Dear teachers,
Welcome back to our virtual educational discussion at the Yazigi Teachers Development Spot. For this first reflection please answer the question above, explain your reasons and post your reply in the blog. There's some food for thought at http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/li_wilhelm/article.pdf
Thank you,
Uncle Cid
I reckon I am 80% modern and 20% traditional. In order to justify why I broke down my teaching behavior in two I can first say that coming from a country where teaching in general still utilizes a tedious obsolete approach which measures student´s errors stead of analysing their potentials, I sometimes find myself spending class time reenacting the lessons I had when I was in high school. Looking at avoiding such boredom, an appropriate planning process is highly reccomended analysing your student´s ages and behavior facilitating therefore ways for them to build their own path throughout the learning process.
ResponderExcluirI see myself on the way to become a modern teacher. I've been an EFL teacher for a long time and this is not always an advantage. However, there is one thing I can assure: I like to learn new things and I'm not afraid of changes. I know I have some bad habits that I struggle to overcome and the best way to do it is by preparing my classes carefully and reflecting on my practices. This is what I've been doing. I also help my students to reflect on their learning and to be aware of the fact that they are responsible for their development too. I'm sure I'm much closer to being a modern teacher than I was years ago, but I can't relax or feel very comfortable with my experience. I have to keep on learning.
ResponderExcluirThis is a very hard question to answer. We can easily consider ourselves modern teacher due to our beliefs when it comes to TEFL. Nevertheless, our pratice speaks louder than our thoughts. Being a modern teacher goes beyond understanding about new techniques and CLT, it's all about applying them in classroom settings. Thus, I can say that I try to be as modern as possible and just like Susan (one of the teachers mentioned in the text) I try to reflect upon my performance as a teacher, even though sometimes I catch myself reproducing old behaviours I acquired as a student of English in traditional schools.
ResponderExcluirI can't say I'm a completely modern teacher. I've made a big effort to become a modern teacher every class, but, as the others emphasised, we sometimes behave ourselves during our classes in a very traditional way. I really try to make my students responsible for their own learning, I really try to use all kinds of sources, resources,technology, to get students involved in the whole process, however, we know that this is not enough. Modern teachers must be always reflecting on their job and on how things are being done so that we can change and get better. I believe that to be real modern teachers, we must be capable of changing when it's necesssary and feel comfortable with it.
ResponderExcluirAs we have discussed in our last TDP is not the use of the technology that makes us modern teachers. Actually what makes us modern or traditional teachers is the way we conduct our classes. I try to conduct it in a way my students can be aware and responsible for their learning process. I remember my first classes as a teacher at Yázigi and how I have learned through these almost 2 years as teacher here. Every day in every class I try to make my best. I try to not give them answers right way and make them think and feel that we are studying something important for their lives. I try to make them reflect and not just accept what I am explaining. I try to plan my classes in a way I can visualize how I am going to provide them all these things. Isn’t easy at all. I see myself as traditional teacher sometimes but when I am in class I watch out myself and I try to remember that I am not the center of the situation.
ResponderExcluirI consider myself a very modern teacher, first of all I work at Yazigi in são luís for many years, and not many repeated years in one...all those years taught me how to improve the way I learn first, and that´s the best way to change yourself besides reflecting on your teaching and helping your classes to reflect on their learning!!! Modern means to be able to change and to put into practice what you have learned.
ResponderExcluirWell, I can say I was had a tendency to modern teaching but so far, I had never had the tools to really analyze my way of teaching and change whatever was necessary. Although internet has always being there with the information, for some reason I never had enough enthusiasm to do it by myself.
ResponderExcluirAnd after a few meetings, and all the discussions we had during the prep for becoming Yazigi teachers I started reflecting more consciously about my teaching strategies and my students learning process.
So I can say that, relying on the text, my beliefs are modern, and so combining that with all the techniques I'm learning I would say I am on the way to become a real modern teacher.
Thus I've taught in a quite traditional way, and that certainly has an influence on my behaviour. This reflects in the classroom sometimes, maybe more than we’d like to. Being aware of that is the first step to make the change! So I believe and hope...
In my opinion, being a modern teacher involves some aspects of my practice, such as reflecting on it and its outcomes, changing it when necessary, sharing experiences with my colleagues in order to always have new ideas and techniques in class, surprising my students by changing the routine, trying to make them aware of their own responsibility and learning strategies, and watching myself not to have a high TTT or be the center of the attention in class, but to provide interaction std-std as much as I can. In addition, I believe we must try to use new technology in the best way to achieve our pedagogical goals and enhance stds learning. I really try to do all that, although I'm sure it's impossible to never make mistakes.
ResponderExcluircorrection... what I meant is "I've always had a modern tendency."
ResponderExcluirI can say I'm in the way towards becoming a modern teacher. I've been teaching EFL for just a short period of time, and even if I know that not having a great experience can be a disadvantage sometimes, for me it is also a great opportunity to reflect my teaching techniques and improve my practice, without that feeling of having accomplished everything as a teacher.
ResponderExcluirI'm having at Yazigi an opportunity to reflect about what really is to be a teacher, and how to put in practice the fact that what we teach is not only for us, but for our students, and their learning process should be the most important thing in the classroom. And this makes me open-minded. And for me, being open-minded is step one in the process of becoming a modern teacher, cause without understanding the need to reflect, and the importance of changing whatever is necessary in the way we teach to develop our students learning, we will always be old fashioned educators.
correction... "without understanding the need to reflect on our everyday practice"
ResponderExcluirI can surely make mine the wods of Marcia. I've been a teacher for a long time and I can say it's hard to get rid of some old habits but, more than "modern" or "traditional", I'd call myself an updated teacher, always trying to be in tune with new teaching techniques as well as with my students needs.
ResponderExcluirWell... I don't know what I consider myself... either modern or traditional... I guess I'm lost in between but always trying to learn more to become a more modern teacher... I consider myself modern when I accept new things and try them on my classes, when I give my students a chance to them discover things by themselves but on the other hand... I was raised in a very traditional family with really traditional concepts and traditional nun school, full of do's and dont's. And I know that all these values I got when I was younger reflect in me nowadays... That's the reason I consider myself in between and not completely modern!
ResponderExcluirI think that to be a modern teacher we have to be a little traditional, because we always use the old knowledge to build a new one, knowledge is built on top of something else, not from zero. But I try to apply the communicative approach in my classes because that's what I've learned during our tdp's and because that's the way I was raised. My parents always said that they won't be here forever and I have to learn how to "walk" on my own and keep in mind that they're there for support if I need. That's what I'm trying as a teacher, to be there as a support if they need, not to support them all the time.
ResponderExcluirMy experience as a teacher ie very little, but when I look back at the years I've spent in all my schools and the relationship that I had with my teachers, I can say that I am more modern than them.
ResponderExcluir