BOSTON 2015 C3 CELTA MARCH 16TH - APRIL10TH

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Comment by Dariela Linares on March 19, 2015 at 6:54pm

Matt!! thank you for all the material you are providing, over the weekend I'll be sure to look it over in detail! Don't stop posting!!! haha gotta go back to my lesson planning for tomorrow!!

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 19, 2015 at 3:52pm

Woo-hoo, we're all here now. I've got one more post for today.

And please remember: most of the things I post on here are EXTRA, SUPPLEMENTARY to the essentials of the course. You'd probably need 48 hours in the day to fully consume all the course material and everything I supply here as well.

So....

A helpful EXTRA resource:

This morning we explored Lesson Planning. I'd like to share a very nice back-up/review/extension to that session that was produced by our CELTA Trainer friend across the pond Jo Gakonga and lives on YouTube (along with similar videos for most input sessions on the course! - explore her channel to peruse them):

These videos provide a very clear and thorough overview of the topic:

1. Lesson Planning 1: Aims and Front Page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeCWdPZB0Bk
2. Lesson Planning 2: Procedure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPrWXT7u3F0
3. Lesson Planning 3: Anticipating Problems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb86evpA8SA

Might be good for weekend viewing? In the kitchen while you whip up your big beautiful brunch from scatch? Dunno...anyway, enjoy if and when you feel like checking them out. They're really well done! :)

Bye

(I'm not gonna post again until someone posts something, anything) ;P

PS -

And one more time, just to make sure the point is clear:

Suggesting these videos is NOT meant to give the impression that you NEED to do ANYTHING more than what you get out of inputs and what goes on with TP and feedback. That is ENOUGH! More does not = better. Your brain will EXPLODE. Don't overload it.

Why? Well...

The CELTA is a grand unfolding PROCESS of discovery. There IS NO cramming, there IS NO 'getting ahead' by reading more than anyone else. The TP classes always bring us right back to what we can do, when we can do it. So I suggest simply making the most of where you are, when you are, how you are, and going DEEPER, not necessarily FARTHER.

You know what's cool? Being in this process with 5 others, right NEAR but not exactly AT the same places and signposts along the path (everyone is different)...but all going to the same destination.

Ok...thus ends my slightly new-agey pseudolecture (& forgive the heavy use of all caps)! ;P

Bye again

Below is a photo of a former group (and some of their TP students) at the end of their course for potential inspiration (not that you probably need it!)...

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 19, 2015 at 3:35pm

Here's a link to photransedit.com, and a few tips for using it.

The MAIN PAGE is here: http://www.photransedit.com/

You'll then click "text to phonetics". This is where you can type in words and get the IPA.

A few things to remember:

1. Click the button for GA (General English). The default setting is RP (Recieved Pronunciation) which is what proper British English (BrE) is called. It's not the end of the world if you forget, but there will be slight differences.

(Ultimately, you just want to describe YOUR most 'normal' pronunciation of the items you're analyzing, so no matter what, don't just blindly copy these. This isn't a tool to get around the work of getting familiar with IPA! You may want to tweak the results on here. This is a DESCRIPTIVE approach - there is no 'perfect' correct transcription of most words!)

2. You can type in more words than one. You can put all your vocab in the box at once and click 'transcribe' and get all of it. Be mindful that if it's a phrasal verb, or a multi-word phrase, etc. it's gonna transcribe each word alone - you may want/need to 'tweak' it if you realize that spoken naturally together, certain sounds drop out, etc. (And if words ARE connected, there should be no space between them in the IPA, for example: What did you get for number one = ...whadja + getfer...(how it's spoken!) = /wədjəɡetfər/)

3. That website puts the IPA inside of straight-line brackets. When you copy and paste into your LA sheet, please replace those with the more standard slashes like /ðɪs/.

Cheers and happy IPA-ing! ;)

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 18, 2015 at 4:42pm

[update] Sorry to post here so much all at once. I fear for making already overwhelmed people (you) any more so.

But, I did want to mention:

Having just surveyed the older edition of Learning Teaching (the one linked to below)..*SOME* of the use of terminology might result in confusion (esp. use of extensive vs. intensive there)...so, best to follow what we've used in inputs and what's in the new editions of Learning Teaching.

The other primary source methods book is the 'PELT' one (the one for which page numbers are referenced for each input session on your input session calendar). PELT = The Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer. This is also on the shelf. I don't have a PDF to share.

Cheers, and hope this helps.

See you tomorrow morn.

