The quiet, the noisy, the shy, the smart, the daydreamers… In every classroom there are many different types of students: the ones who are very energetic, the ones who know everything, the ones that are completely lost. How can an activity or class maximise the potential of all these different types of learners?
As Michelle (our coordinator) wisely said, there is no way of learning how to teach without actually teaching. I have now conducted a few classes and it is clear to me what things work better and worse in the classroom. This week was great for experimenting with different teaching styles and getting to know what activities my particular class of students respond well to.
This week I taught my first “Kou yu” (a class in which we focus on strengthening the speaking and listening of the students). I entered a classroom with 30 teenagers with whom I had minimal communication with (as a non-Chinese speaker) looking at me. My biggest fear was communicating to them what I wanted them to do. At the beginning they were confused by my instructions but to my surprise, when kids weren’t given the easy escape of speaking in Chinese they started to understand what I said in English.
I found that the biggest challenge in teaching so far has been finding a balance between keeping it interesting enough so that the students with short concentration spans are intrigued and challenging enough so that the more advanced students also have a chance to participate. After trying several methods and activities of teaching I found that activities such as role playing (in which involve a lot of students and allows them to have fun) give great results.
Even so, I reached the conclusion that the class dynamic is more dependent on the teacher to student relationship rather than the material being taught or the activities taking place. If the head of grade 7 were to walk in the whole class would not speak a word and they would all do their work. However, they do not see me as their teacher and they don’t fear me. I have a very different dynamic with them, we play basketball together, eat together etc. I would like to work on re-modeling the dynamic between my students and I in such way that the students still see me as an “older sister” but also respect me enough to listen in class.
Another alternative, which is much harder to accomplish but much better for them in the long run is for them to understand that I am trying help them and I want them to learn. I just need them to want to learn too. Many of the students are highly motivated but there are a few that do not seem to have anything motivating them to strive for better. However, through one-on-one work with the students I have gotten a lot of positive response and willingness from them. It is amazing to see the change in attitude in some children when they are given attention and they see improvement in themselves.
Throughout the next two months I am very excited to spend time with these children and for all that they will teach me and have taught me already. I hope I can help them with their English and, hopefully, get them excited about learning.
As Michelle (our coordinator) wisely said, there is no way of learning how to teach without actually teaching. I have now conducted a few classes and it is clear to me what things work better and worse in the classroom. This week was great for experimenting with different teaching styles and getting to know what activities my particular class of students respond well to.
This week I taught my first “Kou yu” (a class in which we focus on strengthening the speaking and listening of the students). I entered a classroom with 30 teenagers with whom I had minimal communication with (as a non-Chinese speaker) looking at me. My biggest fear was communicating to them what I wanted them to do. At the beginning they were confused by my instructions but to my surprise, when kids weren’t given the easy escape of speaking in Chinese they started to understand what I said in English.
I found that the biggest challenge in teaching so far has been finding a balance between keeping it interesting enough so that the students with short concentration spans are intrigued and challenging enough so that the more advanced students also have a chance to participate. After trying several methods and activities of teaching I found that activities such as role playing (in which involve a lot of students and allows them to have fun) give great results.
Even so, I reached the conclusion that the class dynamic is more dependent on the teacher to student relationship rather than the material being taught or the activities taking place. If the head of grade 7 were to walk in the whole class would not speak a word and they would all do their work. However, they do not see me as their teacher and they don’t fear me. I have a very different dynamic with them, we play basketball together, eat together etc. I would like to work on re-modeling the dynamic between my students and I in such way that the students still see me as an “older sister” but also respect me enough to listen in class.
Another alternative, which is much harder to accomplish but much better for them in the long run is for them to understand that I am trying help them and I want them to learn. I just need them to want to learn too. Many of the students are highly motivated but there are a few that do not seem to have anything motivating them to strive for better. However, through one-on-one work with the students I have gotten a lot of positive response and willingness from them. It is amazing to see the change in attitude in some children when they are given attention and they see improvement in themselves.
Throughout the next two months I am very excited to spend time with these children and for all that they will teach me and have taught me already. I hope I can help them with their English and, hopefully, get them excited about learning.