#CELTAchat transcript for Monday 4 March. We need a volunteer to write the summary please! 🙏https://t.co/DRRWWLTxM8 pic.twitter.com/vJQyeISmUr— #CELTAchat (@AchatCelt) March 6, 2019
Wednesday 6 March 2019
#CELTAchat 4 March 2019
#CELTAchat Monday 4 February 2019 Designing a dream (but possible) CELTA course
Summary coming soon...
and here it is! Many thanks Amy @admiralwamy
Participants: Cathy Bowden @Cathyofnusle , Darren Bell @bellinguist, Giovanni Licata @GioLic1976, Sandy Millin @sandymillin, Fiona Price @fionaljp, Amy Blanchard @admiralwamy, Ali , Adi Rajan @adi_rajan, Matthew Noble @tesolmatthew, Summary written by Amy Blanchard.
What time of day is best for TP?
Cathy said she has had both morning and evening TP but morning is better if it's practical. “Gets the teaching out of the way so candidates aren't thinking about it during input” – this was agreed by everyone present as a good way of reducing stress on the course. Morning TP can also help boost attendance if it doesn’t class with the school run. Sandy pointed out that one of the hardest things can be getting TP students so it’s best to fit the timetable around them! One possibility for larger cohorts is having 2 different TP sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) in order to accommodate the maximum number of students.
TP on Day 1?
Cathy: On Day 1 we have the tutor teach for 90 minutes, including getting to know youactivities and giving trainees an observation task on classroom management, and then have them interview the students for 45 mins (for the Focus on the Learner assignment). Sandy agreed that this can take the pressure of trainees on day 1 and gives them a good idea of what they are aiming for. Cathy said it leads nicely into the Classroom Management session. It does mean that trainees plunge into it pretty fast! They arrive at 8.30am on day 1; trainers quickly do an introductory activity, set the observation task, and explain about the interview questions, and that trainees will be doing a profile of the class later. Trainees are involved in the getting to know youactivities. Giovanni said he liked the sound of Cathy’s Day 1 schedule, but that they don’t usually have TP on day 1, keeping it as an orientation day. They do tutor observations on day 2 and day 11.
TP Length
Amy said she was used to a gradual increase (20min, 30 min, 60 at both levels) but had also done 8 x 45min. “I'd like to have no TP on the last day (good buffer in case of absence!)” Cathy switched to 8 x 45 min a number of years back, before that it was 6 x 40 min and 2 x 60. “8x45 means we can have 2 days with no TP during course. And those are usually Fridays wk 2 and 3”.Sandy considered this from an employer’s point of view: often post-CELTA trainees say they have never taught more than 45 minutes which can be a problem. It was agreed that 60 minutes at each level let trainees develop and show a bit more, as well as preparing them for the real world. Cathy said she missed having the 60 minute lessons but really loves having 2 middle Fridays with no TP, and no one ever having more than 2 obs TPs in a week.Ali, a post-trainee, added that 45 mins felt long enough!Adi said that the standard across India is 6 x40 , 2x60 (with 2 90 minute input sessions). Giovanni’s advice was to decide the TP rota once the number of candidates is organised as it’s easier to play with the timetable.
Feedback: Hot or Cold?
Cathy said they’d done both and felt it doesn’t make much of a difference. Darren has never tried cold feedback. Sandy believes hot feedback stops them from stressing about it for so long - cold might mean no sleep overnight if they think they've done badly! Cathy agreed that if TP is on Friday evening they do it right away; it seems cruel to make them wait till Monday to find out how they've done. And everyone might have forgotten. Sandy said she requires the written self evaluation immediately after they've taught, so they can look at that again before the spoken feedback if they need to.Fiona suggested a combination of both could work - e.g. Hot: notes around given Q prompts and Cold: more detailed reflection using hot notes and feedback. Amy floated the idea of a standard reflection form with space for the trainer to add an extra question as they watch the lesson, before handing the form to the trainee as they finish. Amy suggested the day could run: GLP -> TP -> lunch -> input -> feedback, though Darren didn’t think inputs would work before feedback. Sandy agreed feedback should be first to avoid them stressing. Cathy agreed that FB first was the best approach: “a little time to think and calm down over lunch, but not enough to forget everything. Works for me! Also, I have time to finish written fb”.
Favourite input sessions that aren't required by syllabus
Amy is considering setting the Lessons from the Classroom Assignment early on, coupled with a session on reflecting / writing reflectively to really get the most out of it. It would be ideal to encourage a reflective diary, though we need to avoid giving them any more work! Sandy agreed that it’s the main input session missing from every course she’d ever done. And it's why many of them have no idea how to fill in the post-lesson evaluation - basically a test of reflection skills! Think it should be a day 1 session.
Do you reference criteria in TP feedback?
