Chat with Lars-Petter, Helene, Christoffer and Dorothea                                         (duration: 50 minutes)

 

We started the discussion by concluding that there are some good ideas to avoid burnout for teachers. Christoffer wonders how you can really avoid burnout but agrees with Dorothea that the book gives some inspiration. Lars-Petter is of the opinion that burnout is not that much important for young teachers, and it sounds a little bit abstract to him.

However, Helene did not focus so much on the topic burnout but suggests changing the topic to different roles of the teacher`s job.

Rapport seems to be most important for all members of the discussion, then we agreed that it is also important to attach to the student`s interests in order to get them interested and motivated in tasks. Christoffer mentions as well that on his school, teachers get often the role of an organiser and controller in classes.

Afterwards, we changed the focus in discussion to class size, regarding teachers` role in large classes. Lars-Petter pointed out that in bigger classes the teacher has not enough time to give each pupil adequate feedback. Christoffer thinks that it is easier with students with higher language proficiency to work in large classes. Under these circumstances it is not easy for teachers to differentiate for pupils, therefore it can be efficient to give different tasks for the same topic, supposes Helene.

We agreed that the book written by Harmer gives some interesting ideas how to cope large class size and asked each other how many pupils we have in our classes in general. Thereafter, we stated that the role we want to have as a teacher is more the type of a facilitator rather than a controller.

But which role to choose is most desirable now in reality for a teacher, asked Lars-Petter. Dorothea suggested that you should be yourself as much as you can, being genuine and generous-minded. We agreed all that good routines and organisation are core aspects for good sessions with the intention of all students are feeling comfortable in the class and that no students with higher language proficiency end up as teacher aids. 

Later, we were discussing about concrete examples of class routines and Helene gave us some brilliant ideas of word wall and word banks on posters or apps. Also, she emphasized the fact that learners should be involved in planning and organisation in order to increase students` motivation and insight in their own learning process. We stated together, that no matter which school you are teaching at, learners should be involved in planning and deciding aspects of their learning.

Most challenging about teaching in large classes are for us things like distraction and mixed levels of ability. Differentiated tasks requires more time and effort for teachers to plan and evaluate lessons. Helene suggested that creative tasks are very efficient for learning outcomes, because learners can create their own products and are more affected but that these tasks are more difficult to grade. If the teacher is not so used to it at the beginning, creative tasks feel like having a situation out of control in the start. Lars-Petter mentions as well, that tasks containing drama and humour are even better for large classes. 

Finally, we discussed the pros and cons of mixed classes. Christoffer is of the opinion that mixed classes are better than dividing leaners up in small groups according to their level, as it is often done in UK for example. Dorothea mentions that nobody in class wants to be the odd one out and desires to be in the low level “idiot group”, especially for teenagers. Lars-Petter thinks that the whole thing of dividing students up into levels is more complex. At least, students wish to be together with their friends and classmates. The book briefly suggests using “stronger” pupils for helping “weaker” language students, but Helene comments that learners with high language proficiency would not feel enough challenged in their learning. 

In the end, we stated that the changes in learning curriculums will maybe bring benefits for high talented learners in English. Lars-Petter mentions as well that it will take long time to change the Norwegian culture of teaching whole classes in contrast to teaching in level groups. We conclude that it is easier for teachers not to differentiate too much, considering time and effort, and that there is no simple solution for teaching mixed-ability groups.

 

Thanks for a fruitful discussion, Dorothea 

Participants: Vidar, Caroline, Anne-Berit, Ann- Kristin and Tonje

We ended up using Messenger after trying and discussing different options. Due to technical difficulties Messenger was the better option. We met from 16.00-17.15 on November 1th.

What we discussed during our meeting (we took turn answering at first, then discussing and summarizing):

1. Being a good role model

2. Teaching strategies

a. Good relations with the students: it is important to know each other – good rapport (Harmer).

b. It is ok to make mistakes – both teachers and students. This is connected to good relations and a secure environment. It is good to let the student know it is ok to make mistakes – everyone does it – it is a way to learn and improve.

c. We try to speak English as much as we can in the classroom, but it is challenging with so many pupils not understanding much English/L3-students. It is important not to lose them and to balance the use of English to different levels, also avoiding the advanced students to get bored. Sometimes it is better to divide L2 and L3 into different groups. Regardless it is important to aim for as much English as possible, the students will get something out of it even if they don’t understand everything. And they will get used to it. As teachers we are now much more aware of consistently using English to our students, than we were before.

