Reflective Journal on
Teaching Essay
Teaching
essay seems easy especially when contemporary ones are dealt with. However,
teaching an essay written by an author from centuries ago certainly poses a
great challenge to any teacher. I said
so because teaching Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies” had not been easy for me.
After watching the video, however, I was made to realize why and was able to
identify the aspects to which I attributed such difficulties I encountered. First
was in the Unlocking Difficulties part wherein I just let my students give the
meaning of the words without really emphasizing the differences between how the
words were used in 1625 and how they are used in our time. In the video, the
teacher had a chart with two columns, the first column being labelled 1625 and
the other, 21st century. Words in 1625 were written and their
counterpart for 21st century use was given. This strategy
comprehensibly gave the students ideas on the differences of the meaning and
the use of the words presented, thus leading them to understand the sense of
the sentences in the essay. Another was the outlining of the essay. Through it
the teacher was able to make the learners see the main topics and the
supporting details in Bacon’s one paragraph essay. Hence, understanding of the
topic and the structure of the essay came naturally to the students. These I
never thought of doing. I only asked questions which I thought would lead them
to knowing what the author wants to impart. I let them identify the benefits of
studies to people and my students gave me the same answers as what the students
in the video provided. The only difference is that I just acknowledged the
answers without letting them see the structure through an outline. Thus, for
those who were not paying attention learning did not occur easily.
The
video imparted varied techniques that when applied in teaching essay would
facilitate the process and would yield better results among learners.
Reference:
Teaching Essay. (1998).
Retrieved March 22, 2015 from www.youtube.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment