A summary of the #ELTchat discussion on twitter from the first week of February '14.

1. An #ELTchat Summary - February 5th, 2014!
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A recurring theme: UNMET EXPECTATIONS & ’DEAD’ LESSONS!
teflgeek asked: “what causes "that sinking feeling" with you?” !
Shaunwilden: for me its the nagging doubt caused when sty doesn’t
go quite right!
patrickelt: Often happened when an activity did not work as expected !
PETsNet: Sinking feeling underlines all our daily work!
Shaunwilden: (in response to PETsNet) That sounds quite depressing!

2. MarjorieRosenbe: I get the sinking feeling when there is just a lot of
quiet and they leave looking tired or can't wait to get out the door!
Marisa_C: quiet and indifferent too - yes agree!
teflgeek: I get it more when confronted by errant behaviour than
concerns about lesson planning!
cherrymp: When the effort goes in vain!
AddaLitim: I get that sinking feeling when my stds don’t do as well as
expected in the practice tasks !
cherrymp: I get a sinking feeling when I think I don't have the students
with me anymore. . When I think I can't take them with me anymore.!
cherrymp: Yeah. That happens. Think expectations are one main
cause for that 'sinking feeling'. !
OUPELTGlobal: Yes, when you 'lose' them. hard to get them back!
MarjorieRosenbe: Just asked pupils. Bad lesson is when teacher is
strict and lacks humor or can't control class.!
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A recurring theme: SEEING DIFFERENT/COMPLEX PERSPECTIVES!
DanielaArghir asked: “can you always pinpoint the cause?”!
Shaunwilden: i think we can get it by misreading a situation!
HanaTicha: Sometimes this sinking feeling
doesn't correspond with the real outcome.!
Marisa_C: Misreading can happen both
ways of course :-)!
Kryftina: Is it always easy though? How can
we identify the cause with certainty?!
OUPELTGlobal: sometimes students are
affected by something outside the
classroom!
patrickelt: students often seem more
forgiving of faults than we are/expect as long as it is rare !

3. HanaTicha: They don't even recognize the faults.!
MarjorieRosenbe: Absolutely. After one sinking feeling lesson two
students stayed to tell me how much they enjoyed my classes.!
HanaTicha: And vice versa. We think everything went well and we're
wrong. It's so subjective, isn't it?!
patrickelt: Maybe this is easier to reflect on than other classes as it
is so clear that something went wrong…more problematic are those
that seem to go well superficially!
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A recurring theme: REFLECTION-ON-ACTION!
cherrymp said “we do experience that feeling. Just as the topic says it's
what we do after the feeling that matters”!
AlexandraKouk: sinking feeling ok when = reflection / not ok = self
flagellation!
Marisa_C: So looking at how to reflect and evaluate what transpired
in our lessons so that we can 'fix things' for next time :-)!
HanaTicha: Next time I try to avoid the cause, i.e. what preceded the
undesirable feeling.!
teflgeek: lesson problems are more easily attributable and remedied.
Behaviour problems? Not so much. !
MarjorieRosenbe: How exactly do you judge that? Sometimes they
learn more than we think. !
teflgeek: the more time and effort you put in, the more frustrating it is!
Less is more. !
HanaTicha: As everything is so subjective in teaching, we can never
do so - with certainty. What matters is that we try!
Marisa_C: For myself I have a 'troubleshooter' checklist in my head
which I go thru - do u have one? !
MarjorieRosenbe: Sometimes we have to address 'the elephant in
the room' before moving on. !

4. cherrymp: But do teachers always reflect or give up? Sinking feeling
is emotional. Reflection needs to be rational. !
Marisa_C: Sometimes a simple question
to the Ss may help- what did u like in
today's lesson? What was a bit boring
etc?!
Marisa_C: on CELTA and DELTA
courses Ts are usually give a No of
observation checklists - use on
yourself!
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A recurring theme: GETTING USEFUL FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS !
Marisa_C suggested that “Sometimes a simple question to the Ss may
help- what did u like in today's lesson? What was a bit boring”!
teflgeek: Is it just a question of successfully managing expectations?
Yours & Theirs? !
Shaunwilden: Yes, as Marisa just tweeted simply asking helps!
OUPELTGlobal: what about asking students directly? Being open
about how the day went?!
Marisa_C: Questions is one way - a short personal note to the T an
option !
teflgeek: a colleague used a feedback box on the back of the door !
HanaTicha: On the other hand, what Ss like is not always what is
good for them in terms of effective outcomes :-) !
Marisa_C: What can go wrong in a lesson tho cannot be rocket
science - topic - language focus - difficulty of text/task and personal
probs!
Marisa_C: A letter of advice to the T how to make the lesson more
engaging and motivating !

