As I’ve mentioned in another post, I found a photo editing function a couple of days ago (it’s WhatsApp’s doing, called Meta AI). I mostly use this app to note the homework for my students and sometimes I send photos of exercise sheets for students who have been sick and missed the class. The photo above was the first one I sent after “restyling” it, the particular filter is called “Low-poly”. The original was a normal sheet with pics and I really liked the effect. The exercise, btw, is cutting out the syllables and forming them into words that match the pictures and then glueing them together in their exercise books.
There is no doubt that mobile phones and their translation / AI capabilities make some things easier for me as a teacher of German to non-lliterate foreigners, especially in the very beginning. But then – it should stop. At least in class – if they … Continue reading One Day I am going to throw all mobile phones out of the window
I’ve been working as a teacher for German to mainly refugees, in particular to primary and functional illiterates, for the last 10 years. In case you are wondering: funcitonal illiterates in this context means that the students can write and read in another script, e.g. Arabic or Kyrillic, but not in the Latin based alphabet as used in German and many other European based languages; primary illiterates have never learned to read or write at all. I’ve blogged about my experiences, I still do but I haven’t written anything new in a while. Maybe I’ll find some time during the upcoming holidays. The blog is here. One of the resons I’ve slacked a bit is that things repeat itself in the classroom. Similar issues, different people. I still think my first entries from 2016 and 2017 are best.
I’ve talked a lot with other teachers recently, we all have noticed a steady decline in the capabilites of learning a language in the students. There were always one or two students that are really struggling in any class but these days the whole class is struggling and we often seem to make very little progress.
If I were to name one quality that I rate above any other that is needed for integration it would be: curiosity. CURIOSITY!
Without curiosity in the people, the customs, the surroundings, etc. there is no chance of integration. There is more to it, of course, and the existing society has to bring something to the table, too, to make integration possible. It’s a balancing act that needs willingness on both sides.
I had to explain something kind of complicated to my German class and drew a series of stickmen on the whiteboard in class. Done in under ten minutes, I thought I might preserve them nevertheless. If you want to hear about the whole story, it’s … Continue reading I’m not Teaching Art
