Monthly Archives: November 2013

My Love For ESL

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I have a soft spot for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. I think because I know what they are going through and I understand their struggles, it is so much easier for me to relate to them. And, I am pretty sure my passion for my ESL students is not only felt by the students or myself…

During the very end of my first week practicum, I decided to observe an ESL class that another teacher taught. I walked inside to the class and sat down, doing my observation. The teacher was collecting homework. Some students were turning their heads around to look at me. They must be curious about who this alien was. I just jotted down things that I noticed. After the teacher assigned questions for the students to do in class, he invited me to circulate around the class. Walking around and peeking over students’ shoulders, I reminded them to follow their teacher’s instruction. Then, I noticed a student was sitting there with a blank piece of paper. I took the initiative to ask whether he understood the task while the teacher was discussing something with a group of students. The seemingly puzzling student paused and shook his head. I told him that he was supposed to answer questions from the textbook. He frowned. This facial expression signalled to me that he could not comprehend what I was asking. Therefore, I repeated the instruction at a much slower pacing, hoping he would catch the main concept. However, he just stared at me. Luckily, students who were sitting beside him were able to translate what I asked in Mandarin, so he got some clues on what he was supposed to do. I sat down beside him as I knew he probably needed my support. I asked him whether he understood the question. He shook his head. I tried to draw out the key terms, such as oceans, rivers and lakes. I guess my drawings were not comprehendible as he did not seem to get what I was trying to say. He just frowned. I spotted a map in front of the class, so I invited him to point out the three different water resources.  In order to make sure he understood those terms, I asked him to look for the definitions with his phone-translator too. Eventually, I did speak in Mandarin to explain after I spoke in English. I did not think it was effective for him to really translate everything word by word. It was hard for me to imagine how he could survive in a setting which he could not understand most of the instructions.
I really wanted to help these level 1-2 kids. I hope I could just be there to support them.

After class, the teacher was impressed that I picked up the students who needed help the most right away. My other sponsor teacher actually told him that I needed a new sponsor teacher for more ESL blocks, so he asked me whether I would be interested in taking over this class. He saw how I worked with the kids, and he was willing to help me to reach that goal I just hoped for. Of course, I was excited and eager to say yes. I was just glad how my faculty advisor and UBC allowed this arrangement. That was how I got myself a third sponsor teacher.

Fast forward to the second week…
I co-taught a class with my sponsor teacher. The students seemed to enjoy the game that I led. I was excited to see them being so energetic too. Their laughters made me feel successful. My sponsor teacher told me that I had already developed a good bond with the class as he could saw there was chemistry between us. I honestly thought so too. When I saw them in the hallway, they would wave at me and said hi. They would just smile, and I could feel they were excited to see me. Students would just come to me for help if they needed it. I felt I have already achieved something. Because of my love for them (I know it is a bit early to use this word, but I do love them already), I have decided to hold an ESL after-school program to help them. I really wish that my 10-week will make a difference: helping them feel successful.


Reflecting on My 2-week Practicum

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Today we had a debrief about our 2-week Practicum. It was weird to go through this transition of being a teacher back to a student. I must say I am already missing my teacher’s life…

1st day – nervous and excited
I did not know what to expect from the school or the practicum. I wondered whether my school advisors were nice, and I was worried about the classes I would teach. However, the welcoming staff made everything easier. All our sponsor teachers got into the conference room to introduce themselves and to know us. The Vice Principal was certainly kind – he prepared breakfast and coffee for us. I must say that was a good first impression. He also gave us a booklet that included a map, the different bell schedules, an emergency outline and room numbers. That booklet was helpful. Later on, he also gave us some observation outlines, which were beneficial for a UBC assignment.
I visited many sponsor teachers’ classes and got to know them a little bit. It was interesting. Both of them seemed to be quite talkative, which was good (I am kind of slow to open up to people – I am a little bit introverted). They were smiley and nice. However, I was not sure whether I looked lost or stressed or something else. Both sponsor teachers asked me to take it step by step and don’t worry that much. That day went pretty quickly, and to be honest, I was quite confused by the end of the day. I did not know what I was supposed to do; I did not know why I was there.

1st week
I do not recall all the tiny details that I did everyday during the first week, so I am going to highlight some significant events.
The Vice Principal certainly kept us occupied by preparing different workshops for us. There were multiple sessions that various teachers organized to help us learn more about the school culture and the teacher’s life, such as the purpose of advisory class, the different printers and scanners, the amount of computer labs, etc. These workshops certainly helped me picture myself as a teacher working there (once I have the key to get to the materials behind the locked doors, I am sure the imagination will be a lot easier). They also allowed me to learn more about the school’s ideology. I have to say there must be a purpose why I am doing a practicum at this school. I have similar ideologies. I know I can actually fit in pretty well. I felt more comfortable with the schedule and the system. I could be myself again.
I observed many classes, and I learned something from every class I had observed, whether it was a teaching strategy or a classroom management trick. These observations made me realize what kind of teacher I want to become. I was actually learning about myself while I observed all these classes. Right now I must say I have a pretty solid idea what kind of teacher I am (I will talk more about it later). I knew what I did not want to occur in my classroom, such as being disrespectful to one another. I actually witnessed an incident that a teacher mindlessly made a student felt uncomfortable. She asked the class, “what’s that smell?” Everyone looked around. Someone yelled out, “it was the tuna.” I looked at the student who was sitting next to me. He was eating a can of tuna with some crackers. The teacher said something like it was stinky. The girls around him were making faces and covered their noses. (Mind you – I could not even smell anything. Yes, some people might have a more sensitive nose, but was that appropriate to address the situation like that?) The student did not know what to do. He tried to hide the can and covered it with his hand. He was clearly embarrassed. I felt bad for the student. This incident has become a good reminder to me teachers need to be aware of what we say.

That’s good for now. I have more to share, and I am going to leave that for tomorrow.