Running head: Final paper

Final Paper: Learned Highlights and Set Goals

Chienyu Jade Yi
CPO #4472
Wheaton College Graduate School

for
INTR 613: TESOL Classroom Dynamics Practicum
Dr. Cheri Pierson
August 5, 2016

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Summary of this course

This was a weeklong intense course; nonetheless I could process and retain what I
have learned better than in a regular course that I take during either fall or spring
semester. All the information that I have read from the textbooks, the reflection that I
have written for the journal, and the conversation that I have had with Chelsea and Junko
as a group, the lectures that Dr. Pierson has given, and the practicum at three sites that I
have had with Ellen and Jenn are reciprocally reinforcing each other. In addition, this
course is very practical because I am able to apply it, test it, and contextualize it right
away for the benefit of ESL students learning and my own teaching growth.
I still remember our conversation about the term reflective teaching on the first
day of our class. Dr. Pierson used the following quote to help us think critically.
Reflective teaching is a recognition, examination, and
rumination over the implications of ones beliefs, experiences,
attitudes, knowledge and values as well as the opportunities
and constraints provided by the social conditions in which the
teacher works. (Zeichner & Liston)
I really appreciate this quote. It sets the tone perfectly to begin this course and reminds
each of us why we are doing what we all are passionate about. That is to be a good
teacher. Being a good teacher is to be reflective. Reflective process can happen before,
during and after ones teaching. These three phases also are known as reflection on
(past), in (present), and for (future) practice. Keeping this in mind, we begin to look at
the four dimensions of a classroom.

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In order to create an effective learning and teaching classroom, four dimensions of

a classroom need to be considered: planning, interaction, classroom management, and
classroom climate. Planning a good lesson cannot be overlooked. There are five Ps in our
planning: prepare, present, practice, produce, and process. The five Ps are not linear in
our teaching vocation, but is a circular movement. The more teaching experience we
have as a reflective teacher by going through the five Ps routines each time, the more
effective classroom that we are able to create.
Having a good lesson plan but without seeing oneself as a teacher who has a great
responsibility, students as learners who deserve to have a holistic learning environment,
and goals of a school program for the course that we are going to teach, we wont be able
to create an effective classroom. That being said we need to know our teaching
philosophy and students learning styles. In order to have students to interacting with us
the teachers, with their partners, in their small groups, or as a whole class effectively,
visualizing students in class as we put a lesson plan together is very important, which can
help us scaffold all the activities carefully, from simple to complex, from receptive to
production, from deductive to inductive, from formed focused to meaningful one, from
controlled to open-ended activities. As we teach, we do want to remember what, why,
and how to teach so that we do not lose track of the framework that we have designed.
Having an effective classroom management and climate would not occur without
building trust and relationship with them. If we do well, students intrinsic motivations
naturally increase, which is what we teachers want to see. This part of practice is what I
could not have from the practicum teachings, which, however, allow me to get my feet
wet to test what I have learned as a reflective teacher. They all were semi-authentic

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settings for me. I was in each site for a very short period of time; not all students knew
my role clearly since they didnt show up for each class while I was observing or
teaching the class; I was trying to be sensitive to their views on student teachers, which
they brought with them from their own countries, which constrain my role a little bit.
To sum up what I have learned from the course, I appreciate that I am able to see
myself through the Johari Window model in a reflective way: the open self, the secret
self, the blind self, and the hidden self. Dr. Piersons reports on my teachings were
tremendously helpful, very detailed, very timely, very precise, which help me to reflect
on two goals that I set for myself in the beginning of the course.

Goals. There were two goals that I set for myself before taking this course. The
first one was to learn my classmates creativities and adapt them for my future teaching;
the second one was to grow and strengthen what I was not good at based on the feedback
from my classmates, the professor, Dr. Pierson, and two Cooperating teachers. They are
instructions and classroom management.

Each of my classmates is uniquely gifted. I really enjoyed observing them as they

were teaching; through their teachings I learned more about them. Since I am not
planning to list all the gifts that I identify, the examples that I list below are just some.
Irene is very creative. I enjoyed the activity that she had us to participate in. Each team
as an avatar is asked to carry out a continuous conversation at a restaurant, which trains
us to pay attention to what has been asked and said by others. It is a very good activity.
Tony is a good listener and sensitive to his students. After his first day activity which we

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only get to practice with male clothing items, he gathers a variety of items from
magazines that both genders are able to talk about. Natasha takes her teaching very
seriously. She prepares well what she exactly wants to say and teach, which shows her
dedication. Junko is a hard worker and writes a great lesson plan. She lays out her
lesson plan in a very profession manner. Chelsea plans her lesson thoroughly. She preassigns each student a role for each small group so that there is full participation. Jenny
has a joyful childlike presence in a very good way. Her activity is very inviting and fun
for young learners to participate. Charity has a calm presence. She handles classroom
management well when things do not work out well as it is planned. Mary knows how to
create fun interaction. Her choice of the activity, pushing the cell phone button, is a great
example. I am so blessed to get to know my classmates and be able to learn from them
and the gifts that they bring to the class. I will carry their gifts with me and use them
when opportunities come.

