Pronunciation

Наконец-то я решила уделить внимание произношению, погрузилась в эту тему с присущим мне энтузиазмом. 

Вдохновили меня вот эти звёзды инстаграма:

очень очаровательные девчонки! 🔥 

Кликай на имена, чтобы попасть на их инста

♥💚 Женя, Каролина,

💛💜 Инна и Лола 

Благодаря им я прозрела, нет, вру, начала СЛЫШАТЬ, в том числе и себя 😣. Все четыре с легкостью ввели бы в заблуждение такую слушательницу, как я, ни за что б не подумала, что они русские!

Жутко мечтаю поучиться британскому акценту (прости, Лола, ты клевая, но по другую сторону океана)

И это только начало! Таких классных лингвистов много! И тут я поняла: по-настоящему хорошее произношение - это не только один из аспектов языка (которым можно овладеть посредственно, мол, ну и что, зато у меня грамматика - proficiency!), а первоочередной показатель уровня. То есть, если ты профи (уровень С1 и выше), то ты никак не можешь пользоваться русскими звуками. Плохая артикуляция остается на А1, посредственная артикуляция допускается на А2-В1, а дальше будь добр имитируй, занимайся shadowing.

 Проще говоря, как красивый человек не может быть больным, а здоровый человек не может быть некрасивым, так же и хорошая грамматика и лексика не могут быть без хорошей фонетики, это все составляющие одного уровня. Вот почему важно заниматься произношением.

Мои достижения:

🎧 Прослушала курс на Futurelearn

Узнала новые словечки:

RP -  Received Pronunciation, standard of British pronunciation

Британское нормативное произношение, сокр. RP, букв. «общепринятое произношение»

Rhotic accent (American) R звучит во всех позициях (ротацизм)

Non-rhotic accent (British) R звучит только перед гласными

Stress-timed language (English, Russian...) если я правильно поняла, то тут длина слога зависит от ударения, безударные редуцируются и сокращаются.

Syllable-timed language (Turkish, French, Farsi...) безударные слоги имеют ту же длину, что и ударные, более размеренный ритм, регулярная мелодика.

Catenation (linking) is one of the ways speakers join words together. In catenation, a consonant sound at the end of one word joins with a vowel sound at the beginning of the next word.

Example

The two words an + apple become 'anapple' in speech, with catenation of the consonant n and the vowel a sounds.

Suprasegmental units - интонация, сегментирование фразы, понижение, повышение голоса, темпа, использование пауз, выделение голосом определенного слова...

Supersegmental features apply to speech units larger than sounds. They can be used to convey meaning in addition to the meaning denoted by words. 

Сохранила себе шпаргалку слов, которые я не так произношу:

Thus - is pronounced hard

Rather, Northern, smooth

Soft -------- hard

Breath -- to breathe

Bath ----- to bathe (beith HARD)

Cloth ---- to clothe

Loath --- to loathe

Teeth --- to teathe

Sooth --- to soothe

Полезные выражения тоже из урока со звуками 'th':

It's a rule of thumb - practical method

Through thick and thin (в горе и в радости)

Throw in the towel= to admit defeat

Withdrawal symptoms

🎧 с огромным интересом просмотрела много видео на канале школы английского языка Virginia Beowulf

Вот это видео рекомендую всем, кто тоже дорос до работы над произношением. С юмором и с великолепными примерами (я вспервые услышала как говорит Оксимирон по-английски. - Ожидала лучшего звучания, если честно.)

Не знаю кто такой Иван Дорн, но произношение вполне годное, акцент малозаметный (для меня, а мне еще настраивать и настраивать ухо...)

А вот этот совет ты не забудешь никогда, отмотай на 8:45 "Не забывайте жарить голосом."🔥

💥Главный инсайт:

Как жить с той мыслю, что Native accent недостижим?

Легкий русский акцент (в пределах 5%) - это шарм, он показывает насколько круто вы осилили неродной для вас язык.

