pound, please!
- Here you are!
- Thank you!
- Goodbye!
- Goodbye!
- *This activity works with other foods as well. It also works with models or pictures instead of real foods, but it's less interesting.
I hope this comes in handy. You'll be able to read about some other activities we did in other subjects, such as science experiments for kids, in one of my future posts. :)
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