First, thank you soooo much to all those who came to the first TEFL Development Hub Coffee Break. There was a great atmosphere and we covered a lot of ground in an hour. It was great to meet up and chat in an informal atmosphere; a fabulous addition alongside the webinars.
It was the first time using Messenger Rooms for all of us and it seemed to work well for everyone, although a couple of people tried but failed to join us (investigations are on-going). There’s no chat function, although some of us were able to use the chat on the Facebook thread. Another difference to Zoom is the lack of breakout rooms which could be tricky if there are big groups. Please do send through thoughts and suggestions, if you were in the Coffee Break or not.
And indeed, if you missed it, not to worry, there’ll be another one soon. The first of many!
What did we talk about?
The conversation was wide-ranging and focused around motivation of students and teachers, teens and engagement and younger learners and movement. We shared a host of ideas and activities giving us all plenty to take away and use.
Here’s a bullet point list of the conversation.
- “Teaching at the moment is not much fun.” We shared some frustrations, especially with tech issues and young students in hybrid situations.
- There was agreement that motivation is an issue for (some?) teen groups, it was reassuring to hear that others were having similar issues.
- An online tutorial by Borja was mentioned as having some great ideas.
- Teens open up when they get into a speaking or pairwork activity (where possible). We talked again about the “buddy system” and noted that in hybrid classrooms headphones are very important to exclude background classroom noise.
- Teachers are also exhausted by the extra work involved now, we need to think about our own motivation levels too.
- The feeling of stress and exhaustion for teens, even for good students, in general in their lives; school exams, less freedom, growing apathy and sadness.
- How much responsibility do we have as teachers? Perhaps more than ever.
- How can we help? Create space for students to express themselves and share feelings, depending on the group and the situation.
What else? Design lessons to address the issues. After getting agreement from the class, a teacher created a lesson dealing with stress for teenagers and included some breathing techniques. Students shared their feedback.
- We moved on to talk about our younger learners, we focused on games, fun and engagement.
- One suggestion was to keep focused on the books and look for ways to make it more engaging with coursebook tweaks.
- Should we devote more time to “fun” activities and games than before in young learners classes? Most people think we should, one suggestion was that perhaps 60-70% of class time should be game-orientated.
- We talked about the importance of movement with young and very young learners.
- Even when there’s limited space we can do activities including movement next to their chairs or in designated space.
- Breaks are great ways to change the momentum of the classes.
- While there’s lots of things we can’t do, we need to focus on the things we can do.
- Total Physical Response activities are a firm favourite; pencils on heads and yoga movements are especially popular.
- The last 5 minutes of class can be dedicated to building up Tik Tok routines.
- We touched on “Growth Mindsets” too, with Carol Dweck as recommended viewing.
- Does everything need to have an English aim? “They’re people”. We should take pressure off them and off ourselves, perhaps pacing schedules are less important than before.
- There was a recommendation for Junior Just dance and 3-5 minute Joe Wicks videos.
- What about movement in online classes with young learners? Yes, absolutely. It can be great; fewer limitations, using the home as a resource (“Go and find…”)
And that was where we got to in an hour… everyone had the chance to share, there was a feeling of support and togetherness in the group despite different backgrounds and the feedback was great. Thank you again to everyone for your ideas and contributions. It was an hour well spent!
A few notes on the “after-party”
A handful of us stayed around to chat a little more…
The chat was again varied.
- The pros and cons of living in cities, towns, villages and isolated in the countryside during these times of COVID.
- The increased diversity and number of connections in our online working lives.
- The variety of work available online; some companies are, in a very crowded market place, differentiating their offering through quality and that there are still some good opportunities around.
- The shift online has led to a freedom for some, amid the challenge there are opportunities.
And with that, the last of the coffee was drunk and it was nearly time for lunch.