http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/how-teach-creatively-using-textbook?utm_source=BC_TE_Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=low-resourceshttp://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/how-teach-creatively-using-textbook?utm_source=BC_TE_Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=low-resources
We don't have access on the net right now. Can we comment in the evening? When is the deadline?
ReplyDeleteEsa I said deadline in the evening. Now watch the video and some if they have access comment. Take notes and discuss and then based on the notes and discussion give your comments
ReplyDeleteIt was a really mice video,related to creative teaching.Nowadays we are all trying to understand what is creative teaching and this video shows me that a lesson to be creative has not the need of having a book in front of you.I totally agree with these techniques,because a creative and innovative teacher can explain a lot of things only with a need of a certain text,as in the case of the video but this text is not necessarily taken from the book but can be taken from a magazine or newspaper.In my french course today I have learned 3 grammatical points only with a long french song written in relatively big colorful papers,but I cannot neglect the help of the high technology in listening the song many times,and discussing with each other.It is exciting and interesting ,the things are memorized so fast and the teaching process was so productive,because everyone was happy for learning so many things.So,the innovative learning process can be done without books too. Practicing these methods it means going beyond the textbook and this phenomenon can be seen as a revolution in the corners of teaching.Another point of the video was that the teachers pay more attention in reading and writing,and they ignore speaking and listening,this happens because of examinations,but this is totally wrong.I liked the part where the teacher with a certain word can find out a lot of others,So the teacher proceed with the help of diagrams,and this is very effective.The teacher should collect information needed and put it into practice in a creative way.That is the essence of being successful educators,when pupils take charge of their own learning which presents a valuable opportunity to develop resilience and interdependence.I know that same teachers are gifted with natural creativity,and same others have to borrow to obtain creative ideas.I believe that truly creative teachers are masters at gleaning ideas from all kinds of sources.The words creative and teacher should be synonyms of one another.In that way the learning process is going to be complete.The pupils are not interested where the teacher seek inspiration,they want engaging learning activities,to learn in a warm environment which is in the level of cooperative teaching and learning.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
It was a really mice video,related to creative teaching.Nowadays we are all trying to understand what is creative teaching and this video shows me that a lesson to be creative has not the need of having a book in front of you.I totally agree with these techniques,because a creative and innovative teacher can explain a lot of things only with a need of a certain text,as in the case of the video but this text is not necessarily taken from the book but can be taken from a magazine or newspaper.In my french course today I have learned 3 grammatical points only with a long french song written in relatively big colorful papers,but I cannot neglect the help of the high technology in listening the song many times,and discussing with each other.It is exciting and interesting ,the things are memorized so fast and the teaching process was so productive,because everyone was happy for learning so many things.So,the innovative learning process can be done without books too. Practicing these methods it means going beyond the textbook and this phenomenon can be seen as a revolution in the corners of teaching.Another point of the video was that the teachers pay more attention in reading and writing,and they ignore speaking and listening,this happens because of examinations,but this is totally wrong.I liked the part where the teacher with a certain word can find out a lot of others,So the teacher proceed with the help of diagrams,and this is very effective.The teacher should collect information needed and put it into practice in a creative way.That is the essence of being successful educators,when pupils take charge of their own learning which presents a valuable opportunity to develop resilience and interdependence.I know that same teachers are gifted with natural creativity,and same others have to borrow to obtain creative ideas.I believe that truly creative teachers are masters at gleaning ideas from all kinds of sources.The words creative and teacher should be synonyms of one another.In that way the learning process is going to be complete.The pupils are not interested where the teacher seek inspiration,they want engaging learning activities,to learn in a warm environment which is in the level of cooperative teaching and learning.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I saw the video and it was a bit difficult for me to understand everything the speaker says on the video. It was very interesting and somehow helpful regarding to creative teching. I took some notes while listening to the video, that were very important. The speaker said that we can teach creatively using textbooks,through the use of brainstorming and the teacher should teach first the most important lesson and then the rest of the lesson. Then teachers should use dialogues, roleplays and other important things from newspaper and magazines. I agree with the speaker because student are more interesting in listening the most important parts of the lesson and they sometimes or always skip the rest, which is less important.
