Demonstrated ability, through anticipated or actual teaching, to apply the principles of classroom language pedagogy to teach both oral and written English.
Description
The Speaking Lesson Plan (Scheduling Doctor’s Appointments) was part of the Final Portfolio project created for TESL 545: Second-language Pedagogy I, taken in the Spring 2016 term with Professor Abigail Kleier. The Writing Lesson Plan (Descriptive Paragraphs) was created for TESL 580: TESOL Portfolio, taken in the Spring 2019 term with Dr. Tasha Bleistein.
Reflection
Creating lesson plans for Second-language Pedagogy I & II stretched my normal lesson planning process and helped me to consider all the elements that are important to bring into each lesson. I was specifically challenged to clearly articulate the learning outcomes for each lesson and have an assessment plan in place to determine whether these outcomes have been met. These are two areas that I often let slip in my day-to-day lesson planning, but I have realized that without these two important components, a lesson will lack both a clearly defined purpose and means of measuring success. I was also reminded of the importance of making sure my instruction covers all the competencies my students need for successful language learning, including discourse, sociocultural, pragmatic, and strategic competencies.
Application
In the future, I plan to strengthen my lesson planning skills by articulating the learning outcomes and assessment plan for each lesson I teach. Even if I don’t put them in writing for every lesson, I will mentally focus on the things I want my students to be able to do at the end of the class session and can then articulate these objectives at the outset of the class. By planning how to assess whether these outcomes have been met, I will be able to identify which learners require additional support. As I focus on these two key areas, I will be able to better serve each one of my students by targeting my teaching to their specific needs. I will also consciously focus on multiple competencies in my instruction; for example, I will explicitly teach students how to repair breakdowns in communication (by asking for clarification, checking for comprehension, etc.) in order to strengthen their strategic competence, and I will teach scripts for specific situations (e.g., entering/exiting a conversation) to strengthen their discourse competence.