Today, I was teaching the simple past to my new group
of Basic students in the morning. At the very beginning, I faced problems with
technology, but I kept calm and started off my class naturally. In order to
diagnose their proficiency level, I started by developing a filler, changing
verbs, which was the activity that liked me the most. In this activity, I
numbered students from one to three for having the class divided into three
groups of seven people; also, I placed students in the following way: Group #1
at the cornerstone; Group #2 at the board; Group #3 at the door. Later, I
provided a sheet of paper to each group, markets, and masking tape for them to
paste the sheet of paper on the wall. When having the sheets of paper pasted on
their place, I asked them to make a line in front of their sheet of paper for
them not to cheat. After that, I said that I would say a verb the in present,
and they had to write down on the sheet of paper the past form of that verb;
however, they had to do it quickly and to pass the market to the person behind
them for continuing the sequence. After all, I stopped the activity and asked
for the markets, so my work was to count how many verb they had written down
correctly. To finish, the group which got more hits was the winner.
In this filler, I not only wanted to recall the verbs
in past from, but also I wanted to know how much they knew about the verbs in
past from and to introduce new verbs that I used. Besides, I think that to let
student write down verbs is a good chance for teacher to know whether or not
students have been studied, or if they need reinforcement. Also, when
correcting mistakes, students realize and improve what they have done wrong. In
addition, I think that it is a good idea to include listening and writing
skills in a simple activity like this one because students show if they can
recognize the verb by hearing, and they proof if they have learned the spelling
correctly. As a result, I can realize if they are going on well in their
learning process.
To finish up, I will be more careful in regard to technology
for not to have the same problems. Also, I have to admit that sometimes I lose
students´ control, so I need to work on that next class I teach. Regarding to
the activity, I will have the verbs that I will say in a sheet of paper for not to
lose control and time and for not to complicate when revising the verbs
students will get at the end of the activity.
Technology may fail sometimes thats why it is important to have a plan b; however, I think you handled the situation well because you stayed calm. I really like that you checked the previous knowledge of students through the activity.
ResponderEliminarI really liked that activity that you used because as you said, the students practiced many of their skills in only one activity!
ResponderEliminarAbout the verbs of your activity, I always write down on a piece of paper the words that I will use on the activities and the answers, too because sometimes, we can forget them, so it is better if you have everything prepared.