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An epiphany
Today's class didn't go well... again. I've only taught them 5 days, and at least two or three of them have gone, if not hideously badly, then much worse than I'd like.
This got me thinking: I know I'm a good teacher. People tell me routinely that I'm a good teacher. So why is this particular class so damned hard for me to teach?
And then it hit me: I'm very good at teaching content, and that's simply not what this class is about. This class isn't about content, but communication. Oh, sure, we have to have content (so far we've talked about crime, sports, medicine, food, and families), but it's all a means to an end, the end being to communicate better. And teaching someone how to communicate better is profoundly different from teaching them some sort of content.
When you teach with the goal of having someone understand the content of what you're teaching (whether that be persona research, math, computers, karate, or history), the approach is surprisingly similar. You present the content in a way that is clear and concise, then you check for understanding, then you repeat from step one until the content is understood. Over the years, I have become very good at these two steps.
Teaching for communication is different. For one thing, it shouldn't be centered on you, but on the students. For another, it's not a matter of presenting content, but of facilitating communication. The goal isn't, "students will understand how to solve quadradic equations," or "students will know how feudal societies were structured," but rather, "students will communicate more effectively." I've been approaching things from a content-based standpoint (show them how to use a certain verb tense, or a certain set of vocabulary), which is important but not the main goal. Hence my problem.
That said, it's good to know. It actually explains a whole lot of things for me, most importantly why I've been so uncomfortable teaching this particular ESL class. It might not help me for the next two days, and it's certainly not an excuse not to try to do better, but at least it explains why things are as they are. And it also reminds me that I can still be a good teacher, while not necessarily teaching this class very well. It's just a different realm from what I'm used to.
This got me thinking: I know I'm a good teacher. People tell me routinely that I'm a good teacher. So why is this particular class so damned hard for me to teach?
And then it hit me: I'm very good at teaching content, and that's simply not what this class is about. This class isn't about content, but communication. Oh, sure, we have to have content (so far we've talked about crime, sports, medicine, food, and families), but it's all a means to an end, the end being to communicate better. And teaching someone how to communicate better is profoundly different from teaching them some sort of content.
When you teach with the goal of having someone understand the content of what you're teaching (whether that be persona research, math, computers, karate, or history), the approach is surprisingly similar. You present the content in a way that is clear and concise, then you check for understanding, then you repeat from step one until the content is understood. Over the years, I have become very good at these two steps.
Teaching for communication is different. For one thing, it shouldn't be centered on you, but on the students. For another, it's not a matter of presenting content, but of facilitating communication. The goal isn't, "students will understand how to solve quadradic equations," or "students will know how feudal societies were structured," but rather, "students will communicate more effectively." I've been approaching things from a content-based standpoint (show them how to use a certain verb tense, or a certain set of vocabulary), which is important but not the main goal. Hence my problem.
That said, it's good to know. It actually explains a whole lot of things for me, most importantly why I've been so uncomfortable teaching this particular ESL class. It might not help me for the next two days, and it's certainly not an excuse not to try to do better, but at least it explains why things are as they are. And it also reminds me that I can still be a good teacher, while not necessarily teaching this class very well. It's just a different realm from what I'm used to.