Teaching Learning Things

 Article by VISK              November 18, 2020 I would certainly like to believe that I am a good teacher but the readings this week have thrown light on some aspects of my teaching style and environment which could use a bit of help. I must say I was a little perturbed by this realisation and set out to implement some immediate changes. Good teachers must demonstrate or embody certain critical characteristics that will enable them not only to teach but encourage the students’ motivation to learn in an active manner (Cini, 2017; Great Schools Partnership, 2014). The crucial role of the teacher was validated when Yoonsun Choe (n.d.) stated ‘’It’s the teacher who makes or breaks her classroom’’. I will outline below some major characteristics of a good teacher as outlined in the readings. Content Knowledge : A good teacher is knowledgeable about the subject matter (Bailey, 2017) as well as of the students’ learning styles (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016...

Assessing Students: Some Methods I Have Applied  Article by VISK                   March 15, 2021 Assessments definitely have their place within the education system, whether formative, summative evaluative or educative, each has a legitimate function and place. Without them it would be difficult to tell how well students are improving, in what areas they are excelling, where they may need help and how to offer that help. In my classroom, I have applied the required assessments listed above, but I have also had the privilege of employing some innovative assessment procedures. I teach English to adult learners of English who need to learn the language to help them transact business of all kinds and integrate into their new home. Every time a new module is introduced or a new aspect of the module is discussed, student understanding is checked by doing a Concept Check (Queens University, n.d.). The most simplistic way of doing th...

  Curriculum Evaluation Models: Their Use In My Milieu John D woods (1988) stated that curriculum development was equivalent to collecting information and making judgements about curriculum. He goes on to claim that evaluation is a must to spur debates about curriculum issues and is the basis for proposing change. In my milieu, teaching English to adult learners of English, evaluation in the sense described by Woods (1988) is non-existent. Instead, what exists are two forms of evaluation: (i) a threat-based evaluation of teachers’ lesson plans with ineffective feedback and almost no suggestions for improvement that are imaginative or inventive! (ii) a yearly performance review meant to determine whether a teacher meets some arbitrary standard that has no real conceptualisation than to satisfy professional accreditation. Woods (1988) says a critical aspect of curriculum evaluation is to know why the change and what direction the change should go. Curriculum evaluation serves sev...