ReplyDeletesome other ways how to teach creatively is to use a lot of activities and to do them regularly in order to get the best effect. some of the activities can be roleplays, crosswords etc. make it clear that what they do in the classroon it's only the tip of the iceberg. To get real benefit from these activities they need to do a lot of work out. Also teacher should be a role model. This means that he/she should work with the students, not simply telling them to do things. This is especially for reading and writing as they are first skills taught by the teacher, according to the speaker. Somehow I agree with the speaker on this point but we should also teach speaking and listening. we can not ignore them because they are as important as reading and writing. how can we understand what teacher is saying when we are not able to listen to.
Another task mentioned, that i really liked was the relation of the textbook with the culture. According to Politzer:"Teachers should teach culture through learning language, not because they want to but because they have to. Teaching language without culture means teaching meaningless symbols". So before teaching the language teachers should teach the culture of that place, because language and culture are closely intertwined. And the most important thing, teachers can teach even when they have no books, that's why we have technology today. They can collect a lot of materials from different websites and can show videos that are millions available on the net, or different films using technology. We don't need a book to be creative, we firstly should know how to be creative and then use technology.
Thank you to both of you for this thorough analysis with examples from the video and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAs the world is changing through the use of technology so the education is changing to. As I saw this video in my mind I make a comparison with Grammar-Translation Approach a method which was used in the past for learning a language. Today we have different methods which have a cultural corner, different exercises which allows us as teachers and students to analyze, to explore, to think critically and to put what is learned into practice. Thinks have changed but this change is not sufficient for us as teachers. However nothing prevent us to teach the language through different activities. Nothing prevent us from teaching the language through brainstorming, role-plays, group or pair work and so on. As I heard in the video in their country as in Albania no attention is paid to speaking and listening. We all know that 4 essential components for learning a language are: speaking, listening, reading and writing. We should pay attention to all components because if we pay attention only in one or two components than our students will have difficulty in understanding a native speaker, will have difficulty in writing in English and so on. We can make the difference and nothing prevent us from making changes and be innovative and creative or we can be boring as our previous teachers. Today we as future teachers are 'fighting' to make students-centered and not teacher-centered as it is in all the western culture. We can make changes and we can change the way of teaching in order to make a productive generation.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very interesting video regarding to teaching creatively. In primary school and high school we have been taught in a very traditional way where the teacher used to depend only on the textbook without trying to include any other creative activity in order to get the students attention and to make the process of learning for the students interesting. I can remember the way how our English teacher used to teach us in high school, she was very confined on the textbook and did not use any activity to make the process of learning interesting, in this way it became very monotonous. This happened because the creative ability of the teacher was very limited.
ReplyDeleteCreative teaching as Sahid Fiaz emphasizes brings inovation in the process of teaching. In this way it produces an effective, enjoyable and original process of learning for the students. What I liked most from this video are the activities that we can use to design the process of teaching , especially puzzle and crossword that raise learners attention and curiosity. In this way we can create the possibility for all our students to get included. Another interesting thing were the sources that we could use such as magazines, newspapers and different stories choosing in this way a material which is more close to students interest. The last thing I liked from this video is that makes us clear that the process of teaching goes beyond a textbook.
To conclude creative teaching is the key which will lead us to make our future world "the classroom" a better place for the students to learn. As the American actor Alan Alda says "The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the seat of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you will discover is wonderful." And what we will discover is that in our hands lies the power to engineer "global" individuals.
“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” John Hope Franklin quote.
ReplyDeleteI think that using a textbook in class is a MUST for the simple reason that textbooks are a resource for both teachers and students. When choosing a textbook, teachers should choose a textbook that fits their needs and they should rembember the real audience who are the students/pupils.Textbooks are notably helpful for beginning teachers because the textbook gives you all the plans and lessons you need to cover.But the question here is not whether the teachers should use a textbook or not but how can they use textbooks wisely.There are some teachers who only rely on the textbooks and don’t consider other aids or other materials for the class.As mentioned in the video, a good teacher should also add some creativity to their textbooks.But fortunately nowadays most of the textbooks contain CDs,dialogues and loads of pictures which can be so helpful for the teacher but at the same time so beneficial for the students.
Some of the simple activites are also mentioned in the video such as ; warmers,brainstorming or crossword puzzles which can lift the lesson and energise learners.Teachers should also make use of CDs that are at the end of textbooks but unfortunately I’ve noticed that most teachers don’t make use of them.For example after reading a certain text the students should choose a fact or a detail and then write an opinion paragraph about it.One of the practices that I’ve used with my pupils is cutting letters into small pieces and in each piece of letter I’ve written a paragraph containg a lot of mistakes which they had to correct them.I divided them into pairs and they were really excited about this whole idea.I did the same thing the other day but instead of paragraphs I used gapped words.The result was really satisfying.It came as no surprise to me when they asked me for more such exercises.
