Mantras of a Mad Man

Resources and websites for working with teenage ESOL students

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 13:24:00 +0000

Many ESOL Tutors find themselves specializing in teenage provision as FE colleges across the country have responded to the demand for courses.

These resources and links aim to provide plenty of inspiration, content and language skills.

The British Council have got a part of their website dedicated to teaching teenagers - visit learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org for lots of topics, ideas and lesson plans.

British Council have also publish a set of "Great" lesson plans touching on topics such as Entrepreneurs, Countryside, Creativity, Environment, Innovation; all things that make Great Britain "Great" - TeachingEnglish

I recently discovered eslchestnut - This is an inspiring and comprehensive website for tutors working with teenage ESL and EFL students. It is well organised and full of great teaching ideas.

The BBC have produced a large number of games and activities for students learning English - BBC Skillswise There are plenty of numeracy resources on the site too!

This website, also by the BBC offers plenty of topics and ideas bbclearningenglish

The Times Educational Supplement provides Education Jobs, Teaching Resources and a weekly magazine. The resources are of a very high quality and can be searched easily. You must sign up to a free account to access many of the resources.

I have recently opened a Pinterest account and have found plenty of inspiration for my classroom decoration, teaching ideas and class management strategies, shared by other users. Well worth a visit.

Politics can be a boring topic but in the build up to a General Election we will definitely be exploring this website; parliament.uk/education

I am a huge fan of this website as I love bringing creativity to writing. The language garden provides a new approach to grammatical and multi-modal learning; languagegarden - website

The Blog is also well worth a look for ideas; languagegarden - blog

For a comprehensive list of Classroom Activities and Games suitable for ESOL students, visit - iteslj.org/games The list is huge and of a high quality.

E-safety is an area that we need to be encouraging students and tutors to be aware of - Think-U-Know?
is a fantastic resource providing plenty of material to increase awareness of E-safety.

I found this set of activities on the Digital Learning for Wales website - there's plenty to discuss and some great short videos; Hoodie-Trouble

Spelling can always be hard for teenagers. This activity makes it more engaging. There are a number of other sites out there offering the same but I like this one - Look Cover Write - 2 Levels

Comics provide a different way to get students to read and deduce meaning. ComicsEnglish provides plenty of content.

Make your own Comics
ToonDoo is my favourite Comic making website. You need a few IT skills but the options are almost unlimited and allow you to make very rich engaging comics.

GoAnimate is my favourite animation website and again provides almost limitless options. The paid version would make a very nice Xmas present!

TrueTube offers hundreds of videos, lesson plans and assemblies for schools and colleges. Some of the content may touch on areas that some students may find challenging but I think if offers amazing depth and diversity in its topics.

Finally, where would we be without YouTube, the ultimate video website? There's so much that can be said with a 2 or 3 minute video clip. This is one of my favourites but I'd love to know what you use in your classrooms and any other websites that I may have missed out.

Tutors working with teenagers desperately need an online community which can support and share resources. Get in touch if you work with teenage ESOL students and let's build one!

Time to dust away the cob-webs - Changes to Teenage ESOL Curriculum - How will you respond?

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:01:00 +0000

I've been away for a while. I've been preoccupied with work, family and life.

However, change is in the air.

The changes are inescapable, some of them I'm pleased to see, others are less welcome.

As ESOL tutors we have learnt to change or adapt. If we don't, we get left behind in the frosts of winter.

It seems appropriate that my 100th post comes at this time. I'm hoping to use this post as an opportunity to crowd source and share ideas on how to respond to the changes we face.

So what has changed?

The biggest changes, for ESOL Tutors working with teenagers, are the reduced contact time and the content of what we will be teaching them. This can be seen most clearly in the higher level hours.

We have 180 hours to prepare students for Trinity College ESOL Exams - a couple of years ago we had 306 hours to prepare students for the same exams! (see below in red).

Personal development and employability skills are also a key theme of the changes - these will be accredited at Entry 3 and Level 1 and are a response to new Government Policy. (Click here to read more)

Below is a brief outline of the proposed hours for lower and higher levels.

Entry 1 and 2 - Breakdown of hours

ESOL embedding personal development and work skills	7.5x36=270
ESOL Maths and IT Embedded	5x36=180
Tutorial	2x36+72
Enterprise week	30hrs
Student hours	552hrs
Tutor teaching hours	522hrs

Entry 3 and Level 1/2 - Breakdown of hours

ESOL	5x36=180
Personal development and employability skills (accredited)	2.5x24=60
Maths and IT Accredited FS	5x35=180
Tutorial	2x36+72
Enterprise week	30 hrs
Work Experience	30 hrs

Student Hours

552 hrs

Total tutor teaching hours with work placement supervision
(16 hours)

492+16=508

The addition of an Enterprise week and Work Experience (which aren't contact time), for the higher levels, will also bring new challenges. Developing new links and materials to meet these requirements will be challenging but I'm sure that there are plenty of resources already available, I just need to find them. Any links you can share would be most welcome!

