2. Encouraging students to be independent learners

    Independent learning requires more than token gestures to ‘working by oneself’. It requires planning, structure and guidance. There are certain techniques we teachers need to take into account when helping students learn independently. “Teaching ‘independence’ appears to be a paradox. If a teacher provides a structure for learning, by definition they are removing an element of independent study yet if a teacher leaves a student to survive autonomously, the teacher is negating their responsibility to enable the student to learn. Independent learning is open to interpretation depending on the level of independence a teacher wishes to instil in his/her students.”

  We, teachers need to look for the most interesting approaches and strategies to make our students take responsibility for their own learning. Also, teachers must make their students understand they need to learn for life. Most of the time students get use to the teacher ‘spoon-feeding’, but this is something we need to avoid when teaching. The intentions of the teacher can be good when spoon-feeding contents, but he loses sight of the creativity, and the students become passive and teacher-dependent learners. Students’ dependency on the teacher restricts their ability to act and think independently about their subject and their learning. We need to make our students to do some research about certain topics so that they can learn by themselves. Moreover, we need to help our students develop their skills to the fullest. Knowing how to get students to this end point becomes a crucial part of short, medium and long-term planning and most importantly planning for progression. It requires a teacher to look beyond their immediate course of study, and to have a clear idea on where the he or she wants the students to be in the future.

     Scaffolding is used in the context of a technique designed to support a student’s transition in becoming independent learners. We have to help them till they are ready to do things by themselves. This will impact on a student`s ability to become an independent learner. A student`s capacity to be able to learn on their own can be maximized through effective co-planning of this time by both teacher and student.

1. Creating a positive and challenging learning environment through interesting and innovative strategies

         Teachers need to challenge students through interesting and innovative strategies to develop their skills. The book “Captivating Your Class Effective Teaching Skills” presents a series of interesting strategies that we can use in the classroom to challenge our students and to create a positive learning environment. For instance, there is a strategy in which each individual has a given number of talk tokens that they have to use within a discussion. These talk tokens can be used to make the whole class participate. For a talkative student who can be prone to dominate the discussion they will have to think before they talk and use their tokens wisely. They will hopefully become wise with their words and think much more before they talk. For a quiet student, having to speak can be an intimidating and overwhelming experience and the teacher needs to be sensitive in handling these students. Carrying out this strategy can be challenging for both talkative and quiet students, but it will create a positive learning environment in the classroom.

       Furthermore, students must be active learners “Speaking in a classroom should be a participatory event.” All students in a classroom must have the same opportunities to speak; and teachers need to ensure that everyone in the classroom participates. Here, Interesting and innovative strategies play an important role in the classroom. Discussion, for example, is an interesting strategy in which all the students are involved. “Students have to be involved in their learning through interaction and physical activity rather than passive listening and reading. “

      Unquestionably, we teachers need to think about our students’ needs and different learning styles so that we can use the most appropriate  strategies in the classroom. By doing so, we will challenge our students to do their best.

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“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher 

explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. 

The great teacher inspires.” 

― William Arthur Ward

11. What are the goals of classroom management? What do you think are the most important principles of classroom management?

 “Classroom management is defined as the methods and strategies an educator uses to maintain a classroom environment that is conducive to student success and learning.”

“The ultimate goal of classroom management should not be on simple obedience, but on having students behave appropriately because they know it is the right thing to do and because they can understand how their actions affect other people”. The goals of classroom management are for students to gain behavioral, social and academic success in a structured environment that caters to tolerance, exemplary behavior and learning. Effective classroom management means implementing strategies that create a safe, fair and rule-based learning environment for children to flourish in. Prompting and assisting students to understand the procedures and expectations of the teacher and classroom through positive reinforcement, high expectations and discipline instills independence and enhances student growth.

