More Colors and Snakes in Class by Steve McCrea

8/9/2019 More Colors and Snakes in Class by Steve McCrea

1/12

More Colors

and Snakes in

the ClassroomA Visual and Active Method of Teaching

Steve McCreaRecommended: a visual approach to pronunciation

PronunciationPatterns.comFreeEnglishLessons.com

VisualAndActive.com

VisualandActive.com Method - 1 - BuildingInternationalBridges.com
http://pronunciationpatterns.com/http://freeenglishlessons.com/http://visualandactive.com/http://visualandactive.com/http://freeenglishlessons.com/http://pronunciationpatterns.com/


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Hello. Im ateacher ofEnglish as asecond

language. I alsoteach teenagershow to improve their score on theSAT, a college entrance exam. Ithink about How do we make mathand vocabulary come alive for thesestudents? As teachers, we need tomake this stuff more appealing tomore students because we needmore engineers and consumers whounderstand basic physical and

chemical laws.

Perhaps you have heard about thesetopics:Blinkby Malcolm Gladwell(sometimes the first impression isright and our intellectual analysisoverwhelms the intuition, leading usto negative situations)

A Whole New Mindby Dan Pinkand Free Agent Nation. The ideasare that we need more right brainthinking (which looks at the wholesituation) and less focus onefficiency (to the exclusion ofbeautify). Since more people will beworking for themselves, free agentsneed training on how to cometogether to work on projects (in theHollywood movie making process).Projects will take place, not jobs.People will deliver services and thenleave. Are we preparing ourstudents for the uncertain, fast-changing workplace that demandsmore than a solid resume and goodacademic scores? Are we instillingthe discipline of self-teaching (mostpeople will have to train for at least

five different careers) and flexiblenetworking skills?

We know that there are many ways

of learningHoward Gardner and MultipleIntelligences

Perhaps you have heard that it is agood idea to learn in a small school(see Dennis Littky Education isEverybodys Business and theinitiative by Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation to subdivide largeschools, FindASmallschool.com)

The issues are about where studentslearn, how they learn and what theyshould be learning. Who shouldteach them? Dennis Littky says,Mentors.

http://findasmallschool.com/http://findasmallschool.com/


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The Breakthroughcollaborative.org recommendsslightly older peers.

Now lets put more information on

top of this long list ofrecommendations: according torecent studies, we need to bringmore color, action and positivestress into the classroom.

Did you hear about the adrenalineexperiment? What role doesexcitement play in helping usremember new information?

Heres a quote from a 60 Minutes report

Adrenaline makes memories.How can we use thisinformation?The story begins with somesurprising discoveries about

memory. It turns out our memoriesare sort of like Jello they take

time to solidify in our brains. And

while they're setting, it's possibleto make them stronger or weaker.

It all depends on the stresshormone adrenaline.

The man who discovered this is

James McGaugh, a professor ofneurobiology at the University of

California, Irvine.

McGaugh studies memory in rats,and he invited Stahl to watch the

making of a rat memory in this

case how a rat who's never been inthis tank of water before learnshow to find a clear plastic platform

just below the surface.

"Hell swim around randomly,"

McGaugh explains. The rat cannotsee the platform, since his eyes are

on the top of his head.

The rat will swim around the edge

for a long time, until eventually heventures out and by chance bumpsinto the platform. The next day,

he'll find the platform a little bit

faster.

But another rat, who had learnedwhere the platform was the day

prior, and then received a shot of

adrenaline immediately afterwards,today swam instantly to the

platform.

Adrenaline actually made this rat'sbrain remember better, and

McGaugh believes the same thing

happens in people. "Suppose I said

to you, 'You know, I've watchedyour programs a lot over the years,

and although it pains me to have

to tell you this, I think you're oneof worst people I've ever seen on now don't take it, don't take it

personally,'" McGaugh says.



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"So, my stress system would gointo overdrive, no question," Stahl

says.

"Even with my telling you that it'snot true, there's nothing to keep

you from blushing, from feeling

warm all over," McGaugh pointsout. "That's the adrenaline. And I

dare say that you're gonna

remember my having said thatlong after you've forgotten the

other details of our discussion

here. I guarantee it."

McGaugh says thats why we

remember important andemotional events in our livesmore than regular day-to-day

experiences.

AH! Now I know how toget someone to REALLY

learn grammar! Weneed snakes, vampires

and ghosts in theclassroom.

