Teaching portfolio

You are visiting my online teaching portfolio.

I am a student of Masaryk University Pedagogical Faculty in Brno. Currently I am studying Teacher Training in Foreign Languages – English Language. It is a single-subject bachelor study program mainly focused on teaching in language schools, nursery schools and for adults. Since I am a teacher at the basic school next year I am going to apply for further study of master´s program called Učitelství pro ZŠ.
I am teaching at a smaller size basic school but before that I had taught at a language school for 5 years and then in another basic school for two years where I had had a primary level. Now I am more satisfied because I am working on the lower elementary level it means with students from 6th to 9th grade. Here I am three years and for the first time I also have the 3rd class which is for me a big challenge. It is a big responsibility and takes more time for preparation but the success or unsuccess of my teaching is immediately visible.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to make my classes more enjoyable for pupils. That is why I very often look for the inspiration or make a lot of different projects. Right now for example in the 9th class we are shooting the evening news. At Christmas I am going to arrange a video call with some of my friends from different countries to talk to my students and tell them about their Christmas habits.

My teaching method

I cannot say that I use one specific method or that I prefer some of them to the others. I have probably never thought about it that way and never tried to describe my teaching style. Since every class is different and has its own needs, I change a method according to the subject matter and adjust the approach on a class. However, I am going to write something to each method, we did in the seminar, from my personal experience – from the language school but mainly from primary school.

The Grammar – Translation method seemed to be the most criticized method in the seminar. However, to be honest I use it from time to time in my lessons in combination with another method.  As I remember when I was younger and a totally unpractised teacher/lector, I taught at the language school a few evening classes for adults. We had a class book called Angličtina pro jazykové školy and it was all based on the grammar-translation method and any of my students never complained about that. Rather the opposite, it looked like the appropriate method for adults, it was not the invasion into their safety zones.  I would not have said the same about my attempts to integrate any other method (let´s say more active) in lessons.

Since almost every modern course book is in English, the Direct method must be a part of them. The direct method requires to use the target language as much as possible and it uses exercises like gaps filling, reading aloud or dictations.  I agree to some extent with the idea here that vocabulary is over grammar. However, our schooling still prefers too much grammar, it is impossible to reduce it a lot. One more thing I would like to add is that I do not like dictations. I found them extremely difficult and stressful for learners, especially for those with learning difficulties.

During my teaching career, I have met teachers who almost do not use the target language in lessons and more those who reduce the mother tongue to the minimum. I consider using only the target language very tiring and demanding for teachers. I try hard to avoid the mother tongue but I am not always successful. For me, it is surprisingly easier with younger pupils – beginners. You can act almost anything, they understand and they enjoy the feeling of understanding.

There is no doubt that training listening and speaking is crucial for communication. It would be ideal if the Framework Educational Program enables teachers to practise only these two skills at the beginning of children´s training, but the reality is rather different and we teachers are pressed to use reading and writing too early. When I teach small children beginning with English in the 3^rd grade I use the Audio-lingual method in combination with TPR as much as possible. I believe that it is a natural way of learning for children. It is the same way how they acquire the mother language.

The Suggestopedia is in the purest form an almost unknown method for me, I have never met it in my praxis and as I understand it, it requires a highly trained teacher. Here I would like to mention another method I do not have any experience with, it is the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL).  CLIL stands for the tempting method. I would like to try it but I found difficult to find somebody willing to spend some extra time and prepare the lesson with me.

Taking into consideration the Lexical approach I must highlight the words which I have mentioned already. More focusing on vocabulary would be better than focusing on grammar. I like some principles of the approach like exposing to the authentic language, learning new words in lexical chunks. For me, it means to explain and teach learners to learn vocabulary in a context which contributes developing fluent speech and a native speaker´s way of speaking.

The Task-Based Learning I consider as a complementary approach to my teaching. From time to time I like giving students some project on which they can work, especially the ones connected with the real world. For example, to plan the summer holiday with real information. The advantage of this approach is not only connection with the real world and using the target language but also in learning to solve problems on their own. Another complementary approach in my lessons is the Communicative approach. I force students to speak as much as possible and I use for it different exercises and activities which offers the course book or the Internet. My favourite activity is a role-play game. It is a time-consuming activity for preparation and for the actual lesson and also not every class is willing to do it. However, when it works it is really very beneficial and enjoyable.

As I wrote at the beginning I am not focused on one method or approach. I like to use activities from most of them. Changing them makes lessons less boring for children and for me as well. This seminar worked as a great source of inspiration.