What makes a good teacher? Some US Grade 3 students’ points of view about good teachers, full of childishness

A teacher helps kids learn to write small(写小字). A teacher takes us outside to play. Don’t talk back to the teacher. Teachers do not like pink slips. Teachers will get mad if somebody is being bad. A teacher will always love her kids. Teachers are very very cool.
　 　—p.r.

　　A good teacher needs to sleep. A good teacher needs to read books so they know what to teach. A teacher has to be healthy. The student has to follow the rules so the teacher won’t get in trouble.
　　 —Mac Pon

　　A good teacher is someone who listens to someone who cares and gets apples, peaches and pears. A good teacher is someone who’s never late for school. She’s nice to her kids and really is cool. Most of all a good teacher loves her students.
　　 —Meter Bogschanir

　　A good teacher gives homework and math to us. She lets us have recess (课间休息). A good teacher teaches us how to write. A good teacher reads to us. A good teacher makes us smart(聪明), and helps us go onto fourth grade.
　　 —Yela Gan

　　A good teacher teaches good things. A good teacher is nice and helpful. She gives us parties and gives us stuff(东西) to learn.
　　 —Burne Agations

　　A good teacher is organized(井井有条). A good teacher cares and is always ready for his or her students. A good teacher is always fair(公正)and respects(尊重) their students. A good teacher always works.
　　 —Felar Lader
　　She can teach you good things. She is kind and nice.
　　 —Thomas Pether

　　A good teacher makes a good listener. And a good teacher is ready for their students. A good teacher is someone that helps you. A good teacher is a person who lets us eat. A good teacher is one who lets us read and reads with us.
　 　—Barna Twist

　　A good teacher is nice. A good teacher is organized and gives a lot of work. A good teacher gives homework and makes you think hard. A good teacher makes you read a lot.
　 　—Kip Gella

　　They let us read books. They do not hit us. They let you eat in the classroom. They let you talk.
　　 —Pat Smith
　　A good teacher is one that gives you homework. A good teacher makes sure that you listen and will help you learn. A good teacher gives you free time to play. A good teacher makes sure that you’re on time. A good teacher makes sure that you have everything you need.
　　 —Shane Lan

　　They let you go outside and give you a lot of work. They teach you stuff and do not hit you. They say nice things to you. They give lots of parties.
　 　—s.

　　A good teacher makes everything fair. They do not give to much work. They are fun and give some hard and easy work. They are not mean(坏，狠).
　 　—May Gell

　　A good teacher is firm. They have good manners and they don’t do bad things. They buy things for you and they buy you toys, books, and things. They do not say bad words. Some teachers give you cake and ice cream. They have good ideas.
　 　—Jial Teel

　　What is a good teacher? I think a teacher should be good at explaining (解释) things. A teacher should be fun (有趣) but challenging(有挑战性). A good teacher should be organized(井井有条). I like a teacher who teaches fun activities(有趣的活动) in class and not just writing on paper. A teacher should like teaching.
　　 —Sela Cont

　　A good teacher teaches so many things. They help me to read a book. A teacher always teaches good things to the students.
　 　—Mario Back

 

I like this piece just because it shows me a good English teacher should satisfy all kinds of needs from their students. I believe a good teacher should make Action Enquiry happen in class with their students. But how?

About Informal Learning

      Informal learning can be characterized as follows:

• It does not take place in special educational establishments standing out from normal life and professional practice;
• It has no curriculum and is not professionally organized but rather originates accidentally, sporadically, in association with certain occasions, from changing practical requirements;
• It is not planned pedagogically conscious, systematically according to subjects, test and qualification-oriented, but rather unconsciously incidental, holistically problem-related, and related to situation management and fitness for life;
• It is experienced directly in its “natural” function as a tool for living and survival.

 

It enlightened me informal learning and teaching approach can be a complementary component to the in class teaching and learning approach. It is also an essential part for English teaching and learning in China.

Mr. Mai’s English Club

Mr. Mai’s Coffee House & Foreign Language Club was founded in 2003, as Wuhan’s first authentic American style coffee house, offering a wide assortment of drinks, desserts and foods typical of American coffee houses.Visiting foreigners will find a taste of home while local professionals, teachers and students interested in improving their English will find a English environment unparalleled anywhere else in the city.   
   

 

In an American style cafe, with a cup of coffee, you are enjoying the conversations with the owners and other English enthusiasts. I think this is a perfect scenario many English learners may long for.

Newest Teaching Tool: Comic Books

It wasn’t that long ago when comic books were considered junk, the kind of reading material you hid from your parents and teachers. But that’s not the case anymore in some schools in Maryland, reports The Early Show national correspondent Thalia Assuras.

Comic books are being taken quite seriously in those schools, which are taking part in an experiment in which comic books are used as a teaching tool.

Some of the comic books, Assuras notes, aren’t even funny. They’re storybooks with pictures, or graphic novels.

One student tells Assuras she “thought it was crazy” when the teacher pulled out comic books. But the student says she also thought it’s “going to be really cool that we’re going to be able to read comic books instead of books. I thought it was just for free time.”

School officials are hoping comic books will help improve reading proficiency, especially among boys.

In elementary and middle school, their reading scores are 10 percent lower than those of girls, and 12 percent in high school.

The pilot prgram is the brainchild of Maryland’s superintendent of schools. Nancy Grasmick says graphic novels motivate reluctant readers. She emphasizes they’re used to supplement — not replace — traditional reading material.

“This is something that is pleasurable and motivating and yet, embedded in that, is an increase in vocabulary from reading, anticipating plots, Grasmick points out. “There are a lot of good skills embedded in this.”

Including writing: Students also create their own comics, drawing and, most importantly, learning how to shape a story.

“Now that we’re doing comics,” one teacher tells Assuras, “they start off with the same writing process they would go through with any other piece.”

“I can see the potential,” concedes teacher and literary expert Carol Jago, “but I think there’s also a terrific danger” that teachers will rely too much on comic books.

Jago, who’s with the National Council of Teachers of English, complains, “As soon as a student starts moaning a little bit or looking unhappy, they change the book. Look for something easier. Look for something shorter. …They’re trying to find something palatable…instead of changing that dynamic and saying, ‘Reading’s hard, and I’m going to show you how to do that.’ “

The program is being tried in fewer than 10 percent of Maryland’s schools at the moment. But by this fall, a curriculum that includes comic books is expected to be available to all the state’s schools, though it won’t be mandatory.

When asked by Assuras, the students resoundingly agreed that they really are learning by reading the comic books.

Fifth-grader Jad Kitts says, “You’re learning to understand the story better in a different way.”

Fellow fifth-grader Brandon Semilia agrees: “You’re learning about achievements in the world.”

While the students are convinced the comic books are a real plus, the educators still aren’t so sure. They’ll be studying the reading scores over the next several months before issuing a report card, Assuras says.

 

This article presents in some schools in Maryland state, comic books are used as a teaching tool. At first, one student thought using comic books to teach was really crazy. But also some students thought it is really cool to read comics instead of books. Schools offical are hoping comic books will help improve reading proficiency, especially among boys.

The program is being tried in fewer than 10 percent of Maryland’s schools at the moment. But just within a year, a curriculum that includes comic books is expected to be available to all the state’s schools, though it won’t be mandatory.

I believe there are a lot of good skills embedded in this. It makes students learning to understand the story better in a different way; learning about achievements in the world.