How can we respond to these changes?

I believe ESOL Tutors can respond to these changes by collaborating and shaping the curriculum to fit our students' needs. There is an opportunity to be creative and innovative and I find that exciting.

A new, generic scheme of work for Full-Time classes

I'm currently working with other tutors at Leeds City College to develop a new scheme of work for our Full-Time classes.

The last thing we need to do is start from scratch. I think we can collaborate on this process and produce a document that reflects these changes. I would also like to see more connectivity between the ESOL, ICT and Numeracy. i.e. When students are studying types of text in ESOL they are making posters in their ICT classes.

So far my colleagues and I have identified the following EXTRA topics that young people may find engaging, interesting and ultimately useful to study. They are:

Art
Music
Advertising & TV
Fashion
Staying Healthy and Safe
Finances - personal, housing and small business / enterprise

Please feel free to add any other topics that you feel we could include by commenting below.

Please contribute!

If you work with teenage ESOL students please get in touch. I would love to know how you are responding to the changes in funding and hours.

I would also appreciate any links to useful websites or textbooks that you've used.

Crowd sourcing has always allowed me to harness a much broader range of expertise. I'm very lucky to be working with many talented and professional tutors. I would like to invite you to join us in this journey and together I think we can respond to the challenges ahead.

I hope that this blog can provide a collaborative space where ESOL Tutors can share thoughts and ideas. Please share your thoughts about how we can respond to these changes.

Thanks,

Mike

Parallel lives

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 22:23:00 +0000

Have you seen the recent John Lewis advert? It shows a couple in split screen living parallel lives but living 90 years apart. (1920's and present day)
It would make a good resource for any of the following; present continuous, past continuous, past simple and freetime activities.
I invite you to take a look at this article on the daily mail website which also has the video and them add to my list of suggestions.

Link to article and video.

Host a mini-Olympics to celebrate the International Diversity of your language school.

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Host a mini-Olympics to celebrate the International Diversity of your language school.

The Olympic Torch is coming to Leeds on Sunday. To celebrate we are having our own “mini-Olympics” on the 26th of June.

Map created by Entry 2 ESOL student using BBC website as a template.

There is not much time but we are considering having an Opening Ceremony. There are a few key moments that will make great photo opportunities and will also give a chance to capture the diversity of the students; Flag procession, dancing, music... This idea is still on the drawing board.

So far we have selected a range of sports:

•100m running race

•Long distance running race (e.g. 5 laps of the football pitch)

•Water bomb shot-put

•Water pistol marksman

•Standing jump

•3-legged race

•How many marshmallows can you fit in your mouth?

•Drinking straw javelin

•Volleyball

•Badminton

•Table tennis

•Petanque

•Paper plate discus

•Basketball shoot-out

•5 a-side football

•Apple bobbing

•Tug-of-war

Risk Assessments will need to take place.

Some sports and activities will be on a drop-in basis, others will need teams to be finalised prior to the event.

Work is now underway to allocate students to different events – they can opt in to events by signing their names on lists.

See the document below for a simple idea on how to recruit competitors. It could do with a few images to make it more attractive but that's a task for one of my students!

Signup Sports

Finally some kind of awards ceremony, also coordinated with end of year awards, will take place.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

If you are planning an event, please get in touch via the comments box and we can share ideas. Any other suggestions for activities or sports are most welcome.

Create a Giant World Map on a Wall

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:55:00 +0000

This morning I woke up at 6:30 and was in at work at 7.

No, it wasn't for OFSTED!

Yesterday I got permission to draw a world map on a wall in the building where I work.

Shortly after I got permission I also received a Risk Assessment form and was asked to write a Method Statement.

As you can see, in the video below, the final image was drawn on the wall with a permanent marker pen. The risk was very low. If I had slipped and fallen on my pencil I might have hurt myself.

I completed the Risk Assessment anyway as I have realised; there's no point getting annoyed by perceived barriers - as soon as you've crossed them, they seem insignificant.

So why did I want to put a World Map on a wall in the college where I work?

I work with the migrant community and wanted to create a piece of art that represented them
I plan to map out the student nationality densities, using circles of growing diameter to reflect populations
My colleagues and I can use it in class time to provoke discussion about where people are from
I wanted to draw on a wall at the place I work in

The video is intended to serve as inspiration for others to try and do something similar. In this Olympic year there is an opportunity to promote Diversity. ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) reflects the coming together of people from all nations who are united in a common purpose - realising their potential.