Сегодня пересмотрела это видео, чтобы добавить сюда, в свой блог, и - WTF?! где отрывок с Навальным? Он точно был в этом видео, но как? его уже вырезали что ли? Видео размещено 2 года назад, а я смотрела на той неделе и там был Навальный. Помешательство? Английский у него, может и неплохой, но произношение не образцовое.

Еще одно чувство помешательства при повторном просмотре этого видео про палатализацию (мягкость в английском представленна иначе, чем в русском:

soft G in giraffe, hard G in guitar, 

soft C in cent, circle, hard C in cat, car...) 

Вроде бы этот парень давал примеры подобной палатализации в русском языке, например: моГу - моЖешь - то есть именно замены одних звуков другими, хотя в русском языке палатализация - это мягкость соласных как в "ля", "ню" "всё" и т.п.

Или я слишком много видео пересмотрела, что теперь и не найду где именно это упоминалось... или реально модераторы могут редактировать и удалять кусочки, (что маловероятно). Но как же кусочек с Навальным? 👀👻

Пёс с ним..

Еще у них же супер объяснение артиклей! Все эти определенные и неопределенные артикли, чумовые правила, исключения, употребление с именами собственными (а Mary - некая Мэри) - все это ложится на понимание темы и ремы, тема-рематическое деление предложения. Check it out here: click! 

🎧 прослушала интереснейшую беседу Каролины и Фреда Гордона Whinenglish 🍷

(посмотрите еще раз на девушку в начале этой публикации, верхняя справа - создательница ютуб канала Kery on, сразу и не скажешь, что родом из России - так клево говорит!)

И вдруг, Фред Гордон упоминает недавно усвоенное мною понятие stress-timed language

Тут я не удержалась и законспектировала некоторые выражения

Analytical or Instinctive language use.

Submerge both types. I need to balance out and work on my instincts.

Dichotomy - a division into two opposites

Even people speaking their first language can't express themselves even if they appear articulate or eloquent. They are not always saying what they want to say. It is not like everyone who speaks a language is in the club of people who can do it. You are outside trying to get in.

Learning a new language can be humiliating.

You have to build yourself up to do it. (to do anything that requires communication, e.g. shopping)

Many people are missing out on joy of trying.

It is about building a new identity.

It is a bit oppressive living in your first language

I am into stress (this is what I want to get, on purpose, good type of stress) stress is a key to clarity (?)

I am into exposure to real usage, not the connected speech itself. To engage with the rhythm of the language.

Some things need to be unlearnt or replaced (native language, pronunciation which is on the way of obtaining a foreign language).

Yeld good results - to produce something useful such as information or evidence. (Knowing about our past does not automatically yield solutions to our current problems. yield results/benefits: The search for truth is beginning to yield fruitful results.)

Off the top of your head - without thinking

Content and Language Integrated Learning

I am going to talk about CLIL, which is the abbreviation for Content and Language Integrated Learning. And very briefly, that's an approach to language teaching where content which is non-language related content-- so it might be history or geography-- is taught through a foreign language for the students. 

So why would people like to use CLIL? Well, one of the reasons is that it's a way of expanding meaning-based instruction. So we make use of the content of non-language classes. So you've got geography or business studies. And you can use their concepts and topics and meanings. And in that way, you really extend the objects of real communication.

It's also, in a way, an extension of task-based language teaching and communicative language teaching. You've got one huge communicative task, which is learning the content of a different subject. And that can be used through the L2 gain authentic communication.

 Another issue is that we've got a situation where there are learner groups who are often seen as people who are not interested in learning languages. Because they might not like what's typically taught in the foreign language classroom. And they might be more interested, for instance, in learning science through English. 

And politically, there's also been the reason to say, Europe is multilingual. European Union is multilingual. And language teaching approaches had to be diversified to increase the language competence of EU citizens.

I would like to add here some comments given by other people too:

A.M: My current school requires us to use CLIL in our classes. We have had very little introduction/training based around it and this has had quite a negative impact on my teaching confidence. I am a secondary trained teacher who has spent the last 8 years teaching the National Curriculum. I have no formal language teaching training or experience and this is something which I am finding extremely difficult. In addition, all 22 of my students have very little knowledge of English so I rely on my TA to interpret their comments, questions, ideas (as well as mine). All the research we have been presented with highlights that in order for CLIL to work best, the teacher and students should share a common language (L1) and the teacher should be bilingual. I agree with this and think that students would benefit the most in a classroom like this.

