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THE IMPORTANT OF PREPARING AMBIDESTROUS TEACHERS - developing skills for the face-to-face and online contexts.By Kate French, CELTA TUTOR & ASSESSOR NB 1 As ever, I cannot take credit for all of these suggestions and would particularly like to thank my colleagues, ex-colleagues, CELTA assessor and those who trained me to become a CELTA tutor for their input based on personal experiences delivering the 100% online CELTA in various countries during 2020. NB 2: Of course whether you are a trainer about to start tutoring on a 100% online CELTA course, or a centre wishing to offer this delivery format for the first time, please refer to the Cambridge English Assessment guidelines issued in 2020 which are available on: of useful suggestions and guidelines for delivery of 100% online CELTAIdeas for contrasting and comparing face 2 face TP with online TPLength of Course:As per Cambridge Assessment English guidelines (June 2020) Online courses should be a minimum of five weeks to account for the mode of delivery. The first week should allow time for platform and teaching practice familiarization. Preferred online platform: ZOOM please note the latest advice from Cambridge Assessment English (Sept 2020): Centres running fully online CELTA courses must ensure that they provide one account for TP lessons, which all of the tutors and trainees have access to, in order that there is one room open and running for the whole of TP, so that students don’t have to enter a new room for every lesson.?This means purchasing a paid for license package from Zoom.Delivery of input sessionsThe online input modules provided by Cambridge Assessment English for the blended CELTA course are based on teaching in a face-to-face context only. Therefore, the recommendation is that:the Centre’s own self-designed input sessions are delivered in a synchronous format ORthe centre uses a mix of the asynchronous input sessions on Cambridge moodle, but that tutors also deliver some input sessions themselves, in order to demonstrate ‘best practice’ in an online format. For example, the different lessons types:receptive skills lessons productive skills lessons language presentation - test-teach-test lessons, text-based and task-based lessonsAdditional input sessions:In view of the need to prepare candidates for teaching both face-to-face and online contexts, the following additional input sessions are recommended:Comparison & Contrast of online skills and techniques with their equivalents and alternatives in the face-to-face classroom.If running face-to-face CELTAs, then these too should now include an input session comparing and contrasting classroom management with their equivalents and alternatives in the online classroom. An input session on additional and useful online tools to aid teaching and learning in the online context. Such input sessions should include the following, particularly if not being utilized on the online course itself.Google Docs: : : : : : tutors become more familiar and adept with online teaching, methodology and apps, then these could/should become an integral part of the CELTA course delivery, whether that be face-to-face or online (providing the necessary hardware/devices are available, of course)The following course is highly recommendable for both tutors and candidates alike: Teaching English Online: input session should specifically look at the methodology that may differ in the face 2 face classroom. Content Suggestions seating arrangement e.g. semi-circlearranging groupings e.g. pairs, threes, WCFB etc.the importance of teacher’s position within classroom e.g. not obstructing students’ eyelines or turning their backs to peoplevarying interaction patternsboard work e.g. use of coloured pens, organizing the board e.g. vocabulary columns, date, title etc. using the course book and other supplementary handouts e.g. chesting vs screen sharingusing technology in classroom e.g. TVs, audios etc.monitoring students e.g. from behind and in front; kneeling down, when & why?delivery of clarification stages e.g. MPForganizing role plays and other group speaking activities e.g. decorating the classroom, moving furniturenominating and conducting feedback e.g. hand movements projecting and using teachers’ voice in the classroomdrilling e.g. stand up sit down for indicating rhythm and stresswhen and at what stage in the lesson the above would be useful.Delivery SuggestionsPlanning the session so that it can be made as interactive and dynamic as possible even though it is being delivered online. For example, create Google handouts that allow students to move a teacher (symbol) in and out of a semi-circle to indicate how they would monitor students (other symbols) at different stagesChoosing a previously delivered online lesson/stage of that online lesson and rewriting instructions and procedures for the face-to-face classroom.Watching a video of a face-to-face lesson with the online candidates to illustrate and point out similarities and differences is invaluable.Preparing CELTA candidates for online platform/Zoom:Although prospective candidates do not need to have any prior experience with using an online platform like Zoom the general consensus is that:a tutor should deliver a synchronous training session covering the main featuresideally this session should be preceded by a self-study guide and/or video tutorial which candidates can use to familiarize themselves with the platform