"When one teaches, two learn"
Teachers are great. But people have been learning languages for thousands of years without a teacher. It’s not only possible but actually in many ways better and more effective. Not all of these will work for you. There is no “magic bullet”, no “secret sauce”....
Language functions are a great way to focus student learning on communication. Showing students and having students study examples of language in use, language used to actually do and accomplish and communicate is a great methodology. EnglishCentral now has many videos focused on all the...
Over the years, spending time with thousands of new or budding teachers – I’ve thought and thought and thought about the major factors that make a “great teacher”. It’s not an easy thing to pin down, given that there are so many different teaching...
One conclusion I’ve come to after years teaching – testing and assessment are poorly used as a way for students to learn. This is curious and unfortunate because students for the most part DO get motivated and energized through tests and quizzes. The pickle is,...
I spent a few contemplative hours this morning going through some of my dozens of notebooks of poetry and philosophy/aphorisms, written over the last 30+ years. As I was reading one, I came across this list of points on “How To Learn English”. I remember...
Last week I watched the “Reinvent Learning” roundtable with Howard Reingold. As I walked and ran on my treadmill (got in a good 14 k), I listened to the pronouncements of all the experts about what is happening or should happen in education right now....
I spent part of the morning rereading Frank Smith, particularly his thoughts about how we learn. Delightful, insightful, thoughtful. Here’s an excerpt from his book: Comprehension and Learning but I also highly recommend his book about whole language, Understanding Reading. One of the things that...
Over the years, I’ve kept my eyes and ears open for great “thought experiments” for language. Real examples and events that are so extreme, they really force you to think differently about ones preconceived notions about language learning (and by default teaching it). Here are...
{ I originally published this in Barbara Sakamoto’s wonderful blog – Teaching Village. I revive it here because I think its message is pertinent and important. } “The problem with our profession is that there is too much teaching and not enough learning”. I said...
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “the children are working as if I don’t exist.” – Maria Montessori During the last year, I’ve been following the KhanAcademy locomotive as it chugs on to distant fertile lands and...
I will also add to this, “Give a man a fish and he’ll just expect to not work for any more. Make him pay a little and he’ll value that fish and his work to purchase it”. I’m saying this as background to some reflection...
As this video suggests, we have to get out of the “assembly line” approach to education. It isn’t easy, we are addicted to quantifying “learning”. We are addicted to “cosmetic tinkering”. We are addicted to the “herding” of children into rooms. We are infact scared...
To be very frank – I’ve been going through a rough patch. Can’t run anymore, feeling half my normal self. Just not up to things and just not sparking as I always did. I’ve been reading, as I do when I step back in order...
This video is raw, raw and real. Meaning, to me it speaks on many levels (both good and bad) because it is from the heart, the belly and the brain – because it has spirit and eyes and emotion. We need more of this type...
One of the nice things about the small city I moved to recently, is that it has a wonderful theater downtown, minutes from my house. Every Sunday, they have a $5 showing and tonight they showed “The King’s Speech”. Great movie, highly recommend it despite...
“but I gave them the room to just do the thing. Figure it out, go create” – Diana Laufenberg One of the things I’ve often done with teachers and students alike is just give them a set of materials, say flashcards and then, “just get...
The future of teaching is learning. This is an addendum to my last post – The future of learning. Just watched this now 3 year old presentation – A Manifesto for Learning. I think it appropriate, given what the last 3 years have presented to...
Last week I wrote about a forthcoming course book that I am publishing – Teach | Learn. It will be out next week but thought it would be interesting to some, to see a sample lesson and to get a few thoughts about the delivery...
I have written and pounded the pulpit long and hard on the issue of teachers “getting out of the way”. Ranted and pleaded with teachers to be more inductive in their approach, more sandbox about the learning environment. No greater compliment to my own constructivist...
I’ve long been studying Second Language Acquisition and its relationship to teaching and learning a language. One article that I read several years ago has always stood out for me. What do we know about learning and teaching second language – Implications for teaching. Written...
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