In today's blog post I'd like to discuss the comma splice and the run-on sentence.
It's the first time this semester that I check so many essays at an intermediate/upper-intermediate level, and I keep coming across tricky punctuation.
I've not had much personal experience when writing in English. Although I keep the blog in this language, I find it more and more necessary to read up on punctuation. I've prepared Students for TOEFL where the writing rules differ from the Bulgarian grammar we are taught in school, but I've not graded papers based on their criteria. To be fair I am a bit lost when correcting Students' writing at this level. There are some good activities on sentence structure in the approved course book (New English File), but there isn't much instruction on the use of punctuation for more advanced Students.
Here are some examples of incorrect punctuation and how to fix it.
One of the most common ways to use commas is to separate two main clauses that are connected by a coordinating conjunction such as “and,” “but,” or “or.”
Squiggly ran to the forest, and Aardvark chased the peeves.
Squiggly ran to the forest is a complete sentence, and Aardvark chased the peeves is also a complete sentence. To join them with a comma, you need the word “and” or some other coordinating conjunction. If you just put a comma between them, that's an error called a comma splice or a comma fault:
Squiggly ran to the forest, Aardvark chased the peeves. (wrong)
Here's another example:
COMMA SPLICE: I got up late this morning, I didn't have time for breakfast.
You can use one of the following ways to correct it:
CORRECTIONS:
I got up late this morning. I didn't have time for breakfast. (end-stop punctuation: the full stop ".")
or
I got up late this morning; I didn't have time for breakfast. (the semicolon ";" - commonly used in American English. If the two sentences are closely related to each other, you can use a semicolon to connect them without a coordinating conjunction.)
or
I got up late this morning, so I didn't have time for breakfast.
or
I got up late this morning, and I didn't have time for breakfast. (a coordinating conjunction)
In essence, commas aren't meant to join main clauses all by themselves; using a comma in this way leads to a comma splice.
That's bad punctuation, but it's easy to fix.
The comma splice is indeed a form of run-on sentence.
A RUN-ON SENTENCE (sometimes called a "fused sentence") has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two parts have not been properly connected.
It is important to realize that the length of a sentence really has nothing to do with whether a sentence is a run-on or not; being a run-on is a structural flaw that can plague even a very short sentence:
The sun is high, put on some sunblock.
This is the comma splice error we discussed above.
Run-on sentences happen typically under the following circumstances*:
1. When an independent clause gives an order or directive based on what was said in the prior independent clause:
This next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.
(We could put a period where that comma is and start a new sentence. A semicolon might also work there.)
2.When two independent clauses are connected by a transitional expression (conjunctive adverb) such as however, moreover, nevertheless.
Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, however, he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery.
(Again, where that first comma appears, we could have used either a period — and started a new sentence — or a semicolon.)
3.When the second of two independent clauses contains a pronoun that connects it to the first independent clause.
This computer doesn't make sense to me, it came without a manual.
(Although these two clauses are quite brief, and the ideas are closely related, this is a run-on sentence. We need a period where that comma now stands.)
Most of those computers in the Learning Assistance Center are broken already, this proves my point about American computer manufacturers.
Again, two nicely related clauses, incorrectly connected — a run-on. Use a period to cure this sentence.
These examples come from the below sources. Click on the link for further information.
GRAMMAR GIRL: SPLICE COMMA
SPLICE COMMA
RUN-ON SENTENCES
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
FIRST SEMESTER HIGHLIGHTS
Phew! I've finally some time for an entry. The Ministry of Education has called this week a health emergency. Flu infection has spread and schools have closed for a week. Therefore, I have plenty of time for the blog. This coincides with the end of semester. Both students and teachers have been given a longer holiday before the start of the second term.Many thanks to 72 grammar school (elementary and juniour high school) for giving me the chance to help out this semester. I felt like a complete newbie, but it was worth it. I now know my way around Dnevnik (where progress reports of the students' grades are entered), which I found really daunting at first. The Dnevnik Book keeps a record of all grades and notes to head-teacher and parents about the students' discipline and study habits. I even did some work in Belezhnik (the students' report cards), which is probably quite hard if you have to enter grades in all report cards all the time, as the groups are quite a few. This would probably take up most of your time along with lesson, and test/exam preparation.
I got a chance to grade some workbooks, no notebooks though, and got an idea of how well students work in class and prepare at home. It is often surprising that they do quite a lot of work, when you think they're off into their own world, with little interest in the subject, and/or topic discussed.
