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Words of solace for a crammed semester
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are,” advised President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. These words of solace often comfort me when I stress myself out trying to cram too much material into lessons.
How can I cover everything that I want in a single semester? It’s just impossible. For every new activity, I must let an old one go. If I add a Youtube homework assignment, than I should eliminate another homework assignment to maintain the balance. For instance, I asked every student to find and review a YouTube video on interview skills so I had to cut the assignment where students found and summarize an article on job hunting skills.
As I continue to plan, adjust, and readjust assignments, I once again find solace in these words. Yet these continual curriculum revisions remain voluntary tasks in pursuit of excellence. “A problem,” noted Duke Ellington, “is a chance for you to do your best.”
School boards, education problems, and a new $350 million dollar high school!
Teaching remains an art, and excellence remains rare – especially in a bureaucratic age. The ancient Socratic methods and modern enlightenment ideals have increasingly fallen out of favor in American public schools – from elementary and middle school to high school and adult school.
The gap between the desires and needs of our students and the bureaucratic mandates of our local educational authorities grows wider with each day. For instance, my local school board just opened a new high school in Los Angeles that cost a mere $350 million dollars. That comes out to almost $200,000 per enrolled student – just for the building! The principal also boasted that the new building, Roybal Learning Center, was “graffiti-free”. Wow! Can you imagine that?
How did this happen?
“God made the idiot for practice. Then he made school boards.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910), American novelist and humorist
Unfortunately, Twain’s quip remains as relevant in the 21st century urban America as 19th century rural America.
Ask more. Know more. Speak more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
What are you doing differently this semester in your ESL class?
What are you doing differently this semester in your English class?
As a new semester begins, I face the familiar task – and pleasure – of selecting new materials and creating new forms for my oral skills class. One goal is to have students use the internet more; another to provide more opportunities for peer feedback on oral presentations.
Although I do not have a conversation class this semester, I do teach a high intermediate oral skills class that focuses on academic presentations. The students come from several Asian countries and are all graduate students – almost exclusively in engineering. Workplace surveys continue to identify communication skills, including speaking skills, as a top priority for employers – especially in engineering!
The class will include several informal, short presentations in addition to the longer, more formal presentations that receive a grade. Whenever possible, I prefer to give students to receive fairly immediate feedback, from their peers and me, on their presentations. Students, as a result, will read peer evaluations from the entire class after giving a short presentation like a product review, extended definition, or process description. To be effective, the form must be both simple and open… with some guidance. This collective feedback often validates instructor comments and prepares students to view their videotaped presentations in a more objective manner.
Here is my new form for peer evaluations of oral presentations.It emphasizes the positive aspects, inquires about what can be improved, allows more detailed observations, and provides a simple rating system. I have used a similar format with my engineering communication courses and expect that it will work in my ESL class too. Time will tell.
Feel free to copy, modify, or share the form to fit your ESL/EFL/speech classroom needs.
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<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Century Schoolbook”; mso-font-alt:Century; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:””; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:.75in 1.0in .75in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
STUDENT: ____________________________________________________
TOPIC: ____________________________________________________
PEER: ____________________________________________________
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GOOD TO SEE:
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POINTS TO WORK ON: |
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BEST PART:
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WEAKEST PART:
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OTHER OBSERVATIONS/TIPS:
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Please circle the appropriate overall rating:
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Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com
Conversation tip #15: Seek to Understand
Have you ever seen two emotional people talk past each other? Both talk and neither listen. Both want to tell the other, and don’t want to hear – or understand – what the other person is saying. This happens too often in stressful workplaces.
Stephen Covey, author of the international bestseller called “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, advises people “to seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Following this traditional wisdom can improve workplace relationships and communication.
What are some techniques that can help understand other people? Here are some tips:
- Listen first and avoid interrupting.
- Pause before speaking.
- Look people in the eye.
- Be curious.
- Ask “what” and “how” questions to get more information.
- Keep the voice down. Stay calm. Talk slow.
- Repeat or rephrase what people say to avoid misunderstandings.
What are some other tips to avoid misunderstandings or conflicts at work?
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What are some advantages of staying calm at work?
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Playing and Watching Sports
Have you been watching the Olympics? What has surprised you the most? Why? Who has inspired you? How?
The Olympics reminds us of heroism, sacrifice, excellence, and beauty. It can also spark many conversations.
Although I have not had the pleasure of teaching a conversation class recently, talking about sports always sparked many enjoyable exchanges – even among non-sports fans. This lesson, an except from Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for Advanced ESL students, remains a favorite.
