Reflective Assignment

Stage 1 &2
By Adele Rocheforte-Anness

Contents
1.
Background……………………………………………………………………….
.Page 2

2.Reflect and comment on beliefs and practices as a

teacher…Page 2

3.Identify and comment on your strengths and

weaknesses….Page 3

4.Action
Plan…………………………………………………………………………
Page 3

5.Description of Data Collection

Methods……………………………..Page 4

6.Word Count and

Bibliography…………………………………………….Page 4

7.Appendices……………………………………………………………
…………..Page 5,6,7,8
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1.Background to Stage 1 and 2

I mostly teach Cambridge exam courses at high schools in Rome.

My two week Orientation Course was at the British Council in Valencia

where we had an A2 level class of professional adults.

The aim of my lesson was to use reported speech for message giving
and complaining.

2. Reflect and comment on your beliefs as a teacher

• I believe language acquisition occurs best when the context is of
interest to the student .Take a group of teenagers using should
to give advice on fashion or boyfriend problems ,they will engage
in the activity because the subject is relevant to them, whereas if
the context was investing in the stock exchange, participation
would be minimal, with little use of the target language.

• I like to do a number of small progress tests throughout the

course because this gives:

a) the student an idea of her progress

b) me an indication of the effectiveness of past lessons

c) a reason for students to revise

• I believe in the importance of a friendly relaxed atmosphere to

a) facilitate student interaction

b) promote co-operation between students and teacher

c) enjoy our lesson and each other’s company

• I believe that motivation is a key factor in determining a student’s

progress. Providing clear obtainable goals , results in the student
wanting and being encouraged to succeed. I notice with my exam
classes that as the date approaches, they work harder on all four
skills, ask more questions and pay more attention to the lesson
,because they want to pass.

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3.Identify and comment on your strengths and
weaknesses
As noted by my orientation course tutor I have a learner friendly class
room manner and often use humor to put the students at ease. This
encourages participation in the lesson, which in turn leads to greater
language acquisition. This is also how I enjoy learning.

I am attentive to the students needs, in that I am flexible enough to

adapt my lesson plan depending on their involvement and reaction. This
is greatly appreciated by my students especially as my classes follow a
six hour day at school. I understand teenagers have short attention spans
and the capacity to adapt.

Due largely to my flexibility in the lesson the overall content can

sometimes be erratically presented, as seen by my use of the board and
the order in which practice activities are done. This can disorientate
some students who then become bored .The opposite of my intention.

My lessons are mainly teacher led , as I feel that this is my role to play
.This results in my students expecting me to direct the lesson and they
can become passive instead of proactive.

My knowledge of the subject matter at times is only sufficient to deal

with the grammar exercises we do in class and I am not confident in
presenting language in forms other than what is shown in the text book.
The effect on my students is that they are not exposed to a wider
presentation of language, which subsequently could limit their
understanding and production.

4. Action Plan
In order to present a lesson which has a logical plan, I intend to include a
flexi stage to allow for anything that may arise from the lesson to be
addressed. By doing this I will not lose the overall cohesion of the lesson
and prevent going off on a tangent whilst responding to any student
questions or need for clarification that may arise. I am going to have a
section of the board for any new vocabulary, this will remain for the
lesson. I will ask a colleague to look at my use of the board during my
next lesson.
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 In order to change my lessons from being teacher led to that of being
student centered ,I intend to use the Task Based Learning(TBL)
approach, which I examined in my Experimental Practice Assignment
(EP), regularly in class. In my F.C.E. exam class’s next lesson I plan to use
a recording of native speakers completing the speaking tasks ,I will also
record the students doing the same task, students will compare the two
versions. I will also tape my next lesson to establish how much teacher
talking, as opposed to student talking, there is. For the same class in the
following lesson I intend to have the students collaborate to write a
transactional letter to their school asking for information on the courses
offered.

