"Describing Teachers"

Welcome back to my blog! We are starting the 3rd part of the register, which means we are almost done. 

We actually watched a movie because the class started 30 minutes later than usual. It was funny because the teacher was surprised when he arrived.😂

For today's class (4/25/23), we had a brief recap of the previous topic "Describing Learners", and we went over the details we need to keep in mind when describing them and so on, but now we move to the student perspective to teachers.

So, we talked about what a teacher is normally like inside and outside of a classroom. Inside the classroom a teacher will typically give examples, move around during class, etc. Outside the classroom, most will be approachable. 

In addition, teachers have a role in the classroom, for example, being a mediator who has control of the class. 

They are usually referred to as:

Classgivers - Facilitators - Tutors - Mediators

Some of the aspects that we should take into account when describing teachers are: 

                                                             The teacher's role in the classroom

1. 

 As an organizer prior to a lesson

As performers (activity-behavior) 

Their rapport (+ or -) 

As teaching support (input, gestures)

As a native or non-native speaker

In addition to the teacher's role in the classroom, we can say:

A. Controller - Leading from the front.

B. Prompter - When students forget something, such as the instructions of a task, the teacher is there to remind them.

C. Participant - Taking an active role; for example, in a class discussion.

D. Resource - When students ask the teacher’s help. For example, when they don’t know how the meaning of a word.

E. Tutor - When giving feedback about a large project.

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04/27/23

Now, we move on to Part 2 of "Describing Teachers," in which we learned more about the role of the teacher:

The teacher as an organizer.

Teachers always plan their lessons and reflect on them before, during and after they are developed. An organizer first engages, then instructs (demonstrates), initiates and, finally, organizes feedback.

                                                           The teacher as performer.

Teachers vary their behavior. In other words, the activity that is taking place inside the classroom shapes the way teachers act. The following image illustrates this picture:

Rapport

Rapport means "the relationship that students have with the teacher and vice versa" (Harmer, 2007, p. 113). It is, in a sense, a magical connection. The following characteristics help to achieve a successful interaction:

A. Recognize students  Students love it when their teachers know their names and try to understand their character and preferences. 

B. Listen to students  Students respond very well to teachers who listen to them. 

C. Respect students Especially when being corrected. Teachers who do not react angrily do their best to see their students "in a positive light" (Harmer, 2007, p. 115).

D. Be evenhanded Although some teachers have "some students whom they love more than others" (Harmer, 2007, p. 115), they should try to treat all students equally because it not only helps to establish and maintain a good relationship, but it is also a sign of professionalism.

The teacher as a teaching aid.

Although most teachers always have many resources at their disposal, they sometimes have to convey meaning and instruction through their expressions, body language and pronunciation (especially when modeling dialogue). For example:

Native-speaker teachers VS Non-native-speaker teachers 

For many years, non-native teachers have felt a sense of injustice, have experienced a kind of inferiority and have struggled to prove their credibility as English teachers. All this happens because some people still have a couple of preconceived ideas of superiority in favor of native teachers. The following story had a big impact on me: 

It is important to highlight the differences between the strengths of one and the other: 

Strengths of non-native teachers: having previously gone through the process of learning a foreign language, they can better understand the feelings and concerns of their students at the moment of being instructed. This can help them readjust their teaching performance when necessary.

Strengths of native teachers: Their linguistic confidence about their language in the classroom and their cultural knowledge. For example, an American English teacher may have many enriching anecdotes to share when teaching about "Thanksgiving in America."

So that would be my blog for this week. Of all the points I liked the Rapport part, as I think very few teachers go that extra mile, from just teaching to truly caring and showing interest in the well being of their students. So, I believe that a genuine friendship between student and teacher is a gift. I can definitely say that you truly support your students, and that sets you apart from others. Keep it up!👏

"Describing learners"

Welcome to my last entry for this semester. I remember this was a short class because we had to go to a call center job fair meeting. 😂

So, as we know, we have been learning about different learning studies and learners. The learners may differ based on their age, their language levels, motivation and differences. 

Ages:

Young children: They are up to 9 or 10 years old and they learn differently, as they generally show enthusiasm and respond to meaning even if they don't understand single words. Their understanding comes from what they see, hear and, above all, what they have the opportunity to touch and interact with. 

Adolescents: They tend to be disruptive learners, yet when they find the purpose of the activity, they are often successful at it and are engaged and passionate when they like what they are being taught. And when they feel comfortable, they are willing to talk about their experiences. 

Adults: Because of their age, they have expectations about their learning process and tend to be more disciplined. Therefore, they have a particular understanding of what they are learning. 

Learner Differences

Based on their differences we have Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles. Students may have different abilities that make them good in different areas and have different ways of learning what works best for them. 

Language Levels

For their language levels, in the case of English they can be classified according to the levels established by the Common European Framework. They range from basic: A1, A2; intermediate B1, B1; and advanced level, C1, C2. All of them have different skills that are developed over time.

                                        

Motivation

And finally, we have motivation. It is what has driven each learner to learn, what has motivated them and everything can vary from their goals, what they hope to achieve or what they want to become, also the people they have been influenced by, what society expects of them or what they think they have to do to satisfy society and some may be learning something new just out of curiosity.

Some factors that elicit motivation:

*The goal

*The society we live in

*The people around us

*Curiosity

That's all from my side. Thank you so much for everything.😊

"Learning Styles"

 Hello, welcome back to one of the last entries from this semester. So, let's get started. 

I remember that I could not come to one of these classes because I had to stay longer at work, so the week after that I had no group😂. but I was able to join one of them to participate in the presentation of the topic.

