Advice and hints for running seminars and workshops

Transcription

1 Advice and hints fr running seminars and wrkshps It is a gd idea t aim t hld seminars frtnightly with yur student teachers befre, during and after their teaching practice. These will give the student teachers an pprtunity t share their successes and challenges, and strategies fr vercming these challenges. Thrugh structured activities and discussin at the seminars, the student teachers will imprve their ability t plan, teach and analyse their lessns. Yu will help them and they will help each ther t draw up actin plans n hw t imprve their lessns. They will als prvide each ther supprt t try new learning and teaching strategies. By listening carefully t them, yu will gain a better picture f hw yur student teachers are develping their teaching skills. Planning a seminar When yu plan a seminar yu will need t think abut: What is the purpse f the seminar? (The first f these seminars culd intrduce the TESSA materials, the secnd culd be preparatin fr teaching practice and anther seminar culd be fcused n reflectin frm lessns during teaching practice.) What strategies will yu use t achieve the chsen purpse(s)? Wh will attend the seminar? (Just student teachers r als schl staff?) Hw will yu grup the participants? (Student teacher and/r teachers.) Hw lng will it last? (Tw hurs is the maximum recmmended fr a seminar; it shuld nt be less than 30 minutes.) What prblems might arise? (Fr example nt everyne might cntribute) Hw will yu reslve these prblems? (Hw will yu get everyne t cntribute?) Hw advanced are the student teachers in the areas that yu prpse t deal with? (Fr example thinking critically r learning frm actin?) Using a range f learning in teaching strategies during the seminar

2 Face-t-face seminars are just the perfect place fr yu t give a live demnstratin f active-learning and teaching methds. Try t take every pprtunity t d s. Activity 18: TESSA teaching strategies in a seminar This activity prvides a mdel n hw t use TESSA teaching strategies in yur face-t-face seminars. It wuld be helpful t mdel sme f the TESSA strategies at yur face-t-face seminars, just befre asking yur students t use them in micr-teaching, fr instance. Dwnlad and print ne r bth f the fllwing tw key resurces: Using mind maps and brainstrming t explre ideas Using rle play/dialgue/drama in the classrm. Chse ne. Use the technique in ne f yur seminars. Discuss hw the technique wrked fr yur students with them and hw it enabled them t participate. Either ask them t use in a micr-teaching sessin r t plan t use in ne f their next lessns and t reprt back t yu in a telephne text message. 1. Using the TESSA strategies I use the case studies in the TESSA mdule sectins extensively. They are like a film f a real activity in the classrm, shwing hw the key pint can be enacted in practice. It really speaks t the teacher. I use the case studies a lt in my seminars. We use them as starting pints fr discussins r fr brainstrming strategies t teach in different ways. If the case study lends itself t it, we use it as a starting pint fr dramatisatin. We have even acted the lessn described in the case study as a starting pint fr micr-teaching.

3 I find it very imprtant t make sure there is sme time available fr student teachers t ask any questins they have abut anything, and particularly the reflective reprts and the plenary discussin. I am als very aware that the envirnment during the seminar is relaxed s that all can express themselves and ask these questins. I have fund quite a few ideas in the Life Skills sectin f TESSA. The materials help t refresh my memry and give me sme practical ideas which are easily adapted t wrking with my student teachers. I use micr-teaching and activity seminars t help my student teachers t becme familiar with the appraches in TESSA as well as making suggestins n their lessn plans. Thrughut the Tlkit, there are ideas n hw t use the TESSA resurces in face-t-face seminars. These ideas can refer t: Different techniques being used Activity 3: Using audi drama clips fr wrking with yur student teachers Activity 14: Using the TESSA handbk Wrking with Teachers as supprt Activities t d with yur students Activity 8: Identifying active teaching methds Activity 9: Active teaching methds auditing yur wn and yur student teachers familiarity with these appraches Activity 10: Features f gd lessns Activity 11: Active teaching methds supprting student teachers Ideas t adapt fr the use f resurces with yur students Case study 1: Triggering interest and supprting integratin f ideas int the classrm teaching Case study 2: Student teachers using the materials t develp ne cmpetence Case study 4: Teaching Practice Supervisr fr distance learning prgramme with in-service teachers

4 1. Useful hints Here are sme useful hints n running yur seminar. With a small grup f student teachers (ten r fewer), yu can wrk in ne grup. With a larger grup, decide hw t divide the student teachers s that they are mst likely t benefit frm the reprting prcess. Decide hw t encurage active listening. Fr example, yu might ask student teachers t make ntes fr use in a subsequent written reflectin r ther demnstratin f what they have learnt, r fr use in a plenary discussin. After individual grup members have reprted their reflectins, and the grup has had sme discussin f the reprts, have a shrt break (with a time limit) befre yu lead the plenary discussin. Decide hw t encurage maximum participatin in the plenary discussin. (Refer t Case study 10: Critical reflectin Tl 2: Ideas fr encuraging participatin in a plenary discussin fr sme ideas.) Make sure that there is sme time available fr student teachers t ask any questins that they have abut the reflective reprts and the plenary discussin. Make sure that the student teachers understand hw t prepare reflective reprts see Case study 9: Preparing reflective reprts.

