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As a group, we can say that we have learnt
a lot from this video series training on “Shaping the way we teach English.” We
have gained much more knowledge about classroom management, student’s learning
styles, teaching and learning strategies, reflective teaching, alternative
assessment, peer observation among others. Now, we know that all of the
characteristics we mentioned before are extremely important to let learning
take place, and a good teaching performance for teachers as well.
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Our learnings are the following:
Beginning from large classes, we can say that this is an issue that almost every teacher faces one day. Teachers must be aware of this aspect as it affects students directly. Large classes may make classes boring; students get distracted easily, so they don’t like English. When teachers are aware of it, they need to adapt the classes, activities, games, etc. to students’ needs and likes for all of them to participle in classes. This should be related to the fact that every student learns in a different way. Another aspect that large classes affect is discipline because it might turn into problems. Also it doesn’t allow students feel comfortable, and what it causes is that learning doesn’t take place.
Beginning from large classes, we can say that this is an issue that almost every teacher faces one day. Teachers must be aware of this aspect as it affects students directly. Large classes may make classes boring; students get distracted easily, so they don’t like English. When teachers are aware of it, they need to adapt the classes, activities, games, etc. to students’ needs and likes for all of them to participle in classes. This should be related to the fact that every student learns in a different way. Another aspect that large classes affect is discipline because it might turn into problems. Also it doesn’t allow students feel comfortable, and what it causes is that learning doesn’t take place.
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Authentic materials are extremely useful
for teachers and students as well because they help teachers explain topics
more easily and more understandable for students. They aim the class to be
developed in a better way providing that learning takes place. Some authentic
materials we can mention are realia, magazines, books, multimedia, pictures,
etc. It’s important that materials are adapted to students’ proficiency of the
target language level, interests, needs, strengths and challenges. By the way,
it’s important to put into practice the four principal skills which are
speaking, writing, listening, and reading for students to get better
opportunities to succeed.
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Learning and teaching strategies are direct
and indirect; teachers need to know what strategy works best for students. When
using direct strategies students are able to know what strategies work better
for themselves. Teaching strategies are when teachers just guide students to
some points or objectives they are going to achieve. Some other aspects we can
mention regarding to this are that the usage of teaching and learning
strategies allows students to take risks and make mistakes which they learn
from, correct their own mistakes, use guessing and prediction, practice the
language as much as possible, practice thinking and dreaming English, like
watching movies, listening to audios and infer things they don’t know, group
and pair work, use question-answer drill, these advantages permit students to
improve their knowledge and skills.
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Individual learner differences means that
each student learns in a different way so, variety of materials should be used
to facilitate students learning. Every student has his own learning style and
rhythm; that’s why, students should be taught according to their needs, expectations,
desires, rhythm, strengths and challenges for them to enhance and improve those
aspects of relevance importance. Moreover the activities we use to teach
students must be thought in regards to students’ skills, creativity and
imagination to begin developing a critical thinking also. By the way, specific
tasks and homework assignments do help students improve their language skills
as they practice, think, understand, analyze, and clarify doubts about any
topic. A exceptionally fact to keep in mind the ways in which students learn;
some students learn best by writing, some others by listening, others by
speaking or tried and error, many students like or prefer to study alone rather than a group; conversely, there are many who like studying in groups by sharing ideas and creating discussions.
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A special quality that teachers must have
is reflective teaching as it provides signs of what we are doing for teaching.
It gives us the areas to enhance and the ones for improvement. As we know that
we learn from students, colleagues, and from our own mistakes. Reflective
teaching refers to see what we do to provide students learning through getting
prepared for that. It means to reflect and analyze on what needs improvement of
the performance we are doing, and change what is not working to better it and
adapt it to the learners’ necessities. This also includes innovation as it aims
the whole teaching-learning process in order to get students be interested in
learning English. Remember “that a true teacher never stops learning,” and he
is always trying to encourage learners to learn more and more. We believe that
reflective teaching empowers our own teaching for us to become effective
teachers.
