On 24th February, 2021, Wednesday evening, I joined the LLC Conversation Club’s Social Room for delivering my 4th practicum. The topic covered was ‘Let’s Play Games’. Surprisingly, when I joined the LLC breakout room, only 1-2 persons were there, However as the start time approached students started joining in and today we had a record turnout of 16 students.

Reflections

There are a lot of things that appealed me as I reflect upon my teaching. Today I introduced a new game, Hangman which students enjoyed a lot. I must mention that I practiced drawing the hangman numerous times before the class. Interactive whiteboard was turned on and students wrote their favorite game as they entered the class. The extensive use of Moodle tools like, typing on slides, polling, public chat, interactive circle; drawing, typing & circling using interactive whiteboard, was done. All the students including Valadyslav and Elizabeth spoke every time they were called on. It feels simply wonderful as a teacher to see that students are present both physically and mentally. Name tags were used again and again to ensure active involvement of students. I paid due attention to the number of students and greet them personally when they are joining the session. A student, Tommy, joined late but he due to internet issue he could not speak, nevertheless he typed his answers in the public chat whenever he was asked a question.

Nevertheless, there are a few things I would like to do differently. There must have been times when my speed of speaking goes fast. Even though it does not hinders the students understanding, still I would like to work towards it.

There are quite a few takeaways which are as follows. Firstly, I believe in not just teaching but also developing a good bond with my students. Malka, a student came after a few weeks, I welcomed her and told her that it was good to hear her voice. Likewise, I remembered that Tina is a figure skater and mentioned it to her during an activity that made her feel very happy. I will continue developing good bonds with students. Secondly, I would like to continue using name tags and preparing a list of students, I tick once a student has spoken. This ensures that every student gets a fair opportunity to speak as well as my fair attention. I see great value in using this checklist strategy.  Additionally, it leads to fulfilling my goal of achieving 100% class involvement. Lastly, I would continue working to apply the adaptation technique and making colorful slides as students find it interesting.