ESL Teacher Reflection #2

            For my TE 401 class we were assigned to read an article titled Using Experiences, Patterns, and Explanations to make School Science more like Scientists’ Science by Kristin L. Gunckel.  At first glance, you would think that this article is completely irrelevant and unrelated to teaching language as a second language.  However, as I read, I found myself thinking how this article could be applied to any subject that you may teach.

Gunckel’s article exemplified the fact that without inquiry, learning cannot happen.  The article talked of a second grade class studying sound and how we hear sounds.  During the lesson, the students were able to explore tuning forks, make drums from coffee cans, and also watched what happened when rice on the surface of the drum was hit with a drumstick.  These students were learning through experience and were given the chance to learn through a hands- on exploration approach.

The article continues by explaining The EPE triangle, which is a visual of how science is taught in school.  The largest part of the triangle consisted of extensive explanations, models and theories, and worked itself down to a few specific examples.  This model shows that school is teaching science by giving students explanations, instead of giving students the opportunity to learn science through experiences.  By giving students extensive explanations to the topic at hand, you are killing their curiosity and also the quality of learning. 

The second graders were learning more from actually exploring the different sounds themselves, and could also explain how they came to their conclusions.  I think that teaching students a second language or any other subject for that matter could be looked at the same way.   

            From an ESL standpoint, I think that it could be beneficial to students if you pair your lessons with hands-on activities, and have students learn through physical activity.  Just like the second graders in the article, ESL students will have a firmer grasp of the new information you are presenting to them.  You are giving them the chance to learn through experience.  The Total Physical Response (TPR) is an example of how movement, interaction, and active communication can make concepts stick.  For example, students learning vocabulary words in their L2 could benefit from the lesson more if they saw pictures, heard songs, watched a movie, or did an activity on the topic, rather than hearing a teacher tell them what the vocabulary words are and what they mean.  By teaching this way, students will raise their own questions, draw upon their own conclusions, and have a better understanding of the new words because they will remember the experience they were going through while learning it.  So, instead of a teacher lecturing students and just telling them what words mean, they will be able to learn themselves, which in turn enhances their overall understanding of the material. 

            This article also made me think about how important lesson planning is, and how important it is to make a lesson as personal or exciting as you possibly can.  This will also enhance student’s learning because when students are genuinely interested in a topic, they will have more desire to learn.  Using some kind of hands-on activity where students are able to learn and experiment themselves commonly does this.  Overall, Using Experiences, Patterns, and Explanations to make School Science more like Scientists’ Science taught me a better way to think about teaching science, and it also made me think of how I could incorporate these ideas into other subject areas, such as ESL.