Olga’s ideas for workshops

Olga has given several workshops related to blogs, wikis and other Internet tools. On her blog she offers us several useful ideas for workshop teaching:

I have been giving workshops for some time and – without being aware of it – I have adopted my own tricks. I will share them in case they are useful to you.

• The volunteer. For the practical part, which usually takes up most of the time, I ask somebody to sit at the computer with the projector. I even encourage someone with a low level. That way I control the pace better, because otherwise I hurry up a lot, taking for granted things which are not always understood.
• Anticipating problems. During the practical part there are many, such as: I do not have an e-mail account, I have forgotten the password, I can only access my account at work, etc. For this reason, I created 15 e-mail accounts for my learners. Besides, one has to notice these things before someone is left behind.
• Introduction which connects identity with level of knowledge. I ask people to say their names, the organization they collaborate on, their needs and the tools they use or which are familiar to them. That way I get an idea of how things are.
• Personalized comments about the introduction. Almost for every individual introduction I try to note down an idea on the blackboard. Something related to what they are telling me: if the board of directors is not really up for it, if they are technophobic, if they depend on a company to update a site… and then I try to discuss it all, to connect it to what we are going to see: digital gap, CMS, flexible tools, participation, etc. This may take a lot of time, but it is very useful to get closer to people and not to make the course a “standard” one. This way we indicate ideas and later maybe we will give priority to certain tools over others.
• Enthusiasm. The truth is that it comes out of me easily, sometimes too much! But I do not try to hold it back. I have been in too many classrooms with teachers who did not seem to feel anything and I do not think this communicates well. It is not a question of conveying that everything is easy, but of talking about problems and difficulties without running away or talking about pains continually.
• Multiplying voices. I frequently ask people if this or that thing sounds familiar to them. If some people say yes, I ask them to define the concept and talk about it briefly. That way the workshop does not become monotonous with my voice alone and besides other people contribute other nuances in their explanations.
• Raising expectations. It might be a mistake, but I mention many tools without stopping to define them till later. This is useful to raise expectations. Sometimes we do not even have time to see everything, but this way maybe I make things sound familiar and get them to research. I prefer to talk about the possibilities they have, rather than analyzing a tool in total depth. If a workshop takes 4 or 8 hours, I think the objective must be to create a bunch of interest and curiosity, not fabricating experts in RSS.

Activities to introduce the naturalist intelligence

In their presentation three of my classmates have pointed out other ways of working with naturalist intelligence:

• Working outside the classroom. I can propose one activity of this type: the description of the landscape or of plants which call our attention. For example, in the garden of our secondary school there was a poppy from which opium is extracted. Students can take photos of this natural environment to project them on the classroom wall.
• Videos.
• Natural sounds. There are several short activities related to sounds. For example, we close our eyes, listen to all sounds around us and later describe them orally. In this activity we can include the reproduction of sounds from nature.

As we know, according to the law, education should include environmental issues. Thus, activities such as watching a video and using Internet resources can be oriented towards children’s awareness of environmental subjects.

The image used in this post comes from this website.

Some ways to introduce world culture

When explaining the customs, history or curiosities of other places, I would use not only texts or maps of the United Kingdom or the United States, but also of other English-speaking countries, as well as any other country. If we are in favour of inclusion, why not at all levels? As some authors state, now English is not the exclusive preserve of English-speaking countries; it belongs to the whole world. So it is a good opportunity to include world culture in our lessons.

Teachers can present e-mails, Internet chats and oral conversations via Skype as enjoyable ways of learning English. What is more, they can set a task in which students have the opportunity to use these resources; for example, an interview about some aspects of another person’s culture. First students could get some information about a country and, on that basis, they would prepare questions to ask in chats, forums, e-mails, etc.