S.M.: I integrate CLIL in my English lessons by working along with my fellow teachers. For example, if the history teacher is doing the Industrial Revolution, what I'd do to support him whilst giving students the chance to enhance their English is to read some Dickens to them, watch a video about the London tube and they do a research on Queen Victoria and the Victorian era by playing a board game where students have to recall and explain what they've learnt in the history lesson - in English!. We then speak about the role of women in the Victorian era, and the role of women now etc etc... Of course it takes time and it requires that teachers co-operate. It's more difficult to put in practice for teachers who see their students once a week only and they're asked to focus on language functions only.

A.B.:

in Pakistan, we are using CLIL unconsciously, without knowing too much about it .according to my experience, it is neither helpful in language learning nor in explaining other subjects.

O.K.: Hello! I work in PLS so I only have English on my English lessons but I know that in our schools teachers do CLIL and it is really interesting. Two teachers cooperate and make a lesson for example of Biology in English. It is challenging but I am sure children like it. I think it is a very sensible method because students understand that they need English not only on their English lessons but in real life; such method widens the world perception and it can be a good motivation to study English and to use it in your life. I like it very much.

I.D.: I start feeling sick when I hear about teaching in schools using other languages but native language of certain country. In our country we have horrible experience forcing all students to to study in one particular language. You can't imagine how hard it is for students to understand science, history or other subjects not using their L1. They start loosing interest in a subject,,. There are many other ways to learn English. Learn from the mistakes of other countries.

P.M.: I often think of the positives about teaching other content to students (outside of grammar and syntax). The idea that I could teach history, or social sciences in English to ESL learners is appealing. In my classroom, I often incorporate mini lessons on these topics. I've even sat in social sciences classes in a school in Denmark with a Danish teacher teaching in English to Mexican students about the Danish social welfare system. The other class they attended was on philosophy, also taught in English by a Danish teacher to Mexican students. The experience was great and would be great if I could teach much more in the same way.

Thinking on the negatives though, I always wonder what happens when we reduce world languages to only a controlling, dominant few? What happens to diversity? What happens to culture? What happens to identity? I don't there are simple outcomes.

I'll keep teaching English and inevitably, through my actions, will push this conundrum forward because , despite the drawbacks, I that coalescing our communication around a dominant language is also inevitable as globalization accelerates.

You can learn more if you sign in for free courses on Future Learn: 

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-language/11/todo/56788

Task Based Learning

Is it the role of the classroom teacher to be an imparter of knowledge to their students? A carer and stand-in parent? A moral guide?

Should the aim of classroom pedagogy be to produce creative individuals, good citizens of the state, or young people with a toolkit of skills which fit them for the world of work? And is it the job of the teacher to offer individual students maximum choice and different learning paths, or to ensure that the whole group of students in their charge progress to common goals?

Cutting across this underlying set of local educational expectations and assumptions, language teaching in the 20th century saw the introduction of ‘modern’ methods, seen as universally applicable and acceptable, such as the ‘communicative approach’, or ‘task based learning’ (Richards & Rogers, 2001).

These methods have achieved considerable impact, again partly because of wider social change, rather than necessarily any intrinsic ‘scientific’ superiority over older methods. They are well adapted to a number of broad shifts in language education goals:

• The rise in economic prosperity and therefore in universal schooling during the 20th century, which has seen language teaching spread far beyond a small elite;

• A shift in views of the underlying purposes of education, away from the transmission of high culture (which for languages, meant giving priority in schools to grammar and to literature), toward more utilitarian goals;

• A ‘standards based’ philosophy of education, which views educational success as the achievement of measurable and pre-determined learning outcomes 

• Increased emphasis on the development of communication skills, and of oral fluency in particular.

TBL

This is an important and widely-used language teaching approach.

