CELTA Assignment 4

Assignmen t4 Lessons from the classroom Saima Munawar Zahidi

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Assignment 4: Lessons from the Classroom

This is dedicated to my family and my tutors, Mr. Ehab and Ms. Caroline, who gave me the strength whenever I felt weak

Submitted by: Saima Munawar

Table of Contents

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Assignment 4: Lessons from the Classroom

Table of Contents........................................................................................................ 3 Introduction................................................................................................................ 4 Strengths.................................................................................................................... 4 Area that need improvement...................................................................................... 4 Teaching observations................................................................................................ 4 Action plan after CELTA course................................................................................... 5 References.................................................................................................................. 5

Submitted by: Saima Munawar

Introduction

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Assignment 4: Lessons from the Classroom

CELTA at British Council Jeddah is an experience of its own kind. I am experiencing mixed feelings as it is reaching the final stages. I am glad that soon I will complete the course and receive the qualification that I always aspired. At the same time, the realisation that I would not be preparing for the Teaching Practice (TP) anymore is making me feel sad. The thrill of preparation and the anxiety of waiting for feedback after TP will not be there anymore. In our practical lives, it’s only once in a while that we are observed and then appreciated for the hard work. It was only here that my hard work was evaluated, appreciated and corrected professionally. I will definitely miss those feedback comments, “I like the way you..... but you can....” They always gave me a spur to work even harder. This course has facilitated an amazing learning curve in me.

Strengths My tutors have complemented my preparation of materials in most of my TP feedbacks. In my opinion, it is an edge to be able to produce and adapt materials that are suitable for your students. A teacher can maintain a balance and variety through clever use of material. As Harmer notes, “the students are much more likely to remain interested” if there is a variety of tasks. 1 These materials helped me in achieving students’ learning objectives successfully while keeping students interested. Moreover, I was able to maintain appropriate level of challenge that was suitable for students’ level. My tutors also appreciated my classes for being student-centred. Jones comments, “In a student-centred classroom, students are involved in the learning process and become committed to improving their English. Different learning styles can be accommodated, and students can help each other to develop their skills.” 2it is one of the most important attribute of a language learning class as in such a class the students are more involved. This helps a lot in keeping them motivated. They are able to share their ideas and learn from each other without getting humiliated for making the mistakes. Many of the student-centred activities are communicative which provide student an opportunity to practice their language skills in a meaningful way.

The area that need improvement In my last few TP feedbacks, the tutor has advised me to slow down the pace of lesson. I believe it happened because I am always afraid that would not be able to finish on time. Right now thinking about this deficiency, I realise that I tend to add stages to lesson which are not included in my TP points. I think it’s a vicious cycle. I

Submitted by: Saima Munawar

Assignment 4: Lessons from the Classroom

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plan thing because I think I will finish early then I rush because I have too much to do. Solution is right there in the problem.

The teaching observations Observation of the practicing teachers and colleagues allowed me to learn a lot about the different teaching styles and the teaching techniques that can be utilised to achieve the lesson aims. As schrivner states, “one of the most useful things is simply to watch other people teach.”3 Following are some points that I have drawn from teaching observations. In one of the practising teacher observations of an Elementary level class, I was astonished to see how effortlessly the teacher was giving instructions and the students were getting on to the task immediately. She was magically gesturing along with the precise and simple instructions. This helped me a lot especially when I moved from intermediate level class to Elementary level class. Language grading with hand gestures did its trick. Where in my first elementary level TP feedback, I received the comments, “Script your instructions in simple language e beforehand”, and “keep meaning central when giving feedback e.g think about using CCQs.” In the very next feedback I received an appreciation in this area, “Very good work with presenting the meaning of the target language: effective use of timelines on the IWB, eliciting and CCQs. Your students were very clear concerning the meaning, well done!” In my TP2 feedback, the tutor advised, “Try to vary interaction patterns to promote further communication in class.” In this regard, lessons from our tutors’ classes were quite useful. I watched the videos of their input sessions and observed how they varied the interaction patterns which included open-pairs, closed pairs, group work and mingling activities. I realised it not only helps you to change the focus of the class but it also helps you to keep the learners engaged in a lesson. There were some valued learning instances from peer observations as well. One of the fellow trainees has a signature style of pre-teaching vocabulary embedded in a story. Her style keeps the meaning of the words contextualised without taking much of TTT. There’s another colleague who used to give vocabulary handouts for in her vocabulary lessons. Huda in our group was the first one to use finger teaching for word stress and syllables; it proved to be a valuable demonstration for the whole group.

Action plan after the CELTA course The end of the CELTA course does not mean end of professional development for me. I beleive, it is just a starting point. In long run, I am planning to attain further qualifications in teaching and English linguistics. However, in near future, I am planning for the following actions. I will self-assess my lessons periodically by video

Submitted by: Saima Munawar

Assignment 4: Lessons from the Classroom

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recording my classes and analysing them light of CELTA guidelines. Moreover, I will continue attending short workshops periodically at British Council in order to refresh the invaluable learning I have gained through this program. Many workshops and courses, which focus on various professional development areas. are arranged by British Council round the year. Most importantly, I will read more books on Teaching as one the fellow trainee very rightly commented, “These books raise a new sun right in front of you eyes.” I would like to conclude my assignment with a quotation.

“The secret to mastery in any field is to forever be a student.” Martin Palmer

References 1. Jeremy Harmer, How to teach English, Longman 1998 2. Leo Jones, The Student-Centered Classroom, Cambridge University Press 2007 3. Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching, Macmillan

Submitted by: Saima Munawar