A few minutes ago I wanted to update my Facebook status with something little about May. So I wrote down the first thing, then the second and soon I realized that I could go on endlessly about May. How could I write only a sentence about May?  And not only that, I am getting back to May after a year when I wrote about cherries and I can see even more magic in it now.

Every now and then throughout my life I stumble upon fairies! As a child I was fascinated when my grandparents told me about fairies living under the walking-fern. My grandmother who had all kinds of herbs in her garden told me that there are always fairies in thyme because they can’t resist its scent and I even got my MA for writing (partially) about fairies.

Fairies have an important role in Slavic culture. Old Slavs describe several types of fairies living in the wood, water, air or even close to people’s homes.

Well, and May is somehow the most magical month in the year, the time when anyone can find fairy somewhere, the time when people are closer to nature and more willing to believe the fairies could possibly be out there. The herbs like lavender and thyme are in bloom, the fragile cherry blossoms turn into tempting cherries that make you climb the trees no matter how old you are. The warm evenings are filled with the scent of lilacs and the buzzing sound of cockchafer wings as they fly around (and you suddenly find yourself brave enough to catch them and hold them in your hands for a while to feel their funny ticklish little legs). You can burn first fires and as the fire dies, you can spot fireflies in the woods…and night sky filled with the bright stars makes you want to stay out there all night long.

“The world’s favorite season is the spring.

All things seem possible in May.”

Edwin Way Teale

Sixpence None The Richer – Kiss me

]]> http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/05/01/magic-in-may/feed/ 2 http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/04/16/collaboration-in-staff-room/ http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/04/16/collaboration-in-staff-room/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:22:00 +0000 vladimiramichalkova http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/?p=499

We have a week on collaboration on the iTDi blog this week with new posts full of great ideas, tips and activities to use with your students. It seems like a pretty important week as the whole iTDi institute and community is all about collaboration.

http://itdi.pro/blog/

Steven Herder said :“Collaboration creates just the right amount of tension to get lots done.”

Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto added: “We are better when we work together”

and Chuck Sandy talks about gratitude – TED Talk audition

And I was again thinking about teachers for a change. The idea of iTDi is a great example of how and why collaboration works and benefits everyone included.

So why so many teachers in schools do not collaborate (support and encourage each other)?!

What can collaboration give you?

Since being a part of iTDi team and among some other great people in my school and online community, I can tell that collaboration brings feelings of belonging somewhere, helps confidence and broadens our horizons with new ideas and ways of doing things.

Why do some people still resist?!

Collaboration is of course about communication, sharing and giving. Not everyone feels secure or confident enough to do that for various reasons. Everyone has a different personality, with different opinions and “voice” in what they do and how they do it. We should always remember that and try to avoid any conflict that results from different attitudes as well as appreciate diversity and the strengths of others.

So if you already “tasted” that productive collaboration, go and take it to your school. Take your time, do it slowly and give your colleagues time to get used to it too.

Bring collaboration to your staff room through SURPR@ISE and praise one person every day for the nice and interesting things  they are doing or did. Tell them there is something you want to learn from them and surprise them with your support, ideas and true interest. Offer yourself and your ideas or activities that worked in your classes. Choose a project to work on together (try a  Lipdub activity or my activity on Writing&Speaking in stages between classes) because that’s an easy and fun way to get to know each other better and start to work together…better.

Maybe not everyone feels ready for online communities but everyone needs someone to turn to and share their sorrows as well as achievements. Be there!

]]> http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/04/16/collaboration-in-staff-room/feed/ 0 http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/03/31/teachers-diary/ http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/03/31/teachers-diary/#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:05:10 +0000 vladimiramichalkova http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/?p=494

Even now in the 21st century, I love the feeling of paper and pen in my hand. I love scribbling notes and sketching ideas. I feel “ready” when my notebook is with me everywhere I go.

I always look for the “best” one and I often buy new one as I pass the stationery store. Often unintentionally! Often with realization that I do not really need another one. Always happy!

