I began my teaching career as a public school eighth grade social
studies teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. As the end of my second year
approached, I decided that I wanted to move to Washington D.C. Having
spent some time in Washington as a college freshman, I knew that the
move would place me in a more cultural diverse environment. At that
time, I was frustrated by the static Baltimore condition of heroine
addiction and crime. I was bored with the perpetual cycle of work, more
work, sleep and work. I was in serious need of some cultural, social
and professional stimulation. D.C. was going to be the remedy to my
Baltimore blues, or at least that's what I thought.
When I saw a job ad for English teachers in Japan, I never thought I'd actual be hired. I didn't speak Japanese. I'd only been teaching for two years. I'd never taught English and my major was History. Despite all of my doubts, I had the confidence to at least try for the position. The ad stated that the only requirements were a university degree and an interview. I definitely had the degree and interviewing for jobs happens to be a talent of mine.
Once I was hired to teach adult English classes in Kyoto, I immediately began to prepare. I was saving my money and planning my new life. I was exhilarated by all things Japanese. My family was proud. My friends were supportive and I was thrilled. Then came the planes.
My original flight to Japan was sometime in late September, 2001. When I woke up on September 11 to the horrendous terrorists attacks on America, I was numb. I was afraid. A few days later, I was turning down the job in Japan. Obviously, they understood my fear and assured me that the position would still be open if I changed my mind. My mother was also understanding, but she encouraged me to go. She told me that if God chose to take me from this Earth, then it would be; when it is your time, it is your time. She told me to have faith that I would make it to Japan to start a new chapter in my life. I never imagined that that chapter would evolve into a book.
Johnston talks about how teachers come across opportunities; some we seek out, while others just appear in front of us. My first job as an English language teacher just appeared. As I prepared for the interview, I really didn't expect to be hired. I was looking for a new scene. I was planning on moving to Washington D.C. However, the opportunity that appeared was the one I chose. The entire process from hire to teaching in Japan was the work of God. He has a great influence over the choices I make in my life and career. I am not suggesting that all opportunities that present themselves are the works of God, many are not. It is my belief and faith that guide me to know the difference. Also, I do not suggest that what it presented is always easy to obtain. For example, when I decided to continue my education through STG, the process to begin was easy. God put me around the right people. He put me in the right job. He provided me with the right income. Once I began the program, there was nothing easy about it. However, my belief in God's plan kept me strong, positive and steadfast in this immediate professional goal. In addition to God, other factors have led to the professional decisions I've made in the past. Family relationships, romantic relationships, the economy and self-doubt have all effected my choices for better or worse. Just because I know what God wants me to do, doesn't mean I always do it. Human will can be both constructive and damning.
The turning point of my career is now. I am beginning to re-educated myself. I will move to America in the spring and I will take any ESL language job that appears. Most importantly, now I am beginning to truly know what it is to be a professional language teacher. In the last few months, I have become empowered by all that I have learned and done as a student and teacher. I am looking forward to learning more, doing more and teaching more. The future is looking bright. The Question of Marginalization: Queen or Clown It seems that within Korean language academies NS teachers are marginalized by the students and sometimes the administration. Korean teachers are taken seriously. They are both feared and respected. Whereas, often times, NS teachers are expected to be fun, interesting, tolerant, amusing AND informative. At my first Korean academy I was criticized for being to concerned with teaching. The students wanted to play hangman and other games. The director told me that 50% of my time was to teach and the other 50% was to have fun and keep the students happy. Although I was asked to renew my contract, I took a job at YBM. I wanted to teach, not be the resident clown. Fortunately, my experiences in Seoul and Bundang were quite different. I have been fortunate to work in jobs where my skills were utilized and my educational views respected. As the teacher, I try to create an
environment of respect. The teacher should respect students and
students should respect the teacher and their peers. With this view
comes challenges. As mentioned above, students sometimes expect the NS teacher to be their friend and my behaviors may sometimes confuse them. If I apologize or admit a mistake, they may feel that I am putting myself at their level. I do not think Korean teachers in traditional classrooms do much apologizing. Also, I may allow students to vote on which chapter or which question will be discussed. In considering their perspective, I may undermine my position as the class leader. Students sometimes become too comfortable with me and speak to me in a way that is inappropriate. In such cases, I will explain my role and remind them to be respectful. Fortunately, the director and Korean teachers at my present school do not allow for the disrespect of any teacher. If I just mention one teacher's name, a disrespectful student will immediately apologize. I do not feel that I must be a dictator in order to be respected and I shall not be treated like a clown. Creating a classroom of mutual respect, that is educational and enjoyable requires daily reinforcement of expectations and consistent teacher practices. This is what I work towards with each lesson.
