Real ESL

I just found this website Real ESL

This website is all about real life and authentic language for esl learners.

The website quotes  “This is real ESL for people with real lives”

It’s got heaps of videos and articles include gay weddings that teach if clauses and about women’s “time of the month”

Although these topics are not usually covered in textbooks, at least someone out there is trying to do it.

Lack of Knowlegde

I thought the activity was a good little exercise and although it was simple it worked well. I will be using something along those lines in my classes and some point in the future. Cheers Curt.

Ok, so I was the so called expert on how teachers can overcome their lack of knowledge in a classroom. Depending on the class an especially a class whereby oppositional readings will be the focus, the teacher needs to be very competent indeed.

Overall, if there’s a class where the teacher lacks knowledge, I think there are a few ways to get around this matter.

I think the first main one is to be confident. Teachers must show that they are confident in front of the class, this will gain students trust and they will believe in you, in turn the student will have greater respect for the teacher.  I’ve seen teachers from back home while I was at school and over here completely fall apart in class because they lack in knowledge and ability. They lose confidence and quickly lose control of the class and the students respect.

If the teacher hasn’t the knowledge for a particular class, then I feel it’s up to them to make sure they are fully prepared for the class. When I first started teaching my class prep was way more than the class time, I had no idea on some topics and subjects and therefore I had to read up and try to understand what it was I was teaching. Even now, I recently got business writing classes, which I have never taught and never studied, so I had to spend a week before the semester started to read through the book and kind of teach myself some of the rules, the format and other information that I didn’t know, which eventually I would pass on the students.

Within preparation and confidence, I feel the teacher must be ready for questions from the class, they must anticipate what will be asked and have some answers and solutions ready so they know what they are talking about. With this I don’t think teachers should say a load of BS but if they can pretend convincingly in class, then after class find the true answers or theories or whatever, then go back next class and explain that they made a little mistake or that they’ve something to add.

And I think with all teachers, educators, professors and anyone else in education, if you want to be on the ball, then you have to continue studying yourself, whether it be researching and/or taking more courses at universities or whatever. Education changes and teachers have to match this change so that they are the top of their game and can deliver the best class possible to their students

What is literacy?

Massive question!  

Different people have different interpretations of this from simply being able to read and write, to being educated, to being proficient in a language,  to derive and convey meaning by using knowledge to reach a desired purpose by use of language skills, whether it be spoken or written.

For me it means the ability to understand, interpret, process, and respond.  I feel this can be applied to any context, in any country, in any language and the degree of this ability can be applied at any given level.

Here is a clip with many quotes and definitions, some are obvious, some make you think, and you may disagree with some of them. It tries to show and define literacy and illiteracy. What problems are connect to illiteracy and what are the benefits by eliminating illiteracy.

Literacy is everywhere and effects people in different ways; it can bring people together and cause problems. As gee stated ‘whether literacy can be used as a tool for liberation or are we endlessly trapped in replicating the given social stays quo through enticing the social practices that instantiate this?’

Does literacy keep classes apart? And maintain the social status and keep people in their place or can it bring us all together to all function together in our communities?

Here’s another clip of literacy in our community? Could it really be this perfect?

Can we adapt and change the way we teach?

I found a short clip here that really made me think about the way I teach.  As a teacher I think we do have to adapt the way we present our classes and teach our kids. I feel we should (if possible) try to use current technologies around us to help us and keep the classroom modern. Also we need the kids to learn and think differently. They have to think critically, voice their own opinions with reasoning. Be more engaging – kids these days can’t be expected to sit in class and absorb all the information and regurgitated just for exams and tests. They are going to be inventing new technologies, curing diseases and hopefully inspiring other. We must reflect on our teaching and see what we can do to improve our classrooms. Take a look at this clip and see how you feel after.