ELTeaCH

The question I most frequently get asked - probably because I grew up speaking English myself and my daughters went through the Swiss public school system - is “how do I deal with native speakers in my classroom?” I will discuss this below starting with my own experiences and then generalize those points to some more practical tips. First of all, I would like to state that I get irritated by the question. Teachers in Switzerland have a 3-year degree in education and a lot of fieldwork. In every subject there will be learners who are more or less motivated, more or less interested, and have had more or fewer experiences in a subject. So when I get asked about native speakers, I think “have they not learned how to differentiate instruction?” and that they have it wrong. Teachers are not responsible for teaching native-level English (they cannot), but they ARE responsible that every child has an active, positive experience where they make progress. They ARE responsible for not just “follo...

The semester has started!!! First of all, I have to say that I am blessed with wonderful students - for the first time in a long time, I am getting emails and questions OUTSIDE of class time about class CONTENT and not just management - students questioning things I say or asking for more information!! So I guess I have excellent groups or I am doing something better that the frequency is increasing. There's one pet peeve I have and that is students asking the following question: "Do we really have to read the TKT course/Spendlove book" (there are 2 required readings for 2 different courses)? And my answer is the following: "Are you telling me that you have something AGAINST more knowledge and understanding of the topics? Are you telling me that you only want to do the MINIMUM and you are only thinking about your GRADE at the end of the course?" So I also tell them that if they have looked through the books and feel like they know the material, then that...

So last semester we had three primary school classes at the Zurich University of Teacher Education. And my husband, as a "career-change" student had a course in social studies and science at my university where he heard quite often that science and social studies topics should remain within kids' worlds - so no Navajo for Swiss kids and God-forbid they learn about dolphins. Stick to Switzerland - the canton, the cantons and perhaps the bordering countries and whatever natural phenomena are close-by. So now my daughter is learning about Jura, though she's spent most of her summers amongst the Amish and even the Navajo at times:) (Note: I think she should learn about the Jura, actually but I would not have anything against other topics, either) That out of my system, since this project (which involved kids from my village, so I still see them) and here are comments I've heard since then (a year and a half later): Frau Büchel - I'm going to be a teacher, to...

There are just my rough thoughts on English in the Primary / Elementary Schools in relation to the age and acquisition discussions going on. I add no references, will do so later. *** The question about there being a critical age (or not) for the acquisition of a foreign language has long been discussed and we will leave this discussion to the true experts (Birdsong, Singleton, Pfenninger, etc…). So let us assume that they are right and that English for the sake of English has no place in Swiss elementary schools. I can agree with this. It is clear to me that there is no point in having English at the elementary school level for the sake of language competence in English itself. However, there are reasons for having English at the primary school which might make sense. These reasons could be that: a child’s metalinguistic awareness is augmented (proof ?) by having an early language; a child knows German or his or her mother tongue in a different way than a child who has no acce...

I have to say that I am slightly not happy with the over-focus on body parts in Swiss 2 nd and 3 rd grades.  Often, they are introduced in the 2 nd grade. And then since Zurich teachers often use a book meant for the first year of EN over two years, or they take a first level book for the first year and start again with a first level book the second year, the kids get this language twice. In one book, the children have to look at each other and ask “Do you have green eyes” – how stupid can you get!!! So I am just sitting here thinking about the last time I ever talked about my eyes or nose or hair. Here’s what I came up with: I need to cut my hair.   I got my contact lens stuck in my eye at dinner.   You know, the woman with the red hair….   I have a runny nose.   Oh, my goodness, I ate so many beans. There’s a rumbling in my stomach. So that makes me think of situations (contexts) that might make sense for teaching this language: ...

We had another great day working with the kids! The kids made a variety of products and I did hear that many of them knew that dreamcatchers were not really Navajo and they knew the reason for some of the games they made - which specific skills they trained. I was really impressed with the boys who made the game where they rolled the big dreamcatchers and tried to catch them with the stick. Great idea! Students : Our students are super - I would be very proud if they were to teach my children! They are honest, communicative, trustworthy and pleasant. Don't be afraid to ask for a job recommendation. Assessment rubrics : Due to the mass of planning and organization of having all these kids at the PH, we have not been able to get the depth that would have been nice. Of course that was to be expected. And at the same time, I believe by simply having developed an observation rubric, having had to take notes and think about what they WOULD write, they have learned a lot about how t...

Today we had our first day of the project "Navajos don't live in tipis" at the PH! Kudos to you, students, for doing such an excellent job!!! Here are my initial thoughts: AFL: Well, you will get to try out a few things, but the entire process cannot be observed in 2-4 days at the PH. I am fully aware of the fact, but still, I think you perhaps learn how to take notes about children and what systems/strategies you need, especially with a larger group! And here you get practice in observation - the whole situation of having a new teacher for a while is a chance and a challenge on both sides, and how you document what you observed can be very important in forming an opinion and also not losing thoughts that you have at the time. I saw some good techniques that can fit into formative attitude towards teaching and these little experiences you have not will perhaps be remembered and used later. The topic: Well, I am not sure if we are breaking down cliches, but at least e...

Pegasus rocks!! Last week we talked about how to deal with English and French teaching. We discussed things like assigning homework on a strategy rather than language level, on contrastive linguistics, on the advantages of being qualified to teach both subjexts, on using music. And tonight, sitting here, Alison informs me that one of her classmates is related to Noah Veraguth! So we said, being really uncool parents, "Huh, who's that?". Upon further inspection we find out he's the lead singer of Pegasus and that he has a song with Stress (who we mentioned because he sings in French and English and German)!! So here is an example: See Noel's Room http://noelsroom.com/ for many other songs in both languages! Of course, there are other artists like Patricia Kaas, Raffi, Etienne, who sing in both languages, but here are some more modern ones. And next semester perhaps we'll develop some worksheets or some activities to teach the language of one of t...

