2013-02 AgrafinvonwerstarpAGargiuloDgomez CM

7/30/2019 2013-02 AgrafinvonwerstarpAGargiuloDgomez CM

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Assignment – CMTRP

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT -

TECHNIQUES AND REFLECTIONS ON PRACTICE

Name and surname(s):

Anna Grafin von Westarp.

Analia Gargiulo.

David Andrés Gomez Uribe

Login: MEFPMTFL1241293

ARFPCTFL1148400

EUFPMTFL1311350

Group: 2013-02

Date: May 12th 2013.

* Note: Piero Miguel Angel Garibaldi Espinoza did not participate in this group.

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GENERAL INFORMATION:

The subject assignment consists of doing eight short exercises. To do so, leave theactivities’ statements where they are and just answer below them. This assignment must be done in groups of three or four (the corresponding tutor will choose thegroup members during the tutorials) and the work must fulfil the following conditions:- Length: between 8 and 10 pages (without including cover, index or appendices –if

there are any-).- Type of font: Arial or Times New Roman.

- Size: 11.

- Line height: 1.5 .

- Alignment: Justified .

The assignment has to be done in this Word document. In order to make the correction process easier, please, do not write the answers in bold, and it will then be easier todistinguish between them and the activities’ statements. On the other hand, theassignment must still fulfil the rules of presentation and edition, and follow the rubric for quoting and making bibliographical references as detailed in the Study Guide. Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the Study Guide.Sending it to the teacher’s e-mail is not permitted. All members of the group have tosend the assignment.

In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can befound in the Study Guide.

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Assignment:

Do the following exercises and justify or explain your answers where appropriate.

Task 1

Look at Ur’s list of patterns of interaction below. Decide whether each interaction is either

more student-centred or more teacher-centred. Justify your answers.

Group work: This is student centred. It involves students actively working on collaborative and

communicative activities in which they use the target language, share ideas and express their

personal opinion. The only teacher’s input would be correction and clarification of points to be

studied, but the work is done absolutely by the students.

Closed-ended teacher questioning : This is teacher centred because the teacher guides the

students to the answer he/she needs to hear. Sure the teacher elicits an answer from the

students but, it can be mechanical or a yes or no answer, As Penny Ur states in her summary (Ur

1996:228) “Sometimes cynically called the ‘Guess what the teacher wants you to say game’”. It

reminds us of multiple-choice activities in which there is only one possible answer.

Individual work: This is teacher centred. Here the students work on a task given by the teacher

independently and they do not communicate. This could probably be a task the teacher has

chosen such as a written assignment and the teacher monitors their progress and assists when

necessary.

Choral responses: Teacher centred. Here the students are memorizing some sort of grammar

rules, just repeating or responding to what the teacher decided should be learned at that moment.

Collaboration: This is learner centred since the students are collaborating among them usually

in pairs and exchanging ideas and doing their tasks all by themselves. This activity is usually

performed with an heterogeneous group where the students help each other. Since students tend

to talk in the same language, it is an opportunity for the advanced students to help the lower

proficient ones.

Student initiates, teacher answers: Teacher centred. Although the questions are asked by the

students, these do not come from student’s needs but from what the teacher wants them to ask

on a specific topic. In all classes, students have a role, but we think the difference between

teacher centred classes and student centred classes, is the active participation of the learners as

well as their ability to reflect, analyze and criticize what they are learning and how they are

learning it. .

Full-class interaction: This is student centred. The students are the ones who debate and

interaction is purposefully among them. Moreover, the teacher’s intervention may only be to

monitor or to stimulate participation of all students.

Teacher talk: This sort of interaction is meant to help students understand their learning

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process and help them find different strategies that suit their needs and cognitive style. This

activity is teacher centred since the focus is primarily on what the teacher wants to transmit to

students while they are passive receptors.

Self-access: Since the learner is the one who chooses his/her own task and works

autonomously, this is student centred.

Open-ended teacher questioning: It is learner centred since the student will be choosing how

much and how long he wants to talk in order to answer the teacher’s question. The teacher is

asking a question to which there is more than one correct answer, with the idea of starting a

debate or discussion.

Task 2Categorise each of the following errors under one of these headings: grammar;

pronunciation; meaning; appropriacy. Justify your answers.

- How you come to school? Grammar error, the auxiliary verb to complete the interrogative

form is missing.

- I go always to France for my holidays . Grammar error. The adverb should be placed between

the subject and the verb.

- I don’t like travelling by sheep. Pronunciation error if the student is pronouncing “sheep”

instead of “ship”. He is talking of the vessel not the animal..

