Picture it: I
entered my first class as an ESL teacher in Chiang Rai after an entire
week of instruction about how to teach. I confidently strolled in front of the
kids and wrote my name on the board. Then I realized, “So, they’re all looking
at me…what do I do with them for the next 49 minutes?!” My occasional savior
when lessons would go awry, Hangman, saved me that day but it really made me
re-evaluate my orientation. I realized that I didn’t receive very much
instruction about how to teach. I mostly just learned how to say “thank you”
“how much?” and “where is the bathroom?” in Thai. I was cocky and I didn’t plan
for my class. I thought after twenty years in a classroom and countless
episodes of Saved by the Bell under my belt I would be a natural teacher. I
learned the hard way that teaching doesn’t come naturally and planning is vital
to not only “making it through” a class but making it a meaningful, worthwhile
experience for everyone in the room. As Dr. Bomer says the purpose of our
curriculum should be “designed to transform all of us into new people,
individuals in relation to one another, having participated in shared
conversations with an eye toward becoming independent enough to move into new
conversations and communities” (Bomer, 309).
I taught my first
lesson last Tuesday and overall, I think it went really well. I planned ahead
of time with my CT and I made a simple, thirty-minute lesson about feminist
criticism. It included a great discussion with the girls that I lead by using a
DAR format my CT explained to me. D stands for “Describing” so the girls
described a scene in their book where they found stereotypes of women, or where
a woman confronted and defied a stereotype. A stands for “Analysis.” I then
asked the girls to apply feminist criticism to their books and what would they
look for next time they read. The girls had such wonderful insight when I asked
this question! Finally, the R stands for “Relate.” I asked the girls to recall
a time in their lives where they saw stereotypes about women. They had great
examples, including one girl’s own sister who was making a transformation into
a teenager and how she perceived herself. The lesson was really thought
provoking, not only for the students but for myself as well. I was really happy
I made a thoughtful, constructed plan with my CT and Anni. It was hard to move
on from the discussion because it was so engaging and I just love hear their
perspectives, but alas, we had to go on to our worksheet that I created. I have
yet to teach an entire class period because of restrictions in the classroom
and testing etc. but I’m excited to have the chance to plan not only an entire
class but an entire unit in class.
As I was reading
this week’s chapters, though, I felt daunted at the idea of making an ENTIRE
YEAR plan. One year, a school year, 10 months, almost 200 days. That’s a lot of
plans. It is overwhelming to think about deciding the course of the year, how
do I want to spend these days with my students, what attitude am I bringing to
the year?
While I admit, I
was worried about this prospect at first as I continued to read the insights
the authors shared and realizing I have support in the form of my CT, my
facilitator, my professors, and friends it won’t be as overwhelming as I
thought. Smagorinsky really made me think about what kind of units I want to
create and how they will fit into the overarching theme of the class. It’s
important to tie every lesson together so that it is not just a random
occurrence that has no baring with the lessons around it. I have never really
had to lesson plan beyond the upcoming week. In AmeriCorps we had the same
lesson we taught every day and the only variation was the skill of our students
and when we started tutoring them. In Thailand I kind of had free reign to
teach what I wanted (I didn’t even have the students’ textbook! My teacher said
there wasn’t one to spare so I did anything I felt like that week), and that
was fine, but as a professional educator in the US I know that won’t fly. I
want there to be continuity in my lessons and a purpose past that week. Hangman won't cut it anymore.
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