I recently was contacted by a fellow English language teacher about promoting a book he wrote. I’m always happy to help and will buy it and review ( Teaching with Chopsticks: TEFL from the frontline ). However, it got me thinking about books by teachers about their own classrooms and teaching. Got me thinking about the list I give out to my “teachers to be” each year and also the books I really love in this genre.
See my list below and please comment and add your own recommendation. A book written by a teacher that is autobiographical, about their life and times as a teacher. No essays, no philosophy and rants about the educational system – just relating what happened to them as teachers and how they felt about it.
One of the “homerun” books that really got me to be a teacher was A.S. Neill’s Summerhill (get a preview copy here in our Essential Books category). He spoke in his own voice and that spoke to me. I felt like I was at the school and stepping through the hallways with him and his students.
Here’s the list I give to my students to start the year (see many in detail on my Goodreads list). Maybe something will inspire you to do some summer reading!
Educating Esme – Esme Raji Codell
Teacher Man – Frank McCourt
Freedom Writers Diary – Zlata Filipovic
Finding Mrs. Warneke – Cindi Rigsby
Tomorrow is School- Don Sawyer
The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read – John Corcoron
The Accidental Teacher – Eric Mandel
I become a teacher – Cratis Williams
Losing My Faculties – Brendan Halpin
The Emergency Teacher – Christina Asquith
There are no shortcuts Rafe Esquith
Teach like your hair is on fire – Rafe Esquith
Letters to a young teacher – Jonathan Kozol
Summerhill – O’Neill
Cries from the corridors – Peter McLaren
The Students Are Watching – Theodore Sizer
Ms Hempel Chronicles – Sarah Shun-Lien
Among Schoolchildren – Tracy Kidder
The Passionate Teacher – Robert Fried
The Courage to teach – Parker Palmer
Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key – Jack Gantos
This blog post is a follow up on my recent post “Disrupting ELT: ebooks“. I’m really keen on the new possibilities web 2.0 and technologies have for “the little guy”, us practicing teachers.
We can now share and produce our own materials quite easily. This community is a testament to that. We don’t have to go through the publisher’s bottleneck. However, one big ;problem remains – MARKETING.
The big companies have BIG money to spend on advertising. They have a web of ties that money has bound and weaved for them. Everyone is hooked into their marketing web and system. These connections will be hard to work against. The bookstores are addicted to their cash, the salespeople want to keep their own income etc…. etc….
One thing I’ve been waiting for is the power to sell on Facebook. Yes, they have a marketplace but it isn’t well done, it is for local exposure and doesn’t really work for ELT services, lessons, materials. But now we have to wait no longer. View our Market Page on the EFL Classroom 2.0 Facebook page.
It is beta but works perfectly. YOU can sell and market your lessons, your online teaching self, your materials/books through the huge exposure and virality that Facebook offers. Just click START SELLING and you are set.
Help us build this store. Like it, share it, spread the news. The more teachers selling here, the more we can transform the power of one!
Books will always be with us and like poetry, will be valued more as they become less… They are personal and secret things – therein lies their power.
I’m busy writing another one, always busy with “the word”. Today, looking at my book shelves and feeling good that I have my books together in one place. Been traveling the world for a lot of years and they sat in boxes so long.
I say this by way of introducing this wonderful video – The Diary Of A Disappointed Book. It makes for a simple but powerful lesson. Students write down the months of the year and then must note what happened to the book each month. Do this as a writing exercise or just pause the video and speak about what happened each month. Any way you look at it – this video is a gem. Especially for us bibliophiles.
There has been some talk in ELT circles about “The Round”, a new endeavor in the ELT self publishing field. I wish them all the best.
I’m all for this and have written extensively how others may make/design/market/sell their own book. Still, it seems like a lot of talk and I’m waiting for the beef.
I’m all for getting things real (espousing the 37 Signals philosophy) and my ebooks are representative of this. Lots of them, hard cover too. And what’s even better about this is that they are available for free!