before the course starts. at least one unassessed TP lesson must be arranged for each trainee, with a trainer present to advise and support before any assessment starts. in addition, candidates appreciate being given an opportunity to use the online platform with the TP students, without tutors present, prior to the first observed, but unassessed lesson. a few interactive tasks that get candidates locating and using the tools in a fun way:drawing a picture on the zoom board; transforming shapes displayed by tutor into pictures and holding up to the camera and explaining rationale.sending messages to everyone, and privately in the chat box sharing their own screens or showing family pictures/online videos - a favourite advert is a good idea and appropriate for different countries/nationalities.flashcards of Zoom symbols are also useful:. The Zoom platform does provide its own online tutorials and there are many others available on Youtube.3. We call this TP0 at our school and it follows the same format as regular TPs i.e. with TP notes from a course book.4. Carrying out research for the FOL assignment is a popular way to do this.Hardware requirements & other skills for prospective candidates:Candidates on the course need to have:good computer skillsa laptop or access to a reliable computer with a CAMERAa good quality headset, with in-built microphonegood internet connection and/or reliable WIFIThese things can be checked and advised upon by conducting the interview on Zoom. Including questions about experience with online platforms and asking them to share the language awareness tasks for example.It is also good to show them the sound quality difference with using and not using headphones and microphone!Preparing CELTA TP Students for online platform/Zoom:Although prospective TP students do not need to have any prior experience with using an online platform like Zoom the general consensus is that:a tutor should deliver a synchronous training session covering the main features. This can be combined with the delivery of one the input sessions demonstrating a lesson type for candidates.ideally this session should be preceded by a self-study guide and/or video tutorial which candidates can use to familiarize themselves with the platform before the course startsSee previous two boxes aboveHardware & other requirements for prospective TP Students: To avoid unfair stress and difficulties, TP students should be screened carefully to ensure that they have the following:good computer skills & knowledge. Accessing the course solely by mobile phone is not recommended.a laptop or access to reliable computer with a CAMERAideally a good quality headset, with in-built microphonegood internet connection and/or reliable WIFIWhat essential skills do the Candidates need to demonstrate:Clearly, candidates need to demonstrate the same skills and techniques expected on a face-to-face course and meet the same criteria. However, in addition:BY THE END OF THE COURSECandidates need to have a good knowledge of and demonstrate sufficient skill with the basic features of the online platform (e.g. Zoom). chat boxscreen sharing playing recordings & videosmuting & unmutingreactions pollinghow to alter basic settingsAnd specifically, for:BREAK OUT ROOMSknow how to assign students to rooms manually as well as automaticallyknow how to alter settings so that students are automatically moved to the room (no need to click ‘join’)know how students can easily access any handouts/questions/activities to be used in a BORFROM THE START OF THE COURSECandidates need be taught how to:Move between the main room and all the breakout rooms for monitoring purposes*Ensure that the tutor and observing candidates can also move between the breakout rooms*know how to use Google.Docs and Google.Drive to create and file user-friendly handouts for TP students and access material posted there by tutors.Prepare a (useful) PPT presentations e.g. for clarification of language (MFP), showing visuals etc., which follow the same expectations for face-to-face candidates on a classroom whiteboard e.g. drilling and CCQing language before eliciting/showing the written word.* Source: Cambridge Assessment English Issue 43 - Teaching Qualifications Newsletter centrecomms@ - Sept 2020ADDITIONAL SKILLSCentres should decide if they wish Candidates to demonstrate skills with other online tools such as those mentioned earlier e.g. Padlet, Quizlet or whether the use of such tools is optional and left to the candidates to decide. By the end of the course ….Common problems can arise and to avoid these, tutors should remember to:remind candidates of the need to switch on ‘share computer audio’ when screen sharing and playing a recording. It appears in bottom left-hand corner of share screen.point out that often candidates are automatically muted after returning to main room from a BOR. This can be switched off in the settings for that particular Zoom room.polling is only available with paid licences and cannot be set up inside the Zoom room but only outside, so candidates will need access to the room settings for this. (Note from Sandy: this is a faff though and it’s easier to use a polling website outside Zoom, e.g. Mentimeter, AnswerGarden, or EasyPolls.)remind candidates to ‘share’ Google documents with ‘editor’ and not just ‘viewer’ rights if they wish to monitor students’ individual workBreak Out Roomsthis can be time consuming and stressful to do initially and so a good tip is to give