What does success look like in our English language classrooms? Once a year students may take a formal exam and measure success with the results, but what about the steps they take each lesson? How can every lesson be sprinkled with the star dust of success?
I have some bad memories of my school days. I recall being set essays in French – just given the title and spending all weekend with a dictionary translating my English ideas into French. Whenever I got these essays back, they would be covered with red ink and at the bottom there’d often be a comment like ‘Try harder’! But no indication of how I was supposed to do this. It was really disheartening, and I dreaded the whole process. I never saw a model of a good essay, never knew what criteria my work was being assessed by and felt judged as inadequate by my teacher who would glower at me as she handed back my exercise book.
I often remember that early personal experience when teaching students or training teachers, as it’s too easy to fall into the patterns that we witnessed in our own teachers. I did not want to be like Miss B, my French teacher. I want students to know what they are aiming for, see their progress and celebrate every success however small. Learning is, after all, a journey, and every step important.
Firstly, it’s vital to be aware of our role as an ‘assessor’ – we need to constantly be monitoring not just our students’ responses to tasks, but also the tasks themselves and very importantly, how we plan those tasks and where they sit in our lessons and align to the aims of our teaching programme. We need to see our job as ..
…. a process of noticing and responding to learner needs, moment by moment.
Teaching and learning have to be interactive.
Black & Wiliam, 1998
We all need clear goals and objectives, be they end goals like Cambridge exams, or micro-goals like lesson aims:
• the exam provides criteria, examples, so he can see what success looks like (check out Cambridge exam handbooks)
• the material / course book provides the map of the exam journey
• lesson aims are the road map of an individual teaching event and should be specific
e.g. by the end of the lesson students will have practised writing an email to a friend inviting them to a party
Next, we have to notice and collect evidence of the progress our students are making, so we can show them what they are doing well. If they don’t understand what they are doing well how will they know to keep doing it and try to do it even better?
So, when I mark my students’ writing, I always highlight all the good bits and tell them why they are good e.g. original idea, vivid vocabulary, excellent linking of ideas. Of course, I also point out areas which need improving – but not without giving support so they know how they can do better. I direct them to extra practice e.g. in their workbooks, online with apps, on CambridgeOne
Marking must:
• show students what they are doing right
• show students where they need to make improvements
• encourage students
• enable students to reflect on their own writing
• celebrate the effort the students have made
Our job as teachers is not to point out differences between our students’ language and standard English. That is too negative a role. Our job is to encourage the growth of language by appreciating the learning steps.
Julian Edge, 1989
AND, as we mark, we, teachers, should notice skills and language areas that are problematic for students so that we can either (re)address them in class if a number of students would benefit or suggest individual remedial work to students.
Here’s a good check list to consider after each lesson, or at least at the end of the week.
• What progress did learners make towards the learning objectives?
• What evidence do I have of that progress?
• What other successes or achievements do I have evidence of?
• What aspects of my teaching supported learners to make progress?
• What aspects of my teaching could be changed to enable further progress in future?
It’s really not enough, I am proof, to say ‘try harder’. If I knew something was wrong, I would not have written it. HELP ME!!
Luckily there is help for teachers and students alike – our course books today as SO much better than my French course book all those decades ago. They are success oriented in that the level gradually gets higher, tasks are scaffolded ie there are models, tips and the activities are staged. It’s not just ‘write 200 words on X’.
Let’s keep in mind Karl Jung’s model of a good teacher, who takes on these roles:
Think – give information
Direct – give direction
Feel – care about well-being and success
Do – give confidence to carry out work
Here’s the four-step strategy that leads to success:
1. Set clear goals
2. Collect evidence of progress
3. Provide feedback
4. Give tailored follow up
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