2010年3月29日月曜日
Vocaroo Online Voice Recording Widget
Does this work? Please give it a try!
Also, what happens if I embed two of these in the same blog post...
So...it seems like the recording gets deleted as soon as the web page refreshes.
So, what use is this?? It seems only good for listening to your own voice momentarily.
We need an easy free service for online voice recording! Of course, I know we can always download something like Audacity or use Voice Thread, but it would be nice to have something simple like a Blogger Widget that could easily embed voice bites into blogs.
Is Multimediacy the new literacy?
In the article in the link below, Jarche questions the supremacy of text-based literacy as the main media of sophisticated thought and communication.
http://www.jarche.com/2010/03/literacies/
What is considered "competence" as a member of an intellectual community changes over history, and literacy in the traditional sense is changing recently with the emergence of web technologies.
Will more college instructors be assigning "visual multimedia essays" soon? I would definitely be open to the idea of my students creating an "argumentative movie" that introduces a thesis and then argues it with voice, visuals such as images or embedded videos of documentary footage or interviews, and text of quotes and subtitles to tie everything together.
My fluency with visual media such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker is still not high, but many of our students are coming quite adept. I want to try making one on Voice Thread or other media.
I made movie-making an option for a group presentation task last term, but all groups resorted to Google Presentation slides with movie and photos rather than the more complex movie productions.
If you know of good multimedia "academic essay" type projects by high school or college students, please leave the url in your comment!
http://www.jarche.com/2010/03/literacies/
What is considered "competence" as a member of an intellectual community changes over history, and literacy in the traditional sense is changing recently with the emergence of web technologies.
Will more college instructors be assigning "visual multimedia essays" soon? I would definitely be open to the idea of my students creating an "argumentative movie" that introduces a thesis and then argues it with voice, visuals such as images or embedded videos of documentary footage or interviews, and text of quotes and subtitles to tie everything together.
My fluency with visual media such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker is still not high, but many of our students are coming quite adept. I want to try making one on Voice Thread or other media.
I made movie-making an option for a group presentation task last term, but all groups resorted to Google Presentation slides with movie and photos rather than the more complex movie productions.
If you know of good multimedia "academic essay" type projects by high school or college students, please leave the url in your comment!
2010年3月28日日曜日
Boys and academic reading
In the New York Times today, an op-ed article explored why American high school boys seem to have lower reading scores and grades compared to female students. It suggested that they may get bored with the materials they are required to read, so promoting more adventure and gross-out may help.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28kristof.html?th&emc=th
In my case, I think my confidence as a reader developed mainly by pleasure reading of suspense/spy (Clancy, Clussler, Grisham), horror (Steven King), fantasy (Tolkien) and science fiction (Dune series), which was stuff lying around home from my Dad's tastes when I was in junior high and high school...so I would go for the "spice up the reading list" theory.
Of course, the literary fiction I read in my high school English classes--the usual like Catcher in the Rye and Grapes of Wrath helped as well, but not for self-sustaining addictive reading, which is probably what makes the difference between minimal readers and the avid.
My son, age 6, is a good reader for his age, but I really need to work on our reading shelf...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28kristof.html?th&emc=th
In my case, I think my confidence as a reader developed mainly by pleasure reading of suspense/spy (Clancy, Clussler, Grisham), horror (Steven King), fantasy (Tolkien) and science fiction (Dune series), which was stuff lying around home from my Dad's tastes when I was in junior high and high school...so I would go for the "spice up the reading list" theory.
Of course, the literary fiction I read in my high school English classes--the usual like Catcher in the Rye and Grapes of Wrath helped as well, but not for self-sustaining addictive reading, which is probably what makes the difference between minimal readers and the avid.
My son, age 6, is a good reader for his age, but I really need to work on our reading shelf...
2010年3月24日水曜日
Should "Willingness to Communicate" be the primary goal of language instruction?
I was reviewing some literature for a paper on self-confidence of Japanese language learners and read this article again.
Macintyre, Clement, Dornyei and Noels (1998). Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2: A Situational Model of L2 Confidence and Affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82.
Noting that there are language learners who are quite competent, but avoid communication, what this paper proposes is that "willingness to communicate" (frightfully abbreviated as WTC-like the World Trade Center) ought to be the primary goal of language instruction rather than "competence". In other words, we shouldn't be only helping our students to be "able" to use English for intercultural communication, but to actually "want to" to use it. As the authors put it, "a program that fails to produce students who are willing to use the language is simply a failed program."
Their definition: Willingness to Communicate is "the probability that a learner will use the language in authentic interaction with another individual, given the opportunity."
Another interesting quote is "In the past, emphasis on grammatical skill produced students with rather high linguistic competence but did not concentrate on authentic use of the language. Current emphasis on communicate competence may pose a similar problem, producing students who are technically capable of communicating, particularly inside the classroom, but who may not be amenable to doing so outside of the classroom. We suggest that a suitable goal of L2 learning is to increase WTC. By engendering a willingness to communicate, language instruction may achieve its social and political goal of bringing cultures into contact and nations together."
