Wednesday, March 2, 2016, at 11am
Today I observed a Reading Foundations class taught by Marilyn Sohan. I initially noticed that the class was much smaller, and there was little interaction between the students. Marilyn began the class by asking a series of questions that required the students to name the day of the week, the month, and today's date. Although some of the students struggled to give the correct answer, Marilyn worked with each student until he/she was able to figure it out. I found this one-on-one focus to be helpful when working with students at a beginners level.
Marilyn wrote the class agenda on the board, which consisted of taking attendance, completing the students' library card applications, and reviewing over the vowel sounds. The library card application took up most of the class period. The students were each given an application and were expected to fill out their name, date of birth, address, email, etc. As a class, Marilyn helped the students fill out their application by writing their date of birth and address information on the board. She explained how street names are often abbreviated. For example, lane would be "LN." Marilyn spoke very direct and clearly when talking to the students, especially when demonstrating the difference between the P and B sounds. The students' participation level seemed to increase as they became more comfortable with what information is expected from an application.
The last ten minutes of class were focused on the i vowel sound. (in the previous class the students learned the a and e vowel sounds) Marilyn compared the i sound to the word "itch." She then proceeded to have the students come up with similar words that displayed the same sound. I really enjoyed how Marilyn gave her students a high five when they answered or remembered something correctly. She had great energy towards the students and towards teaching in general. I learned that having the students look at your mouth when sounding out a word is beneficial in helping them grasp the correct pronunciation.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
TS#1 Jared
I sat in on a tutoring session with Wonmi and Michaella to observe the interactions between PJ and his current tutor.
I was immediately struck by the high level of mastery PJ had in reading the English language. I would say he struggled staying engaged for the entire session, so in my future session I plan to implement incentives and breather to keep him from losing his motivation. I also remember thinking that PJ should take more breaks between paragraphs so as to reinforce his comprehension of the material.
On a personal note I was intrigued by his Star Wars shoes, being a huge Star Wars nerd myself. I hope that in future sessions I can establish more common interests with my tutee. I believe accomplishing this task is a fruitful goal to keep up engagement in our later sessions.
I was immediately struck by the high level of mastery PJ had in reading the English language. I would say he struggled staying engaged for the entire session, so in my future session I plan to implement incentives and breather to keep him from losing his motivation. I also remember thinking that PJ should take more breaks between paragraphs so as to reinforce his comprehension of the material.
On a personal note I was intrigued by his Star Wars shoes, being a huge Star Wars nerd myself. I hope that in future sessions I can establish more common interests with my tutee. I believe accomplishing this task is a fruitful goal to keep up engagement in our later sessions.
CO#2 Jared
CO#2
3/2/16
Today I sat in on Ramin's higher level reading course, I enjoyed the higher level of communication to be had among students from different backgrounds all conversing in English as a common language. Jokes were to be had as class began, and afterwards we headed down to the computer lab to take a quiz. I took the quiz along with the students, and to my surprise, I missed a few questions! I was not consciously going through the comprehension questions and therefore I ended up glazing over details. I graded another students paper who had struggled with the quiz overall, but in the margins I noted where he had correctly answered a question that I had gotten wrong. I enjoyed the experience and plan on returning to that particular class in the near future.
3/2/16
Today I sat in on Ramin's higher level reading course, I enjoyed the higher level of communication to be had among students from different backgrounds all conversing in English as a common language. Jokes were to be had as class began, and afterwards we headed down to the computer lab to take a quiz. I took the quiz along with the students, and to my surprise, I missed a few questions! I was not consciously going through the comprehension questions and therefore I ended up glazing over details. I graded another students paper who had struggled with the quiz overall, but in the margins I noted where he had correctly answered a question that I had gotten wrong. I enjoyed the experience and plan on returning to that particular class in the near future.
CO#1 Jared
CO#1
I observed Felicia's foundation level grammar course on monday morning. I was entertained by the fact that she played Bob Marley music before the early morning course began. The students went through usages of singular and plural verbs in their practice sentences. For example, they went over when it is appropriate to use "is" and "are" respectively. When I was posed with the question, "Where are you from?" I answered with my customary answer of "Disneyworld" that I often use to bridge a gap when I am traveling abroad. Some students did not understand what was meant, but after bringing up pictures on the projector we all had a good laugh. I enjoyed the experience and would like to better understand how to communicate well with students who are still wrestling with English at a basic level.
I observed Felicia's foundation level grammar course on monday morning. I was entertained by the fact that she played Bob Marley music before the early morning course began. The students went through usages of singular and plural verbs in their practice sentences. For example, they went over when it is appropriate to use "is" and "are" respectively. When I was posed with the question, "Where are you from?" I answered with my customary answer of "Disneyworld" that I often use to bridge a gap when I am traveling abroad. Some students did not understand what was meant, but after bringing up pictures on the projector we all had a good laugh. I enjoyed the experience and would like to better understand how to communicate well with students who are still wrestling with English at a basic level.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Wonmi Lee CO #2
Teacher: Leslie Wagner
Topic: Listening
Level: 3B
The professor started the class with announcements, and then went through the agenda of the day's class. The students received a print out for the questions of the listening activity. The class went through a vocabulary review that the listening activity focused on, and students answered with synonyms, definitions, or examples of the word or phrase.