In terms of discipline: there was far too much silliness. I was told off a couple of times, in local spirited vernacular, for not knowing how to greet students when entering a classroom. I honestly do not remember the entire ritual of Class Stani - Class Mirno! (Class stand up, Class stand at attention!) To be fair they were a bit slack about it from beginning to end. There were some strange goings on: too much noise from cell phones and ipods, especially after the Christmas holidays; unplanned Christmas dos with silly dancing; inopportune joke telling in loud voices; and improvised singing of local chalga classics. Sweater fights after tests were a frequent occurrence. Tempted as I was I did not join in. Vexed shouting over who's playing what on the CD player, brought in for a simple and straightforward A1 Listening task, nearly kept me from attempting to cover the Listening exercises. I was eventually given the chance to do something academic with their CD player.
Weirdest of all - a student in junior high school inspired by my presence came up to me and stuck chewing gum in my hair, giving new meaning to the phrase "getting into your hair." It my have been a critique on my appearance in general, I have been gradually going bald since Mexico. Possibly this even bothers my students.
Taking the chance to evaluate our work, we did quite a few tests with varying success, without too much shameless cheating. Listening tasks were a complete flop, really chaotic and I found it difficult to maintain control over the group. When it came to presentations they were excited at first, then as the deadline came closer they were demotivated and anxious. They were able to present, in the end, on their chosen topic, but not as easily as other groups. I wasn´t feeling very enthusiastic about testing their writing skills because I was hoping to give them Dictation. However, after failing to keep them focused during the Listening exercises, I gave up the idea. Surprisingly, they cooperated with text translation from English to Bulgarian, but they were reluctant to work on their writing skills in English. Regardless, their coursebooks ENERGY, written by native-speakers and targeted specifically at Bulgarian learners, provide a lot of material dedicated to written expression. They need to be encouraged to do the exercises by their instructor, although a balance has to be found. If at this age (10-12) they don't feel as confident when writing in their mother tongue, they might find their writing deteriorates if they divide their attention between two languages. As a foreign language teacher, you wouldn't want their writing skills to suffer in their mother-tongue, because they prefer to write in English, or their chosen second language.
In answer to a question I posed in a previous entry, the following teachers still guide and inspire the students: Hristo Botev, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Rayna Knyaginya, Sophronius of Vratsa, Vasil Aprilov, Simeon I The Great, Otets Paisiy, and Ivan Vazov.
These are some quick impressions from the past semester, there are many topics that I'd like to discuss in further detail, in the next entries.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
True to the previous entry I've moved slowly through the last couple of months without being able to write for the blog, but covering great distances with a determination that surprised me. Work piled up, and I hadn't realised how dedicated you have to be in order to update the site regularly.
I was asked to help out at a small primary school which has given me the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the administrative side of running a school in Bulgaria. The atmosphere brought on quite a few memories - most of them happy. It's reassuring to see that teachers are well-trained, the facilities are in good order, and the students are in good hands.
The last month has been filled with a joy in helping the children advance in their studies, and prepare for the holidays. It was great to hear them sing Christmas carols, and dance to traditional Bulgarian folk music.
So, to put you in the holiday spirit here's a short film on Bulgarian Christmas and New Year's celebrations, wishing you peace, health, joy and happy times with your loved ones.
More updates to follow.
I was asked to help out at a small primary school which has given me the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the administrative side of running a school in Bulgaria. The atmosphere brought on quite a few memories - most of them happy. It's reassuring to see that teachers are well-trained, the facilities are in good order, and the students are in good hands.
The last month has been filled with a joy in helping the children advance in their studies, and prepare for the holidays. It was great to hear them sing Christmas carols, and dance to traditional Bulgarian folk music.
So, to put you in the holiday spirit here's a short film on Bulgarian Christmas and New Year's celebrations, wishing you peace, health, joy and happy times with your loved ones.
More updates to follow.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
LIFE MOVES AT A SLOWER PACE
Life is a Journey to be Savoured. Work it Faster, Do it Better, Make us Stronger.
I've suddenly been reminded of these two contrasting ideas. A slower paced lifestyle good for the soul and the heart; and a faster, stronger, healthier pace of life - good for the body and the mind. It boils down to personalities, I suppose. Or maybe to seasons, or to weekdays and weekends. Or country life and city life. Or even to two different hemispheres, or continents. It certainly has to do with movement. These are words used to express an appreciation and a savouring of life or dynamism and efficiency.
