Reader Contributions
By: Think Tank Readers
Still need more? Not to worry; we have called for aid and our readers have answered!
Get ready for a series of creative contributions from teachers who are transforming their language classes with innovative approaches! From sensory walks and digital worksheets to clever ways of managing phone use and boosting student engagement, these educators share their ingenious ideas for making language learning more dynamic and effective. Discover new strategies to bring fresh energy and excitement to your classroom!
Don’t forget, we love reading your contributions! We’re always on the lookout for fresh, engaging articles on topics like motivation, study habits, learning differences, neurodiversity, and much more. If you have an idea that’s been bouncing around in your head like the DVD logo, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re interested in writing an article, suggesting a new topic, sharing a compelling video, reviewing a book, or telling a story from your own experiences, there’s a place for your voice in The MindBrainEd Think Tank.
Ready to share your ideas? Visit our website to learn how you can contribute!
Introducing Awe
Marc Helgesen & Jason Walters
We’ve been interested in positive psychology in ELT for some years. One of the most recent additions to “The Science of Happiness” is ”Awe.” U. C. Berkeley professor Dacher Keltner wrote a whole book on it last year, Awe. He defined awe as: “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.” That definition seems true, but more complex than it needs to be. In a simpler, “how to” book, Awestruck, Alexandra Franzen (2024) introduces the idea over a series of simple sentences. We use her definition, along with a series of photos, to introduce the idea to our students:
We like to introduce awe and this definition of it with PowerPoint. Of course, we can’t bring our students to see the sunset on Fuji-san, but we can take them outside for an “Awe Walk.” They spend 20 minutes or so exploring the campus and seeing what they notice. We encourage them to notice their five senses as they walk. Then, we all sit down outside and talk about what we have noticed.
There are many other awe activities teachers can do. Jason and Marc will be doing a session on this on the last day of JALT2024, Some of the ideas are already on a webpage.
Note that there is another book called Awestruck (Paquette, 2020). The Franzen book is shorter; essentially it consists of 52 ideas for awe. Paquette’s book is more complete. We recommend both.
We hope your classes this semester are AWEsome.
Marc Helgesen, Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University, Sendai
Jason Walters, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, Nagoya
Reflect your partners
Ekaterina Golushko
Last month I had a reflection class with my adult group. Besides rather standard questions like “What have you learnt? Did you have enough of this or that?”, I offered them to reflect on the process of learning itself by asking them to complete their “Atta Girl/Boy collection” with whatever they are happy with about themselves connected with English. It is a challenge actually to praise yourself, so it took them time to come up with ideas. But in the end, they were proud they had never missed a class, had finally mastered some piece of grammar, had embarked on the course despite having 4 kids (!) with an already jam-packed schedule, had experimented using new vocabulary, and had been successful at not comparing themselves to the other students. Quite a list, right?!
However, we didn’t stop there; this time the task was to write a letter of praise to each participant in the group. The activity has its roots in the practice described in a book by Belarusian psychologist and writer Olga Primachenko “Love Yourself Tender.” This one was a blast! As a result, we have an amazing collection of sincere words which can cheer up the students when they feel blue and start doubting themselves. Everyone left the class as if we had had a party and celebrated everyone’s birthdays, appreciating the fact that we had focused on their achievements (even the smallest ones) and their capabilities. The thing they would remember is that they are seen and heard and they are good enough the way they are.
In the screenshots you can see the students’ kind words to each other. Any typos are left untouched. 😊
Ekaterina Golushko, caring English teacher bringing students’ humanity to light
Teaching Paraphrasing in the Age of AI
Brian G. Rubrecht
Like many others who teach English in Japan, I teach several part-time courses outside my primary educational institution. One of the part-time courses I teach at ABC University (a pseudonym) is on the history of Western philosophy. As it is a course for non-English majors, I teach it in English but supplement it with a heavy helping of simplified terms, handouts, whiteboard drawings, and PowerPoint slides, with a smattering of Japanese as needed.
ABC University requires course enrollees to write a 1,000-word report in English, regardless of the course topic. In other words, while instructors for this type of English course can select their course’s overarching theme (e.g., art, economics, history, law, literature), students will not receive course credit if they fail to write a report in English that (a) is grounded within that overarching theme and (b) clears that target word count.[1]
I started teaching this course long before AI systems like ChatGPT became available to the masses. At that time, digital tools beyond Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar checkers existed (e.g., Google Translate), but pre-pandemic, I rarely encountered instances of cheating through machine translation. Those daring enough to cheat using such tools—in violation of my course policy—were few and far between. The cheaters were quickly and easily discovered.[2]
Now, however, the number of students submitting AI-written reports has increased dramatically. Naturally, ABC University is aware of and unsettled by such cheating. Other institutions no doubt have similar concerns.