I've had similar thoughts, but what exactly does this entail?
First of all, whether a person is willing to communicate or not in a L1 or L2 in a certain situation is influenced a large number of variables including personality, motivation or lack thereof for the communication, perceived competence (=confidence) in the language, and the interpersonal environment (group size, scary, judgemental people etc.). For example, if I attended a departmental meeting and had a chance to make a comment or ask a question, would I raise my hand and speak up in front of my colleagues? My willingness to do so would be based on many things.
However, for learning a language, the act of using the language is essential, so it makes sense to say that teachers should design their courses so that students feel motivated and willing to use the language, and that those opportunities to use the language are easily and abundantly available so that students who seek to communicate can do so. Instruction to improve competence in the language has to be combined with incentives and opportunities to increase willingness to communicate.
So, what does that mean in my teaching context? Do my students feel "willing to communicate"? Or do they feel unwilling? Fortunately, it seems that most of the students in my classrooms seem willing to try to communicate as well as they can.
A survey of students at ICU who just finished their 1st year of intensive ELP showed:
"I am more interested in learning English than when I started at ICU"
n=365
Strongly Agree =110 (30%)
Agree = 165 (45%)
Disagree = 75 (20%)
Strongly Disagree = 14 (5%)
So...75% of our students are MORE interested in learning English. That is good.
And...25% felt they became less interested in learning English. What does that mean?
Either it means they were already highly interested in studying English when they started, or their interest decreased due to some reason. Hmm...
Also, going back to my literature review on "confidence," how does willingness to communicate relate? Obviously, if language learners are confident (or comfortable) that they can communicate (=have L2 self-confidence), they are going to be more willing to try to communicate. And if they try to communicate and succeed, that builds their self-confidence. The two psychological states create a mutually reinforcing positive cycle.
Obvious? Perhaps. Easy to do? No. Due to differences among learners, it is not always easy to design learning environments and tasks that meet the needs of all in terms of supporting the positive cycle of willingness to communicate (want to do it), confidence (believe I can do it), and competence (can do it).
They survey mentioned above had a "confidence" question, so I'll crunch the numbers here:
"I am now more confident in my English ability than I was in the Spring term."
n=365
Strongly Agree =120 (33%)
Agree = 195 (52%)
Disagree = 41 (12%)
Strongly Disagree = 8 (3%)
Based on these results, which are difficult to interpret due to the lack of qualitative comments attached to them, 85% are more confident, but 15% are not. We could pat ourselves on the back for the results, but to me, it is somewhat baffling how 50 of our students could study English intensively at a rate of 10 class hours per week for 30 weeks (300 hours) and not feel more confident. Either they were already confident when they came in, or they were influenced in some way to make their confidence weaker. Next year, it would be nice to have a survey item that confirms which case it is.
So, what factors make students more confident or less confident in their English learning or usage? That is the paper I am writing right now...based on long interviews with 15 students at the end of their first year.
Macintyre, Clement, Dornyei and Noels (1998). Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2: A Situational Model of L2 Confidence and Affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82.
Noting that there are language learners who are quite competent, but avoid communication, what this paper proposes is that "willingness to communicate" (frightfully abbreviated as WTC-like the World Trade Center) ought to be the primary goal of language instruction rather than "competence". In other words, we shouldn't be only helping our students to be "able" to use English for intercultural communication, but to actually "want to" to use it. As the authors put it, "a program that fails to produce students who are willing to use the language is simply a failed program."
Their definition: Willingness to Communicate is "the probability that a learner will use the language in authentic interaction with another individual, given the opportunity."
Another interesting quote is "In the past, emphasis on grammatical skill produced students with rather high linguistic competence but did not concentrate on authentic use of the language. Current emphasis on communicate competence may pose a similar problem, producing students who are technically capable of communicating, particularly inside the classroom, but who may not be amenable to doing so outside of the classroom. We suggest that a suitable goal of L2 learning is to increase WTC. By engendering a willingness to communicate, language instruction may achieve its social and political goal of bringing cultures into contact and nations together."
I've had similar thoughts, but what exactly does this entail?
First of all, whether a person is willing to communicate or not in a L1 or L2 in a certain situation is influenced a large number of variables including personality, motivation or lack thereof for the communication, perceived competence (=confidence) in the language, and the interpersonal environment (group size, scary, judgemental people etc.). For example, if I attended a departmental meeting and had a chance to make a comment or ask a question, would I raise my hand and speak up in front of my colleagues? My willingness to do so would be based on many things.
However, for learning a language, the act of using the language is essential, so it makes sense to say that teachers should design their courses so that students feel motivated and willing to use the language, and that those opportunities to use the language are easily and abundantly available so that students who seek to communicate can do so. Instruction to improve competence in the language has to be combined with incentives and opportunities to increase willingness to communicate.
