A strategy to connect

The activity for the afternoon was to teach something to a classmate and give feedback to another classmate’s teaching activity. I taught my friend how to write in Korean. It wasn’t much of a challenge because we are of the same age and she was a fast learner. In teaching, I realized that you constantly have to think of how to make things easier for your learner. Your learner must first be aware of the context of your topic and the goal of the session. I was teaching a language so I had to make a brief introduction about Korean so that she won’t be confused of fitting Korean into English.

Second you have to be keen and observant. Before proceeding with the next step assess your learner by asking if everything is clear and see if you are giving the right type of strategy. Then I saw the importance of relating yourself to the learner. Beginning with something familiar to the learner makes it easier to grasp the new concepts. I used association to make things easier to remember. I also used verbal reinforcement to let her know she is on the right track. Towards the end of the session, I quizzed her to see if we were able to attain our goal. 

Finally, giving feedback isn’t as easy as I thought. Today I learned about a trick called the sandwich method. Our professors have been doing it ever since, we just don’t notice its importance. The good thing about it is that you start and end with on a positive so that you close the session with a good feeling. There’s power in feedback. It has the ability to uplift the spirit and fuel motivation.

Teaching isn’t only something to be done for the sake of getting it done. I personally love teaching because there’s a sense of fulfillment every time I see that a person picked up something new from me. This will affect my future practice because it is a way to help someone fight a battle he/she has within.