So here’s my list of what I’ve produced to help teachers. By no means complete, I’m sure I’m leaving some out. Click on the links and you’ll get additional links for ordering a hard copy or for additional resources.
True gems and most are in pdf with photos/links you can click to go right to the source. More gems here.
Happy reading!
EFL Classroom 2.0 ebooks – the perfect X-mas gift.
The #1 in ELT - all the best ideas/things for teaching English
EnglishCentral Commercials: the workbook to help teach with videos students can speak.
EnglishCentral Basic Workbook: for beginning students
EnglishCentral Famous Speeches: 20 famous speeches for listening and speaking with vocab. development.
Listening: A 4 Skills coursebook.
Funny Stories for Teaching: A collection of the best stories for retelling and listening activities. With audio and text.
The Power of Public Speaking: A 20 hour, 4 module, multimedia course on the skill of public speaking
Lessons In A Can: hundreds of lessons, downloadables, printables and ideas, fully described. Use online or with the ebook. __________________________________________________________
The past few weeks, I’ve been mulling over the future of “the book”. In particular, the textbook and even more precisely the ELT textbook.
Probably been thinking about this because I’m busy every day making books (and I use “make” deliberately – authors these days can “make” books and not just write them). Further prompted by the recent announcement that Korean public schools will be “bookless” by 2015. Also because I’ve always been puzzled by the force of the written word as “a book”. Particularly, in English language teaching where words are free and language doesn’t of necessity have to come wrapped and bounded in a book.
What is the future? What are some possible outcomes for the now tiring “textbook”?
Current Trends
If you survey schools and teachers, you see that most still use the traditional book. It is a force of nature. Yet, there are inklings of change, winds blowing. The trends seem to be;
1. Open source. Textbooks that are much cheaper and current (can be edited easily and are POD (print on demand).
2. Interactive books. Online books with meshed multi media content. A reader clicks a word or a picture and is given more information.
3. eBooks. Basically a book on a computer. May or may not have multimedia embedded but allows students using the device to access other content.
4. Self publishing. Now authors are also publishers and can edit, design and market their books online.
5. Remixing. Online materials are woven together into a complete “set”. Many teachers are experimenting with this but it is the most problematic due to the stranglehold that copyright law has on education (and I’m one who ardently thinks education should get a pass on this).
6. No book. Paperless. Yes, this is a trend. There is a strong movement towards less paper. Further, video is replacing text as a means of communicating knowledge. Schools can now teach solely by designing their own online multi media materials without need of a book. Or skills can be learned through online websites. You pay for access not for a take home book.
I’ve been busy experimenting in a very rudimentary way. This coursebook would be a good example. Or in the sidebar – look at how I made a book of my blog. I’m also making courses without books. Teach | Learn, my own textbook is also a small attempt to open things up and give both teachers and learners more options within the space of the book.
But these are very small steps. The book will always be here with us but the form will change dramatically. My own sniffer tells me that ebooks WON’T be the future and they are the cassette tapes of the present generation. Instead, we’ll have very book looking devices with electronic paper. That’s my guess.
I’ve got some more of my ebooks up onto Lulu (and shortly Amazon). Available now as “real” books, POD – Print On Demand.
Here’s the preview for “The Unbearable Lightness Of Being A Teacher”. Download free the ebook but appreciated any orders of the hard copy, funds supporting EFL Classroom 2.0.
I recently made all my books into “real books”. Today, my 3 favorites came in the mail. Get them all here – I’ll soon add links to the real, POD versions. It’s great to be an author but even greater to be free to do as you please, create and make. Not to be at any whim other than the own wind beneath your wings.
I’ve outlined a bit of the process here (for making a book of your blog) – I’ll soon outline more on how you can go from idea to book, with yourself at the helm….
