Dilemmas and problem solving

Preparation

The reason/ thought behind the process of preparation?

Due to the topic being about dilemmas, in which we can all relate to the frustrations of having to choose between two options. This can be the case of a dilemma of having to choose, for example; between buying two t-shirts, two cars, to not being sure where are you going to get your money from so you can get through life. Money as a topic was chosen because everyone needs money and it is a subject that most people will be stimulated from.

The preparation process of this topic was prepared with keeping in mind that every student needs a different style of understanding and I am responsible of getting him/ her to understand in the way that he/ she feels more comfortable. For the preparation of this topic two attachments about becoming wealthy, had been added to the activity for the students to explore in their free time, preferably before class. This will get the students’ mind thinking about the things that having money brings with, responsibilities and also problems.

Pictures of wealthy millionaires and billionaires are added in the attachments and I will be asking questions about if they know or how they think these people became rich, how much money would they want to have, what they would do with the money, if it would make them happier…

In my personal opinion I believe that showing images, giving small text to read, play a game, doing physical movements and drawing are the most fun whilst being the ones that help students remember better what they have learned. This is true because students get engaged during the lesson and they don’t feel left out or that they are just sitting there and the teacher ranting till the class finishes.

 Engage

As I said earlier, every student is different and requires a specific way of learning. I will start by showing pictures and ask for an answer. Whoever delivers the right answer will be complemented on the progress he/she is making. This will motivate the students to get more involved and learn more so they would get complimented as well. Using these methods I am trying to make the student achieve the goal by making him feel rewarded and appreciated. Callan/Direct/ Behaviourism

I wrote some introduction questions to ask the students to loosen them up and get the conversation going and it would also serve as a warm up. Questioning the students at first makes the activities flow much more than if I start by bombarding them with activities. They will also ask me questions and will become more of a mutual respect while getting to know how the student responds to what. Communicative/ Callan/ Direct

GIFs of people throwing money and looking very wealthy were used. This part was put together in this manner so the students would make the connection with making money and spending it, for them to get engaged about the activity. Here I want the students to be stimulated by the images of money and engage them in using proper terms and learn how and where to use them.

Showing images, using target language and making gestures will help the students understand the meaning of what I am going to talk about if they do not know already. This will enable the students to understand further vocabulary because they are going to link the words that I say with the pictures. The use of gestures is for them to make a stronger connection to the target language and ask them to do the gesture themselves so the word is reinforced. Direct/ TPR/ communicative

Stimulate

For this section I found 4 pictures of millionaires and 1 of a billionaire. A small text with some information about the people in the images including the target language will be provided to help the students to be stimulated and exposed to new words, while getting them to ask about the target language so they can expand their vocabulary. Callan/ silent way

Questions were also prepared for the students to answer. This method will be done in order to push the students to think fast and answer fast without having to think about how it is said or structured. If any mistakes of pronunciation will be made, I will bring it to attention to the student and ask him/her to pronounce it in the correct way and maybe repeat it so he listen to him/herself pronouncing it right for several time. This should reinforce the pronunciation in the part of the brain that stores information. The questions are also structured so I can elaborate depending the given answer by the student. This technique can help me to keep the conversation flowing. Behaviorism/ T.P.R/ Callan

 Activatie

During this time I will ask the students to make a conversation and also ask the questions presented in the students section to their classmates/ colleagues. This method is used to get the students talking while using the target language in context. Also I will be giving the students time to converse without me interfering and letting them recognize their own mistakes and correct themselves so they feel that they are achieving the lessons’ aim. Silent way/ P.P.P.

This thought process for me makes the most sense because I believe that when using several techniques you can work better around the problems that arise during the lesson. It also depends on the students’ character. If they had a rough day and I had prepared something for that lesson I might have to work my way around things using different methods on the spot. Complimenting them on their progress is one of my favourites because you keep them motivated. For example; if you have a troubled kid, young adult or even someone going through some rough times, it will be very encouraging for the student to see that there is someone unrelated that cares, takes interest in them and is happy to see them succeed. Speaking from my personal experience this helps a lot. Sometimes even if a person isn’t really into a subject and the teacher will motivate him/her it is very possible that this student will become more responsible and will make more effort to learn. Behaviourism
 

 What went good?

The students were all really into the activity as soon as they saw the images and GIFs of piles of money. I got many different opinions and answers about the questions that I have asked. The use of the direct method was very successful as the students looked like they were enjoying talking about money and how it would affect their lives. Different opinions in the class helped to keep the conversation going and helped rising some more possibilities for questioning the students. All section were covered and I tried to give the best explanation possible.

What went bad?

For my teaching practice I used the activity that I had created. I though the activity two times consecutively. During the first lesson I did not manage to use and explain all of the target language because the conversation got flowing and to be honest time was going to end and I panicked a little. After that I decided to teach it again during the following lesson so I can go through it again and fix my mistakes. During this hour I tried to go over all of the target language and through all sections which I had prepared. In my opinion in this hour I did better than the previous one.

The students from both lessons all were stimulated and engaged with the activity. I still need to figure out how to be faster in transitioning between activities. Another thing that I struggle with, is when the conversation gets flowing and I won’t know how to go back to asking the questions prepared in the activity without stopping the conversation awkwardly.

Reflect/ adapt

One thing that I sure need to work on is that sometimes when they give an answer or they start to talk at the same time I get a little anxious and can’t think straight on asking the next question. I struggled a bit with this today but I feel that I achieved what I wanted. Some of the students today were not understanding everything about the target language. This is a sign that I have to explain in a more simple way for them to be able to understand exactly what I am trying to teach. Experimentation with different games and ways of keeping the flow going through using methodologies are to be looked in more. I will also need to go through the methodologies and theories more times so I can pick up a style of learning while reinforcing what I already know. Studying different styles and techniques will get me to where I want to be. Harder work is a necessity to cater for my students while it will give me a stronger understanding of how everything works together.