Danielle G's Blog and E-Portfolio

Unit 9 - How do I make learning Fun? One of the major questions, is it not? How can you convey that learning is fun to your students? 😰 In this unit, it was proposed to use technology as an incentive of fun in the classroom. I completely agree! I don't think there are many people nowadays that don't have a smartphone on them at all times, that includes students of all ages. Now that we are living in the 21st Century, why not teach like we are in it? - I know and understand that change can be tough, but a teacher needs to adapt to the times as well, no? At least I need to work on it a little more. 😅  Below is my Infographic on "Teaching and learning in the 21st Century,' In the infographic I mention Engaging, The learner, Patience & Focus, Tech and Network Savvy, and finally Inclusive and safe environments. Take a look below, or click " here " to direct you to another page to get a better view. We touched on what interactive apps or websites h...

Unit 8 - How do I assess Language learning? In this section of the course, we were learning about the different ways a teacher can assess the students in a class. And there are 3 kinds of assessments: Diagnostic assessment , which gives us information prior to starting a lesson or something that is done at the beginning of the course. It's to see what the students know about the topic and/or course, their attitudes, and personalities, as well as, their learning abilities.  The second assessment was the Formative Assessment , which happens during the class lesson. It’s the observational part of the lesson, where even our hand-out activity sheets, in-class activities, and quizzes help the teacher see, in the moment, how the students are doing, if they need more instruction or clear up a misunderstanding.  The last assessment is the Summative assessment , which is the sum of all the lessons/units learned. So this type of assessments are final tests, quizzes, project...

Unit 7 - How do I manage my class? This unit looked at classroom management which, when read it seems a little frightening. I have to 'manage' an entire classroom 😰. The textbook Teaching by Principles  by Brown and Lee. State that we will be called on daily to deal with the unexpected and that we will engage in unplanned teaching, which might deviate us from our lesson plan. That we need to deal with it gracefully and the key is 'POISE'. That we more than anything is to stay calm and assess the change and allow the lesson to continue (Brwon/Lee, p.295).  Even as I go to work every day, I always prepare for the unexpected, so to me, this is a bit of a heads up, but regardless if the students are learning something out of the information when we were lead astray it has some value (even though it's not what you had planned). I think in order to have good or great class management skills, is the overall respect that you have for yourself and your students (which...

Unit 6 - How do I plan for language instruction? 🤔 hmmm.....  great question! Hahahaha. So in this unit, we looked at how to make a lesson plan, and although I have only done so many thus far, I find them super time-consuming! In the course, it suggests approximate times to get certain activities done. Sadly I am apparently one of these people that needs the whole day just to do a lesson plan! 😭   I somewhat exaggerate... a bit. It does take me longer than the suggested time, but I guess I just need more practice to do so. Anywho, making the lesson plan in itself is quite fun, I learn soo much as I do them. This unit provided some great samples of doing lesson plans, and they are very helpful! I love the layout and the amount of detail it shows me (I am a big fan of details and explanations why). I learned much more than the simple, "Introduction, middle (lesson), and conclusion/end." Also, I never had to plan for a 2hr class before but the setup examples really he...

Unit 5 - What can I learn from others? My Classroom.... So in this unit, one activity we did was to draw how we visualized our classrooms. I'm not teaching yet but, I did draw what I would consider my 'ideal classroom' (meaning I would actually have space for all of this).  In my classroom, I have a resource/library where there are textbooks and popular reading books for students of all ages. It would have round grouping tables (that can come apart into individual desks), with chairs that have small wheels (for those people, like myself, who kind of need to move on their seat while learning). 😁 The classroom would have posters of their works, as well as, informative, motivational/inspiring posters. A small little section with stationary, where students (if they need) can go ahead and use when in class. The teacher's desk would be at a corner near the board. There is also a Computer station in a corner for the students to use if and when we do projects or ac...

Unit 4 - How are languages are learned? I really enjoyed this unit, lots of information that was super interesting. Language acquisition is an interesting topic. What I learned was that Acquisition of Language is developed subconsciously through comprehending input via communicating. When watching the video by Stephen Krashen   on language acquisition, is that 'acquisition' is far more important than 'learning' because it doesn't disappear with time. Krashen also spoke about 'noticing language', which is the process of attending consciously to the linguistic features of input, also known as deliberate learned knowledge. He also stated that MOTIVATION in language learning is a huge factor, and I agree! Ss who are motivated, have good self-esteem and low anxiety (no internal or external pressures) do well in acquiring language. But if a Ss is not motivated, has low self-esteem and has high levels of anxiety, a sort of wall goes up and blocks acquisition from...

Unit 3 - What do I know about the English Language? When I read this question, I off the bat stated to myself, 'not much'. I always wanted to delve into how to teach Grammar properly and such. Even though we didn't do that here, I still got a lot out of how to do so when lesson planning.  We touched on the Communicative Language Ability models, super helpful when looking at the different kinds of knowledge the Ss are going to need as L2 learners. One of the models is from CLB, and it gives you 5 competencies that students need to go through:  1.Grammatical knowledge, 2.Textual knowledge, 3.Functional knowledge, 4.Sociolinguistic knowledge, and 5.Strategic competence.  And all five of these competencies ought to be taught together in context rather than individually. Overall, this unit was eye-opening in the sense that I still have much to learn. 👍 Laters!

Unit 2 - Who will I teach? This unit taught me and showed me the different types of people that I may encounter in my journey as an ESL teacher. The notion that I may be teaching young children, all the way to professionals is quite nerve-racking, but in a good way. The thought of teaching the younger ones seems fun with all the possible activities that could be done but also a little tough thinking about all the energy that class may have.  As for teaching older individuals might seem like my cup of tea, since I'm not that much younger myself, but being able to delve more deeply into lessons via experiences they have had can make for interesting lessons. The unit also spoke about the different proficiencies that one could encounter in a course. Already somewhat knowing that there are Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced learners for second language acquisition (because I had done my practicum for a Spanish class once upon a time, and I did learn some Spanish in University as ...