So, what does that mean in my teaching context? Do my students feel "willing to communicate"? Or do they feel unwilling? Fortunately, it seems that most of the students in my classrooms seem willing to try to communicate as well as they can.
A survey of students at ICU who just finished their 1st year of intensive ELP showed:
"I am more interested in learning English than when I started at ICU"
n=365
Strongly Agree =110 (30%)
Agree = 165 (45%)
Disagree = 75 (20%)
Strongly Disagree = 14 (5%)
So...75% of our students are MORE interested in learning English. That is good.
And...25% felt they became less interested in learning English. What does that mean?
Either it means they were already highly interested in studying English when they started, or their interest decreased due to some reason. Hmm...
Also, going back to my literature review on "confidence," how does willingness to communicate relate? Obviously, if language learners are confident (or comfortable) that they can communicate (=have L2 self-confidence), they are going to be more willing to try to communicate. And if they try to communicate and succeed, that builds their self-confidence. The two psychological states create a mutually reinforcing positive cycle.
Obvious? Perhaps. Easy to do? No. Due to differences among learners, it is not always easy to design learning environments and tasks that meet the needs of all in terms of supporting the positive cycle of willingness to communicate (want to do it), confidence (believe I can do it), and competence (can do it).
They survey mentioned above had a "confidence" question, so I'll crunch the numbers here:
"I am now more confident in my English ability than I was in the Spring term."
n=365
Strongly Agree =120 (33%)
Agree = 195 (52%)
Disagree = 41 (12%)
Strongly Disagree = 8 (3%)
Based on these results, which are difficult to interpret due to the lack of qualitative comments attached to them, 85% are more confident, but 15% are not. We could pat ourselves on the back for the results, but to me, it is somewhat baffling how 50 of our students could study English intensively at a rate of 10 class hours per week for 30 weeks (300 hours) and not feel more confident. Either they were already confident when they came in, or they were influenced in some way to make their confidence weaker. Next year, it would be nice to have a survey item that confirms which case it is.
So, what factors make students more confident or less confident in their English learning or usage? That is the paper I am writing right now...based on long interviews with 15 students at the end of their first year.
2010年3月17日水曜日
Nice Online Learning Resources / Learning Centre (University of South Wales)
We should have something like this at ICU.
http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/olib.html
Nice lists of key skills and suggestions for writing, reading, discussions, presentations, and exams.
http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/olib.html
Nice lists of key skills and suggestions for writing, reading, discussions, presentations, and exams.
2010年3月16日火曜日
Is ICU creating life-long English readers and writers?
ICU is a leader in English education in Japan.
People from other universities tell me this, and I feel it as an instructor in the ELP here. The students show generally high satisfaction on surveys, and companies seem to appreciate the quality of our graduates. ICU's leadership in the field also seems supported by the fact that many top universities like Tokyo U. have recently initiating programs similar to ICU's ELP and college of liberal arts. We get good students and drive 'em hard with a demanding curriculum similar in many ways to a college writing class in the US, and most students thank us for what we do.
ICU is doing many things well, but one question I asked myself today was: Are we nurturing lifelong writers and readers? After students leave the ELP, are they independent readers who know the joy and reward of reading in English and seek out new books on their own? Are they independent writers who know the value of writing for various life purposes (not just university assignments)? Or are we creating students who see English as something they do only as needed for grades or job requirements??
This question was born from a research group on reading/writing I am part of, and weighed heavily on my mind today as I attended a faculty discussion on the future direction of English education at ICU.
I want to do a survey of ICU students to see whether they have really developed as readers and writers in English. Where and when would I do that? One idea is to send an email survey to some of the seniors who I taught several years ago in the first year program.
Are you a regular reader of English books? Why or why not?
Are you a regular writer of English in any way? Why or why not?
I wonder what they would say. If many of them answer "No" and have no identity as a reader or writer in English, can we really say that are English language program at ICU has been successful?
Also, I wonder what they will say about their identity or awareness as readers and writers in Japanese?
Hm...
People from other universities tell me this, and I feel it as an instructor in the ELP here. The students show generally high satisfaction on surveys, and companies seem to appreciate the quality of our graduates. ICU's leadership in the field also seems supported by the fact that many top universities like Tokyo U. have recently initiating programs similar to ICU's ELP and college of liberal arts. We get good students and drive 'em hard with a demanding curriculum similar in many ways to a college writing class in the US, and most students thank us for what we do.
ICU is doing many things well, but one question I asked myself today was: Are we nurturing lifelong writers and readers? After students leave the ELP, are they independent readers who know the joy and reward of reading in English and seek out new books on their own? Are they independent writers who know the value of writing for various life purposes (not just university assignments)? Or are we creating students who see English as something they do only as needed for grades or job requirements??
This question was born from a research group on reading/writing I am part of, and weighed heavily on my mind today as I attended a faculty discussion on the future direction of English education at ICU.