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Reflective teaching is related to
alternative assessment as they both area kind of evaluation and feedback for
teaching and learning even though it is specially used for students to give
feedback among themselves. A sample of alternative assessment is when students
correct their peers’ mistakes.
There are some reasons for using alternative assessment:
Alternative assessment also refers to various ways of evaluating:
There are some reasons for using alternative assessment:
- Learners make real use of the target language – in this case, English – for an actual purpose. The language is a means of communication.
- Learners demonstrate what they have actually learned and how well they can use what they have learned. Criteria or guidelines based on the goals of the class are set up in advance so both teachers and students know what needs to be done to successfully complete the class.
- Learners get involved in their own evaluation. Understanding how to evaluate themselves enables learners to take responsibility for and self-direct some of their own learning.
- Learners' motivation to learn and use the language may be increased.
- It gives learners the chance to directly display their progress to family members and others in their school and community.
Alternative assessment also refers to various ways of evaluating:
- Portfolios
- Peer feedback
- Performance assessment
- Journals or diaries
- Group correction
- Class discussion
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One amazing
feature this type of evaluation has is that students show their learning by
correcting and giving feedback to their peers, and teachers know and have
better ideas on how students are doing and using their knowledge. Further
students who have higher proficiency levels help students who need to improve
theirs.
This is very valuable because it may be applied to every activity we want to do in classes, and it helps improve students’ skills, what’s more is that it can be a summative or formative assessment; however, we like it most as a formative one. In this sort of assessment, the teacher is more a facilitator, guide, and mediator than being the traditional teacher assigning grades to students’ performances. And students get the role of supporting ones to others.
Retaking reflective teaching, alternative assessment and adding peer observation, we think they are similar as they serve as evaluation of teachers’ performances. As everybody knows, peer observation consists on one teacher observes another teacher, the person who is observing is able to identify the activities and parts of the class that are working and well develop and the ones that are not working so much and need improvement. The observer takes the role of taking notes of what he sees and notice during the class. A good detail of this technique is that the observer can focus just on one aspect of the person who is teaching. It helps the teacher to improve the failures the other person found.
This is very valuable because it may be applied to every activity we want to do in classes, and it helps improve students’ skills, what’s more is that it can be a summative or formative assessment; however, we like it most as a formative one. In this sort of assessment, the teacher is more a facilitator, guide, and mediator than being the traditional teacher assigning grades to students’ performances. And students get the role of supporting ones to others.
Retaking reflective teaching, alternative assessment and adding peer observation, we think they are similar as they serve as evaluation of teachers’ performances. As everybody knows, peer observation consists on one teacher observes another teacher, the person who is observing is able to identify the activities and parts of the class that are working and well develop and the ones that are not working so much and need improvement. The observer takes the role of taking notes of what he sees and notice during the class. A good detail of this technique is that the observer can focus just on one aspect of the person who is teaching. It helps the teacher to improve the failures the other person found.
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The best feature
of peer observation is that it is not for judging the other teacher’s skills;
conversely, it is for giving pieces of advice in order to better the teaching
performance to ensure success and for students to taste success, too. We like
to put into practice this method because we learn from each other.
As a conclusion, we say that a teacher is a person who never stops learning. He is always being trained to better and become an excellent and effective teacher of the language.
Finally, here we add the most successful peer observation contains the following elements:
Successful peer observation brings these results:
As a conclusion, we say that a teacher is a person who never stops learning. He is always being trained to better and become an excellent and effective teacher of the language.
Finally, here we add the most successful peer observation contains the following elements:
- Training for faculty to learn how to do peer observation.
- A set of agreed-upon instruments to allow for a systematic process of observation.
- An administrative system that allows teachers time to observe each other.
- A set of procedures that includes preparing for the observation, doing the observation, and a post-observation debriefing of the observation.
- Mutual respect and trust that the results of the observations will be confidential, shared only by the observer and the observed.
Successful peer observation brings these results:
- Teachers have the opportunity to see other's teaching styles and techniques and reflect on their own teaching.
- Positive changes occur in
classroom learning, which benefits the students.
- Teachers in the school develop stronger, more collegial relationships.