Week 14 reading

I want to key in on HDB reading this week. The topic of sustaining interaction through group work. I think it is vital as a future ESL teacher to be able to integrate group and pair work into the classroom. Language learning is not all about translation and repetition. Rather it is about being able to communicate, and breaking a class down into smaller groups is a great way for students to have a better chance to communicate more. In the reading a part of it was designated for planning group work.

Planning group work is vital because it helps you work out any trouble spots and reconsider if it is appropriate for the class. For example if it is an advanced adult ESL class it might not be appropriate to use pair work and simple drills and exercises. Rather a better idea would be using a discussion question that students can communicate their opinions about in a communicative manner.

To make sure your hardwork planning the group exercise actually beared fruit monitoring each groups activity is vital as well as a final discussion about the ideas expressed in the group activity, and if changes are necessary they can then be implemented.

Process Journal #2

After making a video about effective an ineffective error correction techniques, it really helped me process that pointing out a students errors infront of the entire class and dwelling on every error can be very detrimental to the student. It can cause them to participate less and be less motivated to learn.

However, there are positives about correcting a student's errors for example creating an environment where errors are not dwelled upon in the classroom, but it is understood that everyone makes mistakes and that it is the process of learning. One way to make this apparent in the classroom is to point out your own errors like I did in one of my skits. I played the role of a teacher, and shared experiences where i have said something incorrectly. Also not picking on one individual student rather generalize student errors as a class. Teachers should never single out one particular student.

Reaction to class week thirteen.

Tonights two activities included creating a ruberic for the multi genre project and creating different activities from a short story.

Creating the ruberic was very helpful in figuring out how to actually assess a students work and give it a grade, and for me this will be something that is very beneficial when I start student teaching and so forth. Creating ruberics is an integral part of creating a lesson plan, because if I were to give an assignment but have no way of being able to assess the student's work how will I know if they learned anything from the lesson?

Creating different activities from the short story was an activity in which creativity is at its peak. The possibilities for an activity are endless. Also one important thing to keep in mind is the age level or ability of the students you are teaching. Some activities might be too difficult for certain students depending on their proficiency levels, and being able to create a wide range of activities that are appropriate for your students level is important. Especially, if some activities are not very affective the first time they are used.

Reading for week twelve

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, who developed the idea of Zone of Proximal Development (ZDP). "Teaching, he urged, must aim not at today's but at tomorrow's development..." (P&B 100). I think this is very critical in planning out a syllabus. A teacher has to plan ahead and analyze how each lesson will progress and utilize past lessons to support future lessons. Also this planning can ensure that the students are not overwhelmed with a topic or theme that they do not have any background knowledge in. I think this is very important in supporting a student's learning and development as an ELL.

SDAIE=Specifically designed academic instruction. I personally believe that all class should be specifically designed based on students needs, desires, goals and classroom resources. I do not think this term should be only used to describe content based instruction, rather i think this term can be used in much more broader sense.

Process journal #1

The first group meeting was extremely eye opening. Deciding what topic to choose and discussing the pros and cons of each and then coming to a group decision seemed extremely difficult. However given the laid back nature of our group and the willingness to look at every topic choice proved fruitful. Where as after two hours of deliberation we decided on motivation and error correction. Where our topic would take us from here was yet unseen.
One of the sticking points of this topic what guiding questions do we want to explore and what to do with extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and how do these factors play a role. We had not yet decided on our three questions only just narrowed our topic research.

Week twelve readings

The naturalistic setting is the one i favor the most. I believe this setting creates an enviroment similar to that of a child who is learning his or her L1. Although the learning curve might be quite dramatically slower as the student gets older i think the fact that errors are rarely corrected can benefit a classroom by providing an anxiety free environment. Instead the correct form will be used by native speakers and students can pick up on their own mistakes through interaction with others. However this could be a case by case instance if some students feel the need to be corrected there is absolutely nothing stopping them asking to be corrected when they make mistakes. Another thing i like about this type of setting is the exposure time and different langauge events.

