How to summarize Ø Work in pairs. Student A Ø Read the following text and write a sentence expressing its overall idea: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Motivating students One of the most difficult aspects of becoming a teacher is learning how to motivate your students. It is also one of the most important. Students who are not motivated will not learn effectively. They won’t retain information, they won’t participate and some of them may even become disruptive. On the other hand, motivated students are more excited to learn and participate. Simply put: Teaching a class full of motivated students is enjoyable for teachers and students alike. Here are five effective ways to get your students excited about learning: Students look to teachers for approval and positive feedback, and are more likely to be enthusiastic about learning if they feel their work is recognized and valued. You should encourage open communication and free thinking with your students to make them feel important. Be enthusiastic. Praise your students often. Recognize them for their contributions. If your classroom is a friendly place where students feel heard and respected, they will be more eager to learn. One way to encourage students --- and teach them responsibility --- is to make them participate in the lesson. You can make it fun by giving each student a job to do. Give students the responsibility of tidying up or decorating the classroom. Assign a student to erase the blackboard or pass out materials. If you are going over a reading in class, ask students to take turns reading sections out loud. Make students work in groups and choose each a task or role. Giving students a sense of ownership allows them to feel accomplished and encourages active participation in class. Setting expectations and making reasonable demands encourages students to participate, but sometimes students need an extra push in the right direction. Offering students small bonuses makes learning fun and motivates students to push themselves. Bonuses can range from small to large --- giving a special privilege to an exemplary student, to a class pizza party if the average test score rises. It gives students a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to work with a goal in mind. Avoid monotony by changing around the structure of your class. Teach through games and discussions instead of lectures, encourage students to debate and enrich the subject matter with visual aids, like colourful charts, diagrams and videos. You can even show a movie that effectively illustrates a topic or theme. Your physical classroom should never be boring: use posters, models, student projects and seasonal themes to decorate your classroom, and create a warm, stimulating environment. “When will I ever need this?” This question, too often heard in the classroom, indicates that a student is not engaged. If a student does not believe that what they’re learning is important, they won’t want to learn, so it’s important to demonstrate how the subject relates to them. Amaze them by telling them that they may use it in their career. Showing them that a subject is used every day by “real” people gives it new importance. (Adapted from: http://teach.com/what/teachers-change-lives/teachers-motivate) Ø Read the text again and identify the main idea in each paragraph. Focus on the key words. Ø Check with another Student A. Did you identify the same information? Ø Identify this vocabulary in the text and get the meaning from the context. List the synonyms, explanations etc. below next to the words and phrases. If you get stuck, you may use: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ 1) to motivate = 2) to be/become disruptive = 3) approval = 4) to participate in sth. = 5) to pass out sth. = 6) demand = 7) lecture = 8) subject matter = 9) visual aids = 10) be engaged = Ø Write the main ideas into bullet points so that you can use them to sum up the text using your own words. Student B Ø Read the following text and write a sentence expressing its overall idea: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ How can teachers avoid burnout? All of us feel tired, even exhausted at times, but this is perfectly normal if you have a full schedule. But when the sun is shining and you have a lesson with a motivated group of learners, but still feel unable to face the day, then you are probably on the way to burnout. Professional burnout is not simply the result of being overworked and underpaid. It can be the result of prolonged stress, and emotional fatigue, feeling isolated and not respected. The condition affects job performance and it is contagious; it may even result in physical illness. Burnout often affects people in helping professions: lawyers, doctors, social workers, managers and teachers, among others. For teachers, working with students means constantly trying to respond to their needs while simultaneously meeting the various demands of the organisation. When teachers feel that there is a mismatch between all these demands and the available resources they have for coping with them, stress is induced. The usual culprits mentioned are: lack of time, ideas, materials, expertise and support. There are three areas associated with this condition: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, (negative relation to) personal accomplishment. In the case of a teacher, the symptoms of emotional exhaustion would include frustration, a lack of interest in teaching, a reluctance to try out anything new, and the blaming of students or the institution for the lack of success. Depersonalisation is marked by cynicism, poor attitudes towards students, colleagues and the school itself, a lack of contact with others, and growing isolation. Teachers on the road to burnout may not greet their colleagues. They might avoid eye contact, choose not to share their classroom experiences or make no time for socialising. Teachers suffering from burnout view personal accomplishment negatively: they don't set goals, and have low self-confidence. Professional jealousy adds to the frustration. Relationships suffer, not only professionally – a burned-out person often has an empty private life. Burnout is not simply a mood or a psychological state. Emotional, cognitive and physical exhaustion is common among people suffering from burnout, often leading to physical and health-related consequences. The loss of sleep is perhaps the most typical example, but there may be more serious consequences that need medical treatment. The social effect is also important. Burnout is not an individual problem, it is contagious: a burned-out teacher in the staff room will affect others. Moaning and groaning, not getting involved in activities going on around them – this way of behaving can become accepted, influence others and eventually come to define the climate of the staff room. To avoid burnout school management can play an important part. Rationalising administrative duties, creating a time slot for teachers to share ideas and learn from each other, encouraging teacher co-operation, initiating and valuing innovations, setting up a mentor system for new colleagues – all these are possible in a well-managed educational team. Creating a good staff room climate is crucial for teachers to stay motivated and positively involved. Teaching is a solitary job. Although we are with our students all the time, it is not our students but our colleagues who form our professional community. Their ideas are important and their appreciation counts. Understanding professional burnout can help us see the first signs while it is still relatively easy to prevent it at more serious stages. A good professional community is the most powerful tool for helping teachers avoid burnout. Building such communities is the shared responsibility of school management and teachers, and can lead to the benefit of all. Adapted from: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-can-teachers-avoid-burnout Ø Read the text again and identify the main idea in each paragraph. Focus on the key words. Ø Check with another Student B. Did you identify the same information? Ø Focus on the words in bold in the text and get the meaning from the context. List the synonyms, explanations etc. below. If you get stuck, you may use: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ a full schedule on the way to being overworked and underpaid contagious personal accomplishment a reluctance to the blaming of Emotional, cognitive and physical exhaustion positively involved shared responsibility Ø Write the main ideas into bullet points so that you can use them to sum up the text using your own words. Ø Work in pairs of Students A + Student B and sum up the important ideas you have learned from the articles. Ø Discuss the ideas together. Do you agree with the articles and the solutions they suggest? What is your experience with these challenges? Ø Think of a topic in the field of education that you are interested in. Find an article/text online (at least 500 words long) that talks about the topic. You are going to make a short video of yourself summarizing the information in the article and talking about your own experience with the issue.