Student Sharing - Teacher Ambassador Programme (TAP) (2020-21)
Kwok Sze Chai Melody
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education in Language Education - English
Overall, my practicum experience with my TAP Teacher was rewarding. The Teacher Ambassador Programme (TAP) has given me an opportunity to learn from an experienced local in-service teacher. She shared with me some practical classroom teaching skills, for example, how to create a collaborative learning environment in my classroom, how to respond to my students’ in-class responses effectively, and how to take advantage of incidental learning opportunities. These transferable skills are certainly beneficial to my teaching in the long run.
A few days before the lesson observation, I sent my TAP Teacher the first draft of my lesson plan and relevant materials. She replied to my email within hours and gave me some timely and useful advice on how I can further improve my planned lesson. She also suggested a follow-up writing task which I could do in subsequent lessons. Her comments were encouraging, which made me feel more confident about my first practicum visit. The feedback she had given me at this stage was also proven to be very effective later on.
After observing my lesson, my TAP Teacher stayed behind for an hour to engage in a face-to-face, interactive reflective dialogue with me. Not only did she provide detailed feedback on my performance during the lesson, but she also gave me some tips on how I can improve my future teaching. She pointed out my strengths, areas of improvement and made corresponding recommendations.
In addition, she shared some of her own teaching ideas and activities with me. For instance, vocabulary brainstorming and rapid-fire question-and-answer. She also shared how I can adapt my lesson activities to accommodate a different teaching context with learners of higher English proficiency. I find this particularly important for catering to learner diversity, and it has also given me new insights into my first year of teaching.
Kwak Yejun
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education in Language Education - English
When I was too focused on the overall structure and the flow of the lesson, my TAP Teacher helped me to reflect on my lesson again from the students’ perspective. Ms. Wong, my TAP Teacher, gave me considerate and detailed feedback on the potential problems such as catering for learner diversity, common tech-problems that students may have, and the issues with sensitivity of some of the contents. As we were having a conversation on these points, I was able to see that these points were based on Ms. Wong’s deep and profound teaching experiences, which helped me to see the aspects that I have not thoroughly thought about earlier.
In addition to the feedback I received from Ms. Wong, it was very motivating and heartwarming to know that there are many current teachers trying to help student-teachers to grow and develop to be better educators with practical advice and encouragements. Moreover, TAP Teachers’ willingness to observe teachings that are different from their own accumulated ways was also stimulating and motivating. I think this experience suggested an ideal model of teachers that student-teachers need to strive to become, that is, teachers who constantly reflect on their teaching and sharing their knowledge and skills to build a better teacher community. I expect to be a part of a community similar to this in the future as the outcomes of such communities seem greatly worthwhile and promising.