If you are inspired to have a go, please leave a comment or even make a video and reply to this video with your own effort!

Redefining Research - InfoGraphic

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:40:00 +0000

Is Wikipedia becoming the most popular website for students to find out information?

This InfoGraphic uses crisp images and text that are infromative and to the point.

It certainly presents a strong case for how students are moving from paper to technology in a quest to seek out information. As the graphic suggests, more and more educators are beginning to recognise Wikipedia as a reputable source of 'facts'.

Personally I'm sad to read the Encyclopedia Britannica is going out of print. However, it does seem that Wikipedia are making the right developments to make their site more reliable, accurate and quotable (Academically).

Only time will tell as to how educators will react to these developments. It certainly seems that the days of researching in the Library are becoming less popular. Virtual libraries in students' living rooms are understandably far more popular.

Your thoughts, as always, are welcome.

Via: Open-Site.org

ESOLvideos.co.uk

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:24:00 +0000

Do you work with low literacy esol students?
Have you tried using video to present new topics or themes to your students?

If you are looking for inspiring tutor-generated resources and ideas then you should visit www.esolvideos.co.uk, a new website that offers creative approaches to a range of language forms.

Whether you visit the site and come away with ideas for a cracking lesson or you feel inspired to have a go at making your own videos; this website its well worth a visit.

Jennie has used a website generator to create a fun, interactive experience that guides tutors and students through language and learning. There are also resources that you can download and use in the classroom.

Wordle of Mantras of a MadMan

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:44:00 +0000

Link

I've just updated my Index page to show all my posts in reverse chronological order and then created a Wordle Word Cloud from the labels. The result is really quite satisfying. Please feel free to browse the list of posts here: http://mistermikelcc.blogspot.com/p/index.htm l

Evolution with Language Plants

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:42:00 +0000

How can I make word categorisation and grammar points more interesting?

I work with teenagers, they find grammar tedious.

They love technology.

I love gardening.

When I met David Warr I knew I'd found my answer.

David has introduced me to language plants and you can find out all about them here - http://www.languagegarden.org/

Earlier this evening I visited David's blog - http://languagegarden.wordpress.com/ and read about his NEW plant maker. The two plants below are created using his Beta PLANT MAKER. The originals were drawn on a Promethean Whiteboard, covered over and revealed during the class.

Back to my original question;

I revealed it bit by bit. (I love ActivInspire software) I contextualised the language with some pens and a table. I asked the students to tell me what they could see. I asked them again and again. They were engaged; actively learning. They were constantly referring back to 'the plant'.

We explored other new plants instantly;

I then tested my students using a favourite worksheet, thanks to English Banana

We explored the answers together and made notes about mistakes.

I think this way of exploring language in a creative, expressive and functional way is incredibly engaging. I look forward to reporting back more on how the new PLANT MAKER is received by my students.

If you haven't tried it out yet, what are you waiting for?

And finally in David's own words;

Afghan refugee travelled 7,150 miles, through 10 countries in a year - alone, aged 12

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:59:00 +0000

This story has really touched me. As many of you know I work with a lot of young Afghans. This video will open the eyes of anyone who may think the journey to the UK is easy...

Amazing story of 12 year old Afghan

TEENAGER Gulwali Passarlay has told of his astonishing journey as he fled from war-torn Afghanistan to safety in the UK—travelling alone 7,150 miles, through 10 countries, aged just 12.

Gulwali risked his life and left his family on the harrowing year-long ordeal, which saw him hiding in an engine compartment of a lorry, and crammed into a dangerously overcrowded boat.

He is now 16-years-old and settled in Lostockwith his foster family, whom he was placed with just before Christmas.

Gulwali has produced a short DVD of his incredible journey entitled Journey of Life which he is showing at schools and colleges in Bolton.

He said: "I took a risk to be safe, and am lucky. I am in Bolton, which I love. I have completed 10 GCSEs, even though when I came here I could only speak very little English.

"I made this DVD to explain why people leave their country and their families.

"I want to explain to them about refugees and asylum seekers. They are human beings."

Gulwali's journey began in 2006 when he was persuaded by his mother Razbibi and father Dr Shakrah Ahmed, who lived in Jalalbad, two hours away from Kabul, to leave Afghanistan.

Members of his family had been killed in the war.
His parents paid an agent to help him escape. His brother Hazrat Khan, aged 21, had left earlier.

The youngster travelled by airplane, on foot — including a 25 hour walk from Brussels to France — lorry, coach, train and boat.

Gulwali was put into the care of an agent who was paid to arrange for him to leave Afghanistan by airplane and coach, travelling into Iran where his journey continued in the back of lorry, on horseback, then by train into Bulgaria, where he was found by immigration officials and sent back to Turkey. From Turkey he embarked on the most frightening part of the journey, which at one point he did not think he would survive.

