Danielle G's Blog and E-Portfolio

TESL 0110  Assignment 3: Grammar Activity -Scenario 2- You are teaching a course called English for Academic Purposes in a government-funded program in Manitoba. Your students are CLB 7-8 learners who hope to study at a post-secondary institution after completing this course. Students have been working on writing expository essays. In their writing, you notice that they are still confusing simple past (to report on generalities or truths) and present perfect (to report on aspects from the past which are relevant to the present). Much of the corrective feedback you have provided on their writing so far has been about essay structure. What would you do? -What would you do? - At the beginning of the class, I would let the class know that there seems to be confusion when writing in the simple past tense with the present perfect tense and vice versa. Thus, as to correct the errors occurring, we would look at the two tenses. Warm-up Activity 1 I would arrange the students to work in pairs o

Unit 10 - A look into the Future- This unit looked into the wellbeing of the teacher, I remember when I did my first education practicum and how worried and stressed out I was with only a few weeks of training and trying to get things done on time and 'perfect'. I practically shut myself away from the world trying to figure out how to teach+making lesson plans that made sense + try to stay ahead of the game by making quizzes and some tests (exhausting 😫 !). I always thought that my peers were doing way better than I was (--as time went on everyone confessed to feeling the same way I had). That's when I kind of noticed that, that must mean I like what I'm doing!  If I'm focusing so much energy on planning and making lessons that are nearly perfect in my eyes (lol), I should continue on. However, my peers and I all handled our stress and worries in different ways but we all needed to re-balance ourselves emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally.  It was

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, projects, for example,

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 help v

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