Module 1

Module 1 is focused on building classroom routines in English.

After reading all the articles, watching all the videos, and searching all the suggested websites, create a page Module 1 in your portfolio, double click anywhere on the page, choose T to add text, and post the following on the page:

CREATE: This module introduced several different classroom routine ideas. Based on what you learned, create a new or adapt an existing classroom routine you would like to use regularly in your current teaching context. Briefly describe who your learners are, when would you use this instructional routine, and why you believe it would be effective.

See example for a model:

I teach in a middle school which is located in a mid-size town. I am in charge of three different grades and the class size is over 35. Most of them are not confident in using English in the classroom except very few students who I appear to have an advanced level of English.

I have my own classroom routines like greetings for everyone, roll-calling, and checking homework. I also have some classroom management rules that I share with my students. Some students help me to set up the weekly calendar, cleaning the blackboard, and watering the plants. Yet, I have not thought of making them classroom routines for English classrooms. I will create a weekly calendar (in English) for the learning objectives of my English classroom, and make use of it for communicative day beginning activities. I will also use English for the greeting, roll call, and activity start teacher talks.

For now, I would like to implement a vocabulary routine in English. I think adding new vocabulary in every lesson will be helpful for my beginner learners. It can be used either at the beginning or at the end of the lesson. I will draw one or two objects or situations on the board and ask my students in English to guess what I am drawing. They will be the words that I want my students to learn for the lesson or for the week.

REFLECT: Type in 1-2 paragraphs to reflect on Module 1 (300-500 words). You may use what you have created, shared and applied in the previous tasks. You may also use the following as a template and fill in the blanks.

Before this module about classroom routines, I used to (think/believe/use) ___________________. Now I (think/believe/plan to use) ____________________. This is important because _________________________________.

I (created/found) a classroom routine in Module 1 that I could use in my class to increase the use of English in the classroom. It is called (activity/routine title) ________________________ and I could use this during _______________________________________________ (when?/how?/why?). I like it because (apply Module 1 content) ____________________. I might need to modify the (activity/routine) for my classroom because ________________________.

See example for a model:

Before this module about classroom routines, I used to think classroom routines were about rules that I set up for my classes to make it more convenient to manage students' behaviors. For example, we have our student representatives stand up when the teacher enters the classroom and lead the formal greeting of the whole class to the teacher. I also assign roles each week, such as a noise monitor and a blackboard monitor. These are kinds of disciplinary set up for the classes. Likewise, I check homework as a routine because that was another necessary housekeeping procedure.

Now, I believe it will be a really good start to use English for those routines that I have already practiced because students will understand and interact with what I say in English even before they comprehend the sentences. I also learned that classroom routines could be effective tools in communicative tasks and lessons. It is important not only for the ease of managing students' behaviors and practices but also for increasing the interactions and autonomous student learning by reinforcing the shared expectations. In this process, students and the teacher can gain confidence and trust. This also models authentic language use.

I found many classroom routines that I learned in module 1 can be used in my class to increase the natural use of English in the classroom. One is the wrap-up routine, to think about what they learned in the day's lesson. I usually finished my class giving homework and rarely gave a chance to students to recap what they learned and still wonder. I like this because it really made me think that I needed to think and check more from the learner's view instead of only my teacher's view. I might also try the wrap-up routine as a mingle. I sometimes include pair or group activities but have not thought of mingling as a classroom routine. I need to modify the activity because my class size is over 40 students, so I am not sure how it will go when students move around and chat. However, it will be worth trying to understand how it will actually go and which specific aspects I need to modify in order to adapt to my classroom situations.