“To
teach is to learn twice” – Joseph Joubert. The author of this quote definitely knew
about the teaching field, and also about how it feels to teach students and actually
learn from them at the same time. Indeed, we as teachers experience a lot of
things through the classes we teach, and talking about my own experience in
this teaching practicum II I have not only taught many things, but I have also
learned lots of them.
To
begin with, I started my teaching practicum at Don Bosco School (DBS) with young
boys from the ages of fourteen and fifteen years old. These students were in a
program called “Remedial English classes”. At the very beginning, there were
only five students attending classes, but through time there were two more students
who joined the class, so they formed a group of seven students which in the end
they were only five students again. Overall, all of them attended classes regularly
and they were disciplined with the programmed schedule. Nevertheless, there was
one student that caught my attention out of all the rest; his name is Melvin,
and the reason why I particularly noticed him is because at the beginning he
was a very shy boy when he had to speak in English out loud, but he seemed to
enjoy when discussing in English with his classmates during the class. Throughout
time, I tried to make him feel a little bit more comfortable when speaking in
front of the class, but he still did not like to be on the spot. In the end, I
realized he did not like to do so because he was afraid that his classmates
were going to laugh at him, and once I noticed this I tried not to push him but
I tried to make him feel comfortable speaking in front of the class by giving him
more chances with speaking activities with other students outside the classroom
which made him feel more confident.
Besides
the problem that Melvin was facing, my other students were facing some troubles
while paying attention during the explanation of the content. In the first day
of classes, all of the students were paying attention but because they did not
know each other. As time passed by, they became friends with each other and it
was difficult to catch their attention, they seemed bored and I could see them almost
day dreaming. I thought the best I could do for them was to involve them while
I was explaining. Sometimes I even asked students some questions or I called
them to the board to see if they had understood. In the end, I could notice a
huge change on their faces because they seemed to enjoy being involved rather
than just being paying attention, and I learned that students really love to be
involved even in the explanation time, so I was glad I could notice it on time.
By
that time, I started to feel like a teacher because I was able to notice my
students’ needs, and also I noticed that I could help them somehow so that they
could feel I was there for them, not as a robot teaching the same day by day,
but updating and changing the areas I needed to work on in order to make them
feel comfortable as well as confident during my class. I believe they helped me
to feel this way. Based on all this, I truly believe that all these students
have the potential to grow in their English classes at DBS with this program,
they just need someone that can give them not only a hope, but a real English
class, otherwise they will keep failing their English class at DBS. I believe
it is possible for them to pass the course they just need to work on the areas
they are having more troubles with.
Finally,
all the things I learned during the remedial English classes at Don Bosco
school are countless, I think as the quote at the beginning states that through
teaching we not only teach, but we also learned is so real because I learned as
a practitioner of the practicum for adolescents how to deal with the students’
needs, how to help them, and how to be a teacher that really cares about what
they will show not only in the classroom, but also outside of it. In addition,
I learned that we do not even know the half of the issues a teacher deals with
in a classroom until we are actually into one because I have learned through my
major a lot of things, but I am grateful by the fact I could experienced this
teaching time with these students because I have learned even more than I was
expecting to.