Lately, I’ve been learning lots about self publishing a book. For many reasons, mostly just to see what is possible and to discover if the process is accessible and profitable for teachers. I believe it is. [this is a sequel to Part 1Read the backdrop there.] Self-publishing has gotten dramatically easier and though (like with anything) there is a learning curve and hills and valleys getting to the final version – it isn’t that hard and if you love learning as I do – can be done and mastered in a few 8 hour days. Here is the process that I went through – from neophyte and book publishing imbecile to renowned publisher! ** please note – I will be discussing POD (Print On Demand) books not ebooks. POD allows the author to both produce a downloadable ebook AND a real book that can be bought and shipped. It is not paying upfront a lot of money nor just “vanity” press.
Step ONE – Content is King You have to have something that people want to buy. You can’t fluff it, no matter how you try. Readers are more and more saavy online these days. The competition fierce in self – publishing. This may seem obvious but I wanted to start here and say: Everyone has something to say! Think of your own specialty, interest. Look into what you have already written. You’ll find your diamond in the rough! Me, I had lots of poetry that nobody had read and for teaching, a series of Zen aphorisms directed at teachers that I thought would make a nice reflective teaching journal. Oh, yeah, last thought – get someone to proof read it and be meticulous!
Step TWO – decide what online POD book maker you’ll use and study up! I decided to use Lulu. Mostly because of their book marketing ability (I’ll talk about that at the end of this post). There are several other options though. WordClay, Blurb, Xlibris among others. Here’s a big list.
Step THREE – design your book to the publishers specifications. This is the hardest step. Time consuming and you’ll have to learn lots. The best way is to download a template from the bookmaker/publishing site and input all your content into that without changing it. I highly recommend this route. You can use microsoft word or pdf but most will want your final uploaded draft as a pdf file. You can easily convert your word file to pdf. DON’T use any of the online converters for this. You’ll be endlessly disappointed. Simply -1.Open the document in Word. 2. Choose File then Print. 3. Choose your document converter (Adobe PDF printer or Universal Document Converter). If you’re using Adobe PDF printer, you can just click OK, specify the filename and location for your PDF file, then Save it. If you’re using the Universal Document Converter, click Properties then choose Document to PDF, Color, Multipage in the scroll bar. Click OK then Print. (also within Adobe PDF printer you can change the page size – hit “properties” . This is very handy and might be necessary to make the book into the right size you want to publish). This is what I did for my poetry book. However, it was even easier for my reflective journal. I decided to produce it with power point! Yeah, you heard me, powerpoint. You see – I wanted a nice background and this is very difficult in a traditionally printed / made book. What I did was formatted the whole book in ppt and then uploaded to Scribd. Scribd automatically converts power point to PDF. I then downloaded the pdf, changed the page sizes and I was good to go!
Step FOUR – Make the cover. Lulu made it easy for me. They have a handy wizard cover maker. However, for my poetry book, I used the Picasa 3 editor to make the cover and back pages. Download to your computer and import your background image. Basically, find a nice background in high resolution (at least 800px). Use this and then add your other images / title etc…. Convert this jpg into a pdf and insert/add to your other pdf document. It is the same process as that above. Open the photo, choose print and select Adobe PDF printer, click OK then Print.
Step FIVE – get someone to read and review This is like step 6 but crucial. People buy books because others recommend them. It’s a truism you can’t avoid. Send copies to people you think would do this for you or are highly respected in the book’s topic. This is the stage I’m at right now! [if you'd like to review either of my books - please contact me and I'll send you the full ebook. Then go to Lulu and write a review!]
Step SIX – marketing and getting the book “out there” This is the weakness of POD self publishing. Big publishing companies have the advantage of large, well organized and guarded networks of promotion and distribution. However, the good news is that with web 2.0 – getting the word out about your book is getting easier. Still, you have to do some leg work or should I say – “mouse work”.
Here’s what I recommend at a minimum.
1. Make a sample copy (first 15 or so pages with one page containing a link to where the book can be bought) and upload to all major online publishing platforms. I uploaded mine to slideshare, authorstream, scribd, doxtop, docstock and many others. Also upload on ebook platforms like Issuu, Yudu, and Qoop
2. Open a discussion on your social networks. Your social networks can provide great recommendations and awareness. Twitter too can really get the word out fast that a book is out there.
