Backwards Mapping

Good evening everyone! Welcome back to my blog, it's been a short while, eh? Right now it's a cool 70 degree evening in Yeosu. It's early June, so the dog days of extreme humidity haven't hit us yet. I wanted to take advantage of the great weather, so I am sitting outside at one of my favorite coffee shops typing away!  

My after school English club posing for "selfies."

For those of you who are new to my blog, I just renewed for my third year as an English (ESL) teacher at an all boy's middle school in Yeosu, South Korea. I teach ESL to grades 7, 8, and 9. I love teaching at my school and I love teaching my students. They are a good bunch of "kids." I teach 21 hours a week to 460 students. I also have an after school English club that meets three times a week!  Teaching full time, conducting an after school English club, and doing TEACH-NOW keeps my plate full. I forgot what it's like to have free time! 

Now on to business, today's blog topic: Backwards mapping (lesson planning turned upside down, starting with the objectives, then creating lessons and activities for students). As far as the standards that I am using for my classes, I am implementing 2 standards from TESOL.org.  I am teacher in the Korean public school system and all standards created by the Ministry of Education are printed in the Korean Language. Because all South Korean ESL teachers are required to be TESOL/TEFL certified, I chose TESOL.org's standards as their standards are the general "go to" for ESL teachers around the world. South Korea hosts its own chapter of the TESOL association called KOTESOL; my provincial chapter meets monthly in the city of Gwangju.

I didn't choose these two particular standards just for this unit's assignments, I chose them because I use them EVERYDAY and as an ESL teacher, I live by them. Almost every single lesson that I teach implements these 2 standards in some way. The 2 standards are as follows:

• Usage of the four language domains: Speaking, listening, reading, and writing. 
• English language learners communicate for social, intercultural, and instructional purposes within the school setting.

                                        

Proficiencies 

Proficiency 1: Increase writing opportunities

Goal: Students will engage in a weekly writing activity that will focus on         developing a certain skill such as creative vocabulary use, the correct               format of a sentence or the peer evaluation (through group work).

Activity: Mind mapping! We usually do at least two short writing activities within that time. I assign a topic and shout "go," and students have five minutes with their peers to write their response or group essay. Mind mapping has become a favorite activity with my students. Mind mapping has expanded my students' vocabulary knowledge by "light years!" It is a fun way for them to associate and remember English words. Mind mapping, I have found is a better way for them to remember and retain newly learned vocabulary. 

In lesson 4 we learned about boat schools in Cambodia!

Assessment(s): Direct observation by teacher (me) and peer observation (group critique). When students contribute to a group writing project (always on the dry erase white boards) and present the group answer or response to the class, students are less likely to feel "judged" individually. It's the group answer/written response that is being critiqued which gives them a sense of anonymity (this is very important to Korean students as classroom culture is Confucian collectivism as opposed to individuality). After each group presents their white board answer to the class, we "deconstruct" the sentence together as a class for us to "improve together." I have found that my Korean ESL students are more open to being critiqued when it is done in this manner rather than with a red "x" on their work which is the way Korean teachers I want to focus less on mechanics and more on the message. I always tell my students that grammar is important, but expressing you how feel is even more important!

Proficiency 2: Increase speaking opportunities (to foster confidence)

Goal: I cannot overstate how important this proficiency is. It is my "mission," if you will! My goal is to have every student speak at least twice every single class. There is a huge gap in my classes in speaking ability. The students that attend hagwon (private academy) speak well and can carry a conversation. The students who do not attend after school hogwans struggle with responding to "how are you?"

The Korean school system teaches students to memorize grammar for testing. The average Korean student's grammar is probably much better than the average American. However, they cannot speak the language. Many Korean students take the TOEIC exam to assess their English knowledge and they score high. A high school is desired for admission to a prestigous university or job interview. However, if you ask them where the bathroom is, they stumble and are unable to speak. This is real problem and the Ministry of Education is fixing this problem by bringing native English teachers to Korea to teach conversational classes (me!). In my class we do a lot of "ping ponging."

Activity: Ping Pong warm up! This is an awesome activity and assessment rolled into one! I choose one student, that student stands up. I ask the student a question (usually over what is being studied in that particular lesson or unit), the student answers me, then they get to choose their friend, and the friend stands up....and so on, so on. It takes pressure off the students, because it is not me, the teacher, that is calling them out to speak. It's their peers/classmates, and it works well. My students smile and have a good time with that because I give points. I keep a running tally on the front board. If students ask the question without emotion or sound like a robot, they get a "minus one" point. If they read well with good pronounciation, then their team get's a point. If they have speak loudly, clearly, and with good intonation and pitch (along with emotion), they get 2 points. This has increased their speaking confidence tremendously. When a student is choosing who they will select to speak with, all of the students are raising their hands, saying "me, me, choose me!" It is music to my ears! I don't correct them either while they are speaking. I never single out a student. After the exercise is over, I usually say to them, "hey guys, I noticed we were saying that, but we should be saying this! I like

Proficiency 3: Increase cultural awareness

Goal: To raise my student's cultural awareness by doing a group project in EVERY. SINGLE. UNIT. My students, though I love them, aren't exactly the most culturally aware students. In fact, many times they say things that come across as racially insensitive. They don't mean to, but they live in one of the most homogeneous societies in the world. When I showed them a video on South Africa, they were shocked! They think Africa is all huts, lions, and giraffes. They have many preconceptions on Americans, especially with our food and clothing preferences. I challenge my students and make them "think outside the box." I tell them to "throw out" everything they think they know about other cultures and start fresh. I find the ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to make my students think or "teach them a lesson" is to put them in someone's shoes and make them think about what that person experiences. My goal is to teach students at least one slang and cultural "tidbit" in every single lesson. The textbook English is stiff and at times, odd sounding. I tell my students that they need to learn the grammar, however, I teach them common slang usage as well. I told my co-teacher from the beginning that not only am I an ESL teacher but I'm also a cultural ambassador. Why fly a teacher over from the USA if you don't take advantage of his cultural background?! I want my students to sound natural and speak confidently when they speak in English. When I explain everyday usage (my students have come to expect this), they ALL pay attention. They like and appreciate this and I've heard them use what they've learned in the hallway. (Insert smiley face here...proud teacher moment)!  

Activity: Choose a country and let's go there! Objective: you are no longer Korean! You are American, Canadian, or any nationality that you choose. You need to convince our class why your country is the best country to travel to. My students love competition, so they get into this. I give them a class period to research tidbits and create a travel poster and come up with a fun "selling point." The next class period; students present there findings and poster. We do cultural activities like this often, because in ESL, culture is just as important as grammar, I think. I think it is important to know some cultural background before attempting to speak that country's language. 

Assessment: Teacher observation (from me and my co-teacher). We interact with students during their presentation and ask questions. I call this "probing," I will ask my students many questions to assess their knowledge of what they are presenting. They do a really good job with this and impress me quiet often! 

References

Standards. (n.d). TESOL International Organization. Retrieved June 17, 2017 from: http://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/standards