Canterbury tales – going back

The last day in Canterbury. There are opinions, impressions and ideas exchanged , some emotions revealed… A goodbye day.
As for myself, I was thinking about some sort of a summary, first conclusions from the time I have spent at Pilgrims and decided to share with you the tips from the Pilgrims staff which I remembered and liked best.
Here they are:

1. Whatever you do [in the classroom], you should have a good reason to do that. (Silvia)
2. If you don’t take risks, you won’t gain. (Silvia)
3. Good reading is critical. (Mario)
4. If you’re not a leader, you’re a follower. (Chaz)
5. The teacher’s red pen is not an addressee [of a piece of writing]. (Mario)
6. Spoonfeeding [your students] is not always best. (Silvia)
7. Go beyomd the fact! (Silvia)

and, last but not least:

8. If you have no problems, you’re not challenged to look for a solution :) (Silvia)

But, I suppose we are going to have lots of time to talk about it very soon :)

See you in gv :)

Canterbury tales – almost on the way home

Although the Pilgrims course finishes tomorrow, I suppose most of us already feel a bit like going back home. That makes us think, of course, what we will take from here and use in our own classroom (or life, if it’s more general). I am planning to have a rather reflective evening tonight (going through my notes once again, looking for the most appealing concepts), but already now I know what made me think most :) It’s going beyond the fact. So simple, however not that obvious. Why do we need to stick to the same old schemes, comprehensive questions etc.? Why don’t we go beyond what is given in the coursebook and let our students imagine, create, use their own, personal experience? Simple, but not that obvious :)

More conclusions tomorrow :)

Canterbury tales – verbs and nouns etc.

Tuesday afternoon in Canterbury. Everything peaceful, fairly stable weather – like in a dream (the day, not the night one :)). The best option for the afternoon? Probably Canterbury walks, or fish & chips in Whitstable, for most people. For me – creative writing class at Pilgrims.

Looking for verbs? You won’t find any :) Wouldn’t it sometimes feel good to rebel against the everlasting terror of verbs and put across a message without them? Try it :)

I got the idea of writing a letter without verbs from Mario Rinvolucri during one of his creative writing classes.

Back home

Thanks for sharing your experiences and enthusiasm!
Let’s keep the Pilgrim’s blogging spirit alive!

”Retire into yourself as much as possible. Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one. People learn as they teach.” (Seneca)

Canterbury tales – taking risks

“If you don’t take risks, you won’t win” was what Silvia told us – teachers from various countries – during one of our classes. Well, easy to say, harder to do, you might think. How often do we keep to some attitudes, behaviour, decisions of ours, when we have long forgotten why we actually do that? Maybe because it’s difficult to go out of the comfort zone, to risk and try to look for something better. And, as Basia wrote in one of her posts, you should always ask (and look) for more :)

Now, how does it influence teaching? Just as it influences life – it’s not easy to risk a lesson, to use totally new ideas, techniques, the results of which we may not be that sure of ourselves. But isn’t it just the fun of teaching and life, too – trying out new things, never stopping, always striving for more?

Hmmm, I’m getting quite philosophical in Canterbury :)

End of episode 2

Canterbury Tales – the saga continued :)

I’m finally in Canterbury. And here my entry could stop, as there are so many thoughts, ideas etc. that I don’t even know what to start with… Hmmm, do you like music? I do, no, I’m wrong – I absolutely LOVE music. What I have not realized, though, is in how many different ways one can use music in the classroom, which is great, because the world (= the classroom ;)) with music is ALWAYS BETTER than one without it :)

Another question: are you a leader? Beacause IF YOU’RE NOT A LEADER, YOU’RE A FOLLOWER (Chaz during one of his sessions). It’s interesting how you become more aware, conscious, sure of some previously intuitive and seemingly obvious ideas once they have been pointed at and named. If a teacher is not a leader in his/ her classroom, what or who does he/she follow, then? If you’re not a leader in your life (and I don’t mean it’s always the best option :)), WHAT exactly do you follow?

End of episode 1

Canterbury Tales [4]

Lots of evening workshops to chose from. The most popular are those which seemingly have little to do with language teaching and learning. Not the Pilgrims way though, here anything that improves teachers and students’ abilities matters; salsa, blues and t’ai chi all find their way to the classroom.
Tim Bowen had us read Celebration, the latest one-act play by Harold Pinter, with the focus on intonation and Pinter’s realistic dialogue. With the help of two desks and ten chairs we moved to a posh London restaurant where at two differnt tables two groups of people have met for very different reasons. At one table they are celebrating the birthday of a successsful ‘self-made’ businessman, while at the other a married couple are trying to come to terms with their problems. The proprietor and his wife frequently visit each table to check if everything is alright. Meanwhile the guests are served by the waiter, a character who gradually becomes the most important in the play. Just a sample of what we tried to bring to life:
Waiter: Do you mind if I interject?
Richard: I’m sorry?
Waiter: Do you mind if I make an interjection?
Richard: What on earth do you mean?
Waiter: Well, it’s just that I heard these people talking about The Austro-Hungarian Empire a little while ago and I wwondered if they’d ever heard about my grandfather…
And on he goes!

West African Drumming Workshop

Friday 13

his lucky day
a perfect plan
small bank in Evansville
on Friday night
the last customer
bags full of money
his lucky day

why walking?

Busy time, although it’s middle of the summer. Back from one place, going to another. I hope this time will be an opportunity to rest, not so much physically – it’s a pilgrimage – but mentally. See you in Vilnius in 11 days.

Canterbury Tales [3]

Dear Everybody,
A campus on a hilltop, overlooking an ancient cathedral, shady trees, rabbits, squirrels everywhere, a place of peace and tranquility, at least out of term-time, it’s really a nice place to spend two weeks.
In February, a windswept hilltop, trees without leaves, dark in the morning and dark by mid-afternoon, everywhere crowded with UKC’s 15,000 undergraduates, this is a much less attractive place then when summer comes round again.
A hundred and eighty or so people come from all over the world, all keen on upping their level of English and on learning sharper ways of teaching…, mixing, mingling and exchanging experiences, inspiring, I’d call it.
The above three utterances are a typical structure in spoken English. The bold parts are called ‘headers’ by Carter and McCarthy in their ‘Grammar of Spoken English’, while the words in italics are the comment. You can also call the bold parts ‘topic’, followed by the comment in italics.
Typically, the topic, or ‘header’, is a noun phrase, and often a quite complex one, and the comment can include a verb or not.
I used to teach my students that English is a SVO (Subject, Verb, Object) language, while Turkish is a SOV language, and Japanese is a Topic-Comment one.
I was woefully wrong. The Header-Comment structure is common in UK spoken English.
I have now stopped talking nonsense about my own language, and this is change for the better.
I feel better as a teacher now. The CGE (Cambridge Grammar of English) gives me a clear description of the spoken language.
Warmly yours
Mario

Next Page »