Most reports on journal writing on teacher education programmes stress the benefits for the trainee teachers.
"Writing up my journal has made me realize that writing about certain issues and forcing myself to reflect and bring them out in the open, has helped me to clarify them. It gets you to think about and express consciously, things that are unconsciously going on in your mind whilst you are learning how to become a teacher." Barkhuizen - cited in Richards, 1998
No reference will be made to your journal entries except on a one-to-one basis when appropriate. The journal is not assessed in any way. There may be days when you feel neither the need nor the inclination to write very much. This does not matter but try to keep the journal going.
As a guideline, your journal entries might include comments on the following:
* Things that you learn from yourself, course experiences, peers
* Implications for your own teaching and self-development
• Changes in your attitudes / beliefs
• Personal theorising about teaching
• Insights into classroom management issues
* Flashes of understanding
* Comments on what is easy / difficult for you to follow
* Things you agree/disagree with, which you would like to consider further in conversation with peers, with the help of books, etc.
* Frustrations you experience and their causes
Journal Entry 1 (Feb 13th):
Choose one question and write your reflection on your journal:1. To what extent do you think the MEN-TDP will benefit your students and your institution?
2. What problems have you found when teaching speaking? Have you found solutions to these problems?
Journal Entry 2 (Feb 20th):
Choose one question and write your reflection on your journal:
1. What things do you think may affect the standardisation process at your school? Think about personal, work and institutional factors.2. Why do you think it is important to analyse language before teaching it?
Journal Entry 3 (Feb 27th):
1. Which ways of checking understanding were you familiar with and have you applied in your classes? Which ones were new to you and are you willing to start using in your classes? Why?
Journal Entry 4 (March 6th):
To what extent do you agree with the article 'Seven bad reasons for teaching grammar -and two good ones' by M. Swan? http://amandaliao.blogspot.com/2007/12/seven-bad-reasons-for-teaching.html
Journal Entry 5 (March 13th):
Here is a situation that may help you reflect on the "Giving Instructions" session:
One possible paradigm for instruction-giving is as follows:
1. Give signal to engage students' attention.
2. State briefly the overall nature of the task.
3. Organise seating groups.
4. Give instructions.
5. Signal to start.
6. Monitor understanding -repeat / re-phrase as necessary.
a. Do you think step #1 is necessary?
b. Do you think the organisation in step #3 should happen before or after the instruction-giving?
c. To what extent is this paradign reflected in your own teaching practice?
Journal Entry 6 (March 27th):What do you think are the learning strategies that good language learners use to improve their skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking? How would you help other learners to use those strategies?
Journal Entry 7 (April 10th):
From the pieces of advice given by your classmates in the Help-line for Writing exercise, which ones would you take into account when doing Portfolio Assignment 4 (Focus on the learner)? Why?
Journal Entry 8 (April 17th):
Take your English course book (or obtain one if you don't follow a coursebook in your classes) and evaluate it by using the Materials Test (ask your teacher for it).
Give each aspect of your book a score to make a final total. Use the following scale:
1. unacceptable
2. poor
3. acceptable
4.ideal.
Write any comments you may find important about each aspect. Then get a final total score and assess the book according to the following key:
1-9 unacceptable
10-18 poor
19-27 acceptable
28-36 ideal
In your journal write the final total and give reasons why your coursebook obtained that result.
Journal Entry 9 (April 30th):
Apply one of the following introductory activities to one of your groups. Then do the reflection based on the question posed on the Teacher's diary section of the same document.
Cross, D. (1995). Large classes in action. Prentice Hall
- 22 Eliminations.
-28 Sentence completion
Journal Entry 10 (April 30th):
How did you feel during the Teaching Practice 3?
Journal Entry 11 (May 8th):
What did you learn in the video chat with Jose David Herazo?
Journal Entry 12 (May 15th);
Which of the language areas do you most like practicing in a foreign language and why? Which of the language areas do you most enjoy teaching? Why?
Journal Entry 13 (May 22nd):
How did you feel during the Teaching Practice 5?
Journal Entry 14 (May 30th):
What is the importance of keeping the Learning Portfolio updated?
Journal Entry 15 (June 12th):
How can you help your students to correct their errors?