- (Mike speaking to his boss) That’s a load of rubbish, mate . Appropriacy as you should not

talk to your boss with such colloquial speech the way you would talk to your palls.

- She suggested us to go home. Grammar error. After suggested, a direct pronoun should not be

used. It would be correct to say: “She suggested we go home”

- Oh, of course! - you’re Peter, aren’t you? (rising intonation on aren’t you) . Pronunciation

since we use falling intonation patterns when pronouncing tag questions.

- (student in pub) Give me a beer. Appropriacy as this is a very rude way to ask for something.

It sounds more like a demand.

- She went to the library to buy a book . Meaning. The word library can be used as a false

cognate from the word “librería” in Spanish. The right word to use would be bookstore or

bookshop.

Task 3

Look at the following situations and decide if you would correct or not. If so, say when you

would do so. Explain your answer.

1. Students are writing a paragraph about a holiday in ones or twos . We would correct after

they have handed in their papers but without giving them the correct answers. We would

highlight the mistakes and write different symbols for different types of mistakes. Then, we

would give the paper back to students and ask them to correct the mistakes in pairs. Moreover,

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we would monitor their work and suggest vocabulary or structures that would make their

paragraph better. Thus we will let the students finish their job without constant interruption

2. Students are discussing the question of pollution in small groups . As students are working

in small groups, we would not correct their speech on the spot but take down notes of common

mistakes to later work on them as a whole class. We will intervene only if they are off topic, if

they are not using the L2 or if they get stuck when trying to express their ideas.

3. Students are debating on the rights of women in an open class focus . We would correct

after the debate is finished to keep the conversation’s flow. We would intervene only when the

error impedes communication.

4. Students are discussing role-playing a public meeting after reading a text, and are

preparing their side of the argument. We might give feedback to each student at the end of the

task. In the meantime, we would monitor their work to see if they are doing their job and give

them suggestions and strategies to enhance the presentation. By doing so, we will be able to

ensure that they are preparing their role-play in the most appropriate way. Basically, correction

will only occur when necessary to guarantee that students understand what the correction is

about.

5. Students are giving the answer to a listening comprehension exercise in class feedback. If

we are practicing listening comprehension, it is not necessary to correct students while they are

giving their answers. In fact, what is important is that students understand and could rephrase

what they listened. However, if what they say cannot be understood or can be misinterpreted

because of their errors, it would be necessary to correct the mistakes on the spot.

6. Students are checking a grammar exercise in open class . As the focus of the grammar

exercise is on form, we would correct immediately and then make more exercises in order to see

whether everyone in the class understood the correction. We even dare to state that this is the

whole meaning of the activity.

7. Students are giving the teacher examples of the target structure ‘used to’ and the teacher is

writing these examples on the board We would write down the student’s examples on the

board. If there are any mistakes, we would ask the whole class to check the sentences, spot the

mistake and make the correction themselves. If that is not possible, we would give them

feedback on their error.

Task 4

Below is a list of classroom ‘procedures’ (activity types) which will, in theory, allow for

individualisation in the language classroom. To what extent does each cater for

individualised learning? What advantages and what drawbacks can you identify with each‘procedure’ if you were to use them with your own classes? (Ur, 1996:236) Explain your

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answers.

1. Readers . Students choose individual simplified readers, of varied level and topic, from a

school library, and read quietly in class. This is individualized learning and the advantage

would be that the students choose the reading themselves to their own language level and they

can work at their own speed. This develops autonomy and responsibility. The drawback would

probably be that students might choose an oversimplified reading in order to finish the task

successfully and in short time.

2.Response to listening . The teacher plays a recorded text on a topical issue, and asks the

class to note down points they understood. This activity does not cater for individualized

learning since students don’t have the freedom to perform the task in a different way. It may beargued that individualization comes from the fact that students are solving the task individually

and can show their level of competence in the language by writing down what they really

understand. The disadvantage is that student’s skills vary and those with lesser knowledge

would feel frustrated. The advantage is that it would give the teacher good knowledge of each

students’ comprehension skills.

3.Workcards . A pile of workcards prepared by the teacher is put in the centre of the class, all

practising the material the class has recently learned, but each different. Each student

chooses one, completes it and then takes another. This activity sets the context for

individualized work in the sense of speed, responsibility and autonomy. The students complete

the task by resorting to their previous knowledge and at their own pace. One possible negative

effect is that the teacher may not devote enough time to check student’s production.

