SIT TESOL

Reflection on the Article “Hands-on” or “Head-Trip”….. How do you learn best? by Susan. L. Colantuono

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(817 words)

Having read Susan L. Colantuono’s “Hands-on” or “Head-Trip”: How Do You Learn Best?, this reflection examines the relationship between the article’s discussion of learning and an experience I had during my SIT TESOL course. Colantuono’s article explores different approaches to learning and presents a four-stage learning process through which learners can experience, reflect upon, conceptualise, and subsequently apply their learning in new situations. I found that a German language lesson delivered by one of my SIT instructors provided a useful example of this learning process in practice.

Today was the first day of my SIT TESOL course, during which our class participated in two German language lessons. During the first lesson, I felt that I was not contributing sufficiently and questioned my level of intellectual engagement. My initial impression was that the lesson felt somewhat flat and lacked the interest, emotion, and excitement that I personally associate with an effective learning experience. However, when I heard the responses of other members of the class, I realised that their perceptions were quite different. Several people described the lesson as amusing and enjoyable. This contrast in perspectives prompted me to consider how differently individuals can respond to the same learning experience, which corresponds with Colantuono’s discussion of different approaches to learning.

Initially, I felt somewhat isolated by the difference between my response and those of my classmates. When another SIT instructor invited us to reflect on the lesson, I commented that I felt “the language learning experience is a long road.” In retrospect, I recognise that this was a relatively negative interpretation of the experience. Although my response was a genuine reflection of how I felt at the time, listening to the more positive reactions of my peers encouraged me to reconsider my own attitude and expectations.

The second German lesson provided an opportunity to apply this reflection. I felt more engaged and involved in the learning process. I wrote more extensively in my notebook, practised more both independently and with my partner, and listened with greater concentration. I also noticed that I was able to use some of the language and materials introduced during the first lesson. This suggested to me that the initial experience had not been unsuccessful; rather, I had perhaps not engaged with it as effectively as I could have. By reflecting on my experience, I began to consider how I could approach the subsequent lesson differently.

Colantuono’s four stages of learning provide a useful framework for understanding this process. The first stage, “concrete experience,” can be understood as my direct participation in the first German lesson. I experienced the lesson without initially analysing my response to it in depth. The second stage, “observation and reflection,” occurred when I considered why I had not gained as much from the lesson as I had expected. I began to question whether my lack of enthusiasm had influenced my perception of the experience.

The third stage, “abstract concepts,” encouraged me to consider possible explanations for my response. Was my reaction primarily related to my own attitude and expectations, or were there aspects of the teaching approach that contributed to my lack of engagement? For example, I considered whether the repetition used by the instructor had affected my enjoyment of the lesson. However, rather than attributing my response entirely to the teacher, I recognised that my own attitude was also an important factor.

The fourth stage, “concepts in new situations,” became particularly relevant when I listened to other members of the class describe the same lesson as enjoyable and amusing. Their responses challenged my initial interpretation and encouraged me to consider changing my approach to the next lesson. From this reflection, I developed what could be understood as a hypothesis for my subsequent learning: if I approached the next lesson with greater concentration, participation, and openness, I might have a more positive and productive learning experience. My experience in the second lesson suggested that this hypothesis had some validity.

This experience has demonstrated to me that learning is not solely determined by the content or delivery of a lesson. The learner’s attitude, expectations, level of engagement, and willingness to reflect can also influence the learning experience. While teaching methods are undoubtedly important, learners have a degree of responsibility for how they respond to and engage with those methods.

Overall, reading Colantuono’s article has encouraged me to view my experience more critically and constructively. Rather than simply deciding that a lesson was ineffective or attributing my response entirely to the instructor, I was able to step back, reflect on my experience, consider alternative explanations, and adapt my approach. This process of reflection enabled me to enter the second lesson with greater focus and engagement. For me, this illustrates the value of reflective practice in learning: an experience that initially appears negative can become a valuable opportunity for learning when it is examined critically and used to inform future practice.

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SIT TESOL Course – Reflection on an Article

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Giving and Receiving Feedback – It Will Never Be Easy But It Can Be Better By Larry Potter

(612 words)

This is a commendable article for me as I think at times I recognise that it is hard to receive and give feedback. It could be said that most people’s feedback skills could be said to need a little practice. I think this is important because as a teacher you will need feedback from your students to tell you if they enjoyed and comprehended your teaching. Also, the students will want feedback on their learning. Each will need a positive, constructive base. 

