The second part of this lesson was about students’ essay peer editing. While helping students edit their papers, I found that what I thought was a simple part of the lesson was confusing and difficult for students to apply. I realized that I was not clear about the students’ understanding of the new content when I taught it and that I was automatically bringing my ideas to the student’s level. I lacked the steps to extract the students’ understanding level before the new content was taught. Also, the group of students in the class was not very consistent, and I needed to grasp the difficulty level of the content in advance. Also, in my culture, people are uncomfortable with being interrupted or checked by the teacher during individual exercises or group activities. Also, some people do not want their writing to be seen or evaluated by other students. Therefore, when I tried to help individual students edit their drafts or give advice today, some showed reluctance or even refused my help. I am considering whether I should help them cleanse their papers more personally or ask them if they want to do peer editing first. Providing students with a more acceptable and comfortable way to learn is more conducive to increasing their trust in the teacher, thus motivating them to learn and leading them to open up in the classroom. By helping individuals with their dissertations, I also realized that it is necessary to determine the amount of teacher guidance based on the level of the student.
Category: Teaching Reflections
In today’s lesson, I think I improved my time management. In the beginning, when I had the students discuss the questions, I took and reminded them of the time to finish according to their progress. Before the lesson, I knew the need to tell them the purpose of the class content learning. I think this effectively got the students’ attention and understanding of what the lesson meant to them. Because I felt that the content of the study needed to be explained to the students first, I tried to involve the students in my presentation rather than just explaining the content. I think an effective way to do a presentation is to use simple questions to get students thinking. Presenting the content and then asking students to explain it in the form of questions with their ideas can also effectively engage students. I think the part I need to improve is to have students show their answers and then write down the correct answers and show them while checking their responses to the exercises. This will help them to remember and understand the content. Also, I move the handout around too much when I use the projector. I think this confuses the students. I have questions about whether I should allow students to spend a lot of time on exercises or pause them and continue with my plan if I observe them spending more time than my prediction, but I have other scheduled activities next. Especially when teaching new content, how should I balance my classroom time?
I think the preparation for today’s class is better than the last class. During my lecture, I tried to see their response when explaining some points. I used some simple questions to have them think about the key points instead of just demonstrating by myself. I believe such interaction was effective because I saw some were thinking and trying to get ideas. I think I need to be more explicit about the group division when assigning group work because, in this class, students seemed confused about who they were working with. As I become increasingly familiar with them and remember their names individually, students are more willing to interact with me in class. I have become more comfortable using the teacher’s voice to motivate them. I collected feedback from students, and most of them think my voice is clear and my instructions are easy to understand, so I believe my practices of giving instructions are adequate. I need to learn more deeply about the topics before the class to provide practical advice when students have problems. I believe this would also help me build my confidence as a teacher. I have always been trying different ways to engage students. I was also adjusting my pacing of the class. Instead of waiting for a long time when they were thinking, I was trying to keep them up with my lecture.
For today’s class, I think my preparation is better than the last time. I realized because English is not my native language, so it is essential for me to practice writing a draft for my lecture and go through the course in my head in advance. I feel such way helped me become more confident and influent in speaking. In today’s class, I ask students to write their thesis statements on the board. We were learning how to write a thesis statement. After they shared their answers on the board, I just focused on whether they had their main parts of the thesis statement, but ignored some of their mistakes in writing. I understand now students’ mistakes should not be left on the board. They could be misguided. There was one grammar point which I never heard the name before, but I know the ideas of it. This reminded me that, as a teacher, I should not only focus on the part I am teaching in one lesson, but I should also take a longer-term view to help students’ learning. I think that is why a teacher should always have an objective both for each lesson and a term. I think I should also try more ways to keep students engaged during the class. I felt especially when I explained some writing points, some of them become detracted. I tried suddenly calling someone’s name to read something or answer the questions to attract their attention. I think there should be more ways I will try incorporating in my lesson to encourage students to comment.
For today’s class, we did several exercises to review some grammar points. I was thinking how could I know whether they have understood my instructions and explanations or not. I tried to figure out a variety of ways to check students’ answers instead of individually calling their names. After I gave instructions and had Ss do their practices individually, I saw some of them were having questions on the answers and I tried to find a comfortable way to provide them with some guidance. I was wondering how I could help the students who were not willing to expose their questions. Should I directly ask them or have the other Ss who she feel comfortable to get along with to help her. After I assign a group work, I will try some possible ways to encourage them to discuss with their partners. I think maybe because they had done some similar exercises before so they seems to lose their motivation to participate. I also need to practice give instructions to them. I should keep the instructions simple and understandable. I am still learning how to gently remind the Ss who always use their phones in the class and attract their attention. I think I should show Ss a relaxed state and create a relaxing learning environment, so students would be more willing to expose their mistakes to me. Showing appreciation and giving Ss great encouragement when they voluntarily participate in the activities would be helpful to engage students. Paying attention to students’ facial expressions is significant. When I give instructions and explanations to them, I noticed some of them show puzzled expressions. Remembering to check with them before have them to do their own work is essential.
