Michaella CO#1

Monday, February 29, 2016, at 9am

                Today I observed a 4A Grammar class instructed by Victoria Davis. I arrived early, which gave me the opportunity to interact with multiple students before the class began. They were very welcoming and curious to know why I was there. It was cool to see how the students interacted with each other as well. It was easy to see the close friendships that have formed throughout their time in the CIES program, regardless of what country or culture they originally came from. Before the lesson began, I formally introduced myself to the class and told them about my aspiration to teach in Spain. In order to get more involved in the classroom experience, Victoria allowed me to sit next to the other students as though I was a student too. 

The topic of the day was the Future Perfect tense. Each student had a binder filled with grammar lessons that would be covered during the 7 week period. Victoria began her lesson by explaining the basic components of the Future Perfect tense. She wrote down the will+have+past participle structure on the whiteboard so the students could reference it while completing their activities. Many of the students seemed familiar with the topic, and they were eager to participate in the class discussion. Victoria presented multiple examples on her own before proceeding to a group activity in the binder.

The group activity consisted of creating 5 sentences using the Future Perfect verb tense in a dialogue format.  I was able to work with Ayah. She was incredibly sweet, and I was amazed at how well she knew grammar. I helped her with any vocab she was unable to comprehend, such as “aliens” and “collaborate.” She revealed that vocabulary was her least favorite part about learning English, however, Ayah, like many of the other students I observed, were more than determined to grasp a challenging concept. This morning showed me how willing these students are to help one another understand the material, and even laugh together when someone makes a simple mistake. I learned that a lesson plan can be both structured and informative while teaching in a more laid-back environment.