Since my stay in Mexico I've come to associate a joyous slower paced life with Latin America and a Faster, Better, Stronger need for an efficient lifestyle with more developed parts of the world, shall we say Europe. Thinking about it in Sofia, I would say North America (Canada, US and Mexico) are certainly living faster and more efficiently than our European joy in a slower more satisfying life. Who's to say? Points of view. Maybe it depends on your current geographical status, maybe it depends on where you love more.
Certainly these two opposing concepts help me define life almost daily. Like muscles in our body, slow muscles are good for long distance running, and endurance activities - they can work longer without getting tired; fast moving muscles are good for rapid movements, like jumping and sprinting, they contract quickly but get tired faster as they consume a lot of energy. Our muscles are made up of both types of fibres, our legs and back are made up of mostly slow twitch muscles to maintain posture, and our eyes are made up of rapid twitch muscles.
We find balance in the fusion, both types of fibres working together.
I'll try to relate these ideas to classroom organisation. A student's aptitude depends on their literacy, their learning success on their learning strategies. A learning strategy is how one gains, processes, and collects information (Gregorc, 1979; Davidson et al., 1992).
It's impossible to think of a group of students as uniform or alike. Classrooms are diverse, as much as we would like to adapt the system and form uniform groups of advanced students and slower learners. Even when an academic system lends itself to streaming students into ability groups there is still diversity within them. Grouping by ability may improve the academic performance of advanced students in the short run. High-achieving students tend to progress further when advanced academic courses are available. They need an incentive. They tend to perform better if higher standards are set and required of them. It is an idealistic notion that this can be achieved within the Bulgarian public sector, but perhaps it is not necessary. For every research reviewer who has concluded that grouping is helpful, there is another who has concluded that it is harmful. There is substantial evidence that streaming doesn't alleviate attitude and behavioural problems among students, it usually makes them worse, showing that grouping is more often than not biased and unfair. A result of streaming is a segregation by ethnicity and social class. As mentioned, students' academic performance may improve for some time, but over time their achievements tend to become more unequal. On the whole the method of streaming can be detrimental to the students' equal learning opportunities despite their abilities. It is a controversy that has gone on for almost a century. We fluctuate between mixed-ability teaching and a more conscious focus towards equality of educational opportunity. There are political, economic, and social factors that dictate this.
The practice of grouping by ability in school was popular after the Second World War. It subsequently fell into disfavour, as research proved that its impact may be negative. However, it continued to be practiced as a better means of raising standards, and over the last decade it has become common again.
In the ESL classroom, undeniably grouping by language ability is of importance, it gives students more opportunity to practice the language, and reduces class size. It facilitates the choice of teaching material. It does not guarantee high academic performance, but it provides a positive learning environment for students of diverse learning abilities, within a fixed curriculum, appropriate for that level. In order to appreciate better all the unique personalities that a language teacher comes across in a self-contained group, the instructor can vary the grouping arrangements. The students' seating, the types of activities, the layout of the furniture can be used to safeguard students' movement and behaviour, and assist a teacher in maintaining control over a group of pupils.
According to Freiberg and Driscoll (1992), the kind of classroom that would best support grouping practices is a cohesive classroom. In a cohesive classroom, students develop socially and emotionally and are able to be group members. In this respect, the classroom teacher should consider the norms of the class to determine its cohesiveness. Norms are shared expectations of how group members should think, feel and behave (Weber, 1994). Norms greatly influence interpersonal relationships because they provide guidelines that help members understand what is expected of them and what they should expect from others. Productive group norms are essential to group effectiveness (Weber, 1994). Therefore, one important task of the teacher is to help the group establish, accept and maintain productive group norms. (GROUPING IN THE ESL CLASSROOM Nor Azmi b. Mustafa)
As a teacher you gain appreciation of your students and subject through classroom diversity, be it at a joyous pace savouring all the profession has to offer, or faithfully teaching your pupils to be faster, better, stronger individuals.
The following links provide further reading:
Primary pupils' experiences of different types of grouping in school
Standards, Inequality & Ability Grouping in Schools
Grouping in the ESL classroom
I've suddenly been reminded of these two contrasting ideas. A slower paced lifestyle good for the soul and the heart; and a faster, stronger, healthier pace of life - good for the body and the mind. It boils down to personalities, I suppose. Or maybe to seasons, or to weekdays and weekends. Or country life and city life. Or even to two different hemispheres, or continents. It certainly has to do with movement. These are words used to express an appreciation and a savouring of life or dynamism and efficiency.
