If we don't try we will never know!

In reviewing my first class recording, and aside from the ghastly fillers like um's, so's etc. I am starting to realize the potential of dialogic discourse in the classroom.  Giving students’ ownership is a great way in getting them to converse freely and without prejudice!  I really did this exercise to see what their language capabilities are. They were excitable and loved it. So much so, they told me after class I was the best speaking teacher they ever had! I was quite surprised myself how well it went over! On the other hand, this exercise would not work with all levels although some adaptations could be made.  In the process of transcribing and viewing, I noticed a lot of errors in their speech patterns, which begs me to question, in future classes how often and when should I be using the F move, and illicit corrections?

On an entirely different topic, another thing came to mind from last class when our professor Tom Randolph told us an interesting quote, 'We learn by doing, if we don't try, we will never know’. This got me thinking that I may have figured out a method which will work quite well in my subject classes.  Every week when I review a story, I ask them basic comprehension questions, either vocabulary, or a question related to the text, and I follow this by having them do a spelling quiz. I want to try a more peer oriented approach, and have students’ illicit questions to each other, rather than back to me! It only clicked after this past class, so I am anxious to see how it works and if it will engage the students, and will it have an effect on their learning? If it doesn’t work so be it, I will try and work out another method.

Through these reflections, I am coming to process and internalize new methodologies. It is helping me understand my own teaching style more, and new ways to break the rules, only for the betterment of my students. While there is still a lot to learn and internalize, I believe I am on the right track to becoming a well-rounded altruistic teacher. On a more superficial level, I am just dang happy I finally got this video to upload!