ASSIGNMENT WEEK 1

Write an autobiography about your teaching, using the following cues.

I became an English language teacher two months ago. At present, I am teaching Grade 2
students in an English language center. I believe that my job to teach foreign language in
a way that brings motivation and clear instruction to my students. I also belive that
patience is one of the most important qualities a teacher should have, especially when
working with young learners. My teaching philosophy is grounded in the idea that
children learn best when they feel comfortable, encouraged, and actively involved in the
lesson. A fundamental premise that informs my practice is that learning a language
should be meaningful and enjoyable. One of the central tenets of my teaching phylosophy
as pedagogical approach is grounded on using interactive activities such as games,
actions, and simple conversations to help students practice English naturally. In my own
practice, I try to create a supportive classroom environment where students feel confident
to speak and make mistakes. Critically, I position myself as an instructor who guides
students through the learning process rather than simply delivering knowledge. However,
the tensions I have faced with in my teaching are related to students’ different learning
speeds and levels of confidence. I have tried to address those tensions by giving more
encouragement, using pair work, and adapting activities to suit different students. Despite
my efforts, some students still feel shy or forget what they have learned. For these
reasons, I think what I need to learn more about teaching is how to support different types
of learners and how to make language learning more effective for young students.
 ASSIGNMENT WEEK 2
1. How did the lesson open?
2. How were the activities sequenced?
3. How was structuring achieved in your lesson?
4. How was pacing achieved?
5. How did the lesson closed?
6. How effective do you think the structuring of the lesson was?
7. To what extent were the lesson objectives achieved?
8. Did I alter my instructional plan as I taught the lesson? Why?
9. What do I learn about planning the lesson from this experience?

This week I taught an English lesson for Grade 2 students at an English center. The topic
of the lesson was beach activities. The aim of the lesson was to help students review
some vocabulary related to the beach and practice simple speaking sentences. In this
journal, I will reflect on how the lesson was structured and evaluate its effectiveness.

The lesson started with a short warm-up activity. I showed students some pictures of
beach items such as shells, boats, buckets and spades. I asked students if they knew these
words and encouraged them to say the words together. This helped students recall the
vocabulary they had learned before and created a relaxed atmosphere at the beginning of
the class.

After the warm-up, the activities were organized from easier to more challenging tasks.
First, students reviewed vocabulary and pronunciation. Then they practiced listening and
identifying the words in pictures. After that, students did a speaking activity where they
talked about what they can do at the beach. This sequence allowed students to move from
recognition to controlled practice and then to more communicative use of the language.

The lesson followed a structure consisting of several stages: warm-up, vocabulary

review, listening practice, and speaking practice. Each stage focused on a different skill
but still related to the main topic of the lesson. This structure helped students understand
the lesson more easily. The pacing of the lesson was generally appropriate. I used several
short activities to maintain students’ attention because young learners usually have a
short attention span. However, the speaking activity took a little longer than expected
because some students needed more support to form their sentences.

The lesson ended with a short speaking activity. Students talked about their dream
holiday at the beach using simple sentences such as “I can swim” or “I see shells.” Some
students shared their answers with the class. This closing activity helped reinforce the
vocabulary and structures that had been practiced during the lesson.

Overall, I think the structure of the lesson was quite effective. Students were actively
involved in different activities and most of them were interested in the topic. In addition,
the use of pictures and interactive activities helped maintain students’ interest throughout
the lesso. Most students were able to remember the vocabulary and use simple sentences
related to the beach. Although some students were still shy when speaking, they were
able to follow the sentence models provided and participate in the activity. I could see
evidence of learning when students were able to recognize the vocabulary in pictures,
respond to questions, and produce simple sentences during the speaking activity. These
responses suggested that most students understood the main content of the lesson.

During the lesson, I slightly modified the speaking activity by writing sentence frames on
the board. I noticed that some students found it difficult to form sentences independently.
Providing sentence models helped them participate more confidently in the activity.

From this experience, I learned that careful planning and clear instructions are important
when teaching young learners. Visual support and sentence models can help students feel
more confident when speaking. In future lessons, I will also try to allocate more time for
speaking activities so that all students have more opportunities to practice.
 ASSIGNMENT WEEK 3

1. Write a reflective essay on one lesson you taught focusing on two aspects: the
questions you asked and the way you used Vietnamese.
2. What types of questions dominated in your lessons? Why? Which type you
found more effective to your learners’ learning? Evidence. Can you explain why
they were more effective to other types of questions.
3. How much Vietnamese did you use in your lesson? For what purposes? How
did your students think of your use of Vietnamese? How did you know? From
that experience, when and for what purposes do you think the use of
Vietnamese is more effective and when and for what purposes it is not effective.