Now let's start with comparing it to PPP, which means present, practice, produce. In the PPP classroom the teacher leads and controls everything. So there is limited space for student activity and student agency. PPP also involves a linear syllabus. So there's one chance to master grammatical rules and other elements of language. And finally, in the PPP format, lessons can become a bit tedious and predictable. So not the best way of motivating learners. The alternative which has developed is task based language teaching.

In TBLT the focus is on meaning rather than form, on the things we do with language rather than the features of grammar and other rules. TBLT focuses on activities which engage students in using language in diverse and creative ways. TBLT involves the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. TBLT has the potential to recycle language knowledge such as grammar and vocabulary. TBLT aligns in many ways with theoretical understandings of the processes of language learning. For example, current research into language learning emphasises the importance of meaning based language production. It emphasises 'noticing,' where learners using the language identify what it is they should be using, and also what it is they still have to learn.

And finally, it promotes the notion of 'languaging,' which emphasises the process of working out, actively working out, the language that's needed to complete a given language function. In defining tasks, there - a range of approaches have been developed. According to Willis 1996, tasks are activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose in order to achieve an outcome. Another interesting area in recent research is the notion of how teachers use tasks. A study by Andon and Eckerth 2009 illustrates four functions for teachers. 

First of all, tasks are ways in which teachers get students to use their own words to communicate their own meanings.

Second, the tasks are contexts in the classroom where the language of the classroom is made more like the language of the real world outside the classroom. 

Third, task structure activities. There's an outcome and then the students have an awareness of the structure of the lesson that the teacher has planned. 

And then finally, they are reference points for language input. So teachers can introduce explicitly or focus on particular language forms which benefit the students. 

To say few words about the future of TBLT.

TBLT with all its variations has become the predominant approach to language teaching, in terms of what we find in course books and other learning materials, in the content of teacher education programmes, and in quality management schemes around the world. While there may be still some questions of effectiveness of TBLT, the promise of greater effectiveness is likely to come from further variations and adaptations of TBLT rather than another teaching method or approach.

Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OLySXzZY-4

When is an activity not a task?
Task-based teaching is about creating opportunities for meaning-focused language use.

In other words, learners doing tasks will not just be

• speaking to practise a new structure e.g. doing a drill or enacting a dialogue or asking and answering questions using the ‘new' patterns;

• or writing to display their control of certain language items,

These are primarily form-focused activities, designed to practise language items that have been presented earlier. There is a place for form-focused activities in task-based learning (TBL), but activities such as these are not tasks.

Learners doing tasks (i.e. focusing on meanings) will be making free use of whatever English they can recall to express the things that they really want to say or write in the process of achieving the task goal.

What kind of activity is a task?
Willis and Willis (2007:12-14) offer the following criteria in the form of questions.

‘The more confidently you can answer yes to each of these questions, the more task-like the activity.

1. Will the activity engage learners' interest?
2. Is there a primary focus on meaning?
3. Is there a goal or an outcome?
4. Is success judged in terms of outcome?
5. Is completion a priority?
6. Does the activity relate to real world activities?'

Let us consider the task ‘Planning a class night out' in the light of these criteria.

• I think the lesson would certainly engage my learners' interest, especially if they knew they would actually be going on the chosen night out, so a) is Yes.

• Learners have strong preferences about nights out and would definitely be meaning what they say, so Yes to b).

• The first outcome for each pair is their finished plan for the night out, (which must be complete before they tell the class about it so the class can vote on the best plan) and a second outcome might be the real-world night out, so a confident Yes to c), d), e) and f).

Work in pairs. Talk about your grandparents. Tell each other what you know about their past lives. Use the phrases and patterns from the box above.

 Adding a goal or outcome to make a task

For the ‘Grandparents' activity we need to add a goal to give the activity a purpose and make the outcome more specific so that learners know when they have completed the task. Some sample outcomes follow here and you could add one of these sets of instructions, depending on which outcome you think would best engage the learners in your class.