After reading the article, my first reaction is to think of myself who usually goes on the defensive when given feedback. The defensive, I mean that you are not really listening to the person giving the feedback. Larry Potter alludes to this point; he defines feedback as ‘information that can be heard by the receiver as evidence by the fact that he/she does not go on the defensive’. I agree with Larry Potter that feedback has ‘great value’ but only ‘to us if we can let the feedback in and effectively use the information’. I do like this sort of article because I can identify with points in the article that coincide with myself. An example would be when Larry describes Ineffective feedback as ‘judgmental statements’. I think I can give judgmental statements and upset people. I recently said a teacher was talking too much in class but forgot to look at the students who were okay with his talking. Other people said this is only level 2, the students do not talk much. I felt a bit bad for talking about the teacher. I think maybe I was too opinionated. Also, I think I get feedback a lot but may not use the experience, as I should. Maybe I think they are just making a comment and I don’t really ask them such questions as  ‘Why’? ‘What do you think is better?’ I think after reading this article on feedback for future actions I should take time to realize that I could be wrong and that I should take in the information (feedback) that has been given. I think I should ask for clarification and realize that it is not a battle and the comment is to help and I should reply with what I think. Thus hopefully getting a discussion going. 

The information that is given in the feedback can be ‘shut out’ as Larry Potter says. We ‘lack the skills to send and receive feedback’. I agree with this point as I had a situation the other day. I thought of a lesson plan and mentioned it to a teacher and basically, I was told that it was wrong because the lesson wasn’t student-centered thus in the lesson plan the teacher would speak more which he or she is not supposed to do. The problem with me was I had thought about this lesson for a long time and had it planned. Now my first reaction when I was told it was wrong was to get a little angry, I felt as though it was an attack against me. Maybe  I felt as though I was not good enough, my ideas were not good enough. So I felt a bit sorry for myself. I think the best idea would be to say ‘shall I forget about that lesson plan’, and if she said ‘yes’, say to her ‘what do you think then? I could have asked her why she thought is wrong and what ideas I should think of. I think I should have got to the bottom of my thinking as I might think up another lesson plan like this and have the same trouble again.

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Tell me more – On the fine art of listening By Brenda Ueland

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Reflection on an article

(1327 words)The Role of Listening in the Classroom

This essay reflects on the attitudes and responsibilities of listeners within the classroom environment. Although Brenda Ueland’s article does not specifically address teaching, completing the SIT TESOL course has encouraged me to consider more deeply the qualities and attitudes that a teacher should demonstrate. Ueland’s article invites readers to reflect on the importance of listening and, in particular, on the attitude a listener should adopt towards others. This is particularly relevant in a classroom context, where students are often required to express their ideas in a language in which they may not yet be proficient. Therefore, the central question raised by both Ueland’s article and this reflection is: Are you a good listener?

To begin with, I agree with Ueland’s observation that when people are genuinely listened to, “ideas actually begin to grow within us.” In a classroom context, this can be applied to situations in which a student has something to contribute and the teacher provides them with the opportunity to speak while encouraging them to develop and expand upon their response. Through attentive listening, the teacher can help students develop their ideas and use the English language with greater depth and confidence. This contrasts somewhat with Ueland’s opening argument concerning how “we don’t listen to our children or those we love.” While I understand the point she is making, I believe that there is a distinction between not listening and listening without sufficient attention. People may listen to others but fail to do so attentively. In a classroom, for example, a teacher may appear to listen to a student but be primarily focused on completing the lesson, maintaining the planned pace, or simply moving on because the student has already answered the question.

This does not necessarily mean that the teacher is being deliberately rude or dismissive. Rather, it may reflect the competing demands placed upon teachers during a lesson. Nevertheless, these situations provide an opportunity for teachers to reconsider their attitudes towards listening. When students are given opportunities to speak, the teacher should consider whether the interaction can be extended in a meaningful way. By becoming a more attentive and courteous listener, the teacher can encourage students to elaborate on their ideas, take greater risks with the language, and develop their confidence in communicating in English. Consequently, listening should not be viewed as a passive activity but as an important component of language teaching.

