Error management

     In this entry, I would like to focus on error management which I think is very important in teachers' job. Everyone makes mistakes, even native speakers. Mistakes are part of the learning process, so every teacher needs to know how to correct students in the right way. Inappropriate ways of correcting errors can demotivate students so they will not want to learn anymore.

    The first lesson that I observed was a project lesson in the seventh grade. This lesson was about the British Parliament. The teacher used google classroom and tes.com. Each child had a laptop and watched a video that a teacher put on the tes platform. A teacher told us that it is a good way for practicing writing because she can see what children write and she can correct all mistakes in the same moment, so children receive instant feedback. They also do not interrupt each other, they do activities at their own pace, they can stop the video whenever they want and check new vocabulary. Our mentor teacher showed us how to use these platforms so now I can try to do the lesson like that.

   This week on English lessons in grade four, children learned about food. In the beginning, they were sitting on a carpet, and a teacher presented new vocabulary with the use of flashcards. After that, they got back to their sits, and they were doing activities from the book. On this lesson children usually made pronunciation mistakes. When they pronounced something incorrectly, the teacher reacted immediately, corrected it and asked children to repeat this several times. After that, they did not have a problem with saying the word. 

    On English lesson in grade five, when children make a mistake while saying a sentence, the teacher does not interrupt them, she waits until they finish and then she repeats the sentence correctly. Sometimes children also have a problem with finding a word. When they speak, they do not know how to say one word in English they just ask "How to say ...... in English". The teacher always helps in such a situation, but sometimes other kids do this if they know the word. 

    In my opinion, correcting students' errors is very important in teachers' job. Teachers always need to react immediately but without interrupting. In some activities, instant corrections are not good because they can destroy the flow of the task, and it can also demotivate students. A good way of correcting is also when students can correct one another. Peer correction often helps to create a positive class atmosphere as students realise that teachers are not the only source of error correction and they can learn a lot from one another.