I opened this blog by saying that I felt that it was finally the right time for me to do one of these courses – either Dip, DELTA, MA or whatever.

Actually, in hindsight, I almost feel like maybe the right time was a few years ago! However, it is impossible to be sure – and probably I only think that because so many factors came into alignment during this past year to make this course extremely useful for me. It was the right time. I was in exactly the right place and time to further develop my teaching and I think that this is clear in the fact that I feel that my teaching has clearly developed.

I’m going to give a quick overview of how the past year has gone from a Macro view-point before turning to issues that I raised in my opening statement and see how those things have been addressed.

I began the course and Teaching module fairly positive. I noticed a Critical Incident fairly immediately which, prior to doing this course would have just been something ‘unusual’ that I noticed, but would have, in the long term, ignored. As I was fairly engaged with getting on with this course at this time this meant that I was actually able to do something about that critical incident. What I did was investigate it, read about it, deal with it in the classroom and it eventually formed the basis of my Statement of Relevance. I felt this was a very positive start to my teaching module as I fairly quickly combined what was happening on the course to what was happening in my classroom to create a noticeable difference in my lessons.

Shortly there after, I had a couple of observed lessons, both peer and assessed. We learnt about U-shaped learning curves in SLA and I feel that I truly had one in this teaching module. I started out by going up, and quickly plummeted. My first two Assessed observations were me tumbling down that U-shaped curve. They weren’t awful or terrible – but they weren’t examples of my teaching at my best. Equally, I had a problematic experience with a peer-observation from my institute which really brought me down.

For a few months I felt very down about the teaching side of things, which resulted in a Critical Incident questioning my own aptitude for teaching. I felt very far from the teaching module at that point, which is reflected in the dearth of posts from January to March. However, whilst I moved away from the teaching module, this negative feeling actually galvanised me to improve my teaching day-to-day in the classroom. Inspired by what I saw observing other teachers, I re-thought the way I approached lessons – both in terms of the IWB, which I believe I came along quite a way, and in terms of thinking far more critically and deliberately about what I was to do in the classroom.

This resulted in a spate of far more successful observations later in the course, both assessed and peer. This came from a period of reflection that may not be accurately represented by this blog, as I needed to do it away from the module, day by day, little by little in my classroom. But I think I did it. I really think there is truth in that U-Shaped learning curve. I plummeted, lost confidence, and then went away thinking about that and re-built the foundations of my teaching into something much more effective. I was then observed again and pleased to see that I had to develop.

The rest of the course was constantly feeding into this process. The materials module really helped me think about what I was physically presenting in the classroom and the SLA module really made me think about why I was doing what I was doing. I think this was exemplified in my observation with Barbara, where I feel that the material was much more well-developed than previous lesson observations, and in my observation with Angela, where I attempted to apply an understanding of complexity theory into the classroom. Also, the final observation with Paul built on many of the issues raised in the materials seminars on Coursebooks and adaptation.

By the end of this module, I feel fairly confident about moving on into the future of my teaching career. The process has been up and down, but it’s ending on a high, for me at least. I really feel that I have developed as a teacher in my time doing this course. The teacher who stepped into my classroom in October feels far different to me than the teacher who steps in today. I don’t quite know how to express how much is different – because everything is different. My awareness of so many things has been raised. My day-to-day techniques from group-dynamics to teaching grammar have changed. My understanding of the language has changed. Everything has changed,

Looking back on my opening statement, it seems apparent that one of the things I aimed to achieve was in avoiding complacency – in particular in my teaching practice.

Looking back on how I was teaching prior to the course, I think it’s true that I had become complacent in some elements. This course has really shaken things up for me, and I’ve completely changed the way I approach things both in the classrooms (in terms of lesson delivery) and out (in terms of reflection and planning). I think it took some time for me to get there – and I think the U-shaped learning curve I’ve already mentioned is a part of that.

The first two assessed observations I had, whilst not being outright fails, did shake me out of my complacency quite a lot and opened my eyes to my own weaknesses. Reflecting on these lessons with the aid of the video record was a huge part of this.

Looking back on my opening statement, it’s clear that another thing I was keen to develop over this course was not only my understanding and knowledge of theory and methodology, but also my ability to implement that in a meaningful way in the classroom. One thing in particular I showed an interest in was the lexical approach. This is something that I have begun and am continuing in my daily teaching. As mentioned before, I also explored in my observation with Angela, implementing an understanding of complexity theory into a practical lesson. On this side of things, then, I am happy in some of the things I have achieved – and it is something that is ongoing in my teacher development.

Finally, the third thing I highlighted in my opening statement was my desire to improve my ability to reflect and my ability to take those reflections and use them to enact meaningful changes on my teaching practice. This blog is a testament to how well I have done this, I think. In my opinion, I feel that I have truly developed my ability to reflect. How well I’ve been able to make meaningful changes, though, I am not so sure. Some elements I definitely have – in terms of the planning of lessons, the design of activities and materials, classroom management, group dynamics, etc. However, there are still some areas that need further changes – my ‘teacher’ language for example, and use of CQs. In general, I feel pleased with the reflection that I have done over this course – but I guess the proof is in the contents of this blog!

I ended my opening statement with a series of bullet-points of my aims for the course. I am going to reproduce them here and comment on how well I feel I have achieved these aims.

“To sum up: I hope to develop myself and my teaching through the Diploma in TESOL through:

• Planning lessons in a deeper way  – I think this has been achieved, and was one of the first problem-areas of my teaching that was addressed. I think this can be seen particularly clearly in the first two assessed observations I did with Gary. 
• Identifying good and bad elements of my teaching – Again, I think this has also been achieved. Initially, in my first few assessed observations, I could only really identify negative sides of my teaching. I think this is much easier to do. However, if you compare that reflection to the one for my observation with Barbara, I think you can also clearly see that I developed an ability to see the good in my lessons. 
• Expanding my knowledge of theory and methodology 
• Using those theories and methodologies to underpin my planning and teaching – I feel that these has been partly achieved. My observation with Angela is an example of my taking theory into the classroom. I definitely feel now that I have a deeper understanding of theory and methodology, although I have found that harder to bring into the classroom than I anticipated. I believe I have done it to an extent – but I think this is an area I still need to put more work in. 
• Developing my reflective skills  
• Using my reflective skills to improve my teaching – Again, the proof of these will be in this very blog – but my feeling is that I have achieved this.

In general, I feel like I have come a long way. I am aware that this ‘journey’ is not finished, there is still much I can do and much I can learn. My experience on this course has been very useful for me and I believe I have been able to see a tangible effect on my teaching. I thought that when this course came to a close, I would feel something like, “Thank god it’s over, no more of that!”

In truth, I am still curious. I am still eager to develop. I am now considering my options for how to take what I have developed on this course further – perhaps by doing a Master’s.

I want to conclude by saying this course has had a powerful effect on me and my teaching. I want to thank all who helped me along the way; all my observers on this module and my teachers and tutors on the other modules. This has been a truly meaningful and extremely useful experience for me.