What the government can do to support teachers' professional development

Session 5: Summary of Reflections

ON LESSON OBSERVATION

n   Teachers can get more ideas from lesson observation

n   Do not agree to give feedback publicly

n   Peer observation sometimes stressful … I may be judged by my colleagues … on the other hand, can have some self-reflections … more teaching ideas …

n   Good to have more peer observation lessons … helps us to have more ideas in teaching

n   Reflection will improve a teacher’s teaching.

n   Lesson observation with other schools/teachers .. a good way to improve one’s teaching … will try this if it is possible.

ON LESSON PLANNING

n   Will remember the quote ‘Begin with the end in mind’ss

n   Really time-consuming to prepare e-learning lessons …but worth doing because Ss will be more motivated

n   Planning a successful lesson is never an easy task. Behind a 40-minute lesson, teachers have spent days getting prepared. I feel like sometimes outsiders have forgotten/neglected the hard work teachers have done.

n   I will work harder to plan my lessons better.

n   Will try my best to state the objectives clearly, and motivate my students.

n   For a good lesson, there is a lot of hard work to do behind. … need someone to give good feedback.

n   Feedback should be truehearted, not some sentences that don’t deliver any meaningful messages.

ON TEACHING

n   Need to do more reflections on my teaching method from time to time

n   Technology is just a tool … the teacher’s eagerness to teach and willingness to help can motivate Ss to be more interested in learning

n   Hope to have the chance to try the apps (e.g., quizizz; goformative, trello) in my lessons

n   If only there would be a platform for excellent teachers to share videos of their lessons

n   Self-recording … a good way to improve our teaching

n   Possible to get a list of apps which we can apply in our teaching?

n   I believe …we may influence a student even though we don’t know how and when.

n   If we want to contribute a successful lesson, we should put in our heart; in other words, we should love teaching, enjoy teaching, and more importantly, love our students. It is definitely our mission to education the new generation.

n   Most of all, we have found that we still have so many passionate teachers in Macao.

n   … like the e-learning techniques adopted in the lesson

ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

n   Teachers have to join different courses to improve and to be updated …In order to keep my passion and enthusiasm after ( ) years of teaching, I promise myself that I need to reach at least 100 hours of professional training every year, and luckily, I’m keep this promise.

n   …. Can exchange or share information with teachers from other schools

Session 4: Summary of reflections

TEACHING IN GENERAL

-          …asked us to speak French to …., I fully understand why some students are so unwilling to take part in …

-          Need to try different and more effective methods …

-          Need to help them build up the confidence first.

-          All teaching methods have their goods and bads … finding the one that can really help the students is one of our goals in teaching.

-          … French … made me realize how hard it is for some of my students to learn English

-          Video teaching can attract the students’ attention

-          More activities in class to motivate students

-          Teachers should not only use one methodology in teaching; … should change based on students’ levels and interests.

-          Interest is the best motivation to learn a new language

-          Students can be encouraged by a good language teacher.

-          Use various teaching methods … students’ learning styles

-          Ss need opportunities to use English to communicate

-          Task-based learning and collaborative learning both good methods to …

-          After …French …found … learning a second language is really difficult to students

-          Decisions should be based on research and recent literature … rather than instinct

-          No standard routes to acquisition; no standard ways of teaching

-          According to different groups of students, we can use appropriate methods to motivate them.

-          Teachers’ praise or appreciation towards students can change their lives.

ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

-          Impressed by group members’ sharing: teach from the heart

-          Reflecting on our learning, as well as teaching experience, helps to develop our professional competence

-          Want to know more different interesting and effective ESL games … motivate my students .. and myself in teaching;

-          The topic on ‘how to teach’ is not enough to me

-          (after the 4 sessions), I seem to have different feelings and opinions on teaching

-          … look forward to Saturdays … brings me surprise … will be inspired

-          Important to enhance our teaching professional development by taking …training courses;

-          Teaching is also lifelong learning …need to improve … so we can teach better;

-          Constructive feedback (important) so they know what to be aware of

-          My beliefs about ELT have changed tremendously after I did my MA in TESOL in the UK

-          Teachers need to join more courses .. increase their curiosity … keep up their enthusiasm or ‘fire’.