1. Try to find out three things that your grandparents' and your partner's grandparents' lives had in common. What was the biggest difference between them?
Or
2. Decide which one of your partner's grandparents was / is the most interesting person and give two reasons why you think so. Then tell the class about him/her and vote to decide on the three most interesting grandparents in the class.
Or
3. Describe two early memories you have of one particular grandparent. Tell your group. Take notes when listening to each other.
• Compare your memories - whose were the most interesting, most vivid, most amusing, saddest or strangest?
And/Or:
• Compare your groups' memories and try to find ways to classify them (e.g. to do with food or meal-times? games? outings? being ill? negative / positive things?) Then report your categories to the class, with examples. Did you all have similar ways of classifying?

If learners are clear what the outcome should be, and know the number of things to list or describe, they are more likely to engage with the task, speak with more confidence and know when they have completed it. Successful task achievement will greatly increase their satisfaction and motivation. When, after completing the task cycle, they look more closely at language forms used by others doing similar tasks, they will already be familiar with the contexts and have experienced the need for some of those forms.

Source  article: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/criteria-identifying-tasks-tbl?page=1

Join in the course 'Understanding Language'

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Motivating The Unmotivated

This is my biggest insight of the year 2019 in theory of teaching that I am into now.
I found it on the Futurelearn and I am itching to share it! This is something that every teacher should watch! There is also a downloadable pdf report, but watching is more impressive, I promise. I hope the link would be always available.

* 'Motivating The Unmotivated-
Ten Ways To Get Your Students To DO Something’
By Ken Wilson
British Council: 17th January 2012

***
Something else to share. Hmmm.

Motivation
Carl Rogers - theories of motivation, webinar:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/motivating-unmotivated

Carl Rogers, the American psychologist, talked about two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, which affect learning and the desire to improve.

Intrinsic motivation — comes from the learner.

Extrinsic motivation — comes from an external source, where there is some kind of external reward for doing something, or consequence of notdoing something.

Rogers (1957) outlined 3 attitudinal qualities that a teacher, or in his words, a facilitator, should have to assist the learning process. They are empathy (seeing things from the students' viewpoint), authenticity (being yourself) and acceptance (of students' ideas and opinions).

Inspiring video, by Zoltan Dornyei
http://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2018/04/09/iatefl-safe-speaking-environments/

He looks at eight different factors that promote group cohesiveness, including cooperation, competition and teachers’ leadership styles.

Zoltán goes on to discuss group norms – the rules and regulations that govern classroom life, as well as unproductive norms.  Three critical classroom norms he presents are:

1. The norm of mediocrity

2. The norm of tolerance

3. The norm of effort and perseverance

Watch the full video below to learn more about group dynamics and to see Zoltán share the five principles of a safe speaking environment.

I think praise is extremely important. However, it has to be for real. Students know very quickly if you’re not telling the truth. And I think to give out praise on a regular basis for the sake of giving out praise is very much the wrong approach for a teacher. So if I do give praise, they know it’s been well earned, and they really respond to it.
Giving praise to learners: https://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/news/elt-news/giving-praise-learners

Listen to the teacher trainer Lindsay Clandfield talking about three important things to consider when motivating learners.

He mentions:

Rapport - the relationship and understanding we have with our learners Teacher attitude - our enthusiasm and attitude towards our teaching and lessons Teacher presence - giving learners your full attention; your voice; the way you move

******

How to make it student-centered?

Student-centered class
There are many ways to incorporate student centered techniques into classroom resources and lessons:

1. Allow for student choice and autonomy. This might mean providing project, classroom and homework assignment options, as well as allowing students to design their own seating arrangements. Providing more types of question types in assessments also gives students the chance to make their own choices. Finally, encourage teachers to give the students a few minutes of downtime to use as they’d like (within reason of course).

2. Use open-ended questioning techniques. This practice encourages critical and creative thinking and enhances problem-solving skills. Open-ended questioning encourages clear communication and provides students with reassurance that their thoughts and ideas matter.

3. Engage in explicit instruction. Explicit instruction moves away from the skill and drill attitude of teaching. It is a much more direct and engaging method of instruction that pulls the students right into the heart of the lesson. Students are active participants in what is going on, rather than bystanders and onlookers.

