Week 3, Reflection 3

April 27th May 1st 2014

Teaching reading is an important skill. Hence, we have chosen teaching reading as our
focus area for this week. I did different observations to focus on teaching reading and I
observed different strategies of teaching it. Some teachers did it as an independent task
while students have to work on pre, while, and post activities by themselves. Others did it
by providing the appropriate environment to read through playing music. In addition, I
liked the way of a teacher who introduced the topic by asking learners to search on the
internet to find 4 facts about Antarctica. I have found this type of teaching reading since
students were put on the context of the lesson.
Mreader is a new experience for us. Honestly, at the beginning it felt strange to do it as I
thought it is for students only. Though, my opinion has been completely changed because
I have found it very valuable and exciting. In fact, it is useful as I can read different types
of books. Besides, the strategy of the program which is doing a small quiz after reading
the book helped me a lot to memorize the events of the story. This gives me a range of
stories to use with my students and I will be able to have a brief idea about most stories at
the library. For instance, if I want to teach students about values, I would advise them to
read Under the Bridge story which teach many key values, such as helping and
respecting others.
Moreover, Ms. Gulmira invited us to her class to do an activity called dictogloss.
Actually, it sounded strange when I heard the term dictogloss and it was my first time to
hear it. Based on the background essay on dictogloss done by Gulmira, it is a way of
turning the unproductive activity as dictation into a communicative way which helps
English language learners. It is done in different ways and it could be done through
reading or listening. She did it through introducing the target vocabulary and it was done
as a listening activity as they had to listen then write down what they remembered. After
that, she asked them to use what they remember to compose a paragraph. I really liked
this type of dictation because I think it helps learners to be engaged more in activities and
it improves their listening and memorizing skills.

Working at the SSCE was another way of improving our teaching skills. Guiding the
weak students in the center raised my awareness towards choosing the appropriate
materials for learners. In addition, I had the chance to work with my colleague which
gave us more confidence and we had the chance to share ideas and experiences.
My mentor and I agreed to work on a reading task with different groups weekly. When I
did it last week I decided to do changes according to learners needs because I felt they
need more opportunities to speak. Accordingly, I created a speaking activity which was
presenting different types of fruit and asking them to choose their favorite type to talk
about it. In fact, this task was very beneficial because it helped me compare and do
changes based on students level as well as it gave me more confidence in teaching.

Rasha Alzaabi

2014/2015