I want to do a survey of ICU students to see whether they have really developed as readers and writers in English. Where and when would I do that? One idea is to send an email survey to some of the seniors who I taught several years ago in the first year program.
Are you a regular reader of English books? Why or why not?
Are you a regular writer of English in any way? Why or why not?
I wonder what they would say. If many of them answer "No" and have no identity as a reader or writer in English, can we really say that are English language program at ICU has been successful?
Also, I wonder what they will say about their identity or awareness as readers and writers in Japanese?
Hm...
2010年3月11日木曜日
小説の中の「父と息子の関係」が気になるこの頃
息子は４月から一年生。いろんな意味でもう独立した人間である。これからどんな人生の歩んでいくのかとても楽しみなのだが、今後父親としてどのように接していったら良いのか気になるところである。
そのためか、最近小説を読むと親子関係を見るのが面白い。
春休みになって気晴らしに大学と関係ないアメリカの大衆派Bestseller小説を何冊か読んでいる。
The Associateは法廷物の名匠John Grishamの最新作だが、過去の作品（The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Innocent Manなど)に比べ今一つ引き込まれなかった。
しかし、その中の親子関係は面白い。主人公のKyleはYale大学法学部の新卒である事情（父親に簡単には言えないことが起き。。。）によりアメリカ最大の企業法弁護士事務所に入ることを選び年棒２千万円で大企業の尻拭い法務を行うエリートになる。彼の父親は小さな町の小さな法律事務所を経営していて、共同経営しながらKyleが庶民と正義のための弁護士活動をすることを願っている。卒業式間近の二人の会話：
"I've changed my mind about employment. I'm going to Wall Street. Scully & Pershing."
"Any particular reason?"
"It's the big leagues."
"It's a sellout."
"It's a nice firm, Dad. One of the best."
"You'll hate every minute of a big firm."
"Maybe not."
"I thought you wanted to help people."
"I've changed my mind."
"It's all about the money, isn't it. You were raised better."
すごい親子の会話です。
特に最後の"You were raised better"「そんな人間に育てた覚えはない」は厳しいです。
最近はこういう場面でどうしても自分の息子の将来を考えてしまいます。
私と息子の間でこういう会話にならないことを願っていますが。時には彼の決断に反論するのも愛情なのでしょう。
とにかく、何よりも願うのは息子が就職の時に気兼ねなく相談に来てくれることですね。
もう一冊は：
Christine by Steven King
ホラーの巨匠Kingの旧作が友達の棚にあったので借りました。この中の様々な親子関係も非常に勉強になります。ずっと押さえつけて育てるとある日怖いことに。。。Steven Kingの中でいつも本当に怖いのは幽霊でなく人間です。自分がそういう人間になってしまうんではないかという恐怖を感じさせるほど描写している人間の言動や頭の中の思いがリアルで共感できる場合が多い。人間の観察力がすごいと思います。
高校の時よく読んだSteven King...またこの年齢になって読むと味がありますね。
そのためか、最近小説を読むと親子関係を見るのが面白い。
春休みになって気晴らしに大学と関係ないアメリカの大衆派Bestseller小説を何冊か読んでいる。
The Associateは法廷物の名匠John Grishamの最新作だが、過去の作品（The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Innocent Manなど)に比べ今一つ引き込まれなかった。
しかし、その中の親子関係は面白い。主人公のKyleはYale大学法学部の新卒である事情（父親に簡単には言えないことが起き。。。）によりアメリカ最大の企業法弁護士事務所に入ることを選び年棒２千万円で大企業の尻拭い法務を行うエリートになる。彼の父親は小さな町の小さな法律事務所を経営していて、共同経営しながらKyleが庶民と正義のための弁護士活動をすることを願っている。卒業式間近の二人の会話：
"I've changed my mind about employment. I'm going to Wall Street. Scully & Pershing."
"Any particular reason?"
"It's the big leagues."
"It's a sellout."
"It's a nice firm, Dad. One of the best."
"You'll hate every minute of a big firm."
"Maybe not."
"I thought you wanted to help people."
"I've changed my mind."
"It's all about the money, isn't it. You were raised better."