Suggested MaterialsI have collected these proceduresbecause I am sometimes asked toteach in a new school as a

substitute. The director of studies isoften surprised at the amount of stuffthat I bring into a classroom. Here isa typical list:

Stuffed animalsLarge picture books (dogs, places tovisit, food, profiles of countries, atlas,different types of atlases), comic books,DVDs and CDs showing studentsexpressing a variety of opinionsPronunciation CDsVideo camera, tripodSmall rewards (bouncing balls sold tenfor $2, pens with web site addresses,

particularsnopes.com andnumber2.com)Colored papers, colored pens, post-itnotes, rulers (yard stick) scissors,newspapers, glue and tape to put

papers on the walls, wide tippedmarkers.

Phew. And then the director ofstudies wonders why I request acolor to leave this stuff so that I donthave to carry it back to my car at theend of the day.

This pamphlet is a draft,, a work inprogress, but it is urgently needed asa manifesto for parents and studentswho have learning differences. Ifyour kid needs more stimulation inclass, heres one way to buildsupport for the idea that schoolsneed a variety of ways of teaching

http://snopes.com/http://number2.com/http://number2.com/http://snopes.com/


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and some of those methods ofteaching require more space forstoring materials that can be useful.

A more radical notion is If a teacher

does not employ things to help thevisual learner and the student whoneeds higher stimulation, should thatteacher go through training? Whatis the point of going to workshopsabout multiple ways of learning if theteacher does not change the methodof delivery? If a teacher refuses tobring a video camera into theclassroom, is it possible to allowstudents to make videotapes of

segments of class? What are therights of students who have an abilityfor learning through later listening?

I am not an attorney, so I will leavethese matters to better informedanalysts. As a teacher in the frontline, where I deliver lessons tostudents, I have observed that thefocus is often on Did the teacherpresent the information clearly(show me your lesson plan) when inreality, the focus should be on thestudent. Did the teacher give eachstudent an opportunity to express orperform his understanding of thematerial? The teacher can lecturebeautifully and even pass out a DVDto every student, but the visual andactive method requires the teacherto listen to each student performtheir understanding of the process.This is why at least every 9 weeks inthe Met Center, an innovative schoolin Providence, Rhode Island, everystudent gives a formal presentationthat is video recorded. The studentcan analyze the performance, theteacher can see what has beenomitted and the administrator can

evaluate both student and teacher.Stand up presentations are used sothat students who dislike writing canuse a larger vocabulary. (I testedthis. I asked several boys to write a

page about their recent vacation.Most didnt cover half a page. Butwhen I asked them to tell me abouttheir vacation, I had a hard timestopping them. The presentationswere sequential and well-organizedwhile many of the writtenpresentations jumped from topic totopic without smooth transitions. Ifyou teach young boys, considerintroducing video testing as an

alternative or supplement to thetypical written essay.

PRINCIPLESI will conclude this presentation witha list of principles that Ive compiledto attempt to inform a (choose one)flustered, annoyed, perplexeddirector of studies: Why is this roomso messy? Why do you need thisstuff in here? Why cant you teachwithout all these things? In short, I

could read the question in his eyes,Why cant you be like the otherteachers? (Yes, there are usuallycomplaints from some students whoclaim that the materials make theclassroom look like a childrens playroom.),



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The following principles arepresented in an effort to build anarmy of colleagues. I want to be partof the majority who use visual andactive techniques. I want to hand

out a brochure to parents thatpersuades and wins over newsupporters of this method. If youhave additional points or suggestionson how I can reformat thispresentation, let me know.

What would Cary say? A workshop for

Experienced ESOL Teachers

When I first taught English for speakers of other languages, I believedthat the purpose of my presence in the classroom was to speak a lot(slowly) so that students would catch on to what I was saying and

build vocabulary the way a two-year-old picks up words by watchingdad clean the house.

Oops. After watching Cary Elcome and after taking the RSA CELTA

course, I learned what we all know -- the language learning takes

place inside the student, not in the classroom. Here are some tips that

I think Cary would tell you if he were here and if he weren't modest.

1. Share your techniques. Cary was generous to me and oftenasked if I'd like to sit in and participate in a private lesson or in an

afternoon class so I could pick up tips from him and he could watchme and pick up tips.

2. Video record your lessons at least twice a year and analyze your

method. Cary used to record the audio of his lessons and hand out thecassette to students who wanted a dictation.

3. Call them anything except students. Participants, learners andcolleagues were his favorite terms. "A student is so clearly beneath a

teacher that some students never get over the humiliation."

4. Give them errors. Let the learners find the solution. He loves gap-

fills (fill in the blank) and he



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5. Develop incurable chronic laryngitis. TTT. I can't be said enough.Keep Teacher Talking Time to the minimum.

6. Put a bunch of materials together. Cary used to give away scadsof photocopies. I think he knocked down two entire forests inWashington State to supply his materials to his learners. And these areHIS materials, all created using big and small fonts.

7. Go visual. He LOVES visual techniques. He puts a photo on everyworksheet. He brings in photos from his latest travel and asks

students to write questions to go with each photo.

