In this stage of our learning process as future English teachers I believe it is important to ask ourselves how do we recognize that our students are learning a new language? maybe it will seem that the obvious answer to this questions will be test. But as you all know and the chapter from Genesee and Upshur suggest there are several ways to recogize that (observation, portfolios, conferences, dialogue journals, interviews and questionnaires) I will like to discuss with you all when have you felt that your students have learn something and share it with us. I am sure to a certain point that you have felt it in any moment and maybe we can find something new.
I am appealing to the fact that we all have been and still are learners and we have felt happy when we had learn something new and there is this satisfaction on our face of "I did it", so the point here it is to cath those moments and write them down. Maybe this is not the best example but the other day I was teaching the difference betwen this and that with one of my students and I was doing it with some worksheets where there were some examples with drawings some near some far, but she was not getting the idea as I had expected, so I was some how anxious and started thinking how could I explain to her. So, I took two objects from her home and left one near her and the other quite far. then I called the near one this and the farthest that and do the same with all posible objects near and far. Suddenly she got the idea and start doing the same with some jumping included. That's how I knew she had understood it.
I believe that most of us try our best to help our students learn something. I personally have done something similar to what you describe in your example, and I realize I've done things right when the kids just start using what I've taught them in their real contexts.
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ResponderEliminarOur classes have to be plenty of activities: we take the tect book as the main source of information, for example; but it's obvious that we have to do something different, if not, not only the students but also my teaching strategies are going to be fossilized and that's it. That's the point, are we trying to come up with those activities, are we offering to our students the oportunity to deal with other tasks?; I don't say that tests have to be deleted of the curriculum, we can even assess them by tests but turning them into formative ones. I can give feedback, correct them in many other ways different from writing on the board. Everything depends on our willingness to work on it.
ResponderEliminarIt is undoubtely that the strategies we, as English teachers, need to apply have to be actively involving. Students need to be engaged actively in the process. Thus, during the kearnig process we can do as many interesting activities as we can in which they can be informally assessed , however I believe that tests will be still needed thought.
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