Ted Aoki’s concept of the Third Space was an integral part of our classroom dynamic. The Third Space is a concept where the teachers and the students are all learning in the same space. In a democratic classroom, the instructor is not there purely to instruct, but to grow and learn with the students. When I entered into the ELL LFS, I entered in to the Third Space rather unwittingly. With background training in English Literature, I was quite uncertain of how I was going to do in an English Language Learners with Limited Formal Schooling classroom. I approached the classroom knowing very little about the students, having a pathetically dismal knowledge of their home country, and with little to no training on how to teach ESL students. I did not have expectations as to how they learned because they were unlike any students I had encountered before.
This lack of expectation created a huge learning curve for me in both the positive and negative sense. It made it incredibly difficult to plan my units and lessons in advance as I did not know how much the students could handle or what their time frames would be. I had to start with my training and past experience and adjust accordingly throughout the lesson and unit. This approach, while somewhat stressful and spontaneous, lead to the students being more in control of their education. Instead of having a strict unit that I adhered to without lenience, I had to go with wherever the students lead me. Every day was a surprise as I discovered what they were and were not capable of. For example, I was shocked when my co-teacher spent the first part of the first day instructing the students how to read a book: left to right, up to down. I looked at my planned unit of character analysis and symbolism and had to completely rewrite it. My second unit focused strongly on creative writing but it became apparent quite quickly that fictional writing was not my students’ strong suit. When encouraged to be ridiculous and wacky with their plots, they had their characters continue on with the routine and structure that I had laid out in the introduction. So, I had to change my plan. The program itself also brought with it its own variables, such as when we received six new students halfway through the semester, bringing our overall English level down almost a full grade. I had to re-adjust and slow down the entire unit.
I learned a lot about the Nepali culture as I taught. I learned that they are very communal—that they will go to great lengths to help one another even if that means doing each others’ homework or cheating on the test. They did not view giving each other answers as cheating but saw it only as a way to help out their fellow community member. They are also intrigued by relationships. Any time that there was relationship drama in the stories we read, their interest level raised substantially. Jokes about dating and marriage were much more relevant to their lives than anything else we studied. They are also, for the most part, incredibly keen. Every lunch hour I had to kick out a few students who would refuse to put down their books or iPads. I had to deal with constant bathroom breaks during the class because they consistently stayed in the classroom and worked when they were given a mandatory break time. I also discovered that most of the students were auditory learners. During a test, they would ask for me to help them with a question. I would read exactly what was written in the question word-for-word, but it was not until after I had read it out loud that they would immediately know the answer. These observations, while small, directed a lot of my approach to my instruction.
This need for adjustment taught me the importance of being flexible and of being aware of the students’ needs. Our classroom was dynamic and fluid. The final results of my units look drastically different than my initial plans, but the changes reflect what I hope were the students’ best interest.
This lack of expectation created a huge learning curve for me in both the positive and negative sense. It made it incredibly difficult to plan my units and lessons in advance as I did not know how much the students could handle or what their time frames would be. I had to start with my training and past experience and adjust accordingly throughout the lesson and unit. This approach, while somewhat stressful and spontaneous, lead to the students being more in control of their education. Instead of having a strict unit that I adhered to without lenience, I had to go with wherever the students lead me. Every day was a surprise as I discovered what they were and were not capable of. For example, I was shocked when my co-teacher spent the first part of the first day instructing the students how to read a book: left to right, up to down. I looked at my planned unit of character analysis and symbolism and had to completely rewrite it. My second unit focused strongly on creative writing but it became apparent quite quickly that fictional writing was not my students’ strong suit. When encouraged to be ridiculous and wacky with their plots, they had their characters continue on with the routine and structure that I had laid out in the introduction. So, I had to change my plan. The program itself also brought with it its own variables, such as when we received six new students halfway through the semester, bringing our overall English level down almost a full grade. I had to re-adjust and slow down the entire unit.
I learned a lot about the Nepali culture as I taught. I learned that they are very communal—that they will go to great lengths to help one another even if that means doing each others’ homework or cheating on the test. They did not view giving each other answers as cheating but saw it only as a way to help out their fellow community member. They are also intrigued by relationships. Any time that there was relationship drama in the stories we read, their interest level raised substantially. Jokes about dating and marriage were much more relevant to their lives than anything else we studied. They are also, for the most part, incredibly keen. Every lunch hour I had to kick out a few students who would refuse to put down their books or iPads. I had to deal with constant bathroom breaks during the class because they consistently stayed in the classroom and worked when they were given a mandatory break time. I also discovered that most of the students were auditory learners. During a test, they would ask for me to help them with a question. I would read exactly what was written in the question word-for-word, but it was not until after I had read it out loud that they would immediately know the answer. These observations, while small, directed a lot of my approach to my instruction.
This need for adjustment taught me the importance of being flexible and of being aware of the students’ needs. Our classroom was dynamic and fluid. The final results of my units look drastically different than my initial plans, but the changes reflect what I hope were the students’ best interest.