Teaching Skills
The different experiences I've had and the education I've received helped me foster certain skills that are helpful in a work environment. A teacher needs specific skills in order to be effective, and these are the skills I have observed and adopted through experience. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are what I have chosen to highlight.
01
Learner as Doer
Classroom control and maintaining students' attention is essential. Having observed many classes, I have noticed that some classes are dependent on the teacher's instruction due to the types of activities he/she presents to them. The students' success is based on how well they listen and apply what he/she says. This is something I apply in my teaching. I believe my students need to depend on my voice, at least in the classroom, at least initially. I realize at some point, this type of restriction is not conducive to student autonomy. However, I feel that those moments can be worked in, like when the teachers gives time for group and pair discussions.
02
Negotiating for Meaning
The best thing a teacher can do to create a learning environment where students can negotiate meaning is by asking smart questions that are clear and concise. Good teachers are able to put his/her students at ease through humor. This makes students a lot more comfortable when negotiating meaning. One thing I think we can improve on is how we assess language learners. A focus on fluency over accuracy can help students feel more at ease. The main thing we should ask ourselves is if they can correct themselves and get their meaning across. Accuracy will come with time as they speak fluently. We should test them through oral presentations to enforce their fluency and help them practice accuracy.
A part of negotiating meaning is helping your students know what to expect. Good teachers make sure to write down and communicate the learning objectives. They then ask students to clarify the direction they give through a series of yes or no questions. I implement the same methods so the students can know what their focus should be, and then clarify if they understand.
03
The Language of Questions
In my teaching, I use search questions that focus on essential definitions and principles, and analysis questions to deepen the interaction. The best way to apply this is if you ask a student a question and they tell you the correct answer, then they need to give or show you an example. If I find that my questions are difficult for students to answer, I might take a break- down approach to scaffold them towards the correct answer. To increase participation and engagement through questions, I’d put them in groups and cold call them.
The best way to foster an environment where they want to ask questions is to make sure to respond to their answers positively. If they are right, it’s a chance to build their self-esteem. If they answer erroneously, its good to politely say that you are looking for another answer.
Highlights
04
Attending to the Learner
The attentiveness comes in the form of responsibility which in turn builds self-confidence and reduces anxiety. Giving students responsibility is a type of praise. It lets the students know they are trusted. Students should share the load when communicating with each other.
I attend to students by giving them responsibility and respect. Anxiety is one type of filter that hinders their ability to gain input. The best way to combat anxiety is by facing it. When a student is willing to answer a question, a teacher must call attention to the student and consider them the teacher in that moment. The student's anxiety level lessens when they are given that type of respect and consideration.
05
Checking for Learning
I diversify activities. I think checking for learning by having the students teach each other is good, but isn’t good alone. One must verify that most of the students understand at an individual level before they go on in pairs to teach. I think the most instructive way is to have handouts where students answer questions individually and then come together with the teacher to find out what’s right, what’s wrong, and why. In the article, “Classroom Observation Task: A Resource Book for Language Teachers and Trainers,” it states, “If all students learned what they were taught at the time at which it was first taught, and if all of them grasped it equally well and equally quickly, teaching would be much less complex than it is... [students do not] all learn in the same way or at the same rate... it is for this reason that teachers develop strategies for checking that learning is taking place or has taken place.”
A teacher should always be prepared to modify his original lesson in order to serve a student’s needs. The lesson plan should be made in a way where it can be bent. This may mean having a backup plan if they cant get through all their planned lesson. I think the best way to check comprehension and get all students to comment is by cold calling. You could also set up google form for the class where students who might be a bit more introverted in nature may comment and ask questions. The responsibility of the student is to ask, and the responsibility of the teacher is not only to answer, but also accommodate the student in such a way where they still make an effort, but in a manner that is more suitable to their nature.
06
Error Feedback
The article “Oral Corrective Feedback in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms: A Teaching and Learning Perspective” by Xuan Van Ha, Loc Tan Nguyen, and Bui Phu Hung states that there are “[six] identified main feedback types in French immersion classrooms, namely explicit corrections, recasts, elicitation, repetition, clarification requests, and metalinguistic feedback. Lyster and Mori (2006) later grouped these feedback types into three broader categories: recasts, explicit corrections, and prompts.”
Prompts can be tricky because you have to do it in a way where the student asks themselves what is correct or incorrect. Instead of saying, “Do you mean this?” You say, “Do you mean this or this?” That’s what makes the student think and that’s how they learn. In the first example, they blow it off because they don’t even realize they made a mistake. I think explicit corrections are good and should be used in the classroom, but I think it should be a mix of direct and indirect instruction/correction. You want to correct the student’s mistake directly so they know the issue in their sentence, and then teach indirectly/the grammar principle as a whole so they can avoid the same error in the future for a similar problem. I’ve noticed that whenever I’ve been corrected, it’s been by helping me break the problem down. That’s something I do when I tutor. If a student is making constant mistakes in a certain area, we break it down. Where is the issue, why is it an issue, what can we do to solve the issue, etc. It’s a step-by-step process that helps organize one’s thoughts.
I think the best way to use error feedback in a way that helps the students want to take risks is to help them realize that mistakes are essential to the learning process. You can’t learn unless you fail. Failure is a sacrifice for success. It is an essential requirement that must be fulfilled before you can get what you want. It doesn’t make you a failure, but you must risk being a failure often so you can be successful. I think the best way to do that is to say it explicitly, create a welcoming environment in the classroom, use humor, and treat errors as an opportunity to define what is correct. If a student was making the same mistake repeatedly, then I think it warrants special instruction in the classroom in the form of a lesson. If it still is an issue, maybe some one-on-one tutoring would be beneficial or perhaps the student needs more time to process the information. Either way, that subject in which they are struggling should continue to be the main topic they focus on in their personal study.
For the students who are sensitive about their errors, I would try to strategically put them in groups where they could work with some of their classmates. I feel like this would help them grow closer to these students and not feel so sensitive about their errors when they see how their peers react in a positive manner when it comes to helping them. They’ll see them recognizing and correcting their own errors as well, letting them know they aren’t the only ones learning. If a student is ever overstepping his bounds to try to help a student that doesn’t want or need it, then soft correction is required unless it becomes a bigger problem
