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I have been teaching for several years and have encountered a fair share of ups and downs in that time. The previous pages of teaching resources on this website represent successes at the various schools where I worked, obviously. But, there are also plenty of frustrations that I carry with me over the years. For the most part I vent, commiserate, troubleshoot and brainstorm with colleagues at school and other schools on those occasions when we meet at workshops or get-togethers. Also, I have given several workshops about pertinent EFL issues, and the preparations for these speaking engagements compel me to dwell on certain issues. After constructing all of these teaching resource pages, I think I am ready to publicly share my point of view on some issues that many of us face on a daily basis.
Differentiated Instruction for Differentiated Students
Differentiated Instruction for Differentiated Students
Spoiler alert: Differentiated teaching and co-teaching are two sides of the same coin. There is no point to co-teaching unless it is differentiated teaching. Differentiated teaching in the EFL classroom cannot be accomplished without co-teaching. They cannot be separated.
My training is EFL. The underlying foundations of all EFL schools of thought are psycholinguistics, pragmatics, constructivism and social constructivism. All theories and research paradigms assume normality. Our quantitative research approaches mathematically account for the "abnormals" through sampling techniques and sample sizes. When we address struggling or differently-abled language learners, we do so through the lenses of prevailing theories: such students are lower in the variables of interest, i.e., motivation, language aptitude, self-regulation, self-efficacy, strategic competence, etc. or, they are classified as one of the categorical variable groups: fixed mindset vs. growth mindset, field dependent vs. field independent, mastery orientation, performance-approach orientation, performance avoidant, etc.
But in reality--kids these days.... <eye roll> ... they got issues.
The issues can be classified by type and severity.
Learning styles/ intelligences
Learning styles/ intelligences
These issues are not severe and can even be very endearing. Everyone has different learning styles, even you, Teacher. Your own learning style heavily influences your teaching style. These are pretty intuitive, and can be teased out by observing how your students perform in class and on exams. These are not really issues, but some students may start to fall behind if you are heavily biased towards a teaching style that does not suit them.
Talkers/ communicators- very common among young ones
Bookworms/ literary-rare among youngsters, but students tend to evolve into this type as they approach teenage years
Growth mindset- resilient and always trying, almost blind to mistakes, and just keeps plowing forward
Fixed mindset- afraid of mistakes, afraid to try, can become reluctant learners
Visual learners-understand things by seeing connections, watching videos, seeing illustrations of objects and concepts
Auditory learners- can hear and imitate. Learn by listening.
Kinesthetic learners- like to move it, move it. Need motion to keep the brain alert and interested. Can learn through meaningful gestures that convey actions and concepts.
Trial and error learners- plow head on without any planning.
Strategic learners- use a variety of strategies or a few strategies very well. Regulate and plan an approach to solving a language learning task.
Learning difficulties
Learning difficulties
These are the issues that cause aggravations and headaches for EFL or any FL teacher. Language teachers must consult homeroom teachers to understand what difficulties individual students have and find out ways to address them in an EFL/FL class.
ADD/ADHD - will drive you nuts, but much worse--a thousand times worse--they will distract other students and impair others' progress.
Behavioral/emotional disorders- will drive you nuts, but much worse---a thousand times worse--they will consume YOUR class time by requiring constant redirection and outright discipline. These kids will impair learning for the entire class.
Speech disorders-- just hope and pray that your students only have speech disorders. They only need some extra time drilling with specific exercises, and you should also cut them lots of slack about speaking in front of the class. Comparatively speaking, not a problem at all.
Dyslexia- also not a problem if you can spot it early on and give them lots of specific exercises.
Low IQ- requires lots of extra time, attention, and consultation with homeroom teacher to make sure they don't develop esteem issues.
General difficulties with abstract representations- very similar to low IQ. If the IQ testing was biased towards abstract reasoning (most tests are all different forms of abstract representations) then these kids may have been labeled as low IQ, but will show one of the other types of intelligences. If you can tap into that intelligence, you can bring the student back from the abyss.
Autism/Asperger spectrum- will not respond the appropriate way to questions and social interaction. You should find an alternative way to gauge their language learning progress.
Because of those issues above, students in many English classes tend to fall into very low and high proficiency groups- the M-shape distribution. And for that reason, differentiated instruction is required. Depending on the types and numbers of issues present in the language class, it could be impossible for a single teacher to differentiate instruction. You need a co-teacher.
Differentiated teaching can mean different things to different subject teachers. Many subject teachers view differentiation as simply varying the teaching styles to give every type of learner a fair chance at learning well, like mixing-up traditional book learning and worksheets with manipulatives, realia, arts and crafts, games, project-based, task-based learning, etc.
