Mario Llorente explains how to learn a language: Watch TV that you love,

When I was a teenager, I met a kid who learned Spanish at age 11.  "How did you learn Spanish," I asked.  He replied, "I watched TV."

So I tried it.  I watched news, Sabado Gigante, I left the TV on all day, I tried to immerse myself in Spanish.  "Si conduce, no toque" (something about , if you drive, don't drink)...


The problem was that I did not know that the student had become an expert.  Experts often don't know the complete steps that they take to learn.  He neglected to tell me that he watched the shows that he really loved.

(Richard E. Clark has documented some experts who leave out over 50% of the micro steps that they take when doing a procedure, meaning that an expert tells you the CHUNKS of steps that he takes but not the micro steps inside each chunk).   

The key to learning a language through this method is to find a TV show that you REALLY REALLY embrace.  Mario talks about learning English listening by listening intently to songs, to learn how to transcribe.  He took time to transcribe lyrics.  



"learn a language"  "TV series"  "Watch Television"  "Mario llorente"

Mario Llorente explains (1)  How to learn a language:  Watch TV that you love, part 1

Listen to the four part video         PART 2      PART 3

A letter to educational consultants: We all win when one of us does well with a client.

We all win when a school puts into practice procedures that transform their culture.

We all win when a school embraces positive change.

The consultant who got paid for those changes appears to be the winner, but as taxpayers and as members of the community, we all win.

To: Education Consultants

A suggestion about collaboration
I'm a teacher in Florida and I am growing my consulting business. I hope we can talk and see how we can support each other's activities.

COLLABORATION 
I promote a program where I go into schools to encourage language learning with Skype or Google Talk. Facebook and email ... the program is calledwww.BIBPenpals.com. Of course it is easy to notice fear in a school that is driven by a "my way or the highway" type of principal and I wonder if your organization has some interest in collaborating about schoolwide culture.

When I see a fearful culture, I'd like to recommend a training organization to that school. If you would like to collaborate, could someone from your organization call me at your convenience so we could work out how I could go about referring clients to you?

Perhaps it is geography that makes sense for your group to deal with some clients that I can't get to or perhaps there is a clash in styles (I'm low key and low cost and some organizations prefer a "more professional" approach).

In return, it would be nice if you could recommend the BIBPenpals program to your clients, too.
To evaluate my language=practice network (it's quite informal), you can go tohttp://www.youtube.com/BIBPenpals for the short videos that are in place. the account is purposely populated with only a few videos so that a visitor is not overwhelmed with choices.

TRANSFORMING IN OTHER LANGUAGES
I'd also like to know your opinion of the "Network of Educators" that I've assembled using translated transcripts from TED.com. Rather than regard your efforts and my organization's efforts as competing, I'd like to work with you to transform education. Do you have articles from your website that I could get translated and then shared on the INoE network?
https://sites.google.com/site/networkofeducators/ If you have already translated parts of your website, could I link those items to the INoE list of "things to read to transform minds"?

I believe one of the impacts of the Internet is that people in other countries will see our ideas and try to apply them. To facilitate that transfer, it will be helpful to have some translations ... If you would like to have a low-cost translation of parts of your site (I have students who do a fairly good job as volunteers), let me know. Certainly the articles that you recommend (which my network of student volunteer translators will handle over time) can become part of your international site. So in addition to sharing valuable stories and articles through INoE, you can get some translations that will be the start of translated versions of your site. 

FREE EBOOK 
I've edited a book by Dr. Fischler, former head of Nova University, and I invite you to write a blurb of two or three sentences to hep us market it. You could also distribute the ebook at no charge. The aim is less about making money from book sales and more about getting the message into people's heads...

Here's an example of what people have written about Dr. Fischler's book.
Dr. Fischler makes use of his enormous wealth of knowledge and experiences to focus our attention on the key problems of education in the United States today. Being a pioneer of educational reforms, Dr. Fischler takes us on a short but solid reading which focus on three main aspects: the time factor in learning, the correct methods for delivering instruction, the role of technology, and the need to bring all the main actors together into his vision of the teaching-learning process. A very intelligent selection of educational quotes guides us through the main aspects in question. This is a necessary reading for teachers and families. The reading is entertaining and encouraging. A must read! -- Mario Llorente, mariopatriot@yahoo.com 

"It's about time we wake up and realize the severity of the educational crisis we find ourselves in. The disconnect between the people determining educational policy and the people asked to be the practitioners of that policy is a mile wide and a mile deep. Dr. Fischler has managed to distill fifty years of educational research into a manifesto that should be taught to the policy makers and shared with teachers and parents everywhere."
Dennis Yuzenas, high school teacher, Oxbridge Academy, West Palm Beach, FL WhatDoYaKnow.com



MORE <<<  http://rcptv.com/te/reviews.htm

A particular product or action that I encourage my clients to pursue is posting posters that carry a message about transformation. It's a simple action that can affirm "Yes, I've been to a workshop and I'm changing something in my classroom."