8. Get the NY Times. Even with beginners. He believes that studentswho are advanced have less opportunity to learn than beginners and

so all students should be exposed to real English found in newspapers,free (New Times and City Link) as well as the major papers on the

Internet.

9. Stay current with the learners. Find out about their music. Use

their lyrics in the classroom.



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10. Cross-pollinate. When possible, send a student from

your class into Cary's class. That student will be pepperedwith questions by the class. Then Cary will send a student

from his class and they will pepper another student. Or take

half or your class and send them to Cary and he'll send half ofhis class and send them to you. "It's great, he says, "That'sfacilitating!" He believes in monitoring by walking aroundwith pen and paper and requiring pairs to make a written

record of some of the topics that they discussed.

11. Make use of the people in the room. Of course ask learners to

read the instructions in the book or to begin the day with "What's thenews in your country?" Cary looks up articles so that the busy learner

(who hasn't had time to find a juicy piece of news) can say somethinginteresting, perhaps about the growing and persistent market for

manatee meat in Venezuela.

12. Make use of the people in the school. He annoys

administrative staff by asking students to go out and get a stapler(even though he has a stapler in the room).

13. Use the people in the community. Cary used to develop

relationships and ask students, "What's the name of the doorman?" orreceptionist or the bus driver.

14. Give away materials. Did we mention this? Do it again. "Wehave no idea how much our teaching is done outside the classroom. Ifwe can write something about ourselves, maybe an autobiography of

two pages, the students who want to can read it and come back withquestions. If you went Venice, talk about it. The Italians will have

something to talk with you about during the break time."

15. Break time is learning time. Cary arrived early, stayed late, ate

meals with students, and met them at least once a week for anevening of talk on Las Olas Blvd, and never spent break time in the

teacher's room. He was always interacting with students. "When they

are OUTSIDE the class, that's when the real mistakes emerge," hebelieves.

16. Keep in touch. Cary was an early adopter of email but he wasslow to take on the role of technology guru. He had a laptop but didn't

know how to make web sites or make a network. He used it to writelessons on his computer and he was an avid explorer of the Internet.



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He wasn't afraid to ask for directions. Unlike a typical guy, he would start by

saying he knew very little about something and send a lot of emails to getinformation. In other words, he is the perfect mentor for people who are

afraid of some aspect of technology. He still gets frustrated with the lack ofcommunication between printer and CPU and he was my role model for

bringing technology into the classroom. He might not understand everyaspect of it, but he just knew that someone in the room or in the school

would help figure out how to use the darn thing.

I say some of this in the past tense because Cary is no longer with us. He'sin Asia. Sometimes he feels "gone" and when asked to give training to other

teachers, I just think, "What would Cary say?" and he's alive for me again.

We're having a hard time meshing our lives over Skype because he's out thedoor at 8 am (7 pm the previous day for me) and when he is ready to talk at5 pm, it's 4 am for me!

I've learned about right/left, male/female brain tendencies and the role ofadrenaline in the formation of memories -- all since I met Cary. However, his

basic training help me to daily deal with challenging situations -- not the newbells, whistles, laptops and CDs. It's still nuts and bolts, in this ESOL

industry, and it's still people to people. Cary is a good mentor and hi adviceis timeless.

The point of this presentation is to encourage you to find your Cary or tocontact him yourself. Set up an email pen pal (email pal?) exchange ofcorrespondence. Ask your students to write to his students. He's currently in

Japan: [email protected]

Steve McCrea, Eternally grateful acolyte of the School of Elcome.http://www.FreeEnglishLessons.com http://www.VisualandActive.com http://www.TeachersToTeachers.com

If I am pressed to state the visual and active method in a paragraph, I say thefollowing:

I have learned my method from my

students. I do not hold important degrees,like university professors. I am sure thatwhen I give my presentations, people with

master's degrees in ESOL will recognize the

methods and they will be able to explainwhy the method works.

I can not explain much about the theorybehind the method, but I respond to mystudents' needs.

1. For pronunciation, my students don't want to learn a special alphabet.

http://www.freeenglishlessons.com/http://www.visualandactive.com/http://www.teacherstoteachers.com/http://www.teacherstoteachers.com/http://www.visualandactive.com/http://www.freeenglishlessons.com/


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(IPA), so let's teach "It Sounds Like."PronunciationPatterns.com is anorganized method to use the phonic method by graphing the sound. It is

visual listening.

2. For tests, many students prefer to make a video. "I don't like towrite" or "I can't spell very well" -- so make an audio recording using a

digital camera. The camera does not need to point at the student.

3. Students learn most quickly when they are laughing and when they

are surprised. (See the October 31, 2004 article about novelty).

