talking about yourself

so yeah ive been very busy recently and for that recent my blogs have beeb very sparse.  I thought in this post I would post the last assignment i had to hand in for my celta course. it is supposed to be my feeling about my strengths and weaknesses etc.  not only does it sort of some up the shitty work they make me do it does also give some sort of indication of the pressure i felt i have been under over the recent period.

Introduction

Throughout this course I have grown in many ways.  This said there are still several things I need to work on.  Two areas in which I think I have grown stronger are lesson planning and language in context. However I am still weak at my classroom management and keeping to the receptive skills blueprints.

Strength One

 In my first lessons my lesson plans were not very detailed.  I had too many aims and not enough information in my Language Analysis sheet.  This was evident in TP2 in which I think my lesson would have really benefited if I had predicted difficult vocabulary and put it into my lesson plan. TP3 was not much better. TP3 was also unsuccessful and I think that one reason for this was due to the fact that I had not included actual timelines, rules and meaning check questions in my Language Analysis sheet.  

Strength two

 Language in context was a really big problem for me at the start of the course.  I was completely unfamiliar with grammar let alone teaching it and I thought I would never get my head around it.  This became poignant in TP3 where I really let myself down.  As addressed earlier it was unsuccessful.  I believe that it was unsuccessful not merely because my lesson planning was poor but also because I did not teach the language in context.  I did not properly show the students the target language ‘in action’ and this meant that I failed to create the necessary grounds to clarify the meaning of the grammar item.

 I finally got to grips with language in context in TP7, where I braved grammar for a second time.  Although it was not a flawless lesson, I was able to use the target context as a means to help the students tackle the grammar item.  This was a real break through for me.   I had managed to prove to myself that, even though I had not had the same experience as some of the other teacher trainers on the course, I was able to contextualise the grammar I wanted to teach. 

 I think that observing the language in context in both the live teaching and the video recordings helped me to come to grips with this style of teaching.  The first observation class I watched particular impressed me.  The teacher used a story about himself to springboard the lesson into a grammar lesson. He seemed to make the transition so swift that it did not affect the mood of the class, by which I mean, he avoided the fear factor that can be associated with the learning of grammar items. 

 Weakness one

 There are definitely areas that I feel I am still weak at.  My transition from the upper intermediate to the pre intermediate was not very smooth.  I let myself slip and I was extremely demotivated by this.  I felt as if I was taking one step forward to take ten steps back and this was a real struggle for me to get passed.  In particular my class room management dropped.  Whilst in the upper intermediate class I felt my classroom presence was strong, in the pre intermediate class my feelings changed.  This was obvious in TP7.  Planning wise the lesson could have been a great lesson, but I let my nerves get the better of me due to my blow in confidence.  This meant that where I needed to be strong and affirmative in my instructions I was not. Evidence of this could be seen when I was carrying out instructions for the classroom game.  Due to poor classroom management I completely failed to create the snappy fun game that I wished to, instead the activity was lifeless and slightly boring with students becoming disinterested.  I think there are many ways in which I can try and improve my classroom management and I hope by my last lesson to have really improved on it.  In hindsight I would have set teams up so that the students could scaffold each other.  I would have also used my script from my lesson plan more advantageously to make sure that my instructions were clear and to the point. 

I have seen evidence of good classroom practice in my observations and this should help me to pursue my aim to get better at it.  In one of the classes we watched, the teacher presented herself as a true mentor to the students, she was firm fair and consistent. I think because of this she earned the trust of the students, which is exactly what I aim to do in the future.  I have also found a site online which I think will help me in the future 

writing samples

If i was to be given the opportunity of traveling back in time, I would certainly stop in Britain in the time of the reign of the first female English queen - Elizabeth I. I have always been fascinated by this extraordinary Historical figure who had such significant influence on this country and the history.

This decision of my past time destination occurs to me quite naturally for history is one of my life-long interests, especially the period around 15th and 16th century. Although I am aware that living in those times was not as comfortable as it is nowadays, thanks to all the inventions of the modern life, i would love to explore the spirit of the life centuries ago.

Living in England in the 16th century might take me to London, where Shakespeare just opened his Globe. Watching one of his famous plays I could catch a glimpse of the queen, dressed in clothes of an ordinary woman, surrounded by her servants. She was said to attend the theatre in disguise in order to amuse herself and scape from the formality of her royal court.

My next destination could be a lively market, where i would watch the hussle of the everyday life of ordinary people comming there to sell handmade potery and fabrics or buy some fresh eggs and bread.

My main interest would be the queen, as I mentioned before. Having seen a great documentary based on her life recently I can't help wondering how this subtle woman managed to rule her country succesfully for so many years. She must have been a person of a magnificent character and skills if she was to lead the country in those unsettled times of continuous wars against Spain and France. She defeated rebelion initiated by her cousin Mary and by many others, who didn't like to see her on the throne. Surprisingly, she had never got married. It might have been a part of her strategy how to keep the fragile peace. But it would be her devotion for the nation and her people's wellfare as she once proclaimed.

That is why I want to travel to the Elizabeth times and meet this fantastic person whose strength and personal experience could teach me a lot and whom cannot help to admire.