Comments for It's Cynthia

Comment on Comments on Writing by Alice Chiu

Alice Chiu — Tue, 22 May 2007 07:17:47 +0000

Students always expect the teacher to point out or even better to correct their errors in order to make progress. Therefore, we should think about how to mark the papers and give feedback when students turn in their writings.

Comment on Listening Teaching by Alice

Alice — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:15:23 +0000

Giving students proper guidance with basic information about the listening materials is essential. Or it’s like throwing students into the sea without telling them what to anticipate or where to go. Speaking of sea, by the way, can you elaborate on “swim method”?

Comment on Comments on Speaking Teaching by Alice

Alice — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:14:44 +0000

Of course the best way to learn speaking well is immersed in an authentic environment. Since English is taught as a foreign language, students seldom have the chance to use the target language after leaving the classroom. Therefore, we are obliged to provide students with such a learning environment in our class. I think Billy and Harry set a very good example here.

Comment on Comments on Reading Teaching by Alice

Alice — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:14:13 +0000

It’s not easy to take care of everything in one hour. Therefore, setting clear objectives is required, so is knowing students’ prior knowledge. When it comes to reading, I always put emphasis on the content by introducing the structure of the piece of writing. Graphic organizers are used to help students not only get the gist but also remember the key points. Analyzing grammar in the reading line by line is like cutting it into pieces. The lesson tends to become grammar-oriented and students would only pick up fragments. Isn’t it a shame?

Comment on School Visit~~ Second one by Alice

Alice — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:13:36 +0000

Yes, most of the teachers cannot escape the spell of grammar, especially when the midterms are around the corner. My teachers taught us in this way, and we observe a class so similar to the one I had 30 years ago except for technology infusion. However, I believe that there must be something else in Ms Luin’s classes. After all, we only saw a very little part of her teaching. And I think her lively personality along with the passion and enthusiasm she presented prove that she’s a teacher that is trying her best to try new things and give the students the best!

Comment on School Visit Report by Alice Chiu

Alice Chiu — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 07:28:14 +0000

Seeing is believing. Furthermore, I think observing means reflecting as you demonstrated in this paper. There are many model teachers in my school so I consider myself lucky to be able to work with time. I lot of teachers I know in many schools always try to keep abreast of new knowledge of teaching by learning and sharing, which is quite a good phenomenon. We’ve been doing this in class, and I hope after you start your teaching career, you would find partners to share and learn together. I would make teaching more fulfilling and interesting.

Comment on Vocabulary teaching by cynthia0502

cynthia0502 — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:06:43 +0000

Ya! I leanred a large amount of academic vocabulary within academic readings since I was at graduate school! It’s quite an easy to learn not only vocabulay but aslo usages within context!~~Cynthia

Comment on About Grammar eaching by Alice Chiu

Alice Chiu — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:12:48 +0000

I agree that grammar should be taught in the inductive way; however, teachers might find the deductive way helpful especially when it comes to comlicated or abstract patterns. That’s why we need to be flexible when we choose different teaching strategies.

When teaching grammar, it’s inevitable that we give students drills or practices. The following link gives a good example: http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/grammar/main/index.htm

Besides drills, it works better when students know how to use the learned rules in their daily life. However, since English is taught as a foreign language, it’s quite a challenge to design practices that are close to their lives to raise their interest and encourage participation. Then, choosing teaching materials that can make grammar learning fun and effective is quite important.

With your successful presentation, I believe you can make grammar teaching meaningful and interesting.

Comment on Vocabulary teaching by loveinparis

loveinparis — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 05:59:24 +0000

Yes, learning vocabulary via a reading context is much fun and more meaningful. There are a great deal of interesting books written for kids and teenagers on the market. I myself do love to read children books, news, novels, and magazines written in English. Somehow I am not only learning language but also learning the world and myself!
^^ Shirley