In this essay, I will discuss one lesson that I taught at the English center for Grade 2
students at A1 level.

In my lesson on the topic “My Birthday Party”, I realized that most of the questions I
asked were quite simple and required short answers. For example, I often asked questions
like “What is this?”, “Do you like pizza?” or “Is it yummy?”. These types of questions
helped me check students’ understanding quickly and kept the lesson under control. The
students were able to answer easily, but their answers were usually very short, and only a
few students were actively involved. However, when I asked more open questions such
as “What do you have at your birthday party?” or “What food do you like?”, I noticed a
clear difference. Students were more interested and tried to give longer answers. Some
students even added extra words or ideas beyond the lesson. From this, I think that open-
ended questions are more effective because they encourage students to think, speak more,
and connect the lesson to their own experiences. Although simple questions are still
useful, especially for checking understanding, I believe I need to use more open questions
in future lessons to develop students’ speaking skills.
 Regarding my use of Vietnamese, I tried to use English as much as possible during the
lesson. However, I still used Vietnamese in some situations. For example, when students
did not understand the instructions or when I needed to explain something quickly, I used
Vietnamese to make sure they understood. I also used it to manage the class when
students became distracted. From my observation, students seemed to feel more
comfortable when I used a little Vietnamese, especially weaker students. They could
follow the lesson more easily and complete tasks faster. However, I also realized that
sometimes I used Vietnamese too quickly instead of giving students more time to
understand English. This may reduce their exposure to English and limit their learning
opportunities. From this experience, I think Vietnamese is useful when used carefully,
especially for giving instructions or supporting students who are struggling. However, it
should not be overused. Teachers should try to use English first, with gestures, visuals,
and repetition, before switching to Vietnamese.

In conclusion, I learned that the type of questions I ask can strongly affect students’
participation and learning. I also understood that using Vietnamese can be helpful, but it
needs to be controlled. In future lessons, I will try to ask more open questions and reduce
my use of Vietnamese so that students can have more opportunities to use and understand
English.
 ASSIGNMENT WEEK 4

Reflect on the activity you taught and write a reflective account by answering the
following questions:

1. Was the activity successful? Why/ why not?

2. What were the main strengths and weaknesses of the activity?
3. What did the students get out of this activity?
4. How were students engaged in the activity?
5. What change will you make if you re-teach this grammar point again in the
future?
6. What do you learn for your future teaching from your reflection on this
grammar lesson?

This week, I taught a lesson to my Grade 2 students about toys and simple sentence
structures such as “It’s a…”, “This is my…”, and “I can…”. When I look back at the
lesson, I think it was generally successful, but there were also some problems that I need
to think about more carefully.

Firstly, I think the lesson was quite successful because most of the students were able to
understand the target vocabulary and use the basic sentence patterns. During the speaking
activities, many students could say simple sentences like “This is my car” or “I can play
with it”. Some stronger students even tried to say longer sentences without my help. This
made me feel that they could actually use the language, not just repeat it. However, I also
noticed that a few weaker students were still confused and needed more support,
especially when they had to speak by themselves.

In terms of strengths, I think one of the strongest points of my lesson was that it was
interactive and student-centered. I used different activities such as games, guessing,
matching, and speaking practice. The students seemed very excited, especially when I
used pictures and real objects. They were eager to join the activities, raise their hands,
and answer questions. I also gave them chances to work in pairs and groups, which
helped them feel more comfortable speaking. Another strength is that I focused on
speaking, so students had many opportunities to practice using English actively instead of
just listening.

However, there were also some weaknesses. One problem was classroom management.
Because the activities were fun, the class sometimes became noisy and a bit difficult to
control. Some students got too excited and did not follow instructions carefully. Another
weakness was my time management. I spent too much time on some activities, especially
the game part, so I had to rush at the end of the lesson. Because of this, not all students
had enough time to practice speaking individually. In addition, I think my instructions
were sometimes too long or not clear enough, so some students did not understand what
to do at first.

From this lesson, students learned new vocabulary about toys and practiced using simple
sentence structures. More importantly, they had a chance to use English to communicate,
not just memorize. I think they also improved their confidence in speaking, especially
when they presented in front of the class. Even though their sentences were simple, they
were trying to express their ideas, which is very important at this level.

