These chapters, on changing models and lesson planning explained the importance of having a plan and being able to be flexible enough to change it when necessary. It also brought up many models of curriculum and methods that can be used together to help students learn the target language.
The most important issue raised, in my eyes, was asked in the beginning of chapter 7. Finney asks, "...is it possible to teach a language within the four walls of a classroom? I think not- and so we also need to help our learners to learn how to learn and to keep on learning" (69). I think this is important to keep in mind as we enter the field of TESOL. With all of the methods and approaches I keep learning about, I am trying to tweak them to find what essentially could be considered a best method...even though it doesn't exist. It is important to be humble when teaching; we cannot teach the English language in the classroom. Instead, we need to focus on trying to teach students how to learn a language and how to become life-long learners. Having this as a goal or objective would not only help us from running to a "best method," but also help the students understand that language learning is a journey, not something that can be marked off of a checklist.
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