The most important thing about this setting is the one-to-one conversation opportunities that are available with native speakers. This type of interaction is invaluable in learning culture, ideas, and other language specific questions. Where as in communicative classes you can expect larger groups of students communicating with each other less often.

Reaction to week 12 class.

I thought the observation exercise was very beneficial. It is always helpful to see another teacher and evaluate how they interact in the classroom. I learned about classroom presence from the organization of his classroom, and turning his back to some of the students. Also lesson plan ideas might be good on paper, but might not work out in the classroom which is what it seemed like to me. Business transactions at banks are very important, and being creative in creating an activity to simulate this type of activity could be very beneficial to the students if it is not overbearing. This type of activity might be more beneficial for adults than for adolescents because adults obviously are engaged in these types of activities. Adults most likely have some sort of business transaction experience and adults might be able to draw on this prior knowledge to help understand this type of lesson.

Interesting enough it was easy finding what was wrong with the lesson, but very difficult for me to think about what was good. It just kind of struck me that when I observe i should look at what they do bad and give feedback but also incorporate what they do well and maybe try to incorporate that into my lessons. You can evaluate yourself when evaluating others.

My second teaching experience

My presentation with Bekir felt like a rave party. The pace at which we moved from activity to activity was extremely fast. By moving so fast it is very difficult for the students to connect to the topic and sometimes students can feel overwhelmed. I can remember sometimes in class when this has happened to me. This was the biggest problem of our presentation. I learned that covering everything is not necessarily possible or important. Yet, there are other ways to do this. One suggestion from Dr. Smidt was to split the class into groups and then divide the chapters up between each group and then have each group discuss the topic and then report back to the class. I found this suggestion extremely eye opening and just yesterday suggested using it in another class for a presentation only to get shot down. However, i tried.

My body langauge is something i was not aware can present or portray certain attitudes to the students. I was informed that placing my hands on my hips can create a boundary between teacher and students which can display power or authority. I react this way because i have always been a little nervous when i speak infront of a group or class. This is something i will have to work on and with time something i think i will be able to overcome.

Reaction to class 10

I would love to discuss with you readers about Mai and Kizuna's presentation specifically their skit about a young teacher who is not teaching the correct material for the standardized tests that the students will be taking at the end of the semester. I do believe this is a disaster that the teacher is not teaching material that the students will be tested on. Since this teacher was new to the school and she had mainly focused on only a certain type of learning, i do not remember exactly, i think speaking. If she is not successful in teaching the the correct information, which if i can remember right was grammar and reading she could very well lose her job. The thought that she can just change her teaching techniques to teach this information is not as easy as it might seem. The students could lose motivation to learn which it seemed by the skit were interested in the class. Also she might not be as successful in teaching different techniques. It could be that is why she focused on what she did. Also the impression of her fellow peers of her professionalism because she was informed by a fellow peer about the tests. It could very well have an effect on her relationship with them.

Also disasters can be fixed and just because it can be fixed does not mean it is not a disaster. It would be a teachable moment for herself.

Technology in the Classroom

Using technology in the classroom can have its drawbacks for example the computer crashes, tvs that don't work and hectic internet connections. However technology can be beneficial also. Not only can it be used to engage the students and keep class interesting for them. I feel that technology can keep myself motivated as well. If the teachers are not motivated to come to class everyday and put forth their best effort, why should the students. Not only is it a new way to connect with students, but it also changes the format of the class. It can break up a monotonous class if a class has become monotonous, but hopefully not. At first i was really unsure about blogging in this class, but now i love it. I look forward to using this in my future classes. Also i find the idea of web-page design very intriguing. Although i do not know much about it. i think it creates an extreme amount of opportunities for the students and myself. Also the idea of podcasting. Todays youth are seemingly connected to their ipods, phones, and computer, so why not tap into these resources as teaching resources. Podcasting is mobile. It bring mobility to the classroom. Students can learn English while working out at the gym or walking to class. Overall i think technology is a huge plus as long as teachers use it effectively.