Teach English in JiAngzhuAng Zhen - Xuzhou Shi

Summative Task #57 Games in the classroom How are games and activities most beneficial in the classroom? As a teacher the goal is the help your students succeed. On a daily basis teacher around the world put their wants, desires, and comforts to the side in order to operate in a way that allows their student to learn best. This takes place in a variety of ways, however; one major way that it happens is through the development and execution of games and activities in the classroom. Games can be both beneficial and hurtful in a classroom of students, solidifying the statement that choosing games and activities is crucial to being successful in teaching. It would not be helpful or true to state a specific game or activity that is beneficial in all learning environments, just as a single textbook does not meet the learning needs of all ages and demographics. Rather there are instead guidelines that I will provide that may be manipulated into activities to meet the needs of a specific classroom. To be successful in games and activities a teacher must first remember a basic set of guidelines to keep the class moving in the right direction. These guidelines include the following: do not overcorrect, be sensitive to all of your students, respond to all of your students as individuals, do not damage rapport, create a relaxed and supportive atmosphere, and make praise and encouragement normal (TEFL Unit 19, page 2). Naturally this list could go on for quite a while with a variety of ways that a teacher can support their class during activities, however; this is a basic list of introductory steps that should become common practice. Continuing to practice these things will become second nature to the teacher and will shape the learning environment. As a teacher it is important to be prepared with your lesson plan and schedule for the day, however; it is also important to be flexible and work with the students in specific areas, even if that was not originally part of the plan for the day. It is a balance of being prepared and planned but also adaptable. This directly relates to activities because students may finish a project much faster than a teacher planned, (or much slower) or perhaps the lesson was not as helpful as the teacher expected. It is important to have a variety of extra lesson material to make sure that a quicker student has something to do when they finish early which will also fight boredom (TEFL Unit 20, Page 4). Being successful in games and actives requires your activities to be adapted to the age and demographic of your students. For example, young learners may require features such as a slower and more clearly pronounced delivery, use of higher pitch and exaggerated intonation, repetition, references to children within the activity, and well as an abundance of positive responses (TEFL Unit 19, P. 6). Many of these things can also be used in other setting however it must be thought through and a conscious decision. One would not approach a group of adult business learners in the same high pitch voice and childlike examples that they would take into an English learners’ kindergarten. Being successful requires an amount of self-awareness and class awareness from the teacher in order to make decisions such as the above examples. Regardless of the age and demographic of your classroom one can always stick to a “Engage, Study, and Activate” system which is thoroughly describes in the TEFL/TESOL course material. This system paired with the guidelines that I have provided is the beginning stages of a successful classroom. They operate together as a blueprint that teachers can filter their daily activities through with the purposing of helping them to run a successful and vibrant classroom that is for every student.