Dialogic reflection - future English teaching context:
We will probably work at a Real-,Werkreal- or a Gemeinschaftsschule in Baden-Württemberg. These schools include grade 5 to 10 and English is one of the main subjects, starting in grade 5. Due to current educational reforms, there will probably be more Gemenschaftsschulen than other secondary schools. As the requirements in Baden-Württemberg are higher than in other parts of Germany, the importance of the English language teaching will hopefully remain and English will continue to be a main subject at school.
Our wishes for our future school: Smaller classes (not more than 15 students), exchanges with schools in other countries (where English is the L1), possibilities to grow as a teacher (cooperation with other teachers), feedback
Our own strengths: Our young age and our motivation. As young teachers we think that we understand students and their needs better and have more experiences with media than older colleagues might have. Also, we are motivated and open to try new things.
English is the subject that all of us three have studied for 5 semesters so far. During our internships we realized that at university we learn a lot about our subjects and the science behind, but didactics oftentimes seems to get left out. We think that it is very important to focus in HOW to teach and how to make the content interesting and understandable. Also, we realized that not everything that we put in our lesson will stay in the brains of our students. What will stay depends on their motivation and their interests. What we also realized is that teachers also have to be very flexible and spontaneous. In case that something does not work, a teacher always has to have plan b-z.
Continuing Professional Development
Continuing Professional Development means to us, that our educational process does not stop as soon as we finish and leave university. A teacher always has to reflect his/her lessons, to be aware of new technology, of changing society and different cultures coming together. CPD is a never-ending process that involves skills and knowledge that always have to be reflected on and tracked for gaining new knowledge. Feedback can also help to reflect on lessons and lead to change and improvement. A teacher has to set certain goals and to try to achieve these goals through reviewing, planning and designing. Another important aspect is the cooperation with colleagues, which can help to change old mindsets and destroy old habits in order to gain energy for new projects
Interactive tutorial 6:
Lyricstraining:
1. No potentil if there is no knowledge at all, funny tool, leads to motivation, perfect for students that love music, rehearsal is possible
2.Only possible to adapt if headphones are available, teacher has to decide on songs that include words that are included in the school-book, tool itself is easy understandable for students
3.Tool does not offer interactivity, is too fast, no communication is possible, depends of different individual favours in music-genres
4.Students need a mobile phone or tablet, also headphones and access to the internet in order to be able to use this app