DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

EDUCATION

ELE 403 PRACTICUM I

Reflection on teaching methods, activities and
materials, including in class interaction, group
and pair work activities, classroom management
etc.
INSTRUCTOR:
MELİKE ÜNAL GEZER

STUDENTS’ NAME & SURNAME:

BEYZA GÜNDOĞDU
2019-2020
Teaching methods, activities and materials:

Teaching methods, activities and materials are very important and impressive elements in
language learning. It is especially important that materials and activities are selected
according to the students' level. If they are higher than the students' level, they become
incomprehensible to the students, while at the lower level they can be easier for the students.
The challenge for the students can be provided as activities are a click harder than their level.
That's why I have checked many times that the materials and activities I have prepared are
appropriate to the level of the students. Some of the questions in my activities are slightly
higher than the level of the students and this is the method that checks whether the students
understand the lesson.

I took care to use technology when preparing my activities and materials because
technology has always attracted the attention of students. That is why I have paid attention to
preparing topics, activities, and materials that can attract students' attention while teaching
English. The songs or short animations that I used on the smart board were all of interest to
the students. It is very important that the material gets the attention of the students in the
course because the lesson becomes more impressive for them. This means that the students
will not get bored of the lesson and will have information about the subject they are curious
about.

In addition to using technology in my activities, I made sure that my materials were

colourful and interesting. I avoided materials that were black-white and solid, and prepared
materials that were colored because colour materials always attracted the attention of the
students. Even the textbooks provided by the state no longer contain black and white visuals
and tedious activities. Therefore, it is very important that the materials and activities prepared
for the students are according to the level and interest of the students. In addition, the fact that
the activities for the students are up-to-date can also help to attract their attention, such as
from contemporary artists, singers, films or series, etc.

Group and pair work activities:

One of the most important points in foreign language learning is interaction. This
interaction is vital for improving students' language skills. Students develop their own
speaking and listening skills by doing group or pair exercises. There were not many groups or
pairs in my lesson plans, but the teacher was in constant dialogue with the students, and asked
questions to them. It was more teacher-student oriented than student-student relationship
because I used technology because students' individual work was more important, but during
class, students were doing activities with their friends. I observe that students work more
efficiently when they work with friends.

While the students were doing activities, I checked in the classroom to see if they had any
questions, but before they asked me questions, I observed that they were trying to find the
answer with their friends. The students were brainstorming before asking me the question
first. This made me very happy because instead of learning the direct answer, they were
searching for information themselves. This allows students to think critically so that the
course is effective for them. In addition, thanks to this critical thinking, their outlook on life
changes and they learn to question their life. I was happy to show them the skills they could
use in real life, not just learning English in the classroom.

Classroom management:

The most challenge of all of them (the criteria given above) was classroom management
for me because I was quite inexperienced. During my university life, I prepared and presented
many lesson plans (activities, materials) in the classroom. But I have encountered many
problems in the real classroom environment. First of all, the students were not my own
students, I was only there as an internship teacher. Even though the class teacher, Servet
teacher, says that the class belongs to you, I couldn't really feel like I belong in the class.
Frankly, I haven't seen any student's disrespect towards me, but it took a great responsibility
to manage them.

In the early days, they were all shy towards me because the students didn't know me. I
could see it when I was lecturing. Over time, the children became accustomed to me, and they
all started talking, and the lessons became fun. But at the time when I was lecturing to 9th
grade students, I was having a hard time managing classes because the number of students
was very high and everyone wanted to talk among their self. I had to warn them many times
during class. Maybe they're so active because they're younger than their 11th graders because
every time I've taught 11th graders everything's going very well. When I shared this view with
Servet teacher, who was a class teacher, he said that the 11th grade students won this school
by exam. 9th grade students came to this school without examination and stated that their
success was lower. Obviously this could have had an effect, but I believe that among those
students (as I observed) there were very successful students.

I think the students have made a great contribution to the successful management of a
classroom by a teacher. I have taught twice in two different classes and age groups, and as I
have mentioned, I had the most difficulty in 9th grade. This gave me a different perspective
and experience. Through these experiences, I realized that if you want to manage a class in
the most successful way, your priority is to maintain your authority, because Servet is the
teacher of the class and their respect for him is endless. However, towards the last
presentations, I have taken the image of an older sister in their eyes rather than a teacher.
Because of my close attitude to them, they began to love me and treat me close. For this
reason, I think that the limits of teacher-student relations should be maintained. But this does
not mean that the teacher relationship with the students must be strict. No. You only need to
be responsive if you want to manage in the classroom under your control.