CELTA ASSIGNMENT 4: LESSONS FROM THE CLASSROOM

List a number of things that you did during the lesson?

Language input and the methods used to elicit the meaning and context appeared to be
crucial in ensuring a successful lesson. In my 2nd observation of a qualified teacher a
variety of ways to elicit vocabulary was employed including physical gestures and
picture stories. When presenting new language it seems that it is important both to be
thoroughly prepared with clear contexts and communicative focus for learners and to
be patient. In my early lessons and in peer lessons I noticed that the meaning of new
language was given to the students too soon due to frustration or possibly impatience.
A peer teaching phrasal verbs would often either tell the class the meaning and use or
immediately go to the strongest student. Patient and well prepared eliciting with
generative situations, concept questions and realia as used by the lesson outlined
below is something I have tried to prepare in all lessons. My most recent lesson
ensured I had pictures, as well as clear concept questions and marker sentences when
teaching phrasal verbs with look.

List a number of things that the students did during the lesson?

My second QT observation students were encouraged to

o Read individually and then discuss in pairs
o Read individually for details and compare in groups
o To interpret pictures and diagrams and look to the teacher for feedback on
their assumptions
o Listen to a ‘relaxation tape’ and identify follow instructions as a group.
o To discuss the topics of the lesson
The above list is a short illustration of stages of a QT lesson and the level of student
talk time allocated.

What was the balance of ‘teacher doing things’ compared with students doing
things’ in the lesson?

My impulse to get involved or fall into the trap of too much teacher talk time has been
a feature since my initial teaching practise. My 3rd observation of a QT illustrated
perfectly that when introducing a new lexical set such as bedroom furniture. Use of
realia in freer practice involved the students and sequential drilling at the end of the
lesson reviewed the language. The majority of the time teacher took a back seat to the
students once the aim and desired outcome had been clearly informed.

Note several things that you are proud of during the lesson?

One of the things that sets qualified teachers apart from a trainee is their ability to
acquire signposting skills and conviction. I witnessed a qualified teacher doing
emotional adjectives in the present progressive and the class seemed to be in tune with
her instructions from the beginning just from her intonation and confidence. I feel that

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 as the course has progressed it is my signposting as well as a good rapport with
learners that has ensured that the students are fully involved in the activities and in the
lesson as whole. The majority of my positive feedback has focused on this and I think
it is this that I am most proud.

At what points could you have been clearer?

During my first experience teaching grammatical forms I found myself struggling to

interpret the 1st and 2nd conditional without regurgitating the contents of my grammar
book. The lesson was relatively successful pre intermediate with 14-15 students but
any success came from my clear board plan and my concept questions. I overloaded
the students with details that blurred the meaning and clouded my lesson aims. I
witnessed a peer teach the same thing in my third week and although the level was the
higher upper intermediate the hand outs and language were much simpler than mine.

Which parts of the lesson involved the students most completely?

My 6th QT featured a very long but productive exercise which involved every student
speaking to each other one by one to discuss past experiences. The students were
given a handout so that they could gather information and then later in a freer practice
reveal the most interesting stories they had heard. I tried to employ similar tasks that
get the students speaking and trying to express a wide range of things to each other as
an extension of new language.

Where were the main challenges for the students?

Students in freer practice exercises such as the one observed in my 6th QT are
constantly under pressure to use all the vocabulary at their disposal. The exercise
requires lots of listening with a variety of levels and speakers interacting, this
improves comprehension and I have tried to develop exercises in my own lessons as
an extension of some of my stage aims that encourage these benefits and complement
any drilling.

What have you learned about your planning?

My planning has developed a great deal and is now analysed as overly thorough or
too long, which whilst accurate seems to be misinterpreted as a long term problem.
Recent lessons that have not benefited from an in-depth lesson plans such as my 8th
teaching practice on future forms have suffered due to a lack of clarity in my mind but
not on the page. Clear stage aims are invaluable and without them myself and my
peers have lost track of their overall lesson goals and time management has also
suffered. Additional materials, how they will be utilised and their function is also
something that needs to be planned thoroughly as I have seen materials used by peers
such as cards for collocation and pictures where simple details are overlooked.
Purpose such as context and the grammatical structure of words used in collocation
and even simple mistakes like definitions and words on the same colour card have all

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 defeated the purpose of exercises. Yet these problems could be addressed in the
planning stages.

What have you learned about teaching procedures and techniques?

Personally I have learned from qualified teachers to reduce my involvement in class. I

learned to write clearly on the board and try to include phonetics for clarification of
pronunciation especially with contractions, assimilation etc. Drilling in forms such as
back chaining or syllabic indication are very important and whilst I have only
introduced consistent identification and correcting in my last few lesson I think it is a
technique that helps the students a great deal. Checking progress in group work
especially in classes such intermediate where there may be a wide range of abilities.
Finally every single lesson I have seen taught by my peers has in someway been
enhanced through learning aids such as materials and resources. Although I think it is
important to rely on your own personal style, sourcing things that are relevant and of
interest to both the teachers life and in turn the students make the language simpler to
teach.
QT observation has also demonstrated the benefit of setting time frames instead of
asking the students if they have finished. This sort of classroom management helps
students to work quickly and concentrate on the task and maintains order throughout
the different levels of ability.
Most peers seem to have grasped their ability to test/teach and I have interpreted this
as weakness. IQ’s and ICQ’s ensure that the whole class understands the next stage of
the lesson and what a teacher expects of them. Peer feedback highlights that mine
could be clearer and I intend to include them in my LP in future.

What have you learned about yourself?

The course has provided with me with a clear insight of the type of teacher I am and
how I can develop my strengths and work hard on my weaknesses. As a
communicator I think I am very effective and I have enough charisma to set the tone
of a lesson and get students involved. I have a good understanding of the value of
preparation but I put too much pressure on myself when it comes to approaching
lessons with goals unfamiliar to me such as grammar. My anxiety does have both
advantages and disadvantages though as I am driven to prepare well and I always
want to be the best teacher I can be. I

List some intentions or action plans for your future teaching?

o I intend to use the free time I have on the course to hopefully study and create
a mastery of grammar for practical usage and implementation in the class
room.
o Join a professional association.
o Subscribe to an English Teaching database.
o Develop bullet proof well drilled lesson preparation.
o Obtain experience possibly in a monolingual environment abroad.

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 o Investigate further qualifications.
o Familiarise myself more with phonemic translation.
o Gain experience teaching young learners
o Observe colleagues in future and analyse their strengths in order to acquire
them
o Develop o portfolio of lesson plans
o Join a web group such as TEFL.com
o Look at studying diploma level
o Contribute to teachers publications
o Practise board writing

Bibliography

Learning Teaching, Jim Scrivener, Macmillan

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