This blog was created for students teachers to reflect on their teaching experience at school and share this experience with one another. As each shares and collaborates on best practices, successes as well as mistakes in teaching ESL, it is hoped that student teachers will benefit from such collaborative reflections on this blog platform and continue to appreciate the use of such a platform for further collaborations even after Teaching Practice.

Saturday 6 October 2012

Always Be an Energetic Teacher



Hello all my friends, how are you? I hope everything is going smoothly in your teaching practical. Until today, I have been observed twice by my supervisor and once by my mentor. My supervisor told me “you are still in the learning process, I want to see you improve yourself once by once, nobody is perfect, but everybody can improve little by little”. Here I would like to thank all their advices and suggestions; it will definitely make me to be a better teacher in the future. Although it is quite hard and stressful in our practical for me, however I appreciate and remember every moment I have been through during these 3 months practical. This is the only one a worthwhile experience in my life.

Form 4 Maju Class: I entered my form 4 Maju class on Monday 3rd of September; it was 40 minutes lesson, so I was trying to do ice-breaking activity to know each student. I realized that the students in 4 Maju class were not energetic and active at all, even though I prepared some interesting activities for them. I talked to myself, how can I make them feel involved? They are not so active in the class, perhaps it is because my lesson is so bored that I cannot grasp their attention? I asked myself hundred times, “Ma Fei, how can you make your students more active during the class?” I asked senior teachers, they told me 4 Maju class is hard-working class, they are not so creative and active. After the first week of teaching, I felt 4 Maju class is quiet ok. Although they are not so active, but they would listen to me and cooperate with me during the class. They even did not have discipline problems during the first week from my observation to them. BUT, BUT, this the only first week, after first week, I found them some of the boys are becoming laziness and making noise during the class. The second week of teaching, I asked 4 Maju class to write an essay about should family values and traditions give importance? To be honest, they gave me a big surprise, “collecting their writing essays is the most difficult thing. 4 boys did not submit their essays to me, 4 of them promised to me they would submit to me before the school time ends, as a teacher, I asked them “boys, can I have your words, can I trust you?” they promised to me so sincerity, so I trusted them, I waited until the school time finished that day, I have not seen any essays. I was shocked and angry. I directly went to class to call them one by one to come to see during their relief class. Furthermore, when I marked their essays, I can’t believe my eyes, 4 students, their essay were exactly same, they copied from answer sheet, they even did not change one single word. SIGH…SIGH….

In addition, students in 4 Maju class liked to gather together with their best friends during class especially some of the boys. 4 or 5 of them sat together, they were talking to each other, they were playing to each other. Furthermore, I found out students in 4 Maju class isolated one boy from the whole class, I showed you example: the third week of teaching, 4 Maju Class need to have their oral-speaking role-play based on their literature. It will conduct in their final marks. So students are really cared about. The oral role play need 4 or 5 students in a group, they can choose short stories and dramas. There is one boy group, they were choosing short story, but their group had 5 members, the characters in the short story only had 4 characters. One person did not have chance to speak during their oral role play. The marks depends on every person need to speak equally, or that person spoke less would deduct his marks. The boy came to see me with helpless eyes.

I try my best to have overcome these challenges by keeping energetic always as well as I have stepped into the class. Because I consider this is the way I can use to simulate students’ abilities. Being a teacher needs to change the situation if students are not active and excited, firstly, I need to keep excited and energetic always, the students will not feel bored. For their essays, the boys who have not submit their essays to me, I gave them 2 chances to submit their essays, but they ignore me. So I told to myself I need to do something, I can’t trust them anymore, they promised to me so sincere, but I have not seen their essays. I asked the permission from the teacher in charge 4 Maju’ class, I asked the 4 boys to come to my office to do their essays. I watched them until they finished their essays. Sigh .for 4 boys who copied from the answer sheet, I did not require them to rewrite again, I gave them a little punishment, I required them to copy 3 times about their essays, after 3 times copies, they have to remember everything about the essay they copied, then, they need to recite their essays in front of the whole class.
The students who want to sit together in order to speak and chat with their friends easily, I separated with them during my class. Besides that, the boy who isolated from some boys in the class, I talked to him several times privately, I get to know the situation, and I tried to arrange him in the group of 5 characters. Luckily, there is one group, they were doing their drama for oral role play, there are 5 characters. They accepted him as a group member, Frankly, I am not sure whether it is working or not, or it is helpful and useful to him, but I am still trying my best.

Form 2 Cekal Class: For my 2 cekal class, they are the best class. The students are creative, brilliant; respect teachers and like to talk all the time. One problem in 2 Cekal class is that they love to talk; they even cannot stop their talking. But they are too smart; they can read teacher’s facial expression. If I was teaching, they were talking, they only thing I need to do is stopping teaching, suddenly, they will keep quiet and apologize about they were talking just now.

In the second week of teaching, we were discussing about environment. We discussed about how to save our environment as a citizen, they even came out slogans about saving environment. I gave them mahjong papers to ask them to design a poster about saving environment. Then, after they finished their poster, they need to present their poster in groups. These are pictures when they are presenting their poster. 

Turing over a new chapter seems to be difficult at the beginning, but it will be meaningful and helpful. We need to turn mirrors into windows. 


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