Sandy worried that trainees don’t ever understand criteria referencing, so she’d rather not reference the criteria in feedback, though she agreed it can help you to notice/point out patterns. Often comments are difficult to shoehorn into criteria too!Cathy said they don't reference the criteria in FB (used to a long time back). “We concentrate on Classroom Management in week 1, but we don't have a set list of what to look at each stage”.
Transcript
and here it is! Many thanks Amy @admiralwamy
CELTA Chat 4thFebruary 2019: Designing a dream (but possible) CELTA course
What time of day is best for TP?
Cathy said she has had both morning and evening TP but morning is better if it's practical. “Gets the teaching out of the way so candidates aren't thinking about it during input” – this was agreed by everyone present as a good way of reducing stress on the course. Morning TP can also help boost attendance if it doesn’t class with the school run. Sandy pointed out that one of the hardest things can be getting TP students so it’s best to fit the timetable around them! One possibility for larger cohorts is having 2 different TP sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) in order to accommodate the maximum number of students.
TP on Day 1?
Cathy: On Day 1 we have the tutor teach for 90 minutes, including getting to know youactivities and giving trainees an observation task on classroom management, and then have them interview the students for 45 mins (for the Focus on the Learner assignment). Sandy agreed that this can take the pressure of trainees on day 1 and gives them a good idea of what they are aiming for. Cathy said it leads nicely into the Classroom Management session. It does mean that trainees plunge into it pretty fast! They arrive at 8.30am on day 1; trainers quickly do an introductory activity, set the observation task, and explain about the interview questions, and that trainees will be doing a profile of the class later. Trainees are involved in the getting to know youactivities. Giovanni said he liked the sound of Cathy’s Day 1 schedule, but that they don’t usually have TP on day 1, keeping it as an orientation day. They do tutor observations on day 2 and day 11.
TP Length
Amy said she was used to a gradual increase (20min, 30 min, 60 at both levels) but had also done 8 x 45min. “I'd like to have no TP on the last day (good buffer in case of absence!)” Cathy switched to 8 x 45 min a number of years back, before that it was 6 x 40 min and 2 x 60. “8x45 means we can have 2 days with no TP during course. And those are usually Fridays wk 2 and 3”.Sandy considered this from an employer’s point of view: often post-CELTA trainees say they have never taught more than 45 minutes which can be a problem. It was agreed that 60 minutes at each level let trainees develop and show a bit more, as well as preparing them for the real world. Cathy said she missed having the 60 minute lessons but really loves having 2 middle Fridays with no TP, and no one ever having more than 2 obs TPs in a week.Ali, a post-trainee, added that 45 mins felt long enough!Adi said that the standard across India is 6 x40 , 2x60 (with 2 90 minute input sessions). Giovanni’s advice was to decide the TP rota once the number of candidates is organised as it’s easier to play with the timetable.
Feedback: Hot or Cold?
Cathy said they’d done both and felt it doesn’t make much of a difference. Darren has never tried cold feedback. Sandy believes hot feedback stops them from stressing about it for so long - cold might mean no sleep overnight if they think they've done badly! Cathy agreed that if TP is on Friday evening they do it right away; it seems cruel to make them wait till Monday to find out how they've done. And everyone might have forgotten. Sandy said she requires the written self evaluation immediately after they've taught, so they can look at that again before the spoken feedback if they need to.Fiona suggested a combination of both could work - e.g. Hot: notes around given Q prompts and Cold: more detailed reflection using hot notes and feedback. Amy floated the idea of a standard reflection form with space for the trainer to add an extra question as they watch the lesson, before handing the form to the trainee as they finish. Amy suggested the day could run: GLP -> TP -> lunch -> input -> feedback, though Darren didn’t think inputs would work before feedback. Sandy agreed feedback should be first to avoid them stressing. Cathy agreed that FB first was the best approach: “a little time to think and calm down over lunch, but not enough to forget everything. Works for me! Also, I have time to finish written fb”.
Favourite input sessions that aren't required by syllabus
Amy is considering setting the Lessons from the Classroom Assignment early on, coupled with a session on reflecting / writing reflectively to really get the most out of it. It would be ideal to encourage a reflective diary, though we need to avoid giving them any more work! Sandy agreed that it’s the main input session missing from every course she’d ever done. And it's why many of them have no idea how to fill in the post-lesson evaluation - basically a test of reflection skills! Think it should be a day 1 session.
Do you reference criteria in TP feedback?
Sandy worried that trainees don’t ever understand criteria referencing, so she’d rather not reference the criteria in feedback, though she agreed it can help you to notice/point out patterns. Often comments are difficult to shoehorn into criteria too!Cathy said they don't reference the criteria in FB (used to a long time back). “We concentrate on Classroom Management in week 1, but we don't have a set list of what to look at each stage”.
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