Challenges of Creating an English Environment on Campus

Hi Guys,

Ever been asked to create an English environment at your school, office or club? How did you find it? Did everybody come on board with enthusiasm? If so did that enthusiasm last? Or did you find people sabotaged their own best efforts by getting out of their habit before they even got into it?

During the past 6 years I've been working to create English learning environments in schools and institutes around Jakarta, Indonesia. Usually I'm given all the main ingredients you would dream of for such a program.

1. Support from the board of directors (they are the ones who asked for the program)

2. Enough teachers around the campus who speak English easily (some schools/institutes had more than others depending on the recruitment process)

3. Enough Students who already had a good level of English

So what could go wrong right?

It seems like if these were the main factors we needed and we had them there shouldn't be any problem, but in reality there are many other factors to consider and there are no two schools the same.

In this article I wanted to share with you some of those factors that I've found slows down the transition to an English Environment.

Synergy

A buzz word in people management theory it may sound cliche but really there is nothing more important than synergy to make a program work.

If students see an inconsistency in the way teachers and staff try to carry out the program before you know it they will have worked out how much effort they should put in around different teachers. Usually if the synergy is bad teachers with high motivation and commitment will usually just be avoided by the students around campus. I'll mention this a few times in this article students are great observers, they can work out the loopholes in your plan before you even realize they are there.

An example:

When first launching the program at one school we found some teachers reminded students to speak English on campus but most didn't. The students themselves found Bahasa Indonesia the easier language so they kept testing the teachers to see how long they would continue to remind them for. Before long the teachers who had been in the habit of "reminding" gave up because of lack of support from their coworkers (they felt they were chasing their tail) and because they didn't see any immediate results with the students.

Take away points:

1. The team must be in it together for better or worse, choose one course and stick to it together

2. There should be a degree of patience involved

3. Regular follow up meetings should be made to have teachers think of solutions together


Loopholes

The next factor is loopholes. If there are loopholes in your environment the students will find them and abuse them. The hardest thing when starting a new habit or facing a new challenge is the beginning. Too often if there are many loopholes you will find people never begin.

I will give you a metaphor:

Let's say you were given the choice of two roads to pass a mountain range. A tunnel or the windy road that went up close to the peaks? Of course the tunnel is quicker and if you took that way everyday you would surely take the tunnel as it's much quicker and less effort.

Let's say on day the tunnel is blocked and you are forced to take the scenic route, no doubt while on it you would experience and learn more that going through the tunnel. Your life would be better for it.

Now in many cases for students their L1 (Indonesian) is the tunnel and the L2 (English) is the scenic route, if you give them an option between the two they will of course choose the former. So you have to close the tunnel in some way.

An example:

For two years one school made everywhere an English Zone except to the Musholla (prayer room). When the students saw a teacher coming they would dash into the prayer room as quick as they could so they wouldn't get in trouble for speaking Indonesian. They chose to run instead of speaking English because it was easier for them.

Take away points:

1. Close the tunnel

2. Make sure your regulations are not full of loopholes

Middle Management

 If you have a few people trying to undermine the new program or who are slow to pull their socks up this is normal. If however those people are in any level of management it can be fatal. Middle Management such as Principals, Vice Principals, Administrators and Coordinators must lead by example if the program is to work. If you have been assigned to set up a program and you see that the "leading by example" is not there. It is crucial that you speak personally with the person involved and if you still don't see any improvement the board of directors may have to give more direct instructions and clarity of expectations to their Middle Management.


All in all if you are being put in charge of helping set up an English Environment I can't give you one formula that will work, as every school is unique. But taking care of the above and keeping yourself adaptable, communicative and persistent will take you a long way in your efforts.

Until next time, good luck and let's change some lives!

In kindness,


-Hugh Elliott

Power Teaching, Become a Powerful Teacher!

Hi there,

There has been a little talk recently about Power Teaching or Whole Brain Learning, a set of teaching
techniques developed by some teachers in California.

I myself have used some of these techniques and have shared them with a lot of other teachers who have seen great results.

