How do teachers know if the resource is successful or not? All these questions would be answered in the course of this brief study. I shall also suggest ways functional skills could be imbedded whilst recognising strengths and weaknesses of existing resources. In this essay I shall refer to my own practice as an ESOL teacher for intermediate learners within a diverse environment. As an ESOL teacher, it is essential for me to select resources that would address leaners’ needs and at the same time motivate them in order to achieve targets and stabilize learner retention rates.
Choosing resources with material a learner has never seen before and that would challenge his/her ability could demotivate this learner (Skinner, 1938).
However, I am aware that I should take into consideration Blooms’ taxonomy which intends to make learning a progressive experience. In line with both arguments, it is mostly important to avoid creating any feelings of anxiety from learners, and make sure that a resource or activity is non-threatening. For this to happen it is primordial to use learners’ preferred learning styles when teaching or preparing resources, and use the ILP as a reference to gear learning towards the right direction.
Generally, I often use interactive games involving pairs or groups of mixed ability and get them involved into the activity whereby I act as a facilitator rather than a teacher. This also makes promotes a student centred approach. Many learners are motivated when they are given responsibility for their learning, and when they are encouraged to be autonomous learners by making decisions and think for themselves. However, with those who tend to be less independent and autonomous due possibly to their low ability, I make sure a differentiation sheet is given to them.
The Term Paper on Developing Yourself As An Effective Human Resources Or Learning And Development Practitioner
Title of report: Developing Yourself as an Effective Human Resources or Learning and Development Practitioner Table of Contents S Subject: Developing yourself as an Effective Human Resources or Learning & Development Practitioner Introduction 1.1 The Human Resources Profession Map (HRPM) – Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours 2.1 HR Customers – Meeting Their Needs 2.2 Methods of Communication – ...
Differentiation sheets present tasks in a clear, fun, and are picture supported. The content is written in large font and a small reward is given at the completion of the task to boost confidence (ibid).
Regarding autonomous learners, I choose activities that to encourage visual interpretation, kinaesthetic movement, and some audio based learning. Having a variety of methods assure differentiation and improves the motivation level of learners. Again, it is important to use a variety of styles such as audio, kinaesthetic, and visual mostly.
Earlier I mentioned the importance of keeping the affective filter low (Krashen, 1985).
For instance, an ice breaker activity in my first lesson with new students could be a true and false game about me, then with students themselves. Activities should help create a rapport with the learners and teachers. Krashen (1985) explains the importance of a classroom atmosphere in that it could lower the affective filter of a learner thus boosting learning. Contrarily, if learners are tested formally, this could nurture negative feelings such as doubt, or anxiety that would affect performance and engagement.
With fun activities, emotional blockage is reduced and learning is more enjoyable while bolstering self-esteem and nurturing motivation. I thus use props and authentic materials that are easily relatable such as tube maps, train tickets, magazines, catalogues and so on. A lesson that has worked well was when I had to teach colors, shapes, and some adjectives and for this, I used a basket full of stuff I bought from a charity shop and which I used as resources. Furthermore, involving learners in team work, during a group presentation for instance would help to break cliques among themselves.
The Essay on Support Learning Activities 2
Identify own strengths and weaknesses in relation to supporting learning activities and how these may impact on the support that can be provided. Two Strengths Two Weaknesses Organisation Not knowing all the students and their individual needs. Advance planning Not knowing the best way to help individuals Impact on the support that you can provide Impact on the support that you can provide ...
Again group work encourages a communicative approach to learning. An activity which makes use of real life experience such as a role play involving a GP and patient helps to bring social reality into the class and thus supports the constructivist approach to learning. Role plays according to social constructivists, is the process of sharing individual perspectives called collaborative elaboration as implied strongly by Vygostky (1978), resulting in learners constructing meaning together, something that wouldn’t be possible alone. As claimed by
Vygostky, the community helps the learner to ‘create meaning’ with the coorperation of the tutor using collaborative dialogue (ibid).
Reflectively, learners can learn from each other by hearing each others’ view, and break egocentrism which is a barrier in creating a healthy classroom atmosphere (Piaget, 1969).
Consequently, role play allows pairing / teaming skills to develop but most importantly encourage learners to show tolerance and acceptance towards each other (Dorneyi, 1998) while helping each other learn (cooperative learning as supported by Vygosky).
