The benefits of working together.

Hello again!!

Reading some reports about speaking classes in Spain, I got the most disturbing information. Our kids just talk an hour and a half each year!! That's because there are too many students in a classroom and the method we still use is teacher-lead. So students are just expected to answer certain questions...that's all the talking they really do. And it's not nearly good enough.

This is a difficult and delicate situation, but there are some things us teachers can try if we want to start changing things. Cooperative teaching and learning is one of them.

For example: there's an exercise I really like called "find someone who". Each student receives a list of questions and he/she has to ask as many of his/her partners as possible, trying to find someone who answers those questions saying yes. This way, kids practice vocabulary, structures (questions and answers), conversation skills (in a very basic way, but it's a necessary training if we want them to reach the next level)...not to mention the liveliness of the activity. Kids get up, walk around the classroom, ask and answer questions and feel completely self-sufficient (even if the teacher has to be there to help them and check they don't cheat....for example speaking in their mother tongue if they think they won't be heard, and I can tell you, they try).

There are lots of examples of a "find someone who" related to telling the time and daily routines, but you can make your own exercises and adapt them to any vocabulary or structures you want to practice. It's really worth the try.

Enjoy!!