4. Students learn the things that they want to learn. If they are

interested...they will remember more. So why not let students choose theirsubjects?

5. Let's create projects and homework that are REAL, not just

paperwork. Let's make websites and blogs and write emails -- let's build

bridges. Let's make videos and send the news to other people. (Source:Dennis Littky)

6. We know that some people learn by listening to audio recordings and

others learn by watching videos, so the teacher should have support fromadministration to provide CDs and videos to students. (But if there is nosupport, the teacher can recommend videos on the internet!)

http://pronunciationpatterns.com/http://pronunciationpatterns.com/


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That is the central message. I offer a workshop because most teachers don'tbelieve these 6 points or they don't believe that they have the power in

themselves to use this system. Thank you for listening.

Novelty:In a column called Science Watch (Sun Sentinel Oct 31, 2004), Sandra Blackeslee

(NY Times syndicate) reported thatanything that is novel grabs the

brains attention system by tapping directly into reward pathwaysin the brain. Marketing organizations are interested in this

technology. Being able to see how the brain responds to novelty andmakes decisions is potentially a huge step forward for marketers,according to Tim McParlin, who works for Lieberman Research Worldwide in Los

Angeles (quoted in the article).

----------------------------------------------The photos that appear in thisdocument come from Suzy Limasclass in Curitiba, Brazil. She waslooking for a way to make her ESOLclass more vibrant, and I suggestedan activity that I use (based on theinsights presented by Dennis Littkyin The Big Picture) make itpersona.. Ask the students toperform their understanding. Im alazy author (I have difficulty matchingcaptions to photos), so I asked thatthe photos include the caption, whichis why the students are holdingpieces of paper. Some captions arein Portuguese to give the reader atranslation of the English andpractice in another language. Goahead, learn something new andkeep the brain active and young.

Many thanks to the students of SuzyLima. I encourage you, dear reader,to send an email message [email protected] and ask

your students to send letters to Suzyso she can find one of her 789students to create pen palcorrespondence.

This is a flat world, as ThomasFriedman says, and we need to havemore than scholastic success toprepare for competing in a globaleconomy. See Dan Pinksarguments about design. In otherwords, there are five doors forsuccess (LASSIE): Languages,

Academics, Social Skills, Inheritedopportunities and Experience. Weteachers cant change what ourstudents inherit and we know thatachievement in school is not the onlydoor for success in many studentslives (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, andother entrepreneurs dropped out of

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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school to put their ideas to work).Lets encourage our students (andmodel the behavior, too) for learningmore languages, finding newexperiences, and developing social

skills. Students who have limitedinherited opportunities or who dopoorly at traditional schools arepossibly the salvation of oureconomy with their divergent thinkingand creative out-of-the-boxapproaches to problems. Using aVisual and Active method ofteaching with narratives for gradingand testing by exhibition (followingthe model of the Met Center in

Providence, Rhode Island) we canmake our schools into places ofexploration.

SUMMARYIn case you skipped the article andyou are reading the end of thearticle, here is the main issue: What

do these two news stories bring tothe ESOL industry (and teachers in

general)?We can force the brainawake more often with bright

colors and change of pace (have

you stood on the furniture lately?)and then you can scare the

student to help them rememberthe moment we hope that the

student remembers the grammaror vocabulary and not the fact that

you introduced lifelike spiders intothe classroom.

List of Web SitesFreeEnglishLessons.comPronunciationPatterns.com (graphs

that show the stressed syllables)Breakthrough Collaborative.org

Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationGatesfoundation.org

MetCenter.org

BigPicture.orgVisualandActive.comTeachersToTeachers.com

Supergrammar.com

BuildingInternationalBridges.comFindaSmallSchool.comDanPink.com

Snopes.com, Number2.comIf you have other suggestions about

how to use stuffed animals (novelty)

and snakes (an adrenaline rush),please send them to me at

[email protected] [email protected] on MSN and SkypeSteveEnglishTeacherand I welcome yourcontact, questions and suggestion.

http://freeenglishlessons.com/http://pronunciationpatterns.com/http://collaborative.org/http://gatesfoundation.org/http://metcenter.org/http://bigpicture.org/http://visualandactive.com/http://teacherstoteachers.com/http://supergrammar.com/http://buildinginternationalbridges.com/http://findasmallschool.com/http://danpink.com/http://snopes.com/http://number2.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://number2.com/http://snopes.com/http://danpink.com/http://findasmallschool.com/http://buildinginternationalbridges.com/http://supergrammar.com/http://teacherstoteachers.com/http://visualandactive.com/http://bigpicture.org/http://metcenter.org/http://gatesfoundation.org/http://collaborative.org/http://pronunciationpatterns.com/http://freeenglishlessons.com/

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More Colors and Snakes in Class by Steve McCrea