I have kind of weird relationship with my notebook. I do my best to be faithful and use it to the fullest (last page) but I often fail finding another one with even better feature or design…or something I haven’t even considered before!

That’s for my confession as a notebook addict. However, I do use them seriously and effectively. I write down new ideas, observations from lessons, plans and projects to work on or nice things to remember.

Just recently, I learned one more thing about using notebooks: Just use them! Write every thought and don’t edit or wait for ones that may be better. Just fill one page after another. Very often I waited for the idea to be shaped or more developed before I put it down on paper and very often I ended up with blank pages. It works pretty well with just writing down everything.

Would you like to share about your relationship with notebooks? How do you use them/choose them?

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”  ~Sylvia Plath

]]> http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/03/31/teachers-diary/feed/ 8 http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/03/09/day-of-surprise/ http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/2012/03/09/day-of-surprise/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:21:15 +0000 vladimiramichalkova http://vladimiramichalkova.edublogs.org/?p=487

Springtime in a garden with some lovely new seeds! 

What’s On on Surpraise Day

We are all looking forward to upcoming International  Teacher  Development Institute webinar on March 3^rd (you have still time to register http://itdi.pro/webinar.html ) that will be about error correction in the classroom. As an introduction and a kind of warmer, there was a launch of the new iTDi blog where lovely and inspiring posts were shared on the same topic – http://itdi.pro/blog/.

However, today I was thinking about it and realized we tend to forget mistakes we, teachers, make. I know that it is not particularly interesting and for many teachers not even something they want to think about. I understand! I hate making mistakes in the classroom but no matter what, it happens.

Suddenly, I found myself with some questions to think about:

• Is it (or does it have to be) embarrassing experience for a teacher or rather an opportunity for connecting with your students on a more personal and human level?
• What does a teacher do when s/he makes mistake in the classroom?
• How do students react to teachers’ mistakes?
• How do you avoid making mistakes?

I may not have all the answers (or at least not answers that would work for everyone) but I think we all should start with thinking more about the roles teachers play in the classroom. Is a teacher an all knowing “encyclopedia”, a partner or a role model? I prefer to be thought of as a role model and partner – a person who is an example of a learner who found the way to learn that suits their personality, needs and expectations; a person who learned how to learn and is happy to share and help others on their way of discovery.

So is making mistakes embarrassing? It definitely is an embarrassing experience if you and your students see you as that “walking encyclopedia”. A teacher, native or not, does not have to know everything, does not have to have the correct answer all the time, does not have to come up with some miraculous solution for every problem students might have.

What do I do when I make a mistake? I connect with students! In fact, I connect with them even before that by empowering them, including them in decision making and leaving a part of the responsibility for learning/teaching in the classroom on them.  We communicate a lot in the process of learning/teaching, discuss things and when I am not sure, they are there (so many bright minds in one room) to help me and each other. And that is basically an answer for the rest of the questions I mentioned above. I don’t try to avoid mistakes.  I speak (really) with my students and I share my doubts that are sometimes English, sometimes Slovak language related.

We may sometimes stand alone in the front of the classroom. We may feel insecure by all that responsibility we have but by embracing our “humanity” as teachers we will really be there to help someone make a change and understand that it is always learning and not learning vs. teaching.

Last week I worked with three of my groups on storytelling. Wonderful and imaginative topic but I guess not that much when you have to come up with a story, write it and present it in 90 minutes in classroom. It is not always easy and so we often tend to give it as homework.

I decided to do it all in classroom and make it as fun as possible.

• We started with titles. After a short discussion we decided that a good title includes key words and evokes curiosity with a bit of mystery behind it. I handed out blank papers and asked them to write down the title; not thinking too much about the story behind it. Just title!
• Next step was swapping the papers randomly. Each student gets a paper with a title on it (as they already know, title has key words but the story is hidden). At that moment, student might get excited about the strange title and come to realization that soon they will write stories. Well, not really at that stage (surprising moment ).
• Ask your students to draw lines so that their paper is divided into 6 squares.

