IMPLEMENTIN INSTRUCTION

HOW CAN TEACHERS IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION IN THEIR CLASSROOMS AND MAKE THEM CONDUCIVE TO MEANINGFUL LEARNING?

Teachers can implement effective instruction in their classroom and make them conductive to meaningful learning by doing the following:

• Changing the strategy they use.
•  Changing the methodology of the evaluation system.
•  Giving clear explanations.
• Creating the appropriate kind of material.
• Selecting the appropriate activities.
•  Creating activities in which every student participates actively.
•  Implementing individual work, peer work and work group.
•  Implementing strategies appropriate to the content and instructional goal.
• Explaining the homework assignments in a clear way.
• Asking students suitable questions.
• Taking into account students´ interests, ages, level of English.
• Applying basic principles to their classes.

WHY IS COMMUNICATION OF CONTENT AND SKILLS KNOWLEDGE A CHARACTERISTIC OF GOOD TEACHERS?

Well, teachers’ ability to give clear and focused explanations to students and to clarify expectations for achievement is important aspects of effective instructional delivery. That is, teachers need to express what his or her expectations. Teachers need to present to the students the units or the lessons within a well-organized set. Communication is fundamental to any profession that requires interaction among people and organization. Communication of content is also very relevant. And if teachers want to communicate content or skills, they first need to know the subject matter, and then they need to know how to share it with students in a very understandable way.

HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN YOUR OWN TEACHING PRACTICUM, AS THE AGE OF YOUR STUDENTS IS A CRITICAL ONE?

Even though the ages of my students are so critical since the majority of them is thirteen years old, I try to involve every students in the activities; that is why I choose meaningful, easy, and funny activities. Moreover, I give reward for those students who participate more in the class. Besides that, I call students in random order because in that way, they pay much attention since they do not know who is going to participate. And finally, I try to clarify all their doubts even though time is a big problem for me.

Organizing for Instruction

How do you focus on instruction?

I consider that I focused my instruction on the students` learning as the central purpose of schooling communicates an enthusiasm and dedication to learning that students reflect in their own behavior and practice. I think that teacher have to provide opportunities for the students t succeed. Moreover, I actually do not understand the point that some teachers try to let their down in their evaluations. I mean if he evaluations are so hard that most students flunk them, the teaching process does not have a good purpose instead this is showing that teachers lack of didactics principles. Indeed, my point is that if I want my students to learn, I have to provide the opportunities they need to succeed.

How do you maximize instructional time?

I maximize instructional time by creating a lesson plan for every single class. The lesson plan contains everything that is going to be developed during the whole class. Moreover, every single activity that I will develop has its own period of time. That is to say, the activities cover a limit of time in the class so that I do not abuse and surpass the time given by each one of them. For each class I give, I create an agenda before I start the class. In this way, the students can have a glimpse of what they are going to do so that they are aware of the time in the class.

How do you expect students to succeed in your classes?

 Well, I guess that every teacher in the world has high expectations for their students, and so do I.  I want my students to learn the best from each class and from the whole period I will be teaching them. Talking about high expectations, I guess I can encourage my students to learn day in and day out. Besides, encouragement plays an important role in every student’s mind. If students are encouraged, they will learn the best of every single class. However, I have to understand that students have different ways of learning and they in different rates.  That is, teachers have to realize that each student learns differently; one could be visual, another auditory and etc. So, teachers need to provide different set of materials for the students’ needs. Moreover, it is important for teachers to understand that each every student learns in different rate than another; this does not mean that some students do not learn because they do learn if the teacher does a great performance. Finally, I can say that all the points I mentioned before involve my criteria about how I expect my students to learn.

How do you plan and prepare for instruction?

 Well, I always plan and prepare by creating my lesson plan in which I take into account the students’ needs    in the subject. The point is that I take into account the students ‘abilities, strengths and also weaknesses as well as their interest level. Knowing all these characteristics, I try to do a well-prepared lesson plan in which I perform activities with my students that I am pretty sure that I can fulfill all their needs so that they can learn.

Do you make last-minutes changes when things are not working? Based on what premises, have you made such changes? Did they work? What needs to be done to better your instruction?

Sometimes, I make changes when the activities I have prepared are not working as I expected them to work, and I realize that when students do not want to do the activities or when the activities are giving them a hard time. Moreover, I always have a plan B when these situations happen, and actually when I change the activities, they really work, and I can notice it in my students` behavior. In fact, to have a plan B for each class I give is the thing that I need to better my instruction.