15b: PETs becoming monsters

Having seen a bit of my students' work in the reading and writing PET exam today, I'm not hopeful. I have no doubt that the exam is valid, and that students should be capable of passing. Lack of level and autonomy is certainly a factor, but how much better would ss do if the exam had been presented at the start of the semester, and worked on throughout? Don't want to end up teaching to the test either...

15a: the description of analysis

While some students got to grips well with today's presentations, too many lost the point. Need to drill in earlier the need to analyse and give a fact-based opinion. The evaluation format also needs some work...

14c: present perfect

Very happy with today's work on presentations - I think I did a good job of explaining how they work, and showing the idea of opinions based on facts... might be good to bring this in as a theme earlier in the semester, to make ss think about how we use technology?

14b: pre-PET

Always good to get in some extra exam practice, but need to look into more dynamic ways of checking answers / getting ss to take an interest in the proceedings. Could go either of two ways: made it more casual and game-like, or make it more like a mock exam...

14a: so much good

Again, nice to be on familiar ground today with qualifiers. Still need to make this exercise more accessible for all teachers, and make it more my own, but definitely something to keep in.

13c: it's all relative

Was good to be back on familiar ground today with relative clauses. I think that ss saw the relevance of it, particularly in the context of previous input about avoiding comma splices. Now to see what I can do about making it more my own for future syllabus inclusion.

13b: the video / presentation handoff

Students' videos were really not up to much generally. Whether having English flaws or technical ones, almost all were hardly worth the effort. Have therefore given them a mulligan, and will have to see what they do with the final version. Still not sure whether the video project should be ditched, or whether doing two versions should be part of the project from the beginning. Have to have a good look at evaluation possibilities...

12c: practice makes perfect

Great to do PET practice today. Think the clouds might be starting to part for some!

12b: a Mompox on you

Great to continue this topic of tourism today, and continue working on the vocab, even though student familiarity with it is still not particularly high. Would be good to see how regular use of Quizlet right from the start of the semester would improve usage and intake, as for now it's pretty poor. Need to see how I can simplify the sentence structure info from today, as some of it was a bit messy / advanced for some students. Very useful though, and will be great to work this into further tourism classes in the future.

12a: going places

Really happy with how the first tourism class went today - bringing in my real experiences from Iceland and using a spectacular place that ss don't know but would like to worked really well. Just need to do something more with the vocab, as that was quite a heavy block. Would be good to have another vocab activity bank like we had in L6, or perhaps do a flipped classroom pre-teach?

11c: all ears

Really nice to work on authentic listening skills today with Tristan's video & activities. Not sure though whether it'd be so useful to keep in - phonological points too trivial? And many teachers just wouldn't be able to teach it, as they don't have the level. On the other hand, worked as an excellent dovetail for my own NPR exposure activity. Now to see if it gets ss doing a bit more extensive listening.

11b: candidates for success

Very happy with the lesson plan from today, and very pleased with how I fused the political info with the comma splice info. Will have to see though whether that will work for future semesters, and how I can bring it in as perhaps a more substantial topic.

11a: Politicking

Was good to start with politics today. It's never too easy to get a conversation going on this topic, but the 2pm class took to it well. The 4pm class started okay, but got tired quickly. Will have to see how this develops on Wednesday.

10c: the distance to travel

A mixed reaction from ss today. Some were clearly not happy about their PET results, while others saw it as an opportunity to improve. Need to see what I can now do to help, and how many will be willing to do the necessary homework to get up to level.

10b: diagnostic of a death foretold

Ss completed the reading and writing part of the PET today, so will need to get that marked tomorrow. But from what I've seen so far, many ss will need to put in substantial work to pull themselves up to the right level by the final exams in little over a month. Now need to see how I can present the gap facing many students to them on Friday so that they're clear on what they need to do. Will see what they need to work on, and how I can best let ss know about this.

10a: quasi-mulligan

Always good to get the ball rolling again! As anticipated, today was a real sprint to cover everything I had to, but it all seemed to work in the end. Now need to follow up via Facebook and WhatsApp to ensure that ss see what they need to do in the immediate future.

9c: relaxing send-offs

Very glad to take advantage of today's pre-break class to do some fun activities. Students at 2pm got their teeth into reading - it was trickier than some of them had expected, but very good all the same. I hope that we can build on this and work towards a real improvement in reading skills and general English exposure.

The 4pm students also seemed to enjoy the art gallery activity, and it was good for them to use English in a different context.

Now to enjoy a well-deserved break, and to see what remains of ss' English after we get back.

9b: to the librarium!