At the end of the textbooks there are a lot of dialogues which students can read and perform them. They have to listen to the example conversation in the textbook and then practice saying or repeating problematic words for pronunciation.This way of practice will help them with the pronunciation of words but at the same time their speaking will become more fluent.For example after reading the dialogue,they are given about 5 or more minutes to memorize it and then they have to perform it in front of the class.It would be great if the teacher records them in order to see everyone’s mistake because by doing this the teacher can easily decide where problems are and after detecting the problems she/he can correct them.
Eurodita pls change the name of the blog from Era to Eurodita. I have not read your comment yet but it was hard to find you on the class roll by the name of Era only. Thank you
DeleteActually I'm not Eurodita,I'm Pranvera(Eurodita's sister) I will change it right away.Sorry.
DeleteThis video was really interesting on everything that was mentioned there. But, first of all let me explain what creative teaching is. Creative teaching is making an interconnection between the use of imagination and original ideas in order to create something new, different that goes beyond the boundaries a teacher sets.
ReplyDeleteIt was needed to take notes while I was listening the video because I had some difficulties on understanding the accent that the professor used but anyhow it was wonderful listening and watching it. According to the video, till the beginning of the lesson professor Shahid made some questions that were related to creative teaching. This was very interesting because it was a good introduction of what the students were going to listen, learn and practice later. Some of the questions were like:
1- How to teach creatively using textbook?
2- How can a teacher use textbook to improve the four language skills?
3- What kind of resources can be used for creative teaching?
The professor emphasized that the teachers have lots of possibilities in order to make an hour less monotone, and to motivate students on every activity that they use. The professor said that we can teach creatively with the use of textbooks, but also without using them at all. Nowadays, but also many years ago, the language skills that were most evaluated were reading and writing because the exams were focused more on these skills. But as he mentioned on the video, speaking and listening are very important too. It was really nice and fun that moment that he performed the gesture with the thumb, because the students were not focused on what he was doing but they were listening him very carefully in order to perform the act as he was doing. This is an important activity because the teachers attract the students attentions. They improve their student’s teaching skill.
Some other ways that the professor Shahid mentioned on the video were the activities that they use to improve the four language skills. There were many but the most important ones were like brainstorming. He took an example with the word “umbrella”, and made a small brainstorming related to it, every word that students thought was related to it. This is very helpful because because it makes student use their brain and search for words related to it. He mentioned also the use of cross and puzzles, warm up, spidegrams, use of dialogues, role plays etc.
An important fact that I liked was that the teacher may use not only the textbook to do the lesson, but she can cut different informations from newspapers, magazines etc, in order to increase for example their vocabulary. Or another thing that the teacher does is that he/she relates the information with the culture and environment. This makes students feel comfortable and more motivated. They learn things that would be useful for them
An important moment in the video was when he said that from a paragraph we could be able to teach punctuation, passive and active voice, tenses, symbols etc. so it is not meant to be a textbook in order to learn, it could also be something simple that maybe would be more useful. We can create new things in order to get the result that we were looking for because a good teacher is he/she that collects information from different sources and achieves the goal.
Thank you.
Starting from the early time until now, it's creativeness which guided people to express their feelings and their lessons. It is very impressive the way how this teacher has chosen to explain the lesson in the absence of high technology. The colored lines of sentence make the lesson more attractive and interesting. It's a number of ways to explain in the blackboard without using technology. It was a great video to watch, listen and understand how to motivate our students and also how to impose to them a new way of learning how to learn in a good manner.The most important thing that I have learned from this video is the importance of listening instead of gestures used by teacher. It was as an experiment to see the problems in learning, but on the other hand it was also a difficult video to understand because to me it had a lot of things in the same time to explain and may do this lesson difficult for students. What is the most important and make me happy and less worried is the fact that technology has made our life easier, quicker and which is most important, more understandable. Nowadays, it is more easier to explain a lesson and more easier to motivate childrens because technology is everywhere around us.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis was a nice video but a bit difficult to understand at first, which reminded me of how important accents are. All teachers should have a correct pronunciation and a good accent, but I guess like most of us Mr. Shahid Fiaz hasn’t been to an English speaking country or stayed there long enough to improve his accent. But this is another pair of shoes, so I’ll get to the main topic. In this video Mr. Shahid Fiaz is talking about creative teaching and what he is saying is actually everything we have been taught this school year.