Throughout the world, dance is an expression of celebration for a successful harvest. Although tools of technology have replaced the traditional farming methods of many cultures, many celebratory traditions have been well preserved. One such tradition is that of dance. The intercultural objective of this lesson is for students to notice a similarity between Korean and Zimbabwean cultures. The similarity is the tradition of dancing in celebration of a successful harvest. Another objective is for students to learn the differences in how each culture uses the body in dance and to understand how messages can be expressed through body movements. Students are expected to physically participate in learning 'Dinhe', a Zimbabwean harvest dance, while practicing the instructions. Finally, students create and teach their own dance moves, creating messages through movement.
As I viewed my video lesson, I immediately noticed that I was speaking a bit too quickly. I was eager to show as much of my lesson as possible and this may have caused me to be a bit speedy. I hope that in my real classroom, I would be less hurried during the presentation and practice.
While giving instructions I did well in facilitating student interaction by directing them to ask each other questions. However, at one point Heidi expressed confusion about the term 'sow'. While she did not ask a direct question, her reaction was quite realistic to what a real L2 student would do. She repeated the word a couple of times after hearing it. Through the inflection of her voice, she expressed unfamiliarity with the term. I made a quick comment explaining that 'sow' and 'plant' shared similar meanings. I knew that the following slide would isolate the term and that students would have a chance to practice the phrase 'sowing seeds'. Still, I could have spent a few more seconds explaining the term when the student first noticed it as new vocabulary. Another observation made during the viewing was that I failed to check student comprehension of instructions for the first listening activity. I should have asked a couple of students to repeat the instructions before beginning the video.
I hadn't anticipated student difficulty in hearing the instructions during the first listening/viewing. I should have, but I didn't. I had seen and heard the video so many times, I took for granted the fast pace at which the instructions are given. From the first instruction, "get grounded" to the last, "slightly tilt your pelvis", there is practically no pause. During the MT, a lot of students were unable to complete the chart and these were NS teachers! I immediately came up with a solution. Although my plan was for the teacher to check student comprehension, instead I asked students to work together to compare and share answers. In this way they seemed more eager to speak with one another because they wanted to complete the listening activity sheet.
I believe that my strongest teaching technique was the use of my body in expressing word and phrase meanings. I positioned myself close to the board, so that I could point to relevant images. Also, I used my entire body to help students understand terms, such as before, sowing seeds, bend, wide apart, slightly, relaxed, grounded, heavy, dig up, and jump for joy. Using my body benefited both the students and myself. Students were able to better understand the terms and I was able to warm up my body for the dances that were to be taught and learned! This is a lesson I would really enjoy teaching. I believe that students would embrace the activities and produce some interesting dances of their own. Of course, this would be more likely once the students have studied with each other and myself for a while. I would not teach this lesson during the first weeks of a new class. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to teach this lesson at my academy. The classrooms are entirely too small. However, it will definitely be implemented in a future curriculum. The MT showed me that this lesson can be enjoyed by both children and adults. I think my STG classmates had a good time, at least I hope so!
This
blog is a reflection of my last recorded lesson for Methodology class.
Although this is my final recording for STG, it is not my last
recording as a professional teacher. Not only have come to endure self
observation, I have grown to value and appreciate the rewards of video
reflection. Here is my last video post as an STG student.
When
the color pronunciation chart was introduced in Methodology class, I
immediately realized the benefits of such a resource in my own
classroom. The following week I designed a color pronunciation chart
for my first and second graders. Every Friday, students have an
e-library class in which books are read and discussed. The books are
not very challenging and have been described as 'boring' by more than a
few students. By incorporating the color pronunciation chart, I hoped
to incite some student interest in an otherwise undemanding reading
activity. The proficiency of the learners in this class range between
novice high and low intermediate.
The
objective was for students to understand and identify long and short
vowel sounds of words that appeared during a story book lesson. It was
key that students notice that the sounds of English do not correspond to
any particular letter or letter grouping. Each student was provided
with a copy of a chart. On the top horizontal line were color names
that represented the long and short sounds of the five basic vowels a,e,i,o,u.