4.Textbook questions in class . The class has been given a set of questions from the textbook

to answer in writing; each student does them on his or her own. There is no individualization

since all students are answering the same questions and though they may use their own speed

and language skill, the topic is common and some students may feel motivated while others will

not.

5.Worksheets . The teacher distributes worksheets which all practise the same grammar point,

but containing various sections with different kinds of practice tasks and topics. The students

choose which sections they want to do, and do as much as they can in the time allotted . This

activity allows for individualization as students may choose the type of worksheet that best fits

their personal style or intelligence. In addition, students can reflect on the aspects they need to

practice and leave aside those sections that include practice on topics they have already

acquired. One disadvantage is that autonomy and responsibility is not promoted since they will

concentrate just on getting a good grade.

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6.Textbook exercises for homework . The teacher gives three sets of comprehension questions

from the textbook, of varying difficulty, on a passage that has been read in class; each

student is asked to select and do one set. Here the homework will be done according to the

degree of difficulty, students’ own choice and level; suggesting individualized learning. They

are also responsible for their own choices so they decide if they want to take risks by choosing

one level of difficulty. One drawback is that maybe the student will do the easiest one in order

to achieve a good grade or to finish the homework as fast as possible.

7. Varied tasks . The teacher has prepared a number of work-cards based on different

language skills and content. There is a cassette recorder in one corner with headsets for

listening tasks, and another corner available for quiet talk. Students select, work on and

exchange cards freely. This is individual learning at the beginning and group learning when

ideas are exchanged. It caters to individualized learning since it clearly favors speed, level, topic

and language skills. However, a drawback would be that working with different skills at the

same time in the same classroom might be chaotic if there is not enough space or if the teacher

has no set in advance very clear goals and objectives. It can be helpful as a collaborative work

and helps the slower students acquire knowledge through their peers.

8. Research. The teacher asks the students to form groups of four in order to carry out a web-

quest, based on an environmental issue. Each student is given a specific role and asked to

find out particular aspects of the topic from internet sources, to later share with the other

group members. The group will then arrive at a consensus, formulate a collective report, and

present their findings to the class. Students having a role to perform and responsibilities within

the group benefits individualized learning. A drawback would be that if a student does not like

his or her role or is not capable of completing his/her own tasks; there may be problems with the

whole group. This sounds more like collaborative work since there will be a lot of student

interaction and debate. This would be a useful exercise when you have mixed ability groups.

Task 5

a)To what extent do you agree with each of Ur’s statements in your materials? What are your

own views on the issue of mixed-ability? Do you think that mixed- ability groups always

result in more successful SLA for learners? Or can the opposite seem to be true? Why? Draw

on your own experience as a teacher or learner in order to prove or disprove each of her

statements, providing concrete examples of classroom experiences/activities. Can you add

any other advantages to her list?

Penny Ur has a lot of subject knowledge in classroom management. She is the main

reference in material such as classroom interaction, corrective feedback, discipline, managing of

GW in Classroom and individualization process. Her knowledge in mixed ability classroom and

advantages of heterogeneous classes is also to be noted. Based on our experience, the mixed

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ability classroom is commonly perceived as a big issue, because we are asked to reach very

specific objectives in a specific amount of time, with students with different knowledge skills.

This is unavoidable in public schools and it will only be successful if your teacher knows what

he or she wants to elicit from students, and when he is able to demonstrate flexibility to address

his group. Although we do our best to accommodate the class to fit everybody’s learning skills,

we sometimes tend to forget that each student is an individual with his or her own interests,

styles and needs, and we teach them as if they were homogeneous.

Finally, whether or not a more homogeneous class will generate a more successful SLA

is a mystery, since we are immersed in schools where different styles, levels and intelligences

are common factor among the students.

b)What other considerations have now come into play regarding this issue, especially those

which have made the phrase ‘mixed-ability’ seem almost old-fashioned or unnecessary?

Now we are all thinking about level and skills. The differences in abilities within the

classroom are a big problem. For example, one teacher in our group teaches Spanish one, and

has students whose abilities range from those who cannot even respond to a simple greeting in

Spanish with students who speak Spanish with more fluency. This is a disadvantage since if you

do not make activities that consider the whole group; still, it is common that the more proficient

learner will be bored and the less proficient one frustrated. Moreover, the concept of multiple

intelligences is also gaining importance in teaching. We are trying, not always successfully, to

reach each student in the classroom by involving him/her in different types of activities that

address different learning styles and intelligences. Additionally, we must be sensitive to the

cultural and social background of each student.