ReplyDeleteEvery teacher, whether the language they use is in Albanian or English, has been telling us that old methods are now merely to be included in “A history of teaching methods” books. What is required nowadays is that we make it possible in the most creative ways to reach the learning objectives in the easiest ways, as it was also stated in the video. We are encouraged by all teachers to use textbooks merely as a source for what the topic should be but make every class different and enjoyable. We should awaken the love of the pupils for learning new things by making the classes interesting.
How can we do that? Well, some of the suggestions in this video were to insert dialogues and role-play making the pupils actively participate. Aristotle once said: “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” So, if you have to teach the vocabulary used in a restaurant why not act it out in the classroom. Two or more pupils can be the costumers, one can be the receptionist, another one can be the waiter and so on. Everyone will understand their part and that of their friends and most of all it will be fun. It will also improve their speaking and listening skills besides the skills (writing and reading) required in the exams.
Other ways to have creative classes, also mentioned in the video, can be brainstorming about a topic. This method makes pupils understand that they can have pretty good ideas if they give it a try and also that they can learn a lot from each other. I also think that when contributing even with only one good idea, pupils feel more motivated to participate more and express themselves more often.
One method that I am myself very fond of is using energizers. I think energizers are a lot of fun and create a positive environment. They can be used to shaken up the pupils since they might be inactive in other subjects and also help them remember new vocabulary. Mr. Fiaz used one in the video and I think that energizers are very useful to teach body parts, movements, etc. I have used others to teach colours and fruits. There are many energizers online. It is actually very easy for us as English teachers because there are tons of them on the internet and also available for free.
I also liked the idea to use pictures or drawings on the board to relate to the new vocabulary. I plan on using it as I would also use many other methods. The internet is there for us to explore and hopefully this class will help us do so.
P.S: Just in case http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/Energizers/Texts/Energizers_K-5_2015.pdf
I agree with you Fiorela regarding the pronunciation because is the first component that has an essential importance,because we have to do with the clarity of the mesaege that we want to convey.
DeleteI saw the video four times not because I couldn’t understand the way he was speaking but I like the way how he was presenting creative teaching. I think that the video in general was very interesting to be watched and to learn something new about creative teaching. As I noticed creative teaching is teaching in an innovative way, it means that books and technology are incorporated together.
ReplyDeleteUsing brainstorming, dialogue, role play or pair work can be so effective during the presentation of a new lesson.
While I was watching the video something strange attracted my attention, instead of using the four components in teaching language such as reading, writing, speaking and listening he was focused mainly in reading and writing, and said that speaking and listening are not evaluated. But how can we learn a language when we don’t speak to each-other or we don’t listen a short dialogue between two persons? It is just impossible because we won’t be able to share anything with others and in a moment of conversation we won’t be able to understand and give an answer.
As we know one of the main aims of foreign language teaching today is to develop learners ability to communicate with each other across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Somehow technology have interfere in the teaching. We are the generation that have to use technology and mixed it with text books in order to become innovative and to make teaching more interesting for our pupils and students.
Hi Baram,
DeleteI think he said teachers there are generally focused on reading and writing because that is what they assess in the exam, but he didn't agree himself with this. He was introducing activities that would help improve all four skills.
:)
It was a really nice video related with creative teaching and learning .I took notes while i was watching the video and they were very interesting and helpfull.The speaker mentioned that ,the teacher can teach his learners with textbooks in the class ,through the use of brainstorming ,dialogues , role play,crosswords puzzles and newspapers/magazines.I totally agree with the speaker because using different activities during the lesson ,creates an interesting and motivating atmosphere .They help the learner to memorize the lesson and focus the attention on the most important elements.Another thing related with the video is that nowdays the teachers can teach their learners even when they do not have textbooks.They can create a lot of models and activities ,collect materials and put them in practice in a creative way.So they should teach by using innovative methods and techniques. Even the learners can work and learn independently ,giving them the possibility to be responsible for their own creativity and productivity.Another point of the video is that teachers focus on reading ,writing and neglect speaking and listening.In fact the teacher has to focus the attention on the fourth skills .An effective learner should know how to communicate ,to write appropriately ,to comprehend the speaker ,being a good listener and to understand written texts .
