2013 Student Practicum Workshop1

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Carolyn Tait and Jonathan Newton Victoria University of Wellington July 2013

Mid-practicum intellectual discourse week

21 -25 July

Introduction

This week is an opportunity to share your experiences, re-energise, re-equip yourselves, and gain

inspiration for the teaching weeks that lie ahead. Enjoy the opportunities to explore your teaching

experiences together and to learn from one another and from the KSAH/VUW team.

Sunday Schedule

Day Activities Who Outcomes

Sunday

0900-1000

1000-1030

1030-1200

1200-1230

1230-1300

- Linking to past learning:

Brainstorming effective

teaching techniques

VUW team arrive

Unpacking a sample activity

Working with textbooks

(and a 20 minute break)

Exploring a sample textbook

task

Agenda setting for the week

Student teachers

working

autonomously

Student teachers

in groups

Student teachers

in groups

VUW team and

student teachers

VUW team and

student teachers

Lists of techniques for eachof the four skill areas and

for language-focused

learning

Learning how to see & getthe best learning

opportunities from an

activity

A finite set of issuesidentified. These to be the

focus of research and

reporting for the remainder

of the week

Ideas for making the mostof the textbook.

Identify topics for researchand presentations

Sunday activities

1. Linking to past learning: Brainstorming effective teaching techniques (0900-1000)

For this activity you will work in groups to brainstorm as many effective teaching and learning

techniques as you can recall for each of the four skill areas (L S R W) as well as for areas of language-

focused learning (grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling). You will write down your lists of

techniques on large display pages, with one page per skill or language area.

Steps

a. Divide into groups of seven or eight and pick up your papers and pens

b. Move to a suitable workspace (outside, another room, the library etc)

b. Subdivide into pairs to work on the separate sheetsc. Circulate pairs around each poster sheet and keep adding ideas


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d. Between 0930 and 0945 post your posters in the main room, making sure that all the

posters for each skill area from each group are posted together (e.g. all the reading techniques

posters in one corner.

e. Circulate and view posters. Appoint recorders to type up a key list of techniques for each

skill/proficiency area.

f. VUW team to arrive and view posters

2. Unpacking a sample activity (1000-1030)

Jonathan and Carolyn will work through a simple activity and explore the learning opportunities in it

and how to make the most of these opportunities.

3. Working with textbooks (1030-1200)

The focus of this activity is on how to make effective use of the textbook (and save material

preparation time). For this task you will work in groups on a couple of set text book tasks, planning

innovative ways to use these activities to provide rich learning experiences.

Steps

a. Divide into groups

b. In your groups, develop creative ways of implementing the textbook activities you have been

given in order to provide creative, cognitively stimulating and engaging lessons.

c. When step b is more or less complete, each group will be given a couple of typical teaching

challenges to consider. Your job is to identify specific strategies you will use in the lessons you

have designed in order to meet these challenges.

d. Random groups will be selected to report back

4. Modelling textbook implementation (1200-1230)

Jonathan and Carolyn will lead this session in which they will take another textbook section andexplore the ways that they would use it in the classroom. Feedback and discussion encouraged!

5. Inquiry based learning focused on topics central to your practicum (1230-1300)

In the table below is a set of 12 topics. To conclude our work with you on Sunday we will introduce

these topics and then assign you to a group of 5 to work on one of the topics. During Monday and

Tuesday, your group will research your topic as it relates to teaching and learning in Malaysian

primary school English language classrooms. On Wednesday and Thursday, you will present a short

presentation between 15 and 20 minutes with 5 to 10 minutes of questioning. The presentation can

be a power point presentation or any other medium suitable for a large audience. After your

presentations you will also need to upload your presentations/posters (via a photo if they are hand

drawn) to the VUW Blackboard site for this practicum course (LALS 393). Your presentations will be

15-20 minutes long with an additional 5-10 minutes for questions and discussion. We look forward

to seeing your presentations there!

Monday and Tuesday

a. Within each group, establish roles and draw up a time frame for the investigation andpresentation.

b. Begin by brainstorming ideas and identify tasks and sources/resources needed to completeyour poster and presentation.

c. Carry out your inquiry-based learning tasks and complete your poster. Prepare for thepresentation.


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Wednesday and Thursday

a. Deliver your presentations as a group, with all group members responsible for part of thepresentation (and you might also consider using members of the group as a mini-class to

illustrate a teaching technique)

b. You are welcome to model techniques and encourage audience participation (or use theaudience as a big class!)

c. Six presentations will be scheduled for the each morning.Inquiry based learning focused on topics central to your practicum

Purpose: This task allows you investigate a complex issue related to you as a student teacher. You

will work in a group to:

identify and define relevant problems that surround the issue propose possible practical solutions within the context of your classrooms critically evaluate the implementation of those solutions.

An excellent presentation will:

Clearly identify the issue Show evidence that you have used a range of resources Demonstrate the complexity of the issue Make a constructive contribution to the learning of your peers as teachers Be motivating and engaging Promote critical thinking

Topic Stimulus questions Your further stimulus

questions1. Fosteringcreativity in the

classroom

What is creativity? Why is creativity important in learning? Do creative teachers make learners creative? How is creativity linked to language learning?

2. Using space andmovement in

the classroom

Why is planning for the use of spaceimportant in the classroom?

How can you arrange students for effectivecommunication for different types of learning

activities? How can teachers maximise the use of space

for classroom management?

How does the use of space differ for differentlearning purposes?


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3. Using groupwork

effectively

How do you know when group work iseffective?

How often should group work be used? What are the purposes of group work? How can you ensure that each group member

is working effectively? What group sizes are effective for what

activities?

What are effective ways of moving studentsinto groups?

4. Motivatinglearners

How can you engage learners to motivatethem?

What can you do about demotivatedindividuals?

What is the difference between intrinsic andextrinsic motivation?

How do rewards affect motivation? What is the connection between goal setting

and motivation?

Are teacher motivation and studentmotivation linked?

5. Usingeffective

teacher

language

Why is teacher language important in aclassroom?

How much time should a teacher be talking? How do you give instructions that work? What is the role of L1? How can you plan for effective teacher

language use?

6. Making themost of

reflection

Why is reflection important for development? Do you need to do it by yourself? What elements need to be included in

effective reflection?

What can you do to increase the power of thereflection process?

What questions can you be ask yourselfduring the process?

7. Assessment What forms of formative assessment couldyou carry out during your practicum? How

could you use information obtained to guide

your teaching?

How do the results of assessment feedforward into your teaching for individual

students and for the whole class?

How do you build assessment activities intoevery lesson?

How is assessment part of the learningprocess for the students?


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8. Teacher roles Do you need to be liked by your students tobe an effective teacher? Why/why not?

How can a teacher build rapport withstudents?

What is the role of the student-teacher in thecommunity of teachers within the school?

How do you manage relationships with CTs?

9. Use of ICT? How do you decide when to use ICT? Are worksheets an example of ICT use? If not,

why not?

How can you ensure that the ICT is integratedinto your teaching?

What can you do when your school does nothave enough ICT facilities?

10.Managingdiversity

What do you do when you have a range oflanguage proficiencies in your classroom?

How do you cater for those students whoalways finish early?

How do you draw on cultural diversity as aresource for your teaching?

11.Thinkingcritically

How do you foster critical thinking in yourclasses through questioning?

How does critical thinking relate to thecurriculum including the values?

How does thinking critically enhance languagelearning?

12 Creating a richEnglish

language

environment

What is the meaning of rich in thisquestion?

How does it relate to the other topics above? Why is it important? How will you know when your classroom

environment is rich?

Documents

2013 Student Practicum Workshop1