TEFL Zaoyang

I have worked in a kindergarten classroom but I have never worked with students who don’t know english. Although some forms of teaching these two groups might be similar such as reading, singing, showing visuals and creating a fun and stimulating environment, I imagined teaching english to a kindergarten classroom will differ greatly to teaching a kindergarten classroom that already knows the language. This influenced my decision in taking the tefl course. I believe my experiences working in a Kindergarten setting along with my enrollment on the tefl course has given me an understanding to how I can teach tefl to a kindergarten classroom. A Kindergarten classroom integrates their subjects introduced with fun-filled activities and toys. For example cubes, cards or games for math, fun activities in science, show and tell for children with different backgrounds and customs, and singing with many visuals. On a monday morning throughout morning greeting, children will talk a little about their weekend, they write and draw stories, they read to themselves and the teacher would read to them. There is also a period where children choose their "centers" to play in such as the sand table, blocks, kitchen area for dramatic play, different table toys, play dough, drawing, reading, puzzles or the "listening" center where children would listen to books on tape. I would say that this schedule prepares even the most challenging student into having a life of discipline and contentment. Even if some students learn differently than others, the right kindergarten environment states that making mistakes is OK and that their world of wonder is celebrated. In Unit 19 of the course, it states that by patient repetition, positive encouragement and frequent praise, the child develops a sense of self-esteem and is less self-conscious about potential mistakes. The sentence continues by stating that this is an essential part of the language-growth process. The unit also states that because children have a lower attention span and seeks teacher's approval more often, it is important that the teacher notices them and shows signs of appreciation for what they are doing. The unit also supports my experience with working in a kindergarten classroom, which is that children need frequent changes of activities that are exciting and fun to stimulate their curiosity. The difference between teaching kindergarten and teaching english to a kindergarten classroom is the ESA approach. I find that the ESA method was very helpful in picturing how an efl classroom is taught and managed. Although reading about it was interesting, I found that creating a lesson plan with the ESA method or other methods was challenging. I had to constantly think how the objective, context and procedures would go hand in hand. The most challenging was the procedure where I might have a study phase but had to think of an activate activity that would compliment the study phase and would be suitable for the hypothetical class level. Other times I would get carry away with fun activities and will forget to create a strong study phase where I would teach the language that is being introduced. In Unit 3, the study section explains that the teacher might prefer to explain the language or allow the students to discover it for themselves. Having students discover it for themselves might sound more fun but time still has to be taken to reassure that the students have actually absorbed what it being introduced. This study phase activity will be done without putting students on the spot, so that the natural flow that the engage stage created will continue throughout the next stages. This challenge was fun because it is an interesting philosophy that is worth using. I believe it is mirrored to the philosophy on how to create a healthy kindergarten classroom, except that the ESA method is for teaching english to a variety of ages and class levels. Therefore I can see how the combination of teaching efl to a kindergarten classroom would be a fun and rewarding experience.