Affective Teaching

TASK 3: Circle time (C.T): What are the benefits of having it with English Language Learners? During the C.T they have the oportunity to talk about their feelings, opinions, personal experiences. They can support each other and have the experience of a safe, respect and affective enviroment. It helps kids to feel they belong to the group and they start supporting each other. They are prepared for learn and as a result they get more attencious, excited, they want to participate and communicate. What challenges may arise when having circle time? I,ve had the need to stablish some clear rules for C.T. Some studants speak at the same time, or more than others, or for a long time. So I time the spaktime and who´s gonna talk is holding an object or wearing a hat (for ex) the others have to listen carefully. They already know that all of them are going to have the oportunity to talk. And it´s being a import way to work as a team, they are getting used to listen to each other and colaborate.

TASK 1: What do you understand by affective language learning? For me, affective learning happens when studants are confortable with the teacher and the language, they feel safe as they got used with it and they can be who they are and share their feelings and opinions. It happens when they have choices, work toguether as a teem and at the same time express themselves with all their particularities. The teacher responds to studants demands and create memories throught criative activities, using songs, dialogues and playing characters. Also, by creating an affective enviroment using circle time, warm up, criative communication to get their attention and surprise elements. The teacher is concerned about studants compreension, if they had enought time to live the language and always gives them feedback about what they learned and worked in the classroom, celebrating each step. What are some ways that you can foster it next week. I´ll tell you about my experience. I always sing hello and g...

Task #2 How has your relationship with English changed since you were a student? What has influenced these changes? I started studying English when I was 15 years old to learn the basic structures because I would study the last year of high school in the USA so I was excited and happy but, unfortunately, I didn't go (I didn't want to stay a long time without my family). Só after this I was fine studying English but not so excited as before and I wasn't doing my best. After a time when I was in the end of the course I started working in a Bilingual School than I changed everything, but life is not easy and with college and everything I couldn't study so hard. Now I am doing my second graduation, Modern Languages Portuguese/English so I have been studying pretty hard the English language and really excited to be perfect.

I though I had posted the answer to this task. However, upon taking a look at all the completed tasks, I realized I hadn`t posted the answer. So here it is. DISCUSSION TASK 3 When I started learning English, I was a very insecure student. I was afraid of asking questions, taking risks because I thought exposure would harm somehow. I don`t know how it would affect me, but I had always felt I would be the nagging student in the class. However, everything changed. When I was 16, my very first English teache showed me that it is okay to take risks. It is okay to ask questions, and yet not be nagging. So, I am pretty sure this teacher of mine had planted the seed of knowledge that one fine day would grow. It grew. It`s been very fruitful. Thanks to her advice, I was able to change my mindset and became secure. I truly believe one of the keys to succeed as a language learner, it is to have someone who believes in your. Someone who sees your true colors and invest time in you, knowing that th...

Week One: Discussion Task #3   It is commonly accepted that the Circle Time is a special time when children are engaged in an open discussion, reading a story, participate in games or relaxation activities with the aim of learning new skills, practice verbal communication, developing emphatic listening skills…etc. These activities and games are also designed to promote respect and better understanding. Benefits of the Circle Time are obvious and self-evident to me but there are risks attached, as well.   Let me take all that a bit personally for a moment and say you have a kid who has been studying English at a school. That is great but maybe the kid feels a little lonely, maybe his motivations are dropping a bit, so you like to find a private language institute in your hometown. That is fine but one should be very careful when shopping around to choose a class for a loved one. Do not just go to the first class you find. If you are looking for a private academy and classes with tutors,...

Week One: Discussion Task #1 I have finished reading Steve Kaufmann’s (a renowned polyglot from Canada) book and there is a great quote in that book when he says: “The teacher cannot make you learn. It is your responsibility to learn.” Learning comes from a student, not the teacher. The question then that I have, that you have, that maybe all of us, teachers have is what the purpose of the teacher is. What is the purpose of the classroom coming together with other students and the teacher? Is it even necessary to have a class or a school in the Internet Age? Good questions. And I also often keep asking myself: what can I do in augmenting the language learning process? What is possible for me to do more effectively as a teacher?   Well, in my view the purpose of a class and indeed the purpose of a teacher is mostly inspiration. We can’t do the work for the students and indeed the teacher can’t even give the skill to the learner. What the best teachers can do is change psychology, belief...

