Tales From a Teacher

theyuniversity:

1. GREG (group)

2. LOC / LOQ (speech, words)

3. BELLI (war)

4. EU (good)

5. SOMN (sleep)

6. PHIL (love)

7. PUG (fight)

8. MUT (change)

9. TORT (turn)

10. LUC (light)

11. RUPT (break)

12. DOL (pain)

13. VOR / VOUR (eat)

14. PAN (all)

15. FOLI (leaf)

16. LEV (light, i.e., not heavy)

17. FID (faith)

18. CULP (blame)

19. CORP (body)

20. CIS (cut)

21. CHRON (time)

(Source: theyuniversity)

In June, I will be beginning the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) program in New York City, New York, USA.

It’s a big move, which I’m ecstatic about, but starting to stress a little. But, I thought I’d give some info about the program, course, and process.

How did I find out about this program? Well, I began my journey looking at Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL) courses. There’s a wide range of those types of courses out there. Some of them are offered online, a few weekends in a class, or “intensive” courses actually teaching students. Beware! Some of these (if not most) can be scams! (Think logically… how can you be prepared to go in front of a classroom and teach English, if you never went in front of a classroom during the training course?) I found a site that reviews TEFL courses and found that the Teaching House CELTA course was one of the highest rated and seemed the most rigorous. I was looking for a certification program that would fully prepare me to go in front of a class of foreign speakers.

How did I apply? Once I decided on which location, I applied through the website. The application process is threefold: (1) Fill out application through website, (2) Successfully complete worksheet, (3) Successfully complete interview. I used this book to complete the worksheet. I would order the book before you apply. They are quick to respond (I’m sure my substitute teaching experience didn’t hurt, either), so it might look bad if you lag between steps. All three steps took place in about 2 weeks. And take your time filling out the worksheet. Get things correct. Know why you answered the way you did. Many of the questions on the worksheet were free answer (not multiple choice), so figuring out why you answered the way you did will help in the interview. Many of the questions in the interview were biased on the worksheet.

Then what? Immediately after the interview was done, I was offered a spot in the course. They require a deposit (“to secure place in the course”). The rest of the course fees must be applied a couple of weeks before the course begins. They immediately e-mailed me pre-course homework, a letter of acceptance, and a receipt for the enrollment deposit. So, before you go into the interview, be 100% sure that you want to attend the course. I’ve done research and been preparing to attend this course for literally two years (needless to say, I’m very excited to have gotten in).

Why this program? The CELTA program is accepted all over the world. It’s accepted, pretty much universally. And it’s prestigious. Since it’s backed by the University of Cambridge, it definitely adds some “umpf”, ya know? From what I’ve read, a lot of Europe prefers British English as opposed to US English speakers. So where I was limited, I might not be after I receive this certification. That’s very important to me since I could easily see myself traveling and teaching English for the rest of my life. But by far, it’s not the only program out there; it just fits me best. :)

I will have a separate post detailing the interview.

1. FINISH IT
Actually finishing it is what I’m gonna put in as step one. You may laugh at this, but it’s true. I have so many friends who have written two-thirds of a screenplay, and then re-written it for about three years. Finishing a screenplay is first of all truly difficult, and secondly really liberating. Even if it’s not perfect, even if you know you’re gonna have to go back into it, type to the end. You have to have a little closure.

2. STRUCTURE
Structure means knowing where you’re going; making sure you don’t meander about. Some great films have been made by meandering people, like Terrence Malick and Robert Altman, but it’s not as well done today and I don’t recommend it. I’m a structure nut. I actually make charts. Where are the jokes? The thrills? The romance? Who knows what, and when? You need these things to happen at the right times, and that’s what you build your structure around: the way you want your audience to feel. Charts, graphs, coloured pens, anything that means you don’t go in blind is useful.

3. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
This really should be number one. Even if you’re writing a Die Hard rip-off, have something to say about Die Hard rip-offs. The number of movies that are not about what they purport to be about is staggering. It’s rare, especially in genres, to find a movie with an idea and not just, ‘This’ll lead to many fine set-pieces’. The Island evolves into a car-chase movie, and the moments of joy are when they have clone moments and you say, ‘What does it feel like to be those guys?’

4. EVERYBODY HAS A REASON TO LIVE
Everybody has a perspective. Everybody in your scene, including the thug flanking your bad guy, has a reason. They have their own voice, their own identity, their own history. If anyone speaks in such a way that they’re just setting up the next person’s lines, then you don’t get dialogue: you get soundbites. Not everybody has to be funny; not everybody has to be cute; not everybody has to be delightful, and not everybody has to speak, but if you don’t know who everybody is and why they’re there, why they’re feeling what they’re feeling and why they’re doing what they’re doing, then you’re in trouble.

5. CUT WHAT YOU LOVE
Here’s one trick that I learned early on. If something isn’t working, if you have a story that you’ve built and it’s blocked and you can’t figure it out, take your favourite scene, or your very best idea or set-piece, and cut it. It’s brutal, but sometimes inevitable. That thing may find its way back in, but cutting it is usually an enormously freeing exercise.

6. LISTEN
When I’ve been hired as a script doctor, it’s usually because someone else can’t get it through to the next level. It’s true that writers are replaced when executives don’t know what else to do, and that’s terrible, but the fact of the matter is that for most of the screenplays I’ve worked on, I’ve been needed, whether or not I’ve been allowed to do anything good. Often someone’s just got locked, they’ve ossified, they’re so stuck in their heads that they can’t see the people around them. It’s very important to know when to stick to your guns, but it’s also very important to listen to absolutely everybody. The stupidest person in the room might have the best idea.

