My Teaching Experience from Student to Professional with Lesson Plans

I was tutoring a student to help her with a French project for school. She had been sick for a few weeks so she missed some important grammatical concepts involved in her project. I was trying to give her a quick overview of some concepts, such as direct and indirect object pronouns, and other subject pronouns, but it was difficult to do it quickly.

I was again reminded of how important it is for students to understand first of all the grammatical vocabulary in English, and then the grammatical concept in English, before expecting them to understand it in a different language.

That’s something good FL teachers should remember and be sensitive to. I know that in public schools you cannot spend too much time going over grammar that should be taught in middle school level English, but sometimes you have to in order to avoid having to repeat it again and again for students who won’t get it.

I also don’t know the best methods of teaching them, but I guess that a lot of examples building on other material they know would be best. I will report back on these thoughts, findings, and in-the-classroom studying as a I find it. Until then- remember- make sure the kids know and understand the grammar in English first.

These are some notes I found about cooperative learning techniques- what is involved, questioning levels, methods, activities, etc…

-a powerful method of learning
-divergence in questioning prompts a variety of responses (open-ended)
-convergence in questioning prompts a more specific response (close-ended)
-keep in mind student backgrounds and strengths and weaknesses in deciding what types of grouping to do
-bridge a cooperative learning technique, starting with developmentally appropriate instruction, and then slow it down to work with information they already know
-involve graphic and advanced organizers
-ask “juicy” and “skinny” questions and vary the levels
-questions should be both in lower and higher level of Bloom’s taxonomy
-vary convergent and divergent questions, use prompts and probes, and wait-time
-planning effective questioning is an important part of guiding the process
-timing of activities is usually about 30-45 minutes: most of it is very interactive, with higher-level thinking
-CL activities do not involve a lot of new content, rather, they are a way to help students understand material already covered
-they can consist of a few activities in a larger framework, and may involve a set induction
-must be put together well: concrete, orderly, with a logical progression between levels of questioning
-base the cooperative learning technique and activities on one or two solid objectives (include standards)
-plan both formative and summative assessments

I am very saddened to hear that California is trying to ban homeschooling. Yes, it’s important that the parent or whomever the teacher is should have “credentials”, but that sounds like more political and technical jargon mumbo jumbo. By mumbo jumbo, I mean that this misunderstanding is being taken way too far. It started with a welfare case because an unqualified mother tried to keep her 8 children home and home-school them.

You cannot move from some protests and a few court cases, to a state-wide ban on something that is the only way some kids will ever enjoy or experience true learning. How can you take away this beautiful process from over 160,000 people. I’m sure some of them may not be the most qualified, so maybe a high school degree could be a basic requirement. They can also have the students and teacher check in with the local Education committee. But they can’t put it into a rigid lock down and force bright, creative people to get “credentials”.

I see part of their point as logical, but that is disgusting that they are banning homeschooling. It’s just not right.

And part of the judges’ ruling involved quoting a case from 1961: “ ‘A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.‘ “

Does anyone else see something weird about that? A lot of kids who would prefer to be homeschooled are turned off to schooling because of this brainwashing mentality. Teaching students to obey the law and to never question authority is not good education. Teaching students to be individual thinkers who critically reflect on different areas of education and how they intertwine with society and moral and political codes should be the hard-to-achieve goal in the minds of educators. Teachers should want to challenge students to think creatively, and on higher levels (some students’ lack of ability to do so is a completely different subject I will address later). Critical thinking in education should encourage students to examine all aspects of their education, their upbringing, their society, and the values held by any given culture they are in.

Forcing some students to go to public schools is like a death sentence- to their spirit and creativity.

Laws like this = NO!

It is unnecessary and unjust. I have several good friends who are still recovering from the academic wounds of being required to go through traditional schooling.

 These are notes to elaborate on my previous entry about Critical Reflection in teaching and learning The steps are Name, Reflect, and Act. Below is an elaboration of the Reflect step.

Open-mindedness

 -desire to recognize more than one side of an issue (multiple perspectives)

-to be able to question even our firmest beliefs

-require us to place ourselves in the shoes of others (multiple perspectives)

-forces us to see all possible explanations (hypothesis, praxis)

 Responsibility

 -desire to actively search for the truth (searching for pattern)

-requires us to apply information gained to productivity

-solve problems (searching for pattern, hypothesis)

-applying theory to create a solid basis for decision-making (praxis)

-implies that we engage in thorough and thoughtful examination of patterns of behavior (searching for pattern)

-(kid’s behavior is predictable, in a pattern, not random)

 Wholeheartedness

 -implies that we overcome fears and uncertainties (multiple perspectives, searching for pattern)

-requires a willingness to examine our own thoughts and feelings (multiple perspectives)

-the ability to put all our energy into the task at hand

-“There are no neutral moments in teaching. I must be purposeful in all interactions”

-what should you do/not do “think before you speak/preach”

 Critical Reflection

 -examine the issue (event/concept) or dilemma that you named

-identify the stakeholders (who was involved)

-place yourself in the shoes of each stakeholder (put yourself in the others’ shoes)

-consider the broader perspective (environmental, family, social, economic, organizational, etc)

-identify patterns

-look within- how are your own thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs and/or experiences impacting this issue

Interpretive- students take in new foreign language input by a variety of means (read, listened to, watched movie)

Interpersonal- communicate with other people about interpreted information (in a class- this could be through group discussion; in other social context- discussing a movie over coffee after seeing it)

Presentational- (more unique to classroom)- summarize and share the information with the class, lectures are also presentational, students should have the opportunity to present learned info and go from interpersonal to presentational

These communication modes can be applied to in and out of classroom situations and a variety of subjects. The goal is to have a variety of all three. If, in a foreign language, the student is only dealing with the interpretive mode of learning and communicating, they are less likely to enjoy the language and find it relevant to their everyday life.