WEEK ONE -  TASK # 1 In my opinion, affective learning is building a real connection with students, respecting them and teaching them content which is truly interesting. It means teaching with love and compassion.

Me introducing the Monk into the classroom last week. Can anyone suggest a name? Maybe he is a distant relative of Buddy. I missed the week 1 discussions but maybe this picture illustrates what affective learning is about.

Hi, I missed the first week. Does anyone have the circle time video link? Thanks Damien

Task #2  A positive relationship between the student and the target language is one of the goals of affective language learning. How has your relationship with English changed since you were a student? What has influenced these changes?  It has changed completely. I was not the best of students behavior-wise, and I took for granted the fact I was learning English because as a teenager I could do so many things in English in my own way. I played videogames, watched series and posted on forums about games and bands I liked. Internet provided me with access to people around the world and that was enough for my English-building skills. As a teacher, I had to revisit my own English foundation, fill in the gaps with research and study. It’s not wrong to say that sometimes I was learning as much as my students were. Furthermore, I felt my pronunciation never met desirable standards for myself. Teaching made me self-aware about these areas I ignored when I was only a student. After I set areas...

Task #1: Task #1 What do you understand by affective language learning? What are some ways that you can foster it next week?  I believe affective and ‘effective’ teaching is the foundation of success in the classroom environment. When you forge a bond between learners and language/culture, learning takes place in a natural way, it feels pleasant, it builds up motivation and students are not as self-critical as they are in a production-based environment. Regularly, students are assessed according to their production through tests and exercises which work up stress and anxiety, generating a gap between students and the abilities to be taught. Furthermore, students face labels upon themselves, such as ‘good at…’/’bad at…’, ‘intelligent’, ‘smart’ and so on. These labels generate competition and do not stimulate social skills, failure and not fitting in are common feelings. That is why affective teaching is important. It creates safe environments where students are encouraged to cooperate i...

Task #2 My relationship with English started when I was a little child. My aunt used to listen to songs in English before going to work and I was always by her side trying to sing them. I knew I was singing them in the wrong way, but everybody in family felt that I really love it and had to study that language. But they did not have any money to enroll me in a English language course. When I was 8, I had my first English class at school. I was so happy that I still remember the book was published by an English course from Brazil (CCAA) and the name of the two characters in it, Bob and Barbara. I still remember my first words in English: plate, glass, fork and spoon. The name of the teacher was Elizabeth, and she was responsible for teaching me for the following three years. I will never forget her. As an adult, I had many teachers of English, both at college and at Cultura Inglesa. All of them were very special to me and I keep them in my heart. And now I’m here trying to follow their ...

Task 1: The video suggested for task 1 is just amazing. It made me believe more and more in the uniqueness of being a language teacher and the marvels of the polyvalent profile of the teacher.  Good teaching can only be reinforced through affective language learning. It can be defined as establishing an affective rapport between teacher and students on the one hand, and between the students and the language being taught on the other. Hence, the teacher  essentially should teach the kids from his/her heart,  show them that  he is not an alien creature talking from his ivory tower, he is rather down to earth with his /her learners. Before indulging into the daily rituals of teaching, the teacher shows the students that he ultimately cares about them as individuals and as learners as well. This can simply be done through little things that make a bid difference like greeting them with a smile, call them by name and listen to their problems if need be. This will create an anxiety-free atmo...

Task #1 What do you understand by affective language learning? What are some ways that you can foster it next week? First of all, I have to say that I loved the video and that I was really glad to see that, intuitively, I already show my students that I care in so many ways. The video was also inspiring. Thank you Juan. Though I am a very affectionate person and it reflects on my teaching and on the relationship I build with my students, I know that affective learning is not about hugging, kissing and letting students do whatever they want. As I understand, affective learning is related to seeing students as unique individuals. Even when we teach a large group, we should manage to build strategies to reach individual needs, showing them that we really care. When we are teachers, we do not only teach a subject. There is so more involved. Things such as values, for example. A teacher can play a very important role in a students' life. A teacher can inspire! When we teach a language...

