Over the course of this semester, I have learned to take numerous knowledgeable skills that I’ve learned over the past couple of years and put them to the test. I was able to successfully create several different authentic activities and correctly assign objectives and tasks appropriately. At the beginning of the semester, my personal goals were to be able to gain more knowledge and experience about communication and overall ways to help better my therapy for my future clients. I also wanted to learn how to generally create a lesson/ therapy plan to help me in the near future in graduate school. I wanted to know the structure of a lesson plan and exactly how each exercise was targeting specific goals and objectives. The overall objectives for the course were to be able to identify teaching methods and all of the aspects that go into designing materials and lesson plans, specifically for ESL students. The goal in the end was for the students to be able to create their own authentic activities and understand each aspect of the process fully; including which materials to choose over another, which delivery approach fits best, and language skills to assess and how to. My overall expectations for this class were beyond exceeded in the best way possible. I am thrilled with the overall results this class has taught me and all of the resources that I now have to access.

Personally, I believe that I exceeded my own objectives for the course and generally hit the mark on all of the class objectives. For my own objectives, I learned a lot about communication within a classroom setting to my students along with professionals I come in contact with. Then, I learned the various aspects of creating a lesson plan to help structure my therapy sessions and have my clients benefit better overall. As far as the class objectives, throughout the duration of the course each objective was met, then at the end of the course the final portfolio assesses all of those objectives targeted during the course. I am now able to identify different teaching methods, assessment tools for ESL classrooms, and compare authentic materials and texts. I achieved a lot these objectives through my course readings. In addition to the course readings, I had the opportunity to design various types of activities and put my knowledge to the test. I overall successfully created and evaluated exercises, chapters, and lesson plans that assessed many areas of my teaching methods knowledge.

The most meaningful aspect this course provided to me was the impact that my peers have on my work. I was able to have several assignments that I received peer feedback and it helped me notice aspects of my writing and activities that were not sufficient enough to submit yet. They provided excellent and meaningful feedback that I believe not only improved my grade, but my overall awareness of my assignments as well.