Reflection 3

A case of effective language teaching

Mrs. R is an ESL teacher at a well known High School and she works with the newcomer students. She is a very nice person, and you can see that she really loves what she does. She spent several years teaching in Africa, so she has a vast experience in language teaching strategies.

Wednesday. The students were a little shy, they just have in the country between 25 days and 4 months. When we first arrived to the classroom, the students wanted to know who we were, so they asked Mrs. R. but she didn't answer that question; she told them that if they wanted to know, they had to ask us to introduce ourselves. Then, before the class finished, Mrs. R told students that the next day they will have to prepare a presentation about their countries, to teach other students on Friday.

Thrusday. Students had to form groups among the persons of their same country. They had to talk about what they wanted other students to know abou their own country and culture. They had to write in cardboards some of the information and determine the role of each one in the group.

Friday. The day of the presentations!. Students were all excited and nervous at the same time. They had to present in three different classes of Spanish. They presented in alphabetical order: Burma, China, Cuba, Moldova, Vietnam and Ukraine. They taught the other students their alphabet, numbers, months, days of the week and some useful words such as hello, thank you, nice to meet you, etc. in their language. The childrem from Burma even wore their typical clothing.

After the presentations, there was room for questions. From there emerged powerful stories from this conversation and the audience was very interested. Mrs R. explained to them that if the Burma kids had stayed in their country, now they would be dead.

When the presentations were done and they came back to the classroom, there was a kind of debriefing. Mrs. R asked the children some questions about what they had just done. Then they had to put that information in their jorurnals. All the kids concluded and agreed that they were nervous but it had been a great experienece. Mrs R also asked them what they liked about their own presentation and what they would have wanted to change or improve. So, they had the opportunity to think critically about their own performance.

I really loved this activity because it was purposeful and meaningful for the students. I could see their enthusiasm.They were very excited and really enjoyed talking about their country, and their culture. They prepared all the things carefully and did their best. They felt very comfortable talking and answering questions about their culture because they really managed the topic, so all of the students participated willingly in this activity.

It is wonderful to see all the progress these kids have made in such short period of time, how they are able to express their own ideas in English.

I think in this activity we can see reflected, many of the principles and strategies we studied during this quarter. It has been very important, because here we have seen all these principles in practice and we know that they really work.

For instance, social interaction; when they had to work together as a team, in order to make the presentation. She gave all the students the opportunity to learn and express themselves. The teacher also took into account the first language and culture of the kids; she made them feel that their culture is important and valuable. She didn't give students the answers but she made them search for them. We can see Mrs. R really has faith in their students; she believes they are capable of doing great things and doesn't give up on them. So students know this and feel really motivated.

Through these presentations I learned tons of things. It is wonderful how these kids have overcame all the difficulties the life has put in their way. I could also notice the different styles of the students; for example, the students from Moldova were very structured, they just read what they had in their cardboards. On the other hand, the students from Burma were less rigid; they explained with their own words. The kid from Ukraine was more technologic; he made a Power Point presentation.

This has been an unique experience that I will never forget. I think that people should appreciate and take advantage of the diversity and the mixture of cultures that exist in the United States. It has been one of the best experiences of my life, that undoubtedly makes me a better person. It gives me another perspective of life and a better understanding of education. I think one of the best things of this career is that you not only teach your students, but also you can learn from them.