"The boat was for 20 people and there so many of us in there for 50 hours, I could not breathe. There was no food or water. That was hard. I thought many times I was going to die."

Once in Greece, Gulwali sneaked into the engine compartment of a lorry which carried him into Italy.

He said: " I had a bag between me and the engine and that was it. It was so hot. The lorry was going very fast that I thought I was going to fall under the wheels. I knew I was in Italy and I thought I have to get off now. I banged to get attention because I could not hold on any longer and thought I would fall.

"The lorry driver did not hear me at first and when he stopped to check, he looked shocked and confused. I managed to ask for water, even though I could not speak the language.

"In Italy I was arrested by police, which I was happy with, because the first thing they did was take me to a shop to get me food. They were kind and told me I was safe.

"I was put into a children's home, but I knew I had to leave and jumped out of a window to get to Rome."

From Italy he travelled on a lorry to Germany and walked back to France, where he took a coach to Belgium before embarking on a 25 hour trek to Calais.
Gulwali said: "There were times when I thought I was going to die. I felt so alone and thought what am I doing, I should be with my family.

"I missed my mum so much, I cried and thought what was I doing.

In Calais, Gulwali joined the hundreds at the United Nations Camp where he stayed for three months, but he was still determined to make it to the UK.

"One day a person came up to a group of us, holding bananas and said who is coming. I put my hand up and then others followed."

Gulwali arrived in Dover in November 2007, where he filed his asylum claim and was moved to Kent by the Home Office. He lived there for a year before being moved in to a hostel in Manchester. He was resettled in Bolton in 2009.

His brother Hazrat managed to track him down and the two lived together until Hazrat left for Afghanistan in October to help his family.

The teenager was once again left to fend for himself and keep up with his school work at Essa Academy in Great Lever.

Now, he lives with his foster family, Sean and Karen Corless, and speaks to his family in Afghanistan once a week.

Despite a few setbacks, Gulwali has managed to adapt to life well in his adopted country. He said: "I faced racism and people were rude to me.

But people were also kind very kind to me. There were so many positives as well as negatives and I now want to give back for everything I have been given."

Bolton Council's executive member for children's services, Cllr Nick Peel said: "Gulwali's story is so inspiring, and it goes to show the strength of character he has. His journey puts into perspective the quality of childhood that many children take for granted.

"I'm sure it will be quite eye opening for his peers.

His DVD is a brilliant example of how the Youth Opportunities Fund can be used in a really positive way to inspire young people across the borough."

______________________________________________________________________________

I have been a member of Refed for about 5 years now. This post and the previous post are both directly sourced from the Refed message board. See the end of the post to find out how you can become a member and keep up to date with lots of news, training events and discussions about Refugees and Education (related to asylum seekers and refugees) - huge thanks to Bill Bolloten and Tim Spafford at www.refugeeeducation.co.uk for so many interesting and informative posts

To join refed - the refugee education email discussion list - please go to

http://www.refugeeeducation.co.uk/mailing.htm or send an email to: refed-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

__,_._,___

Some good news for young Afghans - Contract for reception centre in Kabul scrapped

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:17:00 +0000

I received this information in an e-mail today;

Just wanted to let you know that following lobbying by The Children's Society and partners in the sector, the government has decided to scrap the contract for the reception centre in Kabul. The reception centre (plans for which were revealed last summer) was to have space for 16 to 17 year olds alongside adult reception facilities. We raised concerns with Ministers on the basis of the quality and appropriateness of plans in the context of UK's child welfare and safeguarding duties under domestic and international law, and called on Ministers to recognise that all Afghan children in the UK are children in need of international protection from armed conflict and their best interests are not met by being returned to that country whilst these conditions persist. We called on government to cancel its contracting plans and to provide a durable status for Afghan children instead of temporary discretionary leave based solely on the age of the child and lack of adequate reception arrangements. Obviously the latter point will require some more persuading but still a positive development for the time being.

We now understand that they will re-tender for a new centre for adults and will not include facilities for 16 and 17 year olds. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed of any new developments and how this is likely to affect the young people you work with.

If you have read my previous posts, "What did you do for your 18th birthday" and "I felt like I was on the set of Babylon 5" , about the potential deportation of Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan, you will know that I will be very happy to have read this today. This is one small victory for those who have been campaigning against the plans to deport young 16 and 17 year olds to Afghanistan.

Small victories like this are what keep me campaigning and promoting the voices of those who aren't always heard!

My interests and dreams #vidstory

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:08:00 +0000

The #vidstory project is building momentum with about 10 finished videos and still more to come. The message and themes speak for themselves.

The students have found ways to communicate on a level that I've found truly inspiring and informative.

