The Importance of Classroom Management

"The goal of classroom management is not quiet classrooms, it’s productive students." Robert Slavin.

Effective classroom management is one of the most essential components of a successful educational environment at school. Therefore, it is important that classroom management goals are set and actions are taken to see that those goals are applied in the classroom. 

First, and most importantly, students must demonstrate respect for themselves and others at all times. This goal covers a variety of skills. To meet this goal, students must not talk while others are talking; also, they must not speak before being recognized and must not exhibit an inattentive, rude or disruptive behavior. They must also be kind to others, listen when others are speaking, and keep their personal appearance and desk area in order.

Also, time in class is an effective classroom management tool. If the transition time between activities is held to a minimum, students will stay in control and focused more time. It will be much easier to move from one activity to another if students are not allowed to fall in a chaotic transition mode between the activities.

In addition, being on time in class is a major goal in any classroom management plan. Tardiness is an indicator of lack of time management skills, lack of respect for the teacher and class, and lack of concern for the student's personal academic success. The tardiness rules varies from school to school, but each rule is designed to contribute to a learning environment that is predictable and free of distractions. Therefore, encouraging students to be on time for class also helps them to develop punctuality, a very important life skill.

Classroom management is the term that teachers use to describe manage of their classroom and students to ensure that stressful situations are avoided and students learn topics and subjects effectively. Classroom management involves more than the management and discipline of the students but also the availability of additional information on every lesson. Effective classroom management will make life less stressful for teachers and ensure that students are provided with the correct tools in a calm environment in which to learn.

Motives for Teaching

Nowadays, motivation has an important role in the job of teaching. For that reason, teaching English is more than just a work for me. It's an experience that gives me motives and rewards when doing it. Therefore, I would like to explain some motives and rewards I get when I do my teaching practicums.

First, I feel motivated when my students learn what I am teaching. Also, the great appreciation that  I, as an English practitioner, receive from the students when I am teaching to them. In addition, I feel rewarded when my students successfully get good grades in my evaluations because not only I see that I am doing a god job, but also I am making good students for the future.

In other words, working with teenagers make me feel motivated because I share the knowledge I learned since I was a child, and rewarded because I know I am making good persons for the future.

Working with Teenagers

Every week, I work on my English practicums with a few students. All of them are teenagers. Working with them has given to me many experiences during my practicums. However, there are some things that I like and dislike while working with them.

Talking about the things I like about working with teenagers, I feel happy when they are paying attention when I am teaching because I know they are learning and enriching their knowledge for the future. Moreover, I feel glad when they energetically participate in every activity I do in every class and also when they do their homework assignments.

Nevertheless, there are some things that become hard or dislike when working with teenagers. For instance, I do not like when some students are talking while I am teaching because others may be interested in learning the lesson and those students do not allow them to focus. Furthermore, I dislike when they are doing other things instead of being working on the activities I have assigned them to do. In that case, I have to be monitoring them so they effectively work on the activities.

No matter the moments I enjoy or dislike while working with teenagers. What really cares to me is that they learn and understand English, a language that in a future may open them some gates to professionalism.

The Benefits of The World Wide Web in ESL/EFL Teaching

Nowadays, the internet has an important role and great potential in educational life. It is also used specifically in second language learning all over the world. Some research results indicate that the use of internet increases language and acquisition of second language. For example, it was found that interaction in language helps learners to gain input in language learning process. Specifically, it increases synchronous communication of ESL learners and boost them to use the second language in real situations. In other words, the internet motivates learners to use English in their daily lives and provides functional communicative experiences. 

As it was mentioned before, the internet is a useful medium for communication with native speakers in real situations, making students to improve the four macro skills, listening, writing, speaking and reading. Additionally, internet helps students to improve their computer skills, such as keyboarding skills, opening and storing files, Internet searching, and technical and conceptual experiences. In fact, many students indicate that the internet has positive effects on motivation, it provides means for creative works and gives opportunities for collaboration and socialization in learning process.

Technology in Teaching

Nowadays, technology has increased in many fields such as, science, entertainment, machinery, etc, and education is not the exception. Technology has taken an important role in the field of education from using simple projectors to using LED screens to watch a documentary related to a subject.

However, some teachers only depend from these devices, what do I want to mean? That they are used to working with computers, TV’s, slide shows, videos, graphs, etc, and although these devices make the lesson catchy and entertained, they may not work as perfect as teachers want; therefore, when this problems come up, teachers may not be ready to teach the lesson by themselves, and this forces them to improvise in their lesson, which in many cases, does not work. In fact, a teacher not only has to depend from technology to teach, but also has to be ready if a problem comes up.