Our most important job as teachers is perhaps to create the conditions in which learning can take place. The skills of creating and managing a successful class may be the key to the whole success of a course. An important part of this is to do with our attitude, intentions, personality and our relationships with the learners. However, we also need certain organizational skills and techniques. Such items are often grouped together under the heading of “classroom management”.

Common classroom management areas include: activities, grouping and seating, authority, critical moments, and tool and techniques.

Managing a modern classroom full of distracted (and distracting) students is not quite as easy as it was in "days of yore," when the teacher lectured (wooden stick in hand) and demanded (and got) attention. With students accustomed to being entertained by interactive video games, today's teacher must manage the classroom by devising activities that will engage the students, restore order and meet learning objectives. The teacher must set up the activities and give clear instructions. Also, the teacher must monitor and time the activities and bring them to an end. Order and organization make a classroom run smoothly. Having a consistent set of procedures and routines that the students are familiar with will help the classroom run like a well-oiled machine. Classroom management can be affected by how the seats are arranged in the classroom. The instructor needs to think about the order of the room and how it will affect what their expectations of the students. For example, if the instructor chooses to put the desks in pairs or groups, they need to be realistic about the fact that there is bound to be some amount of socializing. The seating arrangement also needs to be organized in a way that the instructor can easily move around the room and monitor the students´ behavior. Furthermore, authority is very essential in classroom management. The teacher must gather and hold attention, decides who does what such as answering a question, make a decision, etc, and establishing authority as appropriate.  In critical moments, the teacher starts the lesson, and deals with unexpected problems. Also, the teacher has to maintain appropriate discipline in the classroom and finally to finish the lesson.

While carrying out the lesson, the teacher uses different tools and techniques. For example, the teacher can use the board and other classroom equipment or aids. He or she must use gestures to help clarity of instructions and explanations, speak clearly at an appropriate volume and speed.

Classroom management principles: freedom, justice, and equality.

·Freedom: it means students are able to be themselves and have the right to express themselves through their behavior and opinions. Educators have a responsibility to protect and respect students’ individuality and acknowledge their right to make choices for themselves.

·Justice: it means students have a right to school rules and consequences that are fair to everyone. The right to justice also means students accused of misbehavior have the right to tell their side of the story. For educators to listen to students in matters of concern and consider their views, demonstrates a sincere respect for a student’s sense of self worth.

·Equality: it means an equal educational opportunity for each student. It means meeting the individual needs of every student in order to give each a chance to succeed in school. The educator who tells a student ‘If I let you do that, I will have to let everyone else do it,’ may be denying that students an equal opportunity to learn, if in fact that student needs special assistance in order to find success in school. Equality does not mean treating every student the same. It means educators will respond to students’ individual needs so each will have an opportunity to succeed.

“Students learn best when their minds are engaged and their bodies are moving. People learn through experimentation with the real world, rather than by memorizing a list of rules. This statement has implications for the design of instruction. Learning opportunities should be based, as much as possible, on real tasks and rich environments, and include opportunities for reflection and application.”

10.What are your motives for teaching? What rewards or incentives do you get from teaching? How might your motives interfere with your ability to put the needs of your students ahead of your own?

Some people choose teaching as a profession because they love the academic environment. Other teachers simply have such a passion for their particular subject matter. During my teaching practicum I have come to realize that I love teaching. I love sharing my knowledge with my students, and that the main motivation I have to teach is my inner passion for my profession.

The biggest incentive I get from teaching is the deep appreciation I receive from my students, and the satisfaction of teaching English that is what I love. I love teaching English because I know this is going to be very useful for my students in the future. I love to feel the excitement of teaching because I see young minds coming alive in class and taking each step in their advancement along their trail to becoming a truly productive, educated individual. Furthermore, the teaching profession is a career field that offers the opportunity for self improvement and educational advancement. We teachers do not know everything. We have to remember that we are lifelong learners. For example in my teaching practicum, some students asked me the meaning of some words. Sometimes, I did not know these meanings and I looked them up in the dictionary. This is a good example of how the teaching profession offers the opportunity for self improvement.

