Karine Deschamps #260212684

May

26th 2015
EDSL 254-001

Professor Philippa

Parks

My Teaching Philosophy after FE2

Field Experience 2 was a gold mine of opportunities to see a

lot of concepts I have learned about in class. I observed in my CT a
good teaching persona and a good relationship with students who
knew that she cared for them as individuals. What I did not see was
also of great value; the notable absence of certain concepts and
techniques made me see first hand the value that they bring to
student learning. The lack of short and long term planning,
scaffolding and the use of technology in the classroom were among
those lacking. What I saw and experienced helped shape my
evolving teaching philosophy, which will be anchored in a
personalized, differentiated and arts-oriented experience of learning
for my future students.
To begin, I aim to help students connect their learning of
English to their own lives. I want to put into place a system that
would constantly remind them of the reasons why they want to
learn/improve their English. As Bennet and Rolheiser (2001) discuss
in their book, the great value of intrinsic motivation cannot be
overlooked. There must be meaning and relevancy to the content

that we give to students to learn. I wish to spend the first weeks of

each year getting to know my students and doing activities and
games that would help them to uncover their interests, talents and
learning styles. I would take stock and plan long term so that
talents, learning styles and interests were accounted for and
opportunities for different people to shine were distributed
throughout the year. I would have every student reflect on the
reasons why they would like to improve their English: to speak to
relatives, to make new friends at the park, to travel, to play cooler
video games, to understand the music they already love, to watch
movies and shows in their original language, etc. I would have them
write a contract to which they would be referred back to over again
throughout the year that would remind them their own reasons for
wanting to learn and improve. This contract would also include an
action plan; I do not think that a person can learn a language by
interacting with it less than two hours a week. Students would be
asked to plan, keep record and reflect on the shows they watch,
books they read, CDs they listen to, etc.
Another point Bennet and Rolheiser make in their book (2001)
is that in order to have students engaged, they must be challenged
appropriately. I will plan my classes carefully taking into account the
different levels present in the class so that students would have a
choice of 2 or 3 levels built-in to the activities. Scaffolding is
imperative for the less advanced learners that we must cater to, so
planning and differentiation are key! I will use visual support (Power

Point or visuals provided by the textbook), write on the board (chalk

or Smart) so that students can see cognates written down, I will
mime, etc. I will get good at using my body and the written word to
help students find the words instead of translating or using French in
my classroom. Another aspect of planning that will be central to my
teaching will be the use of Big Ideas and Guiding Questions as
explained by Wiggins and McTigue (1998). Students must be
engaged in a wider context. For example, it wont be about learning
adjectives to describe animals, but to collectively uncover the
characteristics of a good pet. Animals in general may be far away
from elementary students lives, but pets are not! Finding the big
idea will allow me to provide the relevancy and purpose that is often
lacking in E.S.L. (ie: Why do I need to learn this?). If the teachers
manual does not provide the guiding questions, I will make them up
and introduce the L.E.S.s by posing the question to the class.
Students may be invited to participate in the elaboration of these
questions depending on level.
During my FE, I did not observe any small group work. All the
desks were organized individually in rows. If this is still the case for
the schools in which I will work in the future, I will introduce group
work by practicing the routine of getting into groups effectively and
quickly. I will also create base groups at the beginning of the year so
that students know whom to work with and where to go with
minimal intervention. I see the value of group work in connection to
big ideas and guiding questions; by giving different jobs to team-

members, each student will be able to bring a piece of the research

or do part of the work so that everyone can answer the question
together. I also plan to do project-based work regularly so that
students learn to work effectively in teams and learn to value and
truly respect each other.
My identity as a teacher is inextricably linked to who I am as a
person. I am a singer and a performer, and I plan to use these skills
everyday in my classrooms. In FE2, I saw the quality of student work
go up when I modelled or acted silly to illustrate and scaffold. I also
got huge reactions from students when I brought out my guitar. The
possibilities for learning through songs and rhymes are endless;
pronunciation, prosody, breaking through timidity and taking risks,
etc. I want to introduce songs for every unit or LES, whether the
ones provided in the textbook, or others that I find more appropriate
or interesting. I also want to provide many opportunities for
students to perform in class, role-play, do readers theatre, re-enact
favourite TV or movie scenes, do improv and much more. Certainly,
this will not be every single students most tasty cup of tea, but by
providing plenty of opportunities for student choice I think all
students will accept the routines and the rhythm of my class. If extra
curricular is a possibility in the schools I will teach, I plan to host and
organize a Pop Music Club (a glee club if you will) as well as host
English Open Mic events in the school.

I will always do

my utmost to model that English is cool, accessible and totally

worthwhile!

References

Bennett, B. B., & Rolheiser-Bennett, N. C. (2001). Beyond

Monet: The artful science of instructional integration. Toronto:
Bookation.

Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd
ed. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
2005. Print.