Discovering the learning process to achieve a better teaching

During my experience of observing students in their quest for learning English, Ive
managed to get lots of important information. This experience of having the opportunity to sit
and watch students going through a learning experience have given me lots of knowledge
about what happens during learning. Its incredible how different we come to see our teaching
after looking at the class or lessons through our students eyes.

I used to think that with the variety of activities that the books I teach included all the
necessary activities that could help my students in their learning. Although these activities tend
to serve their purpose, they are not all the time effective. This is something that has struck me
in seeing students learning process. I used to consider my students lazy sometimes, because
they didnt show interest in what I was trying to teach. Now Ive been able to discover that
students need to see a clear purpose to learn anything that they see in their books.

I have started to make my lessons more relevant to my students and the results are
incredible. Not only has the content of my lessons been adapted to suit students interest best,
but also I have included new presentations to these lessons which have caused even better
results than expected. The most important part, of course, is seeing students actually learning.
Assuming that students are learning because they are engaged in an activity is a big mistake I
used to make all the time, but now I monitor students more efficiently to see if my goal is being
achieved.

Looking at teaching through my students eyes has helped me a lot more in preparing
more effective lesson plans to achieve the goal of successful learning. How can I be sure my
students have truly learned? The answer is simple, students now use the target language in a
more meaningful way. They use it to describe their life, and to talk about things that touch
them directly. They are not only completing a task in a book about things they dont relate to.
They are using the language to express their ideas and experiences. They are USING the
language. That right there is successful learning.

During one of my lessons at the ICDA, I chose to talk about food. My SWBAT was Use
yes/no questions with Can and Do in the second person singular (can you cook rice and beans?)
to talk about food habits in a mingle activity. This was a very successful lesson. My students
found the topic very relevant for them. They talked about food the whole time, and most
importantly, they got to use the target language for a while asking their partners about their

food preferences, and when they found a partner that shared their same food habits, they
would just love to continue asking more questions.

When I was introducing the lesson I felt so good to see their interest in the topic I was
about to teach them about. As soon as they listened food, all of them started talking about it.
They raised their hands to give their opinion in class. Now looking back, I can relate to my
students reaction in this lesson. It is so much fun to talk about something you like, especially
food. This was a really good lesson. Students attention was there, their motivation was in there
too, and I even got them to ask me extra questions they had about the topic. This shows me
how engaged they really were.

This lesson was a total success. The objective was totally achieved. Students asked their
friends about their food habits, they also showed interest in the topic and they kept asking
questions to their partners. Other important sign of their interest in learning more about the
topic, was the questions I received during the lesson. A girl in the class wanted to know some
extra vocabulary (stir fried) to talk to her friends about her favorite way of cooking meat. Some
of the students were familiar with the ways we cook things, but a small group didnt know how
to call some ways of cooking they use, and in this lesson they had the chance to learn just that.

All this new way of focus my teaching was really helped by the fact of seeing students
going through other lessons with my fellow teachers. I remember a lesson my colleague Kesia
Espinal had about personality traits. She made students relate to these adjectives that
described personality, and the way she presented it was very appealing to students. They
discussed about some of their favorite celebrities (Kesia had the great idea of bringing pictures
of the celebrities to the class), and they inferred on these celebrities personality. They had a
lively conversation about whether their favorite celebrity was optimistic, driven,
argumentative, etc. This had students using the target language all the time.

I learned a lot from this experience of observation. I saw how important it is for
students to find the topic in class relevant. This has an incredible effect in the way students
interact in the class, and also how they use the target language to discuss with their partners
about their own experiences and ideas. During Kesias lesson I noticed students eagerness to
discuss in small groups their points of view of those celebrities. Some of the students showed
their love for working in small groups, others were more reserved and limit themselves to listen
and eventually share something with some partners in the group.

Thanks to all these teaching experiences Ive had in the recent days, Ive been able to
rediscover how I learn. Ive come to understand better my learning style, and this has helped
me to prepare my class better for students that share my same learning style. I have also
learned to identify different students learning styles too. With this new ability I can also
prepare lessons that are appealing to them, and that can help them achieve successful learning.

By observing students, Ive been given a very powerful tool for teaching. I never knew
how important the power of observation and reflection really was. Now I pay more attention to
my students and try to answer to their learning styles need. Something I still wonder about is
how I can make sure quiet or shy students are really learning. Its somewhat difficult to really
tell if these people are actually learning. I guess I will have to investigate more about the silent
way

Seeing teaching through my students eyes

Description
Wednesday October 15th, I started my lesson about food. During one of the activities
programmed for this lesson, I asked my students to brainstorm in groups what are the different
ways that we cook food. I divided my students in small groups of four. I saw students asking
their partners throughout the time I gave them to discuss with their peers. I noticed that most
of my students were asking their peers. After a five minutes of students brainstorming with
their peers, I decided it was time for me to elicit their answers. I raised my hand to let students
know that their time has finished for brainstorming. They became quiet. I started eliciting
answers from them. I was surprise at how many of them raised their hand to participate. I
noticed one of my students, Susana, didnt interact as much as I expected from all the class.

