Wang Siting's reflection

Reflection (third week)

Time flies! We have taught in school for three weeks. I was assigned to school, Taman Sea, with Wang Lin, Rou Jin and Awatif. Rou Jin and Awatif are teaching Form 4 in the morning session, and Wang Lin and I are teaching Form 2 in the afternoon session. I teach two classes. One has good English ability, another is relatively weaker. The first two days, we two (Wang Lin and I) did not go into the classroom because we were waiting for our timetables. During this time, other teachers in the school gave us so many useful suggestions such as Madam Tang. They told us some possible situations what could happen in the classroom, and the ways to solve. For example, our mentor said that students are quite naughty; the first thing we should learn is that we should control our class well. This makes me anxious and worried.

There is another interesting thing. Students have to assemble on the playground in their last period on Monday. My first day in school was Monday. So, I had the opportunity to take participate in this ‘meeting’. One of the principals, Madam Julie, introduced us to all the students. It made me feel nervous immediately. All the eyes were looking at us. Since then, when we step into campus each time, we can hear some students call us ‘Miss Wang’. (When I have relief class, students always asked me that if Wang Lin and I are sisters because we are both ‘Miss Wang’).

Started from third day, we came into the classroom. The first thing I did was to know my students. I prepared ‘ice break’, it did not work well. Some of the girls were afraid of speaking. So, I made it simple. I just asked them to sit in pairs and introduce each other such as their hobbies and personalities. It worked better than ice break. It made me know that some of the students are good at handwriting, drawing or singing. One more thing is that it is really hard for me to pronounce and memorize their names. I really have no idea. The only way for me is to memorize their names from the name list…(Should I ask students to write their names in Chinese on the name list I prepared? Because most of students are Chinese, when they spell their names using letters, it is really hard to pronounce…)

When you start to teach, choosing the suitable material is very important. In order to know my students’ level, I played a vocabulary game in the class with good English ability. This game is named “what is the meaning”. Teacher should provide an unfamiliar word to students and divide them into groups. Students should write down the definition of the word and how they guess the meaning. So, I wrote “warmonger” on the board. Unexpectedly, they all knew the meaning of this word. How can I continue the game! (I did not prepare another word…) I asked that in what ways you knew this word. Some of them said that they learnt the word “fishmonger” so that they can guess out the meaning of this word. How smart are they! So, I decided to give them more challenging work next time.

I selected a relatively difficult reading passage to them, they still had no problems with it. I even gave them writing tasks in order to get to know them. I found that they are really good at English. Most of them have good writing skills and rich vocabularies. However, some of them have grammatical problems. This class is really challenging for me. I must improve myself.

About another class, their English level is intermediate. Some girls are not good enough. Sometimes, when they ask questions, they would like to use Chinese. So, the tasks I gave to them are much easier.

So far, I gave writing tasks to both of the classes. I think writing is a good way to communicate with your students. Besides that, I found that many students like to read short stories. I will select some stories and use literature circles in the classroom.

Control your classroom! It is still a problem to me. I have to promise that I am a soft person. I cannot pretend to be strict even I remembered what you told us. Fortunately, the discipline in my class is not too bad. When I stop speaking, students will know that teacher is unhappy and can keep quiet for a moment, but just a moment… another problem is that I cannot fully attract my students’ attention. This is what I should improve.

By the way, I felt happy that I had a relief class in Form 1. One of the girls gave me a gift. Haha~~

Teaching practice really helps me build my confidence. It even made me speak more. I know that I am not a good communicator. Now, I am trying my best to make change. Sometimes, we may feel frustrated, please hang in there and work hard. Hope all my friends can enjoy your teaching practice and get more from it.

siting