Tuesday, September 21, 2010

CIP: Never Been To A Hill

Every Wednesday right after lunch I teach a combined class of first and second graders. The differences in their respective language abilities make for a challenging teaching environment but it is through classes such as this one that one becomes a better teacher. On this particular sunny day we were learning the names of different locales in preparation for more advanced sentence structures that will come in the following weeks. The flashcards that I used to facilitate learning included one of each of the following: a pond, a lake, a stream, a river, a hill, a mountain, and a beach. Just by reading the title one will know what the focus of this particular post will be about.

As I presented the flashcards to the students, I questioned them to see if they comprehended the locales and had them raise their hands if they had been to the locale in question. The homeroom teacher also provided a translation for the more ambiguous flashcards. All of the students raised their hands for all of the flashcards until I came to the picture of a hill. For some reason, one of the first graders was very adamant about not having been to a hill. I tried to explain to the student that the school itself is on a hill and the homeroom teacher provided a translation for the student but that wasn't enough. He sat there shaking his head as if to say, "nothing doing".

I reckon that because of the way the concept of a hill was being shown the student may have had trouble with it. It seemed straight forward to me and the other students but apparently not to that particular student. That student's concept of a hill differed from what was being shown and that led him to believe that he had never been to one. 

I believe that one of the meanings that could derived from the student's reaction is not everyone will view the same picture or even the same assignment in the same manner. Because every student's experience is different the way that one perceives an object can and often will be different from others. 

Teachers must remember at all times that things are relative. There is no one way of seeing things. This means that teachers shouldn't take anything for granted when presenting new content to students. Teachers should keep an open mind and should always try to see things from multiple angles. This is especially relevant for EFL teachers.  

2 comments:

  1. Hello :) How are you today? Today is sunny day. Wow! While I was reading your writing, I agree with your some opinion. "Teachers must remember at all times that things are realatives." Of course, all of the students has lots of experiences and this situations teacher will be very complicated I think. Like this matter, also your last sentence is meaningful results. "Teachers should keep an openmind and should always try to see things from multiple angles." All of the teachers must remember this sentence. :)

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  2. Your story reminds of my experience. I took teacher's training last summer vacation and got some know-how from one teacher.
    I let students make flash cards which they are going to learn in each chapter. One student makes one or two cards with drawing and coloring and then I gathered all cards. Let students understand each card and memorize the words. Some pictures are not understandable, however, students can remember every words easily with these methods. Every student has different thinking and idea with the same one.
    ^^
    Let's try to see other's view!!! -Angel-

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