Interpretation
Something that
helped
students
was
how
contextualized the topic was
for them. It activated their
motivation
since
the
beginning of the class.

Generalization
I believe that enthusiasm helps
students learning. When people
are interested in a topic it
usually provides a more
meaningful learning for them.
This learning often becomes a
lifelong learning because of its
Good
job
writing an appealing factor.
interpretation for something
that helped learning. I can I agree with you and am glad to
see how providing context hear that your students were
would help students find the motivated during this lesson.
language more meaningful.
I would like to encourage
you to make the connection
between
your
interpretation and your
descriptions more directly
linked. In this description,
you mention something
about contextualizing the
topic, but when I read your
description I do not see
anything that tells me how

Plan Action
I will make my lesson as
meaningful as possible to my
students. This will help me to
achieve a long term learning
and effective learning with
my students during different
lessons in my class program.
I think this is a great idea,
but would like t encourage
you to make this action plan
more
specific
and
measurable. What will you
do exactly to make your
lesson meaningful? What
specific action will you take
to make this a reality?

you contextualized the

topic. Sometimes it is
helpful to ga back and forth
between the description
and the interpretation to
see what you might want to
continue adding to the
description to make them
more directly connected.

Something that
helped
students
learning
was
working in small groups of
four.
students
could
participate and offer their
ideas in a safer environment.

Based on my observation, I think

that students are more eager to
offer their opinions freely when
they are working in groups.
When students dont feel
pressure to give an answer in
front of the class, they often
True! This makes me think explore more with their ideas
about the importance of and are more open to share
creating intimate learning them.
possibilities for students
who prefer and benefit Absolutely Ada! You have
from this kind of learning.
described one of the practices
of effective teaching that I most
believe in and do as much as I
can in every single lesson.

I will make sure that I include

group activities or pair work
activities in which my
students feel safe to share
and build their learning with
their peers. I will also make
sure
to
make
myself
disappear from their view to
help them feel safer.

Something that hindered a Some students might find group

small group of students was work a little overwhelming.
working in groups.
Sometimes shy or quiet students
might not participate in group
Interesting. I would love to activity because they dont feel
hear more about this. Why as comfortable.
did it hinder their learning?
What happened? It would I think the smaller the group
be great if you said more the more comfortable they
here.
would feel. Perhaps in pairs or
small groups of three? They do
need to practice talking with
someone.

I will take into account my

students learning styles to
provide safer activities for
them to learn. I will arrange a
big set of different activities
so they can take more
advantage and feel safe
enough to build their
learning.

Please do! I am sure this will

help your learners feel more
comfortable and it will also
maximize their participation
and speaking opportunities.

Yes - I think having a larger

variety of activities will help
reach a larger amount of
students and their learning
preferences.

Something that hindered

students motivation to
participate was speaking in
front of the class.

Based on what I observe, I think

that the shy and quiet students
might not like to share in front
of the class. Usually people feel
exposed when speaking in front
I strongly agree with this of the class, and therefore they
being a hindrance for most limit
themselves
from
students and their learning. participating.
Why do you personally
think having students speak I agree with you 500% Adal!
in front of the class hinders When students feel on the spot
their motivation?
and overly vulnerable their
affective filter goes up and they
tend to shut down on
participating and learning in
general.

I will implement other

techniques of eliciting, so this
kind of students dont feel
that exposed in the class. So
this way Ill be able to get
them to share their opinions
in a safe environment.
I think this is a very smart
and relevant action plan.
Your students will truly
appreciate this decision and
action from you.

Hi Adalberto!
Congratulations on another successful couple of weeks of learning. It has been a pleasure
reading and commenting on your second extended reflection for this course.
I particularly enjoyed reading your thoughts in your essay about how you have become a
better teacher by noticing more your learners and finding ways to have them use the
language in more realistic and meaningful ways. This really does show that you are open and
willing to learn more about your learners and how to better serve their learning needs in the
classroom.
In terms of your DAPA, I think you did a good job choosing and describing small moments or
slices that reflected your key learnings for this assignment. You provided helpful details in
terms of what you and your students said and did in the moment. For your interpretations
and generalizations, I would encourage you to be more specific with what you mean. There
were times when I wasnt sure what you really wanted to say. Id also like for you to try to
connect your interpretations, generalizations and action plans in a more consistent way.
Some of them seemed to add new/different information that wasnt in the other columns.
Please see my comments above in the DAPA grid for more details, examples and feedback.
You paper has met the requirements for this week and is a pass. Thank you for all your hard
work, dedication and passion.
With gratitude,
Roger