Do you have some slogans that might be converted into posters that we could attribute to your organization? It might attract some clients but the core idea is to transform what happens in classrooms.
HERE are some of the posters that I've created with Dr. Fischler
https://sites.google.com/site/freetransformteaching/home >>> free materials that I distribute to my clients to encourage transformation

here are some links to posters.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/103265841/POSTERS-in-COLOR-Fischler-Quotes-to-Become-an-Agent-of-Change

https://sites.google.com/site/transformteaching/home/students-at-amelia-academy/questions-to-aid-your-studies    These are free and you can distribute them to your clients.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/105042898/PDF-Let-s-Lecture-Less-2012-Edition-in-Color-78-Pages-with-Kirschner-Sweller-and-Barak-Rosenshine   Free Ebook

Dr. Fischler's book >> 
I look forward to talking with someone from your organization. 

Steve McCrea 
TransformTeaching.org 
2314 Desota Drive 
Fort Lauderdale FL 33301
+1 954 646 8246

I might "lose" a client to you, but we all win when a school embraces positive new procedures.

I embrace transparency as described by Goleman (the advocate of Emotional Intelligence), 

http://www.summary.com/book-summaries/_/Transparency/

http://www.amazon.com/Transparency-Warren-Bennis/dp/1458725340

Let's look at IVAN ILLICH again... "Learning Webs" and BIBPenpals

It has been a while since I looked at Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich.

The book can be downloaded in pieces from here and you can get a summary on Wikipedia here.

Illich called for "learning webs" ...  here is a section of Deschooling Society that is quoted in the Wikipedia article:

The operation of a peer-matching network would be simple. The user would identify himself by name and address and describe the activity for which he sought a peer. A computer would send him back the names and addresses of all those who had inserted the same description. It is amazing that such a simple utility has never been used on a broad scale for publicly valued activity.

A good educational system should have three purposes: it should provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at any time in their lives; empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally, furnish all who want to present an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known.

I find this passage from Deschooling Society helpful in supporting the efforts to use social media in schools.  That's one of the reasons why I advocate using www.BIBPenpals.com and www.Youtube.com/BIBpenpals to connect students in different countries.

The program "BIB PENPALS" continues to need support.  Posting notices on blogs and links to the youtube channel have resulted in just three U.S. students connecting with three students from other countries.   Donations are needed to pay for a marketing campaign to:

a) put posters on walls in schools (nothing says "DO THIS" like a poster)
b) distribute pens and other advertising specialities in schools to remind teachers about the availability of hundreds of students waiting to connect on Skype and via social media (primarily Facebook) 
c) respond to the dozens of students that I hear from each week.  This would mean hiring a college student to push 


<<< Wilson

Thank you for listening (and taking time to learn about the connection of BIBPenpals to the work of educational pioneers).  For more information about Building International Bridges, the non-profit charity that aims to reduce obstacles to intercultural communication, visit www.BuildingInternationalBridges.org.   The first photo is Joe and the second photo shows Wilson.  They are students in Brazil who want tro practice English by Skype.  Their teacher, Paloma, arranged for this connection.   You can contact Joe and Wilson through Paloma at paloma_ortegas BAT hotmail DOT com.   To avoid attracting spammers, the @ has been replaced by BAT and the dot by BOT.






 

The power of parents in transforming education

In June 2011 I wrote to the director of a lycée (high school) in France.  I asked a local dentist to contact the director.  I visited the office and left a letter.  The answer:  "We are too busy to give you a tour of our school.  Our teachers are too busy to spend time meeting with you."

In September 2012 I visited the same town and left a packet of information at the same lycee.   No reply.

However, I explained the situation to a local mother and she went to the primary school and asked the director to meet with me.   The director introduced me to Anne Noisette, an English speaking teacher.  That's the power of a parent.

Here is another story (in Italy):

I spoke to Giovanni's head teacher this morning, Professora X. from the Scuole B.  She was taking down notes while I was introducing your projects and she was very interested even though we didn't spend a lot together.