I want to accept the challenge of educating children and teenagers and to help them become productive and important part of the society. As I want to be a great teacher, and the main motivation I have to teach is my inner passion for my profession, I want the best for my students. I want them to learn a lot. To do this, I need to be patient because I know that not all of them learn in the same way. I want to give my best because I want my students to succeed in life.

I want to put my students’ needs ahead of my own. By doing so, as a teacher I want to bring them wisdom and knowledge in spite of all the negative that today’s society may throw at young developing minds.

"No matter what the personal reasons in teaching you elevate the most, you will become successful, respected, and be remembered by your students as one of the greatest teacher they had just by following your passion of teaching."

9.What I like and do not like about working with teenagers

The word adolescence is Latin in origin, derived from the verb adolescere, which means "to grow into adulthood." Adolescence is a time of moving from the immaturity of childhood into the maturity of adulthood. There is no single event or boundary line that denotes the end of childhood or the beginning of adolescence. Rather, experts think of the passage from childhood into and through adolescence as composed of a set of transitions that unfold gradually and that touch upon many aspects of the individual's behavior, development, and relationships.  

"What I like about working with teenagers"

1.Adolescents are very energetic.

We, as teachers, can take advantage of this energy when carrying out an activity in the classroom. We can use this energy to make them participate in interesting activities to catch their attention. 

2.They like to participate.

For example, in my teaching practicum, I had a girl who was very hyperactive. Whenever I asked for volunteers to participate, she was always willing to help me. I liked that she was in that way. She made mistakes as everybody does, but that is how we learn - by making mistakes. 

3.Adolescents are very curious and spontaneous.

They just say what they think very naturally. If they have a doubt, they ask, no matter what kind of question it is.

4.They like to learn as much as possible.

They are always asking questions or the meaning of certaing words.

5.Teenagers are very creative. 

They come up with interesting ideas about certain topic during the class. These are some of the things I like about working with teenagers.

"What I do not like about working with teenagers"

1. Some teenagers are very disrespectful. 

For instance, in my teaching practicum, I had some students that were kind of disrespectful with me, but just outside the classroom. During classes they behaved really well and participated a lot. 

2.Teenagers love nasty words. 

It is pretty uncomfortable listening to them saying nasty words because we cannot say that much to them. If we say something to them, they get mad at us. Also, they will make our lives miserable as they love taking revenge. Another thing is that they can say “-I do not like that teacher because of what she told me!-, -I will not pay attention to her because I do not care about her classes!” teenagers get distracted easily. If one student starts talking, everyone does it and the classroom becomes a mess. 

3. Some teenagers are very irresponsible.

They do not care about the class and do not pay attention to what the teacher is saying. They do not do their homework assignments. 

4. The majority of adolescents are very talkative.

Teenagers are always talking, and the problem is that they do not talk about the class. They talk about many other things, but the class.

We need to take all the positive things from our students, such as energy and curiosity to help them build their knowledge.

8. What can the World Wide Web offer ESL/EFL teachers?

World Wide Web offers a variety of resources not only for ESL/EFL teachers, but also for students. World Wide Web is another way to describe the Internet. Internet has a lot of useful information for teachers. First of all, if a teacher is looking for different warm ups, ice breakers, or time fillers to carry out in the classroom, he can find many different options on the internet. Second, teachers can find many ideas to improve their classes such as teaching strategies, teaching methodology, activities, e-books, blogs, wikis, and so on.  Moreover, teachers can find an amount of different exercises for their students to improve their listening, reading, or writing skills. Teachers can involve students in technology since they are very familiar with it.

Furthermore, EFL students can take advantage of the web and learn by themselves. They can find a lot of exercises to practice their English skills. For instance, they can listen to podcasts to practice their listening skill. They can practice fill in the blank exercises, look for idiomatic expressions, phrasal verbs, new structures, vocabulary, and so forth. This blog is a clear example on how teachers can use technology to involve students into using web. While writing blog entries, students improve their writing skills.

