liddyn

If children need to learn English in a hurry, and they do because they have too many other things to do to learn it slowly, or to be wasting any time as they go about it, would they be better in clusters rather than classes?

Classes tend to comprise a set of kids who are presumably at the same level working on the same thing. Clusters often have chilren of different ages at different stages and they work together in the family tradition. Khmer children are used to looking after younger children and can probably do so without noticing. Older children, who are more advanced in English, might benefit from reading to younger children who are not. The older children speak Khmer, so they can explain the meaning of words and stories, for example. Also, if children are in clusters, what might have happened once across a group can happen once for each cluster - ie there can be four parallel classes instead of one, so more talking and listening, reading and writing can happen

What about sprites that affect other sprites' activities?

What about backgrounds that change?

What if we had a short course of night classes for the other teachers in the school?

How many would want to come or could come, given they don't all live close to the school and anyway might have other obligations?

Who should come? teachers? everyone? adults only? women only on some occasions?

I think it'd be fun to see how many would come. We might be surprised - either way, I guess!

I have been thinking a lot since I started to focus on the issues - and what we do with students and what they learn are two things: instead of asking what will we teach, we might ask, what will we do with them that would allow them to learn what?

Actually, that is how I always think about teaching - if we teach what we want students to learn, they don't do the learning themselves, we do it. If we offer an experience that allows them to learn freely but include the things we are interested in, I think we have done better.

And if we were teaching teachers or parents or community people, we certainly would want to make sure they have fun and also feel they have an understanding of what the kids are doing, or could do.

I think we could do that pretty easily with some Scratch sessions...and maybe some other things too?