In order to increase my knowledge of the subject matter I have started

the Delta course. Having finished my EP on TBL has already resulted in
an increased awareness of how important learner centered activities are
to stimulating interest. I intend to systematically read widely, starting
with the subject of phonology and have ordered Roach. P., English
Phonetics. I then plan to use my knowledge to incorporate the use of
phonetics in my lesson plan.

5.Data Collection Methods

“Some of the most beneficial aspects about teacher action research are
that it is small scale, contextualized, localized and aimed at discovering,
developing or monitoring changes to practice.”(Wallace,M.2000)

With this in mind I have started a lesson diary (field notes) where I note
the positive and negative aspects of my lessons. This will show me if the
same problems are occurring repeatedly ,also what activities the class
enjoy.

I have designed a board work monitor sheet for my colleague to use

when observing me, this will provide specific features of my board work
to be focused on.(Appendix 1.)

I will be using the Writing a Development Log template from the

Professional Development Assignment File. Not only is this an account of
what I have done besides teaching to develop as a teacher but it also
helps me to focus on why I did a particular activity ,if it was beneficial
and how I can apply what I have learnt.

I will be recording my next F.C.E. lesson to check on how much time I

spend talking to the class.

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I have designed a questionnaire for my F.C.E. students on their TBL
lesson to understand if they have enjoyed and learnt from it. (Appendix
2.)

6.Bibliography and word count

Wallace, M.(2000)Action Research for Language Teachers CUP

Professional Development Assignment File from the Delta Course 2010

Word count 999

7.Appendices
1.Board work monitoring-please circle your answer
1) Can you read my writing? all the time / some of the time / not
well

2) Was it necessary to write on the board? Yes all the time / some of the
time

3) Was the board orderly ? Yes all the time / some of the time

4) Did students copy what was on the board? Yes all the time /some of
the time

5) How much time did I spend writing on the board? 5%10% 30% 50%

2.F.C.E lesson Questionnaire Answer from 1—5 where 1

is the lowest
1. Did you enjoy the lesson?
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2. Would you like to use native speaker tapes again for
exam practice?
3. Did this lesson help you to speak English?
4. Did you feel more confident speaking after the
lesson?
5. Have your listening skills improved?
6. Did you speak more naturally after the lesson?

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7.

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Reflective Assignment Stage 3
10
 Adele Rocheforte-Anness

Contents

1)Identification of key developments in my teaching

since Stage……..10

2)Identification and comment on my most significant

weaknesses……10

3)Action-
Plan………………………………………………………………………………
……..11

4)Description of Data Collection

Methods…………………………………………11,12

5)Bibliography and Word

Count……………………………………………………….12

6)Appendices…………………………………………………………
………………………13,14

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1)Identification of key developments in my teaching
since Stage 2
My beliefs as a teacher stated in Stage 2 that motivation ,a friendly
relaxed atmosphere, small progress tests and an interesting context are
important factors for language acquisition have not changed. An
interview of my F.C.E class as part of my Extended Assignment showed
all my seven students strongly supported my reasoning. (Appendix 1)

My teaching has changed due to:

• A colleagues observations, my board work is much more

controlled ,I write only what is needed and it is written clearly in a
logical sequence, I plan it beforehand .

• Taping my lessons my teacher talking time(TTT) has decreased

as I am much more aware of what I am doing in the classroom.

• Keeping a lesson diary which shows repeatedly that the

students have shown enthusiasm and are motivated to participate
but also that the flexibility of my lessons often results in not all of
my objectives being met .

• Becoming a Cambridge writing examiner has helped me

evaluate the students written exam practice more accurately and
faster.

• Being aware that my lessons are often teacher led , I can now
see how to determine the outcome by the choice of materials as
shown in my last observed lesson LSA2 where the ordered
presentation of exercises resulted in the students completing the
task with minimal teacher intervention.

• More collaboration with the class, asking what music ,subject

matter they are interested in.

2)Identification and comment on my most significant

weaknesses

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 • Too much (TTT)and teacher led activities are still problems I
need to work on . Keeping these to a minimum in favor of more
student talking time and student led activities would result in
increased learning opportunities.

