{"id":1423,"date":"2008-06-18T21:34:35","date_gmt":"2008-06-18T20:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jochenenglish.de\/?p=1423"},"modified":"2016-02-04T18:12:48","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T17:12:48","slug":"keep-it-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/?p=1423","title":{"rendered":"Keep It Simple"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026 ist der Titel eines Auf\u00adsat\u00adzes von Peter Lay\u00adton zum The\u00adma \u201eHow much effort should you put into preparation?\u201c<\/a><\/p>\n

Have you ever done a sub\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adti\u00adon les\u00adson for a col\u00adle\u00adague at litt\u00adle or no noti\u00adce and thought after\u00adwards, \u201cThat les\u00adson went far bet\u00adter than my regu\u00adlar les\u00adson which I spent ages meti\u00adcu\u00adlous\u00adly pre\u00adpa\u00adring\u201c? This expe\u00adri\u00adence made me think about what we as tea\u00adchers do befo\u00adre and during a les\u00adson, and I came to the con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adon that what the stu\u00addents get out of a les\u00adson is not neces\u00ads\u00ada\u00adri\u00adly pro\u00adpor\u00adtio\u00adnal to what we, the tea\u00adchers, put in. Unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly tea\u00adchers often make a lot of extra work for themselves.<\/p>\n

Pre\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon addiction<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

I would say that if the pre\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon for an acti\u00advi\u00adty takes more than a third of the time that the stu\u00addents actual\u00adly spend doing it, then it sim\u00adply isn\u2019t worth it. Songs are a clas\u00adsic exam\u00adp\u00adle. The tea\u00adcher thinks guil\u00adti\u00adly, \u201eI haven\u2019t done a song for a while\u201c igno\u00adres the one in the cour\u00adse\u00adbook, choo\u00adses a new one (at least five minu\u00adtes), sits and lis\u00adtens to it for 20 minu\u00adtes to get all the words down, and then spends ano\u00adther 15 minu\u00adtes pre\u00adpa\u00adring the ine\u00advi\u00adta\u00adble work\u00ads\u00adheet. After all that, the stu\u00addents lis\u00adten once and fill in the work\u00ads\u00adheet \u2013 three or four minu\u00adtes of les\u00adson time for 40 minu\u00adtes of preparation.<\/p>\n

Any acti\u00advi\u00adty that invol\u00adves cut\u00adting up paper also takes a dis\u00adpro\u00adpor\u00adtio\u00adna\u00adte amount of time. l\u2019ve seen tea\u00adchers cut\u00adting up hundreds of pie\u00adces of paper just so each pair in the class can play a game of word dominoes.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just befo\u00adre the les\u00adson. There\u2019s also ins\u00adtruc\u00adtion time. If it takes lon\u00adger to set up an acti\u00advi\u00adty (and that includes giving the ins\u00adtruc\u00adtions, che\u00adcking, repea\u00adting, model\u00adling, etc) than actual\u00adly to do it, then there\u2019s some\u00adthing ser\u00ecous\u00adly wrong with the acti\u00advi\u00adty \u2013 or with your instructions.<\/p>\n

Work\u00ads\u00adheet mania <\/strong><\/p>\n

Good tea\u00adchers wri\u00adte their own work\u00ads\u00adheets, don\u2019t they? Real\u00adly? When I take my car to the mecha\u00adnics, I don\u2019t I expect them to make the spa\u00adre parts them\u00adsel\u00adves from bits of metal. They go and buy them on my behalf. What\u2019s so dif\u00adfe\u00adrent about tea\u00adching? Why spend every waking hour pro\u00addu\u00adcing I work\u00ads\u00adheets when the\u00adre are thou\u00adsands available com\u00admer\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly, in cour\u00adse-books and sup\u00adple\u00admen\u00adta\u00adry materials?<\/p>\n

Some\u00adti\u00admes a work\u00ads\u00adheet isn\u2019t even neces\u00adsa\u00adry. I once saw one with only four ques\u00adti\u00adons on it. Then again, the ques\u00adti\u00adons them\u00adsel\u00adves may not be neces\u00adsa\u00adry. I rea\u00adli\u00adse that they can help stu\u00addents to under\u00adstand by giving clues, but I don\u2019t see why every sin\u00adgle thing that stu\u00addents lis\u00adten to, read or watch requi\u00adres ques\u00adti\u00adons, as if it were a test. This is par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly true with video. I\u2019ve seen les\u00adsons whe\u00adre the stu\u00addents are so busy fil\u00adling in the work\u00ads\u00adheets that they don\u2019t have a chan\u00adce to watch the images.<\/p>\n