Before today’s class, I tried to greet students and ask them about how they spent their Halloween. I think I have gotten more familiar with students, so they become more motivated in activities. During the class, I arranged a game for group work, but I realized that while the group members was playing the game, the other group members were just waiting for them and had nothing to do. I think I need to try to engage all of the students and equally distribute group work for each student. Always giving students tasks they need to do is significant. When explaining the grammar rules, showing students the opposite examples or having them find out the mistakes by themselves is helpful. After the game writing adjective clauses, I realized that some of the students could not write adjective clauses by themselves and get confused about the structure of it. It is hard for most of the students to participate in the game and catch up with it. I recognized that it is necessary for teachers to not assume that the students have already mastered certain knowledge. When explaining the key points, encouraging students to help each other or groups assist group would be a helpful way to promote students’ relationships and solve individuals’ problems. Students prefer to openly share their ideas with peers instead of teachers, so creating opportunities for them to discuss within groups is essential for challenging tasks. I still need to exactly list all the things I need to do as a guideline so that I won’t forget each part I will do.
In today’s class, I think I became more comfortable when giving instructions and talking with students. I realized that when I become relaxed and comfortable, the students would also become relaxed and are more willing to share their ideas or questions with me. I noticed that the teacher have a great responsibility to create a learning environment that students feel safe to expose their questions, mistakes, or any other ideas about their learning. In order to clarify the task for students, I should demonstrate by example how to generate my ideas and complete the exercise. After each exercise, I think showing students all the correct answers would be more helpful for students’ writing. Before presenting the correct answers of each exercise, encouraging students to show their own answers and so the teacher can gain an understanding of how the students understand the contents and what they have mastered. According to students’ feedback, they like the group work. They showed strong interest in group activities. Using simple words and explaining the objective of each activity more clearly would be more engaging for students to participate in various activities. I would try a more interactive activity and have students change their partners in group work. I will try to increase the variety of activity format.
I need to pay more attention to the time arrangement. In today’s class, I spent too much time on the warm up activity. I was wondering if a large amount of time was used for instructions and students haven’t finished their work, should I stop them and continue the exercise or just skip the contents left and continue the class according to my lesson plan. When writing on the boar, I think I should be more careful to write grammatically correct and ensure the contents are clear. Whenever ask a question, I should give Ss sometime to consider and patiently wait for their answers. When teaching the new contents, I should explain details about the knowledge instead of imaging Ss already knew it. Clearly listing a plan on what I am going to do helps me to remember the each activity. Prepare the worksheet answer in advance and have all the materials with me during the teaching. I realized I need to always notice whether there is students who come late and do not know what the teacher have talked before. Because I was projecting the handout, sometimes I forgot to check whether students are able to see the handout clearly. Sitting with students and joining their discussion would be more helpful. I need to improve my way to be involved in them instead of directly asking students whether they have question or how their work goes.
I think I should greet students and in a relaxing way before the class and create a comfortable environment for them. Reviewing the previous knowledge by asking students a question would motivate them to think. I gave students a few time to think after asking the question and elicit ideas from class, but I think the time is not enough. When assigning the group work, I did not notice if students have their partners and are able to talk in groups. I think I should specifically pay attention to that. When several students are sitting alone, I should let them sit together rather than work alone. During the group work, I should find various ways to interact with students instead of waiting for them to finish. I should ask students how they think about the exercise and see whether the practice is below or beyond their knowledge levels. When I need to restate the instructions after they have already started their discussions, I did not get their attention first and ensure they can notice or hear me. I need to consider some ways to have their attention. For example, say “hello” to draw their attention. I should try to use a “teacher voice” when giving instructions. When I check whether students can understand the questions or ideas, I should ask them a specific question about them instead of simply asking “are you clear?”. Having students to answer the questions by themselves would be helpful to elicit ideas. I need to be careful to use the projector and ensure students are able to clearly see the materials. I also noticed that I should pay more attention to my questions and ensure each student is able to understand the meaning of my question. I should make notes on my handout before the class and avoid mistakes in teaching.
Before the class, I should prepare the printed handouts and distributed to each student before I demonstrated the content of them. I think I should be conscious of the time when engaging in class activities. I spent too much time on giving directions. I think I need to practice and use simple words when clarifying the objectives and giving instructions. I should ask students individually after assigning them a task. I forgot to tell students the time for their group work before they started their conversation, so I had to interrupted their conversation. Such behavior influenced students’ thinking. I think remind them the time during the activity may help them keep engaged. I think some words I used was not proper for level 3 students. I should use level 3 proper language when interacting with students and explaining the key points. I realized students were not so comfortable when I tried to listen their conversation in discussion. I tried to find out an appropriate way to keep students in a right track. I should repeat the questions about instructions to other students when someone in the class asked them. This would be helpful for each student in the class to understand the instructions because some students are too shy to talk with the instructor. When giving instructions, I should have been more assertive. I think I should be more determined to ensure each student’s participation in class especially when they are not paying attention.