So what the heck is realia, or did that guy just spell the word wrong?
Look at this YouTube video. Click here
As some of you may know from my profile, I started by teaching English in Japan. The problem is I was a Canadian teaching American English in Osaka. The books were okay, except that I had to spell words wrong sometimes. But my biggest problem teaching was that the students did not always get the full benefit of their studies, because it was not tangible for them. It was at this time that I heard about using real examples of English documents (such as a menu, or magazine) instead of the text book. The idea of brining a real situation into the classroom to learn the language seems to work more effectively. The concept is called Realia.
Well, I don't teach much English these days, and my wife might joke that I could use some lessons myself. However, the idea of Realia still works with teaching IT skills. There are some contracts that I have wanted staff to learn MS Excel. In cases like this, I have found that utilizing the actual documents that the student will be using gives more purpose and understanding to the lessons that I could have taught out of the text book. And besides, they do not have to interrupt my lesson to their work, which makes me look like a better teacher.
What about you guys? do you use realia?
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Friday, 29 May 2015
Some Challenges Teaching First Nations
"Why
fixing First Nations education remains so far out of reach
Aboriginal
youth face a fate that should horrify Canadians and there’s an
obvious fix"
My
last employer was the First Nations Technology Council, and as such
we tried to address some of the problems in education with 203 first
nations communities in BC. Maclean's has an interesting article why
we are failing these communities.
It
is a bit bleak, but this is how some feel in the communities. I might
point out that I have a more optimistic view than Maclean's. However,
these issues contribute to the difficulties teaching of these
communities. What do you think?
Well this is the beginning of the thing. I hope it works. For the PIDP 3250 program all students must make a blog with the following items
I have been teaching something or other for the last twenty years, ever since I left York University. I have a degree in Biology, so as soon as I finished university in late 1992, I headed to Japan to teach English. Yes I know, it did not seem practical at the time either. However, I had gone through university without taking any summers off in order to graduate in three years, rather than four, so I wanted a vacation. Japan seemed like a good choice, and I could also teach EFL legally, because I had a university degree. Note to anyone thinking of doing this; it might be a good idea to learn a bit more Japanese before you head off to the land of the Children of the Sun. I had only thought about staying six months, but left seven and a half years later. Yes, I speak Japanese, which really impresses some people, even though 123 million other people in the world can also speak it. The trouble with learning Japanese is I always have to order at the sushi restaurant, even though most don't speak Japanese.
Not having learned my lesson about university, I returned to Toronto to take a Post-Graduate in IT Management. I graduated just after 911 in November 2001. You might also remember there was a dot com crash, and the need for IT project managers declined over night, so I returned to Vancouver, since the weather is nicer.
I took a TESOL course and started teaching ESL in Vancouver, which was nice at the time. Not but they don't pay a lot, so I decided to travel again.
I qualified for an ancestral visa to the UK, so I got on a plane for London and spent all my money before I got a job. Note to those doing this; the banking system is different there, and it took me two months to get accepted at a bank to cash my first pay cheque. This is why they have direct deposit. I started off doing government employment training teaching, which seems to have a fair bit of ESOL involved, so I did well. I received an assessor's certificate there, and was also an internal moderator for a work placement program. I transferred to the National Vocational Qualification programs, so by the time I went to my second company, I was promoted to a quality assurance coordinator. In my last position I was given the title of academic manager and put in charge of the post-graduate diploma program for management in the health and social care sector.
Six years later, I returned to North Vancouver with a wife and a child on the way. You might say that year was busy. I found work with the First Nations Technology Council as a Technology Training Specialist. We delivered IT programs to 203 First Nations communities in British Columbia.
Experience is one thing, but I still did not have a instructors diploma. And as I am looking for work again, I thought I would get my PIDP. But if you are reading this, probably you have a similar story.
- A brief autobiography
I have been teaching something or other for the last twenty years, ever since I left York University. I have a degree in Biology, so as soon as I finished university in late 1992, I headed to Japan to teach English. Yes I know, it did not seem practical at the time either. However, I had gone through university without taking any summers off in order to graduate in three years, rather than four, so I wanted a vacation. Japan seemed like a good choice, and I could also teach EFL legally, because I had a university degree. Note to anyone thinking of doing this; it might be a good idea to learn a bit more Japanese before you head off to the land of the Children of the Sun. I had only thought about staying six months, but left seven and a half years later. Yes, I speak Japanese, which really impresses some people, even though 123 million other people in the world can also speak it. The trouble with learning Japanese is I always have to order at the sushi restaurant, even though most don't speak Japanese.
Not having learned my lesson about university, I returned to Toronto to take a Post-Graduate in IT Management. I graduated just after 911 in November 2001. You might also remember there was a dot com crash, and the need for IT project managers declined over night, so I returned to Vancouver, since the weather is nicer.
I took a TESOL course and started teaching ESL in Vancouver, which was nice at the time. Not but they don't pay a lot, so I decided to travel again.
I qualified for an ancestral visa to the UK, so I got on a plane for London and spent all my money before I got a job. Note to those doing this; the banking system is different there, and it took me two months to get accepted at a bank to cash my first pay cheque. This is why they have direct deposit. I started off doing government employment training teaching, which seems to have a fair bit of ESOL involved, so I did well. I received an assessor's certificate there, and was also an internal moderator for a work placement program. I transferred to the National Vocational Qualification programs, so by the time I went to my second company, I was promoted to a quality assurance coordinator. In my last position I was given the title of academic manager and put in charge of the post-graduate diploma program for management in the health and social care sector.
Six years later, I returned to North Vancouver with a wife and a child on the way. You might say that year was busy. I found work with the First Nations Technology Council as a Technology Training Specialist. We delivered IT programs to 203 First Nations communities in British Columbia.
Experience is one thing, but I still did not have a instructors diploma. And as I am looking for work again, I thought I would get my PIDP. But if you are reading this, probably you have a similar story.
- Links to your classmates Blogs- there are a heck of a lot of them, but let me put the ones that are available. I will add new ones when I can
- John Coomber - but it was locked when I looked
- Stephanie Grenko
- Karen Deol
- Emma Leigha Munro
- Megan Bukta
- Nripjeet Randhawa
- Jennifer Aarestad
- Karon Wong
- Leslee Montgomery
- Sylvia Fraser
- Link to the SIE Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/VCCSchoolOfInstructorEducation#
- Two or more postings reflecting course content
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