CELTA Written Assignment 4ii: Lessons from the Classroom

CIRA FERNNDEZ SNCEZ

In this assignment we want to know some things you would like to borrow from the
lessons/teachers you have observed and why. The idea is for you to identify and comment on FOU
techni!ues" features or ideas you have seen which would hel# your own teaching. $our comments
will be based on observations of your !EERS" T"T#RS and E$!ERIENCED CLIC TEACERS.
%&am#le'
AS!ECT #F TE LESS#N %!EER&: In the final stage of a debate, the teacher organised the students into a
tight circle for group discussion. Though they took a little time to get going, they did so independently of
the teacher, who stayed outside the group taking notes. After a short while the discussion really took off
and the students got very involved and rarely looked to the teacher for help. It was very natural
communication.
#W TIS W#"LD EL! 'E: I have had the tendency to try to start off group discussion with me in front
of the whole group. This hasnt worked very well. The students tend to be very unresponsive at first.
This tends to draw me into the discussion and I end up running the whole thing. This was a great idea and a
great chance to listen and take some notes as the students speak.
!R#CED"RE:
Take notes in all your observations (tutors" #eers and e&#erienced )*I) teachers+
,rite your comments in the FOU bo&es which follow (as in the e&am#le above+
-t least one bo& must be about each of the following categories'
o $our tutors
o $our #eers
o %&#erienced )*I) teacher(s+
.lease do not mention any of the teachers by name" but do indicate the category as in the
e&am#le above (e.g. (.%%++
/a&imum 011 words
2and in the com#lete assignment on Tuesday ,eek 3
Use the attached list of areas to give you ideas and to write notes/reminders
ASSESS'ENT CRITERIA:
Successful candidates can show evidence of:
Ability to identify the main strengths and development needs from their own teaching and the
teaching of others
Ability to write at a level of accuracy which does not eopardise clarity and comprehensibility,
and which reflects a knowledge of discourse, grammar, punctuation and spelling.
Aspect of the lesson (EXPERIENCED TEACHER / DVD): I really enjoyed the way
the teacher checked meaning of TL by drawing clines, concept checking and eliciting
other examples; she highlighted features of forms using colour on the whiteboard, then
she modelled and drilled chorally and individually for pronunciation.
How this would help e: o far I have not worked thoroughly on the TL of a
vocabulary lesson. I think I could apply the techni!ues mentioned above, especially to
elicit more examples from s and convey meaning more thoroughly "connotations,
collocations, etc.#
Aspect of the lesson (PEER): $ne of the most successful lessons I have observed
from peers was a skills lesson "reading#. The staging was excellent% an interesting lead&
in which triggered prediction "a wordle#, a gist task, pre&teaching of blocking
vocabulary, a detailed reading followed by a comprehension task "true'false#, and a
final written task.
How this would help e: ome of my lessons were not highly successful in terms of
staging. Thanks to my peer(s lesson, I realised how important it is to set tasks at the
right time to avoid stages overlapping. It is also very important to avoid overplanning "I
tended to overplan a little at the beginning#.
Aspect of the lesson (PEER): $ne of my peers has made very good progress in
setting up activities clearly "instructions, checking instructions, giving examples etc# and
dealing with different class interactions% s working in pairs, in groups, s standing up
in order to find a partner, mixing them up by assigning them a number or letter, etc.
How this would help e: I have the feeling that I have not experimented much with
different class interactions. I have only arranged s in pairs or groups of )&* and once I
did not anticipate that having an odd number of s could be problematic for carrying a
particular task. The observation of excellent classroom organisation, interactions and
dynamics has been really helpful and I will try to incorporate them in my own teaching
practice.
Aspect of the lesson (EXPERIENCED C!IC TEACHER): +hat I liked most about the
experienced ,LI, teacher( lesson was how he dealt with learner(s errors. -e encouraged
self&correction and peer&correction by echoing the L(s error with !uestioning intonation
to highlight it several times.
How this would help e: I have not put this techni!ue into practice; in general
terms, I have the impression that correcting learners( errors appropriately is an area I
still have to explore more.
!R#(RESS ) ACTI#N !LAN
In which two areas of the course do you feel youve made most #rogress4
*+ Setting ,- a.ti/ities .learl0 %instr,.tions1 .he.2ing instr,.tions1 gi/ing e3am-les et.&: my
instructions are now clearer and less wordy than at the beginning of the course
4+ Fa.ilitating nat,ral .omm,ni.ation: I think I have #rovided 5s with effective tasks at
the #roductive skills stage of the lesson" which #roduced a great deal of natural oral
interaction.
,hich three areas do you feel you need to work on most in future4
*+ Che.2ing Ss5 ,n6erstan6ing of meaning: using ))6s at the right time" #roviding more
e&am#les" creating more suitable activities.
4+ Dealing 7ith 6ifferent .lass intera.tions: I have to be more creative and take more risks in
relation to this area.
8+ A--ro-riate staging of lessons1 in -arti.,lar1 grammar lessons: make the #lan more
effective by avoiding unnecessary stages" avoid activities which seem redundant.
!#SSI9LE AREAS T# F#C"S #N:
)onveying meaning in conte&t
)hecking students understanding of meaning
)larifying and highlighting forms of language
2el#ing students with #ronunciation
7ealing with a##ro#riacy of language
.roviding a##ro#riate #ractice activities
The teachers s#eech (language grading" naturalness of language" s#eed etc+
5etting u# activities clearly (instructions" checking instructions" giving e&am#les etc+ and
dealing with different class interactions
Organising the classroom to suit the learners and the aim/activity
%ffective monitoring and feedback
/aterials 7esign
Facilitating natural communication
/onitoring learners #rogress during the lesson
.roviding a##ro#riate feedback on student out#ut
7ealing with learners errors
7ealing with the une&#ected