• In my Lesson Planning I need to provide more of a challenge

for the learner and to think the lesson through from the students
view point to increase the success of the lesson.

• My knowledge of the subject matter although increasing is I

feel still inadequate especially in pronunciation which is my weakest
area.

3)Action Plan
My plans are similar to those of Stage 2 as I have found the results to be
very useful provide to monitor and asses my progress.

In order to change my lessons from being teacher led to being

student centered :

• I intend to plan my lessons providing materials or exercises

which guide the learner to achieving the aim of the lesson with little
teacher intervention .

• I will be keeping TTT to a minimum ,using where possible

written instructions

To improve my lesson planning I will :

• Be including more variety of tasks to take into consideration

the different ways of student learning.

• Anticipate any new lexis, its pronunciation ,meaning and use to

be clarified to the class.

• By planning my use of the white board beforehand avoid any

potentially confusing presentations and ensuring that what is written
is both necessary and meaningful. .

• Provide a meaningful reason to complete or follow up tasks.

• Allow students time to take notes.

In order to increase my knowledge of the subject matter:

• I will continue reading for the Delta course ,paying particular

attention to the phonology section of recommended books.
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4)Description of Data Collection Methods
In conducting action research, teachers can become emancipated(Gore and
Zeichner 1995,in that they become in control of the whole process of
research and investigation of their own teaching, rather than being the tool
of an outside researcher .Teachers ,then can become more autonomous,
responsible and answerable through action research.(Day, C. 1997)

With the above in mind I will continue to.

• Keep a lesson diary noting positive and negative aspects of

my lesson to show me if the same problems are repeated and also
what activities the class enjoy. The negative aspect being these are
only my views so I will be periodically giving the class an opinion
questionnaire on the lesson .(Appendix1)

• Ask my colleague to monitor my use of the whiteboard, using

the board work monitoring sheet provided .(Appendix2)

• Use the Development Log Template from the Professional

Development Assignment File as this keeps me focused on why I
am doing a particular activity.(Appendix3)

• Record future lessons ,using a tape recorder in order to

monitor my TTT and student involvement in the lesson together
with any areas of the lesson which require attention in following
lessons.

• Take photographs of my board work.

5)Bibliography and Word Count

Day,C.(1987)Professional learning through collaborative in-service
activity. In Smyth,J.(ed.)Educating Teachers:Changing the nature of
Pedagogical Knowledge.London:The Farmers Press.pp.207-222

Professional Development Assignment File from the Delta Course

2010

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 Zeichner, K. & Gore, J. (1995) Using action research as a vehicle for
student teacher reflection: A social reconstructionist approach. In S. Noffke
& B. Stevenson (Eds.) Practically critical: An invitation to action research in
education pp. 13-30. New York: Teachers College Press.

Word Count 750

6)Appendices
Appendix 1

The students opinion of the lesson questionnaire

Please answer yes/no

1)Would you like to decide the materials we use in class?

…………………………………………..

2)If the materials are not interesting is it more difficult to do the exercise?
…………………

3) Do you think progress tests are

useful?.......................................................................

4) Do progress tests make you

revise?.............................................................................

5)Do you enjoy a relaxed atmosphere in

class ?...............................................................

6)If you like your teacher, do you work

harder ?..............................................................

7)Does having an exam to sit make you work

harder?.....................................................

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 Appendix2

Board work monitoring-please circle your answer

1) Can you read my writing? all the time / some of the time / not well

2) Was it necessary to write on the board? Yes all the time / some of the
time

3) Was the board orderly ? Yes all the time / some of the time

4) Did students copy what was on the board? Yes all the time /some of
the time

5) How much time did I spend writing on the board? 5%10% 30% 50%

6)Was there any instances when I could have written more on the board?
Yes/No

7)Were there times I could have given the learners more information about
a language point? Yes/No

8)Please write any suggestions for what else could have gone up on the
board.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..

Appendix 3

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