Parry Street, Median Strip, Computer Door

These three pictures were taken to teach: what the median strip is used for, the emergency
assembly point, and a story about the computer door being hinged open after Polytech hours.

If you are early

If you are early to school and the classroom is still locked then go to the administrator in the office and ask for the key. Say something like:

"oh, good morning, um, could I please have the key for L11?

The administrator might say comments to you like:

Admin: oh, it's cold this morning isn't it?

You: oh, yes, it is, I need to try to keep warm.

Admin: here it is.

You: oh, thanks very much, I'll return it soon.

Admin: thanks, have a nice day.

You: oh, thanks, you too.

If you are waiting outside for the administrator to open the main door then you can knock on the window. The administrator will then open the door for you. In this situation you should say:

You: oh, thanks very much

or

You: oh, thanks, I really appreciate you opening the door because it's very cold (ha ha).

Teaching Websites

Today, the students each came to the front of the class, where the computer was, and showed on the data projector their chosen English site. The students learnt how to explain where to go, how this site would help them with their English study and what they thought of it. As a default the students could say that even though they had accessed this site, it was quite difficult. Sometimes the links on the site wouldn't open and/or wouldn't display what the student wanted to show. The task that the students did illustrated that they have the opportunity to manage their own learning as well as share it with others in the class. They also became confident at moving around on the web, which will hopefully, make them more proficient at accessing similar sites and feeds later on in the programme.

The students also set up their PIN for their library account, which now means that they can access their details via the internet. I got a few students to show me their accounts on the data projector, which again provided specific hooks into how to utilise the computer - in English. The students weren't use to doing any of this in English, but I think that it provided them with a slow introduction into getting use to developing their interactive English skills. The vocabulary that emerged from doing this simple task focused on such terminology as: scroll up/down, click here, due date, tab, login/out, etc. A very valuable first lesson, which I intend to build upon.

English for Specific Purposes/Taking Notes/Journals/Reading/Listening

Today, as always, we spent the first hour practising conversational English. The students get into two lines and ask each other questions, for example, what kind of music do you like to listen to?
The students are trying to adopt a conversational style of taking the question and making it into a platform to launch into anything related to music, especially highlighting music in Japan and comparing it to music in New Zealand.

Later on when the students have become proficient at this conversational style they will be given cards with just a topic on them, for example, music. This means that the student should voluntarily talk about music in a conversational style. This is quite a difficult task to achieve, but with practise the students will reach this level.

Today, we also did some homestay conversational topics that the students chose themselves. These conversational topics included talking about; TV, the weather, chess, food, etc.

We also made a start on English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The students are being introduced to many terms associated with engineering vocabulary. For example, motion, movement, force, mass, volume, etc. The ESP classes start on the 18th of May and the students will be studying until about 4pm.

TAKING NOTES

From experience I tend to know that a lot of the students I have taught on this programme don't really know how to use their notes. The students write down a lot of things from the board, but don't really engage with the material that they have copied down. I always try to say "cover/check" in order to get the students to use their notes. Today, I got them to give their notebooks to their partners and then the students had to tell their partners what was written on that page. Of course, this was quite difficult to remember, but it did emphasise that the students need to know what they have written down. I then said, "well, do you really need to know this?" This is when the students started to highlight what they wanted to remember and erase what they didn't need. I think that now the students know that their notes are important.

JOURNALS

I encourage the students to write in their journals every day, or as they want to. They can write about anything. I check their writing and always encourage them to do their corrections - sometimes, like today, I focused on some common mistakes that many of the students made.

LISTENING

All of the students borrowed a book from the library with an audio tape of the story. The students took it in turns to listen on a tape deck in the classroom about their story. The students also borrowed another book of their choice.

S.R.A. (Scientific Reading Associates) READING

This is a reading box that has twelve cards in each colour level. The colour levels start at red and go to the most difficult level: purple. The cards have a story and then comprehension questions. The students then take another card and check their answers. (You may remember this tool box in your own class at school - this is a revised edition). I have heard from the students that they enjoy doing this kind of reading because they are in complete control of their own learning. They also like competing with others in the class to see who can get to the highest level.

All of the activities in today's blog are focusing on giving the students the strategies to take control of their own learning, so that they can learn in the class, or at home independently of a teacher. My job now is to encourage the students to practise these strategies to the best of their abilities and furthermore, show them new ideas for learning.

How to stay warm in Dunedin

Today, we also discussed how to stay warm.

The students wrote a star diagram on the whiteboard and put up many words about how they stay warm in Japan. I then told them how to explain some Japanese words in English. One word is "kairo." This is like a mini hot water bottle that is cheap to buy in Japan and it stays warm for about 6 hours. After this you throw it away. It doesn't use water, but a chemical (I don't know the details of how it operates.)

The kotatsu is also a heated table with a blanket over it that is very common in almost every Japanese house.

The bath is another way to keep warm. To soak in a bath is quite a natural every day occurrence.

Japanese people usually take clothes off in their house, but in New Zealand - you guessed it, people usually put clothes on if they are cold. It's a cultural difference, but a big hurdle to get use to if you are trying to adjust.

I explained about "thermals" and other ways to keep warm in Dunedin - jokes about long underwear etc. It was a good class and I think that the students understood the differences.

In general.............(Topics to talk about)

The topic is: Music

Well, in general, (generally) music in Japan is quite similar to music in New Zealand - I think. We have all of the main music, but I think that there is probably more variety in Japan. In my town there are many Japanese bands, of course they all sing in Japanese, so that is why you may not have heard of them, but there are bands that also sing in English. Um, for example, do you know............Utada Hikaru, Soulhead, Puffy, Here we have a general view of what music is in Japan.

There are also many clubs in Japan where you can go and listen to music.

I like going to hip hop clubs and listening to lots of hip hop This is now personal information

The students talked about how to start a conversation from a very wide generalisation and then focus it down to a personal note. The students were imagining how to talk to people from New Zealand.

Homework: Write on the blog about a topic that interests you. Try to imagine that you are explaining this to a New Zealand person. Make it funny and interesting.

Getting Started - Creating the Environment for Student-Led Learning

On Monday the students began their orientation. I started off the class by welcoming the students and getting them to write their names on pieces of paper and putting them at the front of their desks. I then briefly introduced myself and started creating learning habits and strategies. Quite often, when I speak, I ask the students to repeat what I have just said. The students then chorus back what I have just said. At first, this seems quite strange, but I have found through experience that the students really start to focus on having to listen for a purpose, i.e., to repeat. This avoids students hearing something, but letting the English just pass on by. I believe that any English can be used to create authentic learning opportunities, especially in the classroom. Therefore, the English that I use in the classroom acts like a model for the students to use as well. This; however, always runs the risk of students copying my own rather ethnocentric style, but I have got away from this by firstly telling them this and then encouraging the students to use the same strategy that they use in the classroom, but outside of the classroom as well, and especially in the homestay.
The students have now set up their own blog called C.E.E. 2009 (this is not yet open to the public in respect of the students' wishes). Hopefully, this blog will support the students' writing as well as provide valuable opportunities for feedback. I am going to try to take a step back from controlling this blog, but try to let it be student managed.