Creative pedagogy, language learning and technology

This was the title of a recent Cambridge English Teacher webinar presented by Graham Stanley and what follows is a summary of what he had to say.

Creative pedagogy

The idea of creative pedagogy was introduced by Andrei Aleinikov in 1989.  He said:

'Creativity should be a central part of what you do with learners to motivate them and better promote lifelong learning.'

Creative pedagogy is:

• Helping learners how to learn creatively.
• Transforming the classroom into a creative and flexible learning environment.
• Allowing learners to innovate, to create.
• Taking risks and thinking imaginatively.

Role of the learner

Help learners to develop:

• self-motivation
• confidence
• curiosity
• flexibility

Components of creative pedagogy

• FLUENCY - generating new ideas
• FLEXIBILITY - shifting perspectives
• ORIGINALITY - doing something new
• ELABORATION - building on existing ideas

How do we link creative pedagogy with language learning?

Here are some ideas for activities:

1. Island project

• Put students in small groups and get them to design an island, using the lexis of geographical features and places.
• Put the islands together to form a group of islands where students can be creative.
• The island in the middle can be an unknown island - the teacher's island for students to explore.
• This activity can be combined with the coursebook, with the island in the centre being used as a kind of narrative to what is going on in the core text.
• The islands can be revisited throughout the course and added to - places, currency, social issues, government, crime, etc.

2. Werewolf

This is a roleplay game based on 'Mafia'.  You can read the rules here.  The teacher acts as the narrator or storyteller.  The students are 'werewolves' who have to eat the villagers, or 'villagers' who have to eliminate the werewolves. Each night, one villager is devoured by the werewolves.  During the day, the werewolves try to hide their identities and the villagers try to discover who they are. 

The aim is to promote fluency and encourage the students to speak a lot.  It is an exciting game which really engages the students.  You could personalise it by getting students to write themselves a role - baker, teacher, etc. - so that they have more to talk about.

3. Creative writing prompts

Writing prompts can come from a variety of sources, but a favourite would be storycubes.com.  Here, students have a set of dice with images on them and they have to make up a story from the images.

Scamper

In his book on creative thinking techniques, 'Thinkertoys', Michael Michaelko came up with this acrostic:

Substitute it

Combine it

Adapt it

Modify/magnify it

Put it to some other use

Eliminate it

Reverse/rearrange it

In our teaching, we can use this to look at activities we've always used and change them in some way.

Gamification

We can take some of the ideas embedded in games and adapt them for ELT.

Graham gave us the example of a questionnaire carried out at the beginning of a school year which showed that students felt that writing was boring and they didn't like it.  To overcome this, he gave writing an element of gamification by introducing speed writing.  Not only does this engage students, it also improves quantity and fluency.

• Give students ten minutes in every class in which to write (it's a good idea to use a special notebook for this).
• Set a timer.
• Students have to write as much as possible on a given topic.
• Students have a table in the back of their notebooks giving the date and the word count (you can also have a chart on the classroom wall giving the results for the whole class).
• Students count the number of words they've written.
• The teacher circles the errors.
• The score is recorded as word count minus the mistakes.
• Students self-correct afterwards and can ask the teacher questions if they don't know what the errors are.
• This is a competitive activity, with students competing both against themselves (to do better than their previous score) and against each other.
• Introduce different levels that students have to reach.
• Give extra points for special achievements - most original writing, fewest mistakes, most creativity, best introduction, etc.
• Display the leader board prominently and award small prizes - badges, stickers or 'class money', for example.

Promoting speaking with an online game

Using computer games can be very engaging for students, but we must keep in mind a clear language aim every time we do so.  Here is a good idea for an activity to promote speaking:

• Use screenshots of images from a computer game.  Students will be immediately engaged by the content of the pictures.
• Show them to the students and ask them to remember as much detail about them as possible.
• In pairs, get students to describe what they saw, using full sentences.
• Ask one pair to share their ideas with the group.
• Ask the group to improve on what they have heard.  It's important to push the students to be the best they can be.
• Get the students to look at the pictures again and describe them again. What can be added to the original descriptions?
• These activities generate lots of vocabulary.
• You can extend by showing follow-up pictures and ask students to describe what has happened, what has changed, thus forcing the use of present perfect.
• As homework, you could get students to write about what happened in the game.