Am very glad we did this activity today, as it was a good way to get out of the classroom and open students' eyes a little. Will now have to copy their chosen books, which should make for more motivating reading activities.

8b: grading you, grading me

Things seem to have gone rather well with how students have evaluated the course thus far. As expected, there are things to be ironed out - particularly regarding the variety of activities (need to work on some more dynamic activities, different ways of doing things, activities that break up the usual rhythm and get ss moving around) and the question of differentiation - will be more work, but good to give students options as to whether they want to do more review, or make things more advanced. Also need to take advantage of this chance to clear up many misconceptions that ss have about how the class works.

Still, am very pleased that these things have come to light and so can be cleared up. Also very happy to see that on the whole, ss are happy with the changes we've made.

Now the challenge is to make the necessary changes and show ss that I am being responsive and that things are clearer than they originally thought!

8a: speaking out

Very pleased with how the oral exams went today! Even the lower level students (who really couldn't have passed, no matter what if given any speaking test at level) were able to contribute and give it a try. Having two clear topics meant that ss were able to speak about things in depth, really bring in relevant vocabulary and have what was quite a semi-authentic discussion that links in to their future careers. Much better than the usual superficial skimming of the surface in oral exams!

7c: rounding out

With today's class, we finished off our review of what we've done so far. Am not sure how the students will get on with next week's evaluations, tbh. They still seem quite shaky, and it'll be interesting to see how they get on. Also, not sure whether it's good to continue with the reading project. Some students are clearly disengaged with it, so don't know whether it's worth going on with. Am hoping that something can be salvaged, at least. Having a visit to the Colombo should be interesting anyway, as long as I can get together some interesting activities.

7b: failure as groundwork for success

Very pleased with how things went today!

1) Quizlet is working well, and now ss are adjusting to the new rules (phones up, no Spanish) it's a useful challenge.

2) The activities about Toys R Us worked well. Students reacted well to the topic (a failing business as opposed to a successful one) and it being such a recent news topic.

3) The report evaluation activities worked well. Students recognised good and bad elements, and saw what they needed to do to improve.

7a: making a mark

The content on brands is working well, particularly with some videos in class, and the inclusion of Juan Valdez. Still not sure how well the discussion / brand creation part of the oral exam will work, but it will at least be an interesting addition. Need to see what ss do with it.

6c: unconditional conditions

The first and second conditional info worked well today - the combination of up-to-date info and keeping it snappy worked well and gave it the right amount of challenge.

Report writing also seemed to be well-received, but I won't know to what extent until I see the student work on Monday.

Interestingly, the student who asked to do exercise on class asked me not to do it ever again! Which is a relief.

And students seemed quite sad that they're nearing the end of Dorian Gray... look forward to seeing what they propose we do with this time slot after we finish the book.

6b: shuffling off this mortal coil

My activities for English Shuffle today had very poor attendance. For the second, no-one showed up! I think that the first one went well, but students did not react well to the videos, with most of them taking this as a break to use their phones or have a nap! Once again, I see that ss should be given what they need, not what they ask for.

6a: what to report

I think that today went well as a first exposure to report writing. However, more time definitely needed to be given to the final writing activity, as it came across as rather hurried. Will have to see what additional practice activities we can fit in before the evaluation is upon us.

5c: signs of progress

The question forms info seemed to work well today - to a large extent, this is working with fossilized errors, and it'll take more than one class of reminders / practice to change that, but it seemed to be welcomed and taken in well.

5b: two-sided coin

Game of two halves today. On the one hand, I think that my first go at using quizlet was very effective, and I'll look forward to using it in the future. Was great to have students working together, recognizing their mistakes, and figuring out the right answers as a group. I also think that my lesson planning worked well and the materials work well.

On the other hand, the 4pm class particularly is showing the strain. They're younger, and the later class is hard for them in terms of concentration and staying on-topic. Need to make things more dynamic in order to break up the established pattern of class structure.

5a: rebadging

Brands seemed to have a positive reception today. Challenging definitely, but generally I think it was well-received. Still need to make some adjustments, but I think it's worth doing.

Am worried by the low level of a number of students. I can see that while some ss might get by through memorizing grammar rules, real communication and work-based vocab which is at level provides a real challenge for them. Some really struggle to form the most basic of sentences.

4c: in a bundle

So, that's the first part of the course wrapped up, cinema in the bag and the first evaluation out of the way. Results were indeed variable, with some ss getting great results, and others scarcely able to write at all. Still, the good thing is that they're now identified, and I've also been able to note various grammar topics which need working on.

The post-evaluation review went well today, and ss seemed receptive about where they'd gone wrong. Now to see how they take to business...

