Reflection

__**Reflection**__

The lesson included practice primarily with speaking, listening, and writing. I would like to add a component that will utilize reading as well, although it is hard to find literature that is purely delivered in only one tense. The items that I currently use are used to compare and contrast the Preterit and the Imperfect tenses.

Using multiple types of practice and activities allowed many students to tap into their preferred learning modalities, fostering success in the new tense. Auditory listeners benefit from the teacher's introduction as well as the Round Robin activity. Visual learners benefit from the visual aids used in the teacher's introduction as well as their final project. Kinesthetic learners benefit from the use of mini whiteboards and gestures. Verbal learners benefit from the mini interviews in the Round Robin activity.

Uttering the word //test// is enough to send students into a panic. Allowing students an open-ended assignment allowed them to lower their affective filter and focus on the concepts learned. This has proven much more informative than traditional summative assessments in that was able to determine errors of individual students as well as class-wide misconceptions. The choice of vocabulary and sentence structure (simple v complex or compund) also allowed me to grasp which students are more willing to take chances when procuding language, and which are more reserved. Multiple choice, True/False, or Matching items on a test do not allow me to see the more complex issues with student progress and achievement.