Hi, everybory
I´ve been through comments and ideas and I find them all very interesting and thoughtful. I was just wondering if we could remember the time when we were all students and what made us feel / see dynamism in our classes. I used to call a teacher dynamic and/or to say my classes were dynamic when the teacher made my body move and my brain think in a meaningful way, so to speak. Do our students perceive it the same way? Is it all? Is it enough? They have exposure to a lot more world information than I used to have and I think that makes the whole difference to peolpe’s needs, interests and even beliefs. So, let´s not take things for granted considering our own paradigms. Let´s find out more about our learners´perception in this new and competitive world.
Hi.
What I perceive from my students is that sometimes what makes a class more dynamic is not really the activities the teacher chooses, but it is a series of things. First of all, your mood (and by this I mean everything it implies: the way you speak to them, the way you listen to what they have to say, the way you look into their eyes, the smile on your face, the jokes you tell, the enthusiasm in your voice…) affects your groups’ perception of what a dynamic class is. However “teachers shall not live by enthusiasm alone” (hahah), and we all know what it means. It is impossible to be always happy and we’re merely humans, not super heroes, no matter how well we hide it from our students. Another thing I guess everyone agrees with is that even the most dynamic activity fails after being used sometimes. Therefore, variety is also a key factor for dynamism because of the different learning styles we have in our classrooms. We must bear in mind that we should do our best in order to reach every single student with our dynamism.
In my opinion, dynamic classes are classes that have a great variety of activities. That is, activities from different resources. Also, they consist of classes which have a nice pace and which are taught by an enthusiastic teacher as Daniel has previously mentioned. I’ve realised that using different resources in the classroom such as the OHP, board, multimedia and etc, makes the classes more fun and not so tiresome. Of course, we must bear in mind our lesson aim always and, also, when choosing the activities we’re going to use, check if they will be not just fun, but, above all, effective. Two saturdays ago, I asked my Cultura express students what a dynamic class was. They came up with many suggestions and ideas, but all the students seemed to agree on one point: dynamic classes are classes that go by quickly…in a blink.Although this view oversimplifies a much more complex issue, I guess this comment made by the students is definitely something for us to reflect deeply on and check what…really… we can do to make our classes fulfill students’ expectations and, at the same time, achieve our teaching goals.
I couldn´t agree more with Daniel, when he says that dynamic classes don´t have to do only with the activities the teacher chooses, and I also agree with our dear boss that our students live being shot by information all the time…
In my point of view dynamic classes are a whole lot related to motivation both on the teacher and students´side. That would explain why some activities do fine with certain groups and not with others.
I believe motivation is closely related to rapport. In other words, I sense that the better the relationship established in class the more dynamic the lessons are.
But how can we improve our rapport with our students? That´s a question yet to be answered.
Another question that lingers around is: how can we improve our students´awareness of dynamism? We all know that they have all those crazy thoughts about this. It seems to me that this is a word in fashion nowadays, and people have been using it to mean many different things…
Well, I guess that´s it…
I guess what summarises my idea about dynamism is shown in the drawing in the opening page: Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect. But why? Isn’t that supposed to be Action Research?
To put it simply, if you ask 1000 students what dynamism is, we’ll probably have 1000 diferent answers. I remember we tried to divide the different perceptions od dynamism among children, teens and adults. In my opinion, that’s not enough. We, teachers, must work with the perception of dynamism in EACH class. Ideally, we ought to work with this concept individually, with each student.
But how are we going to actually DO this? Some might come and say: “it’s impossible!” Well, I say it IS possible. Here is where I come back to the drawing of the Action Research:
1- PREPARE the activity having your students’ profiles and tastes in mind;
2- ACT, do it with the students having prepared each step of the activity;
3- OBSERVE (for our purpose here, I guess this is the most important stage). How do they react? Do they like it, do they participate happily? Monitor hard, ask them if they found the activity dynamic;
4- REFLECT. Did they find it dynamic? What can I do to have a similar reaction from the in the following class?