Feel free to use it in your English classes. Let the conversations begin!
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PLAYING AND WATCHING SPORTS
“The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility.”
Michael Jordan (1963- ) NBA superstar
Chatting: Talking about sports can be a great ice-breaker. Just do it!
1. Did you play any sports as a child? Which ones? Which was your favorite?
2. Do you play any sports now? Which ones? Which is your favorite? Why?
3. Do girls and women play sports in your native country? If so, which ones?
4. What is the most popular sport in your native country?
5. What equipment or uniform is needed for this sport?
6. How is the game scored? How is a tie decided? What is considered a high score?
7. How long is a game? Are there referees? How do fans usually behave?
8. Which athlete is best known in your homeland? Which sport does he or she play? What do people admire about this athlete?
9. Does your native country participate in the Olympics? In which sports are your countrymen most competitive?
10. What are some team sports? Which do you play?
11. What are some individual sports that you know? Which do you play?
12. Do you prefer to play team sports or individual sports? Why?
13. Which is your favorite sport to watch? Do watch any annual televised sporting event? Have you ever gone to a sporting event? How did the fans behave?
14. Are you a fan of any special team? What do you like about them?
15. What is their nickname e.g. Chicago Bulls, New England Patriots?
16. What does their nickname hope to convey about the team?
17. Does your favorite team have a main rival? Why? Is there a team mascot?
18. Which American athletes are well known in your native land? Which ones?
19. What are some of the ways that athletes train for competition?
20. What do you think is the difference between a game and a sport? Is chess a sport? Is weight lifting a sport? Is golf a sport? Is politics a sport?
21. Who is your favorite athlete? Why do you especially admire this athlete?
22. Do you buy a certain brand of shoes or clothes because of an athlete’s endorsement? If so, which brand? Which athlete?
23. Can you name some sports that involve animals?
24. Is there any sport that you don’t play now, but that you’d like to learn?
25. Do you think any sport rules should be changed? Why?
26. If you could, would you outlaw any sports? Why?
27. Are there any sports which are legal in your homeland, but illegal in the United States? Why? Do you think these sports should be legal?
28. What are the differences between the way athletes are treated in your native country and the way athletes are treated in the U.S.? Which ways do you think are preferable?
29. Are there any disadvantages to playing sports? Examples?
30. What are some advantages to playing sports? How do you feel while playing?
31. If you could play against any athlete in any sport, what sport would you choose?
32. If you could go back in time and attend any sporting event, which would you pick? Why?
33. What makes a great athlete? Who do you think is the greatest athlete of our time? Why?
Vocabulary: Do you know all these words? Can you add 4 more words to this list?
athlete score mascot equipment competition referee nickname rival
endorse endorsement fan brand
Idioms: Try to guess the meanings of these idioms with your partner.
She’s a team player. She knows the game plan.
The biology test was a slamdunk.
The price you’re asking is in the ballpark.
When I caught Bob’s finger in the car door, he was a good sport about it.
You dropped the ball.
Quotations: Which quotations do you like? Can you add one more?
- “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”
Heywood Hale Broun (1888-1939), American sports journalist
- “If you don’t try to win, you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody’s backyard.” Jesse Owns (1913-1980), American with 4 Gold Olympic medals
- “Sports is the toy department of human life.”
Howard Cosell (1918-1995), sportscaster
- “Sports is like a war without the killing.” Ted Turner (1938- ), founder of CNN
- “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Yogi Berra (1925- ), American baseball coach
- “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” Jacques Barzun (1907- ), American historian
- “The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”
Bruce Lee (1940-1973), film star
- “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” Mark Twain (1835-1910), humorist
- “Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport in the world.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1859-1919), U.S. President, sportsman
- “…no boy from a rich family ever made the big leagues.”
Joe Dimaggio (1914- ), American baseball player
- “Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.”
Jesse Owns (1913-1980), 4 time Gold medalist in 1936 Olympic Games
- “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the ‘me’ for the ‘we.’” Phil Jackson (1945- ), L.A. Lakers’ coach
- “How can you think and hit at the same time?”
Yogi Berra (1925-), baseball player and coach
14. “There is no “I” in team, but there is in win.”
Michael Jordan (1963- ) NBA superstar
EXTENSION: Find a picture of an athlete, professional or amateur, playing your favorite sport. Cut it out, bring it to class, and describe the picture and its context.
WWW. Compelling Conversations.com
