Jonathan shares:
Ben-
Some may have already seen this, but it seems to give voice to some of the spirit of the discussion on this blog here.
Video Clip from Steve Kaufmann of “Lingq”
What do you all think?
Sounds like his top value on “what makes a good language teacher” is overwhelmingly their ability to MOTIVATE the learner.
I’m trying to think of a good acronym for the 3 things he mentions as the 3 most things he believes make good language learners:
1) attitude (or Motivation),
2) spending/putting in the Time,
and
3) ability to Notice.
(Perhaps something goofy about “that uphill climb toward the continual summit of the language MounTaiN, where the learner should strive to MainTaiN their dedication toward MoTivatioN in their learning… and what a beautiful view from the summit, eh?”)
Which, of course, he points back again to Motivation as #1 since, if you are Motivated, you will put in the Time (see #2) AND your interest in paying closer attention to Notice (see #3) will be heightened.
(Around 8:25 in the video): He mentions that his ideal teacher is someone who goes out and finds material that’s “FRESH” and “interesting”
(9:20 in vid.) “The best teacher is someone who motivates you, who encourages you to do a lot of stuff on your own. I don’t think it’s necessary to have activities where we force people to use the language. I certainly don’t think it’s necessary to have a syllabus or a curriculum of grammar points that have to be ticked off…”
(9:42-10:32) This part is somewhat of a nice little mini-snippet of sweet stuff for us as teachers.
Toward the end, I especially appreciate how he emphasizes seeing what makes a good language teacher as someone who “is a guide, is a cheerleader, is a coach.”
Yeah. The eternal question, for us language COACHES is that of “how to motivate.” Thanks to all in this PLC for sharing in that experience of sharing what they have found to help in that arena.
Game on, coaches! Let’s continue to guide and cheer our students AND each other in this common, beautiful profession.
-Jonathan