Pedagogical Content
Here are the notable learnings I came across as I ventured Thailand with academic endeavor in mind. Buckle up as I explain to you what I learned and noticed during my classes! (￣^￣)ゞ
Teaching Pedagogy
Considerate and Practical
My first week as a pre-service student teacher exchange at Khon Kaen University, specifically at the Demonstration School of KKU Secondary Level (Mo Din Daeng ), was spent in observing different English classes in Matthayom 4. It was Wednesday, January 29, when I was first introduced to my very kind and approachable mentor, Teacher Benchawan Phomsansri.
The next day, I started observing her classes. I sat at the back and observed the students. Before the class began, I was asked to introduce myself in front of the class. The number of students was just right; the classroom was not crowded nor wide for them. Teacher Ben started the class by letting the students describe or elaborate the title. In here, she clearly used inquiry-based learning. Then, she presented pictures and let the students describe and guess what was in it. The students seemed to enjoy guessing games a lot; hence, they showed active learning and they participated well. Throughout the discussion, she used different methods to cater the different learning styles of the students: picture for sight and audio for hearing. She maximized the usage of the students' book and the provided audios for it.
Here are the things that I learned from her. First is to always begin the lesson by relating the general idea (like the title) to the students. With this, they should be able to understand it since it is aligned to their interest. Next is to present real-life pictures when you discuss. Last is to allow the students to share opinions with their seatmates and then just call some students to share it in class. The key here is to call the student and let that student do the sharing. After that, relate it in class, to their lives and interests. Doing this will promote what we call authentic learning.
Aside from accompanying Teacher Ben in her classes, I also observed the Matthayom 4 classes of Teacher Jade and Teacher PB. His classes were the same with Teacher Ben in terms of giving a simple activity, but his focus was speaking. This difference was just because he was teaching a different subject.
With the classes I observed, I came to a conclusion that English classes at the school are taught in the simplest way possible. The teachers make sure that the students are not burdened with a lot of activities because they are not expected to be all fluent with the language. Despite the simplicity, each classes are practical because they focus on the four macro skills that when mastered, the students can be able to have a full understanding of how to use the target language in any given situation.
Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking
Teaching Plan
Direct and Innovative
The Demonstration Schools of KKU all follow the Satit KKU Creative Innovator Framework when they write their lesson plans. It is a straightforward framework because it targets all the essential skills that the 21st century students should develop.
I’m new to the template that my supervisor asked me to use for lesson planning. They use their own modified template in the Demonstration School of KKU, so I had to learn how to devise a plan using it. As a beginner with the template, it was kind of difficult for me to grasp the idea of it. With the help of my kind student intern friends at Mo Din Daeng Secondary, I was able to understand how it works. It looks complicated at first, but when understood, it is quite simple and direct.
PLC
Blessed and Guided
The teachers in the Foreign Language Department checked my lesson plans. They gave me comments and suggestions on how to make my plans better and more suitable for the students.
Now that we are done with my class observations, let me show you how I aced my actual teaching practice!
☆⌒(ゝ。∂)
My Lesson Plans
1. Used To
2. Past Perfect Simple
My Teaching Practice
Worry with Grace
Have you ever experienced being anxious that you think you will never do a single thing correctly yet excited that you can't help but imagine the possible scenarios in your head?
As a girl who is very demure and very cutesy, this was what I felt before my actual teaching practice.
But again, since I am a girl who is very demure and very cutesy, I handled everything with grace. I asked for a lot of advices from the teachers in the faculty and made sure to at least retain the things I can apply during my classes. I was blessed to have those kind teachers around me and I thank them for all their help.
After my rigorous preparation with a series of self-doubt and overthinking on the side, the most awaited moment came — my actual teaching practice.
My Teaching Procedure
New experience unlocked
I was able to have two teaching classes for each of the Matthayom 4 classes: 4/1, 4/2, 4/3, 4/4, and 4/5. The topics that I taught them were used to and past perfect simple. My mentor gave me their book, Beyond B1 Student’s Book, as my main source and basis of information.
I had my lesson plans prepared days before I did my teaching practice. I even went through PLC, wherein the teachers in the Foreign Language Department checked my lesson plans for corrections and suggestions.
I started my classes by greeting the students. After that, I had them recall the vocabulary they learned in the past discussion by giving them a short activity/game. Then, using the sentences we formed, I slowly introduced the new lesson in class. During the discussion, I noticed that there were some students who struggled a lot in using the target language. It was kind of difficult to teach because I was worried if they can follow what I say. Throughout the discussion, I made sure to explain things as simple as possible so that even the struggling students can understand what I say. It was truly an eye-opening experience to teach them because I definitely learned a lot on how to handle those kind of situations. It is never easy to teach a second language; hence, a teacher should have the most patience, effort, and creativity he/she can muster.
After we finished our discussion, I gave the students their worksheets to answer. Since I was briefed regarding the students' level in learning English, I prepared two strategies for them. For the class with good level, I let them answer the worksheet by themselves and then checked it afterwards. On the other hand, for the class with struggling learners, I opted for them to answer the worksheet as a group. I led the class in formulating the correct answer. Of course, I let them tell me themselves their answer and just supplied them with the correct answer and explanation. This strategy was from what I had seen that both the teachers I observed did on their classes. It was my first time doing it in class so I was kind of hesitant at first. It was fortunate that I used this because it turned out to be helpful for the students.
Since I was instructed to administer just one seatwork on one period, I wasn't able to use the other activities I wrote on my lesson plans. Despite that, I was still happy and contented because I was able to deliver a lesson that suited the students.
The very thing I learned from my teaching practice experiences here was to trust the professionals. From the checking of my lesson plans, up to the actual teaching practice itself, I was guided by my mentor and the teachers in the faculty. Because of their advices and suggestions, I was able to provide the students with the right teaching they need and deserve. Teaching English here is definitely different from teaching in my home country. This is most probably because of the environment. The students in our country have a better understanding of the English language since birth compared to the students here who are mostly exposed to using just the Thai language.
Anyhow, the students' performance during our classes does not necessarily reflect their whole academic performance. Even if they had difficulties in this particular subject, I believe that they excel on the other subjects, wherein language barrier is never a problem. After all, they are all smart and capable.