4. Encourage student collaboration and group projects. When students work with each other they are learning a great deal more than just the lesson content. They are gaining an appreciation for the diversity that exists in our schools and communities. They are also learning to have respect for what may sometimes be very differing points of view. And finally, they are able to bounce their ideas back and forth with each other, creating a much greater opportunity to grow these ideas into something great.

5. Encourage student reflection. Student reflection allows students to slow things down a bit and take a step back to analyze things. It also allows time for their brains to process what they have been learning. Reflection creates space and time for individual and group growth.

6. Create individual self-paced assignments. All students don’t work at the same speed and assignments should reflect this. Allowing students to move through material at a rate that best fits their learning styles and needs makes it more likely that they will gain deeper understanding of the subject matter.

7. Get the students involved in community-based activities and service-learning projects. This helps students to see their important role in the larger world. They are given the chance to learn how valuable and fulfilling it can be to give back to others. Learning becomes more organic and less rigid. Students have the opportunity to see firsthand that learning opportunities surround us everywhere where we go.
(taken from this page: https://apasseducation.com/7-ways-to-create-a-student-centered-classroom/ )

Young Learners English

English in Early Childhood

Language development opportunities

Below is some advice for the adult on how to support a child’s language development while doing these and other types of activities.

Children will reap the future benefits of this language rich environment, so closely connected to the activities that they love doing.

* Playing with blocks

use language for counting and sorting: How many are there? Shall we put the blue ones here?
use positional language: in, on, under, below, behind, next to
explore language related to size: big, small, long, short
describe what a child is doing while playing: finding, stacking, pulling, pushing, building, pressing, dragging
describe shapes and objects the children are making: square, rectangle, tower, house, castle, garden

* Dress-ups (and drama)

describe the costumes (fairy, princess, pirate, king, clown) and actions for getting dressed: put on, pull up/down, zip up, do the buttons up, unbutton, unzip
highlight the relevant parts of the body: put your arms through here, tie this around your waist/wrist, put these on your feet - first your left foot, then your right foot, put this over your head
use nursery rhymes and stories to model language for imaginary play
develop listening comprehension by encouraging the children act out the rhyme or story in their costumes
extend vocabulary associated with role-play: hospital, airport, artist’s studio, garden centre, vet, doctor, routines (breakfast/lunch/dinner/bed time)

* Making and decorating (art and craft)

name the materials: paint, paintbrush, crayon, felt-tip, marker, card, paper, crepe paper, shiny paper, tissue paper, newspaper, glue, scissors, cotton wool, fabric, sequins, feathers
describe properties and textures of materials: runny, thick, smooth, hard, long, short, spiky, rough, shiny
experiment with and describe colour
use instructions: paint, draw, colour, smudge, blur, blow, copy, pour, make, cut, stick, decorate, hang (it) up
art appreciation and describing what the children have made, painted or drawn.

* Malleable materials (dough, plasticine, clay)

use language of manipulation: push, pull, drop, squeeze, press, bend, twist, roll, stretch, squash, squish, pinch, flatten, poke, scrape, break apart
describe length/thickness: longer than, shorter than, the same length as
use language related to colour and smells
describe texture: soft, hard, squishy, lumpy, grainy, shiny
talk about materials that can be added to dough: feathers, sticks, twigs, shells
explore language related to shapes

* Music and movement activities

use language related to actions, position and parts of the body: put your hands up in the air, draw circles in the air, touch your nose, wriggle your fingers, jump, hop, lie face down on the floor, lie on your back, move over there, come closer, curl up into a ball, stretch your arms out as wide as you can, take a nap
name musical instruments: shaker, drum, recorder, xylophone, block, triangle, bell, tambourine
use language to describe sounds: loud, quiet, soft, high, low, long, short, fast, slow, tap, shake, scrape, knock, tick, hum, howl
familiarise children with a range of sounds through onomatopoeia
use songs and rhymes to work on pronunciation, rhythm, stress and intonation