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 18, 2015 at 4:37pm

The very, very CELTA-friendly 'Learning Teaching' methodology book by Jim Scrivener is on the shelf at the center (we've got at least 6 copies). As a convenient resource, the link below will take you to a full PDF of this classic methodological guidebook.

It's the same as those on the shelf in almost every way except it's an earlier edition. Things haven't changed enough that this should lead you astray at all. Plus, this older edition has more pictures! I like it.

Of course, find the 'receptive skills/reading' bits to use for your SRT assignment ;) You can also photocopy those pages from the newer editions on the shelf...

'Learning Teaching' here (you can download it directly) as a PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6s45WWdJGrcTV9tVWw4UDUxXzQ/view?u...

Cheers

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 18, 2015 at 3:20pm

[Update]

In the previous post I described a PDF that was *supposed* to be attached...but I completely forgot to actually attached it! (I'm sure NONE of you have EVER done this kind of thing before ;).

The document I mentioned (just a little addendum to the input session from this morning) is, in fact, attached to this post.

Imperative%20GD%20Answer%20Key.pdf

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 18, 2015 at 3:12pm

Two things:

1. Here is a link to all (I hope! Let me know if a track you're looking for isn't there) the audio material for the "Global Pre-Intermediate" textbook:

The first half:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4m_FqU4Oew3Rlc3ejk1TWFoa2s...

The second half:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4m_FqU4Oew3dERMd0xVVUQxdGM...

By all means, use the CDs in the back of your book...you'll want to check that your track is there (and doesn't skip, etc.!). Listen to it several times here or if you have a CD player in your computer/at home etc.

Otherwise, find your listening file through the links below and download what you need. You can then get it onto a phone or laptop you can easily plug into the small speakers in the classroom for class use. I like to email myself a track and open it from there, but there are other routes.

2. Attached to this message is an 'answer key' for the guided discovery-style language clarification stage I modeled in this morning's input session (on 'imperatives'). I thought you might want to have it!

Congrats to A, B, and C for completing TP2 this afternoon. Now we're REALLY getting started. :)

Personally, I see the END of the day (reflection and feedback on TP experiences) as the primary place of (teacher-) learning...NOT the beginning.

You might even think of much of the CELTA training process as being in the 'Test-Teach-Test' vein: you teach your TP lessons without knowing everything about HOW to actually do that yet (the 1st 'test'), then you reflect and get lots of great feedback on it, especially focused on where to focus for improvement (the 'teach') and then you have your next TP to apply all learning (the 2nd 'test'/practice)! And on it goes...

Anyway, that's all for now. :)

**Please feel free to give posting here a shot, even if it's just to say 'hey!' in this medium. I encourage every group of trainees to use this as an 'extra forum' during the course where you guys can connect and confer, etc.

PS - a final note:

About lunch, a couple personal suggestions...

I recommend going out the BACK door of this building and over to State Street instead of into Quincy Market. State St. just on the other side of the block has 1) Al's [delicious, super-fast subs. there's always a line, but it moves FAST!!! i recommend the 'cafe special'] 2) Bailey & Sage [quick good salads, also grilled sandwiches] 3) and Crush Pizza [flash-cooked personal pizzas].

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 18, 2015 at 2:25pm

Now we're just waiting for Michael. Can someone please a) inform him that he's not on yet and/or b) help him get on. Cheers :)

Comment by Matthew Noble on March 17, 2015 at 2:45pm

Congrats on completing (surviving!) your first (mini) CELTA TP! :D

Adrienne, Dariela, and Stephen: congrats also on making it here, into your CELTA group page. I'd like to request that you assist the other three trainees (Michael, Erica, and Hannah) get in as well. It's often the case that folks get the email but don't click through all the way to accepting the invite and then signing in with a password, etc. If you get a chance, please see if you can help walk them through this process at the center (on the computers or someone's laptop, etc).

By the way, in case you didn't know: you can get the WIFI password from Maelle for your laptop so you can work with it more easily at the center.

I'll be posting the link to lesson audio track files etc. here soon so let's try to get everyone access. Thanks!

Overall, this is YOUR wall to communicate with the group as a whole. Each time someone posts here, an email is generated. This ensures everyone is immediately informed. This isn't a necessarily a primary, consistent medium of communication with trainers, but I will certainly keep an eye on it and will be posting things here now and then.

Cheers

Matthew

PS - you can also attach files to posts here in case you need/want to share documents with someone else (sometimes TP lessons are closely linked and require some liasing, etc.)

See the PDF file I've attached to this message as an example. :)

CELTA%20Terms%20Word%20Cloud.pdf

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