Job Discussion Forums

[whynotme]

remembered Molly's deleted thread ...what makes a good teacher?...now please tell me according to you what makes a good student

[dmb]

Motivation is a good place to start, both intrinsic and extrinsic.

[31]

This has been extensively covered in the literature on learner training but on a personal note. Have you ever had the feeling during the first few lessons/days with an elementary class that you can tell which students will be successful and which won`t. You know the student who arrives early, goes over the book before the lesson, takes chances during the lesson without worrying about accuracy, thumbs through a dictionary, chats with you during break time, has a notebook for vocab, uses a highlighter pen, works at home, has extrinsic,intrinsic motivation, doesn`t miss classes, enjoys the classes, works well in pairs/groups, is open to new ideas etc.

[dmb]

OK point taken. But who is paying for the course? I think that makes a difference, or is that just because I'm Scottish

[justme]

Tolerance for ambiguity. Liking to read, also in the L1. An interest in music that goes beyond 'It has a good beat and I can dance to it'. Also, I've found that my best students are the ones who like like to write (poetry and stories) in the L1. Does all of this mean increased language awareness? Beneficial brain activity? Coincidence?

As for extrinsic motivation, it depends what kind. If English is a means to an end that they've decided themselves, then it works for them. But some of the worst students I've ever had were company students who were sent to learn by their companies under the threat of demotion or losing their jobs, and if they failed the course, the cost of it would be taken from their paychecks. Miserable people, but I felt really sorry for them being forced to study English after a 10 hour day plus the commute to Bakırk�y.

[whynotme]

[dmb]

Let's be honest here. In your everyday planning do you actually consciously take into account different intelligences. I'd like to think activities I do cover all of them but I never actually think "oh I should do an activity to aid my students who are strong in X intelligence"

[whynotme]

[dmb]

But do you? That is what I am trying to get at. we are aware of different learning styles but do you actually take this into account when planning?

[justme]

In everyday planning? No. But sometimes in the evenings or on the weekend when I'm thinking about students and what's working or not (then also thinking I should get a life because I'm actually thinking of students in my spare time), I get ideas for activities or topics that might appeal to, or be successful with the group or with certain based on intelligence type or interest...

Whynotme, do you really use Suggestopedia? What do you do with it? I could never quite get my head around that one, but after reading your post it suddenly struck me as a way to break up these upcoming dog days of summer school with the weaklings...

As for music intelligence (though I admit my knowledge of brain physiology has gone unused for so long it's almost forgotten), isn't the music part of the brain near or related to the linguistic centers?

I find engineers are good students. Historically at my school they are always the best ones. I don't know if it's because they're already clever and hard-working because they're engineers, or if they have a particular type of intelligence that's beneficial for language learning. But overall engineers have a high tolerance for ambiguity, and are better able to focus on patterns rather than relying on memorizing rules...

[dmb]

That's one to ponder. which profession makes the best learner? Teachers are the worst. Currently my best learners are accountants!

[justme]

Actually, that makes sense too. The math people are usually pretty good, especially ones that do �SS problems on the breaks for fun. I got lucky this year with a class of math majors and a class of engineering majors.

But for myself, while I'm not a spectacular language learner, I think I'm above average (though I wouldn't want to have me in my class). At the same time I'm a COMPLETE math retard. I had to ask someone how to work out percentages to do my grading. Then I promptly forgot and had to ask other people. It was such a basic question, my co-workers couldn't figure out what I was asking or why. I also can't do long division by hand. I was such a bad math student that in high school, one teacher said she'd pass me as long as I promised never to take another math class at that school.

Back to students, I've only had one good doctor, but he was a poet and musician on the side-- the other doctors have been crap. I've had some really good accountants and some great professional musicians. Businessmen are usually terrible. At Interlang we had an actor and he was an idiot, but I would think actors should be good. Maybe only good actors are good-- this guy's claim to fame was a Coco-Star commercial. Artists and architects are usually good. Bored housewives with advanced degrees are usually good.

[dmb]

On the topic of Maths teachers. When I was at school I once got an end of year report from one that said" this boy should have been drowned at birth" That wasn't very nice, was it. Would you ever write something like that?

[justme]

Yeah, why are math teachers so evil?

[dmb]

Why do North Americans say math and we civilised Brits say maths