Read the text to answer question.
All teachers, whether at the start of their careers or
after some years of teaching, need to be able to try out new
activities and techniques. It is important to be open to such
new ideas and take them into the classroom.
But such experimentation will be of little use unless we
can then evaluate these activities. Were they successful? Did
the students enjoy them? Did they learn anything from them?
How could the activities be changed to make them more
effective next time?
One way of getting feedback is to ask students simple
questions such as ‘Did you like that exercise? Did you find
it useful?’ and see what they say. But not all students will
discuss topics like this openly in class. It may be better to ask
them to write their answers down and hand them in.
Another way of getting reactions to new techniques is to
invite a colleague into the classroom and ask him or her to
observe what happens and make suggestions afterwards.
The lesson could also be videoed.
In general, it is a good idea to get students’ reactions
to lessons, and their aspirations about them, clearly stated.
Many teachers encourage students to say what they feel
about the lessons and how they think the course is going. The
simplest way to do this is to ask students once every fortnight,
for example, to write down two things they want more of and
two things they want less of. The answers you get may prove
a fruitful place to start a discussion, and you will then be able
to modify what happens in class, if you think it appropriate,
in the light of your students’ feelings. Such modifications will
greatly enhance the teacher’s ability to manage the class.
Good teacher managers also need to assess how well
their students are progressing. This can be done through
a variety of measures including homework assignments,
speaking activities where the teacher scores the participation
of each student, and frequent small progress tests. Good
teachers keep a record of their students’ achievements so
that they are always aware of how they are getting on. Only
if teachers keep such kinds of progress records can they
begin to see when teaching and learning has or has not been
successful.
(Harmer, Jeremy. How to teach English. Londres: Longman, 1998)