3. Use your PLN, “Personal Learning Network”. They know and love you and will help. Just don’t be pushy! Write a blog post or multiple posts about the book. (like I’m doing). Put it on your blog or personal page. If you don’t have one – make one! (I recommend weebly as a great place to make a quick personal page).
4. Send your book to traditional publishers. Yes, this works! Many best sellers started out as self published books. Also, get an agent if you really think your book is special and have him/her take it to book fairs. The largest and best bet is the Frankfurt Fair, held every fall.
Step SEVEN – make it Portable Reader ready Kindles, iPads and other portable readers are growing exponentially. Your book should be converted into the ePub format so it can be bought and read on these devices. This is too long and detailed a subject but I’ll report back once I’ve done this in the next few months. If interested, here’s a brief post about this.
Step EIGHT – Pour a glass of wine, enjoy, you are a published author! Don’t let it be said that only big companies can successfully publish and sell beautiful books. You can too and YOU DID! The world is getting flatter and thank god. You are participating in the greatest free flow of information ever – it has ramifications that we are only beginning to understand. For the most part, they are beautiful consequences that benefit billions. Be proud, be published!
Jeremy Harmer made a comment in defense of big publishers the other day. He said, “the cost of producing a book is horrendous these days, the investment staggeringly high.”
I took that as a challenge so within 8 hours I CREATED and PUBLISHED a book. Not some frothy, blablabla book but something substantial and which practicing teachers or teacher training programs can use. This book and wisdom came from my own experience using reflective writing in my teacher training courses.
Later this week in a detailed post, I will describe the steps I took to both publish AND market this book. I think it will be highly beneficial to all – writers or even those who might still be only thinking about it, “one day”.
Admittedly, I have a sound tech background and so could do all this quicker than the regular Joe – however, it isn’t difficult and the costs and investment AREN’T staggering – unless you want to justify your billion dollars in profits (after expenses / before taxes – Pearson’s 2009 financial statement).
whatever amount to EFL Classroom 2.0 to cover our rising costs (from Ning, another profit hungry bemoth), will get it free. The license is Creative Commons and Sharealike. Meaning, once you get it – do whatever you want with it and copy, spread around as much as you like! Teacher trainers, you can contact me on EFL Classroom or here and get the powerpoint for instructional purposes.
I am writing today about something I STRONGLY feel. Not stepping on anyone’s toes in particular but forgive my own passion in advance. Today, I’d like to publicly advocate my detest with textbooks and in particular, the gross deficit of thought, creativity, respect for learners, price gouging, addiction and lack of reality that most, if not all, are stamped with.
I’ve been around the block.
I’ll say it again, I’ve been around the block. I’ve used most kinds of textbooks and I’ve even participated in the making of my fair share. I teach curriculum development courses and know a thing or two about learners and language, syllabi and silly byes. With this experience I think comes a certain need for leadership and especially cheerleading teachers to wean themselves away from bad practices (like the use of a textbook) if at all possible.
I’m not against a book.
I’ll say it again. I’m not against a book. Books are wonderful things. You can take ‘em anywhere almost, you can get them wet, drop them down a rabbit hole, read them in the toilet or tram. They are a revelation and all teachers should use books in abundance. Teach a love of books and you’ve done more than just teach English. You’ve touched eternity.
No, I’m not against books – just textbooks. I don’t care which way you rub it, how you rub against it — at the end of the day, no teacher or learner salivates in remembrance of fond passages or fascinating facts from “their old textbook”. The textbook is forgotten. Why? Because no matter how you sugar coat it – they aren’t REAL, they aren’t created by “authors” in love with their work (I’m ready for the debate on this – let’s go!!!). They are mere pay as you go, proverbial pin points on a map to nowhere….. They don’t touch the soul, they don’t shine nor may I say – get to the heart of what language learning is, “connecting like to like”.