Cour\u00adse\u00adbook phobia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many tea\u00adchers regard the cour\u00adse\u00adbook with almost snob\u00adbish scorn: a \u201cbook les\u00adson\u201c is what you do in an emer\u00adgen\u00adcy, when you\u2019\u00adre sub\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adting for a col\u00adle\u00adague. It\u2019s true that no cour\u00adse\u00adbook is per\u00adfect, but some\u00adti\u00admes the con\u00addem\u00adna\u00adti\u00adons seem unju\u00ads\u00adti\u00adfied. After all, most cour\u00adse\u00adbooks have been put tog\u00ade\u00adther by experts and often after years of pilo\u00adting. Some tea\u00adchers don\u2019t even take time to find out what the cour\u00adse\u00adbook offers. Not using the cour\u00adse\u00adbook means lots of extra work. It means making your own work\u00ads\u00adheets. It means iden\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading sup\u00adple\u00admen\u00adta\u00adry mate\u00adri\u00adal to sub\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adte skills work and then per\u00adhaps having to pro\u00addu\u00adce more work\u00ads\u00adheets for it.<\/p>\n

Cour\u00adse\u00adbooks are also full of mate\u00adri\u00adal. You might not always like what the book does with the mate\u00adri\u00adal, but that is not a reason to reject it out of hand. Making crea\u00adti\u00adve and ima\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adti\u00adve use of cour\u00adse\u00adbook mate\u00adri\u00adal is an important tea\u00adching skill. It saves time, saves pho\u00adto\u00adco\u00adpy\u00ading and the stu\u00addents like it (It may come as a sur\u00adpri\u00adse, but they often like the cour\u00adse\u00adbook more than the tea\u00adcher does. They expect to work through it, and they may resent having to buy a book that the tea\u00adcher hard\u00adly uses.)<\/p>\n

Authen\u00adti\u00adci\u00adty fundamentalism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some tea\u00adchers are obses\u00adsed with authen\u00adti\u00adci\u00adty, and the results are ine\u00advi\u00adta\u00adb\u00adly time-con\u00adsum\u00ading. A typi\u00adcal exam\u00adp\u00adle is the cour\u00adse\u00adbook song. They don\u2019t like it (\u201eIt\u2019s a ter\u00adri\u00adble ses\u00adsi\u00adon singer\u2019s ver\u00adsi\u00adon\u201c), so they go off and look for the ori\u00adgi\u00adnal, or choo\u00adse a dif\u00adfe\u00adrent one. Stu\u00addents would pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly pre\u00adfer the ori\u00adgi\u00adnal, but they don\u2019t real\u00adly care. They know that it\u2019s a cour\u00adse of Eng\u00adlish, not music appreciation.<\/p>\n

Authen\u00adti\u00adci\u00adty does have advan\u00adta\u00adges in terms of stu\u00addent inte\u00adrest and moti\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon. Clips from well-known films work well, and inter\u00adviews with famous peo\u00adp\u00adle will elec\u00adtri\u00adfy stu\u00addents if they haven\u2019t heard that person\u2019s real voice befo\u00adre. But \u201einau\u00adthen\u00adtic\u201c mate\u00adri\u00adals have one big and often over\u00adwhel\u00adming advan\u00adta\u00adge: they have been careful\u00adly sel\u00adec\u00adted and gra\u00added so that stu\u00addents can under\u00adstand them. What stu\u00addents don\u2019t like is mate\u00adri\u00adal that they can\u00adnot under\u00adstand at all, which can be dis\u00adcou\u00adra\u00adging and alienating.<\/p>\n

