Well my next session has started. This is going to be tricky, travelling the west coast USA for the summer and keeping up with my studies!
The introduction to this course includes this quote:
"English teaching is a rewarding career but there is a tough side to it. Trying to understand what we are doing, and why we are doing it, is tough. Trying to think up learning activities and sequences which will fulfil syllabus requirements and engage and transform our students is touch because it requires intellectual and creative energy. But the pleasures of reading, or watching a film, browsing a website, remain a consolation for the hard times. As do our students' engagement and intellectual growth and often their delight."
I feel this epitomises teaching generally. At the beginning and end of the day we want our students to be engaged, to enjoy what they learn, and to build upon what they know, so that they want to be in the classroom with you, and both you and the student themselves can see themselves growing intellectually. It is tough and indeed a balancing act for teachers, as we need to ensure that what we plan and teach (those learning activities and sequences) meet and fulful syllabus requirements - it involves teaching and assessment, and ensuring the students have the skills and strategies that will enable them to build upon their current knowledge and understandings to reach deeper understandings in their subject area, in this case English. Assessment not only of our students' learning but of our own teaching and own course content, so that we too can continue to improve our own teaching practices. Teaching is really a lifelong journey of learning for both teacher and student!
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