coding

i spent 4 hours on saturday, 5 hours on sunday, 2 hours on monday, and 2 hours today working on those codes. it's insane. i went from 15 categories to 31, and now back to 13 (i think), but not the same ones... and every time i have to change everything i've coded so far. it's crazy! thank goodness bequi was very helpful, not only with the categories and codes but also with the stats part, because i had no idea how to calculate the interrater reliability. so we talked about it over crab raviolis, royal shrimp with lobster something something (delicious!), and vegetable quesadillas, and came up with a system that i hope will work.

anyway, i copy my categories here so i can find them again while at school. they might still change, especially when we'll add comments from the japanese students AND teacher and administrator comments! but hopefully, it's a good start.

1: Patience

2: Explanations: explains/teaches clearly/well/slowly, gives good explanations, simplifies difficult materials, facilitates, makes the language “come alive”

3: Native speaker only

4: Knowledge of the language/the subject/the material: understands the language, able to explain what he knows, gives examples, knows "why," ability to deconstruct the language/knowledge, provides learning strategies, informed

5: Mentor: leader, coach, guide, good example, “has been there,” role model

6: Motivation: encourages, makes me want to learn,

7: NO SEVEN (it's with number 2 now)

8: Love: cares, loves students, understands students, kind, smiles, stands up forstudents, respects students, good relationships/contact with students, approachable, interpersonal skills

9: Understanding: understands (nonnative) (international) students' problems/difficulties/limitations

10: Pronunciation: accent/dialect/speech, speaks slowly/clearly, fluent, understandable

11: Vocabulary

12: Attitude: enjoys teaching, dedicated, makes efforts for students, good attitude/manners, hardworking, energy, humor, fun, enthusiasm, interesting lessons, active, creative, good personality

13: Student centeredness: meets students' expectations, maintains students' attention, answers questions, knows if students are following/understanding the lesson, explains several times, helpful, makes students comfortable, encourages participation, listens to students, corrects mistakes, listens to students, has good communication between students/teacher, pays attention to students, understands students' needs, good listener, encourages students to be independent learners, interested in students,

14: Nonnative is OK

15: Pedagogical skills: has clear goals, teaches smoothly, knows how to teach, has good teaching skills/techniques/methods, controls students, is flexible, responsible, focused, prepared, consistent, adaptable, doesn’t teach to the test, facilitator, willing to accept criticism, seeks help if necessary, confident, talented, has good theoretical foundations, provides good skills

16: NO SIXTEEN (it's with number 8 now)
17: NO SEVENTEEN (it's with number 10 now)

18: Culture

19: Grammar

20: Learning: challenging class/teacher, tough, hard, strict, goes from easy to hard, asks questions

21: Experience

22: Diploma: teacher education, specialization, strong background, teacher preparation

23: NO TWENTY-THREE (it's with 15 now)
24: NO TWENTY-FOUR (it's with 13 now)
25: NO TWENTY-FIVE (it's with 12, now)

26: open, no prejudices, doesn't treat different groups differently, exposed to other cultures, learned other languages, strong cultural background/interest, lived abroad

27: basic logistics: good handwriting, is on time, is accessible, available, has office hours, starts/ dismisses class on time

28: materials: activities, textbooks, schedule, homework, curriculum, exercises, visual help, writes on the board

29: NO TWENTY-NINE (with 26 now)

30: Teacher as learner: conferences, workshops, research, professional organization, learns from students, constantly learning/getting better, up-to-date, reflective, desires to learn more,

ok, terrible headache and earache. time for bed!