Since my stay in Mexico I've come to associate a joyous slower paced life with Latin America and a Faster, Better, Stronger need for an efficient lifestyle with more developed parts of the world, shall we say Europe. Thinking about it in Sofia, I would say North America (Canada, US and Mexico) are certainly living faster and more efficiently than our European joy in a slower more satisfying life. Who's to say? Points of view. Maybe it depends on your current geographical status, maybe it depends on where you love more.
Certainly these two opposing concepts help me define life almost daily. Like muscles in our body, slow muscles are good for long distance running, and endurance activities - they can work longer without getting tired; fast moving muscles are good for rapid movements, like jumping and sprinting, they contract quickly but get tired faster as they consume a lot of energy. Our muscles are made up of both types of fibres, our legs and back are made up of mostly slow twitch muscles to maintain posture, and our eyes are made up of rapid twitch muscles.
We find balance in the fusion, both types of fibres working together.
I'll try to relate these ideas to classroom organisation. A student's aptitude depends on their literacy, their learning success on their learning strategies. A learning strategy is how one gains, processes, and collects information (Gregorc, 1979; Davidson et al., 1992).
It's impossible to think of a group of students as uniform or alike. Classrooms are diverse, as much as we would like to adapt the system and form uniform groups of advanced students and slower learners. Even when an academic system lends itself to streaming students into ability groups there is still diversity within them. Grouping by ability may improve the academic performance of advanced students in the short run. High-achieving students tend to progress further when advanced academic courses are available. They need an incentive. They tend to perform better if higher standards are set and required of them. It is an idealistic notion that this can be achieved within the Bulgarian public sector, but perhaps it is not necessary. For every research reviewer who has concluded that grouping is helpful, there is another who has concluded that it is harmful. There is substantial evidence that streaming doesn't alleviate attitude and behavioural problems among students, it usually makes them worse, showing that grouping is more often than not biased and unfair. A result of streaming is a segregation by ethnicity and social class. As mentioned, students' academic performance may improve for some time, but over time their achievements tend to become more unequal. On the whole the method of streaming can be detrimental to the students' equal learning opportunities despite their abilities. It is a controversy that has gone on for almost a century. We fluctuate between mixed-ability teaching and a more conscious focus towards equality of educational opportunity. There are political, economic, and social factors that dictate this.
The practice of grouping by ability in school was popular after the Second World War. It subsequently fell into disfavour, as research proved that its impact may be negative. However, it continued to be practiced as a better means of raising standards, and over the last decade it has become common again.
In the ESL classroom, undeniably grouping by language ability is of importance, it gives students more opportunity to practice the language, and reduces class size. It facilitates the choice of teaching material. It does not guarantee high academic performance, but it provides a positive learning environment for students of diverse learning abilities, within a fixed curriculum, appropriate for that level. In order to appreciate better all the unique personalities that a language teacher comes across in a self-contained group, the instructor can vary the grouping arrangements. The students' seating, the types of activities, the layout of the furniture can be used to safeguard students' movement and behaviour, and assist a teacher in maintaining control over a group of pupils.
According to Freiberg and Driscoll (1992), the kind of classroom that would best support grouping practices is a cohesive classroom. In a cohesive classroom, students develop socially and emotionally and are able to be group members. In this respect, the classroom teacher should consider the norms of the class to determine its cohesiveness. Norms are shared expectations of how group members should think, feel and behave (Weber, 1994). Norms greatly influence interpersonal relationships because they provide guidelines that help members understand what is expected of them and what they should expect from others. Productive group norms are essential to group effectiveness (Weber, 1994). Therefore, one important task of the teacher is to help the group establish, accept and maintain productive group norms. (GROUPING IN THE ESL CLASSROOM Nor Azmi b. Mustafa)
As a teacher you gain appreciation of your students and subject through classroom diversity, be it at a joyous pace savouring all the profession has to offer, or faithfully teaching your pupils to be faster, better, stronger individuals.
