Consider the following 2 aspects of Debra’s presentation: directions and purpose. Discuss the importance of both when doing activities in class with students.
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It is important to give clear and concise directions to every activity so that all of the students know what is expected so that everyone can participate. If someone does not understand what is going on, they will not (and cannot) get anything out of the activity. I also really believe that every activity that you do with your class should have a purpose, whether it is to strengthen vocabulary or help with speaking and pronunciation to simple comprehension. That being said, I think that sometimes the purpose of an exercise is to just have fun, relieve tension or be an icebreaker. It doesn't necessarily have to have academic content, but should not be just random to fill time. A stress relieving activity after a difficult lesson that is planned on purpose may be just the thing to keep your class enthused and interested.
ReplyDeleteDirections must be given slowly, clearly, and in level appropriate English. The activities Debra presented all had very clearly defined objectives, this is not just play. It seems to me that activities like these allow for the activation of many different language skills all at once, and the students are most likely completely unaware of the underlying complexity of what they are doing, so they are entertained. It's a win-win situation, whereas they could just as easily be spending that time being lectured and they would not only be bored, but they really wouldn't be reaping the benefits of the integration of skills we see in activities.
ReplyDeleteDirections are very important, especially since we’re doing an activity. Clear, simple, and thorough directions must be given so that everyone can understand what to do (it would be useful to ask for confirmation here-and if there are any ambiguities then you can address them before the activity). This way you can make sure that everyone can participate, and without any confusion (and also it can save you time so that you can get more of the activity done rather than trying to explain it again). As I mentioned in another question, I think there’s a slight difference between games and activities. Activities have to have a purpose, while games might sometimes not. I am not saying games can’t be used at certain times (say everyone just finished their test, you have a little bit more time before the end of class-then maybe here some type of “game” might be a good idea). When you pick an activity, you can’t just randomly pick one that would work for everything. You have to see what the goal is that you are trying to achieve with this activity, and so purpose plays a very important part.
ReplyDeleteAs the others have stated, clear, simple directions are essential to an activity running smoothly. But, a sense of purpose is also important. When we're doing an activity, but don't see the point to it, we lose interest and motivation. Therefore, when giving directions to an activity, we may also want to highlight how the activity is helping us to reach a particular goal. The purpose may simply to be, as Kathy pointed out, to relieve tension, getting students back to a relaxed state so they're minds are cleared and ready for the next thing. If students know WHY they're doing what they do, and how it helps them, they may be motivated to engage more, increasing their own results. If we as teachers can't determine a purpose to an activity, that should be an indication that's not a worthwhile activity.
ReplyDeleteAny activity needs clear directions that would make it easier for the students to achieve the goals or the purpose of the activity. Having clear direction without determined purposes would make the activity a filler or a game that has one goal which is winning “which is not always bad!”. Also, good purposes without clear directions would confuse the students and waste the class time by the elaborate explanation of what the students should do. So, both clear directions and purposes are important in the learning process and the fulfillment of the fun element of the activity. Students might not know the goal of some activities like the puzzle or the last man standing. But I think that as long as they enjoy it and get engaged in it, they will not care. This is not bad because in my opinion we, most of the time, learn things unconsciously by just being exposed to the language.
ReplyDeleteI think directions are often looked over by inexperienced teachers who are excited about getting their carefully made activity or handout completed. However, without proper understanding of instructions, and activity may never even take off successfully. I have been in numerous classes where I mumbled through activities that could have been helpful simply because I didn't know what was going on. It's vital to tell the students what, how, and why they're doing an activity and then confirm they understand before the activity begins.
ReplyDeletePurpose is important, especially for the adults, who may think, "this is stupid", how can this make me a successful businesswoman? The purpose not only gives credibility to the activity but also lets the students know what to look for and focus on during the activity.
I would like to ditto Caitlin's comment on purpose. It is SOO important for adults to be clued in as to the purpose of an exercise. They need to know that there's a method to your madness and how this activity will help them achieve their goals. Of course, my comments assume that there IS a purpose for the activities (which there should be!). However, the purpose, as well as all the hard work and planning, is in vain if the teacher fails to give clear instructions. Now that I think about it, I wasn't confused about directions at any point in Debra's presentation, even with all those activities. Honestly, I've felt a little dumb sometimes during demo lessons because I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing, even as a native speaker! I can only imagine how my students have felt in the times that I have rushed through or been unclear in my directions. That's something we need to keep in mind as we plan activities for our students. How long would it take to explain or set up this activity? Can my students "get it" fast enough to make the activity worthwhile? If explaining the activity to your students will take longer than the activity itself, then it is probably a bad idea.
ReplyDelete-Debby Adams
Both directions and purpose are important for doing activities in class. Clear and detailed directions are necessary because it affects the understandability of this activity and decides the whole process and results. Teachers need to explain it slowly and twice if necessary. For purpose, you don’t have to tell the students what’s the purposes of this activity. You can ask students what they learn from the activity and what they feel about it. Then you can know whether this activity is suitable or successful for students and whether you need to change next time and what aspects you should change. But sometimes, students will learn better with the activity if knowing the purposes. So if the activity doesn’t get the expected results, teachers can explain the purpose and let students know what’s the point and what needs to master.
