Prepare for Unit 6

Art. Unit 6 is talking about art. I'm interested in this topic; however, I'm not an expert. Because of this, Rainbow and I have an idea. We hope to collaborate with the art teachers teaching our classes. In this way, we have experts to help students learn how to appreciate art (probably they have done that already). And what's better, students might come up with some art works in the art class and then we can use them for Unit 7, whose theme is about Mother. My idea is that students can do the portrait of their mother in any form of art (up to the art teacher), and then in the English class, we'll do the writings about Mother. Then, after they combine their art works and their writings, there might be an exhibition. I hope the art teacher in my classes will like this idea.

doubts resulting from group sharing on 0309

1. Everybody knows that it is very important to strike a balance between work and life. But what should we do to attain the balance? Answers: taking up sports, exercising, developing other hobbies, exposing ourselves to something else bsides our profession, etc.

2. As we are seen as "devoted" and "innovative" teachers, it is likely that we bear more burden and responsibility in our work place. Is it possible that we think of ourselves as more important figures than our colleagues (subconsciously)? Is this the force that keeps us working and working, even at the expense of our own health? Answers???

3. The ideas/ideals shared in this group have an influence on our work to some extent. Is it possible that some of the ideas/ideals spread here are "wrong" but since we are just like birds of a feather, we only receive positive feedback and this justify our deeds? Should there be a devil's advocate to challenge us? Answers???

Some new elements for Unit 3 (Part I)

For unit 3 "Misunderstandings," I added some new elements.

The first one is the artistic element based on the multiple intelligences theory. I found an activity called "Misprints" from a book and borrowed some ideas. Then, I asked some students to draw cartoons to go with the contents secretly. The students, who didn't have any idea why I wanted them to draw, happily accepted my requests and worked on the drawing over the weekend.

On Monday (2/28), I collected the cartoons. Hedy helped to scan the pictures and complete the handout I started. Then, on 3/1, in the first class of the new unit (unit 3), I used the handout as a warm-up activity, which worked as an example of how misunderstandings might happen. The activity was followed by examples of how misunderstandings are caused by similar-sounding words or misinterpretation of grammar (another handout, called "Think and Draw"). This time, students formed a group of 6 and each group was working on a very short conversation that contained a misunderstanding. They needed to figure out the meaning and draw cartoons to show it. Then, they sent representatives to draw cartoons on the blackboard. In the end, the whole class went over the six short conversations with the visual aids of the artistic drawings on the board.

Students were devoted to such creative activities as this one. Finally, those who are good at arts but not so good at English can show their talents in English classes. I could feel their pride and excitement. I think these are pretty successful activities.

Unit 2: Demeter and Persephone--4 teaching ideas (Part II)

As for the 4 ideas, I like them all, especially those that involve online search or arts. However, somehow, the webpages might be too difficult for the 10th graders. And we might not have time to do the drawing. Therefore, for the idea of introducing the connection between Greek myths and modern English, I simplified the language on the webpages and made a handout for the students. Besides, I also created PPT slides to go with them. We played a game-like activity on Lantern Festival. All students needed to do was guess the meaning of the word emphazised in the handout and on the slides by reading and watching pictures. To add some festival atmosphere, I prepared a lot of red envolopes with foreign coins and candies inside.

The other activity chosen is "dialogue writing and role playing." This is a group project. But unlike what we did last semester, this time, everyone was required to created dialogues of their own based on the scene their group was assigned. Then, three days later (after they learned the reading), they shared their writings orally in a group and chose the best piece to perform. The presentation was scheduled two days after the oral sharing. In the end of the presentation, students were asked to reflect on the activity and to compare the process with that of "the phantom."

I dropped the idea of the writing activity--writing from different angles because this activity was still centered on the myth. It would probably be too much for the students. So, instead, I gave them another myth "Pandora's box" as an outside reading exercise.

Unit 2: Demeter and Persephone--4 teaching ideas

I came back from Canada five days before school started. Then, I was too busy to prepare for the new lessons except the two learning activities for the first two periods. Luckily, Rainbow had got some materials ready; therefore, I borrowed her warn-up activity (a Chinese creation myth) and the PPT slides she created for my new lesson. I had a good start thanks to her.

Then, in the process, I came up with 4 different ideas about how to teach the Greek myth from hers. However, in the end, I only used two of them. The ideas are listed below:

IDEA ONE: The origins of some modern English usages
Skills involved: Reading, Writing and Arts
Process: Work in groups of three/four. Each group chooses a different word from the list below. Research its origin and story. And create a poster with a brief explanation (about 40-50 words) that covers the current usage of this word.
1. Atlas
2. Achilles
3. Hercules
4. Labyrinth
5. Midas
6. Procrustes
7. Pan
8. Sisyphus
9. Tantalus
10. Titans
Resources:
1. http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/contents.html
2. http://www.mythweb.com/today/today01.html
3. Other print resources such as encyclopedia or books

IDEA TWO: The origins of some modern English usages
Skills involved: Reading, Writing, and Role Play
Procedure: Work in groups of three/four. Each group chooses a different sentence from the list below. Research its origin and story. And create a short dialogue (about 1-2 minutes) that explains the current usage of this phrase.
1. This is a Herculean task. (Hercules)
2. This is a Sisyphean task. (Sisyphus)
3. He’s got a Midas touch. (Midas)
4. That is a titanic building. (Titans)
5. That is a Procrustean effort. (Procrustes)
6. He’s got my Achilles’ heel. (Achilles)
Resources:
1. http://www.mythweb.com/today/today01.html
2. http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/contents.html
3. Other print resources such as encyclopedia or books