We talked about the parts of the story:

1^st square – what/who      2^nd square -where/when      3^rd and 4^th square – what happened (plot)     5^th square – climax          6^th square – feelings/impact of the story on the main character (“It was exciting/disappointing/thrilling/disgusting…”).

• They don’t write but draw simple sketches into each box.
• They swap papers again (you can give it back to person who wrote the title or random again) and think of the story behind the pictures. It is their turn now to write down the story using the pictures.
• Last stage is pair work (person who wrote the title and the story with the one who drew it). They sit together and compare the stories. Usually their stories differ at least a bit.

I found out that on one hand it saves a lot of time in the class when they works in such stages (when you just ask them to think about the story and write it down, it takes ages) and on the other hand they feel more secure and comfortable to share and present their stories because after all it is always the work of more than just one person!

I tried this way of telling the stories with kids as well as adults and levels from pre-intermediate to upper intermediate. They all really enjoyed it and were happy not only to share but also listen to other stories because their sketches and titles were interesting and evoked curiosity – they all did a great job!

…and at the same time lesson that was dynamic, meaningful and far more personal than unit from the coursebook.

Last week I talked about motivation with my students and when we were trying to describe it, I got an idea. Motivation, as we all know, means something else for everyone so why should we try to give it one definition?

I wrote down the word MOTIVATION and asked my students to think about the word. They had time to come up with a word for each letter that would be related to motivation as they understand it in their lives.

They had some really interesting words! They had to recycle their vocabulary a lot and were happy to learn some new if they needed. They all had it unique and after presenting their works, they found even more inspiration in the words of others.

I just finished reading the first book in 2012 – The 1% Solution for work and life by Tom Connellan. It was a book that I came across by accident and had no idea of its existence before. What a lovely coincidence tho!

Not only does it perfectly fit to one of my recent classroom activities – “Bookmark your dreams” but also encourages anyone who wants to be better and looks for some encouragement and advice.

What are your dreams and what do you need to do to achieve them?

How specific or big your dreams are?

How successful are you in achieving your goals and dreams in general?

These are some questions I asked myself after reading the book. I have to confess I feel like I know how to start! Just small steps at a time!

“It is more useful to compare you to you. What matters most is that you become 1 percent better than you.”

The key to reaching your goal is knowing where you want to go and which actions you need to do to get there-and then persistence and effort will get you there…you can think about tomorrow, and maybe dream a bit about future-but doing your best in the present has to be the rule.”

It is not a groundbreaking discovery but it is nice to be reminded and motivated

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” Stephen A. Brennan

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”  Confucius

1. I work on my dreams every day by taking small steps
2. I think carefully what actions get me there
3. Support is important
4. I try to challenge myself and change every day tasks to deliberate practice
5. I recharge my batteries

These are the points I try to remember – inspired by the book but personally adapted. What are your ways?

 Good luck with your goals!

Here is my student’s review. He did amazing job – not only reading the book but also writing his summary of it.

Dear Vladka,

I´m happy to  write you about my finish of reading your book. It was quite easy, but interesting reading. There are mine views about it:

1.)    Author tried to write instructional book with help easy story about young man named Ken and his „little changeover“.

2.)    Plot is very easy, Sometimes I had feelings, it was almost unrealistic, but evident.

3.)    Ideas are very good. Everyone should read these, success with small steps are better then big jumps. You were underlined some sentences, I could underlined little bit more.

4.)    When I´m thinking about it  I had had some experiences before I read this book. If I had started with something I realised failure was discourage for me. When I get little target I can achieve it easier and I shouldn´t fail in it. After this I can get news. I think It is one percent solution. Failure means to begin again and it is difficult sometimes.

Best,

Maroš.

It is my pleasure to inform you that on March 10th we are organizing a unique day full of presentations, workshops, fun and networking for teachers of English.

I will be happy to meet everyone who is interested in learning more and getting inspired and motivated.

 Live surpr@isingly!

“A single metaphor can give birth to love.”

