Blog 2: The 6 principles of exemplary teaching in action

Hello, everyone ✌

For this second entry, I'm going to write about my reflections on the 6 principles of exemplary teaching in action. First, I'll give a brief explanation about what the 6 principles are and why they play a pivotal role in the development of an exemplary English teacher. Then, I will discuss 2 questions relate to how the principles can be evidentiated in an authentic English learning environment and what principle I might have strengthened to enhance learning opportunities for all the students.

The two guiding questions of this entry are:

Which of the 6 principles were clearly evident during the class you observed, and how did they support student learning? Provide specific examples.

Which principle might you have strengthened in the lesson? How would you have integrated it to enhance learning opportunities for all students?

Finally, I will conclude with a critical reflection about the importance of the 6 principles of exemplary teaching for my development as a practitioner at the Centro Colombo Americano and future career as an English teacher.

What are the 6 principles of exemplary teaching?

The 6 principles of exemplary teaching are a core of 6 principles that aim to the development of exemplary teaching and learning techniques in the area of English Language Teaching for teachers. This principles are complementary and must be implemented as a whole. 

As the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) framework highlights "the 6 principles  provide teachers with the knowledge to make informed decisions to improve instruction and assessment." This helps the curricula of English Teaching programs, such as the colombo, to become more rigorous, meaningful and focused on the development of 21st century skills, respectful and inclusive learning environments, multicultural education and global citizenship awareness.

On the following image, there is a brief explanation for each of the 6 principles and the part they play in the planning, development and evaluation of English classes:

Taken from: https://www.the6principles.org/the-principles/

How are the 6 principles of exemplary teaching evidentiated in an English Class?

After defining the 6 principles, It's time to present the results I gathered during a careful process of watching, notetaking and reflecting on two courses I'm part of at the Colombo. Both courses were for teens and level B1 with the teacher Johana. The clases took place on the 26th of July at 7am and 9am respectively. 

Question 1: Which of the 6 principles were clearly evident during the class you observed, and how did they support student learning? Provide specific examples.

During my observation process, I was able to see all the principles in big or small measure in both of the courses. In the following link there is comparison table a created with some moments, notes and examples of parts of the classes where I could see each principle in action.

Link: 6 principles comparison table.docx  

For the first course, which was TB1 1.3, I want to highlight the principles number 2 and 3. On the one hand, the teacher was able to create an outstanding condition for language learning. The teacher since the beginning of the lesson promoted the autonomy and self-esteem of the students by introduce the idiom of the ball is your court as an allegory of the role that play the students in their process of learning a second language. Likewise, the teacher creates a safe environment for students throughout the use of jokes and funny interventions during the class. There was even a candy break where a student who arrived late brought candy, so the students were more motivated and eager to participate. On the other hand, the lesson was clearly carefully designed for language development. The class followed the Colombo structure to the perfection. The communicative and language goals were clear from the beginning. The class had 3 communicative moments and they were followed by the language cycle. For example, the teacher invited the students to discover the rules of future will and going to by themselves by watching examples on the textbook and searching on their own on the internet. Then, the students shared their discoveries, the teacher corrections if needed and they did a controlled practice through a Bamboozle exercise. Additionally, the classed followed the flipped learning methodology by pushing the students to be themselves who search and explain the grammar topic to their colleagues. Finally, it is important to highlight that the class was going to have a final assessment activity, which is also part of the principle 5: Monitor and assess student language development, in which students would ask themselves what they learned, what they need to improve and how they are going to improve it, but because of time it couldn't be done.

For the second course, which is TB1 1.1, I want to highlight the principles 1 and 3. On the one hand, the teacher profited from the warm-up and communication activities to know more about the students and to help students get to know each other, especially because some students didn't come to the last class and there were 2 new students to the group. For instance, in the warm up activity the teacher asked the students how they were feeling today and their expectations, which is also part of the principle 2 to create a safe environment in the class. The teacher also asked questions about hobbies, holiday destinations and daily life activities, which were related to the communicative topic of the class. On the other hand, regarding the principle 3, the lesson was again clearly careful designed for language development and followed the Colombo structure, even though because of time and some challenges some class activities weren't done. The objectives were shown to the class and it had 3 communicative moments to promote critical thinking and meaningful learning. For example, there was an activity about discussing photos of holiday destinations in trios, so the teacher gave them questions that induced them to analyze and form their own position. Likewise, the teacher invited the students to answer what the uses of simple present and present continuous are based on their previous knowledge. Then, they created their own sentences and place them in a comparative table. Finally, it's is important to highlight that the teacher had planned an assessment activity in the form of an "exit ticket", where students would write one thing they usually do on vacation and one thing they are doing this week to evaluate if they had understood the grammar topic. However, because of time, it couldn't be done.

Question 2: Which principle might you have strengthened in the lesson? How would you have integrated it to enhance learning opportunities for all students?

       

After reviewing my notes, I consider that all principles were handled properly to the development of both classes. Nonetheless, I think that one principle that I might have strengthened in both lessons is the principle number 4: Adapt lesson delivery as needed, because it compromised the potential the classes had for principle 5 in the part of the assessment. I think that in both classes a recurrent problem was that because of time the main assessment activities were left out in comparison to other activities during the development of the classes. In my case, I think I would have sacrificed one communicative activity and become it part of the assessment cycle, so the class would continued to respect the Colombo structure and the teacher would have gathered a more efficient assessment to use it in future classes. In the case of the first course, I would have kept the questions of the final activity and to enhance learning opportunities I would have asked the students to form groups of 4 to act as a support group, so the students would have had the opportunity to share the aspects they want to work on and seek help from other students. With the second course I would have kept the exit ticket, but I would have change the questions. Instead of just asking the student to make sentences related to vacation/routines in present simple and continuous I would have ask the student to write one study routine to improve their English learning habits and what they will do next week to practice English, in that way I would be promoting their learning opportunities to foster actions the students can do outside the classroom to improve their English learning habits.

Final reflection:

After this exercise I'm able to see the importance of implementing the 6 principles during an English lesson. As a current practitioner, it is important for me to understand how each principle makes part of the art of teaching English as a whole because they help us to create meaningful English teaching lessons to help our students to develop lasting English learning experiences, which would not only make an impact on the language they are learning, but on their personal and academic life. By knowing my learners' culture, families and background, I can plan more effectively activities that motivate them and address their needs and expectations. By creating conditions for language learning, I can boost my students learning opportunities and create a safer classroom culture. By designing high-quality lessons, I can achieve the class objectives and promote language learning through a variety of input. By Adapting lesson delivery as needed, I can act effectively and according to needs of my students at the moment. By monitoring and assessing student language development, I can monitor the progress of the students and take decisions regarding feedback and correction. Finally, by engaging and collaborating within a community of practice, I can grow and improve in my teaching skills by seeking support with colleagues, while becoming and active member of the community of the CCA. 

For the next week:

The topic for next week will be surprise. However, I want to ask you: 

Are you good at giving instructions?

See you next Tuesday!!!