ICT is another important aspect of learning and allowing functional skills a space to develop. For instance, a lesson on ‘weather’ could include an activity in which learners would use the BBC weather forecast website to reinforce their learning of weather adjectives (cloudy, rainy and so on).
This would also help incorporate ICT skills by searching the website, navigate through it, and use icons. Numeracy can also be revived through the use of temperatures in the weather report.
With a variety of hyperlinked multimedia documents and computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools, the Web can support language teachers to integrate Web resources into the language classroom (Son, 2007; Warschauer, 2001).
In addition, Web-based language learning (WBLL) has the potential to increase learner motivation and engage learners in culturally authentic and highly interactive language experience (Kung & Chuo, 2002).
Slides are also an effective tool to engage students since technology in education indeed has become almost a religion for teachers.
The Essay on Learning Natural Resources and Energy
A Paper on the Ecosystem and on the Biodiversity General Questions – General General Questions Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper on natural resources and energy. Include the following: · Choose a specific ecosystem, such as a forest, a grassland, or a marine or freshwater aquatic ecosystem. · Identify and discuss the effects that a growing human population may have on that ecosystem’s ...
Most interestingly, innovative props could be used such as the mobile phone. Using a mobile phone in class transforms the dynamics of the class into a new dimension which facilitates learning and embraces a modern way of communicating meaning. According to researchers, pupils gained confidence by using technology familiar to them, using it in a number of different ways. The use of props is also a vital tool to engage students and make the learning experience multi-sensory. I regularly use mobile phones to record students’ performance, improve pronunciation and monitor progress, and so on.
Fundamentally, functional skills are again incorporated into learning where real life experiences are created to make learning meaningful. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned the importance of promoting positive values such as tolerance and acceptance. I contribute to this by assuring that resources which involve real life picture stimulus show people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds, and nationalities. Indeed promoting international mindedness help to support committed learning which give value to each member of society and make inclusive learning a constant practice.
To back up this idea, topics such as festivals, international music and so on are included to support the curriculum. Involving citizenship issues are also essential when preparing resources. As part of my practice, I regularly activate citizenship elements such as history, politics, and social environment into learning through discussions or questioning techniques. Furthermore, it is important to highlight the fact teachers often reward learners who have demonstrated evidence of active participation and have produced good answers, as part of positive reinforcement tactic (Skinner, 1936).
Yet, the choice of the reward is problematic and this is because learners’ object of concentration could be diverted onto the reward instead of the lesson itself as realistically suggested by Dorneyi and Murphy (2007).
For this reason, I’ve chosen to give verbal rewards rather than a ‘material’ form of commendation such as a chocolate or a sticker. Ironically, during positive reinforcement, the theory of Skinner meets the behaviourist approach at crossroads, that of buildling dichotomies of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ behaviour.
The Essay on Creating Climates for Learning for Diverse Learners
In the case of Pon, it makes sense that his behavior and learning problems do stem from the fact that he is different from his peers. In his age group, it is usually the case that being different results to being discriminated against (Rogers, 2004). Rather than forcing the child to “fit in” with his classmates, it would be more appropriate to channel his differences to positive learning ...
Yet, the aim of rewards is not to ‘punish’ a certain type of behaviour but, as supported by Skinner’s theory of positive reinforcement, to extract some sort of ‘appetitive stimulus’ from the learner and motivate them (Skinner, 1938).
Resources / vehicles used in this lesson are both traditional and innovative. They have all been carefully selected to maximise impact on learners and help them to construct meaning rather than instruct information to them. For instance, I often use logos and sign to represent an idea. For instance, clip art or real logos (e. toilet sign, no smoking and so on) help develop interpreting sills whilst showing evidence of differentiation as well. I was inspired by Professor Seymour Papert who used logos to teach Maths to children (1980).
Also, the use of real life signs incorporates functional skills into learning. Similarly, the use of picture stimulus generates engagement in a sustained manner. Visual Input creates the strongest recall value of all senses, and also allows the widest spectrum of levels-of-processing modifiers. It is also one of the most widely studied.
Within visual studies, pictures have been shown to have a greater recall value than words known as the ‘picture superiority effect’ by Nelson / Walling (1976).
However, it is essential to mention that ready-made or ‘retail’ resources often offer limitations and restrictions of learning. Teachers use these resources because they are a commodity and help save preparation time. Yet, it is clear that not all of them provide opportunities to become lifelong learners, promote values, or address individual needs to a high standard.