4b: first blood

Today was the first evaluation, and we'll have to see how the ss get on. Despite numerous examples being given and many opportunities to practice, I suspect that results may vary wildly... have to see. I think that having another part to the evaluation - maybe reading - could have been good too.

4a: in preparation

Having seen a few comments in the student diaries asking for more passive voice and cinema vocab practice, I decided to sway to public opinion and devote today's class to a pre-evaluation review. It went down well too, although I'm unsure as to how truly helpful it is. Still, it had a perceptual benefit. The basic dictation was quite shocking, as few ss could even copy down basic sentences. Need to put more emphasis on listening skills and this sort of dictation. We'll see on Wednesday how the ss fare with the first evaluation... always a watershed  moment.

3c: realia

My students' introduction to Ink magazine went well today. They were very keen to write something for it, especially if they'd get experience points for this! Classcraft continues to work well. Students were also very excited about the Bogotá Post - interestingly, not so much on the website, but actually having the newspaper was very exciting for them. Ss also very curious to know how they did with their videos - will be interesting to see how they react on Monday.

Dorian Gray continues to go well, but I'm concerned about my students' overall understanding of the characters and storyline. Think that for next week's reading, I should find them some overall reading comprehension questions to see how much they've understood up to now.

3b: the fabrication of cinema

Today was rather interesting in the end. Students were simply given the task to create their film by the end of the day and to use classtime however they wanted to that aim. I was first met by opposition, as students are used to having such things given to them and having longer periods to get things done. However, in the end they saw that I wasn't going to respond with anything other than "you need to find a solution", which they generally did in the end. Looking forward to seeing all the finished shorts!

3a: the satisfactory "click" of puzzle pieces slotting into place

Very pleased with how things went today - ss are starting to see the big picture and their place in it, and understanding the course as something to take seriously.

The film review analysis worked well, and ss saw the difference between a good review and those that weren't so good. They also seemed rather interested in additional practice, so we'll see how many use Tropfest as a chance for extra review.

Very pleased that Canvas is also performing. What I'd feared might be be a structural issue turned out to be pure PEBCAK. It works fine, and ss now recognise that it's a functioning system which they must adhere to. Their feedback over the weekend via the diaries has been revealing. Despite some minor fears that grammar has been dispatched of like the proverbial with the bathwater (more associated with the shock of the unfamiliar than any real issue), majority if ss are very keen and well-motivated.

This could also be seen today in how they took to the film festivals reading and discussion - been a long time since I've had this sort of participation and discussion.

Now to see what I can do with Wednesday's film-making class - need to keep ss on-task without it becoming too unstructured.

2c: off the cuff

Bit of a frustrating time today.

I think that the film review activities went well, and students enjoyed and benefitted from the activities. We'll see how many have their reviews on Monday.

On the other hand, while ss are still enjoying the Picture of Dorian Gray as a release from more heavy-duty activities on Friday, I do need to rethink the vocab pre-reading activities. It's too hard for ss to help each other when their descriptions of the vocab are at best odd and at worst bewildering. Maybe switch it for a multiple choice activity where ss have a limited and clear number of options?

Photocopies are also becoming an issue. Although it made sense for me to leave different copies for each class in Milcopias, it appears that the copy shop and the students are getting confused over which copy is for when. Still, perhaps unavoidable when I'm working on a lot of this course on the fly. For the future, better to have packs - one for all Dorian Gray activities, one for all cinema activities, etc.

If that weren't enough, ss continue to have problems accessing Canvas. Need to look into this and see how it could be avoided on Canvas, or Moodle or other platform.

Still, overall I think things are going in the right direction and I think the change of pace next week with the task-based video activities will do us all good.

2b: non-imposure

Today was a mixed bag, with things that worked, and others that I need to rethink.

It's all been a bit unsettled anyway, as students have come and gone and it's taking a little while for a natural rhythm to develop.

Cinema vocab and passive voice worked well, and I'm happy that these exercises I created myself continue to bear fruit.

On the other hand, I can't keep using the Indiana Jones activity. I want it to work, I think it's great in many ways, but the students just don't connect with it, and there's no real communication from it. Need to come up with something new.

2a: prime fillet

Was satisfying today to finally do some actual teaching, and see my plans start to come together.

Students reacted with some expected confusion about the Canvas platform, as they're not used to thinking critically about how they learn and certainly not being self-directed. I think it'll all fall into place though once they actually start writing their diaries, and they get into the habit of it.

The vocab went over well, and students were enthusiastic about asking questions about the material and seeing how the vocab could be used in practice. It was the first time in quite a while that various students have asked for more time to complete a speaking task.

