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Helping Ukrainians speak English - How my ENGin buddy & I plan sessions, and what we talk about [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-12-09
these are my personal opinions - not official ENGin views.
This is how my buddy and I work together. It may not suit you and your buddy, so feel free to take what you want to take and disregard the rest (a tip of the hat to Simon & Garfunkel).
Please leave a comment on what you find works for you - I’m a firm believer that everyone has something to learn, and something to teach.
How we communicate: 3 modes
Partly because of the difference in time zones (7 hours apart), my buddy and I found that we needed to be flexible about how we communicate outside of our talking sessions.
Email
We started off with just email, but it became clear almost immediately that we needed something else - and we ended up with two “something else”s.
Instant messenger
For quick messages like “Sorry, I’m going to be 5 mins late today”, we use Telegram.
Shared ‘cloud’
Our most important means of communication/coordination is a shared folder on my google drive, where we keep our agenda, my buddy’s goals and objectives, lessons that I’ve created, photos, etc. Either of us can add & update anything there. Since we started using the shared folder, we find we almost never need to use email.
(By the way, if you use google drive, you may want to have a look at Checker Plus for Google Drive - The Green Programmer )
Session agenda
We have an agenda, with suggested times, for all of our sessions.
The agenda is a living document in our shared google drive folder. The latest (or next) session is at the top, and the previous sessions are “pushed down”. We can both view and modify this doc, and each of us sees the other’s changes in real time.
Although in practice the agenda is flexible - very flexible - we find it helps to ensure that (a) we have some sort of plan for each session, and (b) we have a rough record of what we talked about.
Who sets the agenda, and how?
Either of us can add items, or comments. On occasion, one of us may note that we will not be ready for an already-agreed item. My buddy mostly controls the agenda, so we talk about what she wants or needs to discuss.
What is on the agenda
Here is the agenda for a typical weekly session:
Session 12 - 2023-06-05 09:00 – 10:30 ET; 16:00 – 17:30 EET -
https://meet.google.com/xxx-yyyy-zzz Free conversation, exchange weekly news - 20 mins Wishes, conditionals, and hypotheticals - role play- 25 mins
See document in shared folder: RolePlay Customer Conversation Discussing the article -
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-responsive-web-design-4775550 . - 15 mins Decision: our future in ENGin - should we continue together, or ask for new buddies? - 5 mins
Agreed: Яна & Malcolm would both like to continue as buddies after the first 3 months 😀 👍 See ENGin “rules” for continuing after 6 months
These are expected start & finish times - we rarely finish on time!
1. We start with a weekly “catch-up” of what’s happening in each other’s lives.
2. Sometimes my buddy asks me to prepare something - perhaps usage-related, perhaps a point of grammar - and I may create a doc in our shared folder to support the discussion.
3. One of us may suggest a web page, or a TED talk, for us to discuss. Typically, my buddy kicks off the discussion by paraphrasing what she understood from the talk or article. Topics like this may extend over 2-3 sessions.
4. When we need to make a decision about something, we add it to the agenda, and then record the result.
I usually start the session using the link on the app.enginprogram.org/#/sessions page, and then my buddy joins using the link on the agenda. She has found that the sessions page link sometimes doesn’t work for her.
Note: If at all possible, please start your session on the app sessions page, and go back at the end of your session to select the duration. It’s a vital part of ENGin’s recordkeeping. If you cannot get the link to work, please advise
[email protected] by email, or @ENGin_support on Telegram.
As always, comments and questions are welcome. I’d prefer, in general, for comments to be public, but you are also welcome to PM me, or to email me at:
[email protected]
If you would like more details about how to set up a shared folder, or a shared document, just let me know.
WHAT ENGin DOES ENGin is a nonprofit organization that connects English-speaking volunteers aged 14+ with motivated young Ukrainians aged 9 to 35 for online speaking practice and cross-cultural exchange. See
https://www.enginprogram.org/ and
https://www.enginprogram.org/volunteer Note: This diary contains my own perceptions and opinions. These writings should not be considered as the official views of ENGin. Diaries with ENGin content will appear with the tags #TutoringEnglish and #Ukraine Слава Україні!, 𝑺𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒂 𝑼𝒌𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊! Героям слава!, 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒂!
See also these diaries:
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