ReplyDeleteAccording to the video I just saw I could say that is a very interesting video and very useful too. Its is useful to me because it gives me information about something new that I didn’t have approach before like is creative learning. While watching this video I could realize how effective can be this way of learning.
ReplyDeleteMr.Shahid in this video mentiones that teacher can learn their students with textbooks in the class by using different ways or methods. Some of which are ,brainstorming for example . Another method could be role play,or dialogues. Newspaper,magazine articles can be very useful to, for the students and for the teacher to transmit what he wants to the student. All this that I mentioned above are very useful to all of us because they can help the teacher very much to have the students attention. Students will not get bored from the lecture or from what the teacher explaines because they will be ‘occupied’ the major part of the time in exercises or in activities that will help them a lot in their process of learning.
Another thing that this Mr.Rashid mentiones on his video is that teachers nowadays can teach their students even if they do not have text books. This can be done very easily by collecting different materials from different sources and can create with them a very nice lesson.So this helps the students by learning through innovative and modern way of learning..Mr.Rashid here also mentiones another thing that I find interesting like the fact that teachers usually focus mostly on the grammar and vocabulary and forget the listening and the speaking which is totally wrong by the way,because a good learner should be able to read ,write, listen and speak very good.
And something else that attracted my attention in this video was the way that this teacher had organized the hour,the way of presenting the material to the student. He had used different colours on the blackboard to make it more interesting and which I find by the way a very good form to have students attention. Something else that I really liked was the attitude that this teacher has. In a moment he made a little joke with his students and they laughed which sometimes is good because it helps the students to relax ,be more concentrated and enjoy much more the class....
It was a very important video,and I noticed that the speaker suggests that teachers should be more creative.There are some ways how to become a creative teacher.Firstly,I am totally agree that speaking and listening are important. English teacher spend the majority of classtime on reading and writing practice almost ignoring speaking and listening skills.Teachers should not focus only on the texbook,they should be open to new ideas.The specific thing is to collect and organise different techniques from the other sources.Nowdays,we have some methods and activities we may add such as roleplay,the use of brainstorming,dialogues,crossword puzzles,jigsaw pazzles,different games ect.If students,do not learn how to speak in the language classroom they may get de-motivated and lose interest in learning.However,if teachers choose the right activities in the right way,speaking in class can be a lot of fun,raising learners motivation.Through speaking and listening students can develop their language,give and share their opinions on a given topic.Speaking skills should be practiced in the language classroom such as discussions,work in pairs,competitions ect.Another important issue,is the relation between textbook and culture,which are inseparable.Being creative can help teachers to solve different problems.I think that teachers should choose appropriate language for different situations.Teachers can also include the use of music and videos when he/she explains the lesson.At the end,the teacher should always keep in mind that a good teaching is valuable for society.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
The problem with our way of teaching is even with our textbooks which do not contain culture at all,and this is wrong because in this way we consider the pupils as being all the same,but not they are all unique and with different points of view.
DeleteTextbooks often play a central role in the formal teaching of foreign and second languages and in our case of English as a second language.The textbook is the traditional means of teaching which has been used from centuries past.But nowadays with the increase of technology usage in our classrooms, the teachers have forgotten how to efficiently use textbooks.They think that they are no longer useful for the learning process since technology is a much faster and useful means for that process.But I am not of the same mind as these teachers.A creative mind and resourceful and persistent teacher will always find a way to creatively and successfully teach with textbooks.Nevertheless, that does not mean I am not in favour of using innovations such as internet in our classrooms because there are some benefits.
ReplyDeleteThe video where Shahid Fiaz from Pakistan talks about how teachers can play with and supplement the textbook is actually a very good indicator of what teachers can do in the classrooms with just a textbook.I really enjoyed the part when he was trying to figure out if his students were following him as they tend to lose concentration during the classes and they need to be reminded of that.The method using the images drawn in the blackboard is also a good idea because we know pretty well that children especially love visualizing, drawing as they see it as a fun activity.
