#7 M O T I VAT I O N S F O R W O R K I N G W I T H M R . M A R M O T A N D F O R W O R K I N G W I T H

P U P P E T S

W A R R I O R S O F L E A R N I N G : L E S S O N # 7 OPPORTUN ITYNOWHERE

#1 : T O H AV E F U N

He is simply a very friendly, affable chap to talk to, so it is easy for him to introduce the primordial factor of fun into learning. I live by the belief that:

“If you are not enjoying what you are doing, you are doing something wrong”.

Children have a natural affinity with puppets. Adults usually don’t. But having the courage to introduce adults to puppets, even in formal, business contexts, is almost always a sure and fast way to connect with the playful and curious child we have within.

#2 : T O A D D COLOUR

What can often prove a less engaging task, (often when the t e a c h e r i s t h e s u b j e c t o f discovery) - eg. asking questions about one’s life, background, interests etc. - guessing instead about Mr Marmot’s life, from a mind map of key words, can prove much more fun, engaging, colourful and forthcoming in students’ efforts to communicate.

#3 : T O B R E A K D O W N B A R R I E R S

An endearing, soft-to-the-touch puppet, is almost always much more approachable than a person. Shaking hands when practising different kinds of protocol in business meetings is somehow eas ie r and l ess daunting to start with before moving on to the “real thing”.

#4 : T O S H I F T T H E F O C U S

He takes away the focus from self and thinking:

“how do I say this”

to firing all the questions that come to mind, with much less emphasis on form or grammar and much more on the message of:

“What do I really want to say?”

thereby helping the learner to overcome the element of fear of daring to ask such questions in the first place.

#5 : T O TA P I N T O T H E M A G I C A N D C R E AT I V I T Y O F S T O R I E SHe is flexible. His life becomes essentially different according to the people he meets. The fictitious character of his nature makes this like an ongoing story, that is made up as we go; this also gives ownership to the group about the story that emerges, whether in fact they are aware of this or not.

#6 : T O M A K E L E A R N I N G M E M O R A B L E

He is highly memorable and the information gathered about him, his life, family interests, frustrations, achievements and dreams etc. is also hugely memorable, something especially useful when learning a s e c o n d l a n g u a g e , t o r e v i s i t vocabulary and form, which as we know, requires lots of repetition.

Through Mr. Marmot, that repetition always seems to prove more engaging and fun than many of the methods we commonly use to bring back the language we need or want to remember.

#7 : T O K N O W W H AT I T ’ S L I K E T O B E I N Y O U R S H O E S

I do not consider myself a “natural” with puppets, in the same way that many of the students I meet do not feel “natural” about speaking another language; working with Mr. Marmot allows me to stand in their shoes, (what we learn to do when we empathise with others - our lesson #6 in Warriors of Learning).

F O L L O W H I S S T O R Y

For the rest of the story about working with Mr. Marmot and for working with puppets in general, go to the the article:

WWW.MADE2STICK.ES

Acknowledgements:

Finger puppets:

designed and created by:

The Penguin Duchess