It could also be argued that some teachers may dominate classroom interaction because they are comfortable speaking and enjoy controlling the flow of the lesson. In doing so, they may unintentionally restrict students’ opportunities to participate. Ueland alludes to this when she argues that “these brilliant performers, by not giving us a chance to talk, do not let us express our thoughts and expand.” This observation is particularly relevant to teaching because a teacher may believe that they are delivering an effective lesson while failing to recognise that their own level of participation is preventing students from speaking. If students have limited opportunities to contribute, the teacher may mistakenly interpret their silence as a lack of knowledge, motivation, or interest rather than considering whether the classroom environment itself is contributing to their reluctance to speak.

Ueland’s description of a “creative fountain” within each person is also relevant to this issue. Students need sufficient time and encouragement to develop their ideas before they can express them effectively. In a language-learning environment, this can be particularly challenging because students may have an idea but lack the vocabulary or grammatical knowledge required to communicate it immediately. Providing clear, well-modelled instructions and specific objectives can therefore help students understand what is expected of them. When students have a clear focus, they are more likely to know what they should discuss and can devote greater attention to formulating their responses. At this point, the teacher’s role as a listener becomes particularly important. Rather than immediately correcting or completing a student’s response, the teacher can demonstrate what Ueland describes as “quiet fascinated attention” and allow the student sufficient time to develop their thoughts.

The process of formulating ideas can be challenging for many students, particularly those with limited vocabulary. However, even students with a relatively broad vocabulary may struggle to retrieve the appropriate words at the moment they need them. I have personally experienced situations in which I knew a particular word in Thai but could not immediately remember its English equivalent, only to recall it later. The same difficulty can occur when students attempt to construct sentences or explain an idea. This experience has helped me understand Ueland’s observation that a person’s speech may initially be “little dry and meager” before they begin to think more deeply and reveal their “true self.” In the classroom, students may therefore require time to move beyond their initial hesitation before they are able to communicate what they genuinely mean.

One particular classroom experience reinforced this point for me. During one lesson, there was a student who was attempting to explain something to me in English. Another student in the class had been translating much of what I said and, in my view, this was beginning to reduce the other students’ need to understand me directly in English. During a break, the student who was having difficulty approached me because she wanted to explain that she needed to leave and give me a reason. As she attempted to explain her situation, the other student intervened and began translating what she was saying. I politely explained that I wanted the student to communicate the problem herself. However, the other student continued to try to assist when the student struggled to express herself.

I again encouraged the student to explain the situation directly to me. It took approximately five minutes for her to communicate what she wanted to say. Rather than interrupting her or allowing another student to translate, I attempted to remain patient and listen actively. Eventually, she was able to communicate her meaning successfully. This experience demonstrated to me the importance of recognising the difficulties that language learners face and allowing them sufficient time to construct their responses. Although the student was not highly proficient in English, she possessed enough vocabulary to communicate her meaning when given the time and encouragement to do so. By listening attentively and allowing her to continue, I believe I helped create a more relaxed situation in which she could communicate with greater confidence.

This experience also demonstrated that effective listening involves more than simply hearing the words a student produces. It requires patience, attention, and an awareness of the learner’s individual circumstances. A student who initially appears unable to communicate may simply require additional processing time or reassurance. If a teacher or another student immediately provides the answer, the learner loses an opportunity to practise language, develop independence, and build confidence. In this sense, listening becomes an active teaching strategy rather than merely a social courtesy.

In conclusion, several of the points raised by Brenda Ueland have encouraged me to reconsider the relationship between listening and teaching. Although her article is not specifically concerned with classroom practice, its discussion of attentive listening has clear relevance to the language-learning environment. Teachers have a responsibility not only to provide instruction but also to create opportunities for students to express themselves. This requires teachers to recognise when they are speaking too much, allowing students insufficient time to formulate ideas, or unintentionally preventing students from developing their own voices.

Ultimately, effective teaching requires more than delivering information. It requires an awareness of how students respond, how they develop their ideas, and how they gain confidence in expressing themselves. Ueland’s discussion has therefore encouraged me to view listening as an essential part of the teacher’s role. By providing students with time, patience, and “quiet fascinated attention,” teachers can create a classroom environment in which students are more willing to speak, develop their ideas, and become more confident users of English.

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SIT TESOL CERTIFICATE COURSE – Focus on Learning

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Referring to my first language learning experience as a supposed language student, I had a few times when I was not really involved and missed a few points, but why did I miss these few points?  Maybe it was because I am that type of learner who does not get into a lesson straight away. Suddenly your SIT trainer says, ‘right let’s learn German’ and you are like, ‘okay, if you want’. The same as when your teacher could say let’s learn ‘modals’ and you like ‘we learned that last week’. The point is, it is still valid and a learning experience.

