COURSE REFLECTION

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This portion of my ePortfolio is designated to my Leadership-specific course and experiences for LeADERS. When signing up for LeADERS, many students find that the courses that they have already taken or are required of them for their major count as LeADERS courses, and that was the case for me with TESL Methods and Materials. Before enrolling in LeADERS, I also chose to enroll in ENGL 390, TESL Methods and Materials as it was the last class needed to earn a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language. As a part of this course, the students are required to create an ePortfolio to showcase and reflect upon the works done for the course. If it was not for this course, I would not have had any ePortfolio experience before beginning this ePortfolio. Below is a video outlining my experiences in the course and showing my portfolio, giving context and insight. 

 
WORK SAMPLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have learned a plethora of new skills from this course, mainly focused to teaching English to novice-intermediate English speakers at the secondary level. Yet, many of my preexisting skills were put to the test. 

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SKILLS DEVELOPED​

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As included in the video, I completed a textbook description and evaluation which shows a great textbook to use at the skillset and grade levels mentioned above, reviewing the text with the audience of teachers in mind. Because TESL is a non-traditional field in secondary education, teachers are often left fending for themselves when it comes to the materials they are allowed/encouraged to use and the methods to instruct with. Accordingly, I created the description/evaluation for this audience, offering examples and pointing out the strengths and weaknesses. This improved my critical thinking skills, as I wasn't just absorbing the information the textbook provided; I had to read it and write on it with authority, as someone who has researched textbooks and TESL. It also helped my technical writing skills. This format is something I was not used to before this, so taking my ideas and making them accessible and approachable was a learning process that I believe I have shown great skill in. 

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Another project I mention in the video is my experience in the conversation partner program that ODU offers. This was a great opportunity to step outside the boundaries of the (virtual) classroom and meet with other students from different backgrounds. Being able to balance this classwork inside the class and outside shows my adaptability. I also was able to form relationships with other members of the classroom, as I mention in the reflection for that program. Teaching English to students with foreign language backgrounds can be tricky, but I was successful in impacting and influencing some of these students through the relationships I formed. One day, our conversation class (which met over Zoom) split off into pairs for a breakout group session, and we are encouraged to discuss our answers to the question the teacher provides. My partner seemingly wanted to talk about non-class-related things, so to bring us back in I was able to connect our discussion on the family to the class discussion about activities, using content-specific vocabulary. So, not only was I applying the knowledge to everyday communication, I was forming a relationship with the student and offering activities for her and her family to do in the area. I think this ability to influence others will serve me well in the future, as I showed my abilities in multicultural sensitivity and responsiveness, all the while highlighting my interpersonal skills. 

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LOOKING FORWARD 

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This fulfilled many personal and academic goals for me, but looking forward this prepared me to fulfill some professional goals I have set for myself as well. Creating the ePortfolio for this course and reflecting on it here has shown me how technical writing (my career choice) is not just limited to instruction manuals and operating procedures. Any time we take complex information (such as what we learn in the TESL course, or teaching English to foreign language speakers) and have to communicate it to an outside audience, our audience will have various amounts of familiarity on the subject-- that is exactly what I was required to do in this course. My leadership course and the LeADERS program have given me the tools to fulfill my career goals by giving me this experience. ​​