Part of this was the effect of Classcraft, which students are taking to. It makes it concrete for them when they forget to bring homework, for example, and they're enjoying the benefits of those first few xp points. They've started to ask about getting gp, so I'll have to see what I can sort out...

1C: major plays

Today was quite a crunch day for the class, and I was a bit worried about how it was going to play out. After laying things out on Monday and Wednesday, today meant putting into play two of my main focuses this semester - the use of Classcraft, and the reading project.

The students reacted well to Classcraft, and saw it as an interesting way to use English in class. They read through the rules I'd prewritten, and were given the challenge of thinking up any changes they'd like to make. Will be interesting to see what they come up with! There were a few teething problems in terms of the actual interface and registration process on ss' phones, but I'm hopeful that these can be sorted out over the weekend via some Facebook-driven instruction. Then, we'll see how it plays out in practice on Monday, when it's all enforced. (For future implementation, get ss to sign up at home?)

The reading activity was very well-received. My initial vocab activity was a bit flabby, but gave some useful support when we read the first chapter today. Students were very keen on the actual reading, perhaps because it was very authority-led, listen with teacher. I think that for a number of them though, who've really had little experience of English fiction, it was a fun first try.

Now to set up a few things on FB so that Monday runs smoothly...

1B: the right direction

Today was always going to be a bit tricky, in terms of presenting the autonomy-based part of the course in a way that our authority-based learners will understand and connect with.

While they're not entirely sold on it yet, or entirely sure how to go about it, there seemed a certain amount of interest in being able to do this themselves, and some degree of appreciation that this was the necessary tariff for taking grammar out of the classroom. When this is bolstered through the autonomy video over the weekend and the learner diary next week, I think that things will fall into place. I can forgive my students for not seeing this as a priority right now, as it's primarily for them to be prepared for the end-of-semester PET exam, which is still way off on the horizon.

The sentence auction went well, which showed me that the use of gamification can indeed reap rewards - within the framing device of a game, students were keen to work on grammar, and became competitive players. It'll therefore be interesting to see how they take to Classcraft once it's introduced on Friday.

1A: the starting pistol

Having now taught the first class of the semester, I'm hopeful about how this is going to work. Both classes were very pleasant, and although student reaction was muted in the classes themselves, students were much more enthusiastic when writing me a letter about their aspirations. They were keen on a communicative, rather than a grammar-led, syllabus, and felt that the music I played and my attitude towards the class helped them relax and feel hopeful about the semester.

The only thing that I'm hesitant about is that turnout today was rather low... am apprehensive that there might be some rather less enthusiastic students yet to arrive to class. Shall have to wait and see!

Project Photopia: nearing launch day

The big day is now just around the corner! Last semester I was given many teachers' dream scenario - carte blanche to create my own syllabus, moving away from a textbook-led approach, and aimed at developing a course outline which would actually motivate and inspire students. The result, which I'll start teaching from Monday onwards, is Level 4: Project Photopia. The syllabus is based around various key pillars:

* No textbook. Instead of a prescriptive one-size-fits-all syllabus which tries to work with all students but in practice works for few, the new course can be adaptive both across and within classes.

* Degree-based content. Topics for the semester have been chosen according to the students' degree courses. So, the different topics will connect with students' academic and professional interests, and will be of practical use for their future work: business, cinema, tourism, etc.

* Clear B1 benchmark. Students will take a PET-style exam at the end of the semester to guarantee that they are at level and ready to continue to the last two levels of English.

* Autonomy. Given that this is generally a weak point with our students, there is an opportunity for students to develop this capacity. Students will therefore be required to complete a weekly learners' diary, and will complete a grammar diagnostic test which is then linked to an online grammar bank and self-study throughout the semester.

* Skills-based approach. The course will be grammar- and vocab-light, and instead focus on both receptive and productive skills. There will accordingly be no explicit systemic testing. In line with this, there is also a focus on a task-based approach, with its implicit focus on practicality, authenticity, and project work. In order to encourage extensive reading, half of each Friday's class will be used to focus on this skill. During the first half of the semester, students will read the Picture of Dorian Gray.

The course will also make use of three online tools:

Facebook as a primary form of extra- and intra-class communication and as a cohesive engine.

Virtual classroom sites (for one class, Moodle, and for the other, Canvas) primarily as a medium for students to write and submit their weekly diaries.

Classcraft as a gamification and classroom management platform. I'm particularly interested to see how this works as a carrot and stick to motivate students, modify their behaviour, and solidify and externalise their actions and attitudes throughout the semester.

The classes start on Monday and I'll continue uploading my reflections here: watch this space!