commentary | ELT Reflections

Image courtesy of David Romani

For my last two years of high school, I attended a boarding school in central Canada, about 7 hours drive from my parents. This school had some pretty strict rules, especially when it came to the dormitory. We weren’t allowed to have any televisions in our rooms; we had to be in the dorm on weekday evenings by 8pm and in our room with lights out by 10pm. We could only come out to use the washroom, otherwise we were in there until 6 at the earliest the next morning.

For the most part, we followed the rules, but there were times we needed to get some homework done or we just wanted to let loose for a while. That would be when we would pull out the black garbage bags for the windows or we would sneak out the windows dressed from head to toe in black and then drive out of the parking lot with the headlights off until we got to the highway. It was all pretty benign stuff: going to movies (which was also against the rules), heading out for a late-night pizza, or just a drive in the city. We never broke any laws and, at least to me, we kept it clean and fun.

I understand the reason why the school had those rules, even if I still disagree them, but the problem was in how they were implemented. They were responsible for our well being as minors and this was a way they could make sure they kept us out of trouble with a limited staff. They didn’t want us watching shows or movies that the parents wouldn’t approve of, so they cut out the option of watching any at all. They wanted to make sure we would do our homework, so they made us stay in our rooms from 8-9:30 each night. There were reasons for their rules, but the rules themselves didn’t actually work that well.

Instead of keeping us from those distractions, we became fixated on them, or more accurately, how to get around them. When they figured out how we were circumventing the rules, they made new ones, which led us to find new, more inventive ways to break them. We didn’t want to follow them, because we weren’t part of the solution; we had no reason to follow them other than “we were told to.”

I just finished reading an article about banning laptops in the university classroom. I’m still shaking my head. I can’t stop shaking my head. The logic is baffling. Here is how I understand her reasoning: Continue reading Banning →

Image courtesy of Anne Hornyak

I swore I was never going to be a teacher. Really. I am not really sure why I was so adamant about it. My parents were both teachers and were quite passionate about their craft. I had them both as teachers at some point in my life and I actually thought they were two of the best teachers I had ever had. Well, thankfully, I had a moment of clarity in my second year of college as I was ‘persuaded’ (i.e. was forced) to take a TESL class of even though I had NO idea of what that entailed or meant. My intention was to drop the class about two weeks in and take something that was of more interest to me. Only thing is, that was the class that was of interest to me. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to be an English language instructor. It wasn’t for the pay (I never even asked how much they get paid. Silly me) because I didn’t care. This was where I was supposed to be.

Fast forward a number of years and here I am still working in the language classroom, but now I am also training those who, like me, see themselves working as English language teachers. There are a number of people who have had an influence on my teaching; some famous, others probably never will be. One writer who has had a good deal of influence, especially lately, has been Earl Stevick. For many ELT professionals, Dr. Stevick is known for his passion on viewing language instruction as a “total human experience”. His book Memory, Meaning, and Method was fundamental in helping understand the role that memory plays in language acquisition. Dr. Stevick has spent most of his life helping people make the connection between language instruction and language learning.

For myself, I have been spending a good deal of time lately re-examing his writings through the lens of a teacher who is passionate about the role that technology can play in helping students take ownership of their learning. I have always enjoyed technology, especially the use of computers, and I see the value in their use in the language classroom. For me, I have spent most of my time attempting to apply technology to good pedagogy. I started to see technology as playing the same role as the materials in the classroom where the goals and objectives are met through their usage.

Continue reading Evaluating →