This is How to Transform your Education Program Overnight

This spring I was hired to train teachers at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Speaking Made Simple. It's an uncomplicated, effective system for teaching speaking fluency. Brenda Sherring is the department head and was my contact for the event. We decided on May 26, 2017 for the training and the following day for the practicum. I emailed her PDFs of my materials, flights and hotel were booked and we confirmed airport pickup... exactly as arrangements had be made for me a hundred times before. Then something different happened.

In the car on the way to the hotel Brenda informed me that she had closed the school for May 26 so all the teachers could attend the training.

Her teachers expressed concerns that their students studied diligently but their speaking didn't improve and they wanted to do something about it.

Brenda hired an expert and arranged for the entire department to participate in the training, ESL teachers on maternity leave and sabbatical also attended. Before the workshop began on Friday morning, Brenda had purchased and printed all the materials including colored pencil sets, handout exercises, Vowel Chart Flashcards, textbook PDFs... ready for every teacher to jump in. They had the tools and desire, they needed the technology and that was my job.

Although the program is straightforward, Conversational English to Professional Fluency is a significant amount of pedagogy to internalize in one day. This is why Brenda had me return for a second day for a practicum to watch the teachers share what they had learned with their students. They were amazing. It was a fantastic learning experience for everyone.

I could tell the teachers had listened/learned well because their students were so confident and engaged.

June 8-10 the TESL Canada Conference was held in my home town of Niagara Falls and I had the honor of reconnecting with Brenda Sherring. She reported the students' speaking ability at SaskTech had improved immediately and she would like to present their results with me at TESL Canada in 2018.

Tomorrow in the making indeed. I was so impressed with the fortitude of Brenda Sherring, the openness and commitment of the teachers and the engagement and progress of the students. Teachers don't have the tools they need to make a difference now. This is how to move an educational organization forward with alacrity:

• be honest about the problems
• include everyone
• procure the best solution available
• prepare diligently for success
• retrain and support teachers, they are your soldiers in the trenches

We talk about students passing speaking tests but not being able to speak. We talk about theories, studies and change in our industry but who is doing anything about it? Brenda Sherring and the teachers at Saskatchewan Polytechnic transformed their teaching program and their students' result overnight. You can too.

Yours in ESL,

Judy Thompson