Webinar 4 - A teacher in a Canadian kindergarten - everyday work and challenges of a foreign language institution

-

 A teacher in a Canadian kindergarten - everyday work and challenges of a foreign language institution

Presented by: Ms. Marta Arkuszyńska
On 29/03/2022 we had our fourth webinar on the first year of GPTE. It was amazing. Something was brought up once again, which stimulated my memory. It is no doubt that something was totally new to me as well.

Firstly, I was surprised by the schedule they have in a kindergarten. It starts at 7:45, which is quite early from my perspective but it is understandable because their parents need to work. However, the concern was dispersed in the end. In fact, students do not have classes and they can have their pillows, lying on the floor. Then, they have circle time. They may read books together. And I am impressed by the idea of getting an enormous book so that students can see it clearly. Therefore, they do not need to move around and are less likely to get distracted by their peers. I am also into the idea that students have different activities according to seasonal changes in P.E. For instance, they can go skiing in winter and go swimming in summer. Lastly, 

I am familiar with a few points in the webinar. Starting from the Unit of Inquiry (UIO), which I have seen how it is in my internship. And Jolly phonics has been mentioned by other webinar presenters previously. Also, at the school I am doing my internship, Jolly Grammar is used. The presenter also delivered the information that a sort of certificate can be obtained in terms of Jolly Phonics so I am going to figure it out later. The third point is that TPR is very engaging for young learners, which I completely agree with. 

Finally, I would like to discuss a challenge that is a bit controversial - sex education. From my own experience, I have not received any formal sex education since my early childhood. And my teachers felt shameful to talk about it. Or teachers may be afraid of parents' suspicion. However, I am standing with the presenter because I believe we should believe what we are doing is worthwhile as long as it makes sense to some extent.  

In conclusion, I appreciate the presenter very much from the bottom of my heart. She broadened my horizon and encouraged me to face challenges.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3.Phonetics and Phonology: Introduction

-
Image
Today, I watched a short video about phonetics and phonology, which made me better understand the sound system of English. Previously I was a bit confused about these two terminologies, but this video refreshed my memory about what I had learnt sometime before.   Phonetics is smaller than phonology. The unit of phonetics is called the phone which is not the same as the phone we use to call people. However ,  phonology is more systematic and its unit is named phoneme.    Also, in phonectics it usually looks like /r/, while in phonology it is in the bracket - [r]. Phonetics is a scientific description of what speech sounds exist in a language. It represents how they are produced and perceived and what acoustic properties they have. Thus, it can be put in the class of natural sciences. Phonetics essentially seeks to trace the processes physiologically involved in sound production. It describes the ways the sounds are produced and the points at which they are articulated...
Read more

Webinar 6: “Authentic materials in education” - by Paulina Andruszkiewicz-Glińska

-
Image
  “Authentic materials in education”                       by Paulina Andruszkiewicz-Glińska On the16th May 2022 (MONDAY) between 5 p.m. and 6.30 p.m, we had a webinar with Ms.  Paulina Andruszkiewicz-Glińska again  about authentic materials in education.  We usually have textbooks in our teaching but sometimes the content may be outdated because languages are changing and if the textbooks have not been updated for a long time, some of the content may not be suitable to teach and learn anymore. Also, authentic materials can make learning more meaningful. Students can learn the expressions that are used in the real world. What is more, different authentic materials have various purposes for students to learn. For example, real life pictures and instructions from different context are worth using because these materials are likely to be read for specific information and they are feasible to reach. While select...
Read more

Student Practice Reflection - Lesson 5

-
Image
 Student Practice Reflection - Lesson 5 Today I had the last whole lesson teaching of my practicum. I felt both happy and unhappy. I was content because it was my final lesson and I could finish my practicum in 45 min. Then I could have more time to deal with my studies at the university. I was a bit sad because I will miss my students, my mentor teacher and other people I saw at the school.    The topic of the lesson is China Sichuan Opera. It was supposed to be relaxing; however, some of them did not concentrate on the class, though I was attempting to get them back by approaching them and pointing to the place where we were talking about from the material. The material was easy for some of them, so these students were very active and, without any exaggeration, they could not wait to answer all of those questions. However, I would like to give all of them a chance to speak. After reading and finishing answering questions, students were given a video to watch. They under...
Read more