Day three

Wednesday has been a productive and inspiring day. I'm happy because I'm learning a lot of new ideas and especially a lot of new approaches to activities I already knew.


As usual, today we had Language Development in the morning and Methodology in the afternoon. Firstly, we had an activity to revise yesterday's vocabulary. We used it to revise vocabulary but you can use it for reviewing anything (grammar, writing structures, etc.). In groups of 4, we had to write words or expressions on short pieces of paper and then we screwed up the papers. When the teacher told us, each group threw the pieces of paper to the other groups and then we had to pick the paper balls from the floor and try to use the expressions in a sentence. I liked the activity for two reasons: first, because it's great fun for a teenager to do these "forbidden" things in class, such as throwing papers to others, and second because you revise what others wrote, so if you skipped a word yesterday, you can catch up with it today.
The second activity was very interesting for me as a teacher, since I could share information about the Spanish educational system and learn from my partners' educational systems (Sweden, Italy and Hungary). First, we brainstormed a few buzzwords about the British educational system with the teacher's help. Then, again in groups of 4, we did a mind map of our own educational system and presented it to the rest of the class. It was striking to see the enormous differences between the school systems of Sweden and Spain or the similarities between the Italian school system and ours.
To finish with the first session of the day, we were given a list of topics for free speaking and we had to choose the three most interesting, then we had to go round the classroom and talk to each other about our favourite topics. I find this an activity more suitable for adults, as teenagers usually say a sentence in English and then switch to Spanish.

We devoted the second period of the morning to a single activity called Desert Island, which included listening and speaking. As a warm-up, the teacher displayed the picture of a desert island on the IWB, surrounded by several expressions to say yes and to say no. Then he asked if we would be willing to spend some time on the island on certain conditions he specified. In groups of 4, we discussed our views on this and then we shared our opinions with the rest of the class.
This idea of the desert island was the excuse for the teacher to introduce us with the BBC Radio 4 talk show Desert Island Discs, a very interesting programme that has been running since 1942! In the programme, the presenter interviews famous people from all over the world.
This is the link to the programme's web site, where you can download their podcasts:

Desert Island Discs

The listening activity was a podcast from Desert Island Discs with an interview to Bill Gates. It was an interesting activity because we approached the listening in two different ways. First, we did a regular individual listening activity for the presenter's introduction (fill in the gaps and answering the questions). But then, for Bill Gates' answers, we did the second listening in 5 groups of 3: the listening was divided in 5 parts and each group got a tablet with the corresponding part of the listening. I was in group 1 and so our tablet had the first part of the listening (Bill Gates' early teenage struggles). Most groups got out of the classroom and went to the library, to the little tables in the hall, to the corridor, etc. That way, we didn't bother the others with our listening. After that, all groups had to summarise Bill Gates' words and put all the answers in common. This way, we all got a general idea of the story.
I liked the activity because it helped me reflect on the effectiveness of the listening activities I often use with my students (fill in the gaps, true or false, answering questions, etc.). The first listening activity was a bit more boring, but the second was innovative (we used tablets and could even get out of the classroom) and I'm certain that also more engaging.
When I use it with my students I will complete it somehow. In class, at the end of the activity, each group could only hear a fifth part of the interview, but I will probably play the whole answers by Bill Gates after the 5 groups have shared their information. This way, each group will perfectly understand their piece of the interview, but will have the chance to listen to the complete podcast.
There is also the problem of tablets. We don't have tablets to lend our students, but I guess they could use their own mobile phones. I may ask them to bring mobiles to class and send them the piece of listening before we start the lesson. It's easy.


After lunch we had the Methodology lesson. Today it was devoted to using literature in the language class. As a warm-up, we dealt with several activities related to creative writing.
In the first activity, the teacher asked 8 unrelated questions and we had to  write the answers as quickly as possible. Next, we chose our favourite answer and wrote whatever came to our minds for 3 minutes related to it.
The second activity was a silent dictation. She mimed the story and we wrote what we understood. The resulting stories were very similar. I liked this dictation because, when I use it in my class, all students will have the opportunity to write according to their level of competence: the better-skilled students will be able to write more complex sentences while the poorly-skilled pupils will write more simple statements. Ideal for mixed-ability classes.
Then we started with the literature part. Each student dealt with a different book. Mine was Animal Farm. The teacher gave each student a set of activities related to their book and we had about 10 minutes to browse them and recommend the rest of the class the ones we found more interesting. I liked an activity which related the characters in the book with the actual names of the Russian Revolution. But I specially liked an activity where we analysed the language of the a chapter in search for the language devices used by the author in order to convey different meanings (metaphors, alliterations, similes, onomatopoeias, personifications, repetitions, etc.).
I will definitely try to use it with my students. However, I feel I will have to be careful with the book I choose and the level of the students.

Right after dealing with the books, we talked a bit about Bloom's Taxonomy and how to apply it to a literature-based lesson. It was very informative and inspiring.

To finish a long day packed with new activities to try with my students, we did the Auntie Mabel activity. The teacher gave each student a picture representing a horrible present by Auntie Mabel and we had to write a short thank you later. We weren't allowed to name the object, but we had to write in a way that, when we read the letter to our partners, they could guess what the gift was. It was quite funny and, again, adaptable to different levels.
Today, for the first time, we got homework. We have to read a text and tomorrow we will work with it. Let's see.