Most of the techniques are pretty much common sense but by putting them in a memorable and organized format like the team at wholebrainteaching.com have we can only benefit.

So today I want to give you a run down of some of the techniques from WBT that I have used and which I've found good.

5 RULES

One of the strategies they talk about in WBT is have just a few class rules that are understood by all students and applied at all times. The special feature of the rules that WBT suggest is that they are pretty all encompassing.

Rule 1: Follow directions quickly

Rule 2: Raise your hand if you want to speak

Rule 3: Raise your hand if you want to leave your chair

Rule 4: Make smart choices

Rule 5: Make your dear teacher happy (this is a rule that encompasses all rules really)

Each rule has an action that goes with it and the rules and the actions are rehearsed at the beginning of the lesson/school day.

A modification I made was to add a rule "Remember that this is an English Zone!" for the immersion program.

If a student was to break one of the rules you could very quickly call out their name and the number of the rule e.g. "Ticka, Rule 3!" After which the student has to straight away repeat the rule and the action thus internalizing that they have overstepped the boundaries of the classroom.

I find only having a few rules and actions that go along with them a great idea. For subject teachers if the rule is to be applied across levels (uniformity) it is also very useful as during the short amount of time they have with the students each week there can automatically be a very clear understanding of the behaviour that is expected during the lesson.

Another power teaching technique I've found good is

Teach-Okay!

In it's basic form Teach-Okay! is a way to make introduction time more interactive. Instead of the students just passively listening to the introduction they are preparing to teach/relay what they have just heard from the teacher to their friend next to them.

What I am more impressed with though is what this habit eventually leads to, which is a more student-led classroom. For simple routine activities in the teaching-learning process the teacher gradually hands over the reins to the students, having competent students come up sometimes to lead the lesson. Seeing videos of this in action I had a warm fussy feeling inside realizing that students as young as primary age could have such a degree of autonomy and confidence.

CONSENSUS 

Another great technique and one that cuts down on teacher correction time is having the students reach consensus on the correct answer. Some training and practice is needed to have the students properly be able to apply this technique but once they have got it sorted it's going to be a much more powerful and functional way for students to learn from their mistakes and experience a more student focused approach. Of course one of the coolest aspects is it's going to take a lot of pressure off the teacher to correct endless answer sheets (like a robot).

RECALLS

Most veteran teachers of younger learners are no stranger to recalls. They are also very useful for older students as well. A couple of the recalls I've found useful from WBT are:

Teacher: Class = Students: Yes! (just to get their attention)

Teacher: Hands and Eyes = Students: [all sit nicely with their hands on the table (or their lap) and their eyes towards the teacher] I've introduced the students replying "Knees and shoulders!" with actions before sitting nicely and quietly ready to pay attention.

For one of the big attractions for these techniques is if teachers for a whole level can get together and agree on commands and a system for discipline and assisting the learning process then it will be much easier for the teachers and the students to understand and apply.

So if you don't already use some similar techniques in your classroom and are finding classroom management a challenge, why not try some of the WBT techniques today? There are a lot more that you can find at http://www.wholebrainteaching.com  and don't feel shy to ask you workmates what techniques they use to control their classrooms and assist the learning process!

Hope you are having a great week. Don't forget to keep shining, sharing and changing lives!

In kindness,

-Hugh

9 Tips On How To Master Classroom Management

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd write on a topic very close to my heart. It's all about classroom management. Now I know how most people feel when they see that word 'management' it's laden with responsibilities and memories of authority figures. So let's think of 'Classroom Management' as Classroom Mastery for a bit. ^_^

Why Classroom Mastery?

Because I want you to feel confident and in control like a real master. Classroom 'Mastery' has become an increasingly important issue and probably will continue to do so in coming years. A few reasons for this could be:

-Students expect more from experiences thanks to modern technology and connectivity
-Teachers are unsure of what they can do to control students as more regulations on discipline practices come in
-Through popular culture students feel it's cool and asserting to stand up to authority figures (sometimes just 'testing the water' to see what they can get away with)
-Parents spend increasingly less time with children especially in the growing middle class. This means it's up to the teacher to instill values and discipline

The reasons why students are increasingly behaving badly are probably much more than that but whatever the reason I want you to add the following tricks to your toolbox, some of you probably already have but hopefully I can give you something new today that will help you teach better and change the lives of your students. Amin.

