I think that the main ideas, or the most important ones in my opinion, arise at the end of today's readings: "However, it is possible to view these three conceptions as forming a continuum" (25). The three conceptions, science-research, theory-philosophy, and art-craft, appear to be mutually exclusive when one first reads Chapter two. As I was reading, I was wondering just how this was possible; I feel as if, in my own teaching, I have reached for various approaches based on the needs of the students. Thus, I appreciate this ending, that all of these approaches can have their place in a teacher's repertoire--as they should.
I echo my sentiment from last Thursday's readings when I note that I found that a hugely important point arising from these fist two chapters was that a teacher necessarily needs to look at the needs of his or her students in order to find the best approach for each of them, in order to fully embrace that "dynamic teaching" mentioned (11). Each student will be learning the new language for different reasons and will have different needs when it comes to doing so. It is our job as teachers to effectively work with these differences while we teach.
The section on assessment, the third part in the diagnosis, treatment, and assessment section, is also one that caught my eye as I work to improve my own teachings. I agree with the increased emphasis with ongoing assessment, with those formative evaluations that allow us to track a student's learning throughout the process of an assignment, a project, or in language learning. Doing so also helps us as teachers, giving us the needed information on how students are doing during the project rather than waiting until the end all-be all evaluation at the end of a unit.
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