This teaching and learning event was conducted at the English Language Institute (ELI) on the campus of California State University, Sacramento. ELI’s intensive program consists of 8 levels in each of the language tasks of Listening and Speaking; Reading and Vocabulary; Pronunciation; and Grammar and Composition, with varying electives for students to choose from for additional practice in the language, such as a board game class and creative writing classes. Classes are held four days a week, Monday through Thursday for 50-minute increments. The class that I taught is a level-5 Reading and Vocabulary class, intermediate level students. Usually, students placed in this level began with a placement test to the Institute, or have been in the program for at least one term already, however this particular class consists of many students who transferred from other ELI facilities housed on other CSU campuses. Some of the students were expelled due to low grades, but transferred to this location because it has a reputation for higher standards. These students are all recent high school graduates. My host teacher, teaches this and other classes at ELI. For this Reading and Vocabulary classes she has reserves one day a week to teach various learning skills, such as vocabulary skills, study skills, annotating, paraphrasing, etc. I taught the lesson on paraphrasing using an approach that drew from principles found in both CLT and Contructivism learning theories, because I hoped to motivate students to become more active participants in their own learning process.
The host teacher and I decided that I would be teaching the week prior to my class time. We arranged for me to teach the lesson on paraphrasing because she had planned to teach paraphrasing this week in preparation for activities to follow in the coming weeks. Students keep weekly journals in which they respond to essays they have read that resonate various themes in the book they are reading, “Bridge to Terabithia”. The host teacher and I had discussed, and I had also perceived while observing the classroom, that this particular group of students were not exhibiting a high level of motivation to read or perform on in-class activities. This is an unusual state for this host teacher who is a very lively teacher, and also unusual for this institute in general. I decided to emphasize group work, hoping that the two motivated students in the class would positively influence the group as a whole, and also to create an atmosphere of community in a classroom where students seemed very disconnected from one another. However, what I perceived would accomplish this didn’t seem to elicit the response for which I had hoped. I felt that the activities were well organized from simple to more complex, allowing students to build on knowledge and offering opportunities for them to learn from one another. In spite of my preparedness in the lesson, I was not mutually prepared for the students to not respond at all to my promptings within the small group and whole class contexts. Many of the students did seem to enjoy their time together as they discussed, however one group in particular that I found myself working with for the extent of the activity all but refused to speak. Instead of moving around and giving them some time to adjust to their own group dynamic, I sat with them the entire 5 minutes of the activity, which may have actually inhibited their participation. I was discouraged that so little transpired in that one group, until upon post-reflection of the lesson, I realized the other three groups had done quite well for themselves. I had sold the whole class short because of two students. I believe that my impressions of these students prior to the lesson certainly tainted my expectations for these students.
In the second and final stages of the lesson, I was able to spend more time with the whole class and the individual groups to see how they worked together. In comparison to other classes I have taught, they did not show the same level of motivation in asking questions and showing excitement in regards to the activities. Upon reflection, I again realize I am comparing these students to other highly motivated classrooms, thus not appreciating that the level of participation they did contribute was fair in comparison to their usual contributions. In addition, instead of blaming the students for being unmotivated, if my examples for types of paraphrasing had used simpler vocabulary, I may have received more questions during the discussion/ instruction portion of the class.
I ended the lesson with a group activity, which the host teacher followed up with days later and will continue to use as part of the goals for the course. I learned through this reflection of my lesson that quiet classes do not denote lack of motivation or disinterest or poor students, but rather that the personality of the class may be more timid, making personal adjustments, or the lesson itself could offer more comprehensive content. I decided that while group work may be my preferred method of teaching, individual projects may have been the way to go for this class of quieter students.
The host teacher and I decided that I would be teaching the week prior to my class time. We arranged for me to teach the lesson on paraphrasing because she had planned to teach paraphrasing this week in preparation for activities to follow in the coming weeks. Students keep weekly journals in which they respond to essays they have read that resonate various themes in the book they are reading, “Bridge to Terabithia”. The host teacher and I had discussed, and I had also perceived while observing the classroom, that this particular group of students were not exhibiting a high level of motivation to read or perform on in-class activities. This is an unusual state for this host teacher who is a very lively teacher, and also unusual for this institute in general. I decided to emphasize group work, hoping that the two motivated students in the class would positively influence the group as a whole, and also to create an atmosphere of community in a classroom where students seemed very disconnected from one another. However, what I perceived would accomplish this didn’t seem to elicit the response for which I had hoped. I felt that the activities were well organized from simple to more complex, allowing students to build on knowledge and offering opportunities for them to learn from one another. In spite of my preparedness in the lesson, I was not mutually prepared for the students to not respond at all to my promptings within the small group and whole class contexts. Many of the students did seem to enjoy their time together as they discussed, however one group in particular that I found myself working with for the extent of the activity all but refused to speak. Instead of moving around and giving them some time to adjust to their own group dynamic, I sat with them the entire 5 minutes of the activity, which may have actually inhibited their participation. I was discouraged that so little transpired in that one group, until upon post-reflection of the lesson, I realized the other three groups had done quite well for themselves. I had sold the whole class short because of two students. I believe that my impressions of these students prior to the lesson certainly tainted my expectations for these students.
In the second and final stages of the lesson, I was able to spend more time with the whole class and the individual groups to see how they worked together. In comparison to other classes I have taught, they did not show the same level of motivation in asking questions and showing excitement in regards to the activities. Upon reflection, I again realize I am comparing these students to other highly motivated classrooms, thus not appreciating that the level of participation they did contribute was fair in comparison to their usual contributions. In addition, instead of blaming the students for being unmotivated, if my examples for types of paraphrasing had used simpler vocabulary, I may have received more questions during the discussion/ instruction portion of the class.
I ended the lesson with a group activity, which the host teacher followed up with days later and will continue to use as part of the goals for the course. I learned through this reflection of my lesson that quiet classes do not denote lack of motivation or disinterest or poor students, but rather that the personality of the class may be more timid, making personal adjustments, or the lesson itself could offer more comprehensive content. I decided that while group work may be my preferred method of teaching, individual projects may have been the way to go for this class of quieter students.