Just to Sum Up… « Scenes From The Battleground
I came across this article I’d printed out last year, and I want to write about how it compares with Japanese education: are there lessons here for teachers in Japan? The author of the post below (Old Andrew) is an experienced teacher in the British state and private school systems. He writes with wit and [...]
Automatic Language Growth – a variant of Krashen’s Natural Approach
Jack Taylor, a young teacher of English in Japan and creator and manager of the Japan TPRS forum, alerted me to the work of Dr. J. Marvin Brown who created the Automatic Language Growth (ALG) (earlier called the Listening Approach), a variant of Krashen and Terrell’s Natural Approach. Dr. Brown developed his ideas over many years [...]
12 Brain Rules
I’m on a list roll… Here’s a list of 12 “Brain Rules” which look interesting and of interest and relevance to EFL teachers. The link to this was given on the More TPRS mailing list. I’m generally leery of fake-science “theories” and “brain-based learning” seems a prime candidate for that category. Also, I wonder about [...]
Caring and teaching: only one is difficult
Cover of Stand and Deliver I recently saw “Freedom Writers“. The reason I hadn’t watched it before then, apart from it’s general unavailability in Japan, was Dan Meyer’s review of it, wow! 3 years ago. Thanks to Google Search, it took me less than a minute to find Dan’s review. After watching the movie, I [...]
“Why don’t children like school?” and “How to teach critical thinking”
Cover via Amazon Why Don’t Students Like School? – Because the mind is not designed for thinking. (pdf) Don’t be put off by the ludicrous-sounding subtitle (what he means, as he explains later, is that thinking is hard work and we avoid it wherever possible, usually by relying on memory instead). It’s well worth reading. [...]
Is it ok for teachers to use corporal punishment? Discuss.
Image via Wikipedia I left the following comment on a blog entry about corporal punishment in (UK) schools (I’ve reposted it here so that I can add stuff and edit the writing). A succinct summary, with rebuttals, of the various arguments against corporal punishment. The non-aggression axiom provides a principled argument to the responses which [...]
Needs
Image via Wikipedia Here is a comment I posted to a discussion about Needs, a blog post at Scenes from the Battleground. I suggest you read the original Needs article first. It will hopefully make the following more intelligible. Update: I have edited this slightly (tho it is still too long and wordy) after reflecting [...]
TPRS
Image by …storrao… via Flickr I am reading everything I can find about TPRS. I recently got Blaine Ray‘s Fluency Through TPR Storytelling, and have been reading it each night until I fall asleep. Today, I got hooked on Ben Slavic’s page. Yesterday, I downloaded all the handouts, docs, posters, everything that wasn’t nailed down. [...]
Facing The Future
Facing The Future Originally uploaded by duncmc [Update: Comments have been closed.] So, where to, now? I tried direct instruction. It “worked” in that,* students meekly did what they were told* it gave students a feeling that they were in a “proper” class, taught by a teacher “in charge”* it was easy to sort the [...]
Looking back (5)
Where To Now? Originally uploaded by Katelyn Gibson Gatto and Holt made the most convincing arguments, and provided the most practical help. Holt pointed out that children (people) learn most from what they themselves actually do, rather than from what teachers do (or don’t do): “Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the [...]
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