Cambridge TESOL CELTA 08/07/2013
Assignment 2.4: Lessons from the classroom
Part One: Evaluation of my teaching practice:
I am compiling this self-evaluation report after my third teaching practice in the classroom. My teaching time lasted 40 minutes each time, and my class size varied between 15 and 16 students (ss) at a time. Classes comprised a good mixture of foreign ss, representing various European and non-European nationalities and cultures.
The feedback I received on all TP sessions emphasised on my confidence in delivering the teaching practices which was good and encouraging. The other positive element of delivering the lesson that came out of the feedback was my interaction and engagement with the students
…show more content…
I personally feel that one has to keep talking to maintain ss interest in the lesson. Otherwise the ss may get bored. I do realise now that this is not the case. I do also realise that by seeking feedback from the ss, it will keep them focused and engaged. So, this is something I must work on, and should reduce my TTT as advised by peers but mainly by my tutor. I believe the message here for me is...Get the ss involved, because they are eager to contribute. Hopefully, in my upcoming TP session I will try to get my audience talking telling their feedback.
Anticipated problems:
This is an ongoing issue. I know I can never anticipate enough nor all the problems which may arise during the lesson delivery. I think this issue will be ongoing for one’s teaching life. I suppose the only way around it will be a parallel ongoing anticipation process of all problems/surprises which ss may throw at me as a teacher. Not only one has to predict the odd vocabulary or grammar questions that ss may ask, but also, depending on the subject of the day, the teacher has to research his text/subject thoroughly before hand.
The teacher has to cater for all circumstances or phases that ss may be going through, so be alert and pay attention to details are the two elements of mental state required in order to predict problems effectively and efficiently. In other words, one has to
(1987) described this form of instruction as a systematic method of teaching with emphasis on proceeding in small steps, checking for student understanding, and achieving active and successful participation by all students. I have also used the strategy as reference for determining the strengths and weaknesses of my lesson. After conducting in class lesson and reviewing my video lesson multiple times, I was able to identify my strengths
In order to improve our own practice as a teacher, lesson planner and a professional in a teaching organisation working with others, it is important that we take account of feedback from various sources and evaluate our own performance on a regular basis. As Wilson, suggests:
Teaching demands a lot of creativity and being able to adapt to different situations and environments. However, in order to experience lasting success, more than pot luck, charisma and spontaneity are required. Planning is essential. Planning and preparation gives a certain level of confidence. Whether it is a single lesson or a whole course, planning allows you to design the learning journey you wish to take your students on. In designing, you can make sure that you are catering for all your learners’ needs. This includes sufficient differentiation; for SEN needs as well as your gifted and talented students. In planning you can ensure that your lessons have a definite beginning, middle and end and have clear aims and targets. At this stage you will also prepare and plan resources. Also, you must plan your assessments. How will you know when the students have learned what you set out to teach? How will they know? How are you going to prove that learning has taken place at the end of the course? All these points will be addressed in the planning stage of the teacher training cycle.
However, she still omitts articles in her speech (e.g: I don’t have boss. / I’m Biologist), and uses “ have” instead of “There is” (e.g.: Have a Science Museum in the city.) , both mistakes are made due to L1 interference. In Portuguese, as in the
The delivery of learning support is not complete, however, until you have fed back to both the pupil and the teacher and reviewed your own success as a learning support practitioner. In feeding back to the pupil it is vital that your feedback is constructive. This does not necessarily mean it has to be positive but it is vital that it is not destructive. It should serve to encourage and help the pupil. Feeding back to the teacher is equally as important as this will provide the teacher with information as to individual pupils’ progress, any difficulties they might be having (or indeed that you might be having) and this in turn will feed into planning for the next lesson as per Wilkinson’s Classroom Process Cycle.
It is always my aim to ensure that feedback is timely and given in a constructive and sensitive manner; and my approach can sometimes be influenced by what I have learned during initial assessment; and as I develop relationships with the learner. I have recently made efforts to encourage my learners to reflect and to self-assess their performance. I feel that this helps to pave the way for me to feedback to the individual and to reduce the risk of de-motivating them.
It is extremely important that the Learner / group clearly articulate what the problem / situation is to the class. It is essential that the
The student’s main strength is that she is not afraid of speaking and making mistakes. Being an elementary level student, she makes regular mistakes corresponding both to the level and to being a Russian language speaker (Learner English, Swan, M and Smith, M CUP).
If the teacher is strongly communicative it will be easy to find out what the problem is that the student had in the past and not use those topics in the class. However, some topics are needed to be talked about, and they are important for the other students to know, but if the teacher issues trigger warnings in class, he or she will know what topics need to be worked on to keep all students safe and calm.
In general, how successful was the lesson? Did the students learn what you intended for them to learn? How do you know?
The curriculum and lesson plans can be too challenging for some student, the student(s) can
According to the teachers’ standards (DfE, 2012) “teachers make the education of their learners their first concern, keep their knowledge up to date and are self-critical.” Therefore, this reflection practice will guide me towards the improvement on my lesson planning strategies and delivery. In addition, it will also make an enormous difference in my teaching and learning practice which is vital for teacher training.
The professional development of a teacher can be a challenging task yet not impossible. During the process of this course I have learned how to face this challenge. However developing my own ideas and style of language teaching is still a work in progress. As a prospective language teacher I take in all methods and principles this course as given me. In doing so I believe it will make me a better professional. This course has presented me with some thoughts ELT teachers need to have once the period of formal training is over.
After this Mr Braithwaite spoke to his class the next morning. He told them of his teaching intentions and what they could expect and also what he expected of them. He told them of certain courtesies which he would expect. After this Mr Braithwaite found teaching easier. In the pupils' weekly review, he had made more of an impression. The pupils wrote how they thought some of the courtesies Mr Braithwaite had implemented were stupid, but they also wrote how they were glad that he treated them like adults.
learn that the teacher cannot think for him. It is essential for a student to