I’ll skip over the fact that they horribly de-train teachers and create dependence (not to mention the dependence of learners too). That’s another subject.
So where to now?
Well, in my courses I always emphasize how curriculum should be build upon reality. The student’s reality. Best if it comes from the student – their choice of books, interests etc…. I also mention how if I had my druthers, I’d teach any level of learner by using and designing materials around “The Guinness Book of World Records”. As wonderful a text as they come. See the attached article below for a nice description of how it can be used as a teaching material. Despite the price, it could be used for the whole of a student’s English learning and is also available FREE online. Also, maybe send students to URDB to do activities and set their own world record!
Kieran Egan’s recent plenary got me again thinking about this “amazing ” book. He mentions it and the puzzling fact that so little attention in TESOL is devoted to the passion of young learners to “collect” and piece together the world through an interest in the esoteric and extreme. Why hasn’t this book — so well known and with such intrinsic motivation, been used as an authentic text “book”? I’m putting out a call to arms and hoping against hope that someone will step up and help me get a leveled syllabus created. It would sell like hotcakes, I’m more than sure.
Not only could you teach every possible language element and function – you could also get students participating in their own dreams and passions. You could inspire – which is the end of all teaching and all books (and which our English textbooks NEVER do). I know its power. You see, I set several Guinness World records and had the privilege of visiting schools and speaking with students about my record. I even made a worksheet from one of the magazine articles, which I used with students! I saw how student’s eyes lit up, how engaged they were – all by this magical notion of “the possible”. Why would we ever let our students sleep in a textbook’s soft keep – knowing the dreams and revelry possible in the magical Guinness Book of World Records???????
Think about all I’ve said. I’m not asking for any textbook burning parties nor making any fantastic “dogme” / nazi nor manifesto like statements. But I’d just like earnest, hard working, passionate educators to think more, think more about how we might be subversive and upend the use of the textbook in our schools – quietly, like the best of all revolutions. Let’s set a record! Click the logo below to see an inspirational slide show of many more records!
A teacher is that rare individual who coaxes the existing knowledge systems of his students out of hiding, drags every last tentacle of the monster from the depths into broad daylight, hoses off the slime, wrestles it to the ground when it puts up a fight, and finally gives it a heart transplant. That’s subversion. That’s teaching.
- Thor May, Subversive Teaching
In my discussions with working teachers – those times we just let our thoughts take us places (and I try to do this every session, let them use their English in a free way) – in these discussions we always reach conclusions which contrast with the “official line”. We conclude that a lot of what we do is, “playing school”
This could be about curriculum. The teacher MUST teach the book but it is awful and boring. So the teacher is subversive and covers the book quickly while providing creative, effective instruction for students the rest of the time. The teacher brings the hidden curriculum to the fore but in a quiet, “unofficial” way.
This could be about assessment. The teacher MUST assess students but is not given the time or maybe has to use high stakes methods which really don’t give a good indication of the student’s effort, progress. So the teacher fudges the numbers and blends things – making sure that those students who don’t fit into the regular testing mould – get their due.
We might not go so far as Robin Williams and have students rip out the thoughts of J. Evans Pritchard but good teachers do similar things.
Teachers subvert. In our discussions we always talk about how we smile, nod and keep things pretty while doing some other things which we really know will help students learn. It is our classroom after all, despite all other pretensions. Good teachers know how to be subversive. Not in any rebellious or revolutionary sense but in a quiet way, a subtle way.
Without teachers doing these subversive things every day, I don’t think there would be a lot of progress in “official” education. I really do. Partly it is a coping mechanism but mostly, it is teachers being true to the real spirit of education which isn’t “a book” , “a curriculum” , a competition” but rather connecting with learner’s and motivating them to discover, to learn.
Two books that have influenced my thinking are now classics and they speak in a similar vein. Postman and Weingartner’s, Teaching as a Subversive Activity and Illych’s – Deschooling, I highly recommend both. They still apply today, these ideas of slowly changing the system through what we do in our classrooms, in education. (I especially love Postman’s thoughts about Teacher’s College and designing curriculum).
