What’s your call on the following? Assessment in education must, first and foremost, serve the purpose of supporting learning

When supporting learning, assessment should involve the following aspects:

1)    It should show the teachers’ performance results on the Learning-Teaching      process, that means how effective was  the education the learners received in an education establishment.

2)    Assessment is also focused on improving the Learning-Teaching Process and raise standards in the classroom; that is  through the evaluation, both teachers and learners have the opportunity to get better by determining their own ability, progress and steps to improvement.

Besides, it’s through assessment for learning that teachers and students come to an understanding of the individual’s learning needs. In order words, whenever  teachers assess the learners, they are shown the weakness they all have to work on, so that both of them can get a successful learning.

University study requires students to take responsibility for their own learning, to be more self-directed, to make their own decisions about what they will focus on and how much time they will spend on learning both inside and outside the classroom. How can you get the students up to this point by the end of the course or the year?

First of all, I have to let the learners know that I will be just a guide or facilitator for them, and they’ll have to work with independence; in other words, the teacher has to encourage the students to autonomously engage in their studies and to think by themselves, so that they can become their own learning builder.

I would like to put into practice Belle Wallace’s independent learning framework, which is called: TASC  ( Thinking Actively in a Social Context ). Whenever I teach a specific topic, I’d like to make my students follow the stages of the TASC WHEEL from the beginning to the end.

The TASC WHEEL is a cycle that learners should work in, and it consists of the following segments:

ORGANIZE:

Students explore their schemata that will be the basis to start working.

IDENTIFY:

It is to set the tasks they will work on.

GENERATE:

To think about worthwhile ideas to succeed on the work.

DECIDE:

The group gets together and choose the best decisions.

IMPLEMENT:

It means to start working.

EVALUATE:

In this stage, students have to be aware if they have achieved the main purpose of the work.

In your own words, explain how more interesting and innovating strategies can create a positive and challenging learning environment for your or someone’s students.

A positive and challenging learning environment could be created by taking into account the following strategies:

Ø  TALKING:

This tool is very useful because through it the teacher can gain and mantain students’ attention. Students learn English better through dialogues or conversations; that is, by communicating and speaking one another.

Ø  NOTE TAKING:

The purpose of Note Taking is to recall , for future reference, the most conspicious features in a text, learners could perform this action before having an exam or when they are about to perform an important job that could be graded.

Ø  READING:

It is one of the most important activity when learning a second language. Reading helps to inform the learner’s knowledge as well as develop their reasoning skills.

In my opinion, students should read a lot and then put into practice the readings by speaking to others in order to recall and to learn what they have read.

Ø  PARTICIPATION:

If students don’t participate in class, it would be hard for the teacher to investigate if someone has understood the lesson. Teachers should encourage an active participation of all students so that they can show their strengths and weaknesses.

Ø  GAMES:

Warm-up activities, ice breakers or other games are very useful to avoid stress or dullness in the classroom. Learners should find fun in each lesson in order to encourage them to learning.

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

When we talk about classroom management, we can not avoid to talk about applying DISCIPLINE in classrooms.

All of the students behave in different ways in a school community, that`s why teachers have to know how to deal with different behaviors, and how to solve problems inside a classroom.

When misbehavior is reduced, the way is clear to efficient learning. Students who behave in a wrong way could need attention in socially acceptable ways.

Teachers could use the following principles in order to practice an effective classroom management:

- Focus  your attention on entire class.

- Silence can be effective.

- Direct your instruction so that students know what is going to happen.

- Monitor groups of students to check progress.

- Move around the room so that students have to pay attention more readily.

- Make sure classroom is comfortable and safe.

- Come to class prepared.

- Show confidence in your teaching.

- Learn student names as quickly as possible.

- Develop strategies for implementing a discipline plan

- Design an effective lesson plan per each class.

- Take the control of the class.

- Come in with enthusiasm and show you are excited to be there.

- Promote values in the classroom. 

On the other hand, if we as teachers want to get an effective classroom management, we have to reach the following goals:  

  *To create a positive and productive learning atmosphere.
  *To get a successful educational environment in the classroom 

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?

      I have always dreamed of becoming an English teacher and having the chance to teach what I have learned to other people. I think my main motive for teaching is that I like let other people know what I have understood, and I feel great whenever a student approaches me and tells me: “ I want you to give us classes once again bacause I understand better when you teach”; I feel proud when I hear those words from my students.

     The best reward  I have got from teaching is  KNOWLEDGE. When I give English classes, I feel that I learn English more and more, that is I increase my understanding  because I am practicing what I already know all the time. The best incentive that I get from teaching is when I realize that most learners understood my English class, and when I ask: Do you have any question? There is no doubt all around the classroom.

     I think that when a person becomes a teacher and gets a job in which he/she works as a teacher, first of all, he/she has to think about his/her teaching motives; that is  the teacher has to focus the attention on the Student`s needs, and then to get focus on her/his motives and needs. If it is possible to carry out both teacher`s motives and the Students`  needs at the same time  it is better.