I got asked to write an article for Praxis Grundschule in German but then they changed their minds about the whole edition!! So I will simply paste it here for anyone looking for some useful ideas!! PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS UNEDITED!! Fuzzy, was he? Clear as mud. “What’s this supposed to be? The picture is not clear!” Is there any value in poor-quality or misleading pictures in young-learners’ classroom? A slight mistake in teaching has now turned into a principle: the worse the picture is, the more language learners produce – children talk and think about it. The following article will provide you with a concrete example of how as well as some other ideas for communicative activities based on images. The value of good pictures and their use in scaffolding learners’ understanding of words and concepts is clearly mentioned in many a textbook and through basic searches on the topic. However, adding the word “fuzzy” or “unclear” to the word “picture” or “image” does not turn up any...

 I am too lazy to update my website, so I will put my workshop for January 14 and 18 here!  Speaking Activities – Computer Resources   http://www.michellehenry.fr/pronounce.htm --> spend time getting ideas for teaching and have fun practicing your own English. Go to http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/ and search for “Pron Pal”. Install the ‘app’ and play around with it. Go to http://americanenglish.state.gov/trace-effects . Play the Trace Effects game. How might your learners use this? ABC Teach ( http://www.abcteach.com ); Login:laura.buechel@phzh.ch; Password: cook90. Search for words such as word walls, bingo (sounds bingo ), …. a topic you’ll teach in the near future Bogglesworldesl ( http://bogglesworldesl.com ) (CAREFUL!! No WWW!!) Look around everywhere (also in the adults section). Also use the site search to search for things like ‘pronunciation’ or a topic. Check out http://www.epals.com/ - what sorts of things make sense her...

In an attempt to put all the cool and interesting things we discuss and stumble upon in our family into some sort of structure, I will reopen my blog! Last night we discussed the following NPR article: Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning and pondered the following points. 1) Do our own children have enough perseverance? 2) Did the teacher judge the moment in that he knew that the child would succeed by the end of the lesson? What would have happened if that child had NOT succeeded? 3) Where have our own children had these "AHA" moments and been publicly praised? 4) What can we take on from other countries into our existing behaviors? And much more.... I read about a really cool app for English language learners - useful for Swiss kids : English Train by Kaplan I saw this teacher's website and found it really cool: http://bossysmile.wordpress.com/resources/images/traffic-lights/ And here is a picture of Zoe (toothless) and A...

We are currently in the US. If you wish to follow our travels and thoughts, you can go here: Buechel Family Travel Blog http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/laura.buechel/1/tpod.html

Sonnenaufgang in der öden Wüste von Rats County. Ein neuer Tag beginnt. Ein neuer Tag voller ungesühnter Gewalttaten und Gaunereien, denn die Justiz von Rats City hat die Kontrolle über das Gesindel und die allgegenwärtigen Desperados längst aufgegeben. Der Sheriff will eben eine neue Flasche Whisky aus dem Keller holen, um den Tag möglichst schmerzfrei anzutreten, da blitzt eine Idee durch sein ansonsten vernebeltes Gehirn. Statt in den Keller steigt er in den Estrich und schnappt sich die Kiste mit den verstaubten Sternen. Er geht damit von Haus zu Haus, schreckt jeden ihm bekannten rechtschaffenen Bürger, und ja sogar die rechtschaffenen Bürgerinnen aus dem Schlaf und steckt den Verduzten einen Stern ans Pyjama. „Ich ernenne dich hiermit zum Deputy von Rats County. Wach auf, zieh dich an und geh die Stadt säubern!“ Die folgenden Jahre brachten viel harte Arbeit. Die Koordination der Hilfssheriffe verlief nicht immer reibungslos, und viele Male musste der Sheriff in letzter Sekunde u...

Today I taught a group of students at the Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich). I corrected the following utterances: “What means ‘intelligible’?” (should be “What DOES ‘intelligible’ mean?”) “Last year I have gone there, it was great!” (should be: “Last year I WENT there…”) [eye roll] How many times I have corrected these ‘miscues’ or ‘mistakes’? However, did these utterances hinder the students’ ability to communicate? No! Did the students know the rule? Yes! Were they able to correct themselves? Yes! Did they say it incorrectly again after being corrected, made to repeat the expression correctly and write it down to remember? Yes!! What does this example show us? It shows that language is not learned in isolated moments of “learning the present perfect”. It shows us that noticing language takes place all the time, in different contexts. Some things, like the present perfect, are so different from German, that it is only in extended exposure, use in different...

Here I am once again at NILE , in Norwich, England. It's been extremely productive - we'll revamp the stay in England a bit for the next set of students - and also inspiring! But let's just look at the inspiring language aspect and not the inspiring organizational aspect. Today I got to sit in on Mr. Jamie Keddie ( jamiekeddie .com ) and got to focus on two main text-reconstructions activities that I summarize here below: 1) Watch a Youtube short video without sound (e.g. "Procrastination" Tales Of Mere Existence") 2) After watching the video, elicit vocabulary and recreate the story verbally with the learners 3) Teacher has prepared the text in advance. Do some sort of language work with it, such as a running dictation where the learners then have to write the text and put the sentences in the order shown in the video. 4) Learners compare what they wrote with what was provided and correct their answers. 5) Each sentence is written on a blank card. Each lea...