Autonomy, Active Learning, and Learning Strategies

Teaching must be autonomous so that it model stuents' responses and motivation. Students are more likely to learn from modeling that from being talked out. Autonomy in teaching requires eventually making decisions that might be not planned in advance, or stopping the class if an existential issue arises; it requires closing the text book in order to change the activity with the purpose of gathering attention back, or even simply going out with no apparent reason. However, students must know the sense of what they are doing because this is the very first step to becoming (more) autonomous.

Students need to be involved and actively participate of their learning processes, and teachers are responsible for the circumstances surrounding such proceses. Students need to feel they are important so that their motivation to contributing keep up. They must have the chance to show what they know and say what they have to say, which together with proper feedback helps self esteem grow healthy.

Learning Strategies work suitably towards having our students be in charge of their own processes and monitor their outcomes. It is important for them to know the ways in which they learn and be trained on these strategies. Once they visualize how they learn, they can consequently use strategies distictively, for particular purposes.

Probably the best approaches to students are the ones rid of pretensions and thus closer to them. In terms of evident committment and motivation, the best way is to depart from what is familiar to students because treating topics realted to their own lives catches their interest and willingness to spontaneously contribute.

Language skills

What we have seen and discussed along our course, I have already applied with my students. It is amazing how getting in contact with new activities and new acquaintances opens one's references.

No matter how much and how long you have been in touch with concepts and technicalities, it is always worthwhile to actually think about them and go as deep into them as possible for this defines how you will grow and improve your performance.

As we grow, both existentially and professionally, we face circumstances in which we must decide on either refreshing whatever we consider on one particular issue or leaving it at that, as though there were nothing else or nothing new to know about it.

Without any doubts, the first and authentic beneficiaries with our dedication are our students, and this is a priceless event. Time will tell...

The student is the expert

I have seen the students' need of feeling supported and encouraged. They are required to use what they are taught every day, and this must take place in a spontaneous way so that they get used to their own rythm, thus being able of facing and solving communicative situations as confidently as possible.

This is why we must provide our students with an environment that bring about their willingness and engagement, rather than one invaded by presure and an inquisitive attitude towards their performance at every moment.

I have found out that, in the case of having some oral presentations, for example, a "mini lesson" at the beginning of the class is of great help. This initial reference frames out the formal language students are expected to have in mind when giving their speeches.

Other thing that helps students to warm up before an oral presentation and their confidence to strengthen, is to ask them simple questions about their everyday life; for instance, what they had for breakfast, or what they did the day before. This gives them the chance to tell the rest of the students about something only they can possibly know: they don't have to learn anything by heart; they can take their time, whithin reason, to prioritize what they are to say, as well as the order of their own ideas and, by the way, feel important because of being the expert on that particular issue.

Why English...

Today in calss we spent some time talking and reflecting about the current role of the English language around the world. For decades, English has been a growing issue both in teaching and in everyday life. In general terms, it has been a symbol, representative of high social status, in countries where other languages are official.

Basically due to political and economic reasons, countries have implemented the teaching of English at schools, progressively starting at a lower level of their formal education programs. At the beginning of this, not yet a trend, the decision of teaching English was "just" a response to circumstances.

As time passed and circumstances become evidently not that temporary, governments and business people realized of the importance of coming up with longlasting and well structured English teaching programs.

This, and systematic research on the issue, is why nowadays we see such a variety of proposals for language teaching, as well as approaches and methods. However, according to the fast rythm in which things are changing with regards to global economy and polictics, English seems to have its fashion years moving along a downhill countdown.