Regarding student engagement, I think most students were highly engaged during the
lesson. They enjoyed the games and interactive activities, and they were more motivated
when they could move around or compete with their classmates. However, I noticed that
their attention decreased during longer explanations or when I talked too much. This
shows that for young learners, it is very important to keep activities short, clear, and
varied.

If I have a chance to re-teach this lesson, I would make several changes. First, I would
simplify and shorten my instructions, and maybe model the activity more clearly before
asking students to do it. Second, I would prepare some extra support for weaker students,
such as sentence frames or visual cues, so they can follow the lesson more easily. Third, I
would manage time more carefully by setting clear limits for each activity. Finally, I
would try to balance fun and control better, so the class can be active but still organized.

From this reflection, I learned that teaching young learners is not only about making the
lesson fun, but also about clear instructions, good time management, and supporting all
students. I realized that even if an activity is interesting, it will not be effective if students
do not understand what to do. In the future, I will try to improve my classroom
management and make sure that every student has a chance to participate and practice
speaking.
 ASSIGNMENT WEEK 5

Reflect on one vocabulary that you found most effective/ least activity to your students
in one particular lesson? Describe what you did. How do you know it is
effective/ineffective? What is the evidence of that? How does the reflection on your
lesson change your beliefs or assumptions about vocabulary.

In one of my English lessons, I taught vocabulary to young learners by using pictures and
a game. The words were simple action verbs such as run, jump, swim, and fly. First, I
showed flashcards and said each word clearly. Then I asked students to repeat after me.
After that, I played a game in which I showed a picture and students had to say the
correct word quickly. I also asked them to act out some of the words with their bodies. I
think this activity was the most effective one in that lesson.

I found it effective because the students were very excited and active. They paid attention
to the pictures and wanted to join the game. Even some shy students tried to answer. I
could see that they remembered the words better when they connected the vocabulary
with actions and images. At the end of the lesson, when I showed the flashcards again,
many students could say the correct words without my help. Some students also used the
words again in later activities. This showed me that they did not only repeat the words,
but they could actually remember them. The evidence was clear from the students’
behavior and responses. During the game, most students answered quickly and correctly.
They smiled, raised their hands, and looked interested. In the checking stage, they could
still remember many of the new words. Also, when I asked them to match pictures with
words, they did it more easily than I expected. This made me feel that the activity really
helped their learning.

Before this lesson, I thought teaching vocabulary was mainly about showing the word,
explaining the meaning, and asking students to repeat many times. However, after this
lesson, I started to believe that vocabulary learning can be more effective when students
move, play, and interact with the words. I learned that young learners do not remember
words well if they only listen and repeat. They need to see, do, and use the vocabulary in
a fun way. This reflection changed my belief about teaching vocabulary. Now I think
vocabulary should not be taught in a boring or passive way. A simple game, body
movement, and pictures can make a big difference. As a teacher, I want to use more
activities like this in future lessons because students learn better when they enjoy the
lesson.
 ASSIGNMENT WEEK 6
1. Was the activity successful? Why/why not?
2. What were the main strengths and weaknesses of the activity?
3. What did the students get out of this activity?
4. How were students engaged in the activity?
5. What change will you make if you re-teach this grammar point again in the
future?
6. What do you learn for your future teaching from your reflection on this
grammar lesson?

I think grammar should be taught in a simple and clear way. Students should not only
learn rules, but also use grammar in real communication. If we only explain rules,
students may feel bored and forget easily. So, I think grammar should be taught with
examples, pictures, and speaking activities.

In my teaching, I often use PPP (Presentation – Practice – Production). First, I introduce

the grammar by using pictures, real-life situations, or simple examples so students can
see the meaning. Then, I give students some controlled practice like matching, filling in
blanks, or repeating sentences. After that, I let students use the grammar in speaking
activities such as pair work, asking and answering questions, or simple games. I also use
gestures and simple English to make it easier for young learners to understand.

I choose these techniques because they help students feel more interested and active.
When students can speak and use grammar, they remember better. The advantage is that
students are more confident, more motivated, and they can use grammar naturally.
However, there are also some disadvantages. For example, it can take more time to
organize activities, and sometimes the class can be noisy. Also, some weaker students
may feel shy when speaking.
Overall, I think these techniques are effective because students learn grammar and also
know how to use it in real life. This is important for learning English, especially for
young learners.
 ASSIGNMENT WEEK 7

Reflect on one of the reading or listening lesson you taught recently. Write a reflective
report.

Recently, I taught a listening lesson for primary school students at a English center. The
topic of the lesson was about family members and daily activities.

