MORE STT LESS TTT

1. MORE STT LESS TTT And NO SPANISH

2. GOALS • How to deal with the use of Spanish in class • Benefits of increasing STT and reducing TTT • Tips for reducing teacher talking time • Tactics to keep students talking

3. HOW DO WE LEARN? Tell your partner What’s the message of the phrase? “We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.” By Martha Graham Tell your partner How it is related to our every day teaching?

4. Shoudweforceourstudentstospeak English in class?

5. USE OF A LANGUAGE Tell your partners which of these 2 phrases is true for you. “You learn a language to use it” “You use a language to learn it”

6. Howtodealwiththe use of Spanish in theclass Wehavetoforcethemtospeak English in class

7. BENEFITS OF REDUCING TTT INCREASING STT STUDENTS USE THE LANGUAGE, THEREFORE THEY ARE LEARNING. Talk with your partners about the benefits of reducing the teacher talking time and increasing the students talking time.

8. TIPS FOR REDUCING TTT Read and understand your tip.

9. TIPS FOR REDUCING TTT Walk around the class and talk to your classmates to complete the table. The first two to finish get a prize.

10. TIPS FOR REDUCING TTT Compare your answers with your partner and give and example for each tip.

11. BREAK

12. ELICIT • Elicit • •Elicit answers and concepts from students. • •Concept check understanding of new words and structures. Don’t over explain.

13. USE VISUAL AIDS Use body language, gestures, props, images, and the board to explain.

14. INSTRUCTIONS Make instructions simple and concise to avoid explaining them multiple times. •When giving instructions, you may use flashcards with simple instructions written on them instead of talking – when you finish ask them to report the instructions back to you to check understanding. Gestures are also a good alternative for groups, and after a few times students will know what you mean without a word coming out of your mouth. Another idea is make students guess the instructions after you give them a hint – STT increased here!

15. REPEATING EXPLANATIONS/INSTRUCTIONS If a student asks you to repeat something, you can ask one or more people from the class to do it for you

16. ECHOING Don’t echo student responses.

17. QUESTIONS Ask open-ended questions, not yes/no questions. •Use “why” and “how” to prompt student explanations. •Ask follow-up questions.

18. PARTICIPATIONS Make all students participate. •Students should read instructions, examples, exercise questions, and anything else that is possible. The teacher should never read these things.

19. STUDY METHODS Use inductive methods to teach new ideas. •Students should use self-discovery to find answers and solutions. Explaining grammar topics – why not let students find out for themselves what it is you’re teaching? You can ask them lead-in questions and conduct their ‘discovery’, hence making the learning more enjoyable and meaningful, using less TTT.

20. FEEDBACK Students can give each other feedback rather than the teacher. Error Correction – at the end a conversation activity, for example, you can write a list of ‘most common mistakes’ (which you’re noted down while the activity was happening) on the board and ask students themselves to correct them, in pairs, with your intervention here and there – STT going up again.

21. SILENCE Provide students with ample thinking time so they can formulate answers and be prepared to speak. •Tolerate silence and don’t fill it with TTT. •Be patient when students are answering a question. Don’t rush to fill the silence with TTT

22. LESSON PLANS •Prepare your lesson plans thoroughly. A teacher with a good lesson plan is less likely to fill in gaps with talk time.

23. STUDENT CONFIDENCE • •Be positive about mistakes. •Increase student confidence whenever possible. •Provide a welcoming class environment where students feel they are able to make mistakes.

24. STUDENT LEVEL • •Make sure students are in the appropriate level. • •Ask students appropriate questions so they are able to answer.

25. CHECKING When checking, you can ask students to compare their work in pairs before you check doubts, or you may invite students to check their answers on the board and read them. Again, you’ll only have to deal with doubts, thus reducing TTT and forcing students to ask questions, increasing STT and students’ autonomy.

26. MODELING • If you have a computer in your classroom, there are dictionaries online you can resort to for pronunciation models; or you can also use a pronunciation chart.

27. HOW MANY hrs. A WEEK YOU TEACH? Guess the instructions for this worksheet Put the tactics from the box under the correct heading and give examples for each tactic.

28. TACTICS TO KEEP ST TALKING AC TIVITIES PLANNING REWARDS/MOTIVATION GAMES PUNISHMENTS

29. TACTICS TO KEEP ST TALKING AC TIVITIES PLANNING Form stories from pictures Speaking circles Chat about hot/interesting topics Debates Present vocabulary Question and answer Icebrekers Role-Plays Completing charts Familiar vocabulary Story telling Conversation cards Surveys Personal graphics Class level Sentence starters Find someone who Speed dating Lesson plan Describe a video/picture Discussions Songs lyrics Karaoke Put dialogues to a video Simple presentations 2 truths and a lie Line facing with sentence starters or questions REWARDS/MOTIVATION GAMES Vocabulary charades Chinese whispers Hot seat Give candies Give participations Poker Hidden picture Paper balls Guess who Jigsaw sentences/lyrics Charades Jeopardy PUNISHMENTS Matching Casino Memory Reduce participations Bring candies

30. Remember: If all your sts. haven’t talked after 5 min. of class, THAT IS NOT A GOOD CLASS. At least 80% of the class should be STT.

31. HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!