Awareness

                I felt that this week's readings were all focused on awareness. In many forms, not simply upon ourselves as teachers, but awareness of our students, our teaching styles, how we communicate in our classroom, and  how we can observe these variables to better increase learning amongst our students. Kuma even states in the first line of chapter 3, "Our first and foremost duty as teachers is to maximize learning opportunities for our learners."(44) He even says that quote is "obvious" but it is the underlying truth behind being a teacher that many times I feel is forgotten. We go around in circles day after day discussing learning styles and methods and personalities and communication techniques but at the end of the day our job is to provide the best learning environment possible for our students. Kuma's chapter really hits upon issues teachers face when trying to maximize learning opportunities such as not being bound by teacher's agenda, not being bound by teaching materials, and not being bound by syllabus specifications (45). These three points are sometimes what teachers, new and old, get wrapped up in and can affect their diversity in lesson planning and teaching. I think teachers need to learn to rely upon their intuition and be resourceful in order to make lessons as successful as possible because they won't always go according to plan. Also, especially in ESL or any language learning environment, sometimes when students get off track it can be a good thing. It shows their curiosity in the subject and by giving them positive enforcement, they will continue to ask questions in the future. I also really liked the discussion of learner involvement on page 48 in Kuma. It really pushes you to think beyond simply learning a language and examine how students "are constantly organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are and how they relate to the social world…an investment in the TL is also an investment in a learner's own identity." This quotes is especially relatable to ESL students because they are learning a language to use it in a real world context, to get around, and it will change their social and cultural identity. Learner involvement also gives students a voice and it helps them feel as if they are in control of their learning. All of the points Kuma hit in Chapter 3 really relate to the 12 principles Brown discusses. Kuma lays the parameters in which a teacher can maximize learning opportunities but the 12 principles Brown dissects allows us to look further into what is really going on in the relationship between the teacher and their students. Two of the principles that stood out to me were strategic investment and willingness to communicate. Both help you question if you are aware of your student's learning styles and preferences and their personalities. While knowing this, you should also help them become aware as well and help them push themselves to try new things and think outside the box. Reading these principles helped give me a more structured idea of the components of a successful teacher student relationship. My question, still, as it has always been is, how do we successfully mesh so many different methods and principles together to form a cohesive lesson? I think diversity in the classroom is wonderful but there has to be balance as well. Is there one underlying component, or maybe a few, that we can focus upon to help guide ourselves in the right direction? Another thought while reading the principles was that so many bullet points emphasized a very neutral stand point. Everything was always not too much but not too little. I think getting it right is part of the puzzle of education and these principles can help guide us but they can't teach us how to react once we're inside the classroom.