Relflection on Field Project

Congratulations!
I finished my field project (CLT and the Grammar Translation Method) finally. All the sweetness and bitterness should be recorded!

A suffering process?
I don’t know whether it is appropriate or not for me to call the process of doing this project as a suffering. Though my project is definitely not satisfying at all, I spent lots of time on it because it did not work smoothly. I do not have many tutoring experiences like others, so I decided to turn to Pamela for help. Though we are not acquaintances, we do not really familiar with each because I never took her course. She is a very very nice person, and I really appreciate her help. But she was really busy, so the interview actually not went as successful as I thought. As to the observations, I confess that I did not do a good gob because I just jotted down some points about the observations instead of using a set of formal standard to do my observations. I read a book named classroom observation for getting a clearer idea about how to observe a class, but it’s a pity, I did not learn much form that. There is one more problem about my observations, that is, I should have observed Pamela’s teaching for a long time, not a short periods. I believe that if I had observed more classes, I would know how to make my project better. Well, how I wish I have more time. I know this excuse is really sucks!

From others’ projects
After seeing other classmates’ project, I think I should throw my own stuff away because I think their works are more creative and interesting than mine. Haaaa, ok, just kidding. I am not looking down upon myself, I just think their topics can create more “possibilities.” I mean, they were doing experiments instead of comparing those existing theories like me. I like Mike’s project the most. I think what he did were far beyond experiments, he actually could have his own theories in teaching. He skillfully used the learning attitudes of those so-called smart students to fight against their own ego. This is so impressive. Of course, the other classmates also did great jobs. Indeed, I learned a lot from their projects. And I wonder if they also got some new ideas from my project.

Words to myself after the class
Recently, I’ve been thinking about a problem that “Do I really want to/have the ability to study TESOL?” And I’ve thinking the elements to be a good teacher. After this class and the TKT courses I took, I think this field is not the same as what I though. But this is not disappointing at all, because it provides me an opportunity to slow down and make some changes of my plan for things I should / will do.

Second Classroom Observation

※ Instrctor: Pamela
※ 2007/5/21, 1:00 ~ 1:50 pm, O-106, Language Center, NCU.

Today was the second time for me to observe Pamela’s teaching. Pamela chatted with students and reminded them some assignments in the beginning if the class. I think it’s important and effective to "warm up". By doing so, students can not only feel the comfortable atmosphere in the class but also have time to get ready to pay attention to the teacher.

About five minutes later, Pamela played the CD, which is about a passage from the textbook. Since the passage is long, some of students did not really listen carefully to the CD. After listening to the CD, students were asked to separate into groups to discuss the questions related to the passage. Pamela separated students randomly by asking them to number off from one to eleven. Then, the people who counted the same number would in the same groups. From my point of view, separating students randomly in this kind of small discussion is appropriate, but it’s very likely to cause chaos because students would not remember each other’s number. What Pamela wanted students to do was that they had to go through all the discuss questions (sentences), and then she would assign every group to take charge of two questions after later. I keep this “strategy” in mind because I think it can make students to read all of the questions. If teacher directly ask students to take a look at the assigned questions, students would tend to neglect other questions because they think those questions are not their business.
Pamela allowed students to use either English or Chinese to do their presentations, I think this is the main reason why students use Chinese during the discussion. Since the students had the “privilege” to use Chinese, I did not hear English in their discussion. Almost at the end of the discussion (about 3 or 4 minutes left), teacher assigned the two questions that each group was responsible for.
And each group had to choose one person to do the report.

Oh ~time flies! 50 minutes passed by. Today’s lesson gives me some new ideas about the field project. Though there is lots of uncertainty about my project, I wish I can turn my disorganized thoughts into a real project! Oh ~ I must to !!! well, I really need some muses.

First Classroom Observation

※ Instrctor: Pamela
※ 2007/5/14, 1:00 ~ 1:50 pm, O-106, Language Center, NCU.
※ Teaching material (textbook): NorthStar, focus on Reading and Writing
(unit 9---the topic about immigration)

For the first ten minutes, Pamela distributed the students’ compositions with both her comments and other three students’ suggestions. That’s one of her ways to polish students’ writing skills. In other words, Pamela thinks it’s important for students to know their errors and also have the abilities to help others to know their errors. Students can upgrade their writing abilities in this kind of mutual (the teacher and students) correction process.

Pamela asked students to read the descriptions of the pictures, then, students had to tell Pamela what they read. Before long, students found out those pictures had one thing in common, that is, these were about immigration. Pamela also sang a song to make it easier for students to guess and know more about this topic. She successfully caught everyone’s attention and made the class much more active.

