Hello, everyone. I´m a first year teacher who has moved from the States to teach English at an all boys school in Chile. The biggest issue is getting them talking, so I think Whole Brain Teaching will be perfect for them.

If anyone has any tips and hints for using WBT to teach a foreign language send them my way!

Whole Brain Teaching is perfect for working with reluctant speakers. I teach ESL students and many times I have students who are to to school and dthe language. AZ is an English only state so I am limited is even being able to use the little Spanish I have with my students.
When you use Whole Brain Teaching everyone can respond at the same time but almost privatly with a partner at the same time. Whispering is ok. I've even used it at first for students to talk into their own hand open in front of their face.
Model, practice, practice. They truely want to speak, they just need to get over the fear of their own strange sounding voice.
Remember at big part of learning a foreign language is overcoming the fear of mistakes and trusting the group. Group responses like in Whole Brain Teach is great for jusm,ping over these barriers.

There's another issue here.

It's worldwide accepted that for acquiring a language we need both a lot of comprehensible input, and possibilities for using the target language. With WBT we have both: On the one hand, the teacher talks to the student using gestures (comprehensible input). On the other, the teacher asks the students to teach each other everything (using TL); but, the problem in your case (and in mine too) is that our learners only receive the input we can provide them with. They are not immersed in the language, and they are only in contact with English 2 or 3 hours a week (at least here in Spain). That's why I think Whole Brain Teaching can be so good for our learners. As it is so motivating, I hope it will make them be willing to look for more input outside our class.

This year I haven't been able to implement WBT in EFL, but I will next course. As soon as I find tools or ideas, I'll share them with you.

Best,

Edward

I teach ESL in Bangkok Thailand.

They are 7 years old, all boys, and have almost no language skills other than 'hello' and 'my name is....' (Can it get much more challenging than this ? )


I am a veteran teacher with around 7 years ESL experience. I always felt I was good, but I wanted to be GREAT! Powerteaching made this possible.

So this year, when the new academic year started, in May, and having made a thorough study of WBT, I thought Id give it a try. At the time I could not find much info on how this method works for ESL, but I was fairly sure it would work.

So here are some tips.

make sure you understand all the aspects of powerteaching well
introduce the concepts gradually over a few weeks, starting with CLASS-YES
practice routines every day - preferably at the beginning of the class.
Have an opening routine. My opening routine runs something like this:
They sing a song (usually the signature song for the current unit)
then we do spelling (revision for the 5-word weekly test ) I use a little ping pong ball and bounce the rhythm out. If the ball is released and bounce they say the next letter. THEY LOVE IT!
Then we do the rules - After about 3 weeks they can all say it off by heart. I have 5 rules
Rule 1 Follow commands quickly (using chris biffles gesture)
Rule 2 Hands up, mouth closed to answer (they gesture hand up mouth closed with the other hand.)
Rule 3 Speak English (they make an Italian kiss with their hands and follow it through with a speech bubble gesture)
Rule 4 Teacher talks I listen. Hands make talking gesture they point to themselves then put their hands behind their ears to 'listen'
Rule 5 Make teacher happy (use chris biffles TV screen happy gesture.)

Rules are great - it draws boundaries, and kids will tell one another off when breaking rules. Also after a few weeks you say RULE 3 : and everyone goes : SPEAK ENGLISH! Bringing that kid into line.

I also have a great Grade 1-3 reward system. They get to watch a DVD if they fill up the 20 spaces. Its a racing game. Each class has a little racing car which moves along a race track one space at a time on the 'lines' in the middle of the track. There are around 20 lines per track. One track for each of the classes I teach. The cars are laminated and magnetized for my whiteboard. So when they cross the finish line, they get a DVD of around 15 minutes on a Friday. Being boys, they just love this. If I see them slacking off with the OH YEAH, or CLASS YES, I make them loose a 'line' But more often than not, I reward them and I do so generously.

I also have speedreading words on the wall, and I add 10 new ones every 3 weeks. So by the end of the year they should know the first 100. The spelling words and reading words are part of the opening routine.

Also right now, classroom commands and sayings are also part of the opening routine. So everytime they come in we rehearse. Stand up (even if they are already standing, they straighten up and should not touch their desks) 'hands up, mouth closed', finger on your mouth. Clear your desk (they make a sweeping gesture over their desks with their hands) bag under your desk. Hands and Eyes (I move around the classroom and 'hide' under my desk or pretend to be heading for the door - making sure their eyes follow me as I move.) Also, review things students routinely ask for. For example Teacher I dont understand, May I go to the toilet, May I drink water etc. All using gestures.

Rehearse EVERY time you see them, without fail, always stick to the same, predictable routine. Initially it takes a little time, but after about a month, the whole opening routine takes between 5-10 minutes. So after 10 minutes they have already learned their spelling words anew, and revisited the 10 reading words and sung a song appropriate for the unit. Plus of course reviewed the rules and the classroom commands.

I also have a an additional attention getter, which I vary with voice tone. 'EEeeeeverybody' / 'Eeeeeveryone'. This is a cue that I want everyone to repeat what I am gesturing or saying.

I have not yet introduced the 'teach ok'. For this Grade level, I think I may only introduce that in the following semester. Right now, I am about to introduce- 'tell your friend'. Which really is just another way of getting them to repeat what you have said. But tell your friend may include up to 5 target words or sentences with visual clues of what you want them to tell (flashcards on the board or pictures on your screen if you are using a PC) They turn to their friend and repeat, using gestures.