I agree with Daniel when he mentions the rapport with the students, and I also agree with Tatiana that we should bring a variety of activities and change patterns of interaction. But most important of all, we must keep an eye on what’s happening in our classrooms. We, teachers, must MONITOR constantly what dynamism is for our students. Personally, I think we’ll never reach a single consensus on what dynamism in class is, as his concept is different to every student, every teacher, every person in every age.
As I see it, a dynamic lesson has a lot to do with how well you know your students. Of course the variety of activities and resources, as well as the class arrangement play an important role in dynamism in the class, but there’s no use if your students do not understand all these as being dynamic. So I believe that the first step to a dynamic class is really getting to know your group of students well. And here we come to a crucial point: how do we do this? We may start with a simple needs analysis questionnaire, but your rapport with your students will be fundamental if you wish to keep your classes dynamic, since you will need constant feedback from them in order to know more and to add more to your lessons. To sum up, I agree with all of you guys, and I guess the best way to improve our lessons, not only in terms of dynamism, is through reflection and sharing, which we are already doing!!
Guess that’s it!!!
Well done Joao, Daniel (not Bob) Kelly, Nerrian, Tatiana, Marcelo and of course Veronica. Your first posts are very informative and important. Thanks
I though at this point I’d some debriefing
Why did we do this? I’m sure you know but for clarity
By actually typing in the Blog you have invested your own time into thinking more deeply about this topic. By doing so I hope you know have a better appreciation of the project and what we are trying to achieve
Your comments will help me come up with questions for us to use to when inerviewing our students.
I will post them in the next few days based on a summary, which I will write up, of everyones words
Thank you
Shaun
If you do still want to comment you can but the next phase has been moved onto.
I would like to still see you comment so we can discuss these further but these will not be used as a basis for the next stage as time constraints don not permit
Sorry! but do post here
Veronica ´Plácido said
Hi, everybory
I´ve been through comments and ideas and I find them all very interesting and thoughtful. I was just wondering if we could remember the time when we were all students and what made us feel / see dynamism in our classes. I used to call a teacher dynamic and/or to say my classes were dynamic when the teacher made my body move and my brain think in a meaningful way, so to speak. Do our students perceive it the same way? Is it all? Is it enough? They have exposure to a lot more world information than I used to have and I think that makes the whole difference to peolpe’s needs, interests and even beliefs. So, let´s not take things for granted considering our own paradigms. Let´s find out more about our learners´perception in this new and competitive world.
see you.
Daniel Spindola Cutrim said
Hi.
What I perceive from my students is that sometimes what makes a class more dynamic is not really the activities the teacher chooses, but it is a series of things. First of all, your mood (and by this I mean everything it implies: the way you speak to them, the way you listen to what they have to say, the way you look into their eyes, the smile on your face, the jokes you tell, the enthusiasm in your voice…) affects your groups’ perception of what a dynamic class is. However “teachers shall not live by enthusiasm alone” (hahah), and we all know what it means. It is impossible to be always happy and we’re merely humans, not super heroes, no matter how well we hide it from our students. Another thing I guess everyone agrees with is that even the most dynamic activity fails after being used sometimes. Therefore, variety is also a key factor for dynamism because of the different learning styles we have in our classrooms. We must bear in mind that we should do our best in order to reach every single student with our dynamism.
Tatiana Guedes said
In my opinion, dynamic classes are classes that have a great variety of activities. That is, activities from different resources. Also, they consist of classes which have a nice pace and which are taught by an enthusiastic teacher as Daniel has previously mentioned. I’ve realised that using different resources in the classroom such as the OHP, board, multimedia and etc, makes the classes more fun and not so tiresome. Of course, we must bear in mind our lesson aim always and, also, when choosing the activities we’re going to use, check if they will be not just fun, but, above all, effective. Two saturdays ago, I asked my Cultura express students what a dynamic class was. They came up with many suggestions and ideas, but all the students seemed to agree on one point: dynamic classes are classes that go by quickly…in a blink.Although this view oversimplifies a much more complex issue, I guess this comment made by the students is definitely something for us to reflect deeply on and check what…really… we can do to make our classes fulfill students’ expectations and, at the same time, achieve our teaching goals.
