2nd Meeting: Balancing Learning Pace in Classroom

2nd Class meeting

We started off with quick review of the previous class (greetings and alphabets).

The teacher had us to stand in the middle of the class in circle (or oval considering the class arrangement) and we did the 'magic marker' round. So who ever got the marker can ask the other to say the spanish pronunciation of their alphabet of choice. It was slightly nerve wrecking. It has been a long time since I do this 'testing-reviewing' game. It was fun, quick and I realized I got the alphabet covered. The alphabets are rather pleasant because it it similar to how the Indonesian pronunciation to the letters but they also have an additional sound for double l and the n with a mustache on top, that we pronounced as -nye. 

In the previous class, as to practice spelling, we dictate our Sussex email address and we were told to email each other after class and introduce ourselves in Spanish. It was fun to know we got several emails and even got more than 1 email. The idea of being able to write in Spanish is exhilarating even if it's only Hola! mi llama Helena. 

The big difference in this meeting compared to the first, is that the more advanced and 'noisy' students are no longer there. There are 2 students that are clearly not beginners level whom the teacher said had move to the more advanced level. Also, I hate to say this but there was a girl whom I will describe as 'noisy'. She always talks, commented on everything with high pitched chirping voice. I am sure she is more advanced than us. Perhaps, it is just me but she came across as a rather annoying personality.

Anyhow, we build up our study on Nationality and country and also a touching on jobs/occupations where in it we also learn how to use the ser (=to be) in a sentence. I think it is a very important basic knowledge on any language learning. I remembered when I first learn English, my teacher drilled me into doing many many sentences in where I learn how to use the to be in different sentence forms, different pronoun, different tense etc. I learn that Spanish language has different order of pronoun and they are even more gender grouping than English.

I thoroughly enjoyed my class. I think we are a very good mix of people now and our teacher came across as a fun, creative and resourceful person. 

Photo taken from http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/advanced_class.asp

Learning Thoughts:

1. I believe it is important for students to be grouped to their level of ability and knowledge. I am sure it is both and agony for and advanced student to be in a less ad advanced class. Vice versa it is also demotivating to the less advance student in the class to see that they are incompatible and unable to keep up. This situation is much easier to handle in private language courses or special language classes where they operate on level basis (beginner, intermediate, advance etc) where the learning experience is tailored accordingly. In government or public school institution, this is rather tricky. Advanced students need to just put up of learning in a slower pace which will then resulted in either:
• boredom that will resulted in them being the 'naughty' kid in class
• turning into the bully (thinking they are superior/smarter)
• Lost of interest in the subject
2. In some schools in Indonesia, they introduced a scheme called the 'Accelerated Class' or the "High Achiever Class", where all the advanced and superior student is put in one class and the curriculum is tailored to their ability. Nevertheless, this is only happen in perhaps less than 10% of the total public school in Indonesia. (Note to self: look up the statistic for this). Looking back to my school years, I remember struggling in the presence of these superior friends of mine. Then reflecting on my teaching experience, I can remember the fidgeting of the fast learner student and the timidness of the student who need to take time to understand the lesson. 
3. What did my teachers do in this situation, where you have 1 or 2 more advanced student in your class? My teachers asked the fast learner students to be quiet and be still when they are finished with their exercises. They are (in a way) discouraged to ask to many 'knowledgable' or 'challenging' or 'know-it-how' questions. Why? The teachers naturally felt threaten. They are avoiding the situation where you ended up not knowing what ever it is the student is asking and exasperated because they are lost for words in explaining things that they know they have the knowledge of. This is only normal. I do not blame my teachers for this. In our society, teacher should know EVERYTHING at least to the subject they are teaching. Imagine if a kid went home and said to the parents, I ask my teaching this and she didn't know the answer. In one occasion when I was in Junior high school, my teacher had the fast learner student in my class to go to the library and read something and report back in class. The class look at the student in a mix emotions of awe, envy and exasperation.
4. What I did in my class? Most of my fast learner students were nice kid. They are very considerate of the others. So my ways of handling things are to have them work in groups of 4s. I do my best to distribute the fast learners in each group thus they are able to help the others in learning. Having said that, this idea is not working simply because the fast learners are snobs who bully his/her friends, become bossy and resulted in rejection (or fight) by the group members. 
5. Teaching in a large class as in Indonesian classroom (30 - 40 students in a class) is challenging (and scary). There are vast range of personality, ability and motivation ranging from one end of pendulum to the other. Nevertheless, nothing is impossible. The teacher simply need to vary the approach and strategy in maintaining order in classroom, making sure lessons are being absorb and addressing the issues such as dealing with advanced/fast learner students. There are no 1 easy way of dealing with things in this situation. The strategy you use today might not be appropriate the next day. Many of my teachers or some will say the "old school' teachers, make sure they come across as a stern teacher and never restrain from using physical punishment. Yes, physical punishment such as a lashing of thin strip of rattan to our hands, calves and bottoms, Grinding our hand with jagged hexagon pipe, push ups to pulling the watter from the well to fill the school water container are still practiced and considered the best way to teach disciplined. In my case, I live in the province of Maluku. Our people are always stereotyped as tough, brave and hard tempered, thus needed to be restrained with force if you need to teach them something.
6. Therefore note to self for this meeting - Find out more about strategy dealing with advance student in classroom especially large classroom.