The last two days of online practicum teaching has arrived. Katie and myself by now have developed a lot of confidence in online teaching, particularly with the online component for myself as I had no prior experience teaching students online. I learnt about online games that is super useful for ESL teachers as a quick break to warm up students if the overall classroom energy drops a bit.The last two classes were crucial as far as student feedback was concerned which happened in the final class. Day 9 of our lessons involved rounding up of a topic (Technology) which was derived from the curriculum. We divided the content in two and on day 9 we touched on the importance of monitoring technological usage in our day to day lives. We also talked about mental health, something the students deeply appreciated. There was so much to say on that topic, especially given the time we were conducting our lessons. Students provided insights based on their own cultural practices and their respective home countries. It was fascinating because we were so lucky to teach such a diverse class – every student brought something different to the table as they hailed from different countries. It was a lovely learning experience as it broadened all of our thinking patterns and everyone took note or commented on unconventional takes. Day 10 was our final day which involved feedback and saying goodbye as a class. It is extremely important to do these check ins/feedback from time to time. That way one can know especially as a first time ESL teachers where we can make all the necessary improvements and adjustment to ultimately have a productive lesson/semester with our students. Our students were very kind to offer us valuable feedback. We did two feedback rounds in total. One was mid way into our practicum teaching which allowed us to change some of our teaching patterns and use different tools thus creating something that allowed more student engagement and involvement. The other feedback was received in the last class. We asked the students three questions – what did they learn, any criticisms, and any final thoughts. Something along those lines. The feedback was primarily positive. That gave Katie and myself a very healthy burst of confidence in our respective teaching styles. There were some requests for more videos, other helpful ideas as per students’ wishes. We have taken all of them into account and will implement them as necessary in our next teaching stint. This gave us a lot of insight as to what students are looking for from their ESL teachers when they enroll for second language classes.
My ninth and tenth (final) teaching observation