The following links provide further reading:
Primary pupils' experiences of different types of grouping in school
Standards, Inequality & Ability Grouping in Schools
Grouping in the ESL classroom
Monday, October 18, 2010
PRIVATE AND STATE SCHOOLS
Further to the previous entry, the group has been promptly cancelled and I shall not enter a Bulgarian school for the time being. I was allowed inside a classroom a couple of times, however did not come to open the coursebook or start work with the children. The brief chance to look inside a state school got me thinking about the differences and similarities of private and state schooling. An entry I've been meaning to write for awhile.
School in Bulgaria, in general, has always brought on mixed feelings, mostly of anxiety and imagined illness, that would excuse me from attending. It's odd how instantly when I was invited to meet up inside the school I did not feel at ease. I wondered would they really stick to all the old rules of blue uniforms with white collars and red scarves (for the young pioneers)? Would the students on call, ask the group to greet me, and report on the absent students, as we used to do in high school? Would there be an enormous portrait of Todor Zhivkov (former communist dictator) hanging above the blackboard? Would there be a blackboard with chalk and a mouldy wet rag by a bucket or a whiteboard with a marker and eraser set? Would I be asked to quiz students verbally and enter subjective grades in a big green roster called "dnevnik"?
When I finally entered the school corridor I felt happy, there was nothing dreary about it, plenty of potted flowers and plants; amazing murals I thought only existed on UNAM's walls; a school cafeteria with a nice menu I'd not seen in years; groups of noisy children running about or sitting on the floor drawing. It almost reminded me of an artsy club we used to go to to look at art, listen to music, and watch short films. What with its parquet wooden floors, light flooding through enormous windows onto rows and rows of hard-back chairs, poster and drawings adorned walls. Schools if you look at them holistically are palatial, and certainly a hub of all art forms.
So, on the whole I quite enjoyed all interviews and the near close encounter of teaching at a state school. From what I could take in it differed little from the private schools where I've had the opportunity to teach, not in Europe but in Latin America. In terms of resources it seemed low on technology, I didn't see a computer lab. Despite this, I recall that our Bulgarian state high school, had a lab with the first Pravetz-82 computers. Oddly Pravetz is the home-town of above mentioned Bulgarian president Todor Zhivkov, famous for its (now closed) computer plant. On that note, I'm certain a good percentage of Bulgarian state schools provide PCs for their students, be it Bulgarian or foreign.
On the other hand, in Mexico I remember it was impossible to get students to use the computer lab on their own, unless of course it was for the purposes of computer class. For which there was almost never a teacher, as it is a small town and quite low on teaching staff. As well as it might have been equipped the technology was misused and underused. At that age it is something students still take for granted. My university students who pay tuition fees through the nose are hardly ever found behind a computer or in the library, unless it's for a last minute project, let alone high school students who aren't required anything more than the occasional writing assignment. I hate to be a prophet of lies, but if they spend as much time on the Internet as I do researching their major I would be out of all classroom presential work.
What I found most off-putting, and this is something that I've not been able to avoid at primary and secondary school level, is the aggression used to project the teacher's voice and get student's attention. I've always felt like a demented out-of-control mother with more children than she can handle, when shouting at students. The aggression then translates to the students' and teachers' home environment and it can become quite messy and unpleasant. Mexican schools provide a more caring environment, because they are Catholic colleges. Their society revolves around the Catholic church. A teacher achieves respect because his/her vocation rests on the Catholic faith. Classically, Mexican teachers, in their majority, are priests or nuns.
Bulgarian schools used to place emphasis on Marxist teachings. This is what formed our thinking, morals and self-discipline. Now that there is so little faith in a newly-formed democratic system, I can't say how students are disciplined at that age. Without a doubt, however, the head-teacher's voice, at one point, sounded quite hysterical. Making it again a strangely hostile environment that I would mind going into.
What do we usually consider when entering the process of choosing a private or state school? Family tradition (not necessarily a custom in Bulgaria, but a factor in Mexico); expensive tuition fees, which according to an article I'm reading as I write, are not more expensive than housing next to good state schools. Although, I remember living far away from the state junior and high schools we attended with my brother in the US, and this was resolved by an efficient school bus system, so even that shouldn't be a problem if there is a well-funded educational system. I wouldn't necessarily agree that independent schools have a broader curriculum. In smaller teaching communities the same teachers are employed in both state and private schools, and their training and the criteria set by the educational body are the same. The same annual school academies are attended by both state and private institutions and this is where the curriculum is defined. As a result equality in the curriculum is achieved. To be fair, the standards set by the US state schools I am familiar with are higher than the standards set in the schools I've attended and taught in Mexico and Bulgaria. Of course I have no knowledge of American independent schools, or any European educational institution outside Bulgaria, and it is still difficult to compare, in that sense. Group size could certainly be a factor. Private schools have the upper-hand here, they do manage to have smaller groups of pupils. They have higher selection criteria which reduces classroom size. This could improve weaker students' academic performance who would be left lagging behind in a less-disciplined environment with bigger groups. Exam results are possibly better in private schools, and so are the social advantages. Mexican schools have excellent exchange programmes between schools of the same religious order. State schools don't cater as well for students with special needs, so that too should be considered.
