Many people think that the teachers have a lot of holidays during the year, well that can be true – what they do not know is that perhaps half of that time or sometimes more, we are researching new ways of presenting our subjects and the content in a more attractive format for our students.I believe that we need to allow ourselves time to explore new methods of teaching and, as a second language educator, my goal is to try to minimize the specific grammar that the students need to learn or at least present it to them in a more appealing way.
In addition, the ways that they learn have changed completely with the new technologies and the use of electronic devices. The time that they are able to “hold” their attention on you is scarily short.
For all these reasons, I personally believe that by creating your materials you can connect better with your own students and adjust the content to the topics that you are explaining in class. I also feel more confident and passionate about resources of my own creation.
When I am in the process of designing these new materials, I always have the below points in mind:
Make it as FUN as possible: The materials need to be fun in content and format, so you can connect easily with the students. They need to “forget” that they are learning another language. Engaging them from the beginning. This will also help to increase their participation in the lessons – key factor in their learning.
The materials need to be USEFUL: In my view, this means that the students can apply what they are learning to real life situations, ordering food, going shopping, booking a hotel room, and introducing themselves. So, the question that I will ask myself is: Are the material useful as well as fun? Will I be using these expressions in a Spanish speaking country if I was their age?
Create INTERACTION: When creating a story your students need to be part of it. Just to read the story to them it is not enough, they can finish the story, you ask questions about what is going on, or you can create a similar story with them.
Firstly, introduce all the vocabulary, adjectives, verbs, or expressions to them so it is COMPREHENSIBLE – that needs to be familiar for them to keep the focus and understanding. Creating the story with the topics and grammar that they are learning during the term will help me with this point: story at the school (school objects and subjects, facilities at the school, adjectives related with the teachers), going shopping (clothes, colours.) translate it with them first and then we read it again, answering basic or more complex questions depending on the year group.
Finally, all the materials must be ACCESSIBLE: I continue posting all the materials in Google Classroom, so my students can always access these, and they can send back their stories or questions.
Javier Vidal Spanish Teacher – IES Blouberg International School, SA
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