* Toys and small world play

extend vocabulary related to a particular topic: park, zoo, farm, hospital, transport
comment on the objects, toys or figurines the children are playing with
comment on the settings, scenes, themes or storylines children are developing as they play
describe the position of the things the children are playing with: behind, next to, in, on, under

* Puzzles

describe the pictures and colours on the puzzles
comment on the shape of the puzzle pieces: rectangle, square, triangle, circle
comment on the position of the puzzle pieces: up/down, here/there
encourage the social aspects of using puzzles: take turns, it’s your turn next, share

* Sand play and water play

use language related to equipment and resources: brush, spade, scoop, spoon, cup, jug, bucket, sieve, cutters, rake, comb, funnel, sponge, soap, bubbles, straw, ladle, tea pot, watering can
extend vocabulary related to imaginary play: boats, diggers, bulldozers, tractors, treasure, dinosaurs, pirates, gardens, tea party, firefighter, plumber, dolls
use descriptive language: wet, dry, damp, gritty, hard, lumpy, flat, smooth, wavy, sticky, cold, frozen, clean, dirty
use language related to size, shape and position
describe capacity and quantity: enough, more, less, too much/little, overflowing, how much/many? a pile/cup of…
describe actions or what is happening: it’s fallen down, it’s gone, flatten, pour, tip, fill, scoop, cover, stir, splash, leak, drip, float, sink, trickle, spray, wash, dry

#glossary

Restorative practice

I am taking short courses on Futurelearn.com which are very informative, inspirational, worthwile!

This is an extract from the course Behaviour management

The most important strategy if something happens that needs to be dealt with.

*** *** ***
Kevin:  Now I’m interested in the term, ‘Restorative,’ itself. Is that all about restoring something? What it
is actually trying to restore?

Paul Dix: I think it’s about restoring the trust between the adult and the young person. It’s about redrawing and
restoring the boundaries that are applied to every child. It’s about restoring sort of the crime sheet and cleaning it off so
that we start the next lesson the next day with a clean sheet.

Alongside the idea of punishing children into behaving better we’ve got this whole obsession with detentions where even experienced teachers are standing up and saying, “Well we’re gonna solve the world by putting children in detention.” Again, there’s no evidence for that either.

If detention worked to change behaviour I would not have a job, you wouldn’t be listening to this podcast, the police would be sitting and eating donuts and nobody would be talking about behaviour because it would be simple. Somebody does something wrong, you give them a detention, slap them in isolation and everything’s all right again.

Restorative practices

For maximum effectiveness, the following six questions should be used in all restorative meetings. They can be made highly visible, for example on teacher lanyards, in student planners and on posters around the school:

1. What has happened?

2. What were you thinking at the time? (teacher and student)

3. Who has been affected by the actions?

4. How have they been affected?

5. What needs to be done now to make things right?

6. How can we do things differently in the future?

* Using the framework of those six questions is at the heart of great restorative practice.

* So at the end of the meeting it’s expected that the child will apologise and I always say to teachers, “Don’t expect an apology.”

* Don’t predicate the meeting with the child on an apology because then the whole thing is false and the child just learns to give stock answers, apologise and nothing actually is furthered

* So for me, the apology may come at the end of the meeting. That’s lovely. Sometimes it might be the teacher, the adult who needs to apologise because these questions aren’t just for the children. Importantly, they’re for both sides.

* the school is going to modify behaviour, not simply just manage it.

* Get together all the people involved in the incident, take them all through the restorative questions (there would be lots of other teachers doing exactly the same thing). And in that way you suddenly feel like you’re supported, you don’t have to do it behind a closed door, you can call over an experienced teacher to sit alongside you if you need to.

* Sometimes they just want to have their voice heard, even though they’re not necessarily saying the right things or necessarily have the right opinion, the one that you’d agree with. That ability to have themselves heard is critical to the outcomes, even if the outcome is negative for the child at least they know they’ve been heard, they know the teacher is reasonable and they walk away from those meetings with a different opinion of the teacher and very often an improved opinion of the teacher.