problem solving in teaching english djelfa march 29 meeting 2017

DJELFA MEETING & WORKSHOP

March 29th 2017By Mr Samir Bounab

Teacher trainer at MONE

Mr Samir Bounab

• Teacher trainer at MONE• Staff promo from ITE

Medea 1988 & BA from ENS Bouzereah• Started teaching in 1988• Started training teachers in 1990• Many works and training in the field of training teachers , planning lessons, teaching methods ( how to teach PPU , PDP& PIASP…..

Mingling • Would you please stand up , move around the room

and find some one who:

Questions Name s

1- came to the meeting by bus

2- lives in Djelfa

3- knows about the topics of the meeting

4- teaches at Secondary school

5- teaches at Middle School

6- is a student and feels concerned by training and workshops

7- attended the first Djelfa training?

8- remembers the topics of the first Djelfa meeting?

9- retired or going to retire

What happened?

• How was the audience?• Was every one involved?• What do you think was my aim using mingle

activity?

Teacher Centered Classrooms II.mp4

Video

What can you say about the video?

Can you compare and contrast the two situations?

In Which situation learners are

Why do learners feel more acitve in situation 1 than in situation 2

To clarify this some important questions must be raised :

Questions

1- What is a problem ? 2- What is problem solving situation? 3- Why problem solving in teaching? 4- Is problem solving new in our teaching system? 5- How to plan problem solving lesson? 6- Barriers to problem solving teaching? 7- What are the classroom problem solving activities

1- What is a problem ?

• A problem is a task that requires the learner to think through a motivating and challenging learning situation which is not impossible to solve.

What is problem solving situation?

• A problem solving situation is a process of working on facts, details , information and knowledge to reach a solution.

• It is an ongoing activity in which we use what we know to discover what we don't know.

• It includes expectable obstacles by generating hypo-theses, predictions, and arriving at satisfactory solutions.

Problem-solving involves three basic functions:

a) Seeking information b) Developping new knowledge

c) Making decisions d) Assessing one’s learning process

Why problem solving situation?

- Problem solving learning

situations is very important since it

places learners in situations that

test/check their capacity to

overcome obstacles and problems .

• Languages are learned most effectively and

lastingly when they are used to solve

problems through hypothesis testing .

- The Problems make the learners think and they learn by thinking

- word their thinking in English while solving the problems.

It provides students with opportunities to use their newly acquired knowledge in meaningful, real-life activities and assists them in working at higher levels of thinking.

Problem-solving is, and should be, a very real part of the curriculum. It presupposes that students can :

• take on some of the responsibility for their own learning

• can take personal action to solve problems • resolve conflicts • discuss alternatives • focus on thinking as a vital element of the

curriculum.

4- Is problem solving new in our

teaching system?

What does this illustration stand for?

Learner centered teaching : the is the pivot of the learning

& teaching process

Learner centerness

The 4 learning situations

-Teaching and learning through problem solving

situations has been introduced in the Algerian

teaching system since 2003 when the Ministry of

National Education opted for the Competency Based

Approach .

What is initial problem solving situation?

• It's the starting point of your lesson where you involve your learners from the first moment you are in class

• you put them in real life situation conform to the official approach (CBA) which is learner centered one.

• Using selected aids , you invite your learners to guess, improsive, deduce....

-CBA is an action-oriented in that it gears language learning to the acquisition of embedded in functions and skills.

These will allow the know-how learner to become an effective/competent language problem solver user in real-life situations outside the classroom.

5- How to plan problem solving lesson?

• Planning lessons through problem solving

situations necessitates from the teacher to take

into account many important facts:

1. Consider and acknowledge the learners abilities and competences toward the target language . ( who are my learners?)

2 - Adapt the lesson’s learning objectives to the learners level, abilities , competences, needs and likes

3- Create a climate of communication by inviting the learners to act in reflective thoughts .

4 - The problem exposed must be of some interest to the learners who must have experienced such similar problem situation.

5 - Such problem must be motivating and stimulating to think about the

options to

solve the problem.

6 - The learner already possesses a minimum of data to deal with the

problem exposed .

7 - Help the learner reach the solution in a complete autonomous way where he or she feels responsible about his or her thoughts.

8 - Encourage Independence :

Have students work through problems on their own. Ask directing questions or give helpful suggestions, but

provide only minimal assistance and only when needed to overcome obstacles.

Don’t fear group work! Students can frequently help each other, and talking about a problem helps them think more critically about the steps needed to solve the problem.

Additionally, group work helps students realize that problems often have multiple solution strategies, some that might be more effective than others

Be sensitive :

• when working problems, students are unsure of themselves. This lack of confidence may chain their learning.

• It is important to recognize this when students come to us for help, and to give each student some feeling of mastery.

• Do this by providing positive reinforcement to let students know when they have mastered a new concept or skill.

• Encourage Thoroughness and Patience :

• Try to communicate that the process is more important than the answer so that the student learns that it is OK to not have an instant solution.

• This is learned through your acceptance of his/her pace of doing things, through your refusal to let anxiety pressure you into giving the right answer, and through your example of problem solving through a step-by step process.

6- Barriers to problem solving teaching?

• The barriers that may trouble dealing with problem solving situation are:

a) Fail to recognize the problem b) Uncertain about what is the problem is dealing with . c) Being uncertain about the choice to adopt since the problem may expose a variety of solutions. d) Doubt about if the reached solution is doable and achievable .

7- Some problem solving classroom activities:

• Problem solving skills are very important in real life and classroom activities can help a lot in preparing the learner to face such problems in daily life.

• They do not need to be dull and routine activities ( they depend on the type of the target language tackled)

Brainstorming

• Helping learners to generate as many as possible as idea and elicit them in lists .

For example just say the word “ imagine” and see what happens :

Learners may :

May sing this

John Lennon - Imagine - Lyrics.mp4

Or may activate such process

Guessing

using pictures ( generally the ones of the school manuals) invite the learners to guess and improvise.

( teacher may help them to put their ideas “black on white” by answering specific questions like :

1) where does the situation take place? 2) who or what is in the photo? 3) what is heppening?

What’s the problem ?

• This is a powerful technic to unify all the ideas

Group activities

• One of the motivating problem solving strategies is group work where learners can express themselves easily ( shy learners can easily share their ideas with their peers)

• learners may deal with :

• Brain Purge activity : Many ideas are suggested by all the members of the group about the problem exposed which may save time.

• Brain sketching: instead the learners interact about their ideas or interpret them in written way , they draw that on paper , each member of the group does that then they share their drawings.

• Combo Chatter: is process of generating ideas then selecting the best ones and developing them into workable product.

• The “sentence trigger” = what if……. ? : helps push the limits of our imagination

• Mingling: moving around and talking to peers or groups which will oblige learners to take part in discussion about the problem exposed.

workshop• What problem solving situations can you

create to teach :

Conclusion

• These are just ideas , teachers can generate their own ones depending on their learners needs and interests .

• what is important while using problem solving teaching is the learner is a collaborator and an individual where all his needs and interests are taken into account.

• Using problem solving teaching helps to build who are not only excellent learners but future problem solvers.

By:Mr Samir Bounab (Teacher trainer at MONE)

yellowdaffodil66@gmail.com