Learning Reflection 5 by Satrih - TLT 401

Since I started my teaching career in 2007 back in my home country, Indonesia, the only teaching technique I often used was text-based teaching, which was based on the standardized national curriculum. So, generally, students would interact with any kind of reading texts such as narrative, description, exposition, news item, recount, report, and so forth. Different teachers may use different instructional strategies depending on their belief, knowledge and the school condition. Three instructional strategies I had used and I found effective in gaining students’ attention were known as KWL (Know/Want-to-know/learned) chart, Classification chart, and Readers Theater. All these strategies can be applied on all grades (Anonymous).

KWL focuses on student reading comprehension, which is supported by their prior knowledge and their learning purpose. Classification chart is also effective for student comprehension and fulfilling their learning goal as it facilitates them to identify the similarities as well as the differences of an object, which is important for them to understand the topic being discussed. While Readers Theater is good for students’ reading and also speaking skill because it focuses more on fluency. I found that my students were highly enthusiastic in making a kind of film script to be performed and video-taped. The only element I missed in my practice for this technique was roles alternating that could actually facilitate students to have a chance to play different roles by which they might learn more from the performance of the script. Nevertheless, they really still seemed to enjoy the activity.

Based on my own experiences, the three techniques I mentioned above are effective strategies to activate students’ prior knowledge and experiences. KWL technique obviously starts with questions of what students have already known about the topic being studied. It is important for teachers as a kind of guidance from where to start and to set the level of complexity and the proper media to be used if available. Classification chart also facilitates students to recall things that might have been being temporarily forgotten, just by focusing them on a simple clue or title of a column that can also simplify their task for searching the answers throughout a reading text no matter how long it is. Readers Theater facilitates students to recall things like films or drama they have watched, how the actors or actresses looked like and acted and even how they moved their lips to pronounce the script according to the scenario that had been memorized through physical as well as mental rehearsal activities. They might also regain access to any point of time in their life where they experienced similar situations. That will make them feel much more comfortable with their acting performances and be more connected with their roles.

Activities in KWL chart allows students to experience their learning as the way they want. On KWL, teachers simply need to propose proper questions related to the topic and let students try to find the answer by themselves according to their prior knowledge and experience. In such activity, students experience almost all the functions of their brain like encoding, recalling, rehearsing, making prediction, connecting, and so forth. When they found out that there is only a little knowledge or even no experience at all, they will start thinking of what they want to know. At this point, they will begin to produce questions as well as assumptions that will lead them to interact with a reading text more closely in an attempt to find the answer or confirmation. The brain keeps working as reflected on physical activities such as reading the text, finding supporting sources from books or online materials or asking each other to figure out what they are going to gain in that learning process. Every completely new thing or improvements in knowledge or information experienced and stored in student memory are the learned part, which is the final stage of KWL chart technique. Making students aware and keep their own learning record is a great way to maintain their memory and let them know where they are. By then, they are expected to continue their own learning process by their own will and goals.

Similarly, Classification chart allows students to be more focused on identifying objects or issues. It can come from their prior knowledge or going further on searching for more information from any available resource like books or online materials. The chart can be made by means of papers, white/black boards, or computer software. Teachers are only required to explain and give an example of how to work on the chart. The rest are students’ own creativity and resourcefulness.

Readers Theater could be the most progressive of all the three instructional strategies I mentioned so far. It is because students do not only read a script to know what is in there, but also to put it into action that involves their ability to understand the whole situation as well as their own roles. Acting out what they read will make them remember more, certain scenes will potentially be their tools to regain access to information that can be temporarily forgotten at any point of times. Students also may get a chance to recall their past memory and learn something from it, which they might have never been conscious of before. They also may get the chance to express themselves in a way that they have never done before due to the limited time and facilities. This is accordingly true based on the statement of Willis (2006) “students benefit by being personally involved in the subject material with techniques such as …, field experience, experimentation, or even whole body movement … to potentiate the implantation of the new information into memory and improve retrieval later (p. 18).” Teachers only need to select appropriate scripts to be studied and performed by the students or in my case, my students could make their own script using their own ideas with a little help from me for the Indonesian into English translation. As for modelling, it can be made by using offline as well as online audiovisual materials like films, theatrical performances, etc.

Jones & Brader-Araje (2001) concluded that “Prior knowledge has been shown to significantly influence the ways individuals make meaning out of instruction.” Based on this conclusion, KWL chart might be the most obvious of all the three strategies I mentioned that facilitate students’ ability to construct meaning since it starts with the activity where students are allowed to do a recall or retrieval process of what they have known so far about the topic being discussed. This inquiry stage may raise students’ awareness of where they have been so far and be curious about something out there to be explored further while hoping for any kind of improvements for a better understanding and finally for a more meaningful application in real life situations.

Personally, I think I can learn by whichever instructional strategies used. It depends on what kind of task and more importantly my interest and physical as well as emotional condition. This is based on what neurologists said too, which I believe to be true. Like in teaching, Bransford, Brown & Cocking (2000) highlighted that there is no single best method for teaching, just like in other kinds of works such as carpentry, which tool should be used depends on what kind of tasks we are dealing with. Similarly, in learning, if one wants to repair his tooth problem, he should go to a dentist. If one wants to know how to mend a car, he should ask a mechanic, and so on. I am also inclined to believe that I am a kind of a self-taught person. I enjoyed learning things on my own comfort, perspective and strategies. Working in groups are often more stressful to me. If I happened to be the leader, it always turned out to be all by myself. However, I am not saying that I cannot work in groups, it may also depend on with whom we are working with.

Nevertheless, strategies used can be varied too. Teachers were allowed to make innovation but it must be in accordance with the standardized assessment. This was somehow frustrating when I found that some good students of mine wanted to acquire their English in a more communicative way, not just by reading standardized tests with lots of unfamiliar vocabulary. In fact, the problem is that no matter how frustrated they were about the reading texts, it would always be the only tool for them to pass the national exam and their English competence would be measured based on how many questions about the texts were answered correctly. The texts studied are of various genres. Shortly before I left my country to study here at Lehigh University, I found a great article on internet listing about 100 interactive technique or teaching strategies. Some of them were already applied in my classrooms.

References

• Anonymous. Section 7: Instructional Strategies That Facilitate Learning Across Content Area. Page 49-77. Retrieved from http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/curriculum/section7.pdf

• Bransford, J.D., Brown, L.A. & Cocking, R.R., editors. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

• Jones, M. G., & Brader-Araje, L. (2002). The impact of constructivism on education: Language, discourse, and meaning. American Communication Journal, 5(3), 1-10.

• Willis, M.D., J. (2006). Research-based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a neurologist and classroom teacher. Virginia: ASCD