Hi everybody,
Here is our last forum. We discussed some of the disadvantages of using a book but we did not talk about possible solutions. So here is the chance to do so. Look at the following chart presenting some common difficulties students and teachers might face when using books. Choose a problem and post a solution to overcome that difficulty. Thanks for sharing!"
Weakness
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Teacher/Student Difficulty
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Ways of Overcoming Problem
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The textbook is designed as a the sole source of information.
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Students only see one perspective on a concept or issue.
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Textbook is old or outdated.
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Information shared with students is not current or relevant.
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Textbook questions tend to be low level or fact-based.
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Students assume that learning is simply a collection of facts and figures.
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Textbook doesn't take students' background knowledge into account.
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Teacher does not tailor lessons to the specific attributes and interests of students.
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Reading level of the textbook is too difficult.
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Students cannot read or understand important concepts.
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The textbook has all the answer to all the questions.
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Students tend to see learning as an accumulation of correct answers.
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Hello teacher,
ReplyDeleteI have chosen "students tend to see learning as an accumulation of correct answers" as difficulty based on the last weakness "the textbook has all the answer to all the questions": I think you can overcome this problem by changing the way you evaluate your students; if you are using a book-based grade system (which is better not to use very often because of this kind of troubles) you should change this and turn it into a production grade with new created activities or exercises that encourage students to discuss, write or define subjects related to the topics in the book with their own words, instead of copying and repeating what the textbook says.
This could be a perfect situation to use the proposed options in our book at page 183 in the arrow graphic: "add" and "replace activities". You will be adding questions and thoughts about the topic and replacing activities like filling up blanks for production activities such as discussions or forums.
It is a very good solution Juan Pablo,and it can be applied as well to the problem I chose, even if the book is old or outdated you can add or replace activities to make them discuss, write or redefine subject that could have changed over the time and compare them to their actual situations.
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DeleteThe textbook is designed as a the sole source of information.
ReplyDeleteproblem: Students see only one perspective on a concept or issue.
Solution:
Teacher should create a very simple and clear strategy to introduce differents perspectives of a topic. Keeping in mind if the issue is very common and useful for the students in a real-life context. Teachers can make activities like role play or give examples to make the student understands the differents concepts of an issue.
I agree with you Oooo Oooo. There are a lot of strategies that we can put into practice when dealing with this problem, and your example is quite good. Maybe in the book we can see one phrasal verb like "pass out", it has many meanings depending on the context it has been said. The teacher should use this phrasal verb in different contexts.
DeleteI agree with you, Anyela. I also think a perfect way to try and solve this would be to show them web pages based on topics like the one we are dealing with, or relate them into real world content in the Internet with subjects alike.
DeleteProblem: Teacher does not tailor lessons to the specific attributes and interests of students.
ReplyDeleteSolution: As we learnt today in class, we have to modify the activity in order to make it suitable for students.
Hello, i totally agree that activities must be modified for the suitability of students, antother solution may be, tailor lesson not to specific students but to a specific group of students' learning style, changing and making sure you cover them all
DeleteLuis Velasquez
I think this problem is very common but often ignored. Even when a specific textbook is mandatory, there's always a possibility of modifying and "tuning" certain activity in order to make it more relevant and entertaining. There's always space for a slight improvement that could make a huge difference for students.
DeleteProblem: Text books are old or outdated.
ReplyDeletePossible solution: After you present the objective of the lesson, you can always replace the activities to develop the practice, and introduce actual events to make it more interesting for the students and challenge your students during the production stage to bring life experiences up to make it real.
I agree with you. Another way to solve this kind of problem could be using technology such as websites, interactive presentations and even some games.it would definitely keep your students interested in your class and topic
DeleteYolanda, I really like this solution and feel that in certain situations, where applicable, bringing the material up to the level where it connects with the lives they live is a great method of bridging a gap between past and present relevance; this makes it not only current but also pratical and therefore useful experience. In cases where it fits in with the content, working around current events seems like a great way of developing their skills, whether it's expressing themselves, describing the world around them or being creative with the English language.
DeleteProblem: The textbook is designed as a the sole source of information.
ReplyDeleteDifficulty: Students only see one perspective on a concept or issue
Solution: from my point of view the teacher should encourage their students to look for more information at home. They can find different perspectives or opinions on internet or in another book about the topic that they are interested in.
At the same time the teacher should be aware of that and because of that reason he or she has to develop different activities in the classroom that allows them to see things from a different way. Remember that not all the students learn by the same way
I agree Christian, teachers should teach students to think outside the box and to investigate more about the topic, yes they can find more perspectives and opinions on the topic, because everything is not just black and white and yes not all students learn in the same way or even at the same pace so they really have to be flexible and allow different take on things when doing the activities.
DeleteI agree with you, but I would add something else.If they students find out information and definition that they don't get it, the teacher has to be able to answer and explain any question that the student has.
DeleteWeakness: Textbook is old and over dated.
ReplyDeleteTeacher/Stundent difficulty: Information shared with students is not current or relavent
Solution: I think the solution is pretty straight forward, when writting lesson plans and preparing resources from second hand sources always check, read and understand the resources which are going to be used aking sure to check relevance, if you proceed to use this information dont forget to state that the information is old and give further useful information, the old information could be useful for comparison work. The second option would be simply not to use the textbook & go and buy a new one!!