Before the listening task, I tried to follow the pre-listening stage that we learned in class.
First, I used pictures and simple questions such as “Who is this?” and “What is he/she
doing?” to activate students’ background knowledge and review vocabulary. I also
introduced some new words before playing the audio because I knew some students
might not understand all the vocabulary. I think this stage was quite successful because
many students were interested and willing to answer questions. During the listening
stage, I played the audio two times. In the first listening, students listened for the main
idea and matched pictures with activities. In the second listening, they listened more
carefully to complete short answers. Some students could catch the keywords quickly, but
weaker students still had difficulty understanding the audio. I noticed that a few students
became nervous when they could not hear the answers immediately. At that moment, I
realized that I needed to guide them more clearly and give them more confidence. I
repeated the instructions slowly and used gestures to support meaning. After that,
students seemed more comfortable and participated better.

One thing I was happy about was classroom interaction. Many students raised their hands
and tried to answer even when they were not completely sure. I also praised students
frequently by saying simple things like “Good job” or “Very good,” and I think this
helped create a more comfortable atmosphere. However, I also recognize some problems.
First, I spent too much time on the pre-listening stage, especially explaining vocabulary.
Because of this, the post-listening activity became shorter than I expected. In the post-
listening stage, I only had enough time for students to check answers together and repeat
some sentences from the audio. I think I should have included a more meaningful follow-
up activity, such as pair discussion or short speaking practice, so students could use what
they learned from the listening text. Another weakness is classroom management. I
focused more on stronger students because they answered quickly and actively, while
quieter students sometimes received less attention. In future lessons, I want to involve
weaker students more by giving simpler questions and more support.

Overall, this lesson was a valuable experience for me. After learning about the stages of
teaching listening, I realized that listening lessons are not only about playing an audio
and checking answers.
 FINAL ASSIGNMENT
The aim of this course is to help you become a reflective practitioner, who can respond
to the uncertainty of teaching. Reflect on your reflection practices and express your
thoughts on these points:
1. What do you perceive of the benefits of self-reflection on your teaching to your
professional growth? Provide one specific example to illustrate your point.
2. You are asked to present your reflective essays and receive the feedback from the
instructor and classmates. What is one benefit of the feedback session to your
competence as a becoming reflective practitioner? Give one specific example to
illustrate your point.
3. Does the ten-week writing reflective journal change any of your beliefs about
language teaching or learners learning english? If yes, describe your changed belief in
detail and express how that changed belief is significant to you as a teacher?
4. Reflecting on the course, what would be one thing you wanted the instructor to
focus more on to help you become a better reflective practitioner? Why would that
thing be important to you?

The Language Teaching Methodology course completely changed my perspective on

teaching. Before joining this class, I had a rather simplistic mindset: teaching was simply
a process of transferring knowledge, applying existing techniques to complete a prepared
lesson plan. But after ten weeks, I realized that the classroom is something dynamic, and
teaching is essentially a continuous journey of observing, questioning, interpreting,
adjusting, and learning from the realities and problems of the classroom. In language
teaching, each student is a unique individual with completely different abilities, interests,
motivations, and learning speeds, so there is always uncertainty. A game that makes one
class burst with joy may turn into a failure in another. Therefore, self-reflection is not
something vague or unnecessary, but a key to a teacher's sustainable professional
development.
1. The Benefits of Self-Reflection to My Professional Growth
The greatest benefit that self-reflection has brought me is the ability to step out of my
comfort zone and teach proactively, consciously, and in a student-centered way, rather
than a teacher-centered way. Through self-reflection, I learn to see the lesson through the
eyes of the students, to evaluate a lesson based on interaction, understanding, and even
the students' emotions, rather than the teacher's subjective satisfaction. It helps me look
back at the students' reactions throughout the lesson, what I did well and what I didn't do
well during that lesson, and think of solutions to those problems. One example of this
change is the lesson on Action Verbs (run, jump, swim, fly) in the Global Success Grade
2 program that I taught. That day, I designed a reflex game: the teacher showed pictures
and the students had to use their bodies to mimic the actions (Embodied Cognition). In
class, I saw the room filled with laughter, students jumping, performing actions, shouting
out the vocabulary names, and I was very happy and thought it was a successful lesson.
But that night, when I sat down and practiced the activity, I realized the oversights I had
"accidentally" overlooked. Behind the dynamism of the energetic students in the front
row, I remembered the vacant stares of two students sitting at the back of the class.
Because of the loud noise and the fast pace of the activities, the two students were
completely overwhelmed, unable to keep up with the flow of the lesson, and chose to sit
still throughout the activity. I realized there seemed to be some kind of inequality I had
created between those two students. Thanks to that moment of reflection, in the following
lesson, I learned how to control the pace of the class, design more visual aids, and set
aside appropriate questions to help the shy students engage with the lesson content.

