Practice: Self evaluation

 Practice: Self evaluation

My practice from GPTE year 1st is coming to an end. It's a good opportunity to sum up what I have learnt, what potential do I have as a teacher. Also, what do I plan to change in the future and what are my new aims.

What I have learnt

Most experience I gained throughout the practice is documented on this blog. This is the first value I see, I can go back to this year whenever I want, rethink some issues and reflect on them. There was a lot of learning, like what materials should I use, how to approach the students, how to prepare myself for the lessons and much more. But there are some general lessons I remember most.

I've learnt that teaching is great responsibility and fun at the same time. On some lessons I was more responsible, which took the majority of fun part away. I was stressed, focused on checking the time too much, treating the students like objects not subjects. On the other hand, there were times where I was not professional enough. I treated kids like my younger sibling, there was a lot of joking or games but we didn't learn that much. I still think I didn't found the golden mean but I am aware that being a teacher means facing this problem on each lesson. It is more difficult as you have different students on each lesson and you are a little bit different (you can feel blue or be hungry). Adjusting the means, method, attitude, humor etc. is like mission impossible, but you have to do it.

Another thing that I've learnt is that conversation and dialog with your students is another fundamental factor of a good lesson. I cannot be a teacher who sits in his comfortable chair and just tells the students what they should do. On a lesson every person who is in the classroom is a part of a small society. To make it work we need to function well together. We need to take care of our needs. So if a student asks me if he can go to the toilet, if he can drink- I will say yes. But I also expect that if I say that it is too loud in the classroom, students will respect that and lower their voices or stop talking. And I, as the teacher, have the power to conduct the lesson in a way that is suitable for all of us.

What potential do I have as a teacher

That is a difficult question. I think I have some potential but I see plenty of areas which need to be changed, which I need to work on. The most important for me is that I want to learn, I want to experience new things and enrich myself.

Plans for the future

One of my goals is to improve my English. I know I have shortcomings and sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to teach English with the knowledge I have, especially when I look at other teachers. Another plan is to practice teaching as much as I can. I believe that when you practice any activity you get better and better at it. One more aim is to simply be human- teacher, so not to forget any of those natures.