すごい親子の会話です。
特に最後の"You were raised better"「そんな人間に育てた覚えはない」は厳しいです。
最近はこういう場面でどうしても自分の息子の将来を考えてしまいます。
私と息子の間でこういう会話にならないことを願っていますが。時には彼の決断に反論するのも愛情なのでしょう。
とにかく、何よりも願うのは息子が就職の時に気兼ねなく相談に来てくれることですね。
もう一冊は：
Christine by Steven King
ホラーの巨匠Kingの旧作が友達の棚にあったので借りました。この中の様々な親子関係も非常に勉強になります。ずっと押さえつけて育てるとある日怖いことに。。。Steven Kingの中でいつも本当に怖いのは幽霊でなく人間です。自分がそういう人間になってしまうんではないかという恐怖を感じさせるほど描写している人間の言動や頭の中の思いがリアルで共感できる場合が多い。人間の観察力がすごいと思います。
高校の時よく読んだSteven King...またこの年齢になって読むと味がありますね。
2010年3月7日日曜日
Guiding Readers and Writers by Fountas and Pinnell
The new book for our research group is:
Main Points / Reactions
--------------------------------
Introduction & Chp. 1
イントロとChp.1の中で最も強く伝わってくるメッセージは「A Lifelong Reader/Writerとしての自覚とは何か、そしてそれをどう育成するのか？」という学びのFrameworkが言語教育の中で大切だというです。
Are you a reader? Are you a writer?という質問をはじめとするp.12のLooking at Yourself as a Reader and a Writerという「問診表」があります。私はこの表を見て今だに恐怖というか、絶望を覚えます。まだReaderやWriterとしての自覚が深く形成されていないからです。もちろん本はたくさん？読みますし、文章もあれこれ書くのですが、自分を「読み手」や「書き手」として自覚し始めてからの歴史がまだあまりにも浅いのです。この研究会で勉強して約２年？ほど経ちますが、それ以前は英語教育関係で大学院まで行きながらReader/Writerとしての自分を考える機会は私の教育環境の中にありませんでした。基本的にとにかく与えられた課題をこなす毎日の教育を受け、それ以外に遊びの読み書きも多少しまましたが、「自覚」はありませんでした。
しかしその「自覚」は教師・学生・全ての社会人にとって大切なことだとFountas and Pinnellは強く訴えます。そして書き手・読み手としての自分を知らない教員はやはりLifelong Readers and Writersを効果的に育てることはできないでしょう。
このセクションで一番強く印象に残るQuoteは
p.11 "Teachers who themselves engage in reading and writing, and who examine their habits and attitudes as readers and writers, can best help students experience the power of their own literacy."
学生を指導する前に、または学生と一緒になってWhat do you read/ write? How do you feel about yourself as a reader / writer? What is the best part and the most difficult part of reading / writing for you? という質問に答えて行くことが必要です。
一緒にこの本を読んでいるみなさんはp.12の表の質問にすでに答えてみましたか？
みんなそれぞれ答えを書いてShareしてみませんか？
今度すこし時間ができた時にの以下に書いたその３７問に挑戦してみたいと思います。さっと質問を見てあまり明確に答えが出てこないものが幾つかあるので、書き出してみるときっといろいろ発見があると思います。Reading/Writingを教えている者として自分の自覚を磨きたいと思います。
そして是非自分の大学の学生にも「日本語」「英語」の両方でReader, Writerとしての自覚を少しづつ持ってもらえるように導きたいなと思います。
それから今６歳の自分の息子も日本語と英語両方のLiteracyを身につけ始めていますが、彼にもこの質問に答えられる自覚のある読み書き手になって欲しいです。
About Reading:
1. Are you a reader?
2. Do you read for pleasure?
3. When, what, how,
4. How do you feel about yourself as a reader?
5. What do you like most about reading?
6. What do you like least about reading?
7. What do you find easy to read?
8. What do you find difficult to read?
9. Who are your favorite authors? poets?
10. What types (genres) of books do you like to read?
11. What aspects of these books are particularly interesting or enjoyable?
12. What is the last book you read that you really enjoyed?
13. What are you reading now?
14. How do you find the books that you read?
15. How do you go about making your choices?
16. How often do you read?
17. How many books would you estimate you have read in the last year?
18. When do you find time to read?
19. What different kinds of material do you read?
20. What do you do following the reading of a book?
21. Choose a favorite book. Why do you like it?
About Writing:
1. Are you a writer?
2. How do you feel about your writing?
3. What types of writing do you do?
4. How often do you write?
5. Do you write for pleasure? When, what, why?
6. Do you write for communication? When, what, why?
7. Do you write to assist your learning? When, what, why?
8. How do you select topics for your writing?
9. Who are the audiences for your writing?
10. What is the best part of writing for you?
11. What is the most difficult part of writing?
12. How do you get feedback for your writing?
13. What is your most recent piece of writing?
14. How much writing have you done in the past year?
15. What "writers" do you know that help you think about your writing?
16. Choose a piece of writing you have done. Why did you write it and how do you feel about it?
--------------------------------
Chp. 2
Becoming Joyful Readers: The Reading Workshop
Key Points
Guiding Readers and Writers: Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy
~ Irene C. Fountas (Author), Gay Su Pinnell (Author) "We describe a comprehensive language and literacy framework that serves as a conceptual tool for organizing instruction..." (more)Main Points / Reactions
--------------------------------
Introduction & Chp. 1
イントロとChp.1の中で最も強く伝わってくるメッセージは「A Lifelong Reader/Writerとしての自覚とは何か、そしてそれをどう育成するのか？」という学びのFrameworkが言語教育の中で大切だというです。
Are you a reader? Are you a writer?という質問をはじめとするp.12のLooking at Yourself as a Reader and a Writerという「問診表」があります。私はこの表を見て今だに恐怖というか、絶望を覚えます。まだReaderやWriterとしての自覚が深く形成されていないからです。もちろん本はたくさん？読みますし、文章もあれこれ書くのですが、自分を「読み手」や「書き手」として自覚し始めてからの歴史がまだあまりにも浅いのです。この研究会で勉強して約２年？ほど経ちますが、それ以前は英語教育関係で大学院まで行きながらReader/Writerとしての自分を考える機会は私の教育環境の中にありませんでした。基本的にとにかく与えられた課題をこなす毎日の教育を受け、それ以外に遊びの読み書きも多少しまましたが、「自覚」はありませんでした。
しかしその「自覚」は教師・学生・全ての社会人にとって大切なことだとFountas and Pinnellは強く訴えます。そして書き手・読み手としての自分を知らない教員はやはりLifelong Readers and Writersを効果的に育てることはできないでしょう。
このセクションで一番強く印象に残るQuoteは
p.11 "Teachers who themselves engage in reading and writing, and who examine their habits and attitudes as readers and writers, can best help students experience the power of their own literacy."
学生を指導する前に、または学生と一緒になってWhat do you read/ write? How do you feel about yourself as a reader / writer? What is the best part and the most difficult part of reading / writing for you? という質問に答えて行くことが必要です。
一緒にこの本を読んでいるみなさんはp.12の表の質問にすでに答えてみましたか？
みんなそれぞれ答えを書いてShareしてみませんか？
今度すこし時間ができた時にの以下に書いたその３７問に挑戦してみたいと思います。さっと質問を見てあまり明確に答えが出てこないものが幾つかあるので、書き出してみるときっといろいろ発見があると思います。Reading/Writingを教えている者として自分の自覚を磨きたいと思います。
そして是非自分の大学の学生にも「日本語」「英語」の両方でReader, Writerとしての自覚を少しづつ持ってもらえるように導きたいなと思います。
それから今６歳の自分の息子も日本語と英語両方のLiteracyを身につけ始めていますが、彼にもこの質問に答えられる自覚のある読み書き手になって欲しいです。
About Reading:
1. Are you a reader?
2. Do you read for pleasure?
3. When, what, how,
4. How do you feel about yourself as a reader?
5. What do you like most about reading?
6. What do you like least about reading?
7. What do you find easy to read?
8. What do you find difficult to read?
9. Who are your favorite authors? poets?
10. What types (genres) of books do you like to read?
11. What aspects of these books are particularly interesting or enjoyable?
12. What is the last book you read that you really enjoyed?
13. What are you reading now?
14. How do you find the books that you read?
15. How do you go about making your choices?
16. How often do you read?
17. How many books would you estimate you have read in the last year?
18. When do you find time to read?
19. What different kinds of material do you read?
20. What do you do following the reading of a book?
21. Choose a favorite book. Why do you like it?
About Writing:
1. Are you a writer?
2. How do you feel about your writing?
3. What types of writing do you do?
4. How often do you write?
5. Do you write for pleasure? When, what, why?
6. Do you write for communication? When, what, why?
7. Do you write to assist your learning? When, what, why?
8. How do you select topics for your writing?
9. Who are the audiences for your writing?
10. What is the best part of writing for you?
11. What is the most difficult part of writing?
12. How do you get feedback for your writing?
13. What is your most recent piece of writing?
14. How much writing have you done in the past year?
15. What "writers" do you know that help you think about your writing?
16. Choose a piece of writing you have done. Why did you write it and how do you feel about it?
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Chp. 2
Becoming Joyful Readers: The Reading Workshop
Key Points
- Reading Workshop is a reading instruction approach where students learn how to become lifelong readers who can choose their own books, discuss them, collaborate to learn about texts, and write about them.
- This approach believes that readers become good readers primarily by self-selected independent reading with support from the teacher or peers for how to select or how to read a variety of genres. Anderson et al (1988) has research results that show the amount of independent reading is the greatest predictor of a strong reader.
- Three main activities in Fountas and Pinnell's system are:
1) Independent Reading: including time for the teacher to confer with readers periodically and readers writing in their reading notebooks.
2) Guiding Reading: a group of students with similar needs read together and receive teacher instruction about strategies or genre knowledge, and
3) Literature Study: a group discusses one or more texts with a certain theme or literary tool in mind. Example: Each person in a group reads a different book dealing with death of a loved one and discusss how they feel. - Characteristics/Advantages of Reading Workshop (p.42):
-Creates a community of responsible, engaged readers who spend time in genuine talk and writing about books they have selected themselves and find meaningful.
-They learn how to read as they read and learn about themselves as readers.
