TPR or total physical response is a term coined for the whole body movement when a child is in class and participating actively. This could be done with different topics particularly during a vocabulary drill or language practice. This one is carried on in class so the child can react and process verbal inputs. This method has remarkable advantages such as:
● It reduces the student's inhibition.
● It lowers stress for both the teacher and student.
In my experience, I have been using this method with my non-readers and novice EFL students. It's pretty challenging for two reasons:
● At times, no matter how massive your preparation is, the actual output is different which leads you to change your approach not just in a particular class but for the whole duration of the contract (In the EFL industry, students have usually enrolled for about one to three months hence the term contract).
● The child's inhibition and preferred method conflict with your approach. This happens when you handle a timid learner. The problem with that is they easily get intimidated by animated gestures or activities conducted by the teacher that would involve the whole body movement. Some of them just prefer plain writing with fewer body movements. Hence, if that's the case it is recommendable for the online tutor to make use of a reliable product that could cater to the need of the student such as Flexispot's Whiteboard Standing Desk.
So, in this case, let us know where to use the TPR. Achieving this method could help a teacher's class a lot. It could make the class very interactive even in a limited space or an online setting where the online range of the student's sight is limited within the computer windows. The following uses are:
I.How to Use TPR:
TPR is achievable through the following steps.
● PREPARE:
This can save you a lot of time. Usually, a proactive tutor conducts assessments from the first day to the second week of the class. This is not just done to gauge the student's cognitive ability but also to know what their likes and dislikes are. Once the likes and dislikes are already known by the EFL tutor, he would be able to come up with interesting and suitable TPR activities for the student.
● MODELING:
This is best done with complicated lessons that are suitable for the grade level of the student. For example, you are teaching progressive tenses to a second-grade student, this kind of lesson is advanced for a seven-year-old or eight-year-old student but in academies, these are applied for advanced learning. The best way to introduce a concept is through TPR. This could be done by dancing and games where the student will participate actively. With modeling, the student would be able to mimic what the teacher says. Alongside this, you may gradually put the lesson inputs on the Whiteboard Standing Desk (should you decide to purchase it) or put them on pieces of paper, cover them with another paper then stick them on the whiteboard. This could add the element of surprise during class.
● STUDENT'S ATTEMPT:
In this case, you may let the student try the activity on his own. After mimicking your gestures with the given sample sentences (if applicable), the student will try giving his examples. This time, you may write it on the wide surface of the whiteboard standing desk. This would be easy because the whiteboard standing desk could be flipped easily because of its 5 angles. It could easily be moved because of the roller-casting wheels.
● REPETITION AND PRACTICE:
In this part, the student already knows the concept and how a certain sentence structure is done hence the student should be able to follow the same pattern accordingly with less guidance from the tutor. This is preparation for the mastery of the lesson.
In following these steps, it is also recommendable that the teacher will write on the whiteboard standing desk especially the terms and practice words that are connected to realia or the actions done with the TPR. This could help a child master certain words through visuals. Thus, the whiteboard standing desk which is one of Flexispot's best standing desks because of its stunning features such as:
● a flip tabletop that makes the standing desk very functional
● an advanced all-in-one keypad that could suit your activity needs
● enhanced anti-collision function that protects you and the product from accidents
The features could assure an interactive class with the student regardless of the limited space during the video class. Aside from the tips on how to do the TPR, we will also talk about the reasons a tutor should try applying this in her class. Below are the following reasons:
III. Reasons TPR is an Effective Teaching Method:
● The teacher may help the student overcome the challenges of learning disabilities: In this case, the teacher may aid the student in surpassing the challenges of his learning disabilities. Through various TPR activities such as games, songs, the use of realia in class may help the teacher share the information with the student effectively.
● The student could boost the self-esteem that he needs in acquiring the target language or proficiency: With the help of TPR and a piece of reliable equipment such as the Whiteboard Standing desk from Flexispot, the student would be able to understand well the lesson inputs that he may gather from the online classes conducted by the EFL tutor. In the long run, the student may be able to acquire skills because of this positive attitude that may be flaunted with the teacher's dedication to helping the student surpass the challenges of online learning.
● The use of TPR could help the teacher understand the hidden potentials of the student: Every child is a genius hence a teacher must always observe him in class and try exploring the prowess that lies within the child. To do this, it is ideal that the teacher tries recording and monitoring the child's improvement in class with the help of Flexispot's Whiteboard Standing Desk's wide surface.
The following things could make an online class interactive and engage through the student's TPR that can be made possible with the right equipment such as the product mentioned above. With these, we may say that the teacher-student relationship will be very meaningful.