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What teaching resources would you like your employer to prov

 
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Roger



Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:35 am    Post subject: What teaching resources would you like your employer to prov Reply with quote

Or what teaching materials would you like to own yourself?

A colleague of mine put forward a suggestion that we be equipped with Macmillan English Dictionaries in the classroom; the sample I saw was a monolingual dictionary with illustrations - quite useful for Chinese English learners. The book costs around 38 kuai (printed in China).

There are other reference books that come in handy - dictionaries of colloquialisms, famous names or antonyms/synonyms. Some folks think a list of collocations is useful.

So, I wonder what's your take/suggestion(s)? COuld you leave some advice here? Where would you buy such materials? How much would you be willing to invest?

I have already checked out some catalogues and purchased a few reference materials including a Cobuild colloquialisms, an OUP dictionary of the English Language. The idea is to direct such suggestions to some book store. Thanks for your input!
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vikdk



Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 1676

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

a list of collocations - yeah man I want one of them - how much it cost???
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Sinobear



Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 1269
Location: Purgatory

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't get one at a book store, but I'd love to own a data projector. Project anything from a laptop, anywhere, anytime.

Hey, Rog, loan me 18K RMB? In return, I'll set you up with any/all of my exes.

Cheers!
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Voldermort



Joined: 14 Apr 2004
Posts: 597

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sinobear wrote:
Can't get one at a book store, but I'd love to own a data projector. Project anything from a laptop, anywhere, anytime.

Hey, Rog, loan me 18K RMB? In return, I'll set you up with any/all of my exes.

Cheers!


A 'built into the laptop OHP' would be an excellent invention. There are enough white walls around to project onto. No more hassle of booking the laptop and OHP, getting the students to fetch and set up, messing around with Chinese versions of windows etc...

Hey, I will give you 18k if you take my ex off my hands!
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kev7161



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I couldn't say EXACTLY what I would want, but wouldn't it be neat-o if, when you joined a school, they had a dedicated classroom devoted to the "art" of teaching English? Your textbooks are there, ready to be distributed and used. Posters adorned the walls (depending on grade level) with a variety of vocab., grammar rules, etc., a bookshelf full of dictionaries, thesauruses, mabye an atlas or two. A computer/dvd player/television/cd player . . . whatever electronic equipment you needed to make the lessons run more smoothly and be more engaging for the students, whiteboards with whiteboard markers that really worked and lasted more than a day or two, moveable desks so you could push them aside and have, you know, CONVERSATIONS amongst the students; a camcorder available to film the students while they spoke/performed so they could see themselves and learn from their mistakes, a library of CDs and DVDs that really spotlighted (spotlit?) key areas of English learning (Sesame Street for the younger crowd anyone?) - - that students could check out and take home and come back and report on what they watched or heard.

Finally, finally - - wouldn't it be extra neat-o if your class was given just as much weight as any other class when it came to passing and graduating? Where students were held accountable for their grades and, if they slacked off in class, it would have dire effects on their educational future.

Ahhh, the stuff that dreams are made of . . .
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no_exit



Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Kunming

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kev7161 wrote:
I couldn't say EXACTLY what I would want, but wouldn't it be neat-o if, when you joined a school, they had a dedicated classroom devoted to the "art" of teaching English? Your textbooks are there, ready to be distributed and used. Posters adorned the walls (depending on grade level) with a variety of vocab., grammar rules, etc., a bookshelf full of dictionaries, thesauruses, mabye an atlas or two. A computer/dvd player/television/cd player . . . whatever electronic equipment you needed to make the lessons run more smoothly and be more engaging for the students, whiteboards with whiteboard markers that really worked and lasted more than a day or two, moveable desks so you could push them aside and have, you know, CONVERSATIONS amongst the students; a camcorder available to film the students while they spoke/performed so they could see themselves and learn from their mistakes, a library of CDs and DVDs that really spotlighted (spotlit?) key areas of English learning (Sesame Street for the younger crowd anyone?) - - that students could check out and take home and come back and report on what they watched or heard.



We have something like this. Our teacher's office has all sorts of textbooks, dictionaries, DVDs, and CDs. Files are kept with previous teachers' lesson plans, worksheets, and game ideas. There are maps and globes. There are two big filing cabinets filled with flashcards. Markers, scissors, glue, etc. are there for when we need to use them in the classroom. We have tapes of every class taught by different foreign teachers, so that new teachers can get an idea what to expect when they come in. There are also two computers with internet access and two televisions with DVD players, and an LCD projector. What else ... two working photocopiers, a lamination machine, and a microwave. Not exactly what Kevin describes, but close.

I guess our school has money, or I should say, they know how to spend the money that they have in order to attract students and hence, make more money. Schools could learn from that principle. If you have a school that has all of the above, and the parents can see it, and then another school that has a blackboard and a bewildered looking foreigner, which one are you going to send your kid to? Maybe if more schools realized that very simple principle -- you have to spend money initially in order for it to come back to you in the long run -- then there wouldn't be so many sob stories about pay, lack of resources, etc.

Not that our school doesn't penny pinch in certain ways, but it is not usually at the students' expense. And nothing makes the parents angrier faster than rotating-door FTs, so they generally try to keep us pleased too.
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kev7161



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China

PostPosted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This year has been the first year for this special International class that I've been teaching. Next year, there will be a new 1st grade and my 2nd grade class. The following year, a 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade . . . etc.

Next year, I'll be sharing some textbooks with the new teacher and each of us will have our own as well. Also, we'll both need art supplies and other supplementary materials. My hope for next year is I can find a spare cupboard or closet or even a small, unused room and set up a resource center. A place where only the teachers of this special program can go to find what they need. Right now I have reading books and other texts that I don't use ALL the time, but only during a certain time of the year. The rest of the time, they've been stacked up here and there taking up room and creating clutter. I want to do away with that. I hope my school is accomodating next fall.
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pandasteak



Joined: 01 Apr 2004
Posts: 166

PostPosted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

chaulk...
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Russell123



Joined: 22 Sep 2005
Posts: 237

PostPosted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

air-conditioning
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