I've seen their homelands - buildings, countryside and people. I've seen their beliefs, their faith, their respect of their culture. I've also seen the UK through their eyes. My ears are filled with sounds from around the globe.

They make media rich resources and will provoke a lot of discussion.

Here is a video by Mustafe. I think it is truly outstanding.

The rawness of the misspelling, the diversity of his message and the informative nature of the video engaged me throughout and was well received by his peers.

The next video is made by an Italian / Chinese collaboration. It reminded me that I live in a beautiful Great Britain.

The final video in this post is a really powerful video that shows another side of the lives of some students who are studying English in the UK.

The quality of the movies is steadily improving. There are some very strong voices expressed through those images. I hope to get voices or text added to videos to enhance the learning process and combine it with language.

My hope is to begin sharing this project with other young people studying at other colleges and help them build a Social Network. That network will provide them with solidarity and support.

Please visit www.youngpeopleseekingsafety.co.uk to find out more about other events and activities that are being organised throughout the country to raise awareness of young migrants and the complex lives they live.

What did you do for your 18th birthday?

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:17:00 +0000

Thirteen years ago I celebrated my 18th birthday. I didn't celebrate it in May as I was preparing for my A-levels. I had saved some money so in the summer I went to Crete with some friends from school. Each night we went out to the bars and clubs. Each day we recovered by the swimming pool. It was a typical summer break for someone who had just left high school in 1998.

Maybe that's why I am particularly affected by what's happening at my workplace.

A number of my students will be turning 18 this year.

I think it will be an enjoyable milestone for the Pole and the Latvian and their families.

The three Afghan boys are in a very different place.

Although they are supported by Social Services they are essentially alone here in the UK.

As these Afghans turn seventeen and a half they are prepared for "leaving care".

The Government plans to return 400 young Afghans to Kabul this year.

Deportations have begun because the Government deems Kabul to be safe, despite the two suicide bombs which have killed 17 people since the beginning of this year.

The government is opening a reception centre for returnees where, supposedly, they will be given support. I believe this was put out to tender for a three year contract in March 2010. The centre will house 76 returnees (link). This does not fill me with confidence.

It is well documented that the most extreme of the Taliban linked insurgency groups is stepping up its activity in Kabul.

Spate of Kabul Suicide Bombs Blamed on Nearby Valley, The National, 17 February 2011

EXCERPT: "Two suicide bomb attacks in as many months on shoppers in Kabul, after a seven-month lull in serious violence in the city, have raised fears that insurgents are bolstering their strongholds on the outskirts of the capital.”

My students could be included in the 400 returned to Kabul this year. What can I do to stop this? What guidance and support is available? I'm not sure the college guidance and welfare team are experienced in supporting students in deportation cases.

I have decided to discuss my thoughts with my students and try and support them in setting up a support network for themselves and others who may be in similar positions. Giving this group a voice through media, the internet and direct actions may help.

Writing about it may help.

At a time of cuts in all sectors of society I doubt the plight of a few Afghan boys is of much concern to the general public.

A quick Google search, however, has produced this campaign -
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/launch-awareness-raising-campaign-unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-uk - Young People Seeking Safety Week

Between 28 March - 3 April 2011, groups will be hosting events during a week of nation-wide awareness raising about this issue, YPSS Week 2011 will be showing films and art of young people made for the occasion. For more information visit the campaign website http://www.youngpeopleseekingsafety.co.uk.

I believe that these young people have suffered enough and that returning them to Afghanistan will endanger their lives.

I hope that supporting my students to find their voices will prevent what seems to be a dark and fearful destiny.

In Leeds, systems have been developed to quickly engage new arrivals, aged 16-18 and get them enrolled in ESOL classes. A strong partnership, between Leeds Social Services and Leeds City College, has ensured that new arrivals are fast tracked into college. The systems were developed in response to a large number of migrant children missing enrolment due to their arrival date being after the start of an academic year. They then fell into the NEET category (Not in Employment, Education or Training). Good community links and a reputation for accommodating young people has created a dynamic solution to their needs. Please contact me if you would like to know more about my work.

Thanks for reading.

Preparing ESOL Students for their E2 Reading Exam

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:17:00 +0000

The exam is next week so I wanted to coach the students in some of the techniques needed to find answers in the text.

I decided to write an exam paper that would really challenge their ability to deduce words they didn't know.

I wasn't sure how students would take it.

Here's the document:

Emma likes Ati

Differentiation was used with fewer 'made-up words' for lower levels. I also made the words easier to guess by asking students questions about those words;

"Where would you find a KW?"
"Look at the verb in Line 1."
"What nouns can you use with that verb?"

I found that soon students understood the task and a great amount of learning took place as students analysed the lexis.