Prof. X. is interested to meet you on Skype maybe with the English tutor and discuss together about having the internet in the classroom  always available (we don't have it yet as a habit); 

She also wants to review your system of teaching i.e. "A GuideOnTheSide" system that you suggest, the peer -to- peer teaching, free access to e-books, etc.
I mentioned her the 3 main points that you put in the Big Picture book:

a) Robert Reich (it is not necessary to teach the same subjects that we learned 50 years ago)

b)  grades and narratives  (it is better to ask a teacher to write two pages of words instead of giving only a single letter "A" or "B")

c)  tests and exhibitions  (it is better to ask a student to stand and talk about what he knows instead of asking only for writing)

And then I spoke just a very brief intro about the space project.  (Students today need a BIG GOAL that they can all work together to achieve).

 ..that is a huge one and it's good you may introduce and expand yourself when you contact Professora X.  through the web.

I left her also the sheets to photocopy and put into the classrooms (to discuss the quotations), the Dennis Littky book and all the CDs to copy .  I hope they will contact you soon!

Something interesting she says: it is more difficult to engage the young teachers to change rather than older teachers, since the more experienced teachers are more confident and conscious.  The newer teachers are more scared about losing their authority...

That is the power of a personal visit to a school by a parent.  That's the power of the parent.   

======== 

I invite parents to go to the directors of their children's schools and ask the directors to visit  www.GuideOntheSide.com and the International Network of Educators (INoE) at 

https://sites.google.com/site/networkofeducators/

Send me your invitations at SteveEnglishTeacher@gmail.com

The photo is added to give casual readers something to look at... and because the mother in Bologna made this dish (excellent photo, Isa!)

Why should we use SKYPE in our face-to-face classes?

This blog post is a response to a person who found me on Skype...

The reasons behind putting Skype into the classroom are
1) to provide diversity (sometimes I am teaching only kids from Brazil or Asia)
2)  to advertise the school ...
3) to make the class exercises REAL and
4) to show the limits of skype to my face to face students.

I push the face-to-face students to make videos for the virtual students.   The homework becomes essential because there are students in other places who are waiting for the  face to face students to do something.

Skype is not a perfect connection tool for the classroom.
a) the Internet is sometimes unreliable and might be slow.
b) there is no easy way to "rewind" and listen again
c) too much information is coming... if a group of students is watching Skype with a single virtual student, that virtual student doesn't often know who is talking.
d) most of the Skype session is taken up exchanging information that is more efficiently given by email or asynchronous video.  Skype is best when it is a FOLLOWUP to a video and email exchange.

The most effective procedures are:
-- video "welcome" messages from the face to face class so that the virtual students can study something before the SKYPE contact.
-- videorecord the skype conversation.
-- analyze the Skype conversation.  Let the face to face students look and listen to the talk.
-- post the videos on youtube so that virtual students can participate, too.
-- keep maps, photos and other visual items ready near the computer so that you can show students on skype something to talk about.
-- mini-videos can be recorded and exchanged ... For example, I sometimes use my wife'siPhone to make a short video message to send to my former students who are in Saudi Arabia.  Then they send me a reply using their iPhone (to capture a video of 45 seconds and then send it).
If students are shy, point the camera at the floor when they are on the skype talk.

If you want to discuss ways to use Skype in the classroom, contact me  +1 954 646 8246 or email FreeEnglishLessons@gmail.com or catch me on Skype  SteveEnglishTeacher

Some key principles about "lecturing less"

What is the essential message of becoming a "Guide on the Side"?

I’ve had some requests from readers of my other sites  www.GuideontheSide.com and TransformTeaching.org to explain the principles of “lecturing less” and becoming a guide on the side.   The key principles are

a)  listening to what students want to learn

b)  sharing with students the research about what experts think will be needed by employees and workers of the future.  I like talking to students as "young adults in training."   Here's what I will talk about with my future colleagues" is the way I introduce some ideas.  (That approach sometimes works.)

c)  taking time to link students to “collaborative skills.”   Show students that they don’t need to re-invent the wheel, just collaborate with others.

You can explore some of the principles of becoming a "Guide on the side" by looking at these videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lx5Q2AJ7d0

For example, the BIBPenpals work connects nicely with Dominos For Schools and the work of PikiFriends.  As an independent educator, I look for useful pieces from other educators.  It helps to give time to teachers to explore and learn from colleagues.

Here’s a link that I suggest to teachers and students:

http://pikifriends.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/lesson-plan-becoming-clickable/

I’m impressed with the organization and passion of the lessons on this site.  I’m going to recommend that teachers who take my courses look at pikifriends.wordpress.com.     Steve McCrea    trainer.  www.EdutechFoundation.net  and  www.TransformTeaching.org. 