IDEA THREE: Creating dialogues
Skills involved: Writing and Role Play
Procedure: (work in groups of 7)
Individually, design a dialogue based on one of the following scenes:

Scene One: Two farmer meet Demeter and Persephone in the field. They were thankful for Demeter’s kindness and generosity. They also praised the beauty of Persephone. (Paragraph 2-3)
Scene Two: Hades ran into Persephone and was attracted to her immediately. He asked her to marry him but Persephone refused. (Paragraph 3)
Scene Three: Hades kidnapped Persephone and took her into the Underground. Persephone was sad in the dark and shadowy place. (Paragraph 4)
Scene Four: After Demeter noticed that her daughter was gone, she searched for her everywhere, but in vain. Apollo told her what he saw. (Paragraph 5)
Scene Five: Zeus saw what had happened after Demeter lost her daughter. He had a plan in mind. (Paragraph 6-7)
Scene Six: In order to keep Persephone, Hades had an idea. (Paragraph 8)

Choose the best writing in your group, and perform the dialogue.

IDEA FOUR: Creative writing (a review writing exercise)
Skills involved: Reading and writing
Procedure: Work in a group of five. Each member in the group chooses a character from the story of “Demeter and Persephone” (Characters: Demeter, Persephone, Hades, Zeus, and Apollo). Based on the myth, write a report to narrate what you have experienced, seen or heard. There are three paragraphs in your story.

Paragraph one covers a brief introduction of yourself.
Paragraph two tells the story from your own perspective.
Paragraph three expresses your feelings or lessons you learn from this experience.

After finish the writing, share it with your group members.

Looking back and looking forward

The second class of the new semester was used as a reflective time. I called it "Looking Back and Looking Forward." This activity should have been done in the end of last semester. However, since we didn't have enough time then, it was put off until now. But the timing is not bad. Anyway, it is proper to reflect on things we did last semester in the beginning of a new semester.

The main purpose of this activiy is to draw feedback from the students about English learing in my classes. I prepared a handout (a questionnaire). Besides writing, students needed to share their thoughts orally with their group member. They were also told that in the end of the class, a person from each group had to report their results for a different question. (There are six questions in total). This challenged them to organize and summarize different ideas.

I'm pleased with the design of the activity because it invited students to write, reflect, talk, to summarize and to present. The activity was videotaped. However, there was something wrong with half of the tape. :-( Even so, students' feedback still made my day!

"Things I didn't do in my winter vacation"--an interactive speaking activity

For the first day of the school (Feb. 14), I designed a speaking activity: "Things I didn't do in my winter vacation." There are two reasons why I didn't want to dive into the textbook immediately. First of all, it was the FIRST day! How fun it could be if we start the semester with some serious and formal teaching right away? Both teachers and students need time to adjust to the rigid curricular schedule, so I think engaging students in "small talks" about their winter activities could be a good warm-up. Besides, this activity invites students to share their winter vacation,giving them chances to look back and to use English too.

Right after entering the classroom, I asked the students to put away the textbooks and notebooks they had prepared for the class. Then, out of curiosity, I started to ask them how their winter vacation had been. Some said, "Bad"; some said, "Pretty good"; still others said, "Boring" or "Interesting." Then, I told them three things I did during my vacation. While sharing, I also wrote some keys words on the blackboard. I told the stories in a very entertaining way so as to attract their attention. Then, to their surprise, after finishing, I confessed to them that actually one of the things I mentioned never ever happened at all. They had to guess which story was not true! That caused a little disturbance among them, which was quite amusing to me. Some students took the risk of making the guess. Then I further elicited their reasons for the answer. It ended when one student got the right answer.

The modeling activity took about 10 minutes. Then students were told that they need to share their winter vacation in groups of four. Before the oral sharing, they were required to write down their story by adopting the format I demonstrated on the board. And of course, they had to make up a story for their group to guess.

After ten-minute writing preparation, students were given another 10 minutes to share their stories in groups. To encourage more interaction, I asked them always ask "Why?" to any guess. In the end, they chose a member from their group. These chosen students (10 in total) had to write their stories on the board in key words. After they were done, I went over all the stories and asked everyone to choose a "fake" one from each person and wrote the answer on a piece of paper. In the end, we compared to see who scored the highest.

Suggestion: Time permitting, the representative can share their stories orally.

Planning for the speaking class

I've given a lot of thoughts about the speaking class on Friday afternoon. Besides the book report project, I want to do something different or something that can involve "Studio Classroom". Here are some ideas:

1. Summary writing and sharing
2. Short dialogues derived from the reading
3. idea sharing and reflection

And I also want to adopt the activity provided by Meggie in terms of speaking tasks. I can have my students give their presentation in a small group instead of doing it as a big class. What can they talk about? Well, here some choices:

1. pictures / photos (impromptu speech)
2. story-telling
3. debates
4. press conference

I'd better make a plan before school starts.

Working on my teaching website

Gee, I have no idea that working on my teaching website during this vacation is such a time-consuming task. Before school ended, I made sure that I'd received all the writings or group reports from the three classes. My plan was that during the trip in Vancouver, I would organize the writings, making them into webpages. Then after I go home, I would upload the pages to the Internet.

However, it is not just a piece of work. One week after in Vancouver, I couldn't have half of the work done! This gets me to think: what's my purpose of doing this? Will my students read their works if the webpages are uploaded? Is there any educational value in it? Is it a good timing to do it during the vacation or should it be done while we were having the classes?

Anyway, I learned a lesson that "Never put off the work till the vacation!" I'd better come up with a better plan for next semester so that I can have everything done before summer vacation starts. In this way, I don't have to suffer so much and sacrifice my freetime for fun. Moreover, I'd involve my students in webpage creation. It will do them good in terms of technology literacy.