To summarize, World Wide Web is very useful for EFL /ESL teachers since it offers a big amount of resources to get good ideas for teaching. For example, it offers e-books, blogs, wikis, activities, and so on. In the same way, it is useful for students learning a foreign language since they can find a lot of English exercises to improve their macro skills.

7. How can the standard-features word-processing programs be exploited for teaching writing skills?

The most famous word-processing program is Microsoft Word. It can be exploited for teaching writing skills. For instance, teachers can ask their students to write essays, reports, and so on in order for the students to improve their writing skills.

Word-processing programs as Microsoft Word have some features that help the students to improve their writing skills. When writing an essay in this program, students will be corrected automatically if they make punctuation or grammar mistakes.

Perhaps no other technology resource has had as great an impact on education as word processing. Not only does word processing offer high versatility and flexibility, it also is "model-free" instructional software; that is, it reflects no particular instructional approach. A teacher can use it to support any kind of directed instruction or constructivist activity. Since its value as an aid to teaching and learning is universally acknowledged, word processing has become the most commonly used software in education.It offers many general relative advantages (unique benefits over and above other methods) to teachers and students:

·Saves time — Word processing helps teachers use preparation time more efficiently by letting them modify materials instead of creating new ones. Writers can also make corrections to word processing documents more quickly than they could on a typewriter or by hand.

·Enhances document appearance — Materials created with word processing software look more polished and professional than handwritten or typed materials do. It is not surprising that students seem to like the improved appearance that word processing gives to their work. This is especially possible with the many templates that are part of the software suites today.

·Allows sharing of documents — Word processing allows materials to be shared easily among writers. Teachers can exchange lesson plans, worksheets, or other materials on disk and modify them to fit their needs. Students can also share ideas and products among themselves.

·Allows collaboration of documents — Especially since the release of Google Docs, teachers and students can now create, edit, and share documents synchronously.

6.Do you think technologies should play a central or a peripheral role in second language teaching and learning?

With the rise in educational technology, many schools are preparing teachers and students to work with several new technologies to facilitate learning and students engagement. Many of these technologies work particularly well with students, as they are familiar with current technologies and will appreciate a classroom that uses multimedia platforms.

Technology is a very necessary tool for teachers, but it plays a peripheral role in second language teaching and learning. We teachers can use technologies such as computers, audios, videos, pod-casts, and power point presentations when delivering a lesson. These are useful tools for teachers to support their classes: furthermore, students can use technology to empower their listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills in a variety of ways. They can watch videos subtitled in English, listen to music, read articles in English, and so forth. Also, they can research information about topics that they have not studied yet in class so that they can understand better or more easily when the teacher explains these topics to them.

On the other hand, Social networks such as facebook, Google plus, twitter, and so on can be very useful for teachers, and we can take advantage of them. For instance, teachers can create groups on facebook with teaching purposes. Teachers can upload important information for the students: a list of verbs, rules for the use of certain tense and so forth. Technology plays an important role when teaching. Teachers can play videos related to the topic they are teaching to deliver lessons more effectively, but it cannot be the center in second language teaching and learning since there are some much more important things. 

There will never be anything better than a teacher teaching in the conventional way. For example, blended learning is a form of education that combines face-to-face classroom methods with computer-mediated activities. According to its proponents, the strategy creates a more integrated approach for both instructors and students. We can realize that technology is pretty essensial in the teaching-learning process. However, " There must be always the presence of a teacher". 

5.What do you think is the role of research in improving our understanding of teaching?

The role of research in improving our understanding of teaching is essential, especially for those who are beginners in the field of teaching. We teachers need constantly be updated when it refers to education and the different approaches, techniques, methodologies, and strategies carried out in the classroom.