It was brought to my attention that even though I allow students to read their reference source material in Japanese, of course they will be tempted to use machine translation if such tools are so easy to use and so readily available, as (a) philosophy is, as I was told, a very opaque and confusing topic[3] and (b) the students are able to use those tools with permission in some other courses.[4] However, I have from the outset attempted to ease the report-writing process by having these non-English majors write their required reports in sections:
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- Section 1: 250 words: explain the life of their philosopher (e.g., Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, chosen from a list of that semester’s philosophers)
- Section 2: 500 words: explain one or more ideas created/developed by that philosopher[5]
- Section 3: 250 words: based on their understanding of what they read for report-writing purposes, they are to explain what they believe is the historical impact or influence of that philosopher’s thinking (e.g., on other philosophers’ ideas, society, religious thinking, scientific progress)
Pre-ChatGPT, students’ required paraphrasing of reference source information (i.e., their processing of the information they read rather than just their translating it from Japanese to English) was quite sufficient, but now it seems that students are increasingly either unwilling or unable to paraphrase for English writing[6]. With machine translation so understandably alluring, it is incumbent on instructors to provide students with paraphrasing instruction so that it may become a tool in their academic toolbox.
The paraphrasing instruction I do begins with general background explanations about paraphrasing; that is, what it is and why it is important in academic writing. It then moves to paraphrasing practice that is specifically relevant to their current studies, which in this case is the type of reading they are likely to encounter as they prepare their reports for this course.
Material (written in Japanese) is prepared on the first philosopher discussed each semester (i.e., Pythagoras in spring, Hugo Grotius in fall)[7]. As this is just for paraphrasing awareness-raising and practice, the material is short and only covers their lives, which equates to what would be found in Section 1 of the report. The steps taken are as follows:
- Initial Reading. Students read the material silently for comprehension purposes.
- Paraphrasing Task. Students paraphrase a few specific sentences/sections individually. They are not told what parts they will paraphrase until the entire class has completed Step 1. Dictionary use is allowed.
- Comparison and Revision. Students share their paraphrasing with classmates in pairs/small groups and revise for improvement purposes if needed. Instructor assistance/feedback is possible.
- Sharing. Students are called on to share their paraphrasing with the class. Insufficient or problematic paraphrasing is discussed and rewritten, with grammar patterns taught or paraphrasing suggestions given as needed.
Actively teaching and stressing the importance of paraphrasing will not guarantee students will eschew undesired or unnecessary AI use in their courses, but it will highlight a useful and important writing technique.
[1] Instructors are free to include additional grading criteria for their courses, and they may even allow varying amounts of AI-generated content in the reports.
[2] As a native English speaker with years of experience teaching Japanese EFL learners, I am familiar with Japanese L1 interference in English L2 writing. An entire webpage run through Google Translate and submitted as a report lacks all the hallmarks of a student-written report.
[3] Never mind the fact that it is a history course as much as it is a course on philosophy.
[4] Thus, some cheating instances may be cases of a mix of psychological reactance due to a loss of autonomy (see Brehm, 1966) and the unintended boomerang effect (Byrne & Hart, 2009) when students are repeatedly told not to use ChatGPT or machine translation.
[5] I stress to the students that decent reports can still be written with the use of simple vocabulary and sentence structures. In other words, I ask students to write using their own words and show me their own understanding of English, which makes paraphrasing all the more important.
[6] It may be that the temptation to use AI is simply too great, or possibly this is evidence of the lingering effect of the pandemic on pre-tertiary-level education.
[7] Students cannot choose these historical figures as the subject of their reports.
Resources
Brehm, J. W. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance. Academic Press.
Byrne, S., & Hart, P. S. (2009). The boomerang effect: A synthesis of findings and a preliminary theoretical framework. Annals of the International Communication Association, 33(1), 3–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2009.11679083
Brian G. Rubrecht, university instructor for well-nigh two decades
Treating Digital Devices Like the Tools That They Are
Brian G. Rubrecht
It is an all-too familiar sight these days: students paying more attention to their digital devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops) than to the lesson being taught. While such devices may certainly be used to great effect for specific classroom activities, they typically do not need to be on students’ desks or in their hands all the time. There is a time and place for everything, and this includes digital device use.
Fundamentally, digital devices are just tools. They help people complete particular tasks. However, tools should be used only when they are needed. Would a carpenter pull out a screwdriver when there are nails to be hammered? No, they wouldn’t. Would an auto mechanic pick up a dentist’s drill when bolts need to be removed from an engine? Of course not. Those tools are not needed, as they are inappropriate for the tasks at hand.
