QUESTIONING MYSELF...

This fourth week has made me questioned myself on certain issues teachers are all aware of.

The first one is about process writing and how important it is to help our students produce better texts. Brainstorming, drafting, revising and editing really help!

And I say questioned myself because despite the fact that I know it I do not do it. I usually try to integrate skills when preparing a lesson. And when I do writing in class, I usually time it. I do not want my students to think I am there spending my time “cracking knuckles”.

When I visited the websites suggested in the article I found that they are really interesting for me as a teacher who wants to improve her academic writing. I do not know how my students could react with them.

Another aspect to reflect on, has been lesson planning.

The plan we have used to plan an enhanced lesson class related to with what we have at my place of work has made me think about the PLAN B which is a criteria we have not included in the format we use.  I particularly plan my classes following my own style and I always think in a plan B whenever I use the multimedia for my power point presentations. There are many factors which can spoil your class plans such as black out, no computer in class, etc.

Trying to describe and narrow a class issue or problem from my class, even that we were asked not to think about solutions, has been difficult.

Speaking is a skill I have not seen-yet- in several websites I have visited. Anyway listening would be my second option since it is part of conversational skills.

I also want to highlight the fact of how many class issues we teachers from the course have in common and it is good to know that somewhere else, there is someone also struggling with an issue we can or cannot cope with.

   

USEFUL TOOLS...

This week has definitely led me to reflect on an issue which I usually skip on. The texts we useat the language centre I work in, have small sections based on pronunciation that I simply do not do, sometimes because of lack of time, I should say, or because I know it is something which hardly ever comes in the quizzes. Phonetics is actually a topic I do not feel comfortable when teaching. What I teach on pronunciation is what I really know well. Asking us to visit some websites with the eyes of what could be useful in our classes led me to http://www.english-online.org.uk/pronounce/pronounce5.htm, which for sure I would include in my lab lesson I next time.

I have always thought that a native speaker can help learners with phonetics and pronunciation in a better way than a Spanish speaker, but the article suggested in the current course I am taking, has quoted one of Jeremy Harmer’s idea so well about the aim teachers should have when dealing with pronunciation and that is help our students be understood and in order to accomplish so we should work on developing  and not looking  accent perfection. 

I am the kind of teacher who is keen on systematizing his work. It might be for several reasons such as time constraints due to my life being a mother, a wife, a daughter, a house wife, and a teacher. I have a file for each level I teach full of sheets ready to be photocopied and have them used in class. They are also in my computer to do the necessary changes or adapt them since every class is unique and has its own differences.

Besides, I also have some important websites of all types joined in a file on my computer so that I can access to them faster and easily.

‘Meeting’ Delicious .com is definitely a plus to my style so now I am going to have a pool of websites related to teaching at hand.

I have always had the idea that a blog can be a useful tool in class for developing students’ language skills in a TEFL class. After reading one of the sample projects and seeing the blog used, it is like my idea has come true.

This project was focused on developing grammar and writing, but I guess there are so many things we can develop on our students there. Actually, the teacher from the project involved used it with different classes later on.

Working with a community blog might mean a lot of research on the net from the part of the teacher so that the tasks to be assigned have the same goal with instructions to be followed.

I am really interested in doing this on a regular semester which in our language centre lasts about four months.

Getting on...

It’s hard to believe, but this second week is coming to an end and sitting here in front of my computer and reflecting on what we all have been working I could say that I am still trying to get used to it –you know getting used to being in front of the computer more than I was used to.

Regarding to web searching, and going to NoodleTools has been really enriching to me as a teacher with the eagerness to exploit what the internet has, not only as  a personal tool , but as something we could provide our students who as I always say have been born with a different ‘chip’ and want things in a different way.

I have found so many websites which can be used and I am sure I will- despite the constraints we may have here in our language centre.

Working on the objectives using the ABCD criteria (Audience- Behaviour-Condition-Degree) has definitely helped me to clarify about stating a lesson objective and narrow it helping to be focused which makes it easier to assess whether the goal has been accomplished.

The task of Describing your class has definitely helped us all, be aware that there –someone somewhere in the world may have the same, better or worse limitations when teaching a language. What I am pretty sure now it is that I will think twice before making a complaint on any issue related to making my job difficult.

Week 1: My Feelings

I still remember me telling my students once, kind of : 'I will have a blog someday' , but I did it thinking about how useful it could be giving them the chance to write in English in a modern environment different from a piece of paper. 

I never thought about me, writing and sharing how I feel since I have started the course of Building Teaching skills through the Interactive web .

So far, I have to confess that creating this blog has been much easier than I thought. However, I cannot deny that trying to work on each task given for this first week has taken me longer than what I had planned to be in front of the computer which is something I usually have under my control.

As a teacher I use the computer to prepare power points and use the internet basically to copy some illustrations and some grammar exercises.

At the language centre , I work in, we have a lab. I do not take my students there very often , but when I do so , I usually prepare a sheet of paper with some instructions to follow . My aim  is to develop their language skills and I lead them to different websites where they can do Listening, reading, grammar I use the famous You Tube for trailers too. But I am not an expert at all and I really hope to learn through this course online the web skills I need to implement them in my classes despite our limitations.

I have the impression that during these few days I have felt really nervous thinking twice before clicking here and there , but I am sure I will get used to it.