Classroom Management Competency - Essay Example

Classroom Management Competency *1-4. Classroom Management Competency How do you make sure your lessons are student centered? Please give an example of a recent lesson where you did this. I make sure that my lessons are student centered by trying to focus on the students’ needs and learning style, and by taking into consideration the students’ voice as the central point of the lesson. As an example, in a recent lesson on the topic “What is Chicago like?” I placed my students into groups of three according to their ability level. The main point of the lesson was that each group had to discuss and develop a presentation on what their community in the UAE was like. In relation to the actual presentation, the more Advanced students were asked to make their presentation in full sentences, whereas students in the lowest level were instructed to use only adjectives and nouns. By doing this, the needs of the students were put first because alternatively I could have chosen to teach the whole class together by applying a single teaching style, which would have been more convenient from the perspective of teaching. * 5. Subject Knowledge Describe a class you have recently taught where you developed a skill with your students. What was the aim and how did you research this area? A class I recently taught in which I also developed a skill together with my students was during a lesson on how to improve listening ability in order to get a higher score on the listening section of the IELTS. Students were taught to pre-read the questions and the answers before the listening passage started. From this they could then narrow their focus and concentrate on the nature of the answer, be it a telephone number, a name, a street address etc. I conducted thorough research for this in the area of pre-listening and on how to develop appropriate listening ability for taking standardized tests, and then applied the knowledge I gained to practical use for the guidance and benefit of the students. * 6. Course & Lesson Planning Can you describe how you have adapted course materials to suit the needs of a particular group of students? I believe that when teaching a class of mixed ability students, it is necessary to adapt the material to suit the needs of a particular group of those students within the class itself. Therefore, I have often divided students into different groups, usually into lower, intermediate and advanced. By using the same material, I normally differentiate instructions for each group. This is achieved by using the same material in the class, but varying the assignment for each group according to their ability. The course materials are thus adapted by simplifying them for struggling students and using them in a challenging way for students that are more able. * 7. Understanding Your Learners How do you gain an understanding of your learners' learning styles, strengths and weaknesses? In order to gain an in-depth understanding of my students’ learning styles, and their strengths and weaknesses, I first obtain background information from them through conducting level testing. In addition, for the first few lessons of the lesson cycle, I normally use different assessment tools in the form of worksheets consisting of separate writing, speaking and reading exercises. From the results of these exercises, I am then able to get an indication of my students’ best learning styles, whether it is visual, auditory or kinesthetic. * 8. IT Skills in Core Applications Please outline your level of IT skills and any qualifications you may have in this area. How do you incorporate IT into your classes? The level of my skills in IT would be classified as advanced level. I usually prepare presentations for my classes on a daily basis using Power Point. I am also preparing to present a paper at the IAT seminar in Abu Dhabi on March 2, 2010. The topic will be “Technology - teaching, assessing and motivating”. * 9. Cultural Awareness Describe a time when you have had to deal with students and colleagues from a different cultural background to your own. How did you overcome any difficulties? A time when I had to deal with students and colleagues from a different cultural background to my own was when I taught English in South Korea for nine years. About three years ago, there was a huge anti-American protest concerning American beef. For about one week, the students sought every opportunity to introduce the then current issue into class discussions. To finally settle the matter, I then divided the class in two, one in favor of the protest and the other against it. Each group was tasked to research the topic to prepare for a class debate. After holding the class debate, the issue in class was at last put to rest, and I was thereby able to resume teaching as normal. * 10. Teamworking What have you done to encourage teamworking in your last place of work? To encourage teamworking in my last place of work, I often shared suitable material with colleagues that could be used for classes on a regular basis. Also, each week I used to meet with the same level teachers to discuss their approach and plans about teaching the next week’s lesson. I believe that teamworking is important because there are always useful things we could learn from each other and the potential to benefit through greater cooperation and collaboration. * 11. Flexibility Describe a time when you have been asked to show flexibility at work. Although I normally devise my own lesson plans clearly to prepare for my lessons in advance, I allow for some potential directions the lesson may take as long as it progresses the aims of the lessons. Also, on a few occasions, I have had to substitute my lessons and teach for an absent colleague in school. I believe it is necessary to be consistent and steadfast in our teaching duty but also be flexible when required. Read More