As language teachers, we love activities! We use them to introduce grammar, to get students speaking to each other, and for lots of other purposes. Textbooks also love activities. I have a copy of a listening and speaking textbook on my desk. Flicking though to a random page, there are six activities on one page, and nine on another.
Sometimes though, we can try to do too much!
In this strategy, we look at why less is sometimes more. We look at how doing fewer things in class can mean that often we do them more fully, we exploit their potential to the max. This is important as if we want students to communicate in class, we have to give them to the time and space they need.
To illustrate what I mean, here’s an example from a class I observed recently.
Context. Central Asian university class focused on speaking and listening. The class lasted one hour. There were 20 students sitting in rows. The classroom had a smart board.
Students began by brainstorming key vocabulary related to art. They then read a text about manga, followed by a debate on whether manga is an art form, with two students presenting their arguments at the front of the class. Next, students listened to four texts where individuals discussed their favourite art pieces. In pairs, students completed a “find someone who” activity focused on art. The lesson continued with a gallery walk, where students viewed 16 pictures and wrote comments on why they liked each one. Half the students viewed 1-8 and the other half 9-16. Representatives then read out comments on their artwork to the other group. Finally, the class engaged in a discussion using textbook questions about what constitutes art, which concluded with a plenary discussion led by the teacher.
Here’s a reflection on that example.
Meaningful interaction takes time. We need to make time in our classes for interaction to occur. One way we can do that is by doing fewer activities, but making each activity meatier. This means that we do less, but actually have more, in that although they are fewer activities there is more space for productive communication to occur.
In the example above, this space could have been achieved in any number of ways. Before you read on, pause to have a think about how you might adapt this class to promote more interaction. Which activities would you take out? Which would you adapt and how would you do that?
After the class, the teacher and I discussed the principle Less is More. Here are some of the ideas the teacher had. Note that these ideas involved cutting a lot of the other content in the session and making these activities the main focus.
- Use a carousel approach for the debate, so students work in small groups made up of 2 students for and 2 students against. This means that many debates would be going on at the same time and all students would be engaged. It would also provide opportunities for repetition, as students could change groups after a period of time and repeat the debate in another group.
- Students could work in pairs to describe their favourite pieces of art and give reasons for their selection. They could then listen individually to one of the people describing their favourite artwork and take notes. After that, they could use the notes to summarise the text to other students (working in groups of four). They could then see if any of the people chose the same work of art or if their reasons for their selections were similar.
- Use fewer pictures for the gallery walk, 6-8 for example, that show lots of different forms of art (classical pictures, dance, graffiti, contemporary art, martial art, etc.). Students walk around in pairs and discuss each picture, saying what they like and dislike about each. They take notes as they navigate the room. They then work in small groups to decide if each picture was a) art or not and b) of interest to them and their friends or not.
These ideas are fantastic, giving students space to engage deeper with their interactions, providing opportunities for repetition, and ensuring all students are always engaged. Notice how doing less means the teacher does not need to give so many instructions, which in turn cuts their teacher talk time. It allows the teacher to move from constantly explaining new activities to monitoring student engagement and interaction. So, lots of positives from just a small change, and not just any change, but a change that will save us time! We don’t need to prepare so much, we can get the students to do more, we can assume a larger range of roles…all from stepping back a little and making space. Lesson plans should not be jam packed full – make sure there is ample breathing room!
Here are two strategies to help development
- Look at a lesson plan or think about a lesson you recently taught. Imagine each activity is a sponge full of water. Did you manage to squeeze all the water out of each sponge? If you didn’t, what could you have changed to exploit each activity fully?
- Lesson aims and the activities we use are not the same thing. We use activities to achieve lesson aims. Reflect on a recent lesson. Are there any activities you could have cut and still met the lesson aims? Were there any activities that did the same thing, just in a different way? Did you need all of those?
That’s all for this edition. Happy teaching and let me know what you think and how you get on. I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Sam