English Teacher Training (No Longer Being Updated)

This blog was designed for my English Teaching Methodologies class in Japan. The course has ended but anyone who is interested about using blogs in teacher training ot education in general is encouraged to explore this site. We used the blog to exchange opinions about the course content, provide each other feedback on our practice teaching, and talk to current teachers. To see a blog that is currently active, please go to the English Teacher Discussion Forum.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Should English teachers call on shy students?

Last Saturday in your comments on the strength's and weaknesses of Reader's Theatre and a few weeks ago when you all critiqued my vocabulary teaching techniques, I noticed a common theme. Quite a few people wrote that the weak points of students acting out their class reading in front of class or a teacher using actual students to introduce new vocabulary (example: look at Naomi, she has LONG hair and Takeshi has SHORT hair) is that shy students will not like such activities. I was wondering do you think a teacher should encourage shy students to speak in front of the class or do you think that English teachers should just leave shy students alone? Why? If you think that English teachers should encouarge shy students to speak in front of the class, how can a teacher do this?

The above questions are optional. You DO NOT HAVE TO ANSWER THEM but I think your opinions would be very helpful for me, current English teachers, and aspiring English teachers.

Have a nice weekend!

posted by JH @ 3:43 PM  

3 Comments:

  • At 6:48 AM, Blogger Bee said…

    I usually start with volunteers and then as time goes by, gently suggest names and call the shy students to participate. If there are no volunteers at all (very rare), I explain why it is important to present orally and then draw the lot.

    I would say this would depend very much on the cultural context and how "safe" the students feel in the classroom. I seldom have problems with oral presentations in Brazil because most just love talking, performing, showing off and do not mind being corrected.
    Here, younger kids love being the models for new vocabulary as long as it is playful and no negative concepts are attached to students. Teens also like when I use their names in exercises.

     

  • At 6:22 AM, Blogger Jessica said…

    Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

    I have a deceased classmate site. It pretty much covers deceased classmate related stuff.

    Come and check it out if you get time :-)

     

  • At 10:07 PM, Blogger eLearning at Resource Bridge said…

    **eLearning**

     

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