Looking back at this semester and this course, I’ve learned a lot. I wasn’t really sure what to expect at first, but my objectives weren’t specific at all. I just wanted to learn more about language acquisition and language teaching, both of which interest me quite a bit. I’ve certainly accomplished that.

What I wasn’t aware of — and this just increases the respect I already have for teachers — is the massive personal workload it takes to prepare materials for teaching the course. There’s so much more that goes into a language classroom than simply showing up every day to teach it. Everything has to be thoroughly vetted and approved to make sure it’s relevant and useful to students. You can’t just find pre-made materials and only use that. (Well, I supposed you can, but that wouldn’t make for a very effective class at all.)

I think I’ve met the course objectives as well, but definitely not without great challenge. There are so many things to consider when it comes to teaching a course like this and you just can’t know for sure until you actually do it. The reading responses have made me consider all the language learning courses I’ve taken, and the teaching philosophy is really a synthesis of all the best practices I’ve learned from those wonderful instructors. All the activities and the lesson plan can be overwhelming at first, given they have so much freedom and I seldom know where to even begin, but I’m proud of the results. The feedback I’ve gotten about them is also invaluable.

I think what this course is about is not just learning what the textbook teaches but taking your personal experiences with language learning — which everyone has — and seeing what works for you and what doesn’t.

I still have no immediate goals of actually teaching an English course, but from an academic standpoint, I find it all so fascinating. I feel like a better role for me would be something more in the background, looking at teaching methods and course materials. However, there’s no better way of being better at that than actually teaching, and thus the dilemma arises.

In any case, it’s been quite a road and I’m happy I made it to the end this time.