-Increases ownership of and commitment to reading
-Broadens literary experiences (But only if a student decides to diversify genres)
-Develops responsibility for reading (keep own records in notebooks, future reading titles list etc.)
-It encourages personal connections to the texts (due to personal choice/ownership)
-It teaches collaboration through guided reading and literature study, and though encouragement to share good books and reactions with peers.
- 生徒が２０～３０人いる教室で、Independent Reading, Guided Group Reading, Literature Studyの３つの違う活動が平行して行われている状態を想像するのが難しい。生徒たちが責任をもって自主的に取り組む態度がないと成立しない。
- 自主的に読んだりグループワークを行ったりする力はすぐにはつかないので、それをどう段階的にクラスの中で育てるかが課題だと思う。
- それと同時に、先生の力もかなり問われる。各生徒の力や興味を把握し、それに応じたGroupingやText-SelectionやMini-Lessonを行うには先生の教える力が相当ないとできないMethodに思える。
- では、先生がReading Workshopを効果的に運営できるようになるまでどのようなStepが必用か？著者たちは：As the first step, start with just 50~60 minutes of silent independent reading of books of their own choosingと書いているが、日本でそれを行うと教えることを放棄しているように見られるリスクがあるような気がする。そのリスクを回避するためにはどうしたらいいのだろうか？リスクを押さえ、段階的に、効果を少しづつ検証しながら導入できるシステムを考え提案することが理想的ではないだろうか。
- ICUの大学の英語の授業では、どうしても限られた貴重な授業の時間は読んだ内容に関するDiscussionやSkillのMini-Lessonに使いたいので、授業中にIndependent Readingをすることは考えられない。学生は基本的に宿題で読んで来る（来させる）のでなんとか成り立っている。
- しかし、"required reading"と平行して"self-selection of texts"はなんとか小さな規模でも導入したい。難点はRequired readingがかなり重く、一年生の共通試験に出てくるので、optional self-selected textsをやる余裕があまりないことである。
2010年3月5日金曜日
Building Better Teachers (New York Times 3/7/'10)
Very interesting article on "What makes a good teacher?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?pagewanted=all
Are good teachers just magically "good?" or does well-designed teacher training make a significant difference?
An educational consultant named Lemov did a video-recording project of several hundred "good" classroom teachers to find out why they are good, and he seems to think one of the most important elements is classroom management techniques. In other words, a good teacher (or primary and secondary schools) needs to know how to get the attention of the students and hold their attention to the task at hand. Apparently that makes a big difference in whether a teacher can help the students excel in standardized tests compared to their peers.
Lemov's taxonomy of teaching techniques is going to come out as a book: “Teach Like a Champion: The 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College" Seems interesting, especially if it comes with videos.
Check out the video section:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/07/magazine/20100307-teacher-videos.html#/readingaloud
This will include techniques such as:
No. 43: Positive Framing, by which teachers correct misbehavior not by chiding students for what they’re doing wrong but by offering what Lemov calls “a vision of a positive outcome.” Zimmerli’s thank-yous and just-like-you’re-doings were a perfect execution of one of Positive Framing’s sub-categories, Build Momentum/Narrate the Positive.
No. 45: Warm/Strict, in which a correction comes with a smile and an explanation for its cause — “Sweetheart, we don’t do that in this classroom because it keeps us from making the most of our learning time.”
No.??: What to Do. The clip opens at the start of class, which Zimmerli was teaching for the first time, with children — fifth graders, all of them black, mostly boys — looking everywhere but at the board. One is playing with a pair of headphones; another is slowly paging through a giant three-ring binder. Zimmerli stands at the front of the class in a neat tie. “O.K., guys, before I get started today, here’s what I need from you,” he says. “I need that piece of paper turned over and a pencil out.” Almost no one is following his directions, but he is undeterred. “So if there’s anything else on your desk right now, please put that inside your desk.”
Another interesting idea was MKT, by a Professor Ball of...Michigan? Math Knowledge for Teachers. In other words, only having deep content knowledge of math or only having classroom management magic does not make a good teacher. What makes the difference is the ability to know what "only teachers need to know, like which visual tools to use to represent fractions (sticks? blocks? a picture of a pizza?) or a sense of the everyday errors students tend to make when they start learning about negative numbers. At the heart of M.K.T., she thought, was an ability to step outside of your own head. “Teaching depends on what other people think,” Ball told me, “not what you think.”
For teacher training of teachers for EFL like I do, I think there definitely is a need for E.A.K.T - English acquisition knowledge for teachers. I also think having a good basic training program in classroom management makes a big difference, especially if it is done on-the-job with the mentorship of a more experienced master teacher. I had very good mentors in my MA program for teachers of ESL, and working with them during my TA-ship teaching hours made a big difference in my confidence for classroom management and planning when I started teaching. I still had a lot to learn about managing a classroom during my first few years on the job, but I had a pretty good image of what I wanted based on observing expertly managed classes taught by my mentors.
