Loops for creating Learning Paths

 I'm getting more and more hooked on creating Learning Paths and Journeys for students to work through. I believe this is one strategy for nurturing self-directed learners.

https://loops.education/

Definite vs Indefinite Article in English

 When teaching the use of definite vs indefinite articles, ESL teachers often resort to the "first mention vs second mention" rule. In this interactive cloze passage which I have created to use with students in my Language Awareness course (you can give it a try), I have taken two texts from Hung (2005) which totally defy that rule. Both texts begin with the same sentence, which is "I've bought a new car." But subsequent sentences use the definite and indefinite articles in completely different ways. 

So, what is the alternative to relying on often over-simplified grammar rules? To me, the answer is always this: Language Awareness training. 

Hung, T. T. N. (2005). Understanding English grammar : a course book for Chinese learners of English. Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press.

https://learningapps.org/display?v=pxx431psc20&fbclid=IwAR2iKXk__YUGxM9WyrUvp1qcuJ2_x3b1n_INDoUVvwwi9bZdv1TcQ3GkME0

Remote vs 面授

 開學兩星期，發現現時的remote 形式，往往兩小時便完成以前兩個半小時面授課同等內容和活動。缺少了面對面的人際溝通，但上課的效率卻奇佳。這當中有值得思考的地方，當然前提是學生像我現時的一樣，有充足的學習心理準備。

最難的一堂課

 前天是Teachers Day, 本來是讓人們對教師表示謝意的，但我卻想起年前看過的一齣四分鐘微電影：「最難的一堂課」，片中的老師面對各種困難: 家長的吹毛求疵，永遠追不上的課程進度，學生的反叛，學校的只求公開試成績，教人和教書的挣扎....，這幾位老師每天面對這樣的處境，不得不問自己：「如果有一張好老師畢業證書，我有沒有資格從學生手中接過來?」

碰巧前天也是今年part-time PGDE的第一課，學員都是廿來歲的新教師，也許還未遇上這樣的心理鬥爭，我於是想起一個課堂活動，就是請他們觀看這段短片，然後寫一段短短的反思: Why do I want to become a teacher?

昨天看過他們寫的反思，都是很積極的：希望幫助青少年成長，希望做有意義的工作，希望幫學生學好英文;這也好，誰也不能保證自己將來會變成怎樣，起碼這一刻他們都是從心出發。

將來在漫長的教學生涯中，他們幾乎必然會遇到挫折，希望他們仍然會記着初心，仍然會問自己：「如果有一張好老師畢業證書，我有沒有資格從學生手中接過來?」

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=335105797125454