Tip #1 Badly behaved students are sometimes just bored

 The most basic tip and what you've probably already realised in your own classes is that students play up when they have nothing to do. There is a famous saying 'idle hands are the devils playground' so the trick is to keep those hands busy in good works. Sometimes though even though the hands are busy, the mind is unchallenged. We are sometimes unaware that our most disruptive students are the most intelligent. You may be interested to know that one teacher of Albert Einstien's called him a "foolish dreamer" and asked him to drop out of his class. He did eventually quit school before finishing High School because he found it utterly boring and obviously due to that didn't receive much stimulation or support from teachers. How many Albert Einstiens may we have in our classes at the moment without even realising it? It shocks me to think about it which is why we should never judge a book by it's cover. 'As long as you have a pulse, you have a purpose' and it's up to you, the teacher to help your student find their purpose and explore the best way for them to learn and where their talents lie.

So tip number one is make sure all students are stimulated in learning. The basic form of this is keeping those idle hands busy and the icing on the cake is to make sure those 'challenging students' aren't overlooked as 'dreamy' or 'disruptive' but as 'innovators' and as 'challengers to the status quo'.

Tip #2 Engaged and Inspired People don't work for money but work with blood sweat and tears

If you can inspire your students to learn and engage them in something they really want to immerse themselves in, then why on earth would they misbehave? Some of you may be thinking 'yeah right Hugh, easier said than done' but seriously, an EFL teacher has so many weapons in their arsenal. If Mathematics teachers and other 'Subject' teachers  said 'easier said than done' I would have to whole heartily agree with them, but not you! As an EFL teacher all you need to do is "Build language awareness in context" What that context is, is up to you! You don't have to stick to the book if it bores the hell out of your students. Think outside the box and work outside the book!

Tip #3 Motivating students may require rewards

Although this is a controversial subject rewards don't have to involve something material.Sometimes the motivation could be just be some free time, a movie class, a class party (where students bring their own healthy foods) or maybe just scores on the board. You can also use material rewards as long as you don't go overboard (maybe small useful things to them like stationary etc.). Some studies have shown that this 'earning' system creates strong psychological connections of effort with joy. This is essentially a good thing as when you remove the reward the student is often still excited to make an effort as it has become a habit, in life we are generally rewarded for our efforts. The object of rewards in the classroom is to simulate this. Of course it should eventually be made clear that some times it is the process of doing our best that is in fact the best reward.

Tip #4 Making a flexible and energetic classroom makes for a high fun factor

For younger children you probably want to focus more on focusing their energy levels rather than maintaining it. As students get older though they sometimes suffer from either low energy or anxiety. Having a high energy, flexible, fun and non-threatening lesson helps break down barriers to learning and maintains discipline.

There are a few techniques that can be used to maintain a high energy atmosphere. For children and teens power teaching is defiantly a great method, I usually have a few links to power teaching videos at the bottom of my screen. You can learn all about this way of teaching completely for free through their youtube videos and their website http://www.wholebrainteaching.com. And a method for older learners is through a regular change of activities so that they don't drift off. A good example of this is a Suggestopedic lesson where no activity is carried out until it's end, thus apparently leaving the receptors in the brain open and raring to go. See How to become a Suggestopedic teacher.

Tip #5 Failing to warm-up can lead to a cold lesson



Warming-up serves many purposes and to miss it would be a grave mistake. It gets the students ready mentally, physically and linguistically for the lesson ahead. Also by getting our students moving at the very start of the lesson it engages them, generates energy and enthuses your students, no matter who you are teaching.