2. The Power of Feedback and Collaborative Reflection

One of the most exciting yet anticipated experiences in each lesson was the reflective
writing activity that the teacher organized for the whole class at the beginning of each
class. Each lesson, the teacher always dedicated a significant amount of time at the start
to randomly call a few students to the front of the classroom to read their reflective
journal entries aloud for the whole class to hear. Afterward, the teacher would offer
incredibly insightful comments and feedback, and if the essay touched upon a difficult
issue, he would expand on it for the whole class to discuss and analyze, seeking solutions.
This activity was truly invaluable, helping me develop multi-dimensional analytical
thinking and eliminate subjectivity in my own thinking. Although I haven't had the
opportunity to stand up in front of the class and present my reflective essays, I've listened
to many reflections from my classmates and heard feedback about their experiences. This
still provides me with invaluable professional value. Listening to the struggles of my
classmates—who are also my colleagues—and receiving the knowledge from the
teacher's feedback, I feel like I've found answers to my own lessons.
I remember during a lesson in this course, a classmate shared about a lesson where the
students were completely silent and refused to participate in the speaking activity.
Initially, she just intuitively thought it was because the students were too shy and lacked
confidence. However, during the discussion, other students questioned whether the
communication task was too difficult for their age group, and the teacher gave an
incredibly valuable comment: He instructed that reflection shouldn't stop at feelings of
regret or blaming the learners, but should be based on actual evidence to see if the
amount of language input was sufficient for them. Although that teaching was directed at
my classmate, I also realized a similar problem in my own lessons, such as the lesson on
the topic "My Birthday Party". I suddenly realized that the reason my students sometimes
remained silent in response to open-ended questions wasn't because they were lazy, but
because I hadn't adequately prepared them with the necessary vocabulary and
foundational structures beforehand. Reflection is not about complaining or making
emotional judgments, but rather a scientific process requiring a close connection between
theory and practical classroom experience. Listening to the struggles of other teachers in
my class helped me understand that the problems I am facing does not exist only in my
class, and that collaboratively identifying deeper issues and finding solutions truly
strengthens our professional foundations.

3. Shift in My Professional Beliefs

The ten-week journey of writing a reflection journal has established and fostered deep-
seated beliefs in me about teaching English. Previously, I simply thought of a good lesson
as one with a well-structured lesson plan, a teacher who fluently explains vocabulary and
grammar, and who adheres closely to the lesson plan. Now, I understand that the success
of a lesson largely depends on whether students truly "experience" the lesson and apply
the knowledge they've learned. The biggest change lies in how I perceive students'
mistakes. Before, when teaching structures like "This is my..." or "It's a..." in the Toys
topic, I was very frustrated and considered grammatical errors and mispronunciations as
"failures" that needed immediate and drastic correction. But through reflection, I realized
that mistakes are beautiful traces of the learning process. Mistakes show me that the
children are bravely experimenting with language, thinking critically, and help me
identify areas where they're struggling so I can provide timely support. Similarly,
regarding silence, instead of labeling the children as "lazy," "shy," or "passive," I began
to question whether my explanation was easy enough, and whether my game created too
much psychological pressure that frightened them. For the tender minds of second-grade
students, the English class must be a psychologically safe environment. When the
children understand that their teacher values every effort to speak up and that making
mistakes is perfectly acceptable, they will dare to open up and confidently communicate.
The teaching method is not simply dry techniques; it is empathy, patience, and love.

4. Suggestions for Course Improvement

If there is one thing I wish the course could focus on more deeply, it is providing
practical tools or reflective frameworks to help young teachers think more systematically.
In the early stages of my journaling, I often fell into the trap of rambling on, describing
classroom events at length instead of skillfully incorporating theory to analyze the core
issues. If you could share some sample essays analyzing the structure, showing how to
transition from "describing the phenomenon" to "analyzing the causes" and "planning
future actions," it would greatly alleviate the confusion for young teachers like myself.
The course has concluded, but my journey to becoming a Reflective Practitioner has only
just begun. I am incredibly grateful to Mr. Canh – who not only taught us dry
methodological theories but also patiently created a classroom environment filled with
emotion and practical experience.