5. cherrymp: Feedback box is a good idea. Liked. . Esp if they can leave
it anonymously.!
Kryftina: I use stickers (we have a kind of ''grade the lesson'' habit),
but intermediate classes find answering qs boring!
cherrymp: Listened to a gp of Ts dis afternoon who said they got a
'nothing happens in our class' feedback via DOS.!
cherrymp: It really works when Ts could take the feedback chits later
& discuss how well the chits helped him/her. !
Marisa_C: As a St (of Turkish)on a negotiated syllabus course, we
took 5' at end of lesson to tell T what we felt abt lesson & wanted!
Marisa_C: I was highly motivated when I saw my T respond to my
comments in next lesson!
Innov8rEduc8r: Knowing that your views count is powerful within a
classroom. Shows sts that they can impact what's going on. Agency.!
Innov8rEduc8r: I suggest to sts that they phrase feedback in terms of
suggestions - in terms of action that I could take!
teflgeek: Writing up lesson menu on the board helps focus the class
on lesson goals - manage expectations and gives focus !
louisealix68: always ask my ST to reflect using STARR method 2 b
able 2 take step back from emotions. Helps analyse what went well/
not so well.!
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A recurring theme: EMOTION, EXPERIENCE, & MENTORING!
AlexandraKouk wondered is it is “safe to say that Step 1 would be "Don't
get too emotional about it”?”!
Shaunwilden: Obviously getting fbk etc is important but it doesn’t
help avoid the slinking feeling does it? !
AlexandraKouk: How important is it to be able to analyse what
happened in class rationally and as objectively as possible?!
patrickelt: seemed so important when inexperienced!

6. teflgeek: when you automatically blame yourself instead of reflecting
more widely... !
OUPELTGlobal: YES! must be objective with yourself!
Shaunwilden: maybe but I think emotion is
needed !
AddaLitim: Exactly - but it may help prevent it !
AlexandraKouk: agreed! !
lordlumey: I agree, I think a certain amount of
[emotion] shows you actually care.!
Shaunwilden: While I agree, there is a
certain level of depression that such an
attitude might cause!
patrickelt: I suppose we need to have a sense of proportion - easier
when experienced ....!
patrickelt: as we know that we can teach well but sometimes don't.
Harder when inexperienced - role for mentors !
Shaunwilden: Dealing with the SF is a good topic for a CPD session
in a school!
patrickelt: I think the key thing with these types of classes is loss of
confidence among inexperienced teachers!
teflskeptic: Don’t be too hard on yourself. Accept that not every
lesson will be fantastic. !
MarjorieRosenbe: agree. Showing empathy can make all the
difference. !
Innov8rEduc8::Many a lesson that goes awry - leads to big shifts in
how I approach future ones.!
patrickelt: experienced teachers have a sense of proportion and
confidence will not be knocked so next lesson should be okay!
HanaTicha: I had a great mentor who said: If one in 3 lessons is
great or memorable then it's fine I liked the rule!
Innov8rEduc8r: Recently taken with the idea of
'iteration' - the idea of the program as a work in
progress - constantly being tweaked!
Marisa_C: On another level, I think that Ts often take
things to heart too much - mistakes happen & we
think & learn - sometimes Ts feel soo bad!!! !

7. HanaTicha: So, you need a good mentor in the first place who tells
you what's realistic and what's not. Then you won't have that sinking f. !
DanielaArghir: The mentor can't go to your class and do your lesson... !
HanaTicha: I meant before you start teaching on your own!
anciana: Reflecting on lesson through blogging is good practice,
although this won't help you in the "sinking feeling" moment. !
MarjorieRosenbe: I think rapport is at top of the list and then going on
from there.!
Nouella89: When you feel upset about something you should make it
work in your favour !
HanaTicha: Re sinking f: good to attend workshops to see the world
from the other side of the barricade. I may look bored but I'm just tired.!
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@AlexandraKouk Some great suggestions here: http://t.co/FFMqOZjPQ1
and here: http://t.co/pY9SxZSNpe!
@Louisealix68 Incidentally : http://t.co/aXNfkgfZbw!
@Kryftina this ''swan song'' got me sinking a bit http://t.co/2tzCeprGbm!
@kryftina try this article: http://t.co/x6NFW1DXTu!
@kryftina touched on lots of aspects today #eltchat - as I love wikis, I leave
you with this http://t.co/2CwvVHnLOD!
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