Thursday, January 10, 2013

Coteaching in an English Club



    The idea of starting an English club was the suggestion of  my colleague Mr.Zouaoui . The idea was not that ordinary because he suggested we co-teach in the club, learners of different schooling levels, since we were not teaching the same levels. We started the club in the first term.  Looking back at the amount of work we implemnted, I can but be grateful  for the idea. We're not only teaching learners , but also learning from each other. We are cooperating in so many ways: discussing, evaluating and planning. We also intend to keep track of all the sessions ( via a school magazine) and evaluate to what extent the learners are learning from each other by collaborating more. As a matter of fact, we are applying the constructivist approach. We usually conduct the activities in groups and we try to orchestrate a successful construction of the meanings and  rules. What is superb is that we're teaching in carefree conditions! we're not limited by time constraints or by a syllabus to cover all the units. We and the learners are having great time together. There are much fun ,  freedom and  learning happening at the same time. Not to forget to mention that  the learners who come to the club  are self-motivated and they are not forced to attend. They come because they like to attend, they  like to practice the language and like to improve and consolidate their learning. As I mentioned earlier, in this club, I am learning from my learners and from my colleague,too. His experience in teaching is longer than mine and I am so happy I can learn much from his enthusiasm , his devotion and his experience. Seeing my colleague in action helps me visualize my own teaching. Such an experience can but add a lot to me. Wish one day, teachers could have sessions where they coteach learners with mixed-ability levels in the same classroom. The experience is so rewarding especially that while coteaching, we learn from each other and learners,too, learn from each other. We usually prepare, seperately, some activities at home and we share the plans of these activities beforehand. Then comes the decision what to implement and what to avoid. The sessions do respect the needs of all the learners and respect their multiple intelligences. 
Such an amazing experience