each TP student a name and number as they enter the room at the start of TP practice e.g. Charles = 1 Charles. Then candidates can group and regroup as they would in the face-to-face classroom e.g.1-4, 4-8Odd and even 135, 246 etc This is useful for jigsaw readings/listenings and information gap exercises. select ‘options’ in break out rooms box at bottom to change BOR settings.show candidateshow participants in a BOR can share their screen and display any previously shared documenthow to get TP students to take a picture of the main room/screen prior to moving to a BORFrom the start of the course…select BOR and ‘join’ the rooms displayedfor this the teacher needs to make their fellow candidates and tutor co-host, so that they can also jump between rooms[tip from Sandy: rename trainees/tutors as e.g. Tutor Sandy, Trainee Bob, Trainee Freda etc so that all students are grouped together]the OUP coursebook Navigate provides downloadable PPT slides to support the grammar units in the book. These are editable, which is useful as they don’t include a focus on pronunciation, but this can added easily. These PPTs can be used to provide examples for candidates. You need to be a member of the OUP teachers club in order to download: similarity and parity with face-to-face and blended CELTA courses.To be fair to all candidates, the 100% online CELTA should reflect closely what happens on the Centres’ face-to-face and blended courses. generally, the ideal number of TP students is 10-12, as this ensures thumbnail videos can be seen clearly and this will ensure that the TP classes meet the required attendance average of 8. However, it depends what is accepted on face-to-face courses at the Centre.the majority of tutors point out similarities and differences between face-to-face and online delivery ORALLY, when appropriate. However, reference to the different teaching context should be highlighted at the beginning of the course and to make this advice more memorable and interactive the ideas in the adjacent column can be included.6 hours of Observation of experienced teachers: Firstly, it is now acceptable for all 6 hours to be of recorded classroom lessons. The 3 hours of live observation has been waived.Secondly, however, it is logically that these 6 hours should be a mix of recordings of both online and face-to-face teaching.Thirdly, as said previously, at least 2 hours observing the tutor or other experienced teacher deliver a synchronous online lesson is highly recommended.Application, Interview &?Pre-course task:include some questions about the different teaching contexts Written assignments: FOL can include discussion of students’ strengths online and/or they can discuss how they would do activities in both contexts. Lessons from the Classroom assignment should include reflection on how the course has developed their face-to-face skills and how they will take their online experience into a face-to-face context and what they will have to work on if moving to face-to-face teaching.Observation Tasks: Peer/Lesson Observation SheetsAgain, existing observation tasks can be easily amended to highlight face-to-face teaching too e.g.:How does the teacher set up activities? How are instructions given? How are they checked? Is her language clear? Give examplesWould the same methods for giving instructions work in the face-to-face classroom?? Why/Why not?How engaged are the students in the activities? Do you think the activity would be equally engaging face-to-face? Why?How does the teacher monitor students, as a class, in groups, and individually??How would a teacher do this in the face-to-face classroom?Teaching Practice: Lesson planningTeaching practice notes (if used by the centre) can easily be annotated with terminology and techniques for the face-to-face class in one colour and for the online lessons in another e.g.:Check in pairs in break out rooms if time and then as a classElicit forms to the white board / PPTSs work individually before checking their answers in pairs or in main room as a group with tutor hiddenTeaching Practice Feedback: Hot, Oral, WrittenThese should be amended to encourage candidates to reflect on specific methods and techniques in both contexts. Hot Feedback/Post-Lesson Self- Evaluation SheetsHow could I improve this lesson from a planning perspective? Would the plan look any different if you were going to teach in a face-to-face classroom?Imagine you had to deliver this lesson in a face-to-face classroom?? What puzzles you?? What do you need to know?? Ask you tutorOral FeedbackWhich stage of the lesson would you like/not like to deliver face-to-face with students? Why/Why not?Which aspects do you think work better online than face-to-face? Why?Candidates could order post-it-notes of activities that would be delivered in the same manner face-to-face and those that would need adapting e.g. language clarification of MPFWritten FeedbackI loved the shared Google document so that students could all work together to match words to definitions, but how could you replicate this activity in a face-to-face classroom?In the face-to-face classroom, to help with delivering clear instructions you can write them onto the back of the handout and read as you chest and point in front of the class. How could you replicate this in the online classroom?Methodological InputThere are various online tools, apps and techniques that are useful in the online classroom that have an ‘equivalent’ in the face-to-face context. Here