So I had to read the document and here are the most important details I found: 

The VARK (Visual, Aural, Read and Write/ Kinesthetic) model was proposed in 1992 by Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills. 

It is important to understand what your learning style is, that way you will be able to choose a course or a major related to it, which means you will also be able to perform better in your courses and identify if a course will be difficult for you or not.

Now a summary of them:

Visual Learner (See it): They prefer to see information as pictures, diagrams, cartoons and demonstrations. They picture the words and concepts they hear as images. However, they are easily distracted in classes without visual aids and tend to be overwhelmed by intense visuals accompanied by lecture. 

Aural/Auditory ("Hear It/Say It"): They prefer to hear information spoken or read aloud. They can absorb a lecture with little effort and may not need notes to learn. A curious fact is that they tend to like music in the background when studying. 

Kinesthetic (Do it): They prefer touch as the primary mode for assimilating information or role-playing as a way to remember important ideas. In addition, they often work with study sheets connected to vivid examples.

Reading/Writing Learner: They tend to work with lists and words to keep ideas and "to do" items in order. They also prefer to work with dictionaries, Internet and quotations.

I also did one of the online tests and this was the result:

Then, as far as I know, in Thursday's class, Lic Orlando asked to create groups so that we could explain to the class an activity that could be implemented in each of the styles. So, since I didn't come, I asked my friends Mauri, Fer and Jona to let me join them.

And here I am, a bit lost in the subject as you may notice😂.

We had a great time explaining it, Fer and Jona are super good at creating activities since they work as teachers.                      

I remember Jona did some hand mimes so the rest of the class could remember the learning styles, then Fer wrote on the board some phrases like "the dog barks", he asked the class to read them fast and try to remember as many phrases as possible, then he erased them and asked them to tell the phrases, it was a good way to practice our visual skills. 

Here is Mauri with a Poker face jaja. 

Before ending this post, let's talk about the difference between Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles. 

Multiple Intelligences: 

Pearson (2021) states that it is best to think of MI as skills or strengths that tend to work together and offer a holistic way to support different types of learners. 

Learning Styles: 

On the other hand, the same publisher expresses that Learning Styles should be thought of as "preferences" for how a learner processes information using the senses to absorb and retain what is taught.

"Multiple Intelligences" is a broad overview that emphasizes how cultures and disciplines shape human potential. Learning styles, on the other hand, emphasize preferences or how a person likes to approach learning.

On the other hand, learning styles emphasize preferences or how a person likes to approach his or her learning.

And that would be all for this entry. Hope you liked it! See you next time. 👀

Multiple Intelligences presentations - Round 3

Welcome back to my blog! 

In this entry I will continue with a summary of the last presentations. 

6. Intrapersonal Intelligence

This group was composed by Alexia, Noé, Giselle, and Andrés. 

People with this type of intelligence are good at self-reflection and are aware of their own strengths, weaknesses, feelings and emotions.

They are very intuitive and independent, as they know themselves better, know how to apply their learning to everyday activities and know how to identify their emotions well.

Some activities to develop intrapersonal intelligence can be journaling, storytelling, writing an autobiography for people who like to write, and meditation. 

The benefits people can gain from these activities are understanding how to work with oneself, having greater compassion, having personal growth, and developing the ability to try new things and become a positive person.

And some of the professions highlighted are psychologists, social workers, authors, managers and entrepreneurs.

Then, I remembered they asked some of my classmates to come to the front and pick a piece of paper which had like an emoji face on it with an expression/feeling, and they had to share a situation when they feel like that. At the end they gave some cute notebooks to them as a token for their participation. 

7. Naturalist Intelligence

This group was composed by Gustavo, Nidia, Eli, Carla and Adri. 

This intelligence refers to the ability to appreciate, categorize, classify, explain and connect the things of everyday life with nature and we begin to develop it since we are babies.

Some characteristics of people who have this intelligence are that they are sensitive to nature, enjoy being in contact with it, like to take care of plants and animals and some of their hobbies may be watching Discovery Channel or National Geographic television programs.

This intelligence can be developed with things as simple as going for a walk or hiking, setting up a garden and trying to visit new places such as rivers, lakes and mountains. People who are considered to have naturalistic intelligence are biologists, florists, gardeners, explorers and veterinarians.

At the end, they made a very funny activity in which the participants had to guess what was inside the box by just touching the object. And it was funny to see all type of reactions about it. 

8. Existential Intelligence

The last group was composed by Ken, Mauri, Jona and Fer. 

This inteligence refers to the ability to understand and contemplate philosophical issues related to the existence of humanity and people with this type of intelligence are always trying to find concrete answers to questions that do not have them.

Some characteristics of this type of people are that they are interested in the origin of life and the meaning of death and are also interested in spiritual knowledge, practices and readings, they also respond rationally to difficult situations and have a strong desire to help and save others, leaving aside egocentrism.

At the end, they asked us to make some groups. We were given a piece of paper with a question on it, and we needed to discuss it in the group. Then, they chose one of the group participants to share the answer with the rest of the class. I was the chosen one, and I had to answer the question "Why are you here?" Which at first, you can think something simple, like I am here because I had to come due to my classes, but then, we actually started thinking more deeply and we said that we were there to find more opportunities in life, to improve our skills and do things better. 

9. Interpersonal Intelligence

The last intelligence type was Interpersonal, and if I'm not wrong, there was no group with this topic, cause I don´t recall anything about it. 

So, this would be my entry for these presentations. Thank you!