5 Case study 9: Preparing reflective reprts In a seminar, student teachers were asked t prepare a reflective reprt n a classrm activity that they had used recently. Many tried t write abut a lessn in which they used the beginning f a traditinal stry t prmte speaking, listening, writing and reading. One student teacher Saratu was very unsure what she was expected t prepare. She wrte a draft reprt in which she described hw she intrduced the stry, what she asked pupils t d with it and what they did. In the seminar, her supervisr realised she did nt really understand what it means t write reflectively when reprting n a classrm activity. S he prepared a set f ntes n hw t prepare a reflective reprt: Instructins and questins fr supervisrs and student teachers t use when preparing a reflective reprt n a classrm activity 1. Write a brief descriptin f what yu [the student teacher] did and what the pupils did during the activity. 2. What were yu pleased abut? 3. What, if anything, disappinted yu? 4. What surprised yu? 5. What did the pupils learn? Were there differences in what they learnt? 6. What did yu learn frm the experience f using this activity with yur pupils? 7. Nw that yu have respnded t these questins, hw d yu feel abut the activity and the way in which yu used it?

6 Case study 10: Critical reflectin After receiving guidance abut hw t prepare a reflective reprt n an activity that they had used in a primary schl classrm, a grup f 30 student teachers assembled fr a Saturday mrning seminar during which they wuld present their reprts. Sme f the student teachers had been teaching fr years withut frmal qualificatins, whereas thers were yung men and wmen straight frm schl wh were having their first experiences f wrking in classrms. Chidi, their supervisr, divided the student teachers int three grups f ten. She asked them t present a five-minute reprt t the ther members f their grup and t listen carefully t what they heard, s that everyne culd participate in a plenary discussin after the tea break. While she circulated amng the grups, Chidi became aware f a few prblems in the reprting prcess. After tea, the plenary discussin was lively but Chidi nticed that sme student teachers did nt cntribute and sme f them lked quite switched ff. At the end f the mrning she sat dwn with a snack and made sme reflective ntes fr herself n the seminar. Her ntes lked like this: Reprting grups (i) perhaps mixing experienced and inexperienced student teachers was a mistake the experienced dminated and sme went ff track with stries frm the past (ii) need fr a chair I shuld have appinted and briefed ne. Plenary (i) sme student teachers switched ff culd I have invited their cmments r asked them sme questins? (ii) sme culd nly talk abut their wn activity had they listened t their clleagues? As a result f her reflective ntes, Chidi develped the fllwing tls, which she thught wuld be helpful in her next seminar: Tl 1: Being an effective chairpersn f a reprting/discussin sessin Make sure that all participants are clear n the rules and bjectives fr the seminar. Fr example if each student teacher is allcated five minutes fr their reprt, after five minutes the chairpersn will ask them t stp. Or, fr example, that everyne is expected t keep t the tpic f the curse. If they begin t tell stries r make cmments that are ff tpic, the chair will call them t rder. Keep time accurately. Keep student teachers n tpic. Fr example if the tpic is the use f TESSA materials, the fcus f discussin shuld be nly n the use f these materials. Or if the tpic is the challenges during teaching practice, this shuld be the fcus.

7 Encurage quiet teacher trainees ( small talkers ) t participate and signal t big talkers that the views f everyne are imprtant. Fr example Ahmed hasn t had a chance t give us his views yet. Ahmed, wuld yu like t tell us what yu think? If the grup has a particular task, such as reprting back t a plenary sessin, make sure that time is allcated t preparing this reprt and that the grup has a spkespersn Tl 2: Ideas fr encuraging participatin in a plenary discussin Ask smene t reprt ne thing he r she has learnt r fund interesting frm listening t the reflective reprts. Then ask thse wh have smething similar n their list t raise a hand. Chse ne r tw f these hands t explain, fr example, why they were interested. Ask smene fr a questin he r she has abut the reprts t which he r she has listened. Then ask thse with similar questins t raise a hand. Next, ask vlunteers t suggest answers t these questins. Case study 11: Emtinal supprt fr student teachers In the evaluatin f a seminar, ne f the student teachers said: We are wasting time with all this teaching practice activity stuff and discussins. Just give us the facts we need and we will learn them. Mrs Eugenia, the Teaching Practice Supervisr, did nt immediately start defending the teaching practice based activities. She sensed that the student teacher was saying this because he was nt used t learning in this way and that he dubted his ability t learn thrugh actin and reflectin. She decided t try t encurage him t be less anxius and t help him t feel mre mtivated. She said t the student: It is always difficult t adjust t new things and new respnsibilities. These activities give yu respnsibility fr yur wn learning and thinking, and this is different frm what yu are used t. But I knw yu are capable f rising t the challenge. I am cnvinced that, if yu can vercme yur anxieties, yu will find that this way f learning is relevant t yur needs as a teacher, and interesting t.

8 Activity 19: Planning a face-t-face seminar In this activity, yu plan a face-t-face seminar and reflect n its effectiveness. Use the infrmatin yu have met in this sectin t help yu t plan a face-t-face seminar. The purpse f yur seminar is fr yur students t be intrduced and practise active teaching methds. Write up yur plan. Check it with anther Teaching Practice Supervisr. Give feedback t each ther n yur plans. Use yur plan fr a seminar. Reflect n the effectiveness f yur seminar. Are there any tls yu have cnsidered befre that might help yu t d this differently?