Hopefully the video project that Lemov did and other video-based projects will become available to teachers to learn from!
And I should consider doing my video project -- recording my own classes to identify what went well and what didn't as well as the classes of my colleagues. I want to be able to confidently do teacher training the future and having a record of how my own teaching evolved would be invaluable. Hmm...if I could work together with some people on this, that would be even better.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?pagewanted=all
Are good teachers just magically "good?" or does well-designed teacher training make a significant difference?
An educational consultant named Lemov did a video-recording project of several hundred "good" classroom teachers to find out why they are good, and he seems to think one of the most important elements is classroom management techniques. In other words, a good teacher (or primary and secondary schools) needs to know how to get the attention of the students and hold their attention to the task at hand. Apparently that makes a big difference in whether a teacher can help the students excel in standardized tests compared to their peers.
Lemov's taxonomy of teaching techniques is going to come out as a book: “Teach Like a Champion: The 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College" Seems interesting, especially if it comes with videos.
Check out the video section:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/07/magazine/20100307-teacher-videos.html#/readingaloud
This will include techniques such as:
No. 43: Positive Framing, by which teachers correct misbehavior not by chiding students for what they’re doing wrong but by offering what Lemov calls “a vision of a positive outcome.” Zimmerli’s thank-yous and just-like-you’re-doings were a perfect execution of one of Positive Framing’s sub-categories, Build Momentum/Narrate the Positive.
No. 45: Warm/Strict, in which a correction comes with a smile and an explanation for its cause — “Sweetheart, we don’t do that in this classroom because it keeps us from making the most of our learning time.”
No.??: What to Do. The clip opens at the start of class, which Zimmerli was teaching for the first time, with children — fifth graders, all of them black, mostly boys — looking everywhere but at the board. One is playing with a pair of headphones; another is slowly paging through a giant three-ring binder. Zimmerli stands at the front of the class in a neat tie. “O.K., guys, before I get started today, here’s what I need from you,” he says. “I need that piece of paper turned over and a pencil out.” Almost no one is following his directions, but he is undeterred. “So if there’s anything else on your desk right now, please put that inside your desk.”
Another interesting idea was MKT, by a Professor Ball of...Michigan? Math Knowledge for Teachers. In other words, only having deep content knowledge of math or only having classroom management magic does not make a good teacher. What makes the difference is the ability to know what "only teachers need to know, like which visual tools to use to represent fractions (sticks? blocks? a picture of a pizza?) or a sense of the everyday errors students tend to make when they start learning about negative numbers. At the heart of M.K.T., she thought, was an ability to step outside of your own head. “Teaching depends on what other people think,” Ball told me, “not what you think.”
For teacher training of teachers for EFL like I do, I think there definitely is a need for E.A.K.T - English acquisition knowledge for teachers. I also think having a good basic training program in classroom management makes a big difference, especially if it is done on-the-job with the mentorship of a more experienced master teacher. I had very good mentors in my MA program for teachers of ESL, and working with them during my TA-ship teaching hours made a big difference in my confidence for classroom management and planning when I started teaching. I still had a lot to learn about managing a classroom during my first few years on the job, but I had a pretty good image of what I wanted based on observing expertly managed classes taught by my mentors.
Hopefully the video project that Lemov did and other video-based projects will become available to teachers to learn from!
And I should consider doing my video project -- recording my own classes to identify what went well and what didn't as well as the classes of my colleagues. I want to be able to confidently do teacher training the future and having a record of how my own teaching evolved would be invaluable. Hmm...if I could work together with some people on this, that would be even better.
2010年3月3日水曜日
An Open Letter to Educators - Raises good questions about the meaning of university
Dan Brown, who reveals that he dropped out of university because school was interfering with his education, sends the message that traditional institutional education needs to change to keep up with the information revolution of the Internet.
So, how exactly should university education change?
Dan is a bit vague on this, but his main point seems to be that teaching/memorizing facts should not be the purpose of university. He seems to have had some unfortunate experiences with his first few university classes, but I think all universities agree that the purpose of higher education should not be memorizing facts, but learning valuable skills and attitudes that will support the student's life and contribution to society in the future.
At the same time, it is true that many university classes still have a less-than-ideal tendency to focus too much on factual knowledge. Dan's best point is that the value of lectures where professors explain facts is falling as more and more information (including high quality lectures or interactive learning for basic facts and skills) is available for free. It is true that an increase in active learning tasks such as student-led discussions or debates, group projects and presentations still seems needed in many institutions, including my own.
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In relation to this, here is an example of a class video mini-project done at the University of Denver, apparently for an Technology in Education class for the purpose of getting students to know each other, work together, and identify some key points of using technology in education.
It may not be funny if you don't know the show The Office which it is spoofing, but it is a nice student movie. What kind of short movie could one of my classes at ICU make? Why not put together something for Academic Speaking on good or bad discussions, or on how to write an essay in Academic Writing?
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