Workshop: Teaching Critical Reading

Posted by Mohamed Salah ABIDI, ELT Inspector.

"The following reading activities are elaborated by groups of teachers of English at the workshop organized at the CREFOC of Sidi Bouzid on November 14th, 2009. The aim of the session is to raise awareness of the benefits of being creative and teach beyond the textbook. The worksheets developed by the different groups of teachers are not lesson plans to follow implementing in the classroom.
Topic: Teaching Critical Reading through Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
Audience: Teachers of 1st Year Secondary Education
Material: a selection of reading passages from the textbook “Perform through English”.
Step1: a PowerPoint presentation by Belgacim HAMDI, a trainee inspector at the CENAFFE.
Step2: Groups of teachers design reading activities relative to the reading passages selected from the above mentioned textbook.
Step3: OHP presentation of the activities by representatives of the groups and discussion and feedback."

Reading activities elaborated by teachers during the workshop:

Teaching critical reading: A PowerPoint presentation by Belgacim HAMDI

N.B: To download these documents, check also the Download Area: Workshops -> Teaching Critical Reading.

Workshops: Lesson Planning

Article by Fathi Bouguerra (Teacher trainer)
Sidi Bouzid Training Center (CREFOC)
Traning session 1: Lesson Planning, October 2009

In the brainstorming activity we stressed the fact that planning is essential to both experienced and inexperienced teachers. Planning enables the teacher to organize learning situations toward chosen goals. It also helps in what Huebener calls “anticipatory teaching, for the learning situation is lived, through, mentally, in advance”
In the next phase teachers attended a PowerPoint presentation(*) - prepared by Mr. Belgacem Hamdi and Mr. Mohamed Salah Abidi- where Mr. Hamdi spoke about some aspects of lesson planning ranging form steps of the lesson, going through the art of mixing techniques and culminating in the idea that lesson plans involve two major portions of the actual teaching process: objectives and classroom activities.
After the break teachers worked in groups- according to levels. They were asked to prepare lesson plans that highlighted the principles of lesson planning dealt with in the training session. While teachers were presenting their work Mr. Mohamed Salah Abidi insisted on the idea that “We can’t direct the wind but we can adjust the sails”.
He also added that an over-reliance on the textbook may well cause the teachers to give classes which are not as motivating as they should be. Linearity in dealing with lessons may demotivate the students. Hence when planning lessons teachers need to choose, select appropriate activities, highlight variety and balance and be ready to shift gear whenever they deem necessary.
Teachers should always remember that when planning a lesson, a teacher adopts what he can adopt, and adapts what is adaptable. They should also be flexible and take things easy. I mean if a teacher can open up a knot with his fingers, why he should open it with his teeth.

*PowerPoint Presentation:

[Click on the thumb above to preview the document]

Lesson Planning (word document):

[Click on the thumb above to preview the document]

General recommendations (word document):

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The information meetings for the school year 2009/2010

The information meetings for the school year 2009/2010 were held on Friday 9th, and Saturday 10th of October, 2009 at the CREFOC, Sidi Bouzid.
The inspector, Mohamed Salah Abidi, welcomed all the teachers (newcomers and veterans).He presented this year's agenda and went over a number of important issues concerning the various curricula, formative evaluation, assessment,the English programmes, the CALL labs, etc..
The teachers had the opportunity to ask questions, share their worries and discuss some of the problems they anticipated like the lack of equipment (CD players, cassette players, etc..).
The inspector handed out some documents related to testing (covering all the aspects of testing for this year) and the information pertaining to the curriculum changes or specifications for some levels.
The meeting was also an opportunity to present the newly born forum and the electronic magazine and how they can be an effective tool in promoting sharing and collaboration among teachers and a space for them to voice their opinions and discuss matters related to teaching English in Tunisian schools.
After the wrap up, an information form was filled in by the participants.
Note: These are the "Assessment for Secondary Education", "Assessment for Basic Education" documents and "The Programmes of English for Basic Education" for the convenience of those who were not able to get them. Other documents will be uploaded to the forum soon.