There were some people and me especially at that time where the visual experience of watching other people was enough, I was not ready to join in. I did not know at the time if this was a mistake or not. I must admit I found it a little boring to start. I think that some learners could find this experience a little embarrassing, suddenly speaking this new language. Maybe I did find it weird, so I enjoyed just sitting back and seeing others do the talking which some proudly did.

On the flip side, to this experience, I had many times when I sailed through everything because I did the work that the SIT trainer told me to do. I said the sentence she asked and I wrote things down. I think by this time I had got over the first language hurdle and maybe felt a bit at ease, also I got some of the questions right that boosted my confidence and thus I got the benefit out of the lesson which made me happier. I suppose for a language learner it is hard to be attentive all the time and at times the students would just prefer to be looking at the class happening and not playing an active part. Motivation is hard at times.

With reference to the ‘Learners Are Individuals’ handout I have read, It alludes to this point that there are many different styles of learning. You can not have a class of 20 students all with exactly the same way of learning. Some students know grammar better, some are more confident in speaking, some want to write all the facts and some just in the class to have fun. I empathize with some of these points as I sometimes hear my peers talk about, and they have a lot more to say or they explain a point better than the way you thought. My reaction to this is that we are all the class together, and it should be a shared experience. If you have this shared experience I think it will make for a better atmosphere, general variety of ideas, and the class feeling that they all worked as a group. I think that everyone should benefit from everyone although there are some students more salient. Hopefully, they do not take over.

I think this learning experience gives me a broader perspective to look at the fact that there are many elements to a learning classroom experience and what I take from being a learner is to try and apply what I have learned as a student to the classroom. I think what I have done will influence my teaching by realizing that students find learning difficult as much as I did. I will find in the class some students are better than others where I will have to help the weaker students and not let the others go too far ahead. For example, I found the German language learning experience enjoyable because I was working with other students and listening to them say the words. I actually found it funny at times. This I think it is great that you can have a group of people working together learning from each other. Group work is definitely a plus. My final point is not to give them too much information; I found from my German class that it should be taken stage by stage. I think if you provide sufficient information and do not baffle the students with too much, the lesson will go better. What you are left with is a feeling that you can empathize with the students’ needs and thus you will be able to bring that extra dimension that will help the students to achieve.

An example would be SIT trainer’s class on ‘problems and advice’. The step-by-step process using PPU (presentation/practice/use) allowed the students to learn about giving advice. The SIT trainer gave a real experience to start with, she explained that her clothes were old and she did not have enough money to buy new ones. She acted this out and it made you really feel for her. It made for some good advice from the students. As a learner, you were already getting into the lesson. This method was very easily done and the students had a lot of advice for her. She did the same for her tax problem where she did not have enough money to pay the tax man. The advice given was attached with modals. Now, we had to distinguish between serious and not serious which led to looking at the modals. This was a good introduction to the start of the class and I think the process got everybody thinking. These were real problems that I think everybody had had before, so her method was a good way of presenting the subject. I think, as a learner if the lesson relates to something the class knows it will work. She also had cards with problems on them for us to judge if they were serious or not serious. I guess this was a more practice situation. The SIT trainer was trying to see if we knew serious and not serious. This was another way to clarify what we were learning about. As a student, I felt I was much clearer with the subject. I think this method of clarification helps all individual members of the group who are all of the different aptitudes. We worked as a group with the SIT trainer making sure everybody had a chance and I felt as though the group moved along nicely. We had pair work trying to match problems with advice on the worksheet. In pairs was a great way to get the students together. I like the pair work as a learner because we can help each other. Finally, we had a chance to do group work and speak to all the students. This varied structure and interesting parts made for a better class. I think if I were that ESL student the class would have instilled that knowledge of giving advice because of the systematic way of keeping the students attentive with varying teaching techniques.

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SIT TESOL – Extended Reflection on Classroom Practice

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Lesson #2

(words 1238)

As usual, I think the lesson was done competently without having much to quibble about. I felt as though I tested the students, which gave me some satisfaction. The lesson that I gave had a purpose and there were objectives to be met, which I think were achievable and a little challenging. Making the lesson challenging was a focus from my previous lesson so I think I took my action points, that I had written in my lesson plan, onboard. I must say though, as always, there are some details regarding the teaching in the class to work on. The details I would like to raise in this reflection are to make me realize some of the reasons for doing certain methods of teaching in class, which I hope after this reflection, will make the lesson more rewarding for the students.