 

 

Steve McCrea

+1 954 646 8246  if you want to chat.  

Sometimes a phone call is faster than setting up a skype call

SKYPE   SteveEnglishTeacher

Another reason why I carry a video camera when I'm in a school... capture best practices

How can a teacher give another teacher useful feedback?  By visiting the other teacher's classroom, unannounced, just drop in to pick up a book or put up a poster...  with a digital video camera.

Sporadic observations with near-immediate feedback help, but even better is a quietly captured teacher-led moment -- capture the segment on video so that the other teacher can see what he looks like.

"To see ourselves as others see us."   There are few principals who are as adept at the drive-through observation and the timely follow-up as Diane Grondin.  I learned this technique of the "drop in" observation from Ms. Grondin, a charter-school principal, and I hope to emulate her fabulous memory by using my video camera (appropriately).  


Here are some examples of what I picked up while observing Omar Vasile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvcZOkPZLZg  best practices  (how to guide presentations by students)  I captured this and other clips during my break time when I spent several weeks teaching in a school in South Florida.   In five weeks I spent 25 hours in that teacher's classroom and actively invested at least two hours of that time observing the teacher.  I selected moments to video (with his permission) and analysed the video or the class later with him.  The results are on youtube.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1IiAE0kyo   best practices (using a mobile phone effectively -- being a role model)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBBGv4ZGsB0   Teacher talk (how to tell stories and capture attention.... "There was this guy who made a mistake..."  oh?   What did he do?  ...Omar got your attention...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV1lh20BxQ8  a teacher demonstrates random learning, careful meandering, purposeful exploring and clicking  (what's over the horizon?)  

A teacher who is open to observation is also a teacher who is likely to be open to learning more.  I hear that he is available for work teaching history or social studies.   His jokes disarm and jostle the students just enough to reset their boredom countdown clock...  Every two or three minutes, someone starts to wander, and Omar is ready with a remark to grab someone's attention (or to reset everyone in the room to pursue the task at hand).

I'm looking forward to visiting Omar in his next teaching position, to see what I might learn by observing his best practices.

How to transform a school.... with insight from Pikifriends

Two items have crossed my computer recently.

PIKIFRIENDS and a leadership quote.

1)  A thoughtful summary of 1) how to bring Tech into class and 2) issues of "old style teaching"
These two links are related to transformation in a school and classroom:

http://pikifriends.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/changing-the-culture-of-a-school/

http://pikifriends.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/lesson-plan-things-you-need-to-do-before-blogging-with-students/

 all of this comes from  www.pikifriends.wordpress.com    

2)  Here's a cool leadership quote

The Chief Operating Officer looked at Lisa blankly and told her that he had never studied leadership, didn't know anything about it and had no desire to learn.  Lisa was stunned.  Lisa later learned that the COO's management philosophy was simple:  people need to do what they are told and not complain.

-- report of an anonymous employee in a large engineering company

from The Leadership Challenge by J. Kouzes

http://www.amazon.com/The-Leadership-Challenge-3rd-Edition/dp/0787968331

The image on this blog has nothing directly to do with the content.  It's just a reminder that you should find "Clark American Educator 2012" and click on the article that appears.

We often don't see what we look at...

David Eagleman has a useful video that points out the difficulty that many teachers have.  "I showed this procedure in class and I'm sure the students paid attention.  But then they can't produce the answer when I give them a test later in the week."

What's different in the photo?

Listen to the video starting around the end of the second minute, around 1:50

(If you look below, you will see the difference immediately, 

because you can compare the two slides side by side.   

It's better if you look at the video.  It took me 45 seconds 

and I got it only because the speaker, Eagleman, gave some hints...

This video has made me aware that there are imes when it makes sense to 

watch a video replay before saying what we saw or heard.

Why not embrace video cameras in the classroom?

hmmm   interesting discussion here

particularly the comment on March 1, 2009

Here is the two parts of the video, side by side....

I bet you see the difference now...

It's likely that you looked at the people and compared their hand positions, 

the color of their clothes, the length of their hair...

We expect that position of a body would change...  not the position of the items that

are not expected to move.

Thoughts about an electronic course...

I read the following at a discussion site for an online course that is centered in California:

Wow.  I admit that I had a similar impression in some face-to-face classes ... and it was when I found out about other articles that the teachers mentioned during the lectures that I really got started...  There is a particular lecture about a year ago that got me started.   The article by Richard E. Clark (search "Clark 2012 American Educator" and you will find a great link)  


That's when I realized that even in my teaching I was not really promoting "learning."


Here's the link to the Clark article:      WORTH A VISIT