HOW CAN WE DEAL WITH SHY STUDENTS?

CHINESE EXPERIENCE

Over the Platform of -Shaping the Way, we Teach English -

I got several questions so, from all of them, I would like to share a few of them because I think it is suitable for any class of languages:

Dear Mr. Chiluiza Vásquez,

I do agree with you. I am also very interested in this week’s article, destroying the teacher. I found that all five main headings in the passage are very useful for our teaching. Many productive techniques we could use in classes. I have applied them in my classes, and it revealed that students produced the language perfectly in their discussion groups. The teacher just monitors, take note, facilitate whenever the students need, provide students more time to talk within the groups. Get them to work independently. Finally, the teacher gives them feedback. Well, this article helps us a lot with the teaching styles, and I gained experiences from weeks 1, 2, and 3.

QUESTION: However, some students could not say anything as they are shy or they think that their English is good enough to share with others in the class. So, their discussions become unproductive. How can I deal with this group of students, destroying the teacher?

ANSWER:
Dear Prach,

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinions and agreements, going to the point and giving the answer to your question, how can we deal with shy and unconfident students? 

I’m facing the same problem with my Chinese students; in some other posts, I shared my experience. Let me share you once again with you, maybe could be useful but it has a lot of relation about what are we learning in this training course.

In my class working with Team or Group Work is the best choice to profit time on task-time in the classroom, I rarely use pair work activities, I usually divide them into small groups in order to let them participate, in writing or speaking activities in every group. The teacher’s work is so demanding for every class. So, imperatively we need to have a good plan. I totally agree with Roney’s article too, especially about planning an Interactional group task. Even the time manager should no simply sit and look at the clock.

Most of the students have their own different process of learning with strengths and weaknesses; the teacher needs this kind of wisdom to differ into each student before assigning group roles. I remember the last time in my class I thought it could be a good opportunity to practice this technique with some special groups –shy, confident and egocentrics students. 

I wanted to check their own: self-leadership and patience about doing what they want to do, working with people they don’t want to work, likes – dislikes, etc. It was no so rewarding a lot, at the beginning, the group was no flexible enough, and my students get together with friends because of the likelihood of common experiences and viewing points however I divided a few of them (-strength and weakness-). As a result of this the diversity, discussion, and work were limited even if they have a clear outcome. This kind of apathy and empathy showed me how the real world is. Also, this kind of issue (activity) taught me that my students will always need a teacher NO LIKE THE FOCUS or CENTER OF THE ATTENTION BUT THE FACILITATOR TO GUIDE, SUPPORT, STAND, HELP and DIRECT students on decision making to meet a clear objective. Finally, this activity helped us to understand how to work -all together and break this kind of personality- inside and outside the classroom with love and tolerance for diverse personalities in any circumstance where ESL is required. And don’t forget it is a process if you continue doing this they will be more confident… I have other experience but I’m not so sure where I posted it (sorry), but you can take a look in my posts, probably you will find it faster than me)

However, try to practice SPEAKING WITH CONFIDENCE – LEARNING BY PLAYING. Let me share with you a good link where you can get a better idea.

• http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/improv-speaking-confidence/

I hope I should have replied clearly your answer let me know your comments. If any other colleague has other opinions about this topic please let us to know

Best Regards

Critical and Creative Thinking & Destroying the Teacher

           Critical and Creative Thinking

The interaction in how the developed Critical and Creative Thinking is taken in classroom is something necessary to check, also how the teacher introduces the target topic -Mass Media Activity-. This interaction showed us how the Students with the teacher's help create, perform skits, analyze the information, write the scripts at the end perform the role play. What I like the most is how to warm-up the activity with SS' interaction in classroom with simple questions and answers that let Students use Critical Thinking with a higher order thinking skill, analyzing the accuracy, worth of the ideas or statements using reasoning skills to questions and readings. The teacher makes the introduction to the topic by thinking locally and teaching act globally with integrated skills and a variety of self-management. The music helps to time the activity is a good example for time managing, too. I think is a good way to introduce a classroom far away for the 、traditional teaching class.

Well, in my own experience I have developed some techniques in the classroom, what I like the most is simple questions and answers to warm-up the class, then go through the main point It means the target content Most of my students success because the questions are nice, easy and I try to do it in a funny way. All of these activities are working out first, in peer group then in Group work. Also the questions and answers with a sample paper, letting the students analyze each other, have fun at the end make the role play activity with -Mass Media Activity- target content. As examples, you might wish to use some of the other, similar techniques you have seen in different readings from this blog.

I think as I shared in other posts, It is always necessary to use REALIA MATERIAL in our ESL class, going to class without any material and only with the textbook in a traditional way, is like to wish surf in the internet using an ancient typewriting machine. It’s not real and accurate to actual times where the teacher needs to be more creative than ever. Let the Ss work together with self-management and the teacher Is only the facilitator of knowledge after all of this interaction developed through a good lesson Plan or a simple Project Based Learning, using all the integrated skills is where me need the value of silence like McLean’s article says, each period of learning is followed for a period of reaction.

These readings and reflections make me take a long period of reaction to my teaching skills.

DESTROYING THE TEACHER

                                           

This article by Alan Mc LEAN shows us how to focus our attention on the conditions under where student learn most effectively, relates the internal process involved in apprehending and storing information, into the most favorable conditions for this process going through theoretical basis and aspects about classroom and teacher’s behavior that seldom is the case is the most important factor in the classroom. He also focuses on five main headings:

REDUCTION OF COERCION

Avoid the typical teaching style -authoritarian- Like the Illich’s phrase the “custodian of the secret”. Here the teacher must show that is no the superhuman, that everything knows, he can make mistakes, and that are many things that can be ignorant. I extremely agree in the part.. -Self-correcting mechanism can operate only when the teacher gives up playing God.- Most of the time teachers have the last word and the students is a mere object, no exist cohesion in the learning process.

EXPERIENCE BEFORE INTERPRETATION

The learner needs time to “mess around” with the target material. The deal of Handling of printed material, or playing with, changing the words of the text, before reading starts is important in class. This period of experiencing the material seems to be a necessary precondition for interpreting. I think it always is necessary to use REALIA MATERIAL in our ESL class, going to class without any material, and only open the textbook in a traditional way, is like to surf in the internet using an ancient typewriting machine. It’s not real and accurate, in actual times where the teacher needs to be more creative than ever.

AVOIDANCE OF OVERSIMPLIFICATION

The teacher can only provide good conditions within which learning may take place, what I want to take here is what McLean says, “If things are made to easy for the learner, he will not be inclined to use his own resources, I like the idea about step by step approach is the only way to learn. If we taught children to speak they will never learn. What it means ere is that is necessary to let the students take their own difficulties to let them to have their own mistakes no oversimplifying everything and only to help them to resolve a little no resolving all the problem or difficulty. Providing them the ability to pick up context cues within a text is vital to the successful decoding of it. Reading is a selective process. It involves partial use of available language cues…

THE VALUE OF SILENCE

As I wrote before, Far from my students and my teaching class, as a facilitator, as a human being in my humble opinion these readings and sharing my thoughts in my posts make me take a short and deep -period of reaction- about my teaching-learning skills.

                                     

I really love this article from Mc LEAN - Destroying the teacher: The need for learner-Centered Teaching. I share this quotation also to apply in my own experience living in China and consciousness or unconsciousness living day by day as part of a culture. “If the culture of the teacher is to become part of the consciousness of the children, then the culture of the children must first be in the consciousness of the teacher” Basil Bernstein. Being part of a culture an interacting with my students let me enjoy my class.

Best Regards 

Wilson P. Chiluiza Vásquez