Manila Internship: excitement (w3)

Kamusta Readers,

The 3rd week is full of excitement because the different components are starting to gel together.  Theory being supported by practice and vice-versa.  And the Spirit of entrepreneurship was in the air.

My practicum in ESL teaching began with a discussion with Director N.  She explained the purpose of the Validation Exams ( to place students in the right "track" according to their level of English proficiency ).  I was exposed to First Year Students' writing; albeit their ESL background, these students faced similar issues as the American Freshmen students I taught.  I also co-created a quiz from the Icebreaker activity, which utilized listening and speaking skills.

On Friday the emphasis was on Reading.  Director N lectured about the reading process ( using different disciplines, such as history, geography, linguistics, sociology, and pop culture ) to create a more meaningful and wholistic context.  The last 30 minutes of class was dedicated to D.E.A.R. ( Drop Everything And Read ) to promote extensive reading through pleasure reading ( reading strictly Literature and Novels no textbooks or other types of readings for different classes ).  As the class TA, I picked up the class handout packet 1 from the English Department.

Outside the practicum, I worked on the Library Project.  I noticed that other subjects included under the Literature section ( "800" in the Dewey Decimal System ) are drama, speaking, and writing.  Professor C also allowed me to audit his class; he encouraged me to participate fully instead of lurking silently on the periphery.  I applied to 4 Review Centers as an English tutor, and I submitted my revised UbD article.

I started networking with other graduate students.  I chitchatted with an English PhD student, who commutes 8-10 hours once a week to attend his class and work; his mentors are encouraging him to explore the Language aspect of English instead of the Literature side.  I had an interesting conversation with an Electrical Engineer MA student, and I will start helping an English MA student to tweak his paper for the UbD issue.  His current interest deals with Language Policy in Secondary schools.