Luis Velasquez
I find your solution interesting. Of course we should be aware of the lesson we'll teach and that will prevent us of teaching a completely none-sense class. Nothing useful if the content in the book is out dated, so a replacement activity could take part and we'll just refer to the book to check the grammar points that hardly change with the pass of the years.
Deleteanother solution consist in adding some information so in that way, the idea of the textbook will be more complete or useful. we can also not use the parts we found irrelevant.
DeleteTeacher does not tailor lessons to the specific attributes and interests of students
ReplyDeleteAs we discussed in class, when you have a book you don't necessary need a written lesson plan. But when you face a problem like this, you realise that having a lesson plan completely relying on a text will make you miss the perspective of the context and the valuable knowledge background your students have. A way to overcome this problem is to design a lesson plan which include some work with the book but most of the other activities should be genuine. For example picking info from the students realities and using different tools and resources from the context. Moreover we may be flexible to adapt or change aspects of the lesson we plan in order to these redound on student necessities at the precise moment of the class.
Tottally agree with you. I believe that books could be useful in a way for both students and teachers , but also we should include other tools in our lesson plans in order to get the best out of our students.
DeleteWeakness - reading level of the textbook is too difficult
ReplyDeleteTeacher/Student difficulty - students cannot read or understand important concepts
Solution - Spend some time working on a collection, which comprises an alternate version of the concepts and ideas covered in each chapter/section of the textbook to supplement the textbook for use when necessary. These materials can include frequent examples of real life instances to help illustrate what is being conveyed. Use of tools such as video, audio, and interactive activities will sometimes be useful.
Problem: Textbook is old and outdated.
ReplyDeleteDifficulty: Information shared with students is not current or relevant.
Solution: If you are not able to get your hands on a new updated version then you should look for other resources that can give you the information you need, be it through other books or articles or internet websites, that can go hand in hand with the book. Maybe you can find a more modernized version which can have a simpler, newer take on things. Also you could change or modify the activities to make it more interesting and interactive.
Weaknesses: Reading level of the textbook is too difficult.
ReplyDeleteWhen students reject what they are learning because they may find difficult to understand the meaning of so much information, we as a teachers should interact with different tools for example: internet , audios , role plays etc.. That way students can get the important concepts of every topic they learn.
It is a good idea Daniela help the students with other resources. the important here is to improve the reading skill in students and for that we need to use all the techniques and resources that we have at hand
DeleteWeakness :Reading level of the textbook is too difficult
ReplyDeleteDifficulty :Students cannot read or understand important concepts.
to help students in the reading process so that there are no frustrations,we should teach some reading skills, create some strategies so that reading doesn't become boring,the use of technology would be convenient here. Take out vocabulary from the book those unknown words and explain its meaning. It could facilitate the reading process and understanding.
Hello Juan, how are you today.
DeleteI agree with you that helping the student through the reading and understanding of the textbook is very important to the student, this will help build self-confidence at all levels of student. We must not forget that grammar is linked to the reading skills and it is also possible that the level textbook is too advance for the level of student.
problem:
ReplyDeleteStudents cannot read or understand important concepts.
solution:
in these moments the teacher is the main help resource in class. as teachers we have to keep in mind the concepts and explanation that the book gives to our students, so we will know when there might be some issues understanding an statement or the idea of the paragraph (off course we have to prepare this during the creation of the lesson plan so it will be part of the "anticipate problems")
Textbook is old or outdated.
ReplyDeleteTextbooks that are outdated should really have no place in a modern institution, if they are to be used,simply as a point of reference.
The teacher will have to identity what would be a simple,but effect solution with using outdate textbook . There many resources available, new books,articles,internet websites which the teacher will be able to use in the lesson plan when teaching students.
There is no point on using outdated books I think. The world has changed greatly in the last 5 years, anything before that seems old times to me. Books should reflect the present times and their current issues. We are living in the future now, and books must step up their game so they are not left behind by a generation that seems little keen on book reading. Teachers must be aware of this and make good picks for instructional textbooks for student use. This will be more engaging for them.
DeleteProblem: The textbook is designed as a the sole source of information.
ReplyDeleteProposed solution: Teachers should provide information from various resources different from the textbook. This might be articles, magazines, text excerpts, knowledge from personal experience. Students should be aware of the fact that no textbook is completely reliable and it's impossible for one to cover all the useful information. They should also be encouraged to look for further information themselves and find different excercises on other books or even the Internet. Teachers may need to always remind students the role of books and that textbooks brings only part of the necessary information, along with making corrections and adding theoretical complements when necessary.
I believe neither the book nor the teacher should be the sole source of information for students ((1)” the textbook is designed as the sole source of information”); in addition to that, I think students should be learning how to think (critically/consciously) instead of being taught what to think ((12) students tend to see learning as an accumulation of correct answers), so I think students should not only see one perspective of things. If possible, teachers should reference different texts, books, authors, writers, lecturers, professionals or academics that can contribute to the discussion with original information and diverse points of view, even if they contra-argument each other. It is stimulating for student language awareness to witness the English language being expanded, enriched, combined, mixed, interchanged and arranged in different ways, especially by authors with unique writing styles. Students might appreciate this, and feel related to pieces of texts and points of view that represent ideas they hadn’t been able to put into words. Students absorb knowledge in many ‘miraculous’ ways.
ReplyDelete