For homework I asked students to write about a process and then change some words for made-up words or words in their first language. The next lesson students tried to guess what the processes were.

Students have also accessed past papers via moodle. They have done this in their free time under 'honesty exam conditions'. I explained that the only people they were cheating were themselves.

I have had a lot of marking as a consequence but have been able to pinpoint students "weaker" skills, i.e. alphabetical order in Task 3 or finding keywords in a text in Task 1.

Forms and tables have their own challenges as cultural familiarity and general lexical knowledge needs to be pre-taught. An example of this is how British names are not instantly recognised as people's names because they are unfamiliar.

I think the reading exam presents a number of challenges to an ESOL learner but once given techniques to answer questions they can certainly achieve good marks.

Newspaper Bridges - One Year On

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 10:42:00 +0000

Last year I wrote one of my first posts about a team building activity where students made newspaper bridges out of selotape and, yes you've guessed it NEWSPAPERS!!!

I also posted a video on YouTube which you can see here. The video has been watched 482 times.

I did 2 workshops with small groups of 16-18 year olds (about 10 students in each group).

This year the ESOL provision for 16-18 year olds has grown to around 40 students from Beginner to Level 1. We held a larger activity in the exam hall at the centre where I teach. We had 6 members of staff (3 teachers and 3 support assistants).

I used this document to introduce the activity to the learners along with the video.

We set some basic rules.

We negotiated and decided on the "SPAN" of the bridge.
We agreed that it must be possible to roll a football under the bridge.
We agreed to test the strength of the bridge by placing dictionaries on the bridge.
The bridge couldn't be attached to the floor, furniture or held up by the students.
The students had 10 minutes to plan their bridges.
The students had 10 (extended to 15) minutes to make their bridges.

The students were split in to groups of 5 or 6 (mixed nationalities and ESOL levels).

Before they were allowed to get their hands on the newspapers they were encouraged to share ideas on how they would make their bridges for about 10 minutes.

The students were then supported in constructing their bridges. Questions were asked to help the students reflect on their designs.

Once the bridges were made we had a break of about 15 minutes.

After the break we gave feedback to the whole cohort. Students were invited to reflect upon different aspects of the group work.

Did they play their part?
Who was the leader?
Did your team listen well?
What does this activity tell the tutors about the students?
What transferable skills did you learn?
How could you make a better bridge?

We then scored the bridges on the criteria given at the start of the activity.

Span, height and strength.

You can find the new video here. Any comments welcome :o)

Please note that the video has been edited to protect the identity of students.

Hints and Tips to practise an ESOL Entry 2 reading exam

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:29:00 +0000

It's that time of year again - Test Test TEST!

If I had my way language classes wouldn't be funded by students' achievements but that's a different post!

I thought to myself:

"How can I encourage students to inspect the techniques and approaches necessary for their reading exam?"

I decided to create a mock-exam which would be in the style of the exam papers that they will see.

I wanted to emphasise certain points. These included :

How to use a glossary and a diagram.
The importance of reading instructions.
How to identify key words and find the answers to questions.
Key language e.g. action verbs, male / female, use of prefix re-.
Reading information from a table.
Looking for keywords in a document.
Placing words in a list that is in alphabetical order.

Here is the document that I made. I love using PowerPoint to design worksheets like this because you can pick up and move each part of the document. This makes editing the document fairly simple.

Hints and Tips for Your Trinity ESOL Reading Exam-2011

Which programmes do you use when you are making worksheets?

What are your tips and tricks for helping students to prepare for exams?

Exams time is high pressure and stressful but does the process actually help students learn language?

P.S. I plan to use some screen capturing software to give feedback on this document and how to get

full marks! Watch this space...

The importance of Sangha - 365 days of Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:25:00 +0000

In my first ever post I put my fingers to the keyboard with a feeling that I was entering into a new world. I knew that blogging was going to change the way I work, teach, think, share and reflect on my work. I was intimidated by the void of the internet.

Was anyone going to read my writing?

Did it matter?

I've found the comments and the network I have joined to be the most nuturing and supportive group of people. Inspiring and willingly to share their jewels of wisdom.

I'm my own worst critic - yes the Sergeant Major is still inspecting - and I have found that there are many teachers who are like me in that respect. I've taken comfort from that.

My role within my ESOL team is evolving: the 16-18 age group has grown over the last 5 years and I have specialised in this area. This has brought a need to develop every aspect of my classes; from disciplinary policies to making bridges out of newspaper.

As a result my blog is evolving.

Even as I write this post I find my mind reflecting upon the previous posts I've made. Are they too diverse? Should I be more focussed on specific areas? How does this mirror my job and the many roles that I have?