Tip #6 Build rapport with your students

Developing rapport with your students can not be stressed enough here. It is absolutely essential without a doubt. How many times have you heard somebody say "I didn't like maths in school" or "I didn't like English in school" and the reason they give for this is "my teacher was cruel to me" or "I didn't like my teacher"? Developing rapport with students makes you approachable, worth listening to and worth respecting. Never forget, your students are your real clients, not the principal, not the management and not the parents. Your students success is the thing that is going to lift you to great heights so your focus should first and foremost be building rapport with them. Make sure they feel comfortable with you, know that you care for them on an individual basis and feel that you're there to support them in excelling their own expectations.

Never forget that you are the master of your domain. Spread happiness, values, discipline and friendship amongst your students and you'll very rarely have any regrets when you look back on your career.

Tip #7 Positive correcting techniques sets up an environment of exploration and bravery

Students should be brave, they should be brave to try and brave to fail because these two things are bound to happen. Of course as teachers we always want to set our students up for success, but it is sometimes only through failure that we can learn, persevere and finally succeed. For some it takes longer than others, but some of the late learners end up being the bravest and the strongest because although the quick students learned quicker the slower students would have had to of persevered for longer. A famous boxer once said "it's not about how many times you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get back up again". In business school nowadays students are taught to fail, that really surprises a lot of people "Why on earth would they teach them to fail?" they ask. Well now it is common knowledge in the business world that failure is inevitable. All business graduates now know the term 'Fail fast and forward' it means get out there and fail. If you've never failed, you've never tried hard enough, you've never tested your limitations and you probably haven't learned much in the process. So get your students to fail fast and forward and congratulate them for doing so, because to succeed in learning a language they will need more bravery than brains, more perseverance than proper pronunciation and more failure than flukes (getting lucky in getting things right the first time). That's how we learn a second language so always encourage them, give them time to work through the process and support them through positive correction techniques.

An example of a positive correction technique is 'echo correction' it is where you don't so much say "you're wrong" but you repeat the sentence they've gotten wrong back to them in the correct form.

Tip #8 Sometimes students need a good talking to or some time to think

Sometimes no matter how fun, high energy, stimulating, challenging, accepting, flexible and comfortable your classes are, you're still going to get one or two problem students. They are sometimes more concerned with outside forces than they are in learning from your lessons. Here the most powerful form of discipline is first setting clear expectations of all of your students, some students play up because they think that your lessons are so flexible and fun that there are no longer any rules. So whenever you get a new class for the first time, make sure you set down the ground rules. It's better start of a little hard and later get softer than start of soft and fun then get hard and stern (this lets the students down, makes the expectations of you unclear and makes them think you've taken a turn for the worse).

The next most powerful thing in discipline is counseling. If the rules are already clear, make sure you take the time to counsel your students. This sometime means talking to them but usually means doing a lot of listening. One technique is to sit together and get the student to establish the problem, if they are finding it hard help them, then get them to think of possible solutions, it doesn't matter how silly or how absurd the solutions are, get them to think of as many as thy can. Then get them to pick the best out of all of them and make a commitment to apply them. You will find that when you get the student involved in the solution, it will be more likely to take effect. That being said, you must be patient, to sit with a student and counsel them maybe several times before they come good. Showing them that you are committed to them and will take the time for them is also an important part of the process.

Tip #9 There is nothing wrong with a little Student-Teacher feedback

Ask your students whether they enjoyed the lesson and why. Maybe even make a questionnaire for your students to fill in every second month. You may think this is strange to ask for feedback from students but if you don't do it they will give feedback one way or another, the only problem with that is that you'll know about it when it's too late. Often parents ask their children "How was your day, do you like your teacher?" and lots of school management now give questionnaires to students to evaluate their teachers. So in the case of feedback it really is "first in best served" if you show your students you care about their opinion they will be more likely to give it to you before anybody else. They will also usually be more respectful of you when finally asked by somebody else. Because you made the effort to care about if they enjoyed learning with you or not. Remember 'Feedback is the breakfast of champions!'. Sometime the best way to know if you students really are thrilled with you classes, is simply just to ask!

Okay guys well I hope you've gotten something useful out of these tips and remember if you enjoyed reading share it on facebook, recommend it on Google or tweet it! That way we can change more lives through shining, sharing and succeeding! ^_^

Kindest regards,


-Hugh