Someone once quipped that genius was “seeing the obvious”. Or as William James added, “the ability to overlook the irrelevant”. Well, by that criteria, I think I’m up there with Einstein and Hawkings because not a day goes by without me being astounded by the power of the written word.
I am reminded of it and think of it continually. Looking at the signs I automatically obey as I walk down the street. While reading a memo or watching the computer screen. How do I become these words I read? What magic!
Reading isn’t easy. Yet, we miraculously acquire that capacity and use it for enormous benefit. The wealth and magnificence of our times owes most of its debt to this great “learned” skill. We learn it with our parents and teachers and in doing so , somehow share a deep, deep bond. Almost , if I may say the word, “sacred” and “holy” bond. The door to some of the answers we as humans are oblivious to – is inched open a crack. We see some light beyond.
This documentary below, really tells it much better than I ever can. It tells of a project to connect incarcerated women with their children on the outside through reading. It also highlights those “good” people that make “great” things happen. I won’t drone on anymore, just watch and really see what the magic of reading is about….. Amazing and inspiring ……
I recently attended Kotesol’s National Conference. It was themed upon “Reflection and Prof. Development”.
I had a great time (thanks to all who attended my own following day workshops!) and sat in on some excellent lectures/presentations. But the highlight was the opening plenary by Dr. Thomas Farrell. I was taken with his very practical focus and its obvious from the get go that he’s been a “real” classroom teacher for years and understands things from the feet first. Further, I was really impressed by his “emotion”. Like that wonderful and classic video of Ken Robinson, speaking so eloquently and with humor, Tom really engaged the audience with story, humor and anecdote. He connected with people and it was this, rather than any empirical knowledge that really won me over.
He’s written a great book on the subject, “Reflective Language Teaching, from Research to Practice”. I’ve added a nice review of this wonderful book by none other than the esteemed Andrew Finch, a guy who really “gets it”. Find a Cambridge book note here. Find or purchase the book, in our Bookstore, under Member’s books. A necessary read. Read Dr. Farrell’s beliefs in brief, HERE.
This book is also a classic
I really believe that the heart of a “good” teacher is being reflective. And not necessarily as we always think, alone in a room, pondering existence. No, just thinking the lesson through, engaging in conversation with peers, asking students for their thoughts, being brave enough to confront ourselves truthfully and honestly.
Let’s face it – we teach a lot of hours in our lifetime. It befits all of us to put some thought into how we can do it better. I think that this is a natural phenomena, this “want of the better” – as much as sex, food, freedom. Maslow would have put it on his hierachy if he’d of been where I’ve been! Like learning, wanting to do better, is a natural state but doesn’t happen because of the given environment. So to me, it is all about creating the right environment for oneself. Dr. Farrell talks about this, “situational” side of reflectiveness and I really think we should emphasize it. Put yourself in a state and a situation from where you CAN be better, get better, as a teacher.
Part of reflectiveness is what we do here each day, the hundreds and many days, thousands, who visit EFL Classroom 2.0. We are putting ourselves in a place where we might get better, become better teachers. Last weekend at the conference, sitting and listening to Tom, I experienced the same thing. Thanks for your contributions to ELT Thomas, you’ve made a difference!
I have always had a very cautious view about using a book to teach language. For many reasons which I’d like to elaborate on. I’ve had a few discussions recently about this, regarding new teachers and their need for a book. Most people advocate that a new teacher use a book — or any teacher for that matter, use a book. I’m not so sure. I see the benefits and I myself as a beginning teacher enjoyed those. The structure, the ability to “seem” in control and perform as what is expected of a teacher. The portability of print (its prime benefit and why it won’t ever be replaced) and the effect this has on the student’s ability to study outside of class. Guidance, organization, format, hitting all the bases soberly…….a book offers all this but I have my suspicions it is hurting rather than helping in the EFL classroom.
