Wang Siting: Her Learning Experience

Hello everyone, how is everything going so far?

All the students in Taman Sea School were busy with their exams for two weeks. So, my job was focused on monitoring the exams. After the exams, students still had to come back to school and my supervisor and mentor decided to observe me for second time. The problem at this time was that students were easily distracted in the class because they just finished their exams and wanted to be relaxed. So, I could not teach as usual. I must find something that they are interested. Hence, I totally agree with Wendy’s latest post. 

She pointed out that she provided several games related to English to attract students. In this way, students can learn something and will not feel bored. Students can learn without any stress. Students can learn things unconsciously while playing the games and then can memorize things longer and deeper. So, the teaching method about using English games in language class can help students learn new things actively. Sometimes, as a teacher, we cannot force students to learn something. It is better that they learn by themselves. The game I used in my class was to provide various crosswords. Another method was to let students listen to the songs and complete the lyrics (We should choose some meaningful songs that we can discuss with our students.). I also like the games that Wendy mentioned. It is really helpful. 

Another thing I can learn from my friends’ posts is that they used ‘drawing’ in their teaching process (like Pei Pei and Alia). They asked their students to draw something to illustrate the problems. It is a really fun activity that students can interact with each other and show how creative they are. What is more, they can improve their language ability this way. They orally explain what they draw. Or, they should make a sentence without grammatical mistakes according to the drawings. This method helps students improve in many ways. From their posts, I also can see how well students can draw. Actually, from my own experience, I sometimes think that when teachers ask students to draw something, students always produce negative attitudes and treat it halfheartedly. So, I do not dare to use this method in my teaching plan. 

However, my friends’ posts change my view and give me confidence to practice this method in my class. It makes me find that students like drawing and have rich imagination. Also, using drawing in language classroom can help us understand our kids. We can see students’ learning attitudes, and sometimes we even can know their knowledge background through their drawing. Moreover, this method makes me think more. As a teacher, we cannot measure the new generation according to our own background. They are more open-minded than us. Sometimes, we should dare to innovate in our teaching, instead of following the traditional ways all the time. Thanks for sharing your students’ beautiful pictures, my friends. 

Best regards,Wang Siting