Methodologies 1.0: "Eu Gosto muito de Trabalhar"

I call this teaching methodologies one point oh because I hope to return to this topic later. The next one will be two point oh.

1.0 I was speaking with Mauro this weekend about the Callan method. He bum rushed me with statements in Portuguese and gestured maniacally with his hand for me to repeat what he was saying. They were absurd statements like, "I like work" and so forth. But I said, "eu gosto de trabalar, eu gosto muito de trabalhar." He persisted with the statements and questions in this fashion, and as I repeated what he demanded I say, I began to feel the senstation of fluency. Words were just coming out of my mouth. Statements that I understood and statements that I did not understand. I would just say them as I heard them. I listened attentively to what he was saying, because he was speaking pretty quickly. I felt I could pick up on the accent, the musicality of the language, as well. I suppose these latter parts refer to the meter and cadence of the language. The placement of inflection and so forth.

The system felt like it worked. To this moment I can say, "eu gosto de trabalhar" like a real Brasilian.

Learning this phrase may have also had another effect on me. A subliminal one, perhaps, for now I want to work all the time. I, I can't help it, really.

1.1 I am a pedagogical assistant at a language school that teaches five languages. It is my job to sit in on "aulas" and observe 18 different teachers. This unique position allows me to a range of teaching styles, tricks, and lesson plans. The learning environment of the school is as such. The students sit facing a board. The room is blue and the floor is wooden. The ceilings are high and the windows are tall and open. There are white curtains. The students sit facing a desk and a large white board, the width of the entire wall. Each classroom looks like this, except for the "aulas particulares" that have nicer seats and movable little desks.

The spaces themselves, therefore, are contstants in the assessment of the teachers and the teaching method. The learning environment is thus mediated primarily by the instructor. There are no games or posters or computers. It is the teacher who must turn that space into a learning environment. At this point, I wonder, what are the advantages of being present? What is something I can do in the classroom that cannot be done over the phone or on the computer? What are the advantages of the social interaction. How can we contribute the the experience of learning?

This is achieve with lecture, and the style of information presentation. It is in the scaffolding of the information. That is, the way that lessons build upon one another, and the skills they are designed to promote. The pace is another element in the environment.

At Speaking, we seek to lead "alumnos" to a fluency via speaking itself. We want our students to talk as much as possible. There are two settings for this. One is in a "turma" or cohort, and the other is in a "particular" or private lesson. Conversations in turmas are achieved by raising a topic for discussion after certain vocab has been learned. The idea is to use correctly the words and grammar one has learned.

1.2 I can recall at least one article I read that claimed an understanding of grammar is paramount to the acquisition of another language.

1.3 I am reading Scriviner's Learning Teaching now. I'm not too far into it so there isn't much I can say. He's begun by talking about teaching as "management". Combining the ideas about with the little that I know of Teaching Learning the management style contributes to the environment of the class. It established a several social dynamics, and thus, perhaps, the limitations that accompany them.

1.4 What kinds of social settings promote learning? During which moods do we learn best, or are we most willing to learn?

1.5 Hypothesis: Would a class benefit from a "free time" during which students can do anything they want so long as it relates to the subject matter being discussed? The room and its learning tools, whether limited or not, are free to use for any purpose relating to the instructions given. This could either be a warm up (introduction) or a cool down (conclusion), or both. The middle (body) of the class should have within it other social dynamics and the nature of the social restrictions should be designed to change from being to end.