Specific letters were underlined to emphasize vowel sounds. Each color
name was highlighted in the color that was written. For example the
word 'mustard', representing short vowel 'u', was written in black (or
white) and highlighted in a yellowish color. Beneath each color word
were ten spaces where students could write words of the same sound. The
colorful chart was of immediate interests to the students.
Part 1: Presentation and Practice In
the presentation, I gave very clear instructions. I passed out the
charts and students read the title of this new learning resource. I
wrote the word 'pronunciation' on the WB and asked the class to try to
pronounce the words. This groups has a very good understanding of
simple phonetic structures and many were able to sound out the word
pretty accurately. I modeled the correct pronunciation of
'pronunciation' and the students repeated the word a few times. I then
directed the class to look at the chart, drawing their attention to the
underlined letters of each color name. We reviewed the long and short
vowel sounds and I wrote an example sentence on the board to show them
how to fill in the chart. Once I felt that the students understood the
purpose of the chart, I explained that they would fill in the chart
while listening to and viewing the e-library stories.
Part 2: The Activity (More Practice)Once
I began the lesson, their were difficulties that I had anticipated and
others that I hadn't. The classes at my academy are extremely small.
There are too many chairs and table crowded into small spaces. In an
effort to accommodate the growing student population, it has become near
impossible to move around the classes. So when students began to
complain about being unable to see the computer screen, I tried to
re-seat students. I anticipated having to move students around. I did
not anticipate having to stop the recording and actually re-arrange to
tables and chairs. In part 2 of my lesson, the tables have been pushed
closer together bringing the students closer to the computer screen. Also,
I anticipated that students would struggle with differentiating
spelling from sounds. Some students were concentrating on story words
with letters that corresponded to the color name letters as opposed to
the color name sounds. For example, one student wanted to write the
word 'my' in the 'gray' column. In this instance and quite a few
others, I reminded students that in English words with similar letters
do not always have similar sounds.
I
did not anticipate the high level of student interest in this
activity. There are five short stories in the e-library reading
lesson. By the third story most students were standing, excitedly
yelling out answers, "Dig is indigo! Bus is mustard! Room is blue!" It
was an unexpected surprise to see such eagerness among the students.
It began to become a bit competitive so I asked the class to remain
seated and speak with less volume. I should have given instructions
about behavior before beginning the activity. But, really, who knew a
lesson on pronunciation could be so much fun! Since
this lesson, I have used the color pronunciation chart in several other
classes. I have also repeated the same activity with this group. Most
students find the a activity enjoyable and are motivated to show their
understanding of the task. Students who struggle at the beginning of
the activity, soon notice that English characters do not always
represent one specific sound. When this, "Aha!" moment occurs, there is
a noticeable sense of student accomplishment. Guiding students to
these moments is my purpose as a teacher.
In this lesson, my goal was for students to identify messages sent
through body language. I used two clips from the 1982 'Annie' movie.
Common among musicals, scenes in 'Annie' are rich in body language. I
chose two contrasting scenes to show the different messages of adult
characters. The first scene was Miss Hannigan with Annie and the orphans. The other was the scene when Annie first enters the Warbucks mansion with Miss Farrell., Mr. Warbucks's secretary.
The
lesson began with students looking at picture from their textbook, a
sketch of two faces. Students explained how the people felt and were
asked to give reasons for there opinions. Following a brief discussion,
I taught the terms facial expression, gestures and body language. One
of the students knew the meaning of 'body language' and had been
introduced to the word 'gesture'. As I watched the video, I realized
that I could have asked the students if they knew what the terms meant
before going directly into explanations. I also noticed that when
students were hearing a word or phrase for the first time, I did nothing
to stimulate student understanding. Phrases, such as 'facial
expression, and words, like
'annoyed and confused', were stated without allowing students to repeat
them. I was too hasty. As a result, it is unlikely that the new
vocabulary was
placed in short term memory.
Before the video clip activity
began, both the students and I gave examples of different types of body
language. We tried guessing the messages that were being sent.
Sometimes the intended message of the sender differed from what the
recipient understood. These instances, were opportunities to point out
how the messages one intends to send are not always what is received by
the observer. Unfortunately, I failed to point out that such
misunderstanding is a common challenge in intercultural and
interpersonal communication.