Reflecting on My Last Lesson

Last week, I did my practicum lesson with the students of ninth grade at Centro Escolar Benito Juarez, in Chalchuapa. The lesson I had to taugh was about "The Simple Present Tense." Fortunately, this lesson was assimilated by my students. I know that they learned the lesson because they paid attention, they could answer my questions referred to "The Simple Present Tense" and also they worked correctly in some excercises.

I taught my lesson following the order of my lesson plan because I knew that using my lesson plan the students would learn and assimilate such lesson successfully. Furthermore, charts, images and many examples were used in this lesson so that the students could learn what the Simple Present Tense is about.

If I had the opportunity to teach "The Simple Present Tense" to my students again, I will try to use other sources, such a video. This source will not only explain "The Simple Present Tense" in a different way, but also will keep the students interested and entertained while learning the lesson.

The Role of Research to Improve Our Teaching

Teachers are always learning, finding out things, analysing information, adapting their behaviour according to information received, looking to improve and adapting to modern demands. All of this constitutes research, and when teachers become researchers, or teacher-researches, the traditional descriptions of both teachers and researchers change. Teacher-researchers create questions about what they think and observe during their teaching and their students' learning. They also collect student work in order to evaluate performance, but they also see    student work as data to analyze in order to examine the teaching and learning that produced it.

Research in teaching empowers teachers to make a positive difference in terms of classroom practice, for example, how to make an effective lesson and how to understand the students' behavior. Research also enables teachers to provide relevant information about teaching and learning in actual classrooms. Most importantly, by engaging in reflective practice. Researcher improves the lives of teachers by seeking to discover  more effective ways of implementing the teaching-learning process.

My Experience While Learning English

Learning English as a foreign language has benn one of the best things I have experienced in my life. I have I have learned English since I was a child and the more I learn about this foreign language, the more interested I feel. To be honest, at the very beginning of learning English, I just wanted to learn it by my own, I mean, by watching movies, listening to music or reading books in English. Though, My mom wanted me to go to an English academy in order to have a better knowledge in this language. Since I knew that I was going to learn more about English, I did not want to go to that academy because I had to go there every Saturday very early. Even so, my mom forced me to go. Nowadays, I do not regret having gone to that academy because I could improve my vocabulary and fluency during 20 levels. I really thank God and my mom for giving me one of the best experiences in my life.

I have had many teachers in my learning process; however, none of them used a same teaching method. Some used bilingual method, and some used the direct method. But no matter the method they used I am concerned that I learned a lot English an also I learned and enjoy a lot from their teaching methods.

The Most Important Purpose in Education

Education is the process of gaining knowledge, learning forms of proper conduct and acquiring technical competency in a specific field. It involves an individual to distinguish between the right and the wrong. But We seldom think of what the real purpose of education is and we begin to realize the importance of education only when face ourselves in our professional and personal life.

The purpose of education is to bring about physical, mental and social development of an individual to succeed in life. It helps an individual acquire social skills, which enable him to interact with people around, maintain social relations and behave well with others in society. Education is also believed to be responsible for the cultivation of a civilized society. So, as teachers, we must know how to influence in the student's learning in order to make succeed them in the academic, social and spiritual field.

Why Do I Want to Teach?

I want to teach because I enjoy it every time I do it. I also want to teach because I want my students to learn new things everyday. But I do not want to be that kind of teacher that just go to the board and give the lesson. I want to be a teacher that inspire his students. 

Now the question is... How to inspire my students?      I know that students need teachers that they can believe in, so that, as a pre-service teacher I will get my sudents involve in the class by creating a good atmosphere. Moreover, I will help my students  by enriching their knowledge and by clarifying any doubt they have about the lesson.

In other words, I want to make my students to feel comfortable with the class every time I am in front of them, so that they can enjoy every lesson as I enjoy while teaching to them.

The Transformational Pedagogy Model

"Learners need teachers who will show them the good." Nowadays, teachers can also influence the life of students in their learning process, and here is where transformational pedagogy shows up. Transformational pedagogy can be defined as as how we can influence in the student's learning process and how we can make them to succeed. 

Ther are three important goals in which a student can succeed. These three goals are academic, social and spiritual. These three important goals can have an impact in both pre-service and service teachers. For example, in the academic goal the teacher encourage the students to learn by motivating them to participate in class, which help the students to improve their skills and also to overcome the fear of commiting mistakes.

In the social goal, both (pre-service and service teaher) can create a respectful relationship which also creates a good atmosphere among the classroom. That relationship gives the student the opportunity to have more confidence not only with himself, but also with his others partners and his teacher.

Finally, the spiritual goal means how the teacher can fulfill the needs of the student as a unique individual by giving pieces of advices to them, encouraging to not give up and to feel proud when they succeed. These goals are very important in this tranformational pedagogy because both pre-service and service teacher notice that they have had a good influence in the life of the students.