Adaptability and the Seeds of Potential: Practical Reflections on Learning to Teach English as a Second Language

April 14, 2009 at 3:07 pm · Filed under Uncategorized and tagged: essays, tesl

**This is an essay I wrote for my TESL diploma. Copyright is mine exclusively, 2008.**

Working with the Intermediate level ESL class on my practicum this June has taught me many things about the role of an instructor in both a vocational and a personal way. While I have fine-tuned many of my speaking, listening, planning and interpersonal skills, what I am bringing away from the experience that is of most value to me is an awareness of two things: flexibility is an essential skill for any teacher, and there is potential in every aspect of classroom interaction. Further, it is necessary for a teacher to be aware of and practice adaptability in order to identify and exploit teachable moments as they arise.

My teaching experience before taking the TESL course was largely incidental; I have worked for many years as a reference librarian in academic libraries, helping students and instructors plan, research and implement their projects. I’ve developed bibliographic tools and given workshops on a number of technical processes, including effective use of the Internet. In addition to my library work, a number of other personal interests have led me to become a facilitator of workshops and discussion groups, and given me ease and experience with pubic speaking and time management. My exploration of homeschooling has helped with my creativity in providing a learning structure for others, and finally, a short course I taught in adult education at a local college allowed me to take some instruction in learning styles and how to implement a lesson plan. I drew on all of this experience in my ESL practicum and every one of my abilities was challenged and honed in the process.

By far, though, the most useful skill I exercised on a constant basis was my ability to be flexible and adapt to situations as they arose in the classroom during each moment of interaction with my students. An example of this came early on in my first practicum class, where I had students asking me questions about expressions and words I used in my lesson. While I had prepared vocabulary lists, it was obvious that explaining the meaning of words, phrases and idioms was an ongoing process – one I had observed my mentor teacher practicing as well. I simply decided to take the time to stop and ask, and explain whenever and for however long was necessary. The students responded positively to me when I actively listened or even digressed from the topic in order to illuminate a language point they were interested in. Another example was the decision, on several occasions, to alter an activity from how I had planned it based on the class structure or needs at the moment. While I may have planned an activity as an individual writing exercise, what felt right in the moment was allowing students to work together to generate ideas and enthusiasm for their work. More than once I found myself simply taking a break to have a conversation with the class – almost a reiteration of the elicitation phase of the lesson plan – in order to refocus attention or simply help a student I felt was falling behind to feel more at ease. So, while I came to class every day prepared with a five-stage lesson plan I quickly learned to trust my instincts and improvise with structure and activities if I sensed the potential for a better way to teach something than the way I had already mapped out.

I also found myself frequently using the idea of switching activities to accommodate different learning styles during my two hour lessons. I have been used to switching gears with the young children I helped teach and it was interesting to see how much more similar adults are to kids in this respect that one might think. While I found it was possible to carry on a tough reading exercise or vocabulary discussion for up to thirty minutes, I also discovered it helped generate enthusiasm if I took mini-breaks and inserted a bit of conversation or digression during the difficult parts of the lesson. I would like to explore this further and become more adept at directing the ebb and flow of a grammar discussion without becoming anxious that I will lose track of my main point (and in fact it is useful for me to note that it was only when I became anxious that I did lose track of my goal).

Allowing myself to trust my instincts to improvise not only helped me and my students feel more relaxed, it also allowed me to see the distinct moments of learning potential within my two hours of class time. Using casual conversation as a lead- in to a grammar point, or referencing a previous day’s explanation when working with a new word or idiom happened frequently. Getting to know each student a little better helped me figure out ways to structure my lesson plans so that I could offer someone who was less confident with speaking more chances to interact verbally without making them feel pressured. I found as the week went by that I was looking forward to seeing how my lesson plan would work each day and how much it would become altered to fit the circumstances of the class, and when I did make changes I tried to note down what they were and why I made them. As I became more confident in my ability to adapt, the teachable moments popped up everywhere, whether it was writing a word or drawing a picture on the board, or starting an impromptu discussion that illustrated a grammar point better than my planned explanation. It was really quite inspiring to see how teaching and learning became a mutual process.

By relaxing and being flexible with my planned lesson goals, I found it was much easier to teach the things I wanted to and also to teach the unexpected things that came up along the way. I have always enjoyed the moment when someone I am interacting with feels inspired by an idea I have helped with and I do feel that the role of a teacher is very much an inspirational one. I have greatly enjoyed channeling my own creativity into finding new ways to help others learn English and my ESL practicum has provided me with a framework on which I can base my future classroom learning experiences. The potential that arises out of a creative and adaptable teaching mindset, for me, means the development of unlimited potential in terms of my own learning and that of my students. I want to continue to watch for teachable moments both in and out of the classroom, and I am very pleased that my TESL experience has given me the opportunity to focus on an important way to facilitate lifelong learning.

The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.
–Joseph Campbell

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