After discussing the Qualities that make a good Foreign Language Teacher, we discussed the flip-side, which the teacher called the “disablers”, and yes, you could argue a lot of the opposites of that post would fit, but here are some additional things no one likes in a teacher:

• no real-life application, teaching by the book with no supplemental or diverse activities
• not having mastered content, having a bad accent
• no scaffolding or helping with in-between, bridging
• not challenging enough, on the flip-side is too much challenge especially with grammar and spelling for example in introductory language classes
• lack of preparation, not having answers for student questions they’re interested in
• no clear, appropriate expectations, unequal, poorly laid-out instruction
•  lack of passion

Look at the good qualities to get more examples of what to do vs. what not to do, and, as always, use students’ input to see if your specific methods fit for them.

Back to school I am, and we wasted no time today, as we talked for hours and hours about teaching methods and what to expect from the Student Teaching experience. We started off in our subject area guidance session with the “enablers” a good foreign language teacher uses. I’ll share mine and then the classes’ responses to what we remember of our best teachers:

• using the target language as much as possible, no matter what level (as long as you don’t leave some kids behind, it can help a lot “You don’t learn French by speaking English”)
• using modern materials- utilize technology and sources with native speakers, use French online news and articles, TV clips and movies, and material that is not twenty years old!
• effectively integrate culture to make learning a foreign language fun and relevant to students (learn about holidays, cultural similarities and differences between them and students in foreign countries making food always goes over well with hungry teenagers)
• use diverse teaching methods-I probably remember every song I ever learned- use music, arts, movement, and a variety of learning in addition to reading and writing
• make sure everyone is practicing/no one is falling behind- do not use mass oral response to questions because some students may not be pronouncing correctly or could even just be moving their lips without actually saying the words out loud

My classmates’ responses were similar, and they added more qualities:

Give meaningful feedback, give chances to make up work or correct and resubmit homework, use hands-on learning, occasionally let students ask how to say things they want to learn, encourage immersion or studying abroad experiences, give students a chance for a “new identity” by choosing foreign names, allow mistakes, and BE PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE TEACHING!

-Critical reflection is a structured process used to deeply consider important turning points in information learned.

-Critical reflection is intended to lead one to action.

-Why become a “reflective practitioner”?

• teacher actions are typically automatic
• teacher actions are rooted in years of observation and participatory experience
• teacher actions are most often guided by gestalts
• as stress levels rise, automatic responses become more prominent
• as a result- teacher behaviors that may be skewed by personal bias and/or self-need

-the Critical reflection process

1) Name
2) Reflect critically
3) Act

-skewing factors to consider- objective vs subjective perception, bias, programming

Critical reflection is about mastering information learned and applying it to real-life by taking the conclusions drawn from the information in a more objective, non-biased way, and acting on them to recycle the content back into the world as something that changes and grows.

The styles deal with how learners perceive (or obtain new) information (between concretely and abstractly) and how they order (how they grasp and arrange information) it (between sequential and random). Concrete learners would prefer using the 5 senses, while abstract learners prefer the symbolic or through emotion and feeling, or intuition. Concrete learners like order and sequence when learning new information; random learners are not so concerned with this and will often create their own order.

Concrete Sequential (CS)- perceive in a concrete way and order sequentially; practical, predictable, organized, structured

Abstract Sequential (AS)- perceive abstractly and order sequentially; studious, analytical, conceptual, critical

Concrete Random (CR)- perceive concretely and order randomly; investigative, intuitive, problem solvers

Abstract Random (AR)- perceive abstractly and order randomly; sociable, imaginative, expressive

Teachers can use a style delineator, which is a five minute test to discover what type of learning style a student may be. Teachers can help students utilize their strong suit of learning style and work on improving their weak. Teachers should also vary instruction from each of the four styles, or create adaptations such as bridging, variation, or choice, when using one specific style in instruction.

You have learned about Gregorc’s four different learning styles and are now trying to decide what to use in classroom instruction. Three techniques of style differentiation will help a teacher avoid teaching with a bias for their preferred learning style so all students can be accommodated:

Bridging
The teacher focuses an activity on one learning style. Students jointly complete the assignment, but the teacher provides “bridges”, or”assisting techniques” to help students from the three other styles. Abstract random students will enjoy the chance to work in a group, concrete sequential learners will need explicit instructions or time-frames, abstract sequential learners would benefit from provided written resources or from a practice session, and concrete random learners would benefit from a little freedom or from brainstorming.

Variation

A teacher can vary learning styles from activity to activity within a lesson. All students must complete all of the activities. This is a good learning experience for student and teacher alike. Variation is good to use in a daily lesson or to finish up a long unit.

Choice

Teachers may also simply give students the freedom of choosing which type of learning activity they would like to do. This is best for homework or a final unit project.

Teachers should try to switch between these three methods, keeping in mind that they must provide explicit objectives so student’s who might have trouble with a certain style understand how they will be assessed.