Task #1 What do you understand by affective language learning? - For me affective language learning is a process in where students learn not only a language but also respect, love, and so many positive actions that make them grow as good human beings. They develop learning while cooperating with everyone's happiness and make the language learning process an unforgettable experience. What are some ways that you can foster it next week? For sure I will. -- Let them choose which activity they want to do first -- Give a candy to a classmate and say a positive thing about him/her -- NEVER STOP SMILING IN MY CLASS -- Say: hello, please, thank you, good bye, nice to see you, I love you. -- Dance together their favorite song And more! I can continue here for hours!

#task1question1   For me affective language learning is related to paying attention to people, telling them that they are able to do whatever they want and that we believe them.  One of the first things I try to do is to remember students' names and details about their family or interests. This may sound obvious, but with large groups you have to be really commited to do so. I used to teach in public High Schools here in Brazil and my groups had about 45 students. Some teachers just called them by their attendance list numbers. Sad but true. I always call students by their names. Another important thing is showing that you care. Some students in this public school didn't believe they would be able to write a word in English and it was usual for them to hand in tests and activities in blank. I always tell students that do so that I believe they can do a test or activities, but if they give it to me in blank it means that they gave up learning. Then I say that I won't give u...

Task # 3 Circle time is a good way to create a nice atmosphere to play, to learn and to share ideas. Students are all together facing each other and can see what they are all doing. The ideas shown in the video are great as students get to have contact with each other and relate with each other since sometimes they don't do it at home for different reasons. As far as the challenges… well… I’ve found that some of my students are never as quiet as the ones in the video; they keep moving all the time, they are always talking in L1, they are always touching each other, among other things that it is very demanding for me. I have to shout and ask for silence all the time. Even if the activity is free (break time, for example), they keep doing the same things. I know and understand that kids are “multitasking” but I wonder… don’t they get tired of being that way all the time?

Task # 2 wow... Teaching and Learning English has changed quite a lot since I studied long time ago... probably back with dinosaurs!!! First of all I studied English outside school (we had French classes at school) so I had to go to a private school. It was awesome as we were a few students and our teachers were nice and patient. I remember all my teachers as I got influence from all of them and they encouraged me a lot. I think that not many teachers have THE passion to teach these days; most of them do it out of necessity so students learn just the necessary stuff and that is. There is no compromise from any side and learning is done automatically without "affection and care".

Task #1 Affective language learning is a way students learn with “love and care”. It’s a way they learn and we teach with emotions, with feelings, with values. We teach the grammar, the vocabulary and the structures but they are considered on a second basis. I believe it is what new people call “Pedagogy 3000”. After watching the video, I realize that I do some of the ideas mentioned and I still need to change some others, especially the connection with parents as I never get to see them because the time they go to school it is not the same time I go. I enjoyed watching the video as it reflects how we can change a whole day of teaching, how we can change a whole life with just a simple action. Thanks for the video, Juan Uribe

Task #2 My relationship with English started since I was a student. What? and when?  I fell in love with English since I was in Primary stage Once Mr. Khalid (My English teacher entered the class). I was so lucky that he taught me in Primary , preparatory and secondary stages (not all years, of course). Why? As a student, I was impressed by how knowledgeable he was. I liked the fact that he gave us lots of vocabulary, taught us good pronunciation, spoke English fluently all the time in class. He always praised me for my good performance and my behavior. He trusted me to do some teacher assistant duties. He even disregarded some of my unintended and small flaws (which I appreciated so much as a student). How I see it now as a teacher? - He was very confident using the language and teaching it. He gave us lots of extra work that was more helpful than just teaching the course book (this is not common here in many schools).  - Praising me for my performance and behavior gave me self confid...