[MUSIC] Welcome back to teach English now. In our last module we presented information about warm ups and objective discussions. Usually done at the beginning of a lesson plan. This now brings us to what we often do in the middle of our lesson plans. And that relates us to our next topic, presenting information and modelling. In the next couple of videos, we'll talk about presenting information and after that, we'll discuss modelling. In this video, let's start our discussion and talk about not only presenting information, but presenting well. Let's begin. It is strange to think lectures or presentations might ever be considered old-fashioned or outdated. However, there are a growing number of theories that suggest that curriculum is best learned without the teacher presenting lectures and information in front of a classroom. There is, for example, a growing literatures that suggest that problem-based and experiential learning, learning through case studies, and online self-directed learning may be the best way to engage students and get them to learn in a way that is sticky. I'll explain what I mean by sticky in a moment. On the other hand, most teachers still hold to the view that there will always be a place for a teacher to carefully and thoughtfully guide students down a path that will instill information to students, who will then construct knowledge and understand new skills. But for me, the question isn't whether or not lectures are bad, or whether or not, for example, online learning is good. In my view, the real question is something like this, what can teachers do to make their material sticky? By sticky, I refer to the idea that whatever you teach, and however you teach, the instruction should be three things. Memorable, meaning students can recall the information. Usable, meaning students can use the information as a vital life skill, and durable, meaning students can, even after a long period of time, still recall and use the information. Memorable, usable, and durable, an acronym, by the way, that spells MUD, which as we all know is quite sticky. P.S. Use acronyms and other mnemonic devices. They are often exceptionally sticky. Now, in a very real way, what we teachers are paid to do is to present material that sticks. You want information that will stick inside the student's brains. Now, there are many ways to get material to stick, but one of the worst assumptions you can make as a teacher is believing that just saying stuff, creates the condition for students to conduct and use knowledge. Is that true? Of course not. You know that isn't true because every teacher says stuff and yet very little of that stuff sticks in our brains. So there must be something about how some teachers speak and present information that gets students to listen and understand. So what is it? I wish I could define what makes some teachers better at reaching learners than others. But it's hard to define, isn't it? Some teachers simply have a way. You might be able to define it to some degree. For example, maybe some teachers allow you to talk in class more. And think about ideas to examine and broaden the way you do things. Perhaps you had a teacher that was very good at explaining things, had a way of sharing examples, wrote clearly on the board, and broke things down. It all just made sense to you. So, it's hard to define. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Let's go ahead and at least attempt to break down good presenting. Imagine that you have already given a warmup, and you have explained the purposes of the lesson in an objective discussion. Now what? You present, right? You give the information in one way or another, and you make the curriculum sticky. So how do we do it? Let me give two suggestions. First, use teacher talk. We spent a lot of time in our first course discussing teacher talk, remember? Well in the presentation stage of our lesson plan, now is your big chance, you want to repeat, have clear board-work, ask questions, relate new information to student's prior knowledge. You want to clarify and elaborate when students don't understand. You want to use metaphors or analogies that allow for difficult concepts to be memorable. So how do you do all of this? To be honest, often the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher is the amount of time spent thinking about how you will present. Seriously! The difference for me, often, is sitting down at a desk and really thinking. Thinking about how to take dry information from a textbook and make it come alive for students. This can be particularly difficult when it comes to grammatical discussions, long lists of vocabulary, and so forth. To those of you with these kinds of challenges, all I can say is this: chew on it. Take the information, read the books and think. Take time to imagine the information conveyed in a clear way. Think about what parts of the lesson might be particularly difficult, and think of what questions and challenges students might have as you're presenting. To be honest, there is no magic pill that makes a teacher great. Often what makes a teacher great is the sweat equity. A fancy term for hard work that the teacher puts into his or her lesson. It simply takes a lot of thinking to create excellent instructional presentation. Second, keep things conversational. Did you know that a growing number of researchers are discovering that the best teachers tend to think of their classes in terms of a conversation rather than a performance? Even when lecturing, in fact, these superstar teachers tend to use conversational tones and try to elicit reactions. Even if many of those reactions are unspoken. Remember, you're not just saying, you're conveying, eliciting, and moving students from point A to point B. This way of instructing allows for a learned to stay engaged. Answer questions, both quietly, and out loud. And be ready to participate more fully. In this mode of instruction, teachers can use important teaching tools, such as getting feedback, asking probing questions, and changing the pace of instruction. Remember, you are having a conversation, not a performance, and you are constantly receiving cues from your learners. Going along with keeping things conversational, don't be afraid to get a little personal with your learners. Research into the psychology of learning tells us that we remember things better when we have an emotional connection to it. Telling a story from your life to illustrate a point, for example, is a great way to connect with your students and help them connect what you are trying to teach them. In module 1, we talked about using warm language, which is another great technique to connect with students. To end this small discussion of ours, can I restate the two ideas I just shared? If you remember, in today's video I discuss using teacher talk and keeping things conversational. You may have noticed that the first skill, teacher talk refers to your ability to talk to students, clearly, carefully and with attention to details. The second skill, keeping things conversational refers to your ability to get students themselves to talk, clearly, carefully and with an attention to details. First, how you talk. Second, how others talk. Just thought I'd restate the information from our video in a new way. I hope it's sticky. I guess we'll find out in the quiz. Thanks for watching. [MUSIC]
