I read EARLY CARRR ENGLISH TEACHERS IN ACTION chapter 4. It
is hard to come up with an idea how to teach students effectively. Teachers
have to think about it before a semester begins. Sometimes it works, sometimes
doesn’t work. It depends on the district but sometimes schools have a
curriculum that is the same as other schools in a district. The book mentioned
that means all the 6th grader studies the same thing. I guess it
work for some subjects. With math or science it would work but when it comes to
English, it may not work because in math or science, there is a formula and you
have to be able to use it but in English there is not such a formula. There is
grammar but it is not the all of English. If you read a book, you have to feel
something and think about it. What I want to say is that in English, it would
be better to think what book you are going to use for class and how to teach it
to students. You don’t need to teach with the same material as other school’s
teachers. However, it sometimes may be really difficult for a new teacher. If
they are new teachers, they may not know how to teach or what to teach or what
materials are the best for students.
In the last narrative, he talks about self-evaluation. I
think it is important too. He said to take your lecture is one of best ways to
evaluate yourself. With a tape of your class, you could notice tiny things that
you may better to fix. Sometimes it is really hard to find what is a problem in
a curriculum or what is better to be replaced in another way. Taking your
lecture by yourself would be a great way.
Hiroki, I agree with you! The few times that I've taped myself teach and watched it later, I've learned a lot! As a new teacher, I kept a notebook on my desk and I would jot notes to myself after classes. Those notes were very valuable later when I wanted to make changes and reflect on what I wanted to improve.
返信削除I also agree with you on common curriculum. In the school district where I worked, they wanted to move toward all English classes giving the same writing assignments, quizzes, and tests, and I really didn't agree with the idea that we should all be teaching exactly the same. I hope we'll have more time to talk about that in class on Wednesday.