Unit 3: Classroom Management

This is often the undoing of novice and experienced teachers. They have their lesson plans well planned and have been told that as long as the lesson is planned the management will be easy. There is some truth to that statement but I think in addition you have to follow the general and specific guidelines that Brown and Lee(2015) refer to in their chapter on classroom management. Some of those are connected to well thought out lesson plans such as ensuring that equipment is working, adjusting teaching style to the size of the class, monitoring L1 use and attending to the physical environment. The general guidelines refer more to the 'climate' of a classroom. Establishing clear roles, articulating unambiguous objectives and goals, being flexible, providing choice and challenges, taking a personal interest in the students and being fair, enthusiastic and positive (p. 290). By looking at the global picture and always keeping the needs of the students in mind classroom management shouldn't be an issue.

 

Brown, H. D., Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language

       pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Pearson.

Unit 2: Teaching Strategies

This unit reminded me of the type of teaching and learning environment I would like to build in my classroom. It was an opportunity to revisit some of the strategies that we had studied about in previous lessons. I think that icebreakers are an underrated tool in the classroom. They can be used at the start of the class, during a class or at the end of the class as a review. When you are just getting to know the learners this is an opportunity to build community. I think especially this fall it will be important to spend some time developing a safe and inclusive learning environment and one of the best ways to do this is by learning about each other.

In Unit 1 I was introduced to the topic of 'cultural intelligence' (thanks Tatiana!) which prompted me to explore more about the topic as I think it is closely linked to the strategies that we will use in our classrooms. For instance the opinion exchange activity (Brown & Lee, 2014, p. 281) is one when a teacher would need to be quite knowledgeable about her students' backgrounds. It would be important to know what topics might trigger emotional responses from students. The 'dinner party' activity also was a reminder that we need to carefully select the scenarios that are chosen to use in class.

A book that I am looking forward to reading is Expand Your Borders by David Livermore. He looks at 10 cultural clusters, offering insight into cultural values, do's and taboos and key differences. I see it as another way for me to become informed about the students that I will be teaching. Of course, these are general terms but it is a start to understanding other cultures. I have some links under Unit 1 for articles on the topic. It is an interesting area to explore.

Brown, D. & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy

     (4th ed). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Livermore, D. (2013). Expand your borders. Michigan: Cultural Intelligence Centre

Unit 1: Job Bazaar

I have spent a great deal of time recently looking at possible job opportunities. In this new age of COVID-19 I have extended my search to include more on-line platforms. I am in pursuit of finding reputable teaching opportunities, this I think will take some time. As I have discovered in the past 3 months it is a different skill set that one requires to instruct from a distance. So much of a teachers interactions with students requires a face-to-face conversation. There is a strong reliance on facial gestures, conversations which don't overlap and a new set of etiquette rules that need to be learned. In addition, in conversation with teachers who have been using an on-line platform to teach there is also the difficulty with engagement, how do we get our students to attend classes and complete work? How do you reach students who have limited access to technology? How do you meet individual needs while teaching to a group, when you have reluctant participants? I will need to do more research into this through conversation with other instructors to ensure that I further develop my skills to meet this changing way of teaching. I have started my search with an article and a video which led me to some sites that look very promising.

How you can land a job teaching English

8 amazing companies that let you teach English on-line