 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

       SURPRISE + PRAISE

It’s amazing how a metaphor can help you see more clearly what you have always understood to be true. This is what happened to me when I used crayons to form a new word on the poster I was preparing for TESOL France last year. As I took the words surprise and praise and turned them into surpr@ise I saw how this word frames my philosophy about what happens in good classrooms. In the classrooms I enjoy most, teachers surprise their students with interesting tasks and activities. Then they praise them for trying new things and taking risks. This is what I do in my own classroom, too. It’s a simple but very powerful idea and I have been very happy to see that the idea of surpr@ise has begun to resonate with other teachers around the world as well and is now part of their working vocabulary.  Since on it’s first birthday this has become a small organic movement, now might be a good time to share some principles of surpr@ise.

       WORKING PRINCIPLES OF SURPR@ISE

1.     Surpr@ise is for everyone

Every single teacher can work with surpr@ise no matter what method or technique you use, no matter whether or not you like using coursebooks, no matter whether you are an experienced or newer teacher.  No matter what kind of class you teach,  I believe it’s important for both students and teachers to stay motivated and by doing so  to move education forward. You do this by providing students with unexpectedly interesting, even challenging tasks and activities, working with them as a fellow learner, and encouraging and praising them for their efforts and attitudes. That’s surpr@ise.

2.     Surpr@ise starts with your smile

Surpr@ise is not only about activities. It’s also about attitude. Most students have come from traditional classrooms where teachers teach in unsurpr@ising ways. As you introduce more unexpected activities into the classroom, some students might be a bit uneasy. If you have been a more traditional teacher, it might make you feel a bit uneasy at first, too. Take things slow.

Be gentle and encouraging with your students and yourself.  Start with a smile.

 3.  Provide a Map

As you introduce change into the classroom, make sure to explain the reasons for the change to your students. As you choose tasks over exercises, everyone needs to understand why. Of course students will see why when you finish doing a project, for example, and see the results but as they work, students need to see where things are headed. Show students the finished product and then break it down into small steps. This is like a map that leads to treasure. Without it, students are likely to get lost or lose their motivation.

 4.     Surprise should always be positive.

A whole body of research suggests that we learn more deeply when encountering anything surprising, shocking, strange or unique. In the world, it’s true that we tend to remember bad things that happen even more easily than we do ordinary everyday things. It’s also even more true that we not only remember but also hold on to the very good, happy things that happen to us. We want to remember things that made us feel good and happy because by remembering them we get to experience them again. This is why in the classroom we want to always

create positive experiences for our students. Create a meaningful context for what you want to teach. Make everyone feel good about what they are doing. Smile and make others smile as well.

 5.  Praise should be more than just words.

Everyone likes to be praised but simply saying good job or well done is not enough. Praise needs to be accompanied by useful feedback on how to move forward. This is why I like the idea of medal + mission.  Handing out medals is praise. Giving students feedback that allows them to see how they can become even better is the mission. As they work to achieve a goal or complete a project, students will see the results so you don’t really need to say too much — just enough to be encouraging while helping them keep the mission in mind.

 6.     See how surpr@ise works when you step back.

As your students work, step back far enough to allow them room to be creative and do things in their own way.  Don’t worry. You’re not about  to lose control in your classroom. If you include them in the planning and stay involved by empowering and encouraging them, then follow the medal + mission model of providing feedback as students work, they will very likely end up surpr@ising you with results better than you even expected.

This pretty much sums up my basic ideas about surpr@ise one year after I first came upon the idea. So far it’s been a really useful framework for me to think about teaching and learning. Still, like with any idea, it continues to change as I do and as more teachers share their ideas with me about surpr@ise in their own classrooms. If any of this resonates with you, I’d love to know about it and share ideas.

“Stay committed to your decisions,

but stay flexible in your approach.”  

 ps:  In November, I’ll be talking with teachers about surpr@ise at TESOL France and then giving a Pecha Kucha about creating surpr@ising environments in the classroom in Tokyo at the JALT (Japan Association of Language Teachers) Conference.