1. What were your successes and challenges this week with regard to student teaching? What insights did you gain about teaching?
The main challenge for me throughout the teaching was the difficulty in retaining the attention of high school students. All students had quite different levels of knowledge of the Spanish language, so some of them became bored while for other learners, it was hard to get to the core of the tasks that I gave them. Additionally, I have got an insight that the students feel the mood and emotions of the teacher, so I need to control myself. As an illustration, if the teacher feels confident, then students become more inclined to complete tasks quickly and are more active in the classroom. Moreover, I have realized that each student requires an individual approach, and with this approach, everyone can be successful in learning a foreign language.
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2. In Chapter 5 of The Differentiated Classroom Tomlinson talks about two essentials for durable learning- meaning and sense. Think of a lesson that you taught recently. Describe how the lesson connected to students’ experiences and life (meaning) and gave students an opportunity to grasp how something works and why (sense).
Throughout Spanish lessons for students, I have realized that the primary motivation for learning a foreign language is the opportunities for the future that this language provides. These opportunities are the sense for durable learning of a foreign language for students, so I have focused on it since Spanish is an additional privilege in employment, travel, and for the overall development of the individual. Regarding meaning, an effective way to understand Spanish for students is to look for similar patterns in their native language. Associative ranks help students to quickly understand and remember a foreign language (Tomlinson, 1999).
3. The Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) frameworks both recognize that each learner is unique. The UDL Guidelines provide suggestions for how to effectively design curriculum with flexible options that support learners. After reading about the UDL Principles on the CAST website which of the three principles are your strengths and which ones do you need to develop further?
My main strength in teaching is the ability to find multiple means of engagement for students. I can motivate students to get new knowledge and explain to them why they need it. The most effective way is to visualize plans for the future, in which they will help to learn a foreign language. My weakness is a small number of means of action and expression. I have realized that I need to start applying more ways to teach students how to dismantle their knowledge. The learning process should be diverse and include group and individual tasks, as well as oral and written activities. It should also contain various practices, including the ones, which occur not only within the walls of the educational institution.
Reference
Tomlinson, C. (1999). The Differentiated Classroom . ASCD.
