In Spain, where I currently teach, and in most European countries, June is the end of the academic year, for others around the world it’s December, February, March or May. Wherever you teach, before taking a well-deserved break, the end of any term is perhaps the moment to look back and reflect on our performance as teachers.
We are usually too busy planning future lessons, completing administrative tasks or simply carrying out all those activities that we all have to do in our personal time to think about what has taken place in class or what our students’ actual needs are.
The end of the year is perhaps the best moment to sit down and think about the academic year. It is not a moment to berate yourself or to despair at what we did not do quite right. It is not the time to write a long list of regrets but more a moment to take stock of what we did and think about an action plan for future years.
It is, or should be, a moment to rejoice about our students’ progress, to congratulate ourselves on finishing another year in a very competitive industry and on having worked hard to cater to our students’ needs, desires and demands. If you are reading this article (and the magazine) it already means that you are interested in developing professionally and you strive to offer your students a positive experience.
Yes, of course, during the academic year there would have been good days and bad days; there would have been days on which we would not have fully achieved our lesson aims or days on which our classroom management perhaps was not as sleek as we would have desired.
However, there is no point in beating ourselves up about this. We are not robots, we are humans who are generally conscientious and make an effort to ensure that we provide lessons of the highest possible standards. Yes, we might have made mistakes, but this is not the moment to cry over spilt milk but rather the moment to think about how we can improve our teaching practice.
These are the questions I will be asking myself. I would love to hear from you and know what your questions and reflections are.
Did I . . .? Did I . . .?
Did I smile enough, especially when teaching children? Was I able to keep my cool at all times and deal with my students in a professional manner at all times?
Did I provide meaningful praise or did I simply utter or dish out numerous excellents, well dones, great jobs without giving any thought to my students’ contributions? Did my students feel I was actively listening to them?
Did I just go through the motions or did I actually think carefully about why I had planned an activity or what I really wanted to achieve?
Did I enjoy the learning process, sharing the frustrations, the fear and also the success when a certain skill or grammatical structure was achieved? Was I part of the group, sharing experiences, anecdotes and life experiences?
Did I let my hair down and show them a different face to what they were used to? Did I share a bit about myself so students could empathise with me and realise that I was not simply a teacher but also a person with experiences, adventures and stories to tell?
Did I provide my students with ample opportunities to work with the language in a more creative, freer way?
Did I vary interaction patterns so students could work either individually, in pairs, threes and larger groups; therefore creating a better learning atmosphere where collaboration, trust and respect are instilled?
Did I treat my students with respect? Was I fair, ensuring that classroom rules were always maintained and that I was always consistent?
Did I ensure all the students had an opportunity to shine either by bringing in something to class they felt particularly proud of or by giving them an opportunity to talk about something they are really interested in?
Did I achieve those New Year resolutions I had made connected to teaching? Did I work harder on my instructions? Did I try to use authentic materials a bit more often? Did I try out all those ideas I had read in It works in practice?
Did I work on my professional development? Did I attend a teacher training session on an area I was not familiar with? Did I read up on something that I was not familiar with? Did I leave my comfort zone and try an idea given by a peer? Did I contribute my own ideas and knowledge to less experienced teachers?
Most importantly, did I try hard to ensure my students were engaged at all times and that they were provided with motivating activities and lessons that kept them focussed and interested?
Did I provide my students with memorable moments they will remember and cherish for always?
I certainly hope so!
I hope my students will remember our storytelling sessions where their teacher, me, adopted another persona and transported them to magical worlds.
I hope my students will remember the mindfulness slots I incorporated which enabled them to notice the world around them and changed the pace of the lessons.
I hope they will remember the moment when things clicked and they were able to produce a grammatical structure effortlessly.
I hope they will look back at the year and exhale an enormous sigh and say ‘Well, that was hard work but it was also fun and enjoyable’.
I hope they will realise the effort that teachers around the world make on a daily basis to take the book off the page, personalise the contents and make it more relevant to them.
I would say a round of applause for teachers who have reached the end of this road and have demonstrated once again that despite AI, learning apps, technology and all kinds of gadgets, the teacher still plays an essential role. There will be more roads or paths to go down, more opportunities to try again, more chances to try out new things and new students to teach and try to surprise and make them wonder.
There will always be another lesson, another day where we can work on what did not work so well. That is why reflecting, analysing our performance and looking back is so important for us teachers in order to keep improving.
A round of applause also for our students who accompanied us on this trip and were asked (or told!) to do activities they might have never tried outside the class.
If you are lucky enough to have a term break coming soon, enjoy every minute!