-          Need to learn more and faster than our students; cannot lag behind

LIFE OF TEACHERS

-          Too busy and overstressed that they can’t apply all the desirable methodologies in real life teaching;

-          Time to rest .. very important. Without rest, we can’t simply come up with anything exciting … let alone teaching well

-          Teaching is not just a job, but great work to nurture the next generation

Heroes think alike ...

Session 3: Summary of Journal Entries

Content of the English curriculum

English lessons should be integrated ….  A lesson can meet the requirements of different areas, just that some skills may be more emphasized at a certain time.

Preparing for BAA implementation

• -          We should be familiar with the BAA requirements …let our teachers have full psychological preparation about the BAA
• -          Not advisable to place all the focus on BAA when we design our curriculum; instead should see how our current curriculum fits in BAA and make adjustments if necessary.
• -          Hope we will be given enough time to handle the paperwork (checklist)
• -          Coordinate with others
• -          Complicated to make the scheme of work based on BAA …. Learn from peers
• -          Have to know clearly about our teaching materials and need to cooperate together;
• -          I’ve got more confidence in guiding my team …
• -          My school has already started preparing for BAA …; not as difficult as expected, but we should be given more guidance and support from DSEJ …the most important thing is that this is helping the students
• -          Feel more relieved now …; time, support, and collaboration are really important
• -          Whole English team should know more about how to design and set the BAA requirements
• -          My current scheme of work is very simple, so there’s absolutely going to be more work
• -          I believe we can still teach grammar after implementation of BAA
• -          Now I don’t really worry much about implementing BAA
• -          Don’t think it’s super challenging; it just takes some time
• -          Hope the school can put in more support for the teachers, e.g., fewer lessons each week
• -          Wonder if the checklist can totally reflect if the school-based curriculum can meet with the requirements … panel head and teachers can just insert the boxes

BAA and External Exams

§  Hope the BAA can be aligned with the Joint Admission Exam.

§  Worried if DSEJ will move forward to plan for something like JUPAS for Macau

On Paul’s ‘demo’ lesson

-          The apps … are quite useful

-          .. helps me to reflect on my current teaching

-          Interesting and effective

-          Thanks for introducing the advanced technology

-          The apps … quite motivating

Session 2: Glimpses

Teaching Journal Week 2: Summary

Implementation of BAA

o  teachers need to have good knowledge of the requirements, and enough confidence in themselves.

o  Questions in my mind: How to apply it in lessons? How to satisfy DSEJ’s requirements? …

o  … draft a proposal to make up a BAA committee to study BAA in detail, and discuss how to implement …

o  … insufficient passionate teachers in the school; work done on principal’s commands only

o  teachers don’t have enough time to understand the ideas

o  Can BAA really change what is going on in everyday classrooms?

o  Are the curriculum goals really achievable?

o  We need to believe that all the extra work we are doing now, is for a better future.

o  Changes won’t happen if the ones who are executing the task do not believe in it.

o  I’m knowing more and more about BA, and my pressure has greatly relieved.

o  … worthwhile ….to bring this city closer to the world.

o  … maybe I’m too stressed.

o  … I think the Senior one (BAA) is easier to understand.

o  … most schools in Macau set up their curriculum based on public exams …… the ability to apply the knowledge in real life is often ignored.

o  What are the consequences of the school is found that not all BAA items are implemented?

o  there will be a lot of work when BAA is put into effect

o  need the cooperation and understanding of colleagues in the English team.

o  (need to) discuss and share ideas (teaching method) between colleagues in order to improve and reinforce the (implementation) of BAA.

On language knowledge, Learning, and Skills acquisition

n   Ss can get high marks in tests and exams, but lack real communication skill; teachers should guide them to turn the knowledge into practical skills.

n   Ss need to learn, but not to be trained at school

n   hope my Ss will be more cooperative

Devising BAA-oriented Plans and Classroom Learning

n   We should get Ss to learn, rather than following the plan only.

n   interest and curiosity are key elements to success of all learning

n   final outcome of language teaching is to alter Ss’ learning attitude (interest; motivation; etc.)

n   the issue at stake is to inspire and encourage the teachers of the current trend in teaching, so that they in turn will inspire and their students

n   we need reflections and evaluations in the long run.