Furthermore, the activities that entertain the most the pupils are those who they see as a game as children love playing.Crosswords and puzzles are an excellent way of teaching in a creative way.Pupils will be more willing to participate and as a consequence they will learn new things, new words.Also, the reading of the dialogues by pupils is a very good way of inviting pupils to participate.I am eagerly waiting to use these methods with my future pupils as I am still a to-be teacher.I am certain that by using textbooks in a creative way, searching always for the latest news about teaching with textbooks, my pupils will always be motivated to speak and participate willingly in different tasks and class discussions.
Thank you for the video.
I really liked this video. It was not only interesting, but useful too, to help us in creating a new way by using different methods in teaching process.
ReplyDeleteThis creative teaching makes the students more attentive on the lesson.
What impressed me more in this video, was the use of different sources, like: magazines and newspapers,and not only textbooks like in traditional method.
I think that even though creative teaching is an interesting method but as Osman Rashid says: '' Textbooks are going to remain a key part of learning, they just need to go digital, become more interactive and they need more analytics.
But the perfect way of teaching would be a combination of the two methods, creative and traditional one.
An interesting thing to be mentioned in this video is the way Shahid Fiaz teaches by using some of the activities like: roleplays , crosswords etc and making an interactive lesson.
Shahid says that in pakistan and india is emphasized only reading and writing , but they should also emphasize speaking and listening as important as the learning skills that they emphasize.
To conclude, In my opinion this is a method that every teacher nowdays should put in practise.
This video inspired me a lot to follow this way of teaching in my future as a teacher and for this I am very grateful to SHAHID FIAZ.
As a future teacher I really appreciate this video. The lack of creativity in teaching has been a significant issue but nowadays things have changed. Teachers tend to be courageous, adventurous and daring. Creativity is all about taking risks and it is often blocked by the fear of being wrong. Being prepared of being wrong is an important part of being creative. All the issues that Shahid mentioned were important and helpful. The application of different activities is a good way to involve all the students during a class because through these activities they feel comfortable and free to express themselves and share their ideas. Another issue that I considered very important was the use of textbooks for the 4 language skills. We are aware of the fact that most of the time speaking and listening skills have been neglected but this is a big mistake. All four skills are crucial parts of the language learning process.
ReplyDeleteMy dear colleagues. In relation to the video we watched, i would like to mention few points which i think were important to progressive teaching and were mentioned in the video. Although the video itself had a simple content but a very innovative way of thinking, poor sound quality and very distinctive south-west Asian accent made it difficult to follow and i had to take notes too. Firstly i would like to point to the techniques mentioned in the video which, quite rightly were noticed by most of you, were the same techniques that we are taught the first semester and we are still reading.
ReplyDeleteSecondly i noticed an interest from the audience, and this to me meant that the techniques of the method with student/pupil core was still in the long process of introduction.
Thirdly, although the techniques mentioned above on the video support the pupil centered method and the interactive approach, i am not sure that culture differences, the width of our education system and relationship with the past allow us to move as smoothly towards an entity of a system pupil/student centered.
Although the easiness shown on video it is to be admired i think that whenever we, as future teachers, have the chance or opportunity to combine methods within Albanian areal we should choose carefully valuating our past history, our culture and of course choosing carefully and wisely our futures contributors education system
The albanien teacher don t have this sense of easiness while explaining things.I think that a teacher that makes the explanation of points difficult has not clear thoughts in her mind that s why she complicates things.We are taught with this complicity that s why our courses are boring and without interest.
DeleteI think Andrin has a good point here. In our country we have to follow the curriculum provided from the highest educational institutions. Teachers here are afraid they might loose their jobs anyday and certainly wont risk them for some experimenting. Therefore, everything Andrin mentioned above and also this issue make it very difficult to have student-centered classes, but hopefully not impossible.
DeleteI am glad to see that there are teachers like Mr. Shahid, who want to transform the traditional teaching process, which is concerned with the teacher being the controller of the learning environment, into a modern one, which is much more student-centred.
ReplyDeleteBeing focused only on the textbook, does not bring anything new or interesting to the classroom. Students can all read, right? The point is, that the teacher must create a positive environment, where students can benefit not only from the teacher, but also from each other. Sharing is caring.
Mr. Shahid mentioned some creative methods to teaching, focusing on the speaking and listening tasks. I really enjoyed the way he highlighted the importance of listening. Students should not be taught to imitate, but should be taught to listen. It reminded me of a quote : "You do listen, but you don't hear !" Some people do not really listen, they just wait their turn to talk. Is this what we want our students to become? Well, not my future students!