are some of the most popular that candidates should do and which to avoid:Delivering InstructionsDO deliver instructions the same way as face-to-face i.e. chesting, pointing to material and asking ICQs in front of the cameraAnd/orDO use Zoom screen share and annotate tool to highlight page, task, question etc.DO use whiteboard to demonstrate how to complete a task, when/if necessary.AVOID reading/asking TP students to read rubrics aloud. Tutor needs to see that teachers can rephrase and deliver clear, staged, and reworded instructions for both teaching contextsAVOID writing instructions on whiteboard, PPT and/or in chat box - time consuming in both contexts.Using a whiteboardDO use a word or Google document as the whiteboard. A pre-designed template can be shared with candidates, with the typical vocabulary column and date/title etc. These are much more user friendly than the Zoom board and the google.doc is automatically saved.DO use this board to record incidental vocab, with MPF and write up errors in hot and cold correction stages as in a face-to-face classroom.DO use PPT to replicate/replace the clarification/board record of MPF for language lessons. These can be prepared in advance.DO include animation on PPT presentations so that essential features of the structures can be ‘revealed’ at the right time and avoid providing answers before asking CCQs and drilling from the written word.Regular Pair CheckingDO get TP students to compare work before WCFB regularly in the lesson before confirming or correcting answers open class, and without always using the BOR, as this can become unwieldy and time consuming for pair-checking.DO this by switching off your camera and microphone and allow students to compare as a group (depending on size - but works fine with 10-12 students)ORDO, alternatively, ask TP students to type answers in the chat box or nominate one student to type in chat box and ask rest to agree or correct.DO hide non-video participants i.e. the observing candidates and yourself, so that you only see students on your screen. Helps a lot.DO show TP students how to hide the observing candidates too, so that they only see you, the teacher, and their classmates.AVOID getting all TP students to type in chat box /share their answers privately with you if there are more than a couple of answers. Not only is it time consuming, but strong students can dominate in the former and the latter can be stressful for the teacher to correct.Grouping/Re-grouping for discussion activities etc.DO replicate the face-to-face technique of forming groups by using letters e.g. Group A, B, C and numbers 1,2,3,4 by naming and numbering and students as they enter the classroom. This makes assigning students and reforming new groups using BOR mode much easier. AVOID using automatic function on BOR more than once as it just puts students into the same groups for the whole lesson. [Note from Sandy: you can press ‘recreate’ to change the grouping with the automatic function, but it’s probably better for the teacher to create BORs manually when they’re managing the location of the trainer and their peers too.]Monitoring studentsChecking they have finished a task e.g. readingDO find an easy method to see when TP students have finished a task e.g. reading and are ready to move on. For example, ask students to switch their cameras or microphones off when they are reading and on again when they have finished. This is a quick, visual method for seeing who is ready and who is not and replicates the face-to-face ‘heads down/heads up’ technique.ORDO ask them to switch mute button on and off when finished.ORDO ask students to use the Zoom reaction tool and put hands up /thumbs up when finished.AVOID asking ‘is everyone ready?’ It should be possible for you to monitor and make this decision yourself. Monitoring students’ individual tasks/written responsesDO create individual Google drive folders for each TP student (if no more than 10-12 in the class) and share with all CELTA candidates and the tutor. File a personally named copy of each lesson’s handout in these folders, labelled with the TP students name, followed by yours and the TP number e.g. Diego Emma TP1.DO ask TP students to open these documents at the appropriate time in the lesson so that you can directly monitor and see how each student completes, for example, a controlled practice activity. You can also write on the document and highlight errors for self-correction, praise good work and/or do this orally. The tutor can also open some or all the documents and see directly how well you are able to correct and encourage students.DON’T worry about not being able to monitor all the students in the lesson, but do monitor at least 3 or 4 to show you can praise, encourage self-correction, provide direct, individual help and show that you know what you are teaching. ORAlternatively, create one Google document and copy the exercise on a new page for a different TP Student. Put each TP students name at the top of each page. Share the document with the students either by posting in their drive folders or by copying a link into chat box. Students find their page and complete and the teacher can monitor what each student is doing by simply scrolling up and down. Yes, students could copy from each other but they’re unlikely to have the time! Indeed you can ask them get help by comparing theirs with another student/page. ................
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