Props and pic\u00adtures psychosis<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that a well-cho\u00adsen pic\u00adtu\u00adre or an unu\u00adsu\u00adal pie\u00adce of rea\u00adlia can have real impact during a les\u00adson. It\u2019s also pos\u00adsi\u00adble to base a who\u00adle series of acti\u00advi\u00adties on just one or two pic\u00adtures. Howe\u00adver, there\u2019s real poten\u00adti\u00adal for time-was\u00adting if your pic\u00adtu\u00adre is used just to eli\u00adcit one item of voca\u00adbu\u00adla\u00adry. I saw one tea\u00adcher spend 20 minu\u00adtes sif\u00adting through our (enorm\u00adous) pic\u00adtu\u00adre libra\u00adry loo\u00adking for a pic\u00adtu\u00adre to illus\u00adtra\u00adte the word cook.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgy fixation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once tea\u00adchers had black\u00adboard and chalk. Now the lucky ones among us have cas\u00adset\u00adte recor\u00adders, video play\u00aders, over\u00adhead pro\u00adjec\u00adtors, com\u00adpu\u00adters, and per\u00adhaps video came\u00adras and slide pro\u00adjec\u00adtors. All of the\u00adse can be extre\u00adme\u00adly effec\u00adti\u00adve if well used. But they can also was\u00adte time.<\/p>\n

Take the over\u00adhead pro\u00adjec\u00adtor. Some tea\u00adchers like to put their who\u00adle les\u00adson on trans\u00adpa\u00adren\u00adci\u00ades: pic\u00adtures, work\u00ads\u00adheets, even ins\u00adtruc\u00adtions. What\u2019s wrong with the board? What\u2019s wrong with the tea\u00adcher spea\u00adking to the students?<\/p>\n

Given that, in my opi\u00adni\u00adon, most com\u00adpu\u00adter games are more sui\u00adta\u00adble for self-access use, I pre\u00adfer to spend the who\u00adle les\u00adson trai\u00adning the stu\u00addents and demons\u00adt\u00adra\u00adting the various pro\u00adgrams and then let them get on with it out\u00adside les\u00adson (and my) time.<\/p>\n

As for the inter\u00adnet, I know some tea\u00adchers who will go to gre\u00adat lengths just so their stu\u00addents can read a web-site. That\u2019s rea\u00adding. You can do it with a pho\u00adto\u00adco\u00adpy. Chat\u00adrooms are very popu\u00adlar with stu\u00addents, but don\u2019t make the mista\u00adke of one tea\u00adcher who spent a who\u00adle hour of valuable free time regis\u00adtering the who\u00adle class one by one.<\/p>\n

On a posi\u00adti\u00adve note<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve given a lot of nega\u00adti\u00adve advice about work\u00ads\u00adheets, pic\u00adtures, equip\u00adment, etc. What\u2019s left? What I haven\u2019t men\u00adtio\u00adned yet are the two most important resour\u00adces that a tea\u00adcher has in the class\u00adroom. First, the\u00adre is yours\u00adelf, your expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adces and your per\u00adso\u00adna\u00adli\u00adty. (This, rather than the qua\u00adli\u00adty of your work\u00ads\u00adheets, is what stu\u00addents look to when jud\u00adging your les\u00adsons.) Second, the\u00adre are the stu\u00addents, and what they bring to the class. So much can be based on just the\u00adse simp\u00adle elements.<\/p>\n

A word of cau\u00adti\u00adon: if you\u2019\u00adve just star\u00adted in tea\u00adching, or if you are stu\u00addy\u00ading for a tea\u00adching qua\u00adli\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon, then you should igno\u00adre ever\u00ady\u00adthing I have said, apart from the pre\u00advious para\u00adgraph. It\u2019s very important for you to make your own work\u00ads\u00adheets, to con\u00ads\u00adtruct les\u00adsons wit\u00adhout a cour\u00adse\u00adbook, to expe\u00adri\u00adment with authen\u00adtic mate\u00adri\u00adals, pic\u00adtures, dif\u00adfe\u00adrent types of equipment.<\/p>\n

Per\u00adhaps I should say that ever\u00ady\u00adbo\u00addy, even the most expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced vete\u00adran, should once a week or twice a month put asi\u00adde the \u201ebook les\u00adson\u201c and try some\u00adthing dif\u00adfe\u00adrent, even if it uses more time, just to avo\u00adid fos\u00adsi\u00adli\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon. But for the rest of the time, I urge you to think careful\u00adly about the effec\u00adti\u00adve\u00adness of what you are doing and the time being used up to achie\u00adve it.<\/p>\n

(Peter Lay\u00adton is a tea\u00adcher at the Bri\u00adtish Coun\u00adcil in Rome, Italy)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026 ist der Titel eines Auf\u00adsat\u00adzes von Peter Lay\u00adton zum The\u00adma \u201eHow much effort should you put into preparation?\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-1423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alg","tag-unterricht"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1423"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11482,"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1423\/revisions\/11482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jochenlueders.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}