When it was time to show the video
clips, students had a good understanding of what they were looking
for. My instructions were pretty clear and the following discussion
showed that students understood the goal of the lesson. During the
discussion, I returned to the clips and asked them to point out specific
movements that sent the messages they received. One student said that
Miss Hannigan was drunk. I asked her why she thought so and she said that the way Miss Hannigan
was moving was how her father moves after drinking alcohol. I was not
surprised that she shared such personal information. This is common
amongst my students.
Continuing with the lesson, I pointed out
several gestures and asked what messages were being sent. In the first
clip Annie and another orphan are hugging each other tightly as Miss Hannigan
enters their bedroom. In the second clip, Miss Farrell touches Annie's
face and makes other gestures for expressing her message to Annie.
What I did not anticipate was that students lacked the emotion
vocabulary needed to describe the messages. I should have taught some
terms before showing the scenes. I could have asked students to
identify which gestures matched the terms discussed before the viewing.
In
observing the video I realized that there were quite a few missed
opportunities for encouraging greater intercultural competence. I also
noticed that at times, when reacting to student comments, my voice
carried tones of judgement. When facilitating lessons of intercultural
competence, I must be cautious as to how I use my voice in responding
to student messages. Voice inflection can send messages more explicit
than the words themselves. Also, I must accept that student
viewpoints will not always correspond to my own and that this
difference in understanding should be expected and encouraged. If
students are taught to answer according to what they think the teacher
wants to hear, then the communication is dishonest and the lesson will
be unsuccessful.
This lesson was an introduction to understanding body language. The
gestures in the movie were obvious to read. In the future I'd like to
teach a lesson in which the cultural messages of body language are less
definable. Students should know that body language is not always easy
to read and that misunderstandings occur when people of different
countries use the same body language to express different meanings.
When I do teach a follow-up lesson, I will hopefully avoid the mistakes
made this week.
In this activity my goal was for students to improve their pronunciation
of short vowels 'a' and 'e', by noticing the subtle difference between
the similar sounds . This review activity was inspired by Harmer's
chapter 15 activity 'Ship and chip' and Kelly's 'Minimal pairs and
related activities'. To guide students, I made a short simple poem
using 7 three-letter words that the students had encountered in previous
lessons. Four of the words had the short vowel 'a' sound and the other
3 had the short vowel 'e' sound: bat, cat, rat, hat, jet, vet and bed.
Before writing the poem on the board, I showed the class flash
cards of each word and had them pronounce and spell the words. I
exaggerated my mouth to that students could see the difference in the
wider mouth opening of short vowel 'a' as compared to the slight opening
of short vowel 'e'. After showing the flash cards. I wrote two
sentences on the board using two short vowel 'a' words and two short
vowel 'e' words. I used red to write the words of the sentences, except
for the short 'e' words. For these, I used a blue marker. One of my
students asked, why I had used two colors. I was not expecting the
question, although I should have been. I'd like to say that I rarely
use any marker color other than black, but the truth is that I can't
remember ever using colored markers in this class. Before I could
finish explaining why I was using red and blue markers, the student and
his classmates figured it out on their own; different colors were used
for different vowels sounds. I think that I should have held off on my
explanation and asked the students why they thought two colors were
used. This would have been a great opportunity to incite more
student-talk.
The activity was received well by the students, one
of which added his own suggestion on how to make the reading more fun.
As suggested, I lead the students through slow and fast readings of the
poem. I was impressed when students were able to speak both quickly
and fluently, but for the purpose of the lesson I kept most of the
practice at a normal pace. I used my hand to guide students through the
reading, at several points asking them to identify sounds, by pointing
from 'a' to 'e'. I added two more sentences to the poem, making a
four-line poem.
During this activity, all of the interaction was between the student(s)
and myself. This was necessary for modeling correct vowel sounds. A
few student initiated responses/ comments did make the activity a little
more communicative.
In my opinion this was a successful
pronunciation activity. Only half of the class was present, but it did
not make much difference regarding my instruction. This group, big or
small, is pretty attentive and motivated when studying English. I will
incorporate similar activities in later lessons so that all students
have the opportunity to notice their pronunciations.
To end the
activity, I told students that there was one more short 'e' word and in
blue ink I wrote a big capital E over the poem. Once I added the second
letter, all of the students shouted, "Excellent!" I think we were all
in agreement. This activity was excellent.
