Reflection of Week 5 Class time

We had an interesting class period on Monday. We listened to Aaron talk about Chapters 4 and 5 and then we discussed the different learning principles. I thought I agreed with 99.9% of the chapters but I thought it was cool how people disagreed and they made very valuable points.

I liked when we talked about the 'Anticipation of Reward' principle. I thought I really liked that idea and that there was nothing negative about the principle. When I thought about it further I realized there are HUGE loop holes in the idea. I can only think of times when I experienced the reward concept. As I said in the class I am not very skilled in the area of math. I know my brain does not work that way. I think, even to this day, a very skilled teacher would have to attempt to teach it to me because I have built up such animosity towards the subject. To continue with the reward concept, my 4th grade teacher rewarded people that did well on their math tests and made the results public. I can still see that chart and I did not have any stickers next to my name or received any candy. This further drove home the feeling that I could NOT do math. Looking back I realize I was not understanding the material in class and did not want to try very hard because I would get extremely frustrated.

To fix the reward method I think it would be a good idea to individually sit down with students and set realistic goals. Maybe my teacher could have set goals for each of us. For example, she could have talked to me and see what I wanted to gain and from there said if you reach goal 'a' then you are on your way to goal 'b' which is a reward in itself. Also, sporadic rewards of actual tangible objects is probably better.

What I do like about the reward method is the idea of praising students for effort.

Later in class we made lesson plans. I had never made one and I learned a lot about how they should be constructed.

The class flew by and I think it was because I was learning a lot about myself as a learner and keeping in mind what I think good teaching principles are.

Reflection of Reading Week 5

I was very interested in the readings for this week. In particular, I enjoyed Chapter 4 and I thought it was a much needed overview of all the things we had read about in the past. I appreciated the nice breakdown of each teaching principle.

Surprisingly, the cognitive principles seemed as though many teachers view such aspects as 'common sense'. I know that many of my teachers in the past have used such techniques almost as if they have been doing it for a long time. Also, some of these same techniques seem to be common sense for students as well. I know that I have employed my 'intrinsic motivation' to its maximum, especially when learning a foreign language.

I thought it was great that the book pointed out that students as adult learners can take pointers from children learners. Often times adult students get in the way of themselves and their learning process by over analyzing their progress and not fully submerging themselves into the language.

Chapter 5 took a deeper look at intrinsic motivation in the classroom. It discussed Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I thought this was a fascinating way to look at intrinsic motivation because often times I forget that students are not only students. Especially when considering students in the U.S. studying English. Often times they have cultural adjustments to go through and are not in their comfortable home environment. I almost viewed the model as a puzzle of learning. To clarfiy, each student needs each piece of the puzzle in order for their learning experience to be complete.

My Presentation Reflection

WoW. I gave a presentation with my partner Brian and it was quite the experience. I thought we presented the material overall. I realize some of the mistakes I made and could have changed. One example is that I learn from interaction of material and when I am lectured to (or as I like to say, "spoon fed") the information it simply does not stick. I realize now that may be one of the only ways some people learn.

Also, I now know that playing games is very engaging for a class but I think a teacher must be alert at all times of the entire class. Games are meant to introduce a fun way of learning but that also opens the door for students to get lost in the fun and not pay attention to the material.

I thought Brian and I did well when it came to organizing the time. We had a predetermined schedule and we followed it very closely. I am glad that the professor pointed out that it is a good idea to tell the class the different time limits.

Overall I thought it was a lot of fun to teach the class. I liked using a few different methods to try and get the class engaged and to get them thinking. I realize I am not the lecture type and I think learning can be so much fun if a teacher knows how to mix the two things evenly.

Playing Catch-up fpr Week 4 readings.

Week 4 readings were covered in the "How Languages are Learned" text. I found chapter 1, Language Learning in Early Childhood, to be very interesting. I kept making connections from the text book to my nephew or my friend's baby. I thought the section on 'negation' was interesting and I think I knew many of the things the text explained without realizing I knew it. One example being, just last week I was with my 1 and 1/2 year old friend April. I asked her, Do you want some juice?" I received a simple, "no". Another example the child gave me is when she was looking for a stuffed animal she said, "Where doggie?" "Table?" This is type of question is directly from Stage 1 in the topic of Questions. I then went on to scaffold her question without realizing it. I said, "Where is the doggie? Is he under the table?" I am unsure if scaffolding is covered in this chapter but I think it is quite amazing that many of us use these terms and methods in our daily lives and yet we never knew it. Therefore, explaining that each one of us has the potential within to be great teachers.