7. TRACK THE AUDIENCE MOOD
You have one goal: to connect with your audience. Therefore, you must track what your audience is feeling at all times. One of the biggest problems I face when watching other people’s movies is I’ll say, ‘This part confuses me’, or whatever, and they’ll say, ‘What I’m intending to say is this’, and they’ll go on about their intentions. None of this has anything to do with my experience as an audience member. Think in terms of what audiences think. They go to the theatre, and they either notice that their butts are numb, or they don’t. If you’re doing your job right, they don’t. People think of studio test screenings as terrible, and that’s because a lot of studios are pretty stupid about it. They panic and re-shoot, or they go, ‘Gee, Brazil can’t have an unhappy ending,’ and that’s the horror story. But it can make a lot of sense.

8. WRITE LIKE A MOVIE
Write the movie as much as you can. If something is lush and extensive, you can describe it glowingly; if something isn’t that important, just get past it tersely. Let the read feel like the movie; it does a lot of the work for you, for the director, and for the executives who go, ‘What will this be like when we put it on its feet?’

9. DON’T LISTEN
Having given the advice about listening, I have to give the opposite advice, because ultimately the best work comes when somebody’s fucked the system; done the unexpected and let their own personal voice into the machine that is moviemaking. Choose your battles. You wouldn’t get Paul Thomas Anderson, or Wes Anderson, or any of these guys if all moviemaking was completely cookie-cutter. But the process drives you in that direction; it’s a homogenising process, and you have to fight that a bit. There was a point while we were making Firefly when I asked the network not to pick it up: they’d started talking about a different show.

10. DON’T SELL OUT
The first penny I ever earned, I saved. Then I made sure that I never had to take a job just because I needed to. I still needed jobs of course, but I was able to take ones that I loved. When I say that includes Waterworld, people scratch their heads, but it’s a wonderful idea for a movie. Anything can be good. Even Last Action Hero could’ve been good. There’s an idea somewhere in almost any movie: if you can find something that you love, then you can do it. If you can’t, it doesn’t matter how skilful you are: that’s called whoring.

Source.

1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
2. You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
3. Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
9. When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
14. Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Source.

positivelypersistentteach:

I teach 4 and 5 year olds.  Some have no concept of gender and some notice a difference.  The students in my class that think certain things are “for boys” or “for girls” generally have younger parents or have older siblings in middle school or high school.  I find that they’ve learned that certain things are “for boys” or “for girls” by being explicitly told by someone older than them.  Just as I work to make sure we have books that feature kids like my students and like other ethnicity  I also try to make each item in my room inviting to every kid.  

In the dramatic play center, I have costumes for construction workers, chefs, veterinarians, postal workers, one princess dress, one men’s suit jacket for a kid and a few other items.  I try to purchase items for that center that represent real professions, but also try to consider the kids’ interests.  When one of my boys picked up the princess dress this year, I watched closely to see what he’d do and what the other kids would say. While holding it, he looked at me like he was seeking permission.  I walked over and helped him step into it.  I was bracing myself for when someone else would say something.  No one did.  The boy looked in the mirror, smiled big, and went around taking some “orders” for the restaurant.  I don’t think the reason he put it on had anything to do with whether he identifies with one gender or the other or somewhere in between.  I think kids that age don’t normally think in those confines until we impose it on them.   I think he was just genuinely curious.  He’s never put it on again, but nothing was said by anyone to discourage him from doing so.

Later this year, I handed out buddy bags (I use my own books to send home with kids each night, and they get a new one the following night when they bring it back).  Due to my student’s ages, I keep track of which book they take home and rotate them so that if one goes missing I know which one it is. The same boy pulled out a Dora book and complained, “I got a girl book.”  

I had the whole class stop.  I told them in a whisper (somehow whispers make things super exciting to my student) that I had something very special to tell them about books.  

“Books are not for boys.    Books are not for girls.  Books are for everybody.  A girl can read and like a book about dinosaurs.  Why do you think I have so many?  A boy can like a book about a girl like Dora.  She’s a smart girl and can teach anyone a lot.

Do you know what Ms. PPT’s FAVORITE book is?  It is Harry Potter.  It is ALL about a boy and his friends.  In fact there are 7 of these books.  I’m a girl and I LOVE this book.  In fact, the boy in this book is very good friends with a girl.

There are no boys’ books or girls’ books.  Every book is for anyone to read.  Sometimes it might be too hard for you to read right now and you’ll have to wait until you get better.  Sometimes what the book is about is for grown ups and not kids.  But any book that you are able to read and is about things for kids is a book FOR YOU.”

Sometimes I lose their attention when I try to make a long point, but afterwards they all stood in silent awe.  

(Source: positivelypersistentteach)

So, tomorrow, I have my first substitute teaching assignment. Substitute teaching is a great way to gain experience in the field.

Substitute teaching requirements are usually controlled by the county. Check online for sub requirements in your county.

For my county, the subbing is contracted out to a 3rd party staffing agency that does the training, hiring (with the approval of the county), and hosts the assignments. The county also usually searches the sub pool with the staffing agency for full-time or part-time teaching positions; meaning that it’s a great way to connect and get your foot in the door of having a permanent classroom. Getting assignments is just logging onto the staffing website, searching posts, and picking which assignment I want. That’s great because I can pick what level I want and even if I want to do para ed. I’m not brave enough to embark on that yet, but I’d love to at least do one assignment of that. And I can get exposure to all the different schools in the county.

I also took a training course that gave me a certificate in sub teaching. It was full of great tips for a new teacher and I got a free binder out of it! :) The certificate also allows me to enter into a higher payroll bracket. There’s a county that doesn’t require it next to my county. I don’t know if it would even help me for the next county.

But, of course, I’m freaking out. Just a bit.

I’m like

first teaching assignment!! :D
  

what the $%*@ do I do?!!