The biggest strain if a family decides to enrol their children in a private school are the fees. There are payment plans, of course, and scholarships, but most families manage by carefully budgeting and doing without quite a few luxuries. What I find fundamentally wrong is that education has been turned into a business, and the emphasis is placed on a very capitalist concept that of money going to money. I was brought up in a communist society where the option of private schooling was only available abroad, and has only now become a trend. My first experience of private education was as a teacher not as a paying parent abroad in Mexico not at home in Bulgaria. Therefore, these ideas are still quite rudimentary. To paraphrase another source, it is unlikely that a government designed system is more foolproof than a system created by market forces. It is an eye-opener for me that a free market builds quality. I am still a learning novice, mostly privately-funded and often state-schooled.
The following links provide further reading:
http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/iadeghe/entry/private_vs_state/, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article591256.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
School in Bulgaria, in general, has always brought on mixed feelings, mostly of anxiety and imagined illness, that would excuse me from attending. It's odd how instantly when I was invited to meet up inside the school I did not feel at ease. I wondered would they really stick to all the old rules of blue uniforms with white collars and red scarves (for the young pioneers)? Would the students on call, ask the group to greet me, and report on the absent students, as we used to do in high school? Would there be an enormous portrait of Todor Zhivkov (former communist dictator) hanging above the blackboard? Would there be a blackboard with chalk and a mouldy wet rag by a bucket or a whiteboard with a marker and eraser set? Would I be asked to quiz students verbally and enter subjective grades in a big green roster called "dnevnik"?
When I finally entered the school corridor I felt happy, there was nothing dreary about it, plenty of potted flowers and plants; amazing murals I thought only existed on UNAM's walls; a school cafeteria with a nice menu I'd not seen in years; groups of noisy children running about or sitting on the floor drawing. It almost reminded me of an artsy club we used to go to to look at art, listen to music, and watch short films. What with its parquet wooden floors, light flooding through enormous windows onto rows and rows of hard-back chairs, poster and drawings adorned walls. Schools if you look at them holistically are palatial, and certainly a hub of all art forms.
So, on the whole I quite enjoyed all interviews and the near close encounter of teaching at a state school. From what I could take in it differed little from the private schools where I've had the opportunity to teach, not in Europe but in Latin America. In terms of resources it seemed low on technology, I didn't see a computer lab. Despite this, I recall that our Bulgarian state high school, had a lab with the first Pravetz-82 computers. Oddly Pravetz is the home-town of above mentioned Bulgarian president Todor Zhivkov, famous for its (now closed) computer plant. On that note, I'm certain a good percentage of Bulgarian state schools provide PCs for their students, be it Bulgarian or foreign.
On the other hand, in Mexico I remember it was impossible to get students to use the computer lab on their own, unless of course it was for the purposes of computer class. For which there was almost never a teacher, as it is a small town and quite low on teaching staff. As well as it might have been equipped the technology was misused and underused. At that age it is something students still take for granted. My university students who pay tuition fees through the nose are hardly ever found behind a computer or in the library, unless it's for a last minute project, let alone high school students who aren't required anything more than the occasional writing assignment. I hate to be a prophet of lies, but if they spend as much time on the Internet as I do researching their major I would be out of all classroom presential work.
What I found most off-putting, and this is something that I've not been able to avoid at primary and secondary school level, is the aggression used to project the teacher's voice and get student's attention. I've always felt like a demented out-of-control mother with more children than she can handle, when shouting at students. The aggression then translates to the students' and teachers' home environment and it can become quite messy and unpleasant. Mexican schools provide a more caring environment, because they are Catholic colleges. Their society revolves around the Catholic church. A teacher achieves respect because his/her vocation rests on the Catholic faith. Classically, Mexican teachers, in their majority, are priests or nuns.