Examples of screenshots you could use:

These are from the computer game, 'Droppy'.

Five Communicative Language Learning Activities

This was the title of a recent Cambridge English Teacher webinar given by Peter Lucantoni.  What follows is a summary of what he had to say including descriptions of his five suggested activities.

Communicative Language Learning (CLL)

• CLL seeks to bring students beyond grammatical competence.
• Students need to decode language and manipulate it in private dialogue.
• This leads to communicative competence.

 

We need to move from knowing the forms and structures to using them in practice.

 

Some activities:

 

1. From letters to grammar

Students must listen to a series of letters and then think of a meaningful phrase which uses each letter as the first letter of a word.  The order in which they use the letters is not important.

For example, given -  A D I F , students might produce:

• A day in France
• Fantastic dreams are incredible
• I ate David's fruit

Students think of the vocabulary first and then the grammar they need to make a phrase.  It becomes easier for students as they do more examples.

 

You can make this activity more challenging by telling the students that one of the words needs to be something specific - an adjective, an adverb, a pronoun or an irregular verb, if you are focusing on grammar, for example.  If the emphasis is on lexis, you could ask that one of the words be a colour or a family member, for example.

 

As an extension, you could put students in groups and allow them to choose four letters which they then exchange with another group to make phrases. This is a good warmer or filler activity to reinforce grammar or vocabulary.  It encourages creativity - students could make silly sentences, for example - as long as they are grammatically correct.  It can be used with all levels. Generally, students like the element of competition involved.

2.  Numbers and sizes ratios

(From 'Grammar Activity Book' published by CUP)

This activity focusses on general knowledge and guessing numbers and size.  Learners then have the chance to produce their own version of the activity.

• Put learners into groups of 2 or 3
• Learners look at comparisons on the board or in a handout and discuss how big the difference is between them
• They then match the comparison to a ratio
• Then they write a sentence expressing the ratio

For example:
The world's tallest man is 2.5m tall.
The world's shortest man is 0.5m tall.
The ratio is 1 : 5.
The world's tallest man is five times as tall as the world's shortest man.

or:

The age of the Egyptian pyramids v the age of the Aztec pyramids - 1 : 2.
Aztec pyramids are twice as old as Egyptian pyramids.

or:

Number of rows on a chess board v number of squares - 1 : 8.
There are eight times as many squares on a chessboard as rows.

Other examples you could give:

• Number of circles on the Olympic flag / number of circles on the Japanese flag
• Paris, distance from London / Athens, distance from London
• World's highest mountain / world's highest waterfall
• Population of London / population of Mexico City
• Number of countries bordering Spain / number of countries bordering the USA
• one mile / sixteen kilometres

Students will need to research the answers using websites in English.  They can also do further research and compile their own ratios which they then exchange with classmates to write further sentences.

The purpose of this activity is to get learners to think logically and critically, to use their general knowledge and to practise comparative forms.

3.  Question to question

Sometimes we answer one question with another question, rather than giving a direct answer.  Why do we do this?

• for clarification
• because we don't know the answer
• to show interest
• to stall

Common questions we might use:

• I'm sorry, what did you say?
• Really?
• What do you mean?
• Could you repeat that?
• Why do you ask?
• Don't you believe me?

Give students a jumbled dialogue like this:

and get them to put it into the correct order:

Then get students to create their own dialogues having given them the functional language they need.  First they need to think of a context or situation (for example, parent/child, husband/wife), then write the dialogue, then read it aloud or act it out for their classmates to guess the context or situation.



The purpose of this activity is to teach functional language, to practise intonation and question forms, as a confidence booster, and to have fun!

