by Eva Hoffman and Susan Norman

Saffire Press 2004

ISBN 1-901564-09-6

Review Published ETp 38 - May 2005

‘This book is for everyone who wants to work with children in a more mind-andheart- friendly way ... promote the personal growth and improve the children’s ability to learn.’

This is the foundation on which the two well-known authors have based this fabulous book, which guides the teacher through seven essential topics of Accelerated Learning: Building Self- Esteem, Developing Emotional Intelligence, Thinking Creatively with Mind Mapping, Moving to Enhance Learning, Discovering your Amazing Brain, Maximising your Multiple Intelligences and Using your Senses for Learning. Additionally, each topic offers lesson plans at three progressive levels.

Right at the beginning, the authors have a very important message for all teachers: before you give an exercise to children, do it yourself! In other words, learn how to be a positive, friendly, understanding and helpful teacher who not only teaches English but also develops mutual respect, self-esteem and emotional intelligence, guiding the learners through the meanders of different learning techniques; a teacher who takes the best out of learners and makes their learning process more effective and more fun; a teacher who actually believes in and practises all the principles of friendly learning.

My favourite lesson is Mistake Monsters (Lesson 8). Here the authors draw our attention to the fact that in a positive learning environment mistakes should be treated as a necessary part of learning, and it is the teacher’s role to take fear away from the children and make them realise that making mistakes is natural, everybody makes them and they are not bad learners because of them. Although this may sound like a cliché to many good teachers all over the world, in practice, however, we are still very often confronted with the opposite situation.

I have seen too many children in tears at the mere sight of a red marker, the terrifying symbol of a monster called MISTAKE. Therefore I really like the idea of making friends with our mistakes by creating personal, funny ‘mistake monsters’ with silly names like Squeak or Assa Drassa.

They make you smile and take the stress away. Whenever you make a mistake, you just say ‘Oh Squeak!’ and laugh or ‘Oh Assa Drassa! Thank you for helping me learn!’ Children should think of their own funny-sounding names for their mistake monsters which will make them laugh every time they think of them. They can press their thumbs on their drawing of the ‘Squeak’ mistake monster, make it look small and unimportant, laugh, relax and learn better.

My second favourite idea in the book is that of letting go of labels. Labelling people is a kind of a mental short-cut and I dare say each of us, even the best and most experienced teachers, have been tempted to do so, at least once! But labels are destructive; they cause harm – sometimes for a lifetime – so they should be avoided. The authors suggest that teachers, together with their pupils, should learn and always remember to label actions rather than people: to say ‘You haven’t done the work’ rather than ‘You are lazy’; to say ‘That answer was wrong’ rather than ‘You’re rubbish at maths’.

Further on, the authors suggest a few interesting activities, such as A day without labels, when all name-calling is banned and posters are made, or Labelproof armour, which includes some useful advice on how to defend ourselves against others outside class who might tease us and call us bad names.

Last but not least, the sections on moving to enhance learning offer some useful ‘wake-up’ exercises to be done in class. Cross-patting or Crossed wrists and ankles will be a blessing to all those hyperactive children stuck motionless in classrooms for hours as well as providing a short break for tired teachers; Brain buttons is a useful stimulation for the brain. All these socalled ‘integrated movements’ make our brains work more efficiently, reconnect both brain hemispheres, maintain existing connections and create new connections between grey cells.

All in all, I think it is a great book, which should not only be widely used in class with students but also on teacher training courses.