After that, Pamela asked students try to imagine a situation which was similar to what the textbook mentioned: if you were 16 years old, and you had to immigrant from Taiwan to New York, what difficulties would you encounter? Besides, Pamela also asked them to make a sentence by using “… while….” In this activity, students are free to discuss with each other. Nevertheless, students tended to figure it out by themselves. And also, when Pamela stood beside students to check whether they had any problem or not, students are pretty shy even though they actually had good answers. Regardless of students’ reactions to this activity, I still consider it could positively help students’ learning because it was an open question, which could provide opportunities for students to “brainstorm.” What’ more, since open questions do not have a specific answer, students might be more wiling to share their ideas. In other words, students could let their imagination run wild, and not be afraid of making mistakes.

The last part of this class, Pamela asked students to do the exercises on the textbook, and explained the first three questions for them. From question four, students had to be volunteers to read the questions and say his or her answers. But there was no volunteer at all; Pamela had to randomly appoint some students to answer.

That was the first time for me to observe Pamela’s teaching, I felt really amazed and excited because she indeed has a kind of charisma. However, I think the students in that class are toooooo shy just as what Pamela told me before my observation. Oh~ tomorrow, I am going to observer Pamela’s teaching again, I really hope I can see a better interaction between the teacher and students. Oh, students don’t be shy anymore!!!

First Interview

Interview

※Interviewee: Pamela
※2007/4/16, 3:00 pm, in Pamela’s office, Language Center, NCU.
※After about 15 minutes chatting, the interview begins.
※About the interview: It lasts about 46 minutes; basically, Pamela and I talk a lot. Though she thinks some of my questions cannot really touch the core that I want to know (that is, she thinks those questions are too broad, without a clear focus), she still tries hard to answer my questions. During the interview, Pamela uses some words (maybe I should say some specific terms) which I do not know. It’s really nice of her to slow down and explain those words for me. But to be honest, both of us do not feel content with our interview. Pamela thinks she should say more about the courses in US. As for me, I do not think I’m a good interviewer because I do not lead my interviewee to say something that she really wants to express. And also, I do not interact pretty well with Pamela during the interview. Though I try to give her some responses, sometimes my responses are not totally relate to what she is saying. These are what I should improve!

※What’s next? What I want to do now is to make the transcript of the interview, and, try to find some main topics that I want to focus on. Besides, I think I have to find more information about what the topics I choose for discussing further. But actually, I am quite afraid that it would be hard for me to find much information. No matter what, I will try my best. If necessary, I think it will be great If Pamela and I can have second interview. Ha, so, to be brief, what I have to do now is to make the transcript first! Oh! That’s a big work to transcript a 46-minutes interview!

The Preparation for Field Project

Language Teaching Methodology
---The preparation for Field Project

Field Project Proposal
---An in-depth interview

★Interviewee:
Pamela, an English teacher in Language Center, NCU.
M.Ed. in TESOL, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA

★The way of the interview:
I am not sure it’s an hours-long interview or several short-time interviews. It depends on interviewee’s decision.

★Tentative questions for the interview:
1. Why do you want to study TESOL? And when did you make your decision?
2. What’s your motivation of studying in the United States? And why did you choose America?
3. Before you go abroad, what kind of preparation did you make(like the exams for GRE, TOEFL, etc.)? How did you select your school?
4. How is the school? And how are those courses? Do you really enjoy the courses? Could you name some courses that you like? And why do you like them?
5. Is it possible for you to name some teachers or some courses that influence you the most?
6. Among all you acquired in the United States (knowledge, culture, …..), what’s the most precious part for you?
7. Could you share some interesting or meaningful life experiences (events) that you encountered in the United States?
8. What kind of teaching method do you prefer in your teaching?
9. Is it hard for you to apply what you learned in the United States to Taiwan’s teaching / learning environment? (Because we know that Taiwan is exam-orientated)
10. For students in Taiwan (especially for students in colleges), what kind of problem do you think is the biggest when they are learning English? And is there any teaching method can solve this problem?
11. Do you think the learning resources for TESOL are rich enough in Taiwan?
12. Do you recommend the students who are interested in TESOL study abroad?

★(Tentative) How to present this field project?
I will record the whole interview but I will not transcribe all the conversations because I do not want my field project is just an interview transcription. That is, I will use my own words to describe the interview, and quote some Pamela’s words. But I will still put the emphasis on what Pamela actually says.