4.  Alphabet dialogue

Students create a paired dialogue so that each line begins with the next letter of the alphabet.  e.g.:

• Ahmed, how are you?
• Bad, really bad!
• Come on, it can't be that bad!
• Do you think I'm joking?
• Everyone knows you're a joker.

Stick to four or five line dialogues and start with random letters of the alphabet (perhaps drawn from a hat).

For higher level students, you could combine 'alphabet dialogue' with 'question to question'.

The purpose of this activity is as a warmer, a confidence booster, to practise real time speaking using colloquial language, and to practise sentence starters.

5.  Sloobie

In this activity, learners look at a text which contains nonsense words and try to make sense of it from a grammatical perspective.  It is good for helping students with their 'decoding' skills and gives great opportunities for creative language use.


An example of a nonsense text:

Students need to identify parts of speech by looking at the word order.  For example, 'brumpting' and 'ticfrous' must be adjectives.

 

You can ask students to speculate on meaning by asking questions such as:

• What is a sloobie?
• What does it do?

They can then discuss and justify their answers in groups.  Alternatively, for lower level students, you can give the students the words they have to substitute into the text:

You can get students to create their own 'sloobie' for their classmates to solve by writing real sentences and then substituting some of the words for nonsense words.

 

The purpose of this activity is to practise guessing meaning from context, to identify parts of speech and to be creative.





It's important to model all of these activities well and to give students the functional language they will need to complete them.

 

 

My choices as a lifelong learner in the 21st century

I love to learn.  That's why I'm a teacher! Over the years, I'm sure I've learned as much from my students as I have taught them. I've learned about global politics and gained an understanding of how these issues affect the individual through the eyes of my students. I've also learned about more functional, but equally fascinating matters, such as how to make fire using only a stick and a stone, how to make the best risotto in Italy, the significance of the whirling dance of the Dervish, or how the medical system works in Vietnam.  I could go on and on!!  

Now, as well as the learning opportunities I encounter in my day-to-day working life, I'm also inundated by offers to teach me things every time I turn on my computer.  My problem is that I find it difficult to say no!  My thirst for knowledge is such that I can't resist the chance to learn!  As a consequence, I've signed up for courses and then been unable to complete them due to work commitments, time constraints, or simply, life, getting in the way!!  I find the idea of learning with like-minded people from all over the globe irresistible, but the time has come to prioritise.  I have to be selective.  I have to accept that I just can't do everything I'd like to do.  I also need to have some balance, so that not all of my learning is work-related.

To this end, going forward, these are my learning providers of choice:

1. Electronic Village Online (EVO)

A description taken from their own website:

EVO is a set of online discussions and workshops that takes place every year from mid-January to mid-February. Sessions include a range from simple discussions to virtual hands-on workshops. They can serve as a run-up or preview to the TESOL Convention, or a discussion of an issue in the field of teaching language, or experiments with and pedagogy of new technology tools.

An online session is the perfect venue to pre-discuss papers from Academic Sessions or Intersessions, or to carry on a discussion of topics important to your member group. EVO provides an invaluable service to teachers all over the globe, for it brings the convention to those who cannot travel. We usually have over a thousand participants, both members and non-members of TESOL. Most sessions also offer live chats (text and audio/video), including Webcasts from the Convention, and all participants are welcome to any of these live events.

I took part in an EVO course on podcasting earlier this year.  It was practical, immediately applicable, both in my professional and personal life, and very enjoyable.  I'm looking forward to their 2014 offering - I'm sure I'll find something to pique my interest!

2.  Webinars

Webinars are invaluable for my CPD.  I wrote a blogpost about them here.  I love the fact that I learn through stand-alone bite-size chunks.  Again, the only problem is that there are so many available that I have to be selective.  There's really no point in me doing these things if I don't have time to reflect on what I've learned!

3. iTDi.pro

This is a global network of teachers learning from each other through a mentoring programme and a series of courses.  This is taken from their website:

About iTDi

iTDi is a global online teacher development institute that is owned and staffed by dedicated teachers.

