Profession al Developme nt Assignmen t (PDA) Part 1 Stage 2 Center ES330
Giuliete Aymard
Contents Contents.............................................................................................................. 2 Beliefs and practices as a teacher......................................................................3 Key strengths and weaknesses...........................................................................3 Possible reasons for strengths and weaknesses.................................................4 Action Plan.......................................................................................................... 5 Approaches, procedures and techniques to develop teaching skills................5 Methods and documents for gathering data....................................................5 Appendix 1.......................................................................................................... 6 Appendix 2.......................................................................................................... 8
PDA – Part 1 Stage 2
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Beliefs and practices as a teacher I have heard innumerous times about the “role of a teacher as a facilitator” along my career, occasionally repeating the term to myself and to others as some sort of mantra, that is, something memorized and repeated even though we are not completely sure we really understand its meaning, but feeling some sort of comforting sense of general approval whenever we use it in the group of followers. Recently though, having had the opportunity to think more carefully about my career and my beliefs, I came to a better definition of what I see as “facilitator” and how much I brought of that view into my classes. I believe in bringing as much reality to class as possible. That means using realia (blogs, newspaper articles, magazines, TV shows, videos, songs, etc.) and trying to understand and connect to the students’ interests and needs. This belief comes in part from my own experience as a student. I remember learning words and expressions much better and more easily with new friends who were native speakers, or when I was faced with life’s little daily problems (buying, complaining, explaining, suggesting) than when I was in class doing controlled exercises. Most probably the best definition I can give to my personal role as a teacher/facilitator is: I am constantly trying to bring relevance and context to the classroom, so students will be able to connect to the language and then learn how they learn. This way we can promote a good environment for selfstudy and see language development not only inside but also, and more importantly, outside the classroom.
Key strengths and weaknesses Strengths It is fair to say I have very good rapport with my students. We have a good learning environment, with students that support each other and feel accepted in the group. My classes are prepared taking the students’ needs into account and I usually prepare a wide range of activities trying to adjust to learners with different learning styles.
PDA – Part 1 Stage 2
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I promote pair and group work, only intervening to answer questions or offer some guidance. I also try to organize the board in a logical and clear way, always having the aims of the class written on the right corner and going through the items written there at the end of the class in order to have a short summary. Weaknesses Timing: As it was clearly demonstrated in my first class observation, I need to use time more effectively in class as well as have a more realistic expectation of how much time a certain activity will take. Language and activity overload: This was also evidenced in my first class observation, when I tried to teach 22 words/collocations in 2 activities. I also had grammar to teach, which severely shortened the time for debate at the end. I should review the amount of lexical input for each session and also have more realistic expectation in this area. Feedback: After the class observation and the post-lesson evaluation, I understood that it is possible to make my classes even more student centered and that I have the bad habit of echoing what students say. That means the other students end up paying more attention to me than to their classmates.
Possible reasons for strengths and weaknesses I believe most reasons for such strengths and weaknesses are rooted in own my personality. I am considerably organized and have a tendency to be controlling, I want to “make sure everything is right”, which logically leads to attracting more attention to myself than I actually want or consider appropriate in a good learning environment. I also tend to overload myself with work. I consider it normal and challenging, so it naturally reflects in my work as a teacher as well. It may also be an explanation for the miscalculation regarding the time each activity takes.
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Action Plan Approaches, procedures and techniques to develop teaching skills Methods and documents for gathering data Timing Action •
Initially, add five minutes to each activity estimated time in the next two classes and review the need/relevance of each item in the activity in order to cut what is not essential to the task. Keep a stop-watch on the table to check how much time was actually used and then compare to the plan. After the two classes, analyze the improvement and see if more adjustment is needed.
Language and activity overload Action •
Part of the solution for this is using and estimating time more realistically. Also ask students to provide feedback (Form A, Appendix 1), so the amount of work is better adjusted to their needs. A quick pop-quiz (already used in the school) can also be used – once a month – to assess how much information students retain. Although it cannot be considered 100% accurate as a means to evaluate how much students learn, it can provide us with their estimated progress along the course and, consequently, the estimated improvement in the activities.
Feedback Action •
Try different ways to check answers. E.g: Change groups so students can exchange answers, instead of always checking answers directly with me; work more on helping students learn to self-correction (use correction cards).
•
Ask peers to observe classes and provide feedback (Form B, Appendix2).
•
In order to control my “echoing” students, the best is to tape a few classes and work on self-evaluation.
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Appendix 1 Form A
Students Feedback Form Date: __/__/___ Topic: ________________________________________________________________________
How do you feel about the warm-up? it was boring it was neither good nor bad interesting
it
was
the vocabulary we saw today? Mark 1 : irrelevant relevant Mark 1: insufficient sufficient overwhelming
more than sufficient
the time you had to think and do the activities? insufficient sufficient more than sufficient
excessive
the type/variety of activities? Mark 1: irrelevant relevant Mark 1: boring neither good nor bad
PDA – Part 1 Stage 2
interesting
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General Observations: ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you!
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Appendix 2 Form B
Instructor Observation Form Level observed:
A1 A2
B1
B2
C1 Instructor observed: ____________________
Date: __/__/___
Topic: ________________________________________________________________
Warm-up? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Work-out/Practice/Correction ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Cool-down or wrap-up? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ General Observations:
Didn’t do/ Must do
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Well-done
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Feedback Meeting
Suggestions and other points discussed:
Teacher’s comments
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