Universidad Capitn General Gerardo Barrios

Reflection Paper
Principles and Methodology

Kriscia Lorena Portillo Aparicio 25/02/2014

School of Arts and Sciences

Bachelors Degree in English

Elmer Jorge Guardado. Mat

Principles of Good Teaching

Principles 1. Good practice encourages interaction between Students and Faculty.

Description Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is a most important factor in student motivation and involvement

2. Good practice encourages interaction and collaboration between Students.

Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a Solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and Social, not competitive and isolated.

Development As well all know, the armory among people make a better environment to live in, and that is also apply to the academic level; that is one of the many reasons why students should get along with the Faculty, and we, as the teachers, must create a great atmosphere among our students and the University. It is so good when students get along so well, they even work better, and we need to focus on the fact that team work is the easy way to get some things done right, we, as a teacher, must create that team work experience among our students. Active learning is an important key in the way of create better students, we need to set up our students in a real world experience, in order for them to learn; they must be involve in our class by the active participation of each one of them. We must know how to use our time in the most proper way, because

3. Good practice uses active learning techniques.

Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, Memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. Time plus energy equals learning. Learning to use Ones time well is critical

4. Good practice emphasizes time on task.

for students and professionals alike.

5. Good practice gives prompt feedback.

Knowing what you know and don't know focuses your learning. In getting started, students need help in assessing their existing Knowledge and competence. Then, in classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive feedback on their Performance.

6. Good practice communicates high expectations.

7. Good practice respects diversity, talents, experiences and way of learning.

Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone - for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and wellmotivated. Expecting students to perform well Becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many roads lead to learning. Different students bring different talents and styles to college. Brilliant students in a seminar might be all thumbs in a lab or studio; students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need

sometimes time is not enough in the process of teaching, we need to know how and when use it right. We must keep our students mind warm, every chance we get, keep them practicing so they wont be able to forget all the things they are learning; by giving them the proper feedback then they wont be worry of learning the things at the last minute, because the teacher will practically obligated them by asking the same things over and over again. The more that we make our students to practice, the more they are going to learn, by doing this, we encourage them to lose the kind of afraid they feel when they communicate in the target language. So the more they practice, the more we expect from them to learn. Most important of all is to know that no matter what, we must respect our students, in every sense that is possible; we must be clear that not all of our students learn the same way, that they are so different of each other, they are unique, as their way of learning is so

opportunities to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.

different, we must create the perfect atmosphere for them to develop their own competences.

First able, to design a TP we have to make sure to have recognize all the facts that are going to be involved in our teaching methodology, as an example: who are my students? What goals do I want to achieve with them? What is the environment going to look like? As a teacher, we know that we have to learn from our own experiences, so we must try to do our best so our students will be able to learn in a much better way; we ought to bring the ideas that we had in a preview experience as maybe a trainer or this must be as teachers. A major purpose of teacher education is to help teachers make the tacit explicit. (Freeman (1991), 2000) It is very important to know who we are first, so our students can see that they can actually trust us, and also that they can see us as the role model they are looking for, for that and many more reasons, we ought to be sure of who we are, to become a better teacher we must design a much better personality, some people actually say that personality is something you are born with, according to some Psychologist personality makes us who we are. It influences nearly every aspect of our lives, from what we choose to do for a living to how we interact with our families to our choices of friends and romantic partners. But what factors influence our personality? Can we change our personalities, or do our overall traits remain constant throughout life? (Angier, N. Friedman HS, Booth-Kewley S., 2014) Some things we cannot change in our personality but yeah we can improve them, personality is something we are born with, but we shape it throughout our lives, to become a teacher is something you must love to do, not anyone have this natural charisma that is required to be a successful teacher. But in order to be better people and teachers as well, we must adapt it to our own media that we live in; some people fail in this long journey, but in order to success we must innovate day by day, not taking anything for granted, but by being the best at what we do. I remember when I was studying in high school, my English teacher was probably the worst teacher that I have ever had, that day I remember telling to myself that one day, I was going to be a much better English teacher than he was, and I promised that I was going to reach that goal, and probably I will; I know that I still have a lot to learn in my path to become a good teacher, but I do believe that anything is possible. I know that my personality is outgoing which is going to lead me to be a good teacher, using the Direct Method in my classes is really important, I happen to believe that we are able to learn in a much better way when we are surrounded by the language because the main rule of this Method is that No translation is allowed Students learn through the use of visual aids and demonstrations in the target language, this case, English. This is the Method that I rely the most to, because I believe that learning a Second Language is not only to learn its Grammar Structures, but also it is to learn how to communicate among others, that is why is so important to have all the communicate competences that

