Teaching+Reflection+-+Logan+Mickel

The Balance Between People and Process In reflecting on the last semester I realized the most important thing I learned could be summed up in the following conversation (my memory of some of the finer details is a little hazy, so I’m taking some liberty here): ME: So what questions do you guys have on this? How can I help? ABDUL: … MOHAMMED: … ME: Is there anything I can help you with? ABDUL: (Looks at Mohammed. Says something in Arabic. Awkward silence.) MOHAMMED: //…// ME: (Realizing the next five minutes will be like pulling teeth if I can’t get the two to loosen up, I think back to the last chapter in the book that brings up the importance of connecting with the students. I pull out my iPad.) So where in Saudi Arabia are you guys from? Is it by Riyadh City? (Upon seeing a map of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed and Abdul both perk up. Mohammed points towards the east.) MOHAMMED: Here. It is called Al Hofuf. It is by Qatar. We are close to water. Very hot. ABDUL: Mine is down and to the left. Very famous town. People come on vacation. MOHAMMED: His town…very famous for dates. Food. ABDUL: Best dates in the world. My town. (We spend the next five minutes or so talking about dates, the desert, cricket, soccer, and the best Indian restaurants in Ogden. Then we turn back to the assignment.) ME: So, are there any questions you guys have on this? ABDUL: Yes. What does it mean when you say “don’t cross the line?” (The questions come much more easily. More and more are asked. Before we know it, the class is moving on to the next exercise.) Once we had connected, once Abdul and Mohammed felt comfortable with me and saw me as a person instead of someone there to judge their grammar, learning was far less inhibited. And that’s the greatest lesson I’ve learned from our experiences in this class: ESL teaching is a balance between people and process. I think all teaching is subject to this principle, but it seems especially relevant with ESL students. There are a number of reasons for this, but two seem to stick out as especially pertinent. First, there is the difficulty of the language barrier and the inherent anxiety imposed on the student. Learning a new language is difficult. Being an adult makes it even more difficult, because adults want to be perceived as capable and intelligent. Stumbling clumsily around in a second language in front of a native speaker is a humiliating experience that strips away the façade of our perceived dignity. This is especially hard for certain cultures. If the teacher can connect with the student and make him or her feel safe and accepted, the student can drop the façade and focus on learning instead. Second, there is the cultural barrier, or the idea of the “other.” We cannot overlook the foreigner dynamic. It is easy as a teacher to think of an ESL student as a foreigner – someone with strange clothing, food, customs, and paradigms and therefore not the same species. The student will often perceive the teacher in the same manner. Connecting with the student, however, coming to see each other as human, breaks through this barrier. I’ve seen this when having the Saudi students show me their home towns on the internet, or talking with Andre from Portugal about English Premier League soccer, or Denis from Turkey about good places to eat around town. I’ll show them pictures of my family, or explain to them how Ultimate Frisbee works or where they should go skiing and I can see the same thing happening on their side – I’m no longer a strange foreigner who is intimidating to talk to, but a person with goals and hobbies and a family. Just like them. This doesn’t mean that process can be overlooked, however. It is interesting to notice that the chapters in the textbook alternate between people (getting to know the ESL students’ families, culture night, etc.) and process (differentiated question prompts by level, the four realms of language, etc.). Effective teaching processes, based on empirical data and research and customized to the learner’s level, must be used in order to optimize learning. I found the balance between people and process throughout the semester particularly informative. For instance, each class had heavy group interaction and ice-breaking activities (people) mixed with discussion on learning stages, NCLB, exercises on the four domains of language, etc. (process). The name memorization game week 3 seemed to be a turning point, as did //Amreeka// (the American students got a feel for what life in the Middle East is like) and the Corn Maze activity. Both people and process are crucial to effective teaching. A teacher neglects one in favor of the other at his or her own peril. This is the most meaningful thing I’ve learned through the semester.