Woohoo! I have a Flcikr Badge! For what purpose I don’t know. But it looks cool and when you click on it you do get whisked off to my Flickr page! And my Flickr page is a good place to be whisked off to, so I thought I’d post it here!
Woohoo! I have a Flcikr Badge! For what purpose I don’t know. But it looks cool and when you click on it you do get whisked off to my Flickr page! And my Flickr page is a good place to be whisked off to, so I thought I’d post it here!
It’s a sad fact that an awful lot of English teaching is a complete waste of time. There are several factors for this, but a major one is when a student has unrealistic expectations and goals. A fellow teacher once suggested that 80% of all he does is a waste of time. I looked back at my students of the last year and found he wasn’t far off with that percentage. So how to encourage, motivate and take the students to the next level, without them falling into a depression because they haven’t become fluent speakers in the first three months?
Right from the outset, explain fully and frankly what they are letting themselves in for. Make sure they appreciate that their level of English is not going to shown any sudden improvement from an hours class once a week. They need to commit themselves to three hours weekly as a minimum. Make sure they understand that learning English is a long term thing. Significant improvements become most clearly visible, months and years into a course not days and weeks later.
But also make sure that they know that if they stick to it, they will get there. Encourage them to do the fun things - reading poetry, watching the Simpsons, chatting on the internet - in their free time. Make sure they know that every minute of practice, no matter how trivial it may seem, is of value.
Set quarterly targets. Test them, show them where they have improved. Point out things they get right that they used to get wrong. Don’t rush through course books, which is often a temptation. Ensure they understand that progress isn’t measured simply by the number of pages completed. You do sometimes need to be a motivational leader of sorts - one of the big issues with many students is confidence, and their lack of it. One of the most significant and most sudden improvements you can get from a student is if you are able to instil in them a little confidence in their ability.
It’s a sad fact that an awful lot of English teaching is a complete waste of time. There are several factors for this, but a major one is when a student has unrealistic expectations and goals. A fellow teacher once suggested that 80% of all he does is a waste of time. I looked back at my students of the last year and found he wasn’t far off with that percentage. So how to encourage, motivate and take the students to the next level, without them falling into a depression because they haven’t become fluent speakers in the first three months?
Right from the outset, explain fully and frankly what they are letting themselves in for. Make sure they appreciate that their level of English is not going to shown any sudden improvement from an hours class once a week. They need to commit themselves to three hours weekly as a minimum. Make sure they understand that learning English is a long term thing. Significant improvements become most clearly visible, months and years into a course not days and weeks later.
But also make sure that they know that if they stick to it, they will get there. Encourage them to do the fun things - reading poetry, watching the Simpsons, chatting on the internet - in their free time. Make sure they know that every minute of practice, no matter how trivial it may seem, is of value.
Set quarterly targets. Test them, show them where they have improved. Point out things they get right that they used to get wrong. Don’t rush through course books, which is often a temptation. Ensure they understand that progress isn’t measured simply by the number of pages completed. You do sometimes need to be a motivational leader of sorts - one of the big issues with many students is confidence, and their lack of it. One of the most significant and most sudden improvements you can get from a student is if you are able to instil in them a little confidence in their ability.
So Capello is the man to lead us (hopefully) to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Obviously, football is the most important thing in life, so this appointment was of the utmost national importance! Am I happy with Capello’s selection? I’m not unhappy, is the best way to put it. There are a couple of others I would have preferred, but they simply weren’t interested. In my opinion, the FA should have selected a manager who fitted the vital criteria. He should be a ‘winner’ at domestic level at least - and a regular one. Picking up the Carling Cup once isn’t close to being good enough. I want league titles in the CV. He needs to be experienced within the European Champions League. And he should know the English game.
Being English nationality wise was preferable, but not a necessity. In fact, based on my three criteria, I had ruled out every single English manager. Some of the names being touted, such as Curbishley and Redknapp, have experience in keeping teams away from relegation. With the odd good season challenging, but failing, to qualify for Europe. Managing to motivate lesser players to perform above there level, which is the bottom of the Premier League, is not the right qualification for an England manager.
My criteria ruled out everyone bar Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Martin O’Neill and Kenny Dalglish. Mourinho was the only one to really take an interest, but in the end he decided it wasn’t for him. O’Neill fits the criteria, but his wins have come in Scotland. Dalglish has been out of the game too long. Time for compromises… The pros to Capello? He is truly a winner. I’m not sure there is a more succesful manager in the game. He’s also a very strong personality, who I suspect won’t take any nonsense. The last two managers have failed there, particularly Eriksson, big time.
We need a guy who will take on the Premier League managers when it comes time to release players for internationals. We need a guy who will put prima donna attitudes where they belong. Capello just falls down in one area for me. He’s never managed in England. We play a different game here. I don’t believe it’s any good trying to get England to play a continental style. They play the English game week in and week out. It’s a style that’s won plenty for the domestic teams in Europe. We should play to out strengths, not try and adapt to other teams strengths. I hope he appreciates English football for what it is and doesn’t go all Italian on us! Time will tell. I am optimistic. Far more so than when McClaren was appointed anyway!
So Capello is the man to lead us (hopefully) to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Obviously, football is the most important thing in life, so this appointment was of the utmost national importance! Am I happy with Capello’s selection? I’m not unhappy, is the best way to put it. There are a couple of others I would have preferred, but they simply weren’t interested. In my opinion, the FA should have selected a manager who fitted the vital criteria. He should be a ‘winner’ at domestic level at least - and a regular one. Picking up the Carling Cup once isn’t close to being good enough. I want league titles in the CV. He needs to be experienced within the European Champions League. And he should know the English game.
Being English nationality wise was preferable, but not a necessity. In fact, based on my three criteria, I had ruled out every single English manager. Some of the names being touted, such as Curbishley and Redknapp, have experience in keeping teams away from relegation. With the odd good season challenging, but failing, to qualify for Europe. Managing to motivate lesser players to perform above there level, which is the bottom of the Premier League, is not the right qualification for an England manager. My criteria ruled out everyone bar Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Martin O’Neill and Kenny Dalglish. Mourinho was the only one to really take an interest, but in the end he decided it wasn’t for him. O’Neill fits the criteria, but his wins have come in Scotland. Dalglish has been out of the game too long. Time for compromises…
The pros to Capello? He is truly a winner. I’m not sure there is a more succesful manager in the game. He’s also a very strong personality, who I suspect won’t take any nonsense. The last two managers have failed there, particularly Eriksson, big time. We need a guy who will take on the Premier League managers when it comes time to release players for internationals. We need a guy who will put prima donna attitudes where they belong. Capello just falls down in one area for me. He’s never managed in England. We play a different game here. I don’t believe it’s any good trying to get England to play a continental style. They play the English game week in and week out. It’s a style that’s won plenty for the domestic teams in Europe. We should play to out strengths, not try and adapt to other teams strengths. I hope he appreciates English football for what it is and doesn’t go all Italian on us! Time will tell. I am optimistic. Far more so than when McClaren was appointed anyway!
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