9/20

I am honestly so happy that I decided to take on a TESOL minor. The reason is because I have never learned so much about second language acquisition, and how second languages are learned. You think that with me becoming a Spanish teacher that people in my major would have to take more classes similar to the ones that I am taking right now, but they are not required! This blows my mind, because without some of the material that I am learning, I am uncertain whether or not I would be a successful language teacher. I mean, I know I would be great either way, but the reason that I will be successful is because now I have an understanding of WHY teaching a certain way works, WHAT it is called, and HOW it is or is not effective to the learners. Sometimes, from doing the readings, I find myself a little overwhelmed with all of the terminology and all of the explanations of different types of approaches. Although, I find that I can understand some of them because it was the way I was taught. This summer, when I was teaching in Little Village, I found myself using methods that I did not know the names for, but I only used them because of past experiences of because they were what I felt would best be understood by the students. My CT's did not seem to use any differentiating types of methods, espically one who just stood in front of the class and talked the whole time, never giving the students to practice using the language. It drove me crazy, and I could not wait until the time came when she would let me take over the class for an hour to give instruction. It is very clear that my style of teaching was completely opposite of that of her own. While she liked to be the dictator of the classroom, I truly enjoy getting the students engaged and working in pairs. I myself like many tasked-based activities which allow the students to go above and beyond the normal fill in the blank worksheets. I feel that they benefit so much more when the activities they are doing are engaging and problematic, versus just filling out a worksheet. It makes so much more sense to use the language in meaningful contexts than to just fill out a blank on a worksheet. When the material that the students are learning is meaningful to them, it makes much more sense that they will remember that material better.