d. Exposure to English; to speak English with the students (outside the classroom) beside the curriculum tasks too. To chat with them on their way into the classroom, like we normally do in Norwegian. 

e. The ability to improvise, be flexible and keep calm.

f. Motivation – how to motivate the students

g. Development: it is important to learn new words and phrases – to expand our vocabulary - from the students` “worlds”. To move into their sphere – there are a lot of words and phrases to learn and use. Also, a good way to let them teach us – to share their knowledge (be experts of their field). And it is a good way to learn about proper language in different settings. What kind of English we speak; we don’t need to sound like native speakers. English is more than American and British English; it is a Lingua Franca. Communication is more important.

2. Teaching strategies

a. Ask the student to reflect on how they learn better. Teach different strategies and practice these, then they have a toolbox for later use. It is important to be aware of how we learn better. We mentioned some strategies: different mind maps using keywords, Visuword, Venn-diagram, making loops, working with peers etc. 

 

Monday, 4 November from 18.30 to 19.30. We used Google Hangout. 

Participants: Trude Bjørkvik Veierød, Jennifer Glittenberg, Ole Christian Haugen 

Experience with video chat: We used Google Hangout. It worked great. We could all see each other. When one person spoke the program noticed that and made the speaker`s screen bigger.

 

When it comes to being a good language role-model we discussed how important it is be knowledgeable of our subject, providing comprehensible input, modelling language, conversing with the students, as we have read in Harmer (2015). Being knowledgeable of our subject we all find important. This will make students trust what they learn. We provide comprehensible input by greeting our students and talk orally in the beginning of class. We all try to be very clear when we speak to our students so that they hear and understand what we are saying. 

A good teacher is able to make the classroom democratic, in a way where students are heard and say their opinion. One of us found this hard in the classroom, because the students have such different cultural backgrounds. Especially the students from Asia are taught that they are supposed to be quiet and not say their opinion. 

We agree that Munden and Sandhaug (2017) have many good learning strategies for talking and listening. We all found the activities for talking helpful. Speed dating and discussions are two of the activities we all think works well in the classroom.  

When it comes to working with pupils with different educational needs, we all have different challenges. One of us has a class with 30 students while one has a class with five. With bigger classes we discussed the importance of a good structure and different working material for students with different needs, as read in Harmer (2015). We agreed that giving the students different tasks, on the same subject, based on their level and giving them different roles is are effective ways of giving them the best learning opportunities possible. Also, by having a range in the criteria (Harmer, 2015) the students at the lower and higher level can work with the same task with different goals.  

We all agree that having good rapport in the classroom is something teachers should strive after. A good rapport will make everything better in the classroom and make it easier for the students to learn English (Harmer, 2015). We think this makes it easier for them to speak, ask questions and want to learn (learning motivation). 

Participants: 

Marianne Sunde Vaaland, Helge Drågen, Jens Henrik Haugen,

Meeting place: 

Messenger worked very well.        

Time: 

Monday, November 4th, 7 pm.

Topics for discussion:
1. Being a good language role-model. 

Speak English as much as possible. 
Don´t be afraid to pronounce words wrong, in this way be a good example for the students. Use of word chunks make the students feel more capable. Use song lyrics to practice word chunks.

Important to build a good rapport in the classroom – make a good atmosphere, so the students can relax and dare to participate. Not being afraid to make mistakes. How do we do this? Humor is important. Also using drama can be a motivator. Dressing up as a teacher to engage the pupils. 

Democracy? 
Difficult leaving to the students to decide what methods to use in a project or class.

Vygotsky – let the students be able to figure out for themselves what to work on. Scaffolding, helping each other reach a higher level of the language.

Students talking to each other, and not only to the teacher.

“Zone of proximal development” - the zone between learning without help and what can be achieved with guidance.

3. Working with pupils of different educational needs. Difficult to be able to make 3rd language learners pass exams in English, especially since they still don´t speak Norwegian.

We were discussing if oral presentations is a way of making it easier for students with dyslexia to get a feeling of achievement?

It`s important to differentiate between students with different learning abilities. Give different task levels. 

References:

Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Pearson. (5thedition) (Chapters 6 and 7).

Munden, J. & Sandhaug C. (2017). Engelsk for secondary school. Polen: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS. (Chapter 9)

Meeting place: Messenger – worked okay, but we preferred Teams for a variety of reasons, sound quality, and other functions – such as writing notes directly while meeting.

