Bittersweet experiences

Hellu! Such a long time, almost-non-existant readers! Some days ago, a classmate and I had to deliver a class corresponding to a Reading Comprehension Course we are currently attending. The aim was to teach a strategy for our students to improve their reading skills. In order to do so, we made use of a metaphor related to planting a plan (to see more, visit my partner's post: http://gettingclosertoefl.blogspot.com.ar/2017/08/reading-is-like-planting-plant.html), which I consider to be very useful for teenagers -considering we gave them a cactus as a gift! 

I really like the idea of employing metaphors to introduce abstract concepts such as reading comprehension strategies. Even though a metaphor is abstract on itself, there are ways of representing what you want your students to understand. In this case, we brought realia to show them as long as we were dealing with the content.  I firmly believe that students need to see, touch, hear and even smell (if possible) what they are being taught because otherwise they cannot find a connection with the context; if they are not able to 'internalize' their learning, they will simply not keep it. Sometimes, especially in English, we are supposed to teach things that are difficult to explain without bringing it to reality -vocabulary, without going so far!- so this experience was an opened door to new possibilities. Being a teacher means taking risks, not only for the students' success but for ours, as well. We are constantly worried about the success of our lessons, but I do not think we have crystal clear what 'success' really means. What is to be successful when speaking of teaching? Is it a success when a student gets a 1O (or an A) in a test? Or is it when they can reflect on the topic and find a connection with their own reality? In the case of teaching a foreign language, is it when they understand a grammar rule? Is the ability of communicating and expressing their own ideas through English the REAL success? Well, I can tell you that the last question has my biggest YES! 

I chose that title because when I stood up in front of 20 students who did not recall a single thing we had said the first class, I wanted to run away. Suddenly, as they tried to remember and saying some things, I felt relieved. Not because they were answering what we wanted but because they really kept some concepts and even more. At the beginning, it was bitter and kind of unconfortable, but as soon as the time went by, I started to feel certain happiness and satisfaction with myself.

I keep finding myself more and more involved with this profession. I can tell that because it is 2:21 a.m and I am writing this post -something unthinkable two years ago. 

Let's keep in touch! 

Commitment

It is a fact that understanding the way learners learn is not an easy task. Think about this: since we are born, we are pushed into reality, OUR reality. Parents raise us as they believe is the best way; we are taught values that are considered to be important, we develop different skills according to our needs, we learn to speak and behave immitating others and, in the end, we meet with a new world that seems not to be prepared for us: the Educative World. 

School is like a giant place where people still believe that boys and girls can learn altogether at the same time while sharing the same classroom. Well, old news... that is not possible. First, take into account this: there are 20 children that belong to utterly different places, live in different houses, etc. One of them lives with their mother and father. The other one lives with their grandmother. Finally, there is one that spend most of the day with an older brother or sister because mom and dad are working all day long. One girl loves cheese cake while the other one loves chocolate. One boy is keen on Listening while his classmate sucks at Writing. Now, let's put all these people together in one place and teach them English. How do I get to think that they can learn in the same way when their daily lives are crossed out by so different circumnstances? How does anyone get to the idea of teaching something and expecting so alike results?! It freaks me out, really. I just mentioned common differences, of course that there are others realities more complicated. Each child comes from the very beginning with signs of personality incorporated and we must not only respect that but help them to develop it. 

 I'm aware that there are pieces of new beliefs flourishing, but I still hear teachers complaining about the 'lack of process' they find in their learners, and guess what? It never comes up to their minds the idea of 'okay, maybe I'm not doing well. Maybe it is me who needs to adapt my strategies'. Never. I have the feeling that it is taking forever for things to change. This new generations need to be understood right away. I am full commited to this as I have never been before. 

Tied up

I always struggle with WHAT and HOW to correct my students whether they are speaking or writing because somehow I notice that they feel embarassed. Honestly I hate that, I mean, it's okay to make mistakes, buddy! I wish I could get that idea into their minds, like a tattoo or something, so everytime someone corrects them they would feel free to accept it and let it go. I try to do it in a kind way, so they can see that I am NOT mad at them just because they say ''Peter play'' instead of ''Peter playS'', like, as long as they are able to communicate and be understood I am totally fine. 

Since I remember, learning English has been a process of memorizing vocabulary and  applying grammar rules, e.i the focus was on the grammatical competence. I am not saying that that is wrong or something, because it was useful at that moment -as well as it still is, of course- but nowadays we should not focus so much on those aspects. The goal we should want to archieve is the one that involves the development of the communicative competence (Jack C. Richards, Communicative Language Teaching, 2006.) , which is basically the awareness of knowing WHAT to say and HOW depending on the context. For example, being able to realize whether to use formal or informal speech, certain use of vocabulary, or the management of communicating despite having limitations in the language (using body language, for example). 

The point is that maybe me, as many other teachers probably, cannot think of English as a communicative tool without thinking of grammar rules and all the things we learnt while studying in a rigid way. We are so tied up to old methods that we forget about the ''new'' ones and this is not our fault -it is anyone's fault, actually. We do our best to make a positive experience for the learner and in the meanwhile we get stuck between what we consider should be done and what has to be done, but hopefully we will figure it out through the path in our daily life at school. 

Introducing myself

Hi there! This blog was mainly created to fulfill some activities for the English Course I'm training on, but who knows, maybe it turns out being something really meaningful. My name is Camila. I love cats more than anything in the world! I have the feeling that I might end up living like the old lady below someday (do you know her?). Anyway, that is not all. I have found myself seriously interested in learning and improving skills (like listening, writing, etc.) as I started to work. My first job! Everything is so new and exciting at the same time. Sometimes I feel like I have done this since ever and that scares me a bit. Honestly I would like to keep on challenging myself. It is the only way to know what you are really made of. So, that is all by now, just a brief introduction. Let's keep in touch!