Lastly, you can never do enough gesturing - also get them to respond to EVERYTHING. If you hand out a homework sheet you hand it out and then holding it up you say: EEeeeveryone - they repeat. Homework. (they repeat)This is homework. (they repeat) Homework for Monday,(they repeat)

If you show them something nice let them OOOOH about it . If you explain something and you go around the class showing the example, get each of them to say : I SEE!

They should respond all the time... and GESTURE GESTURE GESTURE!!

Kids are amazingly responsive to this method, and it works exceptionally well for ESL particularly the lower Primary levels. Of course the greatest advantage is that kids are talking English all the time, responding to things you say. So when test time comes, they will automatically respond and not be shellshocked when asked questions in a Speaking test.

The other great thing about this method is that it has classroom management built into it. In addition to the race game, I have dollars with my face printed on them. I divide the class into teams - red green blue , and have a 3 coloured plastic boxes sucked to the whiteboard in front. They gain dollars for positive reponsive behaviour and loose it for behaviour that is unwanted. At the end of the lesson $ are counted and recorded. Best team of the week is rewarded. (a lollipop or a sheet of stickers.) Be very consistent about how you reward or punish. It should be predictable. Always give lots of dollars for an unusually good response. Always take a dollar away if a kid is doing something he is not supposed to do.

The whole method however is designed to keep kids engaged, so you really do not have to play policeman all the time. Also once they know the rules, you just say - RULE 5 and everyone would say : Rule 5 make teacher happy. Then you look at the kid, everyone goes Aaaaaawe as you take away a dollar. Or you just go : Team red 'AAaaawe' you take the dollar, and look at the kid.

This method also is VERY energizing - your teaching time goes up, their talking time goes up, and you don't spend energy trying to rack your brain to bring a class in line when they are going off the rails.

Its FANTASTIC. It truely brings out the best in us as teachers and of course, as a result, best in our students. And again : this method is absolutely 'MADE' for esl teaching!

I hope you find it as rewarding as I have !

My goodness! Your response was amazing! Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. I will surely use the advice that you gave me. Thank you for illustrating it so well. I will take what you've given me and tweak it to fit my classrooms. It's a little harder only teaching most of the classes once a week, but I will do my best.

My second trimester begins this upcoming week and I will be implementing the new techniques. I can't wait to see how it goes.

Thanks again. You were very generous, and I really appreciate all that you wrote. Keep up the good work!

-Amanda

mailmonkey and Edward, here's a key question for you:

When you teach key concepts using the Teach-OK method, do you use the Target Languges or the students' L1 (first language)?

I know full well that getting kids to speak in the target language can be like pulling teeth, so I was wondering how you guys encourage it (besides what was already posted).

I teach High School students, but they're still "babies" in the target languge. I teach primarily French I and II. (Sometimes French III and IV, if I'm lucky.)

Merci!
~Katie (:

Hello Kate!
I know that it can be like pulling teeth to get some ESL kids to just SPEAK English! I would use the teack-ok with both L1 and L2. Sometimes it is hard not only for them to get used to the teach-ok but adding the daunting task of comprhending and speaking L2 on top of it can prove to be quite overwhelming. To get them more used to using teach-ok with English I would make them repeat something to their neighbor in English rather than have them produce new knowledge right away, later you can ease them into coming up with their own ideas to teach in English. I agree with mailmonkey's idea to strictly enforce the "speak English" or "make smart choices" rule to pressure their classmates into following the directions and to just practice what they know.
Don't forget gestures, gestures, gestures. If they aren't teaching (speaking to their neighbor) they need to be gesturing which will help them catch on more quickly.
Sounds like your off to a good start!
-Heather

Hi Katie!

In my case, I teach English as a foreign language, and in an elementary school. The only contact my students have with English is the 2 hours a week classes I teach them.

As my students go from 4 to 7, I do not teach them grammar content, I mainly focus on vocabulary. I haven't started to use WBT with the EFL yet, but I think I'm going to use Teach-OK! for allowing them to do meaningful repetition, and when using stories, but always in the target language.

When I'm going to use L1 is when I teach them WBT, because I want them to understand from the beginning.

I don't know if I really answered your question... Hope I did!

Best,

Edward

Hi, guys! Heather and Edward, thank you very much for your replies.

Edward, like you, my students only really get exposure to French five times a week for 42 minutes. That's roughly... 3.5 hours a week. Not much. So, naturally, like you (guys), I want to get them using as much French as they know! As I teach French as a foreign language, I totally understand!

Heather, I love your idea of using Rule #4 to emphasize speaking in the target language! What a great idea!

So, are you guys suggesting I use WBT in L1 (English) first, and then go to L2 (French) later? I was thinking of doing this on the first day:

1.) Class-Yes // Classe - Oui
2.) Teach-OK // Expliquez- D'accord
3.) Hands & Eyes // Mains et Yeux

With each one, of course, I would explain the vocab, and use lots of gestures. Hands & Eyes shouldn't be too difficult. I figure this way, students feel that they've learned (or reviewed) something that day in class, and no one will feel that the first day has been wasted.

With getting them to produce in L2 (French), that's generally reserved for the morning Greet & Warm-Up, where they'll be working with strictly the French they should know at that point in time. For most of my Teach-OK sessions, it should be them explaining vocabulary, directions, or concepts to each other in mostly L1 (English). Vocabulary will of course, be mixed (English & French).

With games, I'd be hoping to hear more French from them, of course.

As I teach High Schoolers, I can be a little bit more demanding than the Elementary side of things. Of course, I still try to pull all the fun Elementary things in that they still enjoy (singing, hands on stuff, etc.)