Week 8: Reflection

Now I have only two weeks left for Webskills course. I can’t believe I have reached this far. Sometimes I had a thought that I just dropped this course, and other times I found myself introducing cool stuff that I was learning from the program to those around me. Eventually, I am glad that I’m still on the right track of becoming a better English teacher.

This week I finished writing the first draft of my project plan, which was not easy. There was a lot of work. First, I tried to finalize the lesson template that is going to suit for any lessons. Since I teach reading passages with questions and its contents are not interesting all the time, it has been challenging to involve my students in lessons. So, how I effectively teach students and engage them in learning is a key to success. That’s why I got this idea – To make a perfect teaching template. Boring English passages and multiple-choice questions with fun, motivating teaching method! I bet that this will be a process of trial and error, but I will make this work in the end.

Thanks to one of coursemates Valeria Evdash, I came to know about 3-2-1 strategy. I did some more research on the method. It is going to help to improve my teaching. I’d like to share its information below. Many thanks Valeria!!!

< 3-2-1 Strategy for Reading Comprehension >

What Is a 3 - 2 - 1?
The idea is to give students a chance to summarize some key ideas, rethink them in order to focus on those that they are most intrigued by, and then pose a question that can reveal where their understanding is still uncertain. Often, teachers use this strategy in place of the usual worksheet questions on a chapter reading, and when students come to class the next day, you're able to use their responses to construct an organized outline, to plot on a Venn diagram, to identify sequence, or isolate cause-and-effect. The students are into it because the discussion is based on the ideas that they found, that they addressed, that they brought to class.

How Does It Work?
Students fill out a 3-2-1 chart with something like this:

     3 Things You Found Out
     2 Interesting Things
     1 Question You Still Have

Now, that's just the suggested version. Depending upon what you're teaching, you can modify the 3-2-1 anyway you want. For instance, if you've just been studying the transition from feudalism to the rise of nation-states, you might have students write down 3 differences between feudalism and nation-states, 2 similarities, and 1 question they still have.