we need to have in order to be successful in life; Even though with this method Grammar is taught inductively, it is not its main goal to teach Grammar. Some authors argued that a foreign language could be taught without translation or the use of the learner's native tongue if meaning was conveyed directly through demonstration and action. The psychological principles of direct association between forms and meanings in the target language and provided a theoretical justification for a monolingual approach to teaching. According to some other authors, a language could best be taught by using it actively in the classroom, rather than using analytical procedures that focus on explanation of grammar rules in classroom teaching, teachers must encourage direct and spontaneous use of the foreign language in the classroom. Learners would then be able to induce rules of grammar. The teacher replaced the textbook in the early stages of learning. Speaking began with systematic attention to pronunciation. Known words could be used to teach new vocabulary, using mime, demonstration, and pictures. (Sauveur, F. Franke, unknown) Not everyone can use this approach, because to do it, you must be able to have the courage and willing to not let anyone to speak in their own language; one of its principles says that teachers should demonstrate, not explain or translate. Its desirable that students make direct association between the target language and meaning. Some other principles of this method are:

Classroom instruction is conducted in the target language. There is an inductive approach to grammar. Only everyday vocabulary is taught. Concrete vocabulary is taught through pictures and objects, while abstract is taught by association of ideas. The learner is actively involved in using the language in realistic everyday situations. Students are encouraged to think in the target language. Speaking is taught first before reading or writing. This method states that the printed word should be kept away from the second language learner for as long as possible. Translation is completely banished from any classroom activity. Classroom activities are carried out only in the target language. Use of chain activities accompanied by verbal comments. Grammar is taught inductively (i.e. having learners find out rules through the presentation of adequate linguistic forms in the target language) Emphasis is put on correct pronunciation and grammar.

Some of the techniques that are used with this Method are the next ones:

Techniques Reading out loud

Explanation Student listens to himself/herself and self-correct his/her mistakes. Encourages students to lose any kind of afraid that they might feel. Gives them confidence. By this the students are learning more vocabulary and also they are learning of how to use this vocabulary in different environments. This is a useful tool for the teachers because they can actually check the level of how their students are. By doing this, the teacher can interact with the students and see if they are able to hold a conversation in the target language.

Conversation practice

Fill in the blank exercises

Dictation

Question/answers exercise

To use this Method has many advantages, for example: One of its positive points is that it promises to teach the language and Not about the language. I believe that this is the most important thing in the way of an acquisition of a second language.

Advantages It is a natural method. There is no gap between active and passive vocabulary. This method is based on sound principles of education Its emphasis on speech made it more attractive for those who have needs of real communication in the target language. It was one of the first methods to introduce the teaching of vocabulary through

realia. ( Pratiwi Lestari, 2011) As a teachers we have to be updated with the latest technology, E-Learning is using the latest technology in order for us to teach through it, Quite simply, e-learning is electronic learning, and typically this means using a computer to deliver part, or all of a course whether it's in a school, part of your mandatory business training or a full distance learning course. This is so much better than traditional learning because we can reach at so much more people, people who we might actually never met, so we have to be prepared on that. Direct Method applies really good to this kind of learning process, because we are not going to be dealing only with Spanish spoken people, there are going to be lots of other ethnic people, in which the only thing that is going to attach us is going to be the target language, with this learning, we can use the same techniques as if these people were locked in a classroom, this is one of the great advantages of this method because you cannot change nothing in some other approach that you want to apply, in this case E-learning. As we were able to see for a bit, we are who we are, we cannot change our personality that easily but one this is sure, we can be whoever we want to do, no matter the obstacles that we are going to face through, as long as you are willing to change, you can do it, always believe in yourself.

REFERENCIAS
Pratiwi Lestari. (12 de june de 2011). Direct Method as one learning approaches. Obtenido de http://novaekasari09.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/directmethod-as-one-of-language-teaching-approaches/

Alternative Methods. (s.f.).

Angier, N. Friedman HS, Booth-Kewley S. (13 de january de 2014). About.com

Educational Psicology. Obtenido de

http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/tp/facs-aboutpersonality.htm Freeman (1991), S. (. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. En D. L. Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (pg. 2). Oxford: Database Oxford University Press. Sauveur, F. Franke. (unknown de unknown de unknown). Alternative Methods. Obtenido de http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/Alternative%20methods/direct_method.ht m