Self-Evaluation

-

TESL 0170
Practicum in Teaching ESL

Self-Evaluation

I completed the majority of my TESL Practicum in an Entry Level (CEFR A1-A2) integrated skills class that included listening, speaking, reading and writing. There were thirteen to seventeen students in the class from a variety of countries including China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brazil and Switzerland. The age of the students ranged from fourteen to about fifty. Each class was three hours long and the curriculum was based on the units in the class textbook, with some supplementary materials and activities. I communicated with my sponsor teacher before and after each lesson to discuss strengths and areas for improvement. I also met with my Practicum Supervisor after one of my initial lessons and after my final lesson to receive feedback on my teaching. Upon completion of my practicum, I have come to have a greater understanding of my strengths as a teacher and areas that could be improved upon.

One of my greatest strengths as a teacher is my ability to create a positive learning atmosphere. I am very enthusiastic and passionate about teaching English, and I think that my enthusiasm is contagious. The students in the class were interested and engaged in the lessons that I taught, and I think this was a direct result of my positive attitude. My Practicum Supervisor also noted that my energy was what really stood out to her after observing my lessons. I made an effort to learn the students’ names and to pay attention to all of them throughout my lessons. I had great rapport with the students and tried to make a personal connection with each and every one of them, which I think contributed to the positive classroom environment.

Both my sponsor teacher and my Practicum Supervisor commented on the fact that I was very prepared and well-organized for my lessons. I prepared a variety of activities and alternated between teacher-led and student-centered activities. There were individual, partner, small group and whole class components to each lesson, as well as communicative practice. I also used a variety of resources, including technology and games. I always had extra activities prepared in case something went faster than anticipated or technology was unavailable. I had clear, detailed lesson plans and made sure to explain and model the expectations for each activity to the students.

I also learned that there are some areas that could be improved in my teaching. I need to make a point of calling on all the students more equally in the classroom. After my first lesson my sponsor teacher noted that there were a couple of students that I had called on more frequently than others. Looking back on it, I think I may have subconsciously called on them more often because I knew that they were stronger students and would be more capable of answering the questions. As I continued teaching the class, I made a point of alternating who I called on more regularly and to be sure that every student had a chance to participate fully in the lessons.

Another area I need to work on is to be more conscious of student and group pairings. At times I matched up two classmates who were both very shy, students who knew each other very well, and classmates who were from the same country. I also had students talk to the same partner or group several times. I think it is important to provide students with an opportunity to speak to a variety of people from different countries and to vary their conversation partner or group throughout the lesson if possible. It is also a good idea to pair them with someone who they might not know as well in order to make the discussion more interesting. Pairing a shy student with a more outspoken student is also beneficial to keep the conversation going. In my later lessons I made a conscious effort to alternate the student and group pairings for conversation activities.

I have now completed the TESL Certificate course and am looking to the future. I am interested in pursuing additional ESL professional development opportunities to hone my knowledge and skills for working with students from other countries. I am currently working in the public school system and I think the education and experience I gained in the TESL program will help me to be a better teacher for all students. I am interested in working in the ESL field in the future. Having a TESL certificate will open up additional career opportunities for me and I am excited about doing so.

I received very positive reviews from the students on the Teacher Evaluation forms they completed. They noted that my directions were clear and easy to understand, that the lessons were interesting and that they could understand my words when I was speaking most of the time. They also stated that I knew their names, paid attention to them equally and was helpful in answering their questions. In the comments section one student noted that a couple of my example sentences for vocabulary were a little long. Another student said that I needed to learn how to use the screen (smartboard) more quickly. I made a note of these suggestions and will work on them for future lessons. A few comments that made an impact on me were that my lessons were very fun,  that I am a very good and helpful teacher and that the students will miss me. As she was leaving the class, one of the students said, “You are the best teacher I’ve ever met!” I could not receive a better compliment than that.

My teaching reflection blog posts are linked below and include links the lesson plans and handouts that I used.
Teaching Reflections - Lesson 1
Teaching Reflections - Lesson 2
Teaching Reflections - Lesson 3
Teaching Reflections - Lesson 4

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Continued Professional Development Report

-
Image
TESL 0170 Practicum in Teaching ESL The professional development resource that I selected to engage with and analyze is the free online CLB Bootcamp provided by the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. The CLB Bootcamp is a 10-hour self-directed online training course that introduces and explains the CLB’s, as well as how to use the CLB’s for lesson planning and student assessment. The CLB Bootcamp is divided into three modules: CLB Basics , Planning and the CLB and Classroom Assessment and the CLB . Each module is then broken down into three to four sections. The material is presented in a format similar to a PowerPoint presentation, with links to resources, documents and example materials. There are also optional short quizzes throughout that can be taken more than once. It is not necessary to complete the sections or modules in order, or even to complete them all. You can pick and choose which areas you want to learn more about. If you do complete all of the modules...
Read more

My Classroom Community

-
Image
TESL 0100 So I kind of overlooked this assignment, or maybe I was procrastinating it and avoiding it because I am not much of an artist and was not really looking forward to attempting to draw my classroom. :) I tried to do some of the parts in 3D, but other parts are much more basic. It's kind of a mix of both. Attempting to draw a couch was the trickiest part! Anyways, I like to think of my classroom as a community of learners, which is why I used a circular table with me, the teacher (the one with the speech bubble), as part of the circle. When needed, everyone can turn their chairs toward the whiteboard for direct instruction, or to read sentence stems or discussion prompts. I would put our agenda on the board so the students would know what was in store for the day. There would also be a word wall bulletin board with high frequency words and words we had learned in previous lessons. The classroom would have a bookshelf with a wide variety of reading materials and games/...
Read more

21st Century Learners

-
Image
TESL 0100 Unit 9 Reflection As we begin to think about the language classroom that we may be teaching in, we need need to also take a step back and consider what teaching and learning looks like in the twenty-first century. We were asked to think about the skills, tasks and technologies that our students would need to have an understanding of in order to be successful in today's world, and to create an infographic to represent our ideas. Below is the infographic that I created. It includes the skills and strategies that I believe are needed by all students, including language students. In order to succeed in today's ever-changing world, students need to be taught more than just the basic knowledge and skills that were taught in traditional classroom. The four key skills that I have highlighted - communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, often referred to as the four C's, should be an important component to any classroom. In university, the workp...
Read more