Bulgarian schools used to place emphasis on Marxist teachings. This is what formed our thinking, morals and self-discipline. Now that there is so little faith in a newly-formed democratic system, I can't say how students are disciplined at that age. Without a doubt, however, the head-teacher's voice, at one point, sounded quite hysterical. Making it again a strangely hostile environment that I would mind going into.
What do we usually consider when entering the process of choosing a private or state school? Family tradition (not necessarily a custom in Bulgaria, but a factor in Mexico); expensive tuition fees, which according to an article I'm reading as I write, are not more expensive than housing next to good state schools. Although, I remember living far away from the state junior and high schools we attended with my brother in the US, and this was resolved by an efficient school bus system, so even that shouldn't be a problem if there is a well-funded educational system. I wouldn't necessarily agree that independent schools have a broader curriculum. In smaller teaching communities the same teachers are employed in both state and private schools, and their training and the criteria set by the educational body are the same. The same annual school academies are attended by both state and private institutions and this is where the curriculum is defined. As a result equality in the curriculum is achieved. To be fair, the standards set by the US state schools I am familiar with are higher than the standards set in the schools I've attended and taught in Mexico and Bulgaria. Of course I have no knowledge of American independent schools, or any European educational institution outside Bulgaria, and it is still difficult to compare, in that sense. Group size could certainly be a factor. Private schools have the upper-hand here, they do manage to have smaller groups of pupils. They have higher selection criteria which reduces classroom size. This could improve weaker students' academic performance who would be left lagging behind in a less-disciplined environment with bigger groups. Exam results are possibly better in private schools, and so are the social advantages. Mexican schools have excellent exchange programmes between schools of the same religious order. State schools don't cater as well for students with special needs, so that too should be considered.
The biggest strain if a family decides to enrol their children in a private school are the fees. There are payment plans, of course, and scholarships, but most families manage by carefully budgeting and doing without quite a few luxuries. What I find fundamentally wrong is that education has been turned into a business, and the emphasis is placed on a very capitalist concept that of money going to money. I was brought up in a communist society where the option of private schooling was only available abroad, and has only now become a trend. My first experience of private education was as a teacher not as a paying parent abroad in Mexico not at home in Bulgaria. Therefore, these ideas are still quite rudimentary. To paraphrase another source, it is unlikely that a government designed system is more foolproof than a system created by market forces. It is an eye-opener for me that a free market builds quality. I am still a learning novice, mostly privately-funded and often state-schooled.
The following links provide further reading:
http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/iadeghe/entry/private_vs_state/, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article591256.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
Monday, October 4, 2010
FALL SEMESTER 2010-2011
Back from a relaxing 10 days at the beach, and all set for a late start of the new academic year. I've had some good news, the kind people from Oxford School of Foreign Languages have invited me to teach a group of two-graders. This means I'll, at least, vocariously experience teaching at a Bulgarian school, as they rent the premises of one.
I still have no impressions of what to expect from a Bulgarian secondary school in 2010, but this one seems equipped with all the basics. What I remember from my student days is that it gets quite cold in winter, and it seems little has been done to rectify this. It's still early days, however, temperatures for the moment are a pleasant 15C.
The group will cover the last 4-5 Units of Happy House 2, and move on to Happy Street 1 (Oxford University Press) which we'll have to cover by May (spring semester). One of the first problems, and I should be used to this by now, is that I will not be given a book to take home, we have audio, however, which is nice. Hopefully, students will have both Student's book and workbook.
Whiteboard markers seem to be a problem, also, I suspect I'll be buying my own again.
Other than that I am looking forward to working with the books, and meeting the children.
That's all for now!
I still have no impressions of what to expect from a Bulgarian secondary school in 2010, but this one seems equipped with all the basics. What I remember from my student days is that it gets quite cold in winter, and it seems little has been done to rectify this. It's still early days, however, temperatures for the moment are a pleasant 15C.
The group will cover the last 4-5 Units of Happy House 2, and move on to Happy Street 1 (Oxford University Press) which we'll have to cover by May (spring semester). One of the first problems, and I should be used to this by now, is that I will not be given a book to take home, we have audio, however, which is nice. Hopefully, students will have both Student's book and workbook.
Whiteboard markers seem to be a problem, also, I suspect I'll be buying my own again.
Other than that I am looking forward to working with the books, and meeting the children.
That's all for now!
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