DYNAMICS is a subject within itself. It is linked today mainly with Maths, computers. There is a lot of information on these areas but little on teaching
I was watching the TV one morning while sitting in my Doctor´s waiting room and I was listening to my favourite samba singer Beth Carvalho speaking and she was talking about how she likes to introduce new, up and coming composers to people she knows in the samba comunity.
The interviewer asked he why she did this.
She responded "because it make the things more dynamic". What did she mean?
This is a question that has not been defined well in ELT and this project we hope will do just this so we can be better teachers and of course be more DYNAMIC and be more DYNAMIC teachers.
Below are some definitions of what is dynamic taken from various sources
1.Cambridge online Dictionary.
This is a simple definition of dynamic/dynamism
2. a) Websters Online Dictionary One more definition to compare
b) Webster´s Online Thesaurus What is different with this information
3. A book review about Dymanic classroom for young children. Have alook at this link and see the main points the author uses to describe a dymanic classroom
This article talks about dynamic learning communites. have a look and see what you think can be applied to our work in the English language classroom.
A link to the University of Oklahoma. Thi is an interesting article and it gives 3 areas of what makes up as they call it "credible teacher" . One of them is dynamism.
6. Lu Wang´s Dynamic classroom. This Law student had an article in the University of Pittsburgh´s Teaching Times, and this is what she says about how she sees her dynamic classroom .
There is lots of information on dynamism on your computer. Just go searching and you´ll find much more. Maybe you could post some of it here to enrich our work.
To post own your views on dynamic classes go to the next page. Put any reaseacrh you find here only
Nerrian said
I tend to think of “dynamics” as movement, as the opposite of “balance”. I know it may sound a little controversial, but I heard this for the first time in my drama classes; my teacher was quoting a great British director called Peter Brook.
Peter Brook used to say while lecturing that the western societies have become too fixated over the idea of achieving “balance” in life, of trying that mythical perfect equilibrium between body, mind and soul. He stated that this so-called “balance” is the most unnatural vision of life and, therefore, cannot naturally be obtained.
Life is made of change, of learning from one´s mistakes, of striving to be better every day. This is why dynamism has been recently rediscovered and has been so cherished since.
No matter how many times you teach the same class, you´re always going to do it differently: the group is different (even if it´s the same group again, you´re going to have a different impact the second time around), the time is different, you´ve learned from previous experience, therefore, you´re different!
What I´m trying to say here is that maybe we should think again about this moment in life we´re always trying to achieve most desperately: stability. The moment in which we´ll know by heart and completely every little thing we´re supposed to do during classtime. If it were ever to happen in this fashion, I suppose many of us would feel bored about teaching pretty soon.
Accepting and embracing dynamism, change, new possibilities and horizons is a human ability, it´s within our inner nature. We should be open to letting our own nature speak once in a while….
Shaun Dowling said
So Nerrain
First, I like your views very much thank you for being the first to share.
In practical terms though, what do you think is the difference between a balanced class is from a dynamic class. Can we see a clear difference between one and the other? Is there anything in the information above to support this view.
Sorry it may be my fault for not having clearly signposted this better but in response to this could you please post you point of vies on the space above/post?
Marcelo Elias said
I agree that we should try and break paradigms. Sometimes by destabilizing the system we can make it evolve. However, I think balance in a class is essential. Balance between the skills and contents we teach; balance in a sense of mental and emotional calm. These two aspects are related to being dynamic, because they have to do with variety of activities, T’s and Ss’ roles and responsibilities, co-operation in class…