ReplyDeleteIf students aren’t clear about how to play the game, they will also miss the purpose of the game, which will be eroded by students’ confusion and eventual frustration. If students misunderstand the directions, the purpose will also be affected as students will be playing the game differently from how it was intended to be played in order to derive a certain benefit. For example, we were not clear on the alphabet game in which we were to think of examples of fruit for each letter of the alphabet. Our group didn’t understand that all the groups would read their lists at the end and duplicate words would be canceled out and not receive any points. If we had known this, we might have been more creative with our word selection. Since we didn’t know this, some of our words were crossed out despite our protests, leading to dissatisfaction and decreased motivation to participate and learn.
ReplyDeleteDirections need to be clear, easy to understand and if at all possible modeled for students. The more time you spend explaining the directions the less time you spend doing the actual activity. There should be a reason why this activity is being done. For example is it going to introduce new vocabulary or give practice for spelling. There needs to be a reason/purpose to why your students are participating in the activities.
ReplyDeleteStefani Goode
Both directions and purpose are equally as important and essential to carry out a successful activity in class. It is extremely important to give clear and concise directions. Activities can be very beneficial but if the directions are too confusing or too long, it will completely defeat the purpose of the activity. Also, I like how Debra always gave the direction BEFORE she would put us into groups. I see this a lot with inexperienced teachers. They take a lot of time to make good concise directions, but then they attempt to give the directions while students are distracted by getting into their groups. It's very important to give directions first, then let chaos be chaos. She also always gavea model to every activity. So, she would first explain how to do it then SHOW the students how to do it. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page.
ReplyDeleteGiving a purpose is also important. At the end of the day, you want your students to know the overall goal of the activity. You don't want your students to think they are doing this for no good reason. Give them a purpose, a direction, or a goal that they can strive for. You can't expect your students to meet the goals you want them to if you don't first explain what those goals are.
I'm echoing several people above when I say this, but I think the importance of establishing a purpose for activities can't be overstated. When teaching adults it is incredibly important that they know why we are about to do what we're about to do, so that they don't feel as if it's pointless. This is especially true when we're teaching using activities like the ones Debra presented, which can feel like fun and not like an academic exercise. At the same time, establishing the point of an activity would be pointless if the activity itself isn't clearly laid out. I find developing instructions for activities especially difficult due to the limitations of ESL learner competence, and I feel like it's one of the areas where I have to exert special effort to think through what I'm doing. The payoff of explaining and setting up an activity properly, though, is great.
ReplyDeleteI think directions are important to any activity. When I get to class, it’s after a long day at work and my mind is not always all there and clear directions to an activity are really important to me in that sense. The why or purpose isn’t so important to me as a student. As an adult, by being in class I natural assume that everything a teacher does is purposeful and is meaningful to learning. The one who understood the purpose from the very beginning of the activity was Debra. After clear directions we all just did the activities without questioning the reason why or the purpose behind it. Realization of the purpose came after the activity. That's my take on it, not sure if it's valid.
ReplyDeleteJarrod Duarte
ReplyDeleteDirections and purpose are the 2 most important elements of any activity. I actually struggle with the purpose part of creating activities because I am trying to make my activities and lessons more communicative and at times I feel that I am losing the element of purpose. For me I have difficulty matching purpose to the lesson, when this happens any activity becomes just a time-killer and I do not want this. Secondly, directions of course are essential without clear directions that the students can understand, the activity will fail no matter how brilliant or purposeful it may be.
Jarrod Duarte
Directions and a clear purpose are critical elements of a successful activity. I can't count how many times I've sat in a language class and not paid attention to the activity because I couldn't fathom why we were doing something so stupid. However it usually led up to something else that I needed to know. Had I been told some sort of purpose, I probably would have paid attention. Directions are also a must, it is also helpful to model the activity so students have something to base their own actions off of. Without either clear instructions or purpose, it doesn't matter how long or well you've planned your activity, it will probably tank.
ReplyDeleteDirections are foundational to successfully implementing an activity. Of course the work done prior to the activity is equally or even more important than the activity itself, but once you reach the point of doing the activity, it is crucial that you give directions successfully. If the students do not understand the directions that are given, they cannot do the activity, or will do the activity incorrectly. This then takes away from or completely loses the educational value of the activity, not to mention that it takes away from class time not once but twice: first in that the time used for the activity is lost because it was unsuccessful, and secondly because the concept must then be covered in another way.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important to give the purpose of the activity to the students. This gives them two main benefits. First, it allows them to know what to be looking for in the activity—it draws their attention to the concept you are trying to reinforce, hopefully helping them to learn more from it. Second, it gives the students a sense that the activity does indeed have a useful function in the class and is not simply a game.