As we culminate our EDS 111 course, I went back to my e_journal introductory module post and here’s my discovery… the questions from the introductory module are the same as the questions in concluding forum. Wow, I just had my post- test. 🙂 However, my current answers to the questions are different. My introductory module answers are product from my experience in the field of teaching and my learning from EDS 103. On the other hand, my answers in the concluding forum are product of my teaching experience and my learning here in EDS 111. Do they overlap? Definitely yes. So my introductory module answers focus much on how students learn while the concluding forum answers focus much on how we as teachers effectively teach so that students would learn efficiently.
How did EDS 111 changes the way I think about teaching? EDS 111 opens my eyes on how important the knowledge about theories of teaching for me to become an effective teacher. Module 1 taught me on how I can be encouraged to do an objective and just self-evaluation of my own teaching practices and get involved with my colleagues in form of informal collaborative reflection so I can professionally grow, to have the wisdom to make good judgment, to have the courage to solve classroom issues thereby improving my teaching practice. In addition, if I want my students to become reflective in their learning I must be the first to model that in the class.
Module 2 was quite a challenge to learn it’s because it is full of complexities. This is the module that I struggle the most in a way that I’ve got difficulty to relate into the issue. Nevertheless, I learned that teaching as a profession is never isolated from any social and political influences as we are subjected to demands, new rules and policies, scrutiny of the public, high standards and the role we play not just in the portals of the school but also in the society where we belong. For us to be at par with other professions we need to manifest the sense of professionalism in everything that we do both in the classroom and in our community. Moreover we need to be accountable for all the responsibilities that we commit to do, for the betterment of all our students. Furthermore, the GDF 1 was also a challenge for me as I beat the time of sharing my answers to the group but sadly not one of my answers was included in the synthesis. Although this module is difficult, but ironic to say this concept become my focus in doing the assignment as I analyze the professionalism of foreign teachers here in Thailand.
Module 4 is my favorite. This module replicates my knowledge as I shared them to my colleagues and some of my students by letting them take the TPI test. Through this, I realized that if we will give our students the chance to see teachers in those five perspectives by taking the same test that we took, every student see us in different teaching perspectives based from how we influence them in their learning. For my colleagues, the result gave them the realization of what type of teaching perspectives do they incline the most. TPI gave us the justification of why we manifest that certain type of perspective. However, I also learn that we don’t have to stick on one type of perspective but rather have a repertoire of those five perspectives and use each of them to address the need of learners throughout the duration of the learning journey. Moreover, the module also taught me to continue practicing student centered activities that foster collaboration and group participation so that students will become more engaged and independent in their learning. As I do this in the class, great improvement happens in the student performance. Shy and weak students tend to become more involved in class activities that we do and smart students become more independent as they serve as leaders where they can share their learning to their group mates. They also have extra independent study while the rest are doing the activities set to them. These activities do not just describe a learner centered classroom but also manifest a 21st century learning environment where students develop their critical and creative thinking as well as their communication skills both spoken and written. But, this would only mean that I have to spend more time in planning and designing the instructional plan and teaching materials that I will use in the class. Likewise, in GDF 2 I had the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience in teaching and try to compare and contrast my groupmates perspectives about the issues that occur in the field of education. It was a better collaboration than GDF 1.
Module 5 taught me the essence of becoming a lifelong learner if we want to continue to grow professionally by immersing ourselves into different types of professional development. This also made me question whether at school where I work has an organized Professional Learning Community. But then, it turned out that if teachers want to enhance their knowledge and skills they need to do research and be affiliated to other stakeholders that can support and sponsor career development. In our case as foreign teachers, we need to grab every opportunity of seminars, workshops and conference that are given to us because we know that those are the only means that we can formally improve our teaching and be recognized by the school and by the Teachers Council of Thailand (TCT). Moreover, since I started with PTC I always make it a point to keep on reading and watching videos on how I can improve my teaching. Websites like British Council , Ajarn.com, Thaivisa.com, Bangkokpost, the TCT and MOE are just some of the websites that post information on the new aspects of education here in Thailand. In this way I become abreast of the changes in education and it helps me adapt and modify my way of teaching.
Module 6 was very useful in doing the final requirement as it gives me the knowledge on how to improve the planning and designing of the instructional plan that I used in my teaching demonstration. The feeling of putting oneself into scrutiny or shall I say critique is different than doing the instruction just in the four corners of the classroom. I was very nervous at the beginning of the demonstration much more were my students. Interaction in that demonstration was quite different compared to our normal days of learning. Although my students tried their best to participate in the activities, still I can feel their hesitation especially in oral discussion due to the fact that they are scared to commit mistakes knowing that it is being recorded. However the student’s survey showed positive result and their written output was better than normal regardless of the grammatical error that occurs due to the fact that they are using English as their second language. Additionally, my collaboration with my group mates was fun though quite stressful but I like the last night/early morning that we had. Regardless of geographical location the four of us were present, collaborating for one common goal — to submit our narrative report. That feeling of accomplishing the task until the end in the presence of my group mates was memorable to me as I did not experience this in my last term’s collaborative work.
Now that this chapter ends tonight I’ll bring the knowledge that I’ve got and skills that I developed from this course into my classroom and continue to share them with my colleagues as I continue my journey. It wasn’t smooth and easy though. I made lots of sacrifices… in my personal, social life and much more in my work so that I can accommodate my learning. But one thing I’m sure about is that… I just don’t learn online but I bring my learning to my students, to my colleagues and they become witnesses of my learning. They also feel my hardships in learning online and I thank them as they give their moral support, as they share their time to accommodate my plea for doing the surveys, the TPI Test, the interview even helping me in whole duration of my teaching demonstration until the making of the video. They may not read this but I’m grateful that they are very considerate and supportive just like a family.
My great thanks also goes to you Teacher Roja for always being there to assist me in every difficulty that I encounter in this course.
To all my classmates, thank you as we learn together in one way or another in our forum, sharing hubs and e-journal.
I’m looking forward to another trimester with you all.
Khapkun Kha. Sawadee Kha… 🙂
Hangang sa muli…
Image source for: Wai. retrieved from https://www.musthavemenus.com/imageservice/images/13/121392038_69/img_1213920379008_691.jpg
Marieta Dichoso 