Today we went to NTNU Senior High to watch English Teaching up front.
This is my third time to go there and observe teaching.
The first time was to observe history teaching in a senior high class.
Second time I observed English teaching in a high class.
Today I observed English teaching in a junior high class.
There was much to learn in every observation.
To sum up, the following are the precious teaching skills learnt:
1. How to deal with questions that you don't have an answer to?
Be honest. You can encourage the students to go research for the answer, and promise them you will give them the answer next time after your own research, this you can both anticipate in the discovery of the knowledge. The worst thing you can do is to make up an answer, if you're not certain of the answer tell the students you will get back to them on it, and really go back to search for the answer.
2. How to deal with very active students who may become too active and disturb class order?
You can set strict and clear and reasonable rules in the beginning of your teaching, make sure you and the students know the boundaries of your teaching atmosphere. An active class can create a happy and relaxed learning atmosphere, therefore it is suggested that you allow some small discussions between the students in a couple of occasions. However, when the class becomes too active or begins to get a bit violent, then you have to use clear and firm words to cease the commotion and minor punishment (such as asking the violent students to go to stand up for a while) if necessary.
3. What attitude should the teacher have towards the students?
I think, it is a good thing to become friends with the students, but a teacher-friend is different from a colleague-friend, a teacher still has the role and responsibility to conducts the teaching flow. Therefore, I think teachers shouldn't be the same kind of friend to the student as the students are to themselves, she still has to be firm and clear about some insistence in order to keep students on track and keep the teaching flow moving. What I love about these visits and observations is, the smiles the teachers always have on their faces. These smiles are smiles that are very special, because these smiles are used when the teacher asks a question and patiently waits for the students to do a little discussion and answers, used when the students give funny reactions, used when students gets excited about some parts of the lesson and chats with their neighbours... the smiles are patient, kind, but with a sense of direction and firmness upon the eyes.
