June 18, 2005 in Hayama
Morning: Jamelea, Suzanne, Carl, Milton, Ellen
Summarized by Ellen
Our time was cut short when lunch arrived, which is too bad because it was the beginning of a good discussion. Total discussion time: about 45 minutes? I have to apologize for taking so much time introducing my own class, but I appreciate your interest and your questions and feedback.
1. Complaints about access to the computer room. This topic was brought up in the plenary session, too. Suffice it to say that weÕd all like to be able to access the PC lab with our students if itÕs possible.
2. Ellen talked first about her Global Issues class and what sheÕs doing there. Her Òfirst cycleÓ project was a Global Footprint introduction into Global Issues, in which students took off their shoes and drew a footprint on a piece of paper, then discussed and filled in the footprint with the positive (in one color) and the negative (an another) things we do in the categories of Infrastructure, Oxygen, Food, Fiber, and Recreation. (For instance, in the subcategory ÒEnergyÓ: ÒI turn out the lights when IÕm not homeÓ (positive) ÒBut I keep the TV on as BGM sometimesÓ (negative). She briefly talked about her Òsecond cycleÓ of having students (in groups of 5) present Nobel and Ignobel Prizes to someone (including background info, a reason for giving the prize, a mini speech with the actual handing over of a prize created by students). She then talked about her class weblog (please go to http://globalissues2005.blogspot.com/) to see the blogs created by students as ÒReading/Watching/Listening Logs.Ó
3. Suzanne talked briefly about her topic of Education Reform and her desire to make the topics more Òreal-world compatible.Ó Her suggestion was to use surveys to get real-world information about the topic. Students could use real-world language by asking peers or teachers if they have time to answer a survey (helping them socio-linguistically instead of just linguistically), and actually doing the survey process in English. This led to É
4. Jamelea telling us about her Media class. She discussed her term goals of active listening, researching, and speaking skills such as shadowing and giving presentations. She told us about her two term projects from last year: (1st term) learning how to speak with a Òradio voiceÓ and making a newspaper (contents and style were both free). Problems she had were:
á complicated software (students had trouble using Adobe Pagemaker), running out of time at the end of the term when students were busy preparing for tests,
á the necessity of having an editor to take control, and the fact that itÕs hard to find a student willing to take on such responsibility.
á the quality of writing was less than desirable
In the second term, she did a video project Ð students videotaped themselves doing a commercial (free topic), followed by a teacher interview, and a final project (free genre and topic). She talked about how success depended in large part on having a student in your group who is interested in using the available and willing to spend the time.
ThatÕs when the sushi came. I hope weÕll have a chance to hear more from the other Advanced Class people about what theyÕre doingÉ at the Christmas party! J
Summarized by Andy M.
Student levels
Gregg and Andy M. both feel that on the whole this years advanced level students are not as high as previous years. This manifested by a poorer standard of written work and less dynamic discussions, to a large extent due to a lower standard of speaking skills. In addition, this might in part be due to the a low Ôcritical massÕ- an insufficient number of high-level students to raise the overall level of the group. This has resulted in less dynamic classes.
Experiences of when teachers had to step in during a discussion were exchanged. Examples included students showing excessive bias in their opinions, usually through not having looked at their issue deeply enough. Andy M. had a student presenting on China who turned his presentation into an anti-Chinese polemic, which was clearly not based on reliable sources.
The importance of having the students use the internet with caution and using reliable sources was mentioned.
We could do with more Chinese students at Chuo to present their side of these very important issues that are going to remain for a good while. Why arenÕt there any Chinese students?? Are ChuoÕs fees too expensive???
Plagiarisation
A number of people mentioned the serious problem of plagiarisation, and also students handing in papers that had been written by another student. More commonly, students presentation materials often include portions of text copied straight rather than summarized or paraphrased. The need to constantly emphasize the importance of not plagiarizing was mentioned. Also the fact that students who do this never seem to realize that we can ALWAYS spot the sudden burst of hyper correct text. Spending time on having the students practice note taking and monitoring the students work carefully was mentioned as essential.
It was mentioned that both summarizing and paraphrasing are skills which the students need controlled practice in. They need to see examples of paraphrasing and summaries along with the original texts. Such activities ought to assist students in developing these important skills.
Andy M. mentioned a paper on plagiarisation which very clearly sets out the problems of plagiarism and how to instruct students in how to avoid it by citing sources, paraphrasing and summarizing properly. This article is titled ÔA student guide to PlagiarismÕ by Laura Macgregor. It appeared in the Language Teacher and is available from the online archives. Look for for January 2002 issue. This material can be used subject to copyright restrictions that are included at the end of the text.