Saturday, April 27, 2019

A Part-Time Job Activity Pack

I'm back to doing what I enjoy most: creating learning resources. Today I'm pleased to announce the publication of an activity pack to complement the School of Global Access ESL Literacy reader entitled A Part-Time Job. It's about a student named Fazil who looks in the newspaper for a suitable job ad. He finds an ad for part-time help in a clothing store. He goes to the store and fills out an application.

Because the idea of a simple search through the classifieds is a bit outdated, I decided to include references to three other methods of finding work: the Internet, networking (talking to people), and looking for signs in shop windows.

This book is actually a bit too easy for my current cohort, but I used it this week because Easter Monday made it a short week. I tend to save the more challenging stories for weeks in which we have the full five days.

The complement of activities I developed, however, is targeted to my students' slightly higher level of ability. I hope you'll still be able to make use of parts of the activity pack and that you'll let me know if you do. Don't wait till you see me at a conference; shoot me an email or leave a comment on the blog, why dontcha?

Responding to a needs assessment in which you readers took part, I made a point of including ten colour picture flashcards as well as matching text flashcards. It was tricky trying to depict the concepts "full time" and "part time" in images, but my students got the idea right away.


You can find the new resources on my website under LITERACY - JOBS, a new section under development. Cheers!





7 comments:

  1. Was listening to an e-book on a long drive, 'The Power of Now' and how damaging it is to think about the future or the past, which is basically all PBLA is. Constant anticipation of future tests tests tests, never really being in the moment. Those obsessed with micro-managing, checking binders and keeping this shipwreck going will drown in their own toxicity. This system is truly so bad for the human soul. Doesn't mean we, the instructors, have to drown with them. (much easier said than done - I know! I struggle to stay afloat every day) Listening to this e-book made something click in me, though. I Can't continue to give my life's joy and happiness up for this PBLA madness. As this author says: "either leave the situation, change it, or accept it." What we are trying to do here is change it - and I hope it does. In the meantime, I'm reminding myself that I'm an ESL instructor, aka the guiding hand for newcomers into this country. I teach English, not binder management. I teach real life skills, not esoteric acronyms and useless jargon. I HAVE A PURPOSE - and so long as I strive to achieve that every day, I'm doing something good and pure. I'm going to try very very hard to put a white light around me and not let the daily ******* taint my soul. Am I dreaming, maybe. Food for thought.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Power of Now,
      That book is SO dear to me. It changed my life. I have found that it's the sort of book that either resonates with you and speaks to you or appears to be pure gibberish. The first time I attempted to read it, I couldn't. I was trying to read it with my left brain. But then a situation in my life plunged me into a period of depression. I reached again for the book, and this time the meaning was crystal clear. I would read a few passages and then rush outside to observe turtles sunning on the support beams of a nearby boat dock. From Tolle I found Thich Nhat Hanh and the practice of mindfulness. Nothing has been the same since. --KM

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  2. Let's all just do that - not let the s..t of PBlA binder management destroy our souls and classes. Cant we try to pretend that PBLA was just a bad dream? I wonder what would happen if we all did what we know to be right - started teaching language again and ignored it. Would we all just get fired?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Let's all just do that - not let the s..t of PBlA binder management destroy our souls and classes. Cant we try to pretend that PBLA was just a bad dream? I wonder what would happen if we all did what we know to be right - started teaching language again and ignored it. Would we all just get fired?

    ReplyDelete
  4. my gut says the tower will crumble & implode on itself. binder checkers can't be happy triple checking what's already been checked, doing this punitive kind of work. id despise that job personally. if students keep passing "tests" that they actually dont have the language skills for, let them accumulate whatever paper they want. do your 4/month or however many you do and set firm boundaries. the truth will come out when they cant hold a job. then theyll realize the process of learning language is much more versatile than the vacuum sealed boxes weve been shoved into. so yes, lets keep being 'esl teachers' and let the bullshit fall around us: yes mam, yes sir. remember why ur in this job, and that is what matters. those micromanaging are the ones truly hurting themselves. if they want to fire the lot of us, then make. my. day! (they wont... theyre so desperate for instructors)~power of now

    ReplyDelete
  5. my gut says the tower will crumble & implode on itself. binder checkers can't be happy triple checking what's already been checked, doing this punitive kind of work. id despise that job personally. if students keep passing "tests" that they actually dont have the language skills for, let them accumulate whatever paper they want. do your 4/month or however many you do and set firm boundaries. the truth will come out when they cant hold a job. then theyll realize the process of learning language is much more versatile than the vacuum sealed boxes weve been shoved into. so yes, lets keep being 'esl teachers' and let the bullshit fall around us: yes mam, yes sir. remember why ur in this job, and that is what matters. those micromanaging are the ones truly hurting themselves. if they want to fire the lot of us, then make. my. day! (they wont... theyre so desperate for instructors)~power of now

    ReplyDelete
  6. yes - teachers are quitting, retiring, considering retiring etc. where I work there are job postings within our school board weekly, if not daily. Nobody who really knows how to teach or has any experience with ESL wants to do this crap. Every minute wasted filling the bloody binders is a minute in which students could be LEARNING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

    ReplyDelete

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