Participants: May-Britt Molund, Tone Eitrheim Midtbø, Agnete Naustdal Aase, Kjartan Haavik

Tone: We discussed how important the role of the teacher is; how much can be achieved if the teacher is a ‘good’ teacher who has a good rapport with his or her students, and, also, how much damage it can potentially do if the teacher-student relationship is of poor quality.

Kjartan: Being a good role model in class one needs to be careful of corrections and pointing out mistakes, especially in front of others in class. Rather, one can use a “softer approach”, such as recasting. Whereas if a student mispronounces a word in a sentence you pick up on that and give the word its right pronounciation in a different cast (recasting).

Kjartan: We also discussed the importance of “raising the ceiling”, not in a literal sense but allowing for mistakes to be made and investing in a good relationship between teacher and students early on. Learning is easier when students like their teacher. Also, using humour, and sharing something about yourself, show your students that you have done and still do mistakes yourself! When we make mistakes, there’s an opportunity to learn, it’s failtastic!

May-Britt: It is especially important that we as teachers make sure that our use of English is correct, and that we have a good working knowledge of the language. We also need to always think about what learning goals we want to focus on in our lessons and to teach our pupils good learning strategies so that they can achieve those goals. In their chapter on assessment, Munden and Sandhaug recommend asking pupils questions about learning English in order to create awareness of the metacognitive aspect of learning language (2017, 131)

Agnete: Another thing that was mentioned is the importance of being a good role model when it comes to how we express ourselves. We need to be consistent as a role model even though it is less important now that before to have the pupils choose American English or British English. 

Another part of being a good teacher and role model is to keep challenging ourselves and learn something new: “Development (...) is about “never stopping learning”, and it is certainly true that if we get interested and involved in a new pursuit, we often feel strong sense of (re-)engagement” (Harmer, 2015, p. 126). 

We also discussed different learning strategies, how work with students of different educational needs, and how important it is never to forget the ‘advanced’ students who might need more challenging tasks. 

May-Britt: In discussing pupils with different needs, I talked about how I use OneNote in teaching Norwegian as a second language, and that the program has several different functions that are useful for a variety of different needs pupils.  

References: 

Harmer, Jeremy (2015), The Practice of English Language Teaching Fifth edition.

England: Pearson Education Limited

 

Munden, Juliet & Sandhaug, Christina (2017), Engelsk for secondary school. Gyldendal Akademisk

 

Meeting place:   

Skype, Sunday 3rd November 2019 8.30 pm  

Participants:   

Atle Røed-Fauske, Thomas Nupen, Camilla Edvardsen, Anne Kristin Kåvin  

Topics of conversation:  

We based our discussion mainly on chapters six and serven in Harmer and focused in particular on what makes a good teacher, what roles to play as a teacher and how to be a good language role model in the classroom, as well as discussing parts of our own experience as teachers that we think is relevant to language teaching. 

 

What makes a good teacher? 

The group discussed that there are many differences in circumstances and different ways of being a good teacher but agreed that it is important to build a good rapport with the pupils. We agreed on the importance of taking time to establis a connection with the class at the beginning of the school year, to create a safe and inclusive environment and ensure that pupils felt comfortable, in particular for those pupils who might be uncomfortable with speaking English in class. We also discussed challenges in class, such as different class sizes and number of pupils and different levels of confidence and proficiency. We discussed our experience in how to motivate pupils and how to deal with distractions in the classroom. 

 

What roles do we play as teachers? 

The group discussed our own practice in terms of what roles we think we play as teachers. We shared an experience of mainly having a human to human contact with pupils, and of “switching on” teacher mode when entering the classroom. We discussed how the role as teacher is not to different from our everyday self, but perhaps more positive and self-aware of language used. We all agreed on the importance of being a good role model and of establishing trust and a safe and inclusive environment and how that impacts our role as teachers. 

 

How to be a good language role model? 

We discussed the importance of speaking English at a level the pupils would understand, rather than using a “native” accent and to put an emphasis on language as communication. We also discussed how, in a multicultural classroom, pupils have different types of English as a standard and as such, content and clarity is more important than accent and that it is important for teachers to focus on these aspects when speaking. 

 

Experience with platform 

Our previous meeting was on Google Hangouts where we experienced some issues with feedback and sound lagging. This was less of an issue on Skype, but some of us experienced issues with logging on and there was no chatting function, which was an advantage of Google Hangouts.