Assessment for Basic Education:

The Programmes of English for Basic Education:

English Programmes for Year 3 & Year 4 Secondary Education:

CALL lab: Teachers' comments

Teacher: Najoua Abdelhak
School: Ouled Haffouz Preparatory School

“Lucky are the English teachers in Tunisia

because they are always given the opportunity to use new and facilitating technologies in helping pupils to get the language. In fact, on the 8th of July this year, I attended a training session called "Multilab" centered around using the computer as a technology in teaching English.
I expected the session to be about ways to improve our pupils' pronunciation but I found something different and I was surprised and excited for two reasons: first, the program was really rich and interesting. Second, Multilab was not just a theory to speak about and a paper and a pen to take notes then leave. Practice was the hero, though more is needed. Multilab is about using the computer in group sessions . It can be used in different ways and I think that it has many benefits. It is a way to:

• better present the materials of the lesson.
• motivate pupils and lover their affective filter.
• enable pupils to get the language and practie it easily.
• better deal with the mixed abilities classes.
• make pupils responsible about their learning.
• get teachers and pupils used to deal with the English language through the computer as a technology.

Using the computer in teaching is really helpful and for those who can not manipulate it well and easily and I am one of them, summer is no longer an opportunity to just relax and read stories, it is an occassion to prepare oneself for a future where the teacher is the pillar of the class and technology is the pillar of teaching.
At the end, special thanks are given to Mr Fathi Bouguerra as well as to Mr Abdennbi Omri for their excellent presentation of the material, their patience and the light atmosphere they provided us with. They were really clear, helpful and friendly and their jokes cooled the heat of day.                   ”

Why Should We Raise The Issue Of Differentiating Instruction?

Differentiating Instruction: A workshop by Inspector & Teacher Trainer Mohamed Salah Abidi (CREFOC,Sidi Bouzid. July 2009)

"Differentiated instruction (sometimes referred to as differentiated learning) is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. Differentiating instruction involves providing students with different avenues to acquiring content; to processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and to developing teaching products so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The workshop focuses on answering the following questions:

• Why should we raise the issue of DI?
• What are the desired outcomes of the workshop?
• Defining the concept of Differentiating Instruction
• Is Differentiating Instruction a new trend in Pedagogy?
• The rationale underlying this method
• Why differentiate?
• How different are students in a mixed ability class?
• What is ZPD?

and other quesions as well.
Check the slideshow and Appendix for more details.

Why Should We Raise The Issue Of Di

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(Name:Why should we raise the issue of DI.ppt Size:91 KB)

Appendix Di
To download these handouts, check our "Download Area" on the sidebar.(Name:Appendix_DI.doc Size:110 KB)

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Formative Evaluation

Formative Evaluation: A workshop by Inspector & Teacher Trainer Mohamed Salah Abidi (CREFOC,Sidi Bouzid. July 2009)

CREFOC, Sidi Bouzid:

Day 1 of the workshop began with the inspector initiating a brainstorming session that invited the participants to answer a few important questions (see sideshow). This session provided a clear framework for the workshop and led to the realization that it is important for teachers to start thinking about why formative assessment should be part and parcel of their teaching practices.

Later on, the participants sat in groups and started discussing the differences both in terms of terminology and application of the notion of summative and formative assessment with reference to the first handout (see handouts below). The discussion was rounded up by commenting on a quote by Robert Stake “When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative.” Then, the participants thought about the difference between assessment for learning and assessment of learning.

After reading and thinking about some of the principles outlined by the Assessment Reform Group (document 2), the participants were also encouraged to analyze the process of formative assessment and to discuss the teachers' intentions and the benefits for the learners by completing a chart.(document 5 ).

On day 2, the inspector and the participants took some time thinking about the benefits of formative assessment for teachers and learners. Teachers were invited to think about what tools are needed to effectively implement a formative evaluation. Some of the tools that were discussed included conducting surveys. The groups were asked to think about the practice of formative assessment in the Tunisian context. The participants discussed the various formative assessment activities present on the textbooks in use for secondary school students.

By the end of the workshop, there was an overall agreement among teachers that formative assessment was not completely absent from their daily teaching practices but that it was rather done unconsciously and often in a unproductive way. They concluded that it has to be an indispensable component of their teaching.

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To download this PowerPoint presentation, check our "Download Area" on the sidebar.
(Name:Formative Evaluation.ppt Size:79 KB)

To download the above handouts, check our "Download Area" on the sidebar.
(Name:Appendix.doc Size:76 KB)

A workshop on CALL and English language Teaching

A workshop on how to integrate CALL with English Language Teaching by Teacher Trainer Fathi Bouguerra and  Lab Specialist Abdennabi Omri was held at The CREFOC in Lessouda, Sidi Bouzid (8th,9th, and 10th of July, 2009). The workshop shed light on how Multilab, a creative and innovative technology from EDU4,   can be used to teach English in our schools. More details will be posted here soon.

 

The User guide for Multilab (in French) is now available on our blog. To download it, check our Download Area on the sidebar.

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