Teaching large classes is considered a challenge in Israel mainly for two reasons:
a) Due to the local mentality and cultural background, Israeli people are rather talkative and get distracted in class too easily. Therefore it is sometimes very difficult for a teacher not to lose 35-40 pupils during the lesson.
b) Lecture method makes students passive learners. Besides, they often get bored during the lectures.
Anyway this method is used mainly at universities, not at schools.
In order to get students interested and engaged during the lesson, the teacher must be really well prepared and make the lessons exciting, success-orienting and highly motivating. And the moders technology really works for us. I am sure that combining traditional teaching and web-technology will enhance the way of teaching and learning perfectly well.
I have explored this article http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer/teaching/LargeClasses.html
Using classroom communication system (and not only) sounds great because it can keep the students busy all the time. Many of them like doing quizes online, to they will be concentrated on such activities. Besides, such systems help sick students not to miss the lessons. They can enter the class site and participate in all the activities and do the homework.
Another god way is working in pairs and small groups. The groups can be of the same level or heterogenuous, depending on the task. Thus, for learning English Grammar, kids should work in the same-level groups, but while learning literature or practicing spoken English tasks, they can collaborate, and strong students can help weak ones. Usually group work is good for active learning, while for passive learning each student should work individually.
The second article I have explored is "Using Online Assessment in Face-to-Face courses. http://tep.uoregon.edu/technology/blackboard/docs/Online_Assessment_Blackboard.pdf
I aggree with the author that it is time-saving, it is more challenging and exciting and it develops personal skills in using modern technology. But it also has some problems, and among them there are technology problems, lack of technology skills and cheating. That is one of the reason why I think that it is not a good idea to use mobiles and iPods in class: kids might send each other the answers and do something not connected to the program of the lesson. In my opinion, while studying in large classes, kids must use only the class computers, connected only to the certain sites and nothing more and controlled only by the teacher or a computer technician.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
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Dear Julia,
ReplyDeleteYour title of your blog is always impressive "Don't Give Up!". I like it very much. You did your work well and completely this week. You have read some articles that inspire you to anticipate large classes you have. By applying some technological teaching tools and other online resources and facilities, such as quizzes online and online assessment, you are successful in managing your large classes better. I hope the efforts you do can be your brilliant solutions for your class. Thanks and good luck, too.
Best,
Rudi Hartono
Thank you, Rudy.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is a bit difficult and challenhing, I like it and try my best. Thank goodness, I don't teach large classes, but I used to do. It was very hard to make the students listen and work when I was a new immigrant in Israel and didn't know Hebrew well, while the 7-8-graders didn't speak English well. It was 15 years ago when classes were not computerized and I had to bring different games and find other interesting activities in order to kep the kids busy. I am lucky that it was in the past and now seb technology works for us.
Dear Julia,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that teaching large class is quite challenging. Students are difficult to control, as many of them like talking; especially during the lecture. Therefore, the lecture has to be interesting to the learners.
You are not teaching a large class. It is good of you. But have you thought to try it once. Then you will learn how practice will be differ from the theories and how much can you deal with that circumstance?
Best
Mak
Dear Mak,
ReplyDeleteI agree that teaching large classes requires diferent approaches. What works well with small classes might be not very effective while teaching large ones. I used to teach large classes but now I don't. Nevertheless, the small classes of kids with special needs sometimes are worth the large ones. Because some kids are hyperactive, some are not concentrated, some are too fast, some are too slow. So it is a real challenge to engage them all. But I try not to get up, as I wrote in the title of my blog. And this is my motto.
All the best,
Julia
I believe not just Israeli students are talkative. In general, if you do not get the students busy, they will get you busy. By the way, you talked about quizzes on line. It was a great idea. If you know good websites, please let me know. I usually like to bring new things. As you know, keeping on doing the same way will get students get bored. I agree with the fact that having students with the same level in one group can be helpful in some cases, but be careful when you do that. You may keep tow weak students in one group. They will not learn from each other. I liked the idea of using mobiles in class, but raised an important issue. I think cheating can be solved in future if we think about the solution.
ReplyDeleteAll the best
Abdul
Dear Abdul,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right that teachers should keep their students busy so that they won't have time to chat. Besides, when the material is motivating and interesting, they don't want to talk and break the discipline.