Teaching Practice Issues - Essay Example

Introduction

Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) has been one of the best opportunities that recently I have learned to treasure. Various information and new discoveries that I have come across throughout the teaching practice has not only made me better but also the students have improved all around their academic paths. The course was made up of many group work discussions, and presentations which were as a result of my concern as well as others that were raised by students as a way of improving their prowess in ESL. The difference between the knowledge and skills in books and the practical situation of giving out the same knowledge in a classroom set up has been a surprise to me. Additionally, through teaching of the second language I have been opened to a new world of challenges more so because the people that I teach are a bit immature and I have been forced to accommodate some of their behaviors. The major is has been one of the major challenges throughout the teaching practice.

It is possible to find out that some issues are being displayed or considered differently when in books and when in practice. However, it is upon an ESL teacher to analyze the students and come up with most suitable teaching styles and those that would be of benefit to them all. Throughout my teaching practice and the research for more information, I have observed that knowledge is power and that power is got from extensive and well-analyzed success oriented students as well as teachers. The improvement of teaching skills sometimes does not emanate from the resources found in the library nor any written or recorded form but more is provided during the actual practice. The reason attached to this observation might be because some of the skills and theoretical knowledge are not effectively learned or taught when presented in theoretical form but they need to be demonstrated further in an experiment to offer the full and precise understanding. Additionally, being a teacher some of the issues of teaching second language to become more relevant, I was enlightened in regards to some of the practices I considered to be irrelevant, common and more particularly wastage of the students time. For instance, I never thought that a teacher and a student have different views of some of the issues that are taught in second language.

Owing to the fact that the mid-low second language are in the transition stage, they need close attention because what they have learnt is very little and it would be hard for them to be introduced to complex issues. Therefore, I opted engaged the students on what was suitable for the level and would advance their language skills. Throughout the teaching I encouraged the students to have dictionaries since it was very hard for them to explain some of words which they had not come across. Generally, there are several issues that I encouraged in class to improve the student’s skills in language and they include, repetition and activities extensions, practicing listening skills, speaking as well as pronunciation practice.

Description of the class and the students

Class

As a student, I might not have liked my classroom so much, but I must admit that my new classroom as a teacher was spacious for the students, lit, organized and well ventilated. Teaching grammar for the mid-low level has been a widow of opportunities regarding my decision making skills. The grammar lessons took place in a small rectangular classroom and a cool learning environment. It is important to note that the small size of the class did mean that the students were squeezed. It was small but efficient and spacious for the number of students.

To start on the organization and the arrangement of the classroom, the largest part is occupied by the students in almost three-quarter of the total size whereas the remaining part comprises of the teacher’s spaces. In front of the classroom, there is a television screen which is supported by a stand. This was quick show that technology has even been emulated in the real classes where knowledge of development has been sourced. The TV screen was purposely used for helping the completion of the theoretical parts of the teaching. For instance, the writings can be well seen when viewed from the background for the purposes of enhanced understanding. Secondly, ESL is a course that requires clear information to avoid ambiguity, confusion as well as wrong ideas. However, with the TV screen, I was able to demonstrate a considerable part of the teachings in video format in cases such as language fluency and word pronunciation among others.

Close to the TV screen stands the teacher’s desk which was my working area when in the classroom. However, this does not connote that I was confined to that spot. Some of the workings needed individual demonstration with each student thus sometimes I was mandated to go and give vibrant instruction and guidance. The desk was the place where I converged all my working materials and the center of the classroom activities thus to some extent it was used as a shelf, drawer and a safe. I learned that the teacher’s desk should also be located in a strategic place where every student can be able to understand. I wanted to practically draw the effects of placing the desk in one of front corner, and the observation was that I some of the students were distracted thus I lost the full vision of the class that I had when the desk was centralized.

The organization of the students sitting arrangement in the class was very. In this case, the class was arranged in pairs such that each student can see the tables which are in the middle. From this description it can, therefore, be said that a traditional arrangement has thus been employed in such a case. There are other extra tables which are behind the other tables top facilitate space for conducting research.