One of my main focuses this time was to make the lesson more challenging for the students, as they were at a higher level. The part of the lesson that I think the students were challenged, was the listening section that certainly gave the students a chance to test their skills. What the students had to do was to listen to a tape with two men talking about their university schedules. Prior to starting the exercise, I had the students get into groups of seven, which I believe made for a better learning experience, where their peers could discuss the answers with them after each listening of the tape. The listening experience was also facilitated with modeling of how to finish the exercise. This worked well because I showed them a model schedule and also wrote the schedule on the board thus I felt the students had a complete understanding. I also made sure I asked concept-checking questions to some of the students about what to complete on the schedule, so I felt as though they were completely ready to listen to the tape. I think I this process is done every time I should not have any problems with listening.

The tape was about two minutes long, which I thought worked fine. I think if it was any longer would have prolonged the listening too far and likewise shorter would not challenge the students enough. I say this because in the previous lesson, which another teacher took before me, the students had listened to a tape and I felt as though it went on too long which was about 4 minutes. That time I saw the students losing interest, which is hard if you have to play it twice or three times. I think with my tape the students needed to listen two times such that once they had listened the second time they were fine and had completed the exercise. I must say though there were a few students that didn’t finish the task completely, so I think this told me that I tested some students. I mean if all the students had finished the first time I would have known for sure that it was easy, but the second play and some students not entirely finishing gave me a feeling of how I was testing them. There was one issue that I think did hinder the proceeding though, and that is, I should have given the students some time to check their answers the first time after listening to the tape. I think there were some students who were a little confused about the answers and needed that checking time to ask their peers. Also, I had put them into groups, which would have made them be able to converse and to understand better so maybe I missed a good opportunity to let the students think about their answers. I think in consequent classes I should go around the group asking and provoking thought and trying to get the student in the groups to say what they wrote down as to generate student talking in English.

I think again I could have challenged the students a bit more. There are points in the class after I finished explaining where I think that all the students understand but I cannot be really sure because I haven’t checked all the students. I introduced the ‘subjects at university’ and wrote them on the board for example physics, chemistry, and science. I ‘fumped’ the words which was the right idea because I knew some of the words were new to them but as for clearer dictionary definition and reinforcing this definition I am not sure a did this. I think the students kind of knew the words but it would have been nice to have them discuss and at least be able to understand them by trying to talk about them. I think for the level they were it would have not been much trouble to converse about these words. I think a simple exercise like matching the words and definitions could have worked. Also, when I asked the two groups to think of some subjects to go with a major (e.g. major – science / subject studied at university – physics) I didn’t give them a model because one of the majors I gave one group was art and I never really said what branch of arts at university. I could have said fine arts, humanities, and liberal arts.

If I had given liberal arts I could have elicited an example like ‘music’ to the board just to send the students on the right path. My objectives were for the students to learn new words relating to university. This was learned by way of a university schedule that was filled in with these words from the tape after they had listened to it. I think the students achieved their objectives of learning the new words and filling in the schedule as planned. To explain how well these adjectives were achieved I would have to say not entirely. I say this because of some of the actions I did to confirm every student’s knowledge. There were times when simple checking could have confirmed everything to me. I have mentioned one way I could have checked above with the subjects and majors. Also after each listening of the tape, I checked on the students and asks them how they were getting on. If they were hearing the tape, what were they thinking?  And also at the end of the final post-exercise, I could have made the students not look at their schedules so much and discuss more. I did find them saying student A: ‘when are you free?’ student B: ‘Friday’ student A: “okay’. This was distinctly different from the tape, which lasted two minutes.

To conclude this reflection, I think I have learned to put more into a lesson. I mean the start where I would be doing the presentation/pre-stage of the lesson is to make sure all the students are well informed before I move on. This means getting the so-called weaker students to prove some understanding. Also in relation to the weaker students is to keep the students in pairs and groups so the better students help those weaker ones. Also, I should give them time to discuss in-between stages. I think there is a lot to be learned at certain stages if only to get the students to sit back and contemplate what they have just been told. This would be done in groups or pairs again.

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