TESL 0170: Assignment #3 - Continued Professional Development

I have mentioned it before, but it is still true.  Learning is a journey and sometimes it is fun, sometimes it is not fun, and hopefully through it all, you actually learn (and retain) something!

It is gratifying to know that I know more now than I did before I began this program and that some of the "scary" parts are in some measure achievable.  When we discussed our fears and concerns during one of the group meetings during the first course (Fundamentals of TESL), I remember sharing that I was worried about grammar.  I "saved" the Grammar Fundamentals course for one of the last courses that I took and surprisingly I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I put in significant effort and was rewarded well by strongly meeting the course outcomes.  While that concern has been consistent throughout, I have discovered that I can learn grammar, and I can teach it in meaningful ways in a real classroom. 

The practicum was enjoyable and I was able to employ many of the things I have learned over the years related to teaching adults and teaching ESL.  If you care about what you do, it always takes effort.  I care about teaching well, and so I believe I put in strong effort.  Ten hours is not a lot of practice teaching, but I spent many hours preparing and thinking through lessons.  The outcome of what is shared in the assignments and the blog posts does not reflect the initial outlines, the crumpled pages, the re-writes of papers, the long versions of a lesson plan, the piles of sorted handouts, and the online searching for resources that happened; all done to support a good experience in the classroom for both myself and the students.  Planning and preparing take effort and time.  

As part of that effort and time, I spent significant thinking time around incorporation of grammar into the lesson so that it would be meaningful.  What I discovered is that 10 hours of teaching time is very little to accomplish a wide variety of tasks, address topics, or find and use appropriate resources, and that this particular area of teaching (for me) would benefit from additional experience.

Having said that, I am satisfied with the relevance and positive outcomes from the lessons I planned and the grammar components that were included.  I have included the link to my report below which provides more detailed information around my experience with grammar incorporation into lesson plans.

Strategies for Grammar Incorporation in ESL Lesson Plans

One more step in assimilating my own learning!  One more step toward the goal!

Dana