Students

This was mixed up class with students from various countries such as Mexico, China as well as Saudi Arabia. The common and uniting factor that each of these students was that they all had one common desire and achievement of learning English as a second language.

In terms of cooperation and support, the students were excellent. Notwithstanding the fact that each of them has different background and speaking different tongues, they still had some common interest that drew them back to each other. The cooperative aspect of teaching made me feel like I was a part of the classroom thus it acted as a way of improving my morale. This was crucial to me because it helped me walk away from my comfort zone and start building up my experience.

Teaching ESL can be tough sometimes especially when teaching students who have never had any experience of second language. Some of the students in this class had similar characteristics, but I was amazed how quickly they turned out. Driven by excellence, even my students become better day after day as I stepped into the classroom. However, some of the students were still lazy and failed but with all my efforts I tried to convince and advise them but it all fell on deaf years excluding one student who promised to reform, and he did.

Lessons learned from the classroom observation

The better part of my teaching experience occurred within the classroom setting thus most of the observations have made are from the class. The lessons contained herein are both negative and positive, but they all are as a result of the teaching exercise. As a teacher one of the greatest benefits I receive as a reward is the opportunity to teach at hand and more important the idea that I am also learning. Firstly, before starting a lesson, activating/ triggering the prior topic knowledge through an inquiry from the students is very critical notwithstanding the fact about other student’s current understanding. This aspect gets the students to become more active and help them think more critically and form a basis for the lesson. The experience, in this case, can be kicked off by use of some pronunciation task, reading among others so that each student can start from the same level and also improve their concentration throughout the lesson.

Secondly, in teaching, especially second language, engagement of the students in different activities in class and out of class is not a guarantee that it would be transferred to students understanding. Some of the students might be only very active in the activities but fail to translate the same into the classroom understanding. To solve this problem I initially discovered that it had affected most of the other students but by keeping a good analysis of each student which will help understand each differently.

In most of the teaching, other the teachers assume that they are more competent and skilled than their students can be better, therefore, they never give me an opportunity to be speak and express themselves. As an observation, I learned that every student should be given a chance to speak and be heard. This can be in the various forms such as being engaged in writing, artwork, speech writing and other positive ways.

Moreover, planning for the lesson is more important than the fun finding activities which an ESL teacher may be engaged. For instance, the prior teachings can be useful as a teacher make sure that all his/ her material is working especially when they need to use digital material like the white board others. The teachers are also helped to brush off any weak areas. More importantly about prior planning, as an ESL teacher is that you get to know how to adjust some of the information to meet the expectation of every student in the class.

Another observation is the importance of learning to let it go. I have been able to create a culture in the classroom which encourages and makes the students feel comfortable in various activities of the class. This may include initiation of discussion groups and questioning each other. However, what most people assert that students are the one supposed to be tired but always when I got out the classroom I was exhausted and could not figure out how this could help the students achieve their success and develop better future.

Summary/overview of the video recorded lesson

The use of video on the record during an ESL lesson is considered to be very effective and a good learning tool, however, it is prudent to use the lesson in active manner. Some of the factors that made the lesson to be effective were clear video record that was easier to view even from the back of the classroom. Secondly, the sounds of the video were also clear and every student in the class was able to follow without a struggle.

The ESL students are commonly limited in their language and the main idea is to improve their skills including listening and speaking. Therefore, for better improvement during the class, students divided in groups were subjected to a spelling game which was meant to test their understanding and mastering of English words. To start, the game was limited to certain categories of stuffs such as furniture, foods, and adjectives among others.

Therefore, having the right platform, the lesson was kicked off by reviewing these, previous lesson which we had majored on the future time clause which included, before, after and when. In this case, since it was just a review, asking questions to the students randomly was effective. I engaged the students with various questions. I noted that although some of them had understood the lesson quite well, some of them who seemed to have been the best during that lesson could not remember anything. I was so much concerned that I considered starting research. I also learned in the course of the review that some of the students confused the clauses “before” and “after” which is common and very possible among the ESL learners. However, I explained the differences between the various clauses which are contained in the lesson.

