Reflective summary

 

 

Super grading!

When grading the language, I avoided the grammar and vocabulary that were unfamiliar to the students. Instead, I spoke in simple sentences especially because my assumed classroom consists of intermediate-level grade 7 students. I lowered the speech speed, made pauses and stressed important words so the students could catch the facts I was conveying to them. Stating information logically, first, I taught all the new vocabulary and its meanings. Then I taught the steps of making a boat because, when it comes to this part, students can easily understand the steps of making a paper ship. I broke the concepts into smaller comprehensible pieces, I took one step at a time and I modeled it and repeated the step in the target language. Moreover, I used bilingual grading through code-switching since my target student group was not supposed to understand concepts completely in the target language.

THE mistake!

I failed to demonstrate the most prominent steps to follow in giving instructions. Signalling the pre-task's completion, providing a task summary, specifying group dynamics, mentioning task type and duration, and signaling to start the activity are those steps according to Thornbury (2006, as cited in Scrivener, 2012). However, none of them was practiced in my demonstration. Thus, it was clear that giving instructions was not highlighted in my demonstration.

In my eyes, all of my peers became grade seven kiddos…

The demonstration went smoothly for several reasons. I think the approach, making a paper ship, I choose to teach the language is interesting. Also, it adds "+ 1" which is the new vocabulary related to making the boat, to the students' existing knowledge (i) of making a paper ship (Krashen, 1982). My peers were also very supportive. Most importantly, my anxiety level went surprisingly down while I was engaging in teaching. In my eyes, I made all of my peers, grade seven kiddos. I guess that is the best trick that I used to lower my anxiety because that made me feel like I was teaching in an authentic classroom, not in a place where I was being observed. Managing time was not a challenge, I could do everything according to the lesson plan without a rush during the given time frame.

 It was a fully engaged classroom.

The classroom is supposed to be a little noisy with students who are distracted. Therefore, I used an ice-breaker:

“T- class class class

S- yes yes yes

T- class class class

S- yes yes yes”

This helped me to grab the attention of the students at the beginning of the class. When explaining the meanings of the vocabulary, I used gestures and facial expressions. Also, random questions asked to determine whether students engaged with the lesson. Further, I was changing my teacher position intentionally as another method of explaining vocabulary. For instance, I came to the center and said, “Now I’m in the center of the classroom”. I found this strategy effective because when the teacher is in the same position in the classroom throughout the whole lesson, sometimes that might cause students to feel bored. Students were also exemplified to explain concepts, i.e., “Sachith is in the corner of the classroom”, because that is another effective way to incorporate students into the lesson. That positively impacts maintaining engagement. The lesson consisted with a hands-on activity (making a paper ship) and I think this might also be helpful to keep students engaged especially since they are young students and prefer hands-on activities, unlike the activities that should be written. 

Lesson to remember

What I learned was giving instructions should be done at the beginning of the activity, before students are sent to do the activity. Unfortunately, I thought explaining how to make a craft was also giving instructions just because I was using directives and modeling. I modeled how to make a paper ship step by step but now I understand that it is not the modeling that Scrivener (2012) explains but the modeling of how to do the activity after giving the instructions, before students start doing the activity, which was nicely done by Sharanya the peer I observed. Also, I found visual aids significant for both teacher and learner in explaining and comprehending concepts. Therefore, in my future teachings, I will be mindful to use visual aids appropriately and practice giving instructions correctly in my future classroom.

 

References 

Scrivener, J. (2012). Classroom management techniques. Cambridge University Press.

Texas Education Agency, (n.d.). Krashen's five hypotheses. Retrieved from https://www.txel.org/media                    /bvblndin/di_krashen-s-five-hypotheses.pdf