For FL/EFL learning, this is a given. Yes, absolutely use all of the above, but those will only address learning styles--NOT learning difficulties.
In the learning difficulties section, we see that certain students have serious problems and therefore, they become problem students because of their negative impact on the "normals". We cannot let the problem students consume the class time with redirection / discipline. Hence, the solution is to restructure the lessons so that problems are mitigated. And that is where co-teaching comes into play.
Co-teaching models for differentiation
Co-teaching models for differentiation
Classes can be structured along the lines of co-teaching models, and the the types of instructional approaches (communicative, TPR: Total Physical Response, realia, manipulatives, kinesthetic, games) can be inserted into the models as needed.
Split/parallel teaching
Split/parallel teaching
The co-teachers split the class into two groups, presumably by proficiency level, and teach them separately at the same time. This is usually done in the same classroom, so each half has to be sufficiently quiet. Each co-teacher can plan to use different teaching approaches tailored to the group they are teaching. Slower, low proficiency students can benefit from greater attention in the smaller group, and may be less embarrassed. The split usually occurs after warm-up for the whole class and the class is brought together again at the end for consolidation/review. However, students with behavioral/emotional disorders may be too disruptive. This approach might only work if the class consists of different learning styles, or mild learning difficulties like dyslexia, low IQ, autism spectrum, speech disorders.
The co-teachers split the class into two groups, presumably by proficiency level, and teach them separately at the same time. This is usually done in the same classroom, so each half has to be sufficiently quiet. Each co-teacher can plan to use different teaching approaches tailored to the group they are teaching. Slower, low proficiency students can benefit from greater attention in the smaller group, and may be less embarrassed. The split usually occurs after warm-up for the whole class and the class is brought together again at the end for consolidation/review. However, students with behavioral/emotional disorders may be too disruptive. This approach might only work if the class consists of different learning styles, or mild learning difficulties like dyslexia, low IQ, autism spectrum, speech disorders.
Station teaching
Station teaching
The co-teachers and other colleagues can set up tables or stations during special school activities. Each station has a different type of learning activity or game. Alternatively, the co-teachers can set up game stations where groups of students play independently while the co-teachers roam and supervise. The same considerations that apply to split/parallel teaching apply here.
The co-teachers and other colleagues can set up tables or stations during special school activities. Each station has a different type of learning activity or game. Alternatively, the co-teachers can set up game stations where groups of students play independently while the co-teachers roam and supervise. The same considerations that apply to split/parallel teaching apply here.
Pull-out teaching
Pull-out teaching
Pull-out teaching is a fluid, ad-hoc technique made possible during standard teach-assist (teach-roam) co-teaching model. The lead teacher may direct a student who has special needs at that time to go with the assistant to the side or back of the room and receive quiet one-on-one instruction. When the student's needs are addressed, the student returns to his/her seat and continues to receive the teacher-fronted instruction or participate in whole-class activity. In particularly troublesome classes, the pull-out teaching might be working like a revolving door. Just hope you don't have that many special needs kids.
Special needs students are those listed in the learning difficulties column above. The two biggies, ADD/ADHD and emotional/behavioral problems settle down considerably when they are receiving individual instruction in close physical contact with a teacher.
Extensive pre-planning is also necessary: the co-teachers should have a certain type of instruction in mind for the target students before pulling out (i.e., before class starts).
ADD/ADHD and emotional problems may only need the similar lesson content delivered individually away from judgmental eyes and taunts of classmates.
Low IQ kids would need a review of the particular concept that they have difficulty with.
Speech disorder/pronunciation difficulties need a quick practice with minimal pairs.
Dyslexics need extra practice associating letters with their sounds and names, phonetically sounding out words while simultaneously writing.
Extended absentees--need review of previous material to catch them up.
"Hey, J-M. What about kids from dysfunctional families and broken homes? " you might be asking me. Yes, those might be the underlying causes of the learning difficulties mentioned above. It is not the English teacher's job to address the root causes. We can only deal with the actual learning dysfunctions in the classroom, which we do through co-teaching and differentiated instruction. But if you have further questions, click the link to a "Q&A session."
"Hey, J-M. What about kids from dysfunctional families and broken homes? " you might be asking me. Yes, those might be the underlying causes of the learning difficulties mentioned above. It is not the English teacher's job to address the root causes. We can only deal with the actual learning dysfunctions in the classroom, which we do through co-teaching and differentiated instruction. But if you have further questions, click the link to a "Q&A session."
In the past I received a number of very compelling questions from teaching assistants that I advised, and I collected them into a FAQ which I emailed around to the group of young teaching assistants. It's worth the time to read for any teachers in Taitung County, and maybe teachers from other places might find it resonates with them, too.
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