Trainer Diary: 6.1
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Muddles into Maxims 
So what exactly do you mean by ‘coaching from the sidelines’? During TP? Or as notes in their lesson plans? And do you handwrite or type your feedback?
Your passion for training and development comes through so strongly here. Definitely considering doing something similar on my next full-time CELTA!
By the way, would love to know a bit more about how the timetable is structured for this course.
Thanks!
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I mean a very *light* version of some of the things Chris describes/demos here: http://www.ethical-education.com/sideline-coaching-videos.html and Thornbury does in a micro-teaching scene here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFb8MKCKhLU. Now, it’s TP…I’m not at all so present at Thornbury, stopping and clarifying and instructing..but I might ask or give a quick prompt quietly as a teacher passes by me while monitoring, or gesture ‘pairs’ when a teacher is in the process of skipping them, etc. Again, earlier TPs…they need to teach with no prompts ASAP, but again, I see it simply as ‘immediate assistive “live” feedback’ on the spot, in the arena, and that with none of this TP actually “goes too far” into the pretense of an actual lesson..which it’s not. It’s teaching PRACTICE. And practice needs scaffolds and feedback in the ‘online’/’live’ sense, at the point of need and action, and it really, really, really can help. It can truly nip some bad habits in the bud instantly in a way that delayed group feedback just will not do. Does that make sense? I think Bill…can’t remember his last name..but Bill the old school CELTA trainer has done presentations on Trainer prompts, etc. and it really makes sense to me NOT to be hiding in the back as if I wasn’t there. In the last week yes, in the 3rd week, mostly..but I AM there, and I DO know what they are working on, and even if I only prompt or intervene in a couple of quick, subtle ways early on…them knowing I’m *with them* I think has its own effect, creates its own scaffold for trainees being more mindful of their actions and reactions in the TP lesson space…which is ultimately THEIR class on teaching…not the students learning space. Of course I always, always do these things in ways that distract the students.
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Thanks for those links – very useful.
Now that you’ve said it like that, I realise that I’ve done things like that and encouraged other trainees to do it too, through things like gestures and occasional signs. Not too often though because it distracts the students too as you say, and also I think it can distract the trainees too. But some of the interventions really have worked, especially if they come from the trainees themselves. One person was having huge trouble with talking at the elementary students for ages, so the rest of the group came up with SSS: Script it, Say it, Shut up. Whenever he was talking for too long, they’d hold it up, he’d get to the point and stop talking. After two TPs there was a massive change 🙂 Will keep thinking about this as I teach on this current course…
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