Teaching creatively enhances motivation and engagement in the learning process.The more innovational ideas a teacher uses, the more the class is satisfied and engaged in the lesson. Their engagement also leads to motivation, which is essential to conducting a successful teaching. As Horace Man said: “A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on a cold iron”. Another great quotation that emphasizes the importance of motivation and inspiration comes from William Arthur Ward. He says that the mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates and the great teacher inspires.
Personally speaking, I think grammar is the first task the students have to fulfill successfully, as if they cannot be able either to speak, or understand someone else speaking to them. A good way to improve their grammar skills, is to make extra exercises in a fun way. For example, you can write some exercises on a paper and put it into an envelope. Create 3 or 4 envelopes and divide the class into 3 or 4 groups, depending on the number of the students. Each group chooses an envelope and start completing the exercises. It is a good way for the students to put into practice what they know and also, what is more important, to learn from their mistakes. It is essential to emphasize the importance of errors, as they are not a way of making fun of each other, as it is a good way to learn from your own mistakes and that way, reduce the chances to make the same mistakes again. Practice makes perfect, right?
Speaking tasks are important as well. A foreign language cannot be learned only through grammar or reading. What about putting everything you know into practice? Speak out loud !! What I enjoy doing with the students, is creating hypothetical situations. You give a certain situation, something that does not take place everyday, and you just ask your students what would they do in that case. They start sharing their opinions, commenting on each of their choices and also agreeing or disagreeing with each other opinions! They will not be talking to the teacher only, but to each other as well. The teacher should the referee only and interfere obviously when needed. This kind of speaking tasks improve the critical and hypothetical thinking. There is no such thing as listening to different ideas on different odd situations. Let's make our students think!
All in all, I really enjoyed the video as Mr.Shahid was really engaged in introducing the importance of teaching creatively. I hope future teachers take his example, as it will be for the good of the future society, as us being a part of creating it along with other students.
Thank you!
Teaching based only on textbooks is not innovative at all nowadays. Using supplementary materials may improve constantly teaching& learning. In order to reach the objectives a teacher must use warmer up activities as well as brainstorming and a spidergramm.Listening is also a very important section, using extra materials as cd-s or DVDs- may be quite helpful.Flashcards and posters related to the unit taught are very handy because pupils use as many perceptive senses as they can.Reinforcing and consolidating are not reached only by using textbooks that's why a professional teacher must be very creative using other forms of teaching such as smartboards or using interactive classes.Using e-mails for checking their work. Using a smartboard a teacher may have a whole english hour different from what is there in the text.The teacher may add there pictures to make the vocabulary most interesting.The teacher may add there pictures to make the vocabulary most interesting.Also a simple video just to reinforce what is taught in the unit.
ReplyDeleteThe video was indeed a very interesting one for many a time we have all fallen prey of the textbook without altering what is in it to suit the needs of our pupils. The techniques that Shahid mentioned were not entirely new, but I believe that teachers always need to be reminded that using the textbook is what impends the pupils ability to go beyond what they see and start using their creativity. Hence, teachers should steer away from 100% reliance on the textbook.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all it is of crucial importance that we do not just teach only content, as Shahid mentioned, but we should also use other means of making the lesson stick with the pupil. Such means may be using crosswords, wordsearches etc. By employing additional teaching media (other than the textbook) teachers boost their creativity and therefore increase the likelihood of long-term retention.
Furthermore, I believe that teaching is not about the textbook, it is about our pupils. So if we want a lesson which meets the needs of our pupils, we should use the simple, yet effective strategies that Shahid mentioned in order to facilitate the language acquisition process on many linguistic and non-lienguistic i.e cultural levels. The thumb techinique was one of the examples that I found very funny because I was expecting something to come after it, but nothing did. Although it was funny and it does test the pupils listening ability, I think that it would distract the pupils from their tasks if it is done at an inappropriate moment of the lesson.
In a nutshell, I am of the opinion that textbooks are sacred, they are one of the best proven ways to aid in the learning process, but merely the textbook will not do to mould citizens of the future. Thus, I advocate for the integration of the multiple activities mentioned in the classroom.
The essence is that the teachers should find other ways of dealing with new terms,and the only source that our teachers have that is the textbook should be transformed into practice,in forms of games,crosswords,and a variety of other techniques.
ReplyDelete