Comments on: Designing for Top Performance in the ESL Classroom (Part I) http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com/2008/11/20/designing-for-top-performance-in-the-esl-classroom-part-i/ The life and times of an English teacher in Mexico City Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:57:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: joep van der werff http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com/2008/11/20/designing-for-top-performance-in-the-esl-classroom-part-i/#comment-656 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:24:43 +0000 http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com/2008/11/20/designing-for-top-performance-in-the-esl-classroom-part-i/#comment-656 There is a lot in the article "Why Talent is Overrated": that confirms what most of us do in class. The words in bold are taken from the article: DELIBERATE PRACTICE are in-class activities and homework exercises that we design with our ss' needs in mind. DAILY GOALS are easy to set, and ss learn better if they know what they should focus on, and with CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK from the teacher, our ss will know whether they achieved these goals or not, for example through SELF-OBSERVATION (a.k.a metacognition): the learners think about their progress. In other words (my words): it's nice if you have a talent for languages, but if you don't, you can trust your teacher to design a program for you where you will learn anyhow. Nobody said it would be easy (i.e., effortless), but you will learn and reach your goals. There is a lot in the article “Why Talent is Overrated”: that confirms what most of us do in class. The words in bold are taken from the article: DELIBERATE PRACTICE are in-class activities and homework exercises that we design with our ss’ needs in mind. DAILY GOALS are easy to set, and ss learn better if they know what they should focus on, and with CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK from the teacher, our ss will know whether they achieved these goals or not, for example through SELF-OBSERVATION (a.k.a metacognition): the learners think about their progress. In other words (my words): it’s nice if you have a talent for languages, but if you don’t, you can trust your teacher to design a program for you where you will learn anyhow. Nobody said it would be easy (i.e., effortless), but you will learn and reach your goals.

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