Something similar could be said of students and their digital devices. As tools, they are not always needed. But the divide separating hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches on the one hand and smartphones, tablets, and laptops on the other is monumental. This is because the latter, with their many notifications, messages, and entertainment options, raise the specter of attention (mis)management. Their mere presence risks disrupting students’ concentration when it should be focused on course- or lesson-related matters.
In short: if students are not actively using their devices as tools for educational purposes, those very same devices could potentially impede their learning. Instructors must therefore take a balanced approach by acknowledging the benefits of technology while also setting clear boundaries for its use.
To this end, it is recommended that instructors remind (or teach) students about the saying “the right tool for the job,” and that when their digital devices are not the right tools to be used during a lesson, they should be turned off and put away.
There are myriad ways to teach this saying to students and help them understand that their digital devices should be taken out for classroom use only when the situation warrants it. One recommended way is to teach students by personal illustration of the misuse of tools. It is advisable to do this on the first day of class, as this aids in establishing from the outset classroom rules and expectations for student lesson engagement.
This personal illustration by the instructor could come in many forms. For instance, the instructor could:
- pull out a tape measure or ruler to (conspicuously) check the length of students’ names on the course roster as they call out names when taking attendance
- employ a grabber reacher (i.e., those long sticks with pincers on the end that are commonly used to pick up litter along roadsides or in parks) when handing out syllabi to students
- wear a (toy) stethoscope while explaining the syllabus, and occasionally check to see if various objects in the classroom (e.g., the whiteboard, the overhead projector, the classroom door) have a heartbeat
- use a squeegee to occasionally wipe (non-existent) forehead sweat during self-introductions
The point of the personal illustration is to draw students’ attention to the fact that an unnecessary tool is being used at an inappropriate time and place, possibly to dubious ends. The more ridiculous the tool use, the better. They should then point out that students’ digital devices are also tools, and that (depending on the course, of course) under normal classroom circumstances, those tools are not needed for students to engage in lessons and learn course content. Naturally, there will be times when “the right tool for the job” is indeed a digital device, such as when students use laptops to access online dictionaries during a writing exercise, or when they use education-oriented smartphone apps to help them learn about and practice aspects of a topic under study (e.g., the pronunciation of English’s many vowel sounds). Even so, students may not be aware that their digital devices are in reality simply tools, but with strong distraction potential. As such, they may need to be informed that these devices should only be used at specific times and in ways that are in accordance with the instructor’s educational aims. Other uses during class time (e.g., watching videos, texting friends) are to be forbidden.
In the end, instructors want to teach and to have their students learn. Effective teaching and learning cannot happen if students’ attention is pulled away by non-course-related content stemming from their digital devices. If everyone uses the right tool for the job, then everyone has a chance to succeed.
Brian G. Rubrecht, university instructor for well-nigh two decades
Hands on the Head
John Maune
I remember when different classroom apps came out that offered real-time data displays for questions and surveys. It was heady stuff that engaged everyone as the colorful graphs morphed before us, students could see where they stood compared to their peers, and teachers could see how many students grasped a concept. However, from my viewpoint, it also seemed to be another IT rabbit hole: cell phones and isolation.
There are many ways the onscreen data could be used for interactive activities, but I came up with a no-tech solution that checks some of the basics of MBE: movement and social awareness. For example, if you have a yes or no question, you ask students to put their hands on their heads, like manekineko (招き猫), and vote with their fingers: one is yes and two is no (if you are thinking of Christopher Pike in Star Trek… one). You can imagine that multiple-choice questions are easily done with one, or even two, hands. This is not vigorous movement, but it is significantly more than clicking and scrolling on a cell phone. The next step is the results. The data does not appear on a screen in front of the class; students, and the teacher too, must actively look around the room to see how their peers answered. Everyone has a good time turning and scanning the room to estimate the results. It is a moment for safe, not awkward, social awareness.
In the best of all possible worlds, students would be sitting in a semi-circle but, for most of us, classrooms are still arranged in ways that isolate students: backs of heads are not particularly emotive. Raising a finger or two smacks of simply raising hands, but, in my experience at least, fewer students shirk indicating their answers with fingers than is the case for hands. I even use it at times when I see flagging energy levels.
“Hands on the head!”
John Maune, not a Luddite—really
Excel in English: Grammar and Vocabulary Puzzles
Todd Beuckens
My students follow a set curriculum with various target grammar points and vocabulary lists. During COVID while doing Zoom classes, it was hard to do textbook activities. To facilitate the issues of doing work online, I started creating digital worksheets, first in PPT and then in Excel. To my surprise, Excel was a game changer when I started using conditional formatting, which turns a cell into a certain color if a specific text is entered.
