FINAL REFLECTIVE SUMMARY
I
have learned a lot about myself as a trainee teacher, from getting experience
in teaching at Wedamulla Maha Vidyalaya. This was my first teaching experience
at a school and it was great and challenging. I was assigned classes from grade
five, eight and nine to conduct the teaching sessions. I learned that it was challenging
to apply the theories of language acquisition into practice in a real
classroom.
During
the first week of my student teaching experience, I had a discussion with the
teacher in charge to get an idea about my teaching preparation. I prepared the
lesson material according to the learner profile. The activities were made in a
way that the students could participate actively in the classroom where they
would create their own ideas in their own way of knowledge. During my teaching
sessions, I learned that the students lack knowledge in vocabulary. I realized
that the students of grade five and eight are keen to engage in collaborative
tasks. Therefore, interactive activities should be prepared according to the
leaner profile in order to increase their vocabulary knowledge. The behaviorist
theory shows that language can be acquired through imitation and repetition. Hence,
I used the imitation and repetition methods of teaching in order to improve the
student’s vocabulary knowledge. Moreover, I used Total Physical Response (TPR)
to teach vocabulary related to action words.
It
was a challenging experience for me as a trainee teacher to teach the 5th
grade students concentrating on their proficiency level. I always checked
understanding and gave feedback when necessary. Although the student’s
proficiency level was low, they performed well in collaborative tasks and they
knew the correct usage of common expressions used inside and outside the
classroom.
Furthermore,
during my teaching sessions, I learned that most of the students had difficulty
in pronunciation, capitalization of words and identifying certain words. However,
they were interested in learning English language. Another important aspect
that I observed during the second week of my teaching experience is that competition
and teamwork motivate students and it is important to give quick and specific
feedback in order to complete a task successfully. However, I realized that the
students were of different levels and that it is important to arrange the
lessons according to students’ progress. Therefore, I should be an active
observer to adopt the syllabus in order to prepare the lesson material focusing
on the proficiency level of each student.
In
each class, I could notice that some students were of low proficiency level. In
order to follow my lesson plan and to complete the activities, I conducted
group activities for 5th and 8th grade students. Applying
Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory, the
students could learn a skill with the help of a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) in
their group. This helped me to maintain a good rapport in the classroom with
students as well.
Although, the young learners had a positive attitude
towards collaborative tasks in the classroom, the students from grade nine
class did not show any interest towards group work or interactive activities. It
was difficult and challenging for me to build up a good rapport with the grade
nine students within a short period. As a trainee teacher, I prefer to have a student-centered
classroom where the students are allowed to express their own ideas that helps
to improve their creativity. Yet, it was difficult for me to complete the tasks
that I designed for grade nine students since the learners preferred a
traditional classroom that is teacher centered. Thus, the most challenging experience
for me during the entire teaching experience was using effective strategies to
teach grade nine students. As a result, I designed my lesson plans in a way
that the learners would enjoy including pair work and individual tasks and used
more explanations. They needed more explanation regarding the topic because most
of the students in the class lacked familiarity in vocabulary and knowledge in
constructing grammatically correct sentences. Adopting the situational Language
Teaching approach, steps were followed to complete different tasks in order to
encourage the students to use their target language on their own according to
the situation. Hence, the activities focused on vocabulary, reading and grammar.
I
suggest that students should participate in active events where they would
create their own ideas in their own way of knowledge so that the teachers would
understand the students and act accordingly. For example, follow reading
lessons, teamwork, creative writing and have a session of English speech with
the ideas of their own way and mind. Gaining this experience for six weeks, I
realized teaching is a task but it brings me a great honor in my future to be
successful in this task being a teacher.
