See the world through the language learning!

Observation (1)

From the observation of teacher Liu (class 207), I found that she had full prepared many questions related to the reading context for students to answer. This was no doubt a good way for teacher to know if students comprehended the reading material; meanwhile students were able to think and to look for answers by themselves. Besides, teacher Liu spent around 40 minutes by the means of teacher-led interaction. (Teacher asked questions and then students answered questions.) In the last 10 minutes, individual/pair work was conducted when it was time for students to make a sentence out of each new vocabulary from the reading context. Generally speaking, teacher Liu taught very smoothly and had good control of time management.

Observation (2)

From the observation of teacher Cindy (class 308), I found that the learning materials she prepared were very interesting. They were all about dialogue poems and even some handouts with blanks for students to develop and create. In Cindy’s class, most of the time was the individual or pair work. For students with higher motivation and achievement, they could learn well through this way. As for students with lower motivation and less achievement, they might need extra guide and help from their peers or teachers. I did find that it’s important for students to explore learning by themselves. Nonetheless, at the same time how could teacher guarantee that all students were learning instead of talking unrelated subjects? Therefore, I think teachers’ class management should be well conducted. In addition, during the time individual/pair shared his/their work, whether the other students paid the attention to it should be concerned and ensured.

Feedback
From the sharing of different teachers, I did lean a lot from every teacher’s experience, belief and advice. Here are some points that help me to have further thoughts.

1. Teaching design

No matter students are in the first or third grade in high school, there is still a need for students to have peer interaction in learning. It will be very dull if there is only individual practice and teacher-led learning. Besides, teachers have to plan the lesson much earlier when they really teach because many students’ activities can be prepared fully and practiced in advance. Both the teacher and students can enjoy a sense of security and a sense of achievement later.

2. Evaluation and award

Not only teachers but also peers can conduct the evaluation. This is a way to accept opinions from different perspectives. Meanwhile, students also feel much involved with the class and have more interaction with teachers and peers. Sometimes, teachers can give some award to students when they finish a big project. This is a way to show appreciation to students’ hard work and involvement.

3. Professional/ Individual development

Teachers should keep learning while they are teaching. Since teaching is lively, teachers need to explore diverse aspects of things in life according to their own interest. Then, teachers can apply what they have experienced and learned to their teaching, and at the same time students can have more fun in learning.

4. Time management

Many teachers no longer focus on teaching itself, but they have to get involved in the administration work. So, how much time teachers are going to prepare for a lesson should be taken into account when it comes to time management. Generally, teachers still need to prepare the schoolwork during their own free time. So, teachers have to strike the balance between work and play during their lifetime teaching career.

5. Be yourself

Every teacher has his/her own personality and ability; therefore, it is very important to find out what we are good at and who we are as teachers. The better we understand ourselves, the more we can get along with others, included students and other teachers.