ELTeaCH

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...