João Fittipaldi said
Hi cada um (hahahahahahahaha)
I couldn´t agree more with Daniel, when he says that dynamic classes don´t have to do only with the activities the teacher chooses, and I also agree with our dear boss that our students live being shot by information all the time…
In my point of view dynamic classes are a whole lot related to motivation both on the teacher and students´side. That would explain why some activities do fine with certain groups and not with others.
I believe motivation is closely related to rapport. In other words, I sense that the better the relationship established in class the more dynamic the lessons are.
But how can we improve our rapport with our students? That´s a question yet to be answered.
Another question that lingers around is: how can we improve our students´awareness of dynamism? We all know that they have all those crazy thoughts about this. It seems to me that this is a word in fashion nowadays, and people have been using it to mean many different things…
Well, I guess that´s it…
Helder said
Hello, everyone
I guess what summarises my idea about dynamism is shown in the drawing in the opening page: Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect. But why? Isn’t that supposed to be Action Research?
To put it simply, if you ask 1000 students what dynamism is, we’ll probably have 1000 diferent answers. I remember we tried to divide the different perceptions od dynamism among children, teens and adults. In my opinion, that’s not enough. We, teachers, must work with the perception of dynamism in EACH class. Ideally, we ought to work with this concept individually, with each student.
But how are we going to actually DO this? Some might come and say: “it’s impossible!” Well, I say it IS possible. Here is where I come back to the drawing of the Action Research:
1- PREPARE the activity having your students’ profiles and tastes in mind;
2- ACT, do it with the students having prepared each step of the activity;
3- OBSERVE (for our purpose here, I guess this is the most important stage). How do they react? Do they like it, do they participate happily? Monitor hard, ask them if they found the activity dynamic;
4- REFLECT. Did they find it dynamic? What can I do to have a similar reaction from the in the following class?
I agree with Daniel when he mentions the rapport with the students, and I also agree with Tatiana that we should bring a variety of activities and change patterns of interaction. But most important of all, we must keep an eye on what’s happening in our classrooms. We, teachers, must MONITOR constantly what dynamism is for our students. Personally, I think we’ll never reach a single consensus on what dynamism in class is, as his concept is different to every student, every teacher, every person in every age.
Kelly Lopez said
Hello, guys!!
As I see it, a dynamic lesson has a lot to do with how well you know your students. Of course the variety of activities and resources, as well as the class arrangement play an important role in dynamism in the class, but there’s no use if your students do not understand all these as being dynamic. So I believe that the first step to a dynamic class is really getting to know your group of students well. And here we come to a crucial point: how do we do this? We may start with a simple needs analysis questionnaire, but your rapport with your students will be fundamental if you wish to keep your classes dynamic, since you will need constant feedback from them in order to know more and to add more to your lessons. To sum up, I agree with all of you guys, and I guess the best way to improve our lessons, not only in terms of dynamism, is through reflection and sharing, which we are already doing!!
Guess that’s it!!!
Shaun said
This section is now closed
Well done Joao, Daniel (not Bob) Kelly, Nerrian, Tatiana, Marcelo and of course Veronica. Your first posts are very informative and important. Thanks
I though at this point I’d some debriefing
Why did we do this? I’m sure you know but for clarity
By actually typing in the Blog you have invested your own time into thinking more deeply about this topic. By doing so I hope you know have a better appreciation of the project and what we are trying to achieve
Your comments will help me come up with questions for us to use to when inerviewing our students.
I will post them in the next few days based on a summary, which I will write up, of everyones words
Thank you
Shaun
Shaun said
If you do still want to comment you can but the next phase has been moved onto.
I would like to still see you comment so we can discuss these further but these will not be used as a basis for the next stage as time constraints don not permit
Sorry! but do post here