In my teaching practice I have learned that review any previous lesson is very important in order to refresh the ideas more so if it is a continuation lesson. In this case, i conducted a review by asking questions and expecting the answers from the students as a way to ensure that they can apply the skills they acquired in a practical platform.

After the review was done, it was time for a new lesson which was the continuation of the clauses but with “if” attached to it. To start with I explained the meaning of the clause, which means a group of words that are made up of a subject and verb. The clauses are further divided into two to include the independent and dependent clause. However, having introduced more of information in the first lesson, I opted to focus on if as used in conjunction with the future time clause. First of all, it was important for the students to understand the importance of if clause. One of the importance is that it helps the students mark all the actions that which will be taking place. Additionally, they identify among the above-mentioned action which one will take place first or last. The students were also able to how the clauses are used. For instance, in the case of a conditional clause, if is used in present tense when one want to talk about the future. Additionally, some of the clauses made up of if are considered to be hypotheses, therefore, there is the use of past tense in cases when one want to talk about the present and the future. For example,

Ben could sing a new song if he practiced

=

Ben cannot sing well because he did not practice

If he really tried he could have gotten the job

=

He did not try so he did get the job

If I had my friend’s contact I would call her

=

I do not have my friend’s contact so I cannot call her

In some other instances, past tense is used to talk about the future when attached to clause if for something which is most likely to happen. For instance,

I would travel by airplane if it wasn’t very expensive

=

I won’t travel by airplane because it is very expensive

If I was at school during the day I would go to swim with other students

=

I cannot go to swim with other students because I will not be at school

Moreover, in cases where a person wants to make a suggestion about something that might happen or not. All this are some of the examples that the students learned among others. The reason why I employed the use of tables is because there are easier to create a comparison of two things. Tables are also more neat and easier to understand at a glance in a video presentation.

However, the lesson was not limited to the TV screen alone but in giving out the explanations, it was done on boards as a way of emphasizing and offering precise and more detailed information than on the TV. On the board I also gave the students chances of showing their writing prowess, therefore, when I could ask a student jot down a word the board was efficient way to do so. In other instances, questions could be asked verbally and in return verbal communication would be used to offer a reply.

Before the lesson was climaxed I gave the students some practices which they had to do in the class as I checked to see whether they had done correctly. It encompassed all that we had learned in the lesson and any other necessary combination of the language to develop good sentence structures. The practices were scheduled to last for five minutes. Afterwards, a time came for engaging with the student’s questions and giving responses of the lesson and what they had learned from the practice. At this juncture, I learned one of the student’s characters, that they were good listeners when questions were asked. I opted to make the engagement more lively and effective by ensuring that the questions asked would be answered by the students to test their practical skills by use of the knowledge acquired in the lesson. I was fascinated by the fact the responders were all able to reply correctly except for few additional issues that needed to be emphasized.

I climaxed the lesson with activity and a take home assessment to test the students understanding further. The questions in the assessment were more complex and required reference from the previous lesson. It was a three week hand in assessment. The assessment was also to help the students conduct further research and look for more examples which would better their skills outside the classroom materials. It also encouraged working in groups to discuss some of the questions, but students should ensure that they gave answers out of their won understanding and by the use of the knowledge they had acquired. On the activity, it covered the lesson’s teachings, and students were also asked to highlight after the activity, some of the issues that were difficult and their experience in writing it. This was to be presented in the other subsequent class.

Evaluation of what worked well and what did not

The overall ESL teaching was a great success in that more lessons with more positive ideas and responses adduced than the negative. In spite of encountering several challenges what was more important was that they never lasted since solutions. However, what worked well in the class is summarized below.

Teaching ESL requires that the communication between the teacher and the students be at par and lively as possible. This was made very effective and throughout the lesson entailed back and forth communication from the start to the end. In this case, the students were mainly responding to questions or else raising up the matter of concern or where they did not understand.