The puzzles work for a variety of reasons, but most importantly because they gamify any text document. The students want to get the right answer. By revealing if an answer is correct by changing the cell color, the students get immediate feedback on their input. They do not have to complete the whole activity to see the results, as they would in an activity using Google forms. Also, unlike most digital interactions where they can choose an answer, like a multiple-choiceMC quiz, the students have to type in words exactly. If the spelling is incorrect, the cell will not change color.
The puzzles also tend to encourage students to ask the teacher and others for help, so they ask for assistance because they want to get the correct answer. Students like working on the puzzles in teams and helping each other, as they would when working on a jigsaw puzzle.
There are other cognitive benefits. The students can see all the problems on one page, unlike Quizlet, and the content is displayed more horizontally, rather than vertically. The students can also delete the answers in the cells and redo the task as many times as they like for review. The sheets can be a cheat sheet or a study aid. There are also benefits for the teachers. The teacher can monitor progress easily by just seeing how many cells have changed color. Lastly, the worksheets can be done online in Google Sheets, offline in Excel, and even on paper as a printable PDF. The sheets are also a great way to elicit and review answers as a class.
Excel has been so effective in creating worksheets, that I almost never use Word or Google Docs anymore. I create 90% of my language worksheets in Excel, which when printed, looks exactly like a Word Doc.
Todd Beuckens, English Instructor at Ristumeikan Asia Pacific University
The Message in a Bottle
Pinar Sekmen
I take innovation, in English learning and teaching environments, as anything new that can be integrated into the objectives of the existing lesson plan designed for the target learner(s). The use of technology and AI tools is considered to be a brilliant way to bring some novelty into our classrooms today, but this would be only underestimating the power of human imagination. It takes only the power of some creativity to lead the change in our classrooms and create a more engaging and interactive atmosphere not only to convey knowledge but also to build rapport with our students.
Here, I would like to highlight one of the areas I have always liked to incorporate in my sessions: my exit tickets. As exit tickets are remarkably meaningful and valuable forms of reflection and feedback for and from our students, creating a more positive atmosphere, I do invest in finding better ways to implement them better by means of very simple and basic supportive tools. I’d like to stress the importance of prompting and of the duration of the exit time. I prefer to try to use the shortest but the most impactful exit tickets to help my students feel the sense of freedom beneath the self-assessment.
A sprinkle of emojis, a bunch of stationary, an adequate amount of authentic sources, a pinch of fun, and sometimes a bottle of messages can help a teacher a lot to tailor exit tickets to students’ needs and expectations.
A small bottle can also be a novelty
Once, in one of my classes, it was again time to exit the class. I put a medium-sized bottle on the table and some pieces of colorful paper next to it. The students were expected to write messages for my open-ended question—the exit ticket asking for reflections on the lesson—and send them through the “exit bottle.” They did as well as expected and later, when I opened the paper rolls, I found a note: “How can you always find interesting ways for me to feel better, Ms. S.:)?” It was obviously not a direct reflection of that day’s lesson, but definitely feedback and a reflection on my sessions as a whole.
Pinar Sekmen, a holistic learning advisor, a language coach and a teacher supporter (educator) in ELT.
Class Party on the First Day
Curtis Kelly
For years, I held class parties on the final day of class, which seemed a fitting farewell. But when I started a doctoral program in Fort Lauderdale as a student in the “international cohort,” the members of that cohort decided to take a harbor cruise together before the first class. We had a great time, bonded early, and it made a huge difference in all the rest of the classes we took. That especially became obvious when we were mixed with other cohorts who acted more as strangers to each other. Their discussion was not as rich; there was a lot of “I am, I do” talk; and they seemed more anxious about speaking at all. Even our professors noted the difference.
So as a result of that experience, I began having class parties with my women’s college students after the first day of class, not the last. And it changed everything. The students, now “friends,” were more confident, more willing to take risks, more willing to collaborate, and generally just having a much better time.
Curtis Kelly, who used to party
Solving the Cell-Phone-in-Class Problem
Tara Hridel
(See our May 2024 issue for the full story)
Like most teachers these days, Tara had trouble with her students using their cell phones in class. She developed a quick and very effective fix though. Being a science teacher, she had a terrarium full of Malaysian cockroaches in her room. If she ever caught a student using a cell phone, she’d take it, put it in the terrarium, and let the student fetch it back after class.
They actually loved that policy!
P.S. Slow and docile Malaysian cockroaches are not like the terrible ones we hate. Some hiss.
Tara Hridel, middle school science teacher in an Oregon School