My lovely beginner students are the subjects of this week's video vocabulary lesson. Three days of the week, this group of first and second graders are my first class. As soon as they pass through the sliding door, these students are in full communicative mode. I become instantly inspired as they dig deep into their adolescent lexicons to retrieve every bit of English so that I, Tracie Teacher, can understand the information that they are so eager to share. By the time class officially begins student affective filters are lowered and they are ready to learn. Unfortunately, when the camera is on, it is my affective filter that is elevated. This was not the case in week 11! I will call this my 'breakthrough lesson' because it is an honest representation of my teaching style. More importantly, in this lesson I observed how my animated personality has been fused with newly acquired teaching strategies and how this fusion has increased the quality of instruction provided to my students.
In week 11 my beginner class played Charades (acting game) as a vocabulary review activity. The objective was for students to become more familiar with phrases of
morning activities by using and responding to body language. I have played this game in other classes, but it was the first opportunity for my young beginners.
Although initially there was some student disapproval of my team selections, their objections were short-lived. There were points to be won! The class was divided into two teams. One member went to the front of class and acted out a morning routine, such as 'brush my teeth' or 'wash my face'. The other team members guessed what the student was doing, by answering in complete first person sentences, like "I brush my teeth." The team received one point once the sentence was said correctly. The class greatly enjoyed the activity and wanted to play longer than time allowed.
In planning this activity, I used the WB to present a question and record student responses. I modeled the language and used hand and arm gestures to signify proper intonation. When students struggled to recall certain terms, I used my entire body to show meaning. While watching the recording, I was surprised at what I viewed. Evidently, the camera was of little concern to me. I was more involved in guiding students to comprehension and less worried about how silly I may appear. There was a minor flaw in my planning. During the game, I realized that I had not anticipated a small problem. The second and fourth students (Team 2) repeated the activities of the first and third students (Team 1). This made it easy for members of Team 2 to guess the terms. I should have explained that the same morning action could not be done consecutively. Another flaw was that I frequently referred to two female students by the other student's name. The two girls are best friends who are equally polite, attentive and soft-spoken. Although they do not express the dramatic disapproval common with most of my students, I should still be more conscious of to whom I am speaking. Overall, I was very pleased when I viewed this 'breakthrough' lesson. I observed how my expressive teaching style has been significantly enhanced by better teaching strategies. This lesson is a true reflection of my growth as an English teacher.
The Lesson: My objective for this lesson was for students to contemplate the emotions and reactions of a person upon first entering a culture greatly different from their own. First, they compared a group of Japanese students to a group of American students. As my students commented on clothes, hair style, hair color, skin tone and eye color, I recorded their observations on the whiteboard. After a brief discussion about homogeneous and heterogeneous (I did not use these terms.) cultures, I posed two question to the class. First, I asked, "How would a Japanese student feel if they were placed in this American class?" I then asked the opposite question. While most of my students agreed that the Japanese student would be scared and nervous, they thought that the American student would feel excited and nervous. They believe that being from a racially and culturally diverse environment dissolves all fear of different cultures. I wanted to discuss this idea more, but time was not on my side. I am planning a follow-up activity that will hopefully widen their cultural lenses a little more. The Students: Before seeing this lesson clip, the viewer must be informed on my history with this class. I have taught most of the students in this class for eighteen months. When I first met these students, I was immediately impressed with their proficiency in listening, reading and speaking. Although, they struggle with grammar usage, most of the students in this class are able to speak fluently and express their thoughts with ease. This group of second and third graders are extremely talkative and highly competitive for my attention. Random comments develop into group conversations that greatly detract from the lesson goals. I have recorded this class on at least three other occasions and decided against posting any of the lessons. Their constant playfulness and foolish comments were even more disturbing on video.
The Reward: I am constantly trying new strategies to manage this class more efficiently. My daily goal is to focus their conversation on the lesson's topic. During this week's ICC lesson, students did just that. Although student enthusiasm and competitiveness overwhelmed me at times and ridiculous comments annoyed me, I was greatly pleased with the contributions made during class discussions. Unfortunately, the lesson was incomplete, as was my recording space. My camera did not record when students described the two groups as being either scared nervous or excited nervous (as mentioned above). Nor was their any recording of the student who described the Japanese students as clean. I really wanted more student output. Inability to incite elaboration, of both perspectives, was not due to technical (camera) issues, but my lack of class time and the unanticipated eagerness of student response. Students were uncharacteristically focused on the task and I didn't want to stifle their voices. In the future, I will facilitate a class activities that allows for more expansion of the topic.
