A Reflective Writing

Student life is one of the most beautiful experiences ever.  Many things not learned in the home, in the workplace and within the vicinity are all enjoyed and encountered in school.

One thing is worth mentioning, I could not have appreciated the beauty and exquisiteness of life as a student without the tedious requirements, blunders in the course of the performance of all those required of us and achievements at the end of the day.  Here are some worth-mentioning experiences and are worth-sharing.

Practicum IV was very challenging.  I had it with College Champigne.  Expectations I had with the school and with the students were high.  I had to prepare as much as I could to meet the standards.  The students were in their high school, advanced grade 2 level.

At the beginning of my teaching experience, I made sure to encourage the use of plain English as a mode of communication, either with me or with their classmates.  I introduced L2 standard of teaching thinking that all students having reached such level are capable of performing in that level.

To my despair, I noticed that immediately utilizing L2 standard poses difficulty in the students.  Evaluation conducted yielded low result in the students’ performance. With this observation, I had to adjust my manner of teaching.

Some performed low, so I had to get back to L1 to be able to cope with the needs and the capability of the students.  In responding to this problem, I also talked with the students personally.  I had to know their individual difficulties so I may be able to apply the best method suitable for all of them, without disregarding some students behind. This, for me, is the essence of a teacher as a critic and interpreter of knowledge

Nevertheless, constant communication is English had been the policy.  Consistency and insistent use of the language, I believe, etched in the minds of the students the value of learning English and the use of it in day to day life.  I made sure to be a model in the use of the language myself; otherwise, the student would not have the encouragement to use the same.

I designed strategies suitable to all 38 students.  First thing to note is that as a teacher, I should have a positive mind in all the undertakings.  In some activities, I make sure that both oral and written practices are applied.  In the grammar portion, I asked the students to read a fairy tale, for example.  The story is read orally, the students also had some group work wherein they are able to share their opinions and thoughts on the story.

After the oral activity is the written one. In the discussion on verb tenses for instance, the students are asked to fill out the blanks of the appropriate verb tense.  They also had home works to work on.  With the aid of fairy tales also, the students are able to make plot diagrams to assist them in their group discussion.  Students who chose the same fairy tale are grouped together.

Moreover, the students are asked to make body biography of the characters of the story assigned.  This enables them to relate the story to the class the next day.  This also enables them relive the story during the course of the discussion.  Each group is to make a body biography and relate the same to the class.  They also had jigsaw reading and the reader’s theater.  The latter made use of a video where they had to make the editing themselves.

All these involve the participation of everyone, enhancing the confidence of the students as they work with their peers.