I compared teaching to Buddhism, in my first post. Meditation and self awareness are keys to realising one's own potential. This is very hard to achieve. Even more so when you are alone in your mission,. Buddhists talk about belonging to a Sangha and how that will give support to a novice in their quest for enlightenment.

I've found my Sangha and I'm enjoying my journey!

Evaluation of digital workshops with Future Arts

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:03:00 +0000

I was introduced to Future Arts by Global Youth Action. Future Arts first visited Leeds City College, Enfield Centre in November 2009. When I met Gemma Povey I was totally convinced that we could work together to create some great opportunities for my students. Emma’s passion for her work was obvious.

Future Arts provided my students with the technology and skills they needed and helped them to find their voice. This manifested through Emma’s delivery, her creative approach to workshop design and her team who supported her to teach the students how to make digital music using Apple Mac computers.

The first course in November was a single session delivered to two groups. It was a great success. 16 students created short mp3's which they Bluetoothed to their mobile phones to use as ringtones.

After the session a number of students showed a genuine interest in exploring the skills and knowledge needed to compose and produce digital music.

I met a few more times with Gemma and over the following months we planned mp3.4.me. We were able to access some funding that made the course completely free for the students involved thanks to Global Youth Action, Leeds City College enrichment budgets and funding found by Future Arts. This collaborative approach to getting the funding showed the determination of all the parties concerned to make the course happen.

The course ran over 5 months during term time. The chosen genre was Hip Hop. The young people learnt how to use Ableton to write their own personal versus in a collaborative piece of music. Students also learnt how to write lyrics, how to rap and how to perform in front of green screen.

I was given the opportunity to develop my own skills using final cut pro and editing video from the green screen. This was a great opportunity and I learnt a lot of new skills and techniques that can be seen in the final cut of the Video.

Gemma worked tirelessly during her summer holiday on the final cut of the audio and then we met to blend the two together. My initial convictions that we would make something special were affirmed and ‘Global Eyes’ had their first single – “Open your eyes”.

The final DVD is a wonderful piece of work and brought together the weeks of hard work that the young people put into the project. The track has a really strong message thanks to the work of Steve Richards who delivered inspirational lyrics workshops.

I’m incredibly proud of what the young people have produced and hope that we can continue to explore more opportunities in the future.

I found the whole process to be inspiring and fascinating. Seeing young people that I have worked with over a number of years producing a professional DVD was a fantastic experience. Time constraints and other work pressures were overcome and this developed trust between the partners involved in the planning and delivery of the workshops. I am sure the that professionalism of all parties was a huge factor in the success of the project.

I thoroughly support Future Arts work and believe that the young people who have experienced a real learning journey have gained confidence, new skills and most of all, their Voice.

Mike Richmond is a Tutor working with young ESOL students at Leeds City College, Thomas Danby Campus.

Videos for the past simple

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:26:00 +0000

How could I make my classes more interactive and interesting for the students and any would be observer?

I wanted to engage the learners in a way that had relevance and meaning in their lives.

After watching the TV for about 15 minutes I saw this advert for a well-known, high street branch. There are others, this isn't an endorsement :)

The visual messages are really strong. A question about the theme or the gist at the end of the first viewing would produce plenty of target language.

Next there are plenty of opportunities to freeze it and ask questions. What is happening? Where are they?

The students could then write up a comic strip made from freeze frame made by using PowerPoint, Screen Print (a button on your keyboard) and produce a nice document.

I should watch TV more often.

Here's a few other ideas:

I thought this one would be great posted on Moodle and students can access it if they want.

In fact you'll find a lot more of Lloyds TSB's videos on YouTube.

I loved this one for use of the future tenses

Don't forget, if you have vlc media player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) you can play the video in slow motion.
Open your VLC Player, play file.

Press key from keyboard containing symbol of opening squire bracket i-e "[" then your track speed will slow down. Press "]" to speed up.

Note: These Hot key only work on active window of of VLC Player.

Thought Tree

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:53:00 +0000

How can you get students to consider the attributes of a successful student?

I was inspired by http://www.reflect-action.org/?q=node/41 a website that promotes Reflecting through the use of graphics.

What do you need? - A big piece of paper, some coloured pens and pencils, red and green card, post-it notes, drawing pins and students.

1 Draw a picture of a tree on your whiteboard.

2 Elicit the parts of the tree. Make sure you elicit the trunk as this is an important part of the tree.

3 You can expand the Thought Tree by exploring things you can see above and below the tree. Then transfer this to people. e.g. You can see if a person is a man or woman, you can't see if they are vegetarian or a meat eater. Put post-it notes on the tree to capture the class' ideas.

4 Elicit the functions of the different parts of the tree. Roots bring in water. Leaves and fruit grow if the tree is healthy.