As a final thought, we believe that the word mixed ability only puts a tag on students; we

recognize multiple intelligences would be a better way to point these differences out.

Task 6

Say whether you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. Justify your answers.

1. If you give instructions for activities in the mother tongue, you deprive students of an

important opportunity to be exposed to natural L2 use. We agree mostly, but we would check

comprehension before proceeding. If students do not understand we would try to explain with

other words, examples, etc. but here again it would depend on the class objectives and whether

the task is comprehension or production. L1 can be a great tool when used correctly.

2. Students should be allowed to ask the teacher (in English) if they may say something or

ask something in their own language, and all other use of their mother tongue should be

prohibited . We believe students should make the effort to use L2 . It should be remembered that

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one of the uses of L1 in classroom is to reduce frustration. If the student is not capable of

expressing his ideas in L2 and really needs to communicate with the teacher, it is not a great

idea to stop him from interacting. A better idea could be to listen to whatever he has to say and

then encourage him to say it in L2 again or the next time.

3. Teachers could sometimes use mother tongue texts with students, but comprehension tasks

sould always require students to produce English. We disagree because if you use a text in the

mother tongue you will not be able to ask them to answer questions in the L2. We believe it is

more productive to motivate the students to read and answer in the L2, rather than having them

translating the text. In addition, there are many strategies such as visual prompts, realia,

gestures, or paraphrasing that can be used in order to avoid translation. We can also try to

present new vocabulary in context so that students grasp the meaning of the words.

4. If students translate the meaning of new vocabulary they will develop the mistaken idea

that there is a one-to-one correspondence between words in English and in their own

language. We disagree; we need to help the students understand that words have different

meanings in different language contexts. We need students to understand that as long as they

know what is being said, they do not need to translate every word to L1. There should not be a

one-to-one translation.

5. Instructions should always be given in both languages - but in English first . We believe

that if students know that the teacher will give the instructions in both languages, they will not

even make the effort to understand the version on L2 and wait for instructions on L1, which will

result in an unnecessary laziness and reliance of L1 from the students.

6. Translation should never be used with young learners. We agree. Little children have the

natural ability to produce the language without thinking of meaning. In addition, they tend to

model teachers so it is always better to use L2 in the classroom. We would only use it as a last

resource.

Task 7

Are the following statements true or false? Justify each of your answers.

1.‘Teacher thinking’ refers not just to the way we think as teachers, but also to what effect

the way we think has on our teaching . True, we tend to use our own history in our way of

teaching and thinking and this will greatly influence our teaching methods. Also because of our

reflections o how things are going in the classroom affect our planning, our teaching and our

interpretations of the classroom reality.

2. Our beliefs as teachers affects our classroom management more than any other factor in

the classroom. True. Our beliefs as well as our personal experience tend to affect the way we

manage our classes. Other factors like the affective climate, imposed methodologies, or research

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findings will also affect our classroom management.

3. Examining our pre-, inter- and post-active decisions as teachers is the best way to

investigate our thinking as teachers. False. Examining our decisions are only one approach to

investigate teacher thinking and other factors like present circumstances and past experiences

affect deeply the way we investigate our thinking. We understand that by analyzing these three

different moments we can get a better image of our thinking.

4. As teachers we are doomed to repeat teaching behaviour that we ‘learnt’ through our

‘apprenticeship of observation’ . False. Although we tend to use our past experience to our

advantage and it does have a great impact in our teaching, once a teacher’s beliefs and

experiences get stronger, teachers develop their own and unique teacher behavior .

5.There is always a mismatch between a teachers ‘espoused’ theories and his/her real

classroom behavior. False. There is not a mismatch but a tendency to adapt the theories to our

own environment. We believe that theories are always idealized and fail to take into account

social, cultural and individual factors.

6. Teachers’ beliefs, which are formed early in life, are very difficult to change. True. Our

beliefs as teacher come from early in life and we tend to play it safe instead of embracing the

different, the new, or the unknown. However, change is not impossible if the teacher really

wants to continue with his professional development and will stay open to new methods and

teaching ideas.

7. A teacher will usually have a deeply rooted (possibly unconscious) view about who his/her

learners are, and this view is related to how the teacher believes languages are learned . True.

These beliefs will influence and affect our classroom practice and they will also be a guideline

to the way we manage our classes Teachers always have an idea of what learners are and what

should be expected from them.

8. Taking into account the affective climate in a classroom is likely to affect a teacher’s

classroom management decisions. True. As teachers we want to create a suitable environment

where everybody is comfortable and with a positive attitude towards the class and all its

components.

