Focus on Learners

Learners come from diverse backgrounds and learning styles. Staying aware of students’ differing emotional, social, physical, cognitive and linguistic states can motivate and help them succeed in their language learning journey. Focusing on each of these categories has been a progression for me.

Differentiating Instruction

I differentiate instruction to engage the myriad student learning styles and cultural backgrounds. This includes providing students with different texts and incorporating individual, pair and group work. For example, during a lesson on California State and National Parks, I passed out an array of Park brochures, some with more photos than others, to account for various proficiency levels. In this lesson students had a chance to work alone before working with a partner to discuss activities visitors could engage in at their park. I believe lessons where students work alone and in groups cater to both introvert and extrovert personalities as individual and group work can boost student motivation, curiosity and negotiation for meaning.

To aid visual and multi-modality learners, I also use technology, photographs, realia and the white board. As a frequent classroom technology user, I was particularly concerned with the effects luminosity contrast in PowerPoint presentations had on student retention. I conducted research on the topic with the intent to change my habits according to the results. Although the results were inconclusive, I believe using sound technology and white-board practices are imperative for different student learning styles.

A Perfect Threshold

Finding the threshold where students are challenged beyond what they believe they can do and actually do, has been a work-in-progress. To learn about conserving water in Monterey, California I had students watch a YouTube video and write the video’s tips on their worksheet. At the beginning, students appeared overwhelmed and discouraged by the speaker’s rate of speech. Recognizing my students concerns, I stopped the video, gave an encouraging speech and then restarted the clip. As I monitored, I surprisingly found that students where more capable of completing their worksheets than they had thought. I was initially concerned that the task was too complex for my students, but in actuality I was able to push my students beyond what they believed they could do.

Motivation

Experiential and interactive learning are important components in my teaching. To motivate students to learn English, I designed a content-based curriculum that puts experiential learning at the forefront. This curriculum combines outdoor education, specifically backpacking, and English language learning through hands-on experiences and reflections.

Beyond the curriculum and into the classroom, I connect my students to the local community to motivate them. For example, while teaching at Pacific Grove Adult school, I taught a lesson on conserving water in Monterey, California. This lesson connected students to the local community and was relevant to their lives because California is currently experiencing an extreme drought. Students reflected on their current water practices and habits they could change in the future. Furthermore, I provided information on local places students could go to get free water-saving devices to be more environmentally friendly. Raising student awareness to current and local issues, as well as providing open opportunities for students to make a difference in their community was an excellent motivator.