My second goal is to give clear instructions and improve my classroom

management. These two have been mentioned repeatedly. There is no other better way
to improve how to give clear instructions but to rehearse what I want to say for
instructions before teaching; more experience would help. Scrivener lists five steps that I
find helpful(Scrivener, 2011, p. 65): 1. Become aware of my own instruction-giving. 2.
Analyze the instructions beforehand. 3. Separate instructions clearly from the other chitchat, telling off, joking, etc. that goes on. 4. Demonstrate rather than explain. 5 Dont
assume but check that students have understood what to do.

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Regarding to improving classroom management, I am convinced that I am able to

do much better when I teach a real class down the road. I had no problem to do what I
am expected, for example, to tell students to sit at a new assigned seat or call out
students name when it is needed in my past teaching in Taiwan. By the same token,
when I teach at church or lead any retreat or workshop, I am pretty quick to do any
necessary adjustment since I know participants and they know me well. However, in a
setting like practicum, I just did not feel comfortable to do it. When there is no built
relationship and trust, it can happen but might not be effective as Scrivener also notes that
an important part of this has to do with a teachers relationships with the learners, and her
or his attitude, intentions, and personality (Scrivener, 2011, p. 54).

Reflection on journal entries, class readings, notes from observations,

course/personal goals, and teacher evaluation forms. I really appreciate all the
feedback on my journal and evaluation forms that I have received from Dr. Pierson. It is
interesting to hear someone else other than my husband that I dont finish my sentences
sometimes. As I was reviewing the journal I wrote and reflecting some of my papers I
wrote before, I noticed that I could have given more details but somehow I didnt think
that those details were needed at those moments as I was writing, which cause
misunderstanding or a lack of its clarity. When I am having face to face conversations, I
do notice that I dont finish my sentence sometimes. What I do is to replace a part of
speech with new information without explaining much. In a real conversation, it is very
common to hear people talking like this. However, in teaching, I have to discipline
myself. I will definitely keep that in mind.

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I am glad that we get to read this book before our practicum, Practice Teaching:
A Reflective Approach (Richards & Farrell, 2011). There are countless stories printed in
italic throughout the book, which help me see certain situations or issues that both
Cooperating teachers and practicum teachers are dealing with. I could use some of my
common sense to predict those situations or issues and how I might deal with them;
however, their stories enrich and expand my views so that I can be more objective when
those situations occur and be more sensitive to students. For example, two teachers share
their views under the subtitle, Developing Learner-Focused Teaching. The question is,
What constitutes an effective language lesson from your perspective? (Richards &
Farrell, 2011, p. 23):

Teacher A: Its important to me that I achieve the goals I set for

the lesson and dont skip things I planned to cover. I need to
feel I did a good job on covering the different stages of the
lesson the presentation phase, the practice stage, and the free
production stage, for example.

Teacher B: To me the most important thing is that the students

enjoyed themselves and had useful practice. And that the
lesson was at the right level for them not too easy or too
difficult so that they felt it was really worthwhile coming to
class today.

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Both teacher A and teacher B care very much about their teachings, but one is learner
centered and another one is not. For the teacher A, the goal is about what she has planned
to accomplish. For the teacher B, the goal is about what students are able to accomplish
and learn well. Another factor that I like those stories is that the student teachers name
and their nationality are noted. That helps me to understand his or her thought process,
which is influenced by the culture and ethos that they have been raised under.

Conclusion. There is a saying in Chinese, , which can be

translated in English as, If one is personally involved in a matter, it is easy to blind
oneself to the truth. However, if one is not involved in the matter, it is possible to see
things more clearly. This Chinese saying is similar to the Johari Window model. The
practicum class has offered us the opportunity to play the role of a bystander, observing
how others teach and giving them suggestions. What I like about the final three-wayconference is that I personally know who give me certain suggestions and critiques in
writing and face to face. In this case, they come from Dr. Pierson and Ellen. I also know
the reasons and contexts behind those suggestions and critiques. I wish the same thing
could have happened in our microteaching in class.

We wrote our evaluation without signing our names, which I did not understand
why. If we all were invited to give personal suggestions and critiques face to face, why
we left our names out in writing. Few comments I got did not make much sense to me,
and I wish I could have been able to ask face to face. If the intention of this exercise is to

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build each other up and encourage each other, we should be able to speak truth in love in
both writing and face to face. That is my thought. However, I have to admit that I am not
good at giving very constructive suggestions in a short amount of time like we have in
class; the feedback from Dr. Pierson is a good model for me to learn. Sometimes when
things cannot be explained well in a short amount time, I prefer to give a simple concise
comment instead of writing some thoughts which cannot be conveyed clearly to the
person who is teaching.

I enjoyed this class, the small group that I was part of, and the 3 practicum sites
where I got to know Jenn and Ellen. I have learned so much. This is a reflective
practicum teaching experience for me. These three words, recognition, examination, and
rumination become alive throughout the course.

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References

Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2011). Practice teaching: a reflective approach. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning teaching: the essential guide to english language teaching
(3. ed). Oxford: Macmillan.