To my opinion, teaching is the most challenging profession. Much of the challenge is learning to develop yourself, especially once you have found your place in this career and feel settled. You must continuously strive to improve your own teaching day in and day out. One of the ways which I use in order to improve my teaching skill, knowledge and attitude is to take time to look back and reflect on what I have done. A good way to do this for me is to keep reflection diaries.
According to Murphy (2001), reflective teaching is a kind of action research. It helps teachers
become aware of what is happening in the classroom by identifying common problems,
hypothesizing about possible causes and solutions, and applying an action plan. Murphy also
explains that one of the advantages of the reflective technique is that it develops the quality of
teaching through continuous improvement.
After each session or day of teaching, I spend ten or fifteen minutes thinking about what I have
done and what I have learnt. Then I write down my thoughts and feelings as a diary or journal. I
call it reflection diary. The questions which I usually reflect upon are for example: Did the students enjoy the lesson? Did I achieve my personal aims at the end of the class? Why/why not? Were all students engaged? Was I interesting?
I add teacher development aims to my plans. This is a practical tip for lesson evaluation. At the
end of a lesson, I write down two things that went well and two that I could have improved. I try
and work on those points to improve in the next lesson.
Of course, in addition to this self-evaluation, I also ask my students to fill in a feedback form which I distribute in the beginning,
during and the end of the course. As a result, I get the whole image of my approach in teaching
and connecting with my students. Based on the result, I develop my teaching competence which
is generally my knowledge, skill and attitude. Sometimes I record my lessons with permission of school, especially when I want to study my
lessons in more detail. I record them to analyze afterwards. I usually do that every 3 months.
When I prepare my lessons, I think about the following: “By the end of the lesson, students will be
able to …” When I follow this, I will be able to improve my aims/objectives of the lesson and the
lesson itself.
To improve my teaching competence, I try to observe my peers. I ask the supervisor or manager
if there is a chance for me to observe other teachers while they are teaching. In this way, I will
pick up new ideas for teaching and find myself more confident after observing my colleagues. I
will have a chat with my observed teacher afterwards, so I can share ideas, opinions and general
views of the lesson. In addition, I believe that part of being a teacher is being able to work
together as part of a team or a group. When we work together as a team, it provides students
with a better chance to learn and have fun.
Furthermore, it is always important to be observed as well as observe peers. I ask my colleagues
if they are able to look at one aspect of the lesson, which I might be concerned about. And later
we chat about it.
I often visit some online book shops like Amazon and order some additional books on ELT or
specific areas of my interest (teaching young learners, technology, listening, role-play, etc.) The
majority of these books often contain various lesson ideas which I could incorporate in the classroom.
I try to connect with ELT bloggers or ELT websites like eslprintables.com.
When I connect with other English language teachers, I will be able to share like-minded ideas or
opinions.
When planning my lessons, I try to put myself in the learners’ shoes and consider what I think
would work well in my learners’ opinions. I try to forget what I believe is important and appropriate,
but I try to teach what my learners expect. I also have noticed that since I started learning a new
language (Finnish), I have been able to understand my learners better and also to become more
aware of what being a language learner is like: the difficulties, possible habits and learning styles,
etc.
I try to find ELT conferences to attend. When I attend a conference, I learn more about the
profession as well as meet other teachers with various experiences. It is also important to talk and
share your thoughts in ELT conferences or webinars. I have the experience sharing the result of
my studies in ELT field in those conferences; as a result, the confidence and the knowledge I
gained from that were immeasurable.
I sometimes like to push the boundaries and try something new in the class by doing something old! One way is for instance trying a more traditional approach, such as drilling or a less
student-centered approach. Or something totally new to myself which I get the idea for example from another teacher from different country.
No single method alone is suitable in language learning classes.
Reading different articles in ELT journals is a really good way for me to extend my subject
knowledge of ELT and acquire more information about teaching in various other contexts such as
Europe, US, Asia etc. I also think that doing research in this area and publishing my studies in
popular journals kept me in the right pass of maintaining and developing my competency. And I
am motivated enough to continue my researches in the future while keeping my profession as
language teacher.
As rapid developments in technology integrate into our day-to-day lives, they affect the way
students learn and teachers teach. Modern Teachers need to be competent in not only basic
skills but new skill sets (Mandal, 2018). I am trying to adapt with this rapid change and updating
expectations and learning standards. The 21st -century teacher needs to know how to provide
technologically supported learning opportunities for students and know how technology can
support students learning. With the beginning of Covid-19, education has changed dramatically,
with the distinctive rise of e-learning. This situation was already familiar to me, since when I
moved to Finland I had to keep teaching online to my learners in Iran, through Zoom or Teams
platforms. I have thought almost for three years so far online, therefore, I think I am competent
enough to keep up with e-learning. I believe that, not only do we need to understand the latest in
technology, but we must also know which digital tools are right for our students. It’s a process
that may take time but will be greatly influential in the success of our students.
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