5 Introduce the lexis INPUT and OUTPUT. The inputs must pass through the classroom in the same way the roots draw water in and to the branches via the trunk. The outputs eventually leave the tree (leaves, flowers and fruit).

Watch the video to see what my students produced.

This was done with a group of Beginner ESOL students.

I repeated it with an Entry 2 group, they came up with inputs like; USB pen, good personality, watch, a good nights' sleep and energy.

Induction - Fire Vocabulary

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Induction is a time for giving students essential information and also observing and assessing their skills.

Today I used the 2 videos below to assess my students knowledge of some keywords that I will be using next week to complete a few tasks related to the fire drill and health and safety. I also used it as a way to assess their abilities of looking at a whiteboard and also write on a piece of paper at the same time. This is such an essential skill that is often not taught or assessed.

In this first video I asked students to tell me the names of the images as they appeared.

I then gave them this handout -

Fire Vocab

The students wrote a number next to each picture, respectively, as they appeared.

After checking, orally to see if students could pronounce the words correctly...

"What was picture number 1?"

...I then showed them the next video with the words on it and told them to write them down next to the images.

I observed the class as they took part and made notes on their abilities regarding their speed, accuracy and hand writing.

If you use this with your class please let me know how it goes.

Evaluative Language

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:14:00 +0000

Here are some words that are used during Assessment to describe Evaluative Language. I've used Wordle to create the word clouds which may be useful when undertaking Self Assessment Reports in FE colleges.

Grade 1 - Evaluative Language

Grade 2 - Evaluative Language


Grade 3 - Evaluative Language
Grade 4 - Evaluative Language

My first day at school - Roger McGough - Lesson evaluation

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:13:00 +0000

This lesson was a definite success! Thanks again to Mike Harrison for the initial idea and the lesson plan.

I used it with a High Entry 2 ESOL class who are mostly 16-18 year olds. They were able to remember their first days at school because they are so young! There were also some interesting anecdotes about corporal punishment and the lack of respect that young people show to teachers in British schools.

I found the predicting part of the lesson to be very challenging for students who have not developed a perceptive artistic mind. European students definitely found the predicting stage easier to engage with and came up with a lot of ideas especially with the fourth picture where they suggested; the surface of the moon, a beach by the sea and also a river.

After playing the clip I asked the students to look for the 13 words in the text and then to identify any words they didn’t understand – swallow, railings, wolves, puddles, sewn were the only additional words!

Thanks again for sharing the idea and I encourage others to experiment with this poem and any others they can find on YouTube. I found the students really seemed to respond to the different format of text and how the writer can take on the attitude and mind of another person. They also showed a lot of interest in how the animation was created and I think we may explore this in a later lesson.

No more heavy bags and autonomous homework

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Sometime last academic year I got really fed up with carrying around a bag full of surplus paper that I seemed to have accumulated. I thought for a moment about why this was happening. It certainly wasn't doing my back any good.

The bag was full of excess photocopies that had been squirrelled away in the belief that my students would want them. Once requested I would give them the missed classwork and they would happily catch up on what they missed. So something was going wrong - it was never being requested and I wasn't really finding the time to take the process too seriously.

It was at this point that I decided to create a space on the classroom wall where I attached 4 polypockets (stapled into the wall but only on the back part). I stuck a label on each polypocket and wrote the days of the week relevant to that class. At the end of the lesson I now put the excess handouts into the corresponding polypocket. Now my students come in and if they missed the previous class I just casually say to them "The class you missed is in yesterday's pocket" and smile to myself about how lightweight my bag is.

This autonomy became spontaneous after a bit of training but it led me to think of a similar approach for collecting homework as I used to get upset about how I'd set homework and only a few students would give it back. I put another polypocket on the wall and labelled it 'homework'. I explained that students should place their homework in the pocket and that I would mark it. The number of students returning homework has increased as students become aware that some of their peers are receiving work that has been carefully marked and commented upon. Having the autonomy to choose to do homework helps students to take responsibility in their learning. They also benefit from the feedback of their tutor and this seems to keep them motivated to keep submitting work. Perhaps you have other tricks? Any comments welcome

www.ESOLUK.co.uk - don't delay, visit today

noreply@blogger.com (MisterMike) — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:49:00 +0000

Inspiration - ESOLUK This is an educational website for those wanting to develop their English language and learn about different subject specific topics. For tutors by tutors is the aim of ESOL UK, to bring you language learning mediated by video, audio and the internet; the internet for independent learner access but with conventional worksheets for classroom use as well. These materials are suitable for both language and literacy learners.

Visit the website to browse a galaxy of audio and visual teaching and learning materials that will help in the search for classes and free resources.

Click on any of the large icons and access a large number of sub-categories

TV adverts

The clear and easy layout gives more choices

with a number of videos within each section

and even offers free worksheets.