Reflective Essay

Prepared by: Aya Osama Ahmed Abdel Latif

Education is not filling of a pail but lighting of a fire. I have always believed in these words, but
deep down inside I couldn’t figure out a way to apply it with my students. It has always been a
struggle for me to get the students to listen. And that is when I knew that I have to start from
there.

I strived to manage the classroom by putting my hand up and allowing the students to focus their
attention on me when they appeared distracted. The students were distracted either by the task at
hand or by receiving instructions. But then during the course, I discovered the right way to give
instructions in classroom.

I believe that students need to be managed and disciplined; students at this age need to be guided
in the right path. They are capable of self-discipline but need to be shown what the rules of the
classroom are and what is the expectation of the teacher. I believe that students are basically
good but that the environment around them influences them tremendously. If the teacher built a
strong connection with the students based on their positive feelings for him/her, they will respect
the teacher and behave in the classroom. Students should feel that they are in a safe, nurturing
and supporting environment where they can learn. When they like and trust you, and when you
in turn like and believe in them, you’ll form a bond that makes classroom management a lot
easier (Linsin, 2012)

I have to admit I found materials and learned techniques that will help me to be a more effective
teacher. Throughout the course I found many valuable facts, but perhaps the most valuable one
was the module on multiple intelligences and learning styles. As I understood, each individual
think and learns in distinct ways. Thus, in every group of learners, it is evident that certain
unique characteristics glisten particularly in the learners’ manner of processing information.
Some would absorb the lesson better when they work with their hands than when they just listen.
Others would prefer to watch a video about a topic. Students likewise have preferred ways of
expressing their thoughts, feelings and ideas. Some would prefer to write, others would draw or
even dance and sing. All these preferences involve thinking/learning styles and multiple
intelligences.

In general, the theory helped me to notice that teachers must vary their teaching strategies that
would cater to the needs of multiple intelligences, thus, allow the learners to process information
in the way he/she prefers. I`ve learnt to apply differentiated instruction as I believe that this
would stimulate learning and give chance to everyone to participate and enjoy learning
depending on their personal taste. As I see it, the students enjoy the activities primarily because
the teachers in our schools rarely use diverse strategies. Most of the time, the method utilized
simply focused on discussion and spoon-feeding of data. Students who get used to it sometimes
get bored and the instruction itself is very teacher-centered. Thus, it disregards the relevance of
individual differences especially in processing information and the idea of multiple intelligences.

Overall each of the modules tried to present a theme which is actually clear and can be identified
from the title of the chapter itself and they all serve one major theme; integration of different
teaching methods, tools, materials, settings to provide the different needs of different learners to
acquire the 4 skills of the English language in a safe student-centered environment to be able to
communicate fluently and accurately.