Our mission is to provide quality professional development that is meaningful, accessible and affordable for all teachers. We share a vision of a vibrant global community of educators, helping one another to become better teachers.

The iTDi community brings together teaching professionals working at every level -- newcomers and veterans, native and non-native teachers from a wide range of contexts, all sharing a common belief that being a teacher means a never-ending commitment to growing and learning.

iTDi provides:

Online courses to improve your classroom teaching or English language skills, written by some of the most respected authors in English language teaching.

• A safe, private, supportive, international community of teachers and teacher-mentors, working and learning together online
• Live online workshops and chats with educators from around the world
• Live online advanced teaching skill courses

iTDi Principles

We believe that every teacher deserves the chance to improve. It doesn't matter where you start; what matters is where you want to go.

I am currently doing a course through iTDi.  It's called More Breaking Rules and is presented by John Fanselow.  The final session will be this Sunday, after which I will write a post about the course and what I have learned from it.
 

4. #ELTChat

As regular readers of this blog will know, I'm a huge fan of #ELTChat.  It is the mainstay of my CPD.  This is from the #ELTChat website:

#ELTchat started in September 2010 when a group of #ELTchat professionals began to use twitter to discuss topics of interest to English Language Teachers. It began with the aim of creating a freely available social network for ELT professionals offering mutual support and opportunities for Continuous Professional Development.
Now, every Wednesday at 12pm and 21.00pm, ELT teachers from all over the world log into their Twitter account and for one hour hold an online discussion on a topic they have selected.

I'm a regular participant and summary writer and am proud to say that I have just achieved my gold badge!!
 

5.  Cambridge English Teacher

As well as regular webinars, CET also offers a variety of online courses which are great for CPD.
 

6. Coursera

This is a relatively new concept in online learning.  From their website:

About Coursera ®

We believe in connecting people to a great education so that anyone around the world can learn without limits.

Coursera is an education company that partners with the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. Our technology enables our partners to teach millions of students rather than hundreds.

We envision a future where everyone has access to a world-class education that has so far been available to a select few. We aim to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.

Our Courses

Classes offered on Coursera are designed to help you master the material. When you take one of our classes, you will watch lectures taught by world-class professors, learn at your own pace, test your knowledge, and reinforce concepts through interactive exercises. When you join one of our classes, you'll also join a global community of thousands of students learning alongside you. We know that your life is busy, and that you have many commitments on your time. Thus, our courses are designed based on sound pedagogical foundations, to help you master new concepts quickly and effectively. Key ideas include mastery learning, to make sure that you have multiple attempts to demonstrate your new knowledge; using interactivity, to ensure student engagement and to assist long-term retention; and providing frequent feedback, so that you can monitor your own progress, and know when you've really mastered the material.

We offer courses in a wide range of topics, spanning the Humanities, Medicine, Biology, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Business, Computer Science, and many others. Whether you're looking to improve your resume, advance your career, or just learn more and expand your knowledge, we hope there will be multiple courses that you find interesting.

 

For me, this is where the balance comes from!  Although PD courses for teachers are offered through Coursera, I haven't chosen to do any (up to now!!).  Instead, I've opted for courses completely outside my professional life - learning for learning's sake - just for fun.  I have to say that my first attempt was not so successful.  I chose a course about logic, a subject which has always fascinated me.  However, at the time of the course, I had too much other stuff going on in my life, so only completed the first couple of modules.  This time, however, I have chosen a course called The Camera Never Lies about film, images & historical interpretation in the 20th century.  It started yesterday, I've allocated the appropriate amount of time for it, and, so far, it's completely enthralling.  I'm learning so much and being challenged to look at things in a new way.  The fact that I have a whopping 45,000 active classmates is a huge bonus!!

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So, that's my take on 21st century learning.  It's exciting, it's collaborative, and it presents endless opportunities.  Best of all, most of it is free!!