Today I want to reflect on how failure plays an important role in any professional context and how we can learn and create better experiences for the future.
As a Spanish teacher, there were so many moments that I had to experience failure, frustration, and of course, learn from my own mistakes. Over the last few years, I have taught and tutored students of all ages and levels in traditional and online classrooms. During that time, I have explored different approaches and utilized digital tools to expand my knowledge and support students in their language acquisition process. Some techniques were more effective than others, but the opportunities to try new things matter the most.
I think that one of the best ways to learn a language is through real-life conversations. That is what helped me the most when I was a student and learned English and French. Therefore, during my career as a teacher, I focused on developing strategies to improve students’ speaking skills through conversation. I created small group activities using role-playing, flashcards, and games, where students participate and interact with each other, asking specific questions that encourage students’ interaction and increase the authentic use of the target language.
As I was learning to be a teacher, my students were also learning how to build sentences, pronounce new words and communicate in a foreign language. I was able to see the ups and down in my student’s learning process and reflected on these experiences to improve my teaching technique. However, I had some challenges with classroom management when teaching Middle School and this made me reimagine my journey as a teacher. I then became an online teacher. Two years later I decided to work closer with English learners’ students in language support and as an E-learning Subject Matter author, since I am also planning to expand my horizons as an instructional designer or curriculum specialist.
This is a self-reflection infographic about my teaching journey that I created using Easel:
Reflecting on these past experiences and what I explore today in my CEP 811 course, I can make connections and bring some ideas that will enrich my teaching practice in the future. For example, a constructivist learning environment could be one way to ensure students build their own knowledge and actively internalize what they experience. “Supporting children as they build their own intellectual structures with material drawn from the surrounding culture” (Papert, 1980, p. 31–32).
Allowing students to take control of their learning and enjoy the process. This is something I experienced when teaching online. Students that need more time to learn a topic or develop a skill could do it using the appropriate digital tool; students that were ready to move on to the next topic could work in advance as well. “Students can make decisions about how they want to learn”. (Culatta, 2013, 6:29).
Another example of constructivism I see every day is when I support English learners’ students. In some classes like Math and Science, they have to research, design, and present projects about different topics and develop critical thinking to make their own decisions when working on a team or during independent work, if that is the case. “Construction of knowledge, though, is not the ultimate end goal of constructionist learning environments. Rather, constructionism views a longer term change in learners’ stance toward learning itself as its end goal”. (Cohen, J. D., Jones, W. M., & Smith, S. 2018, p 31-42).
The struggles I faced as a teacher contributed to my journey in many ways. I understand now that failure is a way to succeed. Personalize learning, new technologies, students learning by doing. This is what is coming for the next generations as we keep researching, growing, and making mistakes to improve and find more possibilities to help the world around us.
Sources
Cohen, J. D., Jones, W. M., & Smith, S. (2018). Preservice and early career teachers’ preconceptions and misconceptions about making in education. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(1), 31-42.
TEDxTalk. (2013, January 10). Reimagining learning: Richard Culatta at TEDx Beacon Street [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0uAuonMXrg&feature=emb_logo
Rob, M., & Rob, F. (2018). Dilemma between constructivism and constructionism: Leading to the development of a teaching-learning framework for student engagement and learning. Journal of International Education in Business, 11.
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