September 8

As a language learner and teacher, I have experienced many different approaches. I don't think I have ever experienced the use of only ONE approach at a time. This is interesting to me because it is very clear that there is no "best" method that is going to reach every student. When we look at the history of language teaching and the methods that have come and gone, we can see that we are always looking for the best way to teach languages, when really there is no "best" way. Every student has individual needs, and only a variety of stimulating materials and methods in the classroom will be successful. For this reason, we are now learning about ALL of the methods and various assessment practices. I personally learn best when I am alone with my book and a teacher as a guide. I like to listen and read the language at the same time. In the beginning, I would study lists and lists of vocabulary translated from English to the target language. We cannot assume, however, that our students are going to learn the same way we did. I feel that this may be a common mistake that teachers make, and I will be sure to make a conscious effort not to do this in the future.

This is the first semester that I have really stepped outside of my content area of Spanish and all my pre-conceived notions about teaching and began to REALLY learn about what it is we should be doing in the classroom today. I am a bit overwhelmed by everything that our professors are now telling us we should be doing, all of the videos we have been watching showing good teaching methods that I certainly was never taught with, and observing schools like U-high which uses so much technology in the classroom daily, I feel like I am fighting to keep up with what is going on. All of this is pretty scary, seeing as I am about to enter the classroom as a student teacher next semester, and reading the basic roles of a teacher in Kuma's Beyond Methods is a little calming. It gives us a place to start when thinking about what kind of teacher we want to be and what we should be doing in the classroom as effective teachers. In chapter 1, Kuma describes three roles of teachers: teachers as passive technicians, reflective practitioners, and transformative intellectuals. Teachers as reflective practitioners is pretty old fashioned, but in reading the description, I was certainly reminded of some teachers I have had in the past. It is easy to remember my really great teachers (which are few and far between) because they were constantly changing things up, keeping us interested, and they were full of reflection. Perhaps this is why I am very in tune with teachers as reflective practitioners. If there is one thing I am learning, it is that we are responsible for our own professional development and reflection is key. We should constantly be working towards new ideas, more ways to reach different students, research, etc. Teachers as transformative intellectuals is also very interesting and many of the parts seem very important. Transforming individuals inside and outside the classroom is what we should be doing as teachers. Advocating for language learning is the first step I think we can take as language teachers to bring awareness to our students and initiate change.