Week 4 Reading

This weeks readings covered many different topics with each topic being separated from the other. I took my time reading each chapter because there was so much information and I wanted to make sure that I knew the material before I present it. The L&S book covers "Learner Language". The Chapter covers the many stages that second language learners go through, for example negation. The first stage of negation is simply one word (i.e. no, not) I thought that was very interesting because when I first began to learn Spanish there were many times when I simply said, "si". Also, when I was nervous or unsure of the declaration that was said to me I often said, "si" as a means of continuing the conversation. I thought this entire chapter had things that I could relate to my own second language experience. Also, the influence of the first language was covered. One thing that stuck out was the term 'avoidance'. Avoidance is something that I used once in awhile when I felt threatened by a series of words that were so different than my first language of English.

Chapter 7 of the L&S covered the many popular ideas about second language learning. I especially could appreciate the fact that the book covered many questions that I had about second language acquisition and stated the answers very matter of fact. One question that I appreciated the answer to was if and how to correct a student's mistake when speaking in his or her own target language. I realize now that I have to consider this answer based on the student's culture and act according. Also, although corrections seem to be very helpful there is a certain tact that teachers need to use when correcting their students.

Overall, I am very excited to present these topics and I hope the class will enjoy the presentation.

Week 3 Class Reflection

This week's class period started with Thea giving her presentation over the readings. She seemed to know a lot about teaching and the different methods. I am sure her previous teaching experience has helped her greatly. One thing that I was really impressed and noticed almost immediately is that she had a very relaxed presence in front of the class. I thought that feeling of relaxation was contagious throughout the classroom. Perhaps, this is a new approach to teaching I have not read about yet.

After the presentation we played a game with the different hypotheses and approaches from the chapters. Each person had an index card on his or her back and we had to ask questions to find out what our designated term was. I thought that was pretty fun and very entertaining because two people would be standing side by side and not realize that they had the same term.

Later, we broke into groups and defined more clearly these terms. We wrote out the main points on pieces of paper and then the class got to look at each others paper. I thought this was very beneficial because I am a very visual person and the reading and writing of the key facts in the book helped solidify the information.

Lastly, we went to the library to work on the next step in the multi-genre project. I think at that point my group felt somewhat lost but we met up later in the week and I know that I feel more confident. I am happy to work with my group because we each teach other something different about the topic or the procedure to cite different sources.

Overall, I felt the class time was very well spent on many different activities. This type of variety gave me motivation to learn the material.

Week 2 Class time Reflection

In class this week we listened to a presentation by Chris and Veronika and then we had a group exercise with the different methods of teaching.

I thought the presentation went really well and it was interesting to compare the advantages and disadvantages to having a native and non-native teacher of the targeted language in the classroom. I think each have their advantages. I think a non-native speaker of English can bring things into a classroom that native speakers cannot and vice versa.

The activity with the methods of teaching was very helpful. I realized which methods I knew by heart and other methods that had slipped my mind since I had read last. I realized that I kept confusing the Natural Approach and the Silent Way. Silent Way gets its name because the teacher assists the students but is not the main source of information. Students under the Silent Way method relied on each other for support in help. The Natural Approach was a learning process by which the student could speak the target language only when that language were to emerge.

Learning such important information will some day make it to my classroom. In other words, what I am learning right now is in direct correlation with what I will be teaching in the future. Right now, as a student I can experience and read about different methods that I think suit what kind of teacher I want to be in the future. I realize now that it is important to take mental notes of how my professors are teaching.

Week 2 of Assigned Readings

In my readings for this week I read a lot of new information. In Chapter 2 of Teaching by Principles I learned about many teaching methods that had been used in the past and how they changes through time. Also, I learned about some methods of teaching that are still used today. In my past experiences with learning a foreign language, I experienced the use of the Direct Method and Community Language Learning. It appears that each teacher I had used his or her own methods. I learned that each method has its strengths and its shortcomings. Nevertheless, each method may work differently for different students.

One method that I found very interesting was the Suggestopedia method. This method appears to be centered around students being relaxed and in a comfortable environment to maximize learning potential. This method seems to have its own faults too. One example, some teachers do not have access to comfortable chairs or easy listening music therefore defeating the whole purpose of the method.

Chapter 1 was a scenario based Chapter and it gave an example of a teacher's lesson plan and how she executed it in her classroom. I thought the observation was very beneficial and the questions about the lesson were very insightful also.