Week 2 Reflective Essay

(Appendix 1: Colours! Using Cloze Test)

(Appendix 2: Wheel of names to be put in groups)

    On 9th of October 2023, I had learned about cognition, metacognition, 50 strategies for teaching English language learners, and thinking tools for teaching and learning. Before the class started, Dr Lina had put our names into a wheel of names that determined our groupmates for the teaching activity which we then had to sit with later on. Initially, I was skeptical about not being able to choose my own groupmates as I am a new student and aren't acquainted with most of my classmates yet which led me to feel a bit anxious. However on the other hand, this was a good way to built my rapport with my other classmates in addition to motivating me to participate more proactively in this session(Frisby and Martin 2010). This reminds me of the first week of classes when I had only been acquainted with a handful of classmates. I felt a big gap between my classmates and as I'm naturally an introverted person, felt a sense of anxiousness in unfamiliar settings. However, I realized the reason behind Dr Lina randomly appointing the groups is so that the education students and psychology students can build a better relationship and improve their rapport. I hope to integrate the wheel of names as a tool for my future classes to help with the rapport between my students and the overall classroom environment. 

(Appendix 3: Mediated process of cognitive and metacognitive development)

 

(Appendix 4: Colours recording)

(Appendix 5: Teaching Tools)

    Afterwards, Dr Lina explained about cognition(thinking) and metacognition(thinking about thinking)(Appendix 3) and the 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. In our assigned groups, we were then tasked to create a simple classroom activity that involved the usage of one of the 50 strategies and using thinking tool(Appendix 5). My group decided to teach about colours using cloze and context to create meaning. For the dialogic assessment, we asked our classmates to point out the different colours in the classroom. For the cognitive knowledge supply, we put pictures in the slides with the cloze questions (Appendix 6). 

(Appendix 6: Question slide)

We integrated games like Simon Says as a tool to engage the students hence the incorporation of interactive learning. By the end of the class, we put on the rainbow song (Appendix 7) for the students to recap on the lesson. The students' participation in the game really made me proud as it made the classroom more vibrant and entertaining. The game part reminds me of my practical. My students were more willing to engage in the class when there was a type of game where they can move around rather than just staying in their seats. In addition, I remember I could better hold my student's attention when I use games to conduct the class hence it helped them to understand the content of the lesson. Overall, I believe my group's lesson was a success! I agree with learning using games and understand the importance of integrating games to grab the student's attention as this will prove vital for their understanding. I intend to find and use game(s) that is suitable for my classroom in the future.

(Appendix 7: The Rainbow Song)

References

Frisby, B.N. and M.M Martin (2010). "Instructor-Student and Student-Student Rapport in the Classroom." Communication Education 59(2): 146-164.

The Rainbow Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wceMsYSyNUQ