Task 8

Take any other two issues from the materials

and discuss them separately. 1. Say why you have chosen the topics from a personal

perspective, 2. Explain their importance with reference to the general framework of

classroom management and 3. Try to predict how the topic will evolve in the future.

Try to be concise, but each topic should occupy roughly one page, or three paragraphs for

each of the two topics.The usefulness of webquest

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I decided to choose this topic in particular because I believe it is highly motivational for

students and at the same time extremelly recommended to be used in the 21st

century classroom.

I have the possibility of working at an institution in which technology is paramount in

the teaching of english as a second language. There are computers in each classroom and a lab

where we can carry out any activity or task related to the Internet or any other social network. In

addition, the institute had hired a group of people that developed a learning platform that is used

to assign students activities as well as upload audios, videos, podcasts, among others. At the

beginning, we felt a little bit reluctant about the change but then we realized the powerful tool

we had at our disposal and students were grateful to have the possibility of working with

authentic material for meaningful purposes.

One of the most common activities that I have noticed teachers carry out at the

Institute’s lab are webquests. I have also find myself asking my students to do this type of

activity after becoming aware that they are an excellent tool to make a good use of the Internet

as well as a good resource to teach my mixed ability classes. As they generally consist of group

work or pair work, students need to exchange ideas, negotiate meaning and come to an

agreement in order to solve the task succesfully. These in turn, result in peer teaching and

scaffolding among more proficient and weaker students. In addition, webquests are a helpful

instrument to incorporate some notions from CLIL and content based learning, as they give the

teacher the opportunity to deal with the different content areas and topics related to different

fields of study while using the language as a way of communicating ideas and exchanging

information.

As regards the tasks, it can be pointed out that webquests provide students the

possibility of working with real life problems and challenging questions that need to be solved

after analysing and criticizing all the information available on the Internet. Consequently,

students are pushed to develop their critical thinking and cognitive abilities as they have to

evaluate different opinions from varied sources.

As a conclusion, it can be stated that the huge impact of technology in people’s lives,

and specially between children and adolescents, made it essential for teachers to understand and

be aware of the need of incoporating technology in the classroom. Apart from the benefits stated

above, webquests as well as other type of ICT tasks, will be essential to enhance 21 st century

learners in authentic and motivational classes in which access to second language genuine

material becomes paramount for the effective acquisition of a second language.

Multiple Intelligences

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I have done a lot of reseach as regards this topic during my teacher traning course

because I have always found it interesting and challenging to take into account students’

differences in cognitive and learning styles. In addition, I have always found myself trapped

between the theory and the practice when trying to address each of my students individually

while facing mixed ability groups in which there are always more that thirty students that need

my attention and care.

It is almost unquestionable that one single type of activity or test cannot account for the

heterogenity and differences in learning that we as teachers face in the classroom. Moreover, the

use of a single text book chosen before even knowing the students and the curriculum developed

in Argentina for the teaching of English as a second language do not even take into account the

possibility of involving students into activities that fit their personal interests, abilities and

needs.

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is paramount in explaining what

happens in a classroom in which each student has a different learning style and how the

teacher’s choice of activities is fundamental to approach different students in a class or during

the school year. In order to understand students’ learning styles, Gardner listed eight difference

intelligences which he stated all human beings have but that one of some of them tend to be

more prominent according to the individual’s way of approaching and understanding the world

that sorrounds him or her. According to this view, students cannot be seen as part of an

homogenous group that learns in the same way, at the same speed but as a group of unique

individuals that have different ways of doing the same tasks and activities.

Since its postulation, this theory has shaken the fundamental basis of most educational

systems, in which students were seen as an homogenous group which was supposed to learn the

same contents, at the same time and speed. In addition, teachers had also started to revise their

own practice in light of these new discoveries as well as the ones made in other fields such as

neurolinguistics related to how the brain works when acquiring a second language. However, I

believe in the future, new intelligences should be added, specially those related to ICT as the

students we face every day in our classroom do not have the same characteristics and needs that

the ones studied by Howard Gardner in the 1980’s. In addition, laid foundations related to the

educational systems should be revised in order to fit this need for new ways of teaching and at

the same time, teachers should be asked to revise their daily work in order to incorporate in the

classroom different methodologies and enough opportunity for students to work on a topic

according to the different types of intelligences.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Hockly,N and Ball P. (n.d.) Classroom Management- Techniques and reflections on

Practice. FUNIBER.

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2013-02 AgrafinvonwerstarpAGargiuloDgomez CM

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