What to do without a white board?
Thanks to everyone who read my work over at La Vida Idealist. I'm still figuring out how to balance content between this blog and that one. I figure this'll be more off-topic, off-color, and off-beat. Plus, my deal (for now) is to only post on LVI once a week - so watch for a new post there on Wednesday!
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A spartan would look at my classroom and think it spare.
I've got white walls, some desks that look like they've been in back-alley fights, and a table that's packed with an odd collection of stuff: notebook papers, a soap dispenser, a heavy-gauge rope. Oh, also a pretty gnarly ant infestation.
The state-of-the-art facility in which I teach, and what could very forgivingly be called its insect biology lab.
That said, I think I've done well at delivering interesting and engaging lessons with what I have at hand. I'd credit the potent mix of creativity and desperation, the incredibly deep online TEFL resource pool, and my own instincts.
Improvisation gave me a good foundation for this. Object work has been huge. The idea is if you mime an object on stage (or in the classroom), make it real*, and your audience will believe the scene more. Students see me do this, and I think they pick up on it like people sitting in a theater would. They watch me throw on my invisible heavy gringo-style backpack one strap at a time, and it creates a sense of buy-in. When they do miming activities, I've seen them do some impressive work, down to taking "food" out of the "fridge" before cooking it. They create worlds with every exercise.
I do other things, too: use real-life objects, draw pictures, create imaginary towns on the floor with index cards. I don't mind having limited access to learning tools like the Internet, video, or books**; it's a fun challenge to figure out ways to explain concepts.
But an important tool was missing early last week: The white board.
I did not realize how much I used that thing. I mean, I knew I went through dry-erase markers at an alarming rate. Until my family sent me a care package full of markers, I'd been buying new ones maybe once every other week. I think the lady at the supermarket figured I was using them to paint my room.
The board was much more to me than a medium on which to write lesson points. I've used it to tell stories by creating a character, to draw pictures illustrating verbs, to have students play pictionary, to keep score in games, to hold races, to demonstrate prepositions ("Deybia is behind the white board"), and even to trick the students (found a great game to demonstrate "there is:" put a bunch of stuff on a table, have the students look at it for a minute, move the white board in front of the table, and ask them to tell you what's on it).
Not having it? Ouch. All the object work and realia in the world helped little Tuesday night when I needed to explain the structure of "he used to do X, now he does Y." I spent that lesson going through about 25 sheets of paper to set up the form and write it out. The first day I was missing the board (Monday), it was luckily a review/refine lesson that focused mostly on worksheets and conversation.
I came here hoping to test my abilities. Trying to deliver a sort-of-decent education in PJ has required exactly that, in ways that I never would have realized. Fear not, though: I've already figured out what to do if the board doesn't come back. I just need something large, bright white, and washable.
My chest oughta do it.
*You can't hold a broom with two clenched fists; there needs to be a cylinder of space between your curled fingers and palm. An extended thumb and pinky do not make a phone - pull it out of your purse, flip it open, and dial. When you're done with something, a pen, say, it doesn't disappear: Put it back in your pocket. When this is done well, it's subtle, but it adds truth to any scene; done badly, and it's distracting and reality-killing.
**It cracks me up when TEFL advice websites or books suggest using the Internet or TV in class. There's a widespread false assumption [which I was guilty of] that all schools nowadays have an basic level of technology. I shudder to think of the state of classrooms in places like Africa.
