Dictionaries

I have decided to write about “dictionaries” because it is a subject that intrigues me since I was a child.
Using a dictionary when I had a doubt was something very difficult to implement when I was at school. Whenever I asked for the meaning of a word, my mother used to tell me “Fetch the dictionary! It kills donkeys!”. At the beginning, I didn’t do what she ordered but as she has always insisted on this, I started picking it up when unknown words appeared.
After many attempts, I ended up internalizing this action and as I believe it is a very helpful tool, I decided to transmit this habit to my students.
I used to be the kind of teacher that usually answers immediately when one of the kids ask for the meaning of a word. But, some time ago, I realized that although the teacher must be a facilitator in the classroom, I should motivate them to develop their own strategies in order to work independently.
Another thing is that last year, I noticed that parents make an effort to buy lots of books that are very expensive, (dictionaries included!) so THEY MUST BE USED!
They had a workshop where they learn how to use them, the difference among the entries that a word may have, how to differentiate a noun or adjective from a verb, which is the most relevant definition depending on the context where the word appears, etc.
I believe it will be useful to have that workshop this year again and I will reinforce that habit in the classroom.
This year, I decided to start doing this, so in any activity that they have to solve, I ask them first to look up the words they do not know and then, we share the meaning altogether.
I consider that this is a very useful way for them to realize that the teacher is not the only “tool” in the classroom, and that they can have access to “new knowledge” easily.
The thing is that they are very lazy! They prefer to ask and to have the answer immediately and do not stop for a while, pick up the dictionary, look for the word, and read the definition that best applies and suits the context. But this is a habit-formation.
I want them to get used to do this, because it expands and opens their mind. I want them to feel curious and to internalize the words they learn, so after sharing the meanings, we try to find an example to remember the word easily.
I think that it is the best way for dictionaries to do not rest and sleep in our shelf throughout the whole year!

 

 

Making Decisions

I have found it very difficult to think about my own teaching practice. It has been the first time that I really stopped for a minute to think about myself and reflect upon my own practice.
Most of the years I spent studying during my career I could grasp reflections and experiences of other teachers, and many times I based my own decisions on their practices. But this year, I started in a different way. As it is the first year that I have my group since the beginning of the year and I already feel comfortable and “inside” the system of the school, I have decided that I would try to be more independent and confident and to trust myself whenever I have to make decisions.
That’s why, every time I find myself facing any teaching situation, I think about the way to solve or to manage it and then, if my “solution” or decision doesn’t work, I resort to other teachers’ opinion or pieces of advice.
I have realized that we are constantly making decisions inside the classroom, those may vary from easy ones, for example, changing the focus of an activity that is already planned, up to the most difficult ones, as it is finding the way to help a student who has social or learning problems.  I have learnt that it is not useful to doubt or to show myself insecure in front of the kids when a problem appears because children get to notice that and depending on the situation; they take advantage of it and they find you easily malleable and they resort to different strategies to do what they really want, and in a way, in my opinion, the teacher loses part of her authority.
I have experienced in some occasions when I started teaching that there was a shift in roles inside the class and because of being insecure children finally ended having power over me. As I didn’t feel comfortable and then it was difficult to rearrange the positions inside the classroom in those situations, I decided that I should do something to change this reaction.
Due to this fact, this year I started being more confident and to be quicker at the time of making decisions. Whenever they ask me something I think if that is feasible or not, and I try to think the advantages or disadvantages of it, and usually I explain them the reason of my answer. For example, they usually ask me to listen to music while they are doing their homework. At the beginning I said no, because I thought it would be a mess, and they would start misbehaving. But then, I realized that it might be a good way to make them relax, as they are a very talkative group. So, I made my decision to prove it. I talked to them and I set the limits: music should be appropriate and in English, and they can only listen to it while they are copying from the board, or doing an individual activity in their folders. Of course, if they shout, if they sing, or if they start dancing, I will turn it off.
Believe me that it works. Only one period during the week I allow them to play music in the classroom, and they really enjoy it and they end working much better because music motivates and relaxes them.
Every time I have to make a decision I try to think the way of benefit about it. I used to think in a very strict way about what kids can or cannot do during the lessons, but as I consider myself an open-minded teacher, I am trying to feel free when making decisions because I end up having more resources to “stretch out” the lesson and make them work better.