It All Ends

Almost as quickly as it started, it's almost over. These last ten weeks have flown by and I can honestly say they were more valuable than anything I could have learned in a classroom. I'm very greatful to the UIC program that there is an internship included. Fortunately, I had had experience teaching ESL before I started the program, but I was nervous about working with adults. Now, I know I will feel confident walking into any classroom, old and young alike. I also really appreciate the way my schedule was handled by my supervising instructor. If I ever am experienced enough to have my own intern, I am going to approach the situation in the same way. I was told from the beginning that the amount of time I wanted to teach was up to me. To feel free to say something if I wasn't comfortable teaching something and also to jump in whenever I felt the need. This was perfect for me because I wanted to get as much time as I could, but there were certain grammar points I wanted to see be taught, so I would have an idea of how to approach it if/when it came up again. I also learned that I really love level two. I like that the students can already communicate with you when they walk into the classroom, but they are still at a low enough level that you get to see a lot of improvement throughout the course of the semester.

Post - Observation #2

My second observation went as well as I hoped. It was the second half of a Friday afternoon class. I was concerned the students would be tired and ready to get started with their weekend, but they were attentive and engaged. They were interested in the movie pictures from the minute they walked in the door and were chatting about the movies before class even started. The dictation portion of the lesson also went well. One thing I could have focused on more was the use of capitals. Usually when I have them write sentences on the board, I only focus on their grammar and spelling mistakes. I don't take the time to look at capitalization, but I should and will in the future. Also, I need to make sure I do not answer their questions for them, but let their peers do it. During the last exercise of the day, the students were to choose which movie they would go see from the movies that are currently playing at the theater. I thought this was a nice way to bring realia into the classroom and make the lesson meaningful for the students. Luckily, one student had already seen one of the movies, which gave him an opportunity to share with the class. Also, most of them had seen previews for the movies, which helped in their decision making. Overall, I thought the class went well.

One More Time

The lesson I'm doing for my second observation is all about movies. I'm introducing the new unit and the whole lesson will be centered on getting the students to talk about movies and the different genres. There is no grammar focus involved, so there will be a little less instruction and more guidance. I like this lesson because there are a lot of visuals, but it lacks movement. The students will not have an opportunity to get up and walk around, which I’m a little concerned about. There is also a bit of reading involved. Sometimes this goes very smoothly and they learn new vocabulary along the way, but sometimes reading can bring down the energy of the class. There is also a dictation section, which I think should go well. They like to write on the board, so at least a few of them will get the opportunity to do so during this particular lesson. Hopefully, they are full of energy and there is a lot of chatting. I’ll just have to wait and see!

Post - Observation #1

During my post - observation conversation, I learned a few tricks I'd like to try out in the future. Particularly, finding the strong students' weaknesses, putting problem areas up on the board, and having students dictate to each other. I think the first one is important so that the stronger students never feel like they're wasting their time or that they can't improve from being in the class. I also think it is good practice as a teacher to be able to pinpoint a weakness, which is a talent in itself. As far as putting problem areas up on the board, I don't think I will start with this class because there are only a few weeks left, but I would like to start off my next class with this technique. I think having a section of the board, which is always dedicated to questions the students have or continuous problems is nice for the students. This way, they always know where to look and to think about what they could work on improving. The final technique is one I remember my own language teacher using when I was taking Italian. I like this practice and will implement it in my own classroom at some point and see how it works.

It All Begins

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this internship. I knew it would be a great opportunity and I would learn a lot, yadda yadda, but the real ins and outs were a mystery. What I know now is that I really do want to do this long term. Obviously I assumed I wanted to before, or I wouldn't have chose to go through two years of having no money, no time, and let's face it, no life. Now, I know it's all going to be worth it. For teaching, I've learned that I need to work on allowing more time for processing and also to step back. Sometimes it's difficult for me to remember to ask the other students to explain things instead of explaining them myself when a student asks a question. For my first observation, I'm going to be to be teaching future conditionals using "if" clauses. My goal is to keep the students engaged and allow them many opportunities to practice their new grammar point. My concern for this lesson, as well as all others, is that the students will not be interested in the topic. If this happens, the energy will be low and little conversation will transpire.