Instructional material on the walls

Two of my classmates have given and oral presentation about the topic ‘Brightening up the classroom and making it more motivating’.
First they have talked about the physical appearance of the classroom and the distribution of items inside it. Side walls with instructional visual stimuli create a pleasant learning environment – students can learn even during the break! (their sight will surely move to the walls at certain moments). Another possibility to promote passive learning is to stick labels with names on the objects of the classroom (for example: ‘coat stand’, ‘blackboard’, ‘wall’…). I think it is important that students know vocabulary and functions related to everyday objects and actions. Would they be able to express themselves if they go to the doctor in an English-speaking country? Do students know, for example, how to speak about their defecation in English?
(A peculiar question asked by one of my teachers some years ago).

We are what we think

It is said that the language you use and the type of thoughts you have condition your mood and, ultimately, your behaviour. We produce patterns of thought; if they are negative, they will likely have a counterproductive effect. For example, if I think that everything is horrible and against me all the time, I will probably feel sad and unable to make a decisive movement or change anything. Many people argue that rational and emotional intelligences are tightly interconnected. It can be difficult to help someone learn if their emotional life is not right at that moment. This is why we can try to improve our students’ self-esteem, recognize their worth and praise them whenever possible.

Sharing suggestions for the future

The teacher can also help his students to get to know their own abilities in order to exploit them to the full. In some cases, when we do not discuss these things, there can be problems, such as doubts when choosing university studies. I think it is helpful if there is an active participation and open dialogue of students, teachers and parents. All of them can deal with this issue, so that the time spent lingering at the university may go down considerably.

Source of the image: here.

“Show and Tell” with a personal contribution

People in our class gave suggestions to the question ‘How might the knowledge of Multiple Intelligence Theory affect you personally, as a student, and as a teacher?’

The teacher can offer provisions for every student by means of varied activities (which may include physical movements, music,…). I believe that one effective way of covering different intelligences is the activity known as “Show and Tell”, in which students are asked to bring a plant (naturalist intelligence), a poem, a song or other types of material, explain interesting facts about it and offer their personal contribution (well, I have added this, I do not know if it is an official part of the activity). What type of personal contribution could they offer? Here are some ideas:

• Their personal opinion. For example, their emotions and interpretation when reading a poem.
• A nice short activity for their classmates.
• Their own artistic work related to the topic: a comic, an illustration, a song…
• Questions for discussion (including their own ideas and opinions).

I will ask my neighbour…

These are two possible ways to encourage interaction between students (apart from a teacher ↔ student interaction):

• Getting students to ask questions to each other. For example, if somebody cannot understand yesterday’s explanation about the passive voice, he can ask a classmate who attended that lesson. If teachers make this possible, I think they are showing that they trust students’ knowledge and oral skills. They would be also giving them more autonomy. Besides, this can be another way of getting feedback.
• Getting students to give explanations to each other. Explaining something orally is a way to notice if I understand it. With a passive reading or listening activity sometimes I have taken some things for granted in a conscious or unconscious way. I think that is why some learners study by explaining the lesson aloud to their parents, cuddly toys or themselves. Besides, this procedure includes both visual and auditory memory, as well as linguistic intelligence.

(Source of the image used in this post).

Learners evaluate themselves

Learners can be allowed to evaluate their groups of work. That way they would do some feedback work for you and would notice how a group works more efficiently and with a more positive mood. A learner can have the role of observing his group, or all the members can evaluate the activity after having finished it. They may be given a worksheet in which they count how many times each of the following actions was performed:

• Contributed an idea.
• Encouraged others to say something.
• Summarized what other people said.
• Evaluated other people’s ideas.
• Made everyone laugh.
• Tried to smooth out problems.
• Distracted the group by talking about something else.
• Interrupted other people to state my own ideas.
• Didn’t listen to other people’s ideas.
• Didn’t talk in English…

(This list has been taken from a book on education).

Some reasons for group work

• Students communicate in English, which is said to be the main aim of learning the language.
• ­ Relationships and cohesion within the group are strengthened.
• ­ Some learners may feel more comfortable when they speak to their classmates than when they speak to the teacher in front of the whole class.
• ­ It can give learners more autonomy.
• Group work leaves the teacher some time to rest or prepare other parts of the lesson.