It is very important for teachers to look for information in order to come up with new ideas that can be applied in their classes.   For instance, we are just beginning our journey as teachers and sometimes we feel stressed out because we think we are not doing well. As a result, we get worried and start looking for information in order to improve our efficiency as teachers and here “research” takes place. We start reading books about teaching and getting the essential and useful information that can be put into practice in our classes.

We do research about teaching methodologies because we want our classes to be effective. Furthermore, we want our students to enjoy our classes and to get meaningful learning from them.

 As we are beginners in the field of teaching, we need to enrich our knowledge about what adolescents like and do not like about a teacher and the way she or he teaches. We need to look for suitable activities for our students. Sometimes we make activities that are enjoyable for us, but they may not be enjoyable for our students. We want to be great teachers with a lot of knowledge to share with our students in the right way, and that is why we are interested in learning about the different teaching methods. The more we know about teaching methodologies, the better our classes will be. As a result, we will be effective teachers containing effective knowledge about teaching. Also, we will be able to apply the method that works best for our students.

Definitely, researching has an essential role in improving our understanding of teaching since we can enrich our knowledge about teaching through good books or good documents online. There will always be new things to deal with, and we must be ready to face them. If we are not ready, we will always have the opportunity to research and overcome our challenges when teaching. Do not forget that “teachers are life-long learners.”

4. What experience do you have of learning a second or foreign language? How would you characterize the teacher´s teaching method? How effective did you find it?

The biggest experience I have of learning a second language took place the first time I went to the university. I was so nervous because I was going to start my major “Licenciatura en Idioma Inglés Opción Enseñanza”. It was a new world for me since I did not know that much about it. Neither did I have any knowledge about English, nor did I know any of my classmates to ask for some help. Whenever I had to attend English classes I felt pretty frustrated because I did not understand what the teacher was saying.

On the other hand, I characterize the teacher´s teaching method as excellent. Now that I have some knowledge about different methods I understand better what he did for us to get what he said in English. He carried out different methods such as THE DIRECT METHOD. He never spoke in Spanish because he wanted us to associate meaning and target language directly. In order to do this, when he introduced a new target language word or phrase, he demonstrated its meaning through the use of realia, pictures or any object in the classroom; he never translated it into the L1. When I asked him something in Spanish, he said “sorry, I do not understand what you are saying”; in that moment it was so stressful for me. Nevertheless, that was how I was learning because I had to look for the right words to convey my ideas. He also used THE TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD. When we did not understand a word, he made some physical movements to show us what that word meant. For example, in order for us to understand the meaning of “jump”, he performed the action. Then, we got it without translation. We got it through physical movements.

I consider that the teaching methods my Basic English teacher used were pretty effective. For example, in my case, I did not know almost anything about the language, but thanks to his way of teaching or the methods he used I learned a lot. Also, he had all the characteristics of a great teacher. He was very flexible, enthusiastic and inspired enthusiasm, inspired confidence, and the most important is that he was very patient when it came to cope with his students´ mistakes. He gave me very good bases for the next English level. That is why I find his teaching methods very effective. They worked for me.

3. What are the differences between Teaching Approach, Teaching Method,Teaching Technique, and Teaching Strategies?

Sometimes we get confused with the terms “approach”, “method”, “technique”, and “strategy” in language teaching. Well, let´s try to make some understanding about them.

Approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic. It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught.

Method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material, no part of which contradicts, and all of which is based upon, the selected approach. An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural. Within one approach, there can be many methods.

Technique is a very specific, concrete stratagem or trick designed to accomplish an immediate objective. It is an implementation which actually takes place in a classroom. It is a particular trick, or contrivance used to accomplish an immediate objective. Technique must be consistent with a method and therefore in harmony with an approach as well.

Strategy is the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal. A strategy is a style of thinking; a conscious and deliberate process; an intensive implementation system; the art of ensuring future success.

Thus we can conclude that approach is translated into method that contains technique, and this technique into strategies.