In consideration of the aims, objectives and learning outcomes, the lesson was also successful. These issues were well covered except for some few, and this proved that the lesson was conducted to the latter. For instances, the scheduled time for the lesson regarding the classroom practice and other activities were well observed. The learning outcomes were also achieved which included ensuring that the student had a grasp of the previous lesson as a continuation and better understanding of the lesson at hand.

The use of the TV screen in teaching was also very efficient shunning away the previous possibility that it could not be audible and clear to every student within the classroom. In fact, the students seemed to concentrate more even though the teaching had to be accompanied by verbal communication to comprehend the summarized information contained therein.

However, the TV screen contained a drawback in the sense a couple of students could not concentrate for a long time. Some of the students who do not like sitting in the front rows were forced to do so and this might have affected their concentration and in the end the understanding and lesson’s outcomes. Therefore, if possible the lesson should be conducted by use of a larger screen such as a projected whiteboard to allow the students fully benefit from the lesson in wherever placed they are in the class. Another challenge was regarding the different backgrounds regarding countries thus most of them find it difficult to converse, and they would rather keep quiet.

In conclusion, the overall teaching practice was quite an achievement with new ideas, theories, experiences and knowledge acquired. Initially, I thought that teaching second language entailed practicing the theoretical aspects of it but little did I knew that the theory and the reality of teaching were two distinct issues. The teaching styles are also very important for an effective and successful lesson. For instance, a teaching style that does not engage the students might yield different results with another one which students are considered to be part of the learning process. The classroom environment and the communication are vital elements in ensuring that the language aspects have been well taught. The most important aspect of all is that the teacher and the students should maintain high level of respect on each other and if there is any mutuality it should not be beyond the set professional standards.

Description of the class and the students

Class

As a student, I might not have liked my classroom so much, but I must admit that my new classroom as a teacher was spacious for the students, lit, organized and well ventilated. Teaching grammar for the mid-low level has been a widow of opportunities regarding my decision making skills. The grammar lessons took place in a small rectangular classroom and a cool learning environment. It is important to note that the small size of the class did mean that the students were squeezed. It was small but efficient and spacious for the number of students.

To start on the organization and the arrangement of the classroom, the largest part is occupied by the students in almost three-quarter of the total size whereas the remaining part comprises of the teacher’s spaces. In front of the classroom, there is a television screen which is supported by a stand. This was quick show that technology has even been emulated in the real classes where knowledge of development has been sourced. The TV screen was purposely used for helping the completion of the theoretical parts of the teaching. For instance, the writings can be well seen when viewed from the background for the purposes of enhanced understanding. Secondly, ESL is a course that requires clear information to avoid ambiguity, confusion as well as wrong ideas. However, with the TV screen, I was able to demonstrate a considerable part of the teachings in video format in cases such as language fluency and word pronunciation among others.

Close to the TV screen stands the teacher’s desk which was my working area when in the classroom. However, this does not connote that I was confined to that spot. Some of the workings needed individual demonstration with each student thus sometimes I was mandated to go and give vibrant instruction and guidance. The desk was the place where I converged all my working materials and the center of the classroom activities thus to some extent it was used as a shelf, drawer and a safe. I learned that the teacher’s desk should also be located in a strategic place where every student can be able to understand. I wanted to practically draw the effects of placing the desk in one of front corner, and the observation was that I some of the students were distracted thus I lost the full vision of the class that I had when the desk was centralized.

The organization of the students sitting arrangement in the class was very. In this case, the class was arranged in pairs such that each student can see the tables which are in the middle. From this description it can, therefore, be said that a traditional arrangement has thus been employed in such a case. There are other extra tables which are behind the other tables top facilitate space for conducting research.

Students

This was mixed up class with students from various countries such as Mexico, China as well as Saudi Arabia. The common and uniting factor that each of these students was that they all had one common desire and achievement of learning English as a second language.

In terms of cooperation and support, the students were excellent. Notwithstanding the fact that each of them has different background and speaking different tongues, they still had some common interest that drew them back to each other. The cooperative aspect of teaching made me feel like I was a part of the classroom thus it acted as a way of improving my morale. This was crucial to me because it helped me walk away from my comfort zone and start building up my experience. Read More