All About You EDU

All About You EDU

Written on 5/13/2015

After months of having a tough time trying to get my students excited about English, I think I've finally figured out a central part of what gets my students excited about learning...making it about them.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of exercises where the students have to answer questions about their life. And they've reacted with honest excitement to have the opportunity to talk about themselves. Many times, I've noticed, they sit and take notes about topics that don't seem relevant to their lives. They aren't often asked about themselves. I gave them the opportunity to speak about themselves, and they accepted the challenge of having to do it in English quite enthusiastically.

And when the time came where the information presented wasn't about them - in a reading comprehension activity about someone else's family - I saw more hands raised and received more correct answers than in previous reading comprehension activities. It may be that my Malagasy has gotten better, or that they are getting used to my teaching techniques after almost 9 months of having me as their teacher. But, I'd like to think a big part of it is that they were at least marginally excited about English. And regardless of the reason, my students are learning and that's what I'm here to do!

My topics have been easy to organize into student-focused lessons lately, being about the home and family. But it got me thinking - how could I make my other lessons throughout the year more about my students? Grammar lessons are especially difficult, and I find my students often loose focus quickly when presented with lessons heavy in grammar. But, if I could find a way to make the grammar about them?

Easier said then done for some lessons, but it got me thinking more about student-centered teaching and what that really means. Its not just getting the students involved, its about making the education about the students. A Ted Talk (I know I'm all about Ted Talks lately, I downloaded a few Ted Talk: Education podcasts when I had WIFI) by Christopher Emdin: Teach teachers how to create magic, Emdin said that a teachers job is not to teach; a teachers job is to facilitate learning. Your job isn't fulfilled if you merely stand in front of your students and throw information at them. Your job is fulfilled if they understand the information, and can apply it to their lives, and use it again in the future.

I'm hoping to keep my students excited about learning!