Yeah, you are probably thinking I’m some kook for arguing against a book and the book. Crazy!!! And yes, it doesn’t have to be black and white, I agree. But let me outline my arguement as to why a book is NOT beneficial in the classroom [and by book I mean "print" , a handout/print out etc...]. Further, why teachers should learn to create speakers first and then readers later.
A book really creates dependence. This is against the notion that language is communal (not insular, like print and McLuhan does a marvellous job in the Gutenburg Galaxy outlining how print affects consciousness –you might also read Canetti’s opus, “Auto da fe” for a look at this too). It gives the user a false sense of control and knowing. In fact, we seldom, if ever, will speak while looking/reading from a book and sitting. Language is mostly done on our feet, with nothing in our hands. And in fact, we are wired this way, from thousands of years of development. Wired to learn language orally and by tongue and ear (not eye – a very recent development ).
A book skews this developmental process and stunts it. Students by using the book early in their learning of a language, really block their learning and only learn to speak to themselves. The new demands of language are for speakers to speak to others and express themselves. This can only be done well by getting learners to learn without a book initially, in this very sensitive, formative stage. I’ve developed a series of conversational powerpoints and hope to do it more based on pictures in the future. But atleast with this , students can stand walk and discuss without reference to “the book”. Teachers should use language/print cues on the board or on cue cards but avoid the book in the early stages of language learning.
Think of the culture Wade Davis mentions in his musing, a culture in Peru where they can’t marry in their own linguistic family. So they have to marry into a family that doesn’t speak their own mother tongue. People , a tribe shares a large house and they speak 7-8 languages and learn entirely by speaking to each other. No book, no syllabus and time with a “teacher”. Just figuring it out as it is spoken.
Using a book also affects the teachers own effectiveness. First, a book creates an illusion of teaching. It is comfortable because we all know the process. This makes many teachers think they are teaching and many students think they are learning. But are they? Further, a book is a barrier to real communication. It is not eye to eye, it creates a barrier to authentic discussion and is a false pipeline. A book also makes student and teacher think of language as “content” based. It isn’t and is a process and fluid / changing artiface. This effects the whole teaching paradigm. A book is useful when teaching reading but when speaking is the focus, it absolutely can be ruinous. A communicative textbook would be no text book at all!!!! [this kind of reminds me of a cartoon I once read about a guy who is wandering in a bookstore. He asks the clerk where the "self help" section is. The clerk takes him to the section and points. There is a long wall of book shelves without books. The man asks, "Where are the books?" ]
A book also creates problems of assessment. You test what has been covered in the book but is that really what should be tested? Shouldn’t we be testing competency, not the content? It doesn’t matter what the students say , imo, as long as they know the “how” to say it. A book pushes us to assess much too much on content and reinforces content and not production, promotes regurgitation and not comprehension.
I’ll pick this conversation up again on the weekend. More to add. But I do want to end by saying — I love books! See my blog on Classroom2.0 about the new movement to open up the world of books digitally and in particularly Richard Baraniuk’s delightful talk/discussion. If indeed the library was or still is “the headquarters of civilization”, the new digital thought ecosphere will be the “heart fo human kind.”
PS> i still believe a book is great in class, and especially the right book. Especially for begining teachers who need more structure and a place to call a home base and from which to then grow out of , creatively, in their EFL classroom. I’m just playing the devil’s advocate here
I recently was contacted by a fellow English language teacher about promoting a book he wrote. I’m always happy to help and will buy it and review ( Teaching with Chopsticks: TEFL from the frontline ). However, it got me thinking about books by teachers about their own classrooms and teaching. Got me thinking about the list I give out to my “teachers to be” each year and also the books I really love in this genre.
I am writing today about something I STRONGLY feel. Not stepping on anyone’s toes in particular but forgive my own passion in advance. Today, I’d like to publicly advocate my detest with textbooks and in particular, the gross deficit of thought, creativity, respect for learners, price gouging, addiction and lack of reality that most, if not all, are stamped with.
Are you a subversive teacher?