For the listening activity, the students were told to listen for the "topic" in the first sentence, and reminded that they can take notes in their notebooks. The lecture was over 9 minutes long, which surprised me by the long length. The listening activity was a lecture about stress, going over what stress is, how it impacts our lives, and how we can deal with it. After the listening lecture was done, the professor showed the class the notes that she took, and how they compared with the students and also compared the notes with each other. Then there were comprehension questions that were answered individually, which the class then came together to discuss. There were some simple fact questions, but also some questions that required students to state their opinion. The professor made sure to ask each student, so that the whole class was involved and had a chance to answer. I was impressed with her easy going nature, and she seemed very attentive to each student.
One thing that was different about this class was that there were two distinct students who seemed to disrupt the chemistry of the class. She effectively took charge of this, by asking them very nonchalantly to focus on the lecture. Also, I got a few good points from the listening activity lecture, which stated "Make plans and act about stress when appropriate. Do not waste energy on worrying, and plan actions to fix or avoid stress. However, know when it is appropriate, and learn to accept situations that you cannot control. For example, in traffic, you cannot control it, so learn to accept it and try to avoid the stress."
Tips that the professor gave: she has noticed a lack of student-centeredness with the TEFL graduates, and highly emphasized to keep the class student-centered and make sure to have a lot of interaction with the students.
Topic: Listening
Level: 3B
The professor started the class with announcements, and then went through the agenda of the day's class. The students received a print out for the questions of the listening activity. The class went through a vocabulary review that the listening activity focused on, and students answered with synonyms, definitions, or examples of the word or phrase.
For the listening activity, the students were told to listen for the "topic" in the first sentence, and reminded that they can take notes in their notebooks. The lecture was over 9 minutes long, which surprised me by the long length. The listening activity was a lecture about stress, going over what stress is, how it impacts our lives, and how we can deal with it. After the listening lecture was done, the professor showed the class the notes that she took, and how they compared with the students and also compared the notes with each other. Then there were comprehension questions that were answered individually, which the class then came together to discuss. There were some simple fact questions, but also some questions that required students to state their opinion. The professor made sure to ask each student, so that the whole class was involved and had a chance to answer. I was impressed with her easy going nature, and she seemed very attentive to each student.
One thing that was different about this class was that there were two distinct students who seemed to disrupt the chemistry of the class. She effectively took charge of this, by asking them very nonchalantly to focus on the lecture. Also, I got a few good points from the listening activity lecture, which stated "Make plans and act about stress when appropriate. Do not waste energy on worrying, and plan actions to fix or avoid stress. However, know when it is appropriate, and learn to accept situations that you cannot control. For example, in traffic, you cannot control it, so learn to accept it and try to avoid the stress."
Tips that the professor gave: she has noticed a lack of student-centeredness with the TEFL graduates, and highly emphasized to keep the class student-centered and make sure to have a lot of interaction with the students.
Wonmi Lee CO #1
Teacher: Angel Rios
Topic: Speaking
Level: 4A
The professor started with what the students will be doing in class today, and what the objectives were for the activity. He then reviewed materials that was going to be needed for the activity, writing the format on the board for the class to see. The class, on this day, had a speaking activity where they had prompts and their responses were recorded. The format of their speaking should have their name, the topic, their opinions, 2 reasons and 2 examples, and a conclusion. The first two prompts ("Sports has a good effect on society." and "Do you believe in love at first sight?") as practice, where the students had 15-30 seconds to think and plan their response. The students recorded themselves speaking for one minute, and then listened to themselves while also giving feedback. The third try was for a grade, and the prompt was "Do you prefer to travel alone or with a friend?". After the recording was done, students transcribed their own speaking recordings WITH MISTAKES and pauses, and turned into the professor.
The professor was very clear with precise instructions, and a loud clear voice so that all students could hear. He asked the class for feedback, and made sure the whole class understood the instructions before moving on. The class was easy going, joking with the professor at times and making small talk. However, the class was very focused, getting the activity done efficiently and attentive to the instructions given by the professor.
Some tips that he gave and especially highlighted was that confidence was key. He stated that students will be hesitant to learn from someone who doesn't seem confident in what he or she was teaching. Also, he said make sure you find the class that fits your personality, whether that be children, teenagers, or adults.
Topic: Speaking
Level: 4A
The professor started with what the students will be doing in class today, and what the objectives were for the activity. He then reviewed materials that was going to be needed for the activity, writing the format on the board for the class to see. The class, on this day, had a speaking activity where they had prompts and their responses were recorded. The format of their speaking should have their name, the topic, their opinions, 2 reasons and 2 examples, and a conclusion. The first two prompts ("Sports has a good effect on society." and "Do you believe in love at first sight?") as practice, where the students had 15-30 seconds to think and plan their response. The students recorded themselves speaking for one minute, and then listened to themselves while also giving feedback. The third try was for a grade, and the prompt was "Do you prefer to travel alone or with a friend?". After the recording was done, students transcribed their own speaking recordings WITH MISTAKES and pauses, and turned into the professor.
The professor was very clear with precise instructions, and a loud clear voice so that all students could hear. He asked the class for feedback, and made sure the whole class understood the instructions before moving on. The class was easy going, joking with the professor at times and making small talk. However, the class was very focused, getting the activity done efficiently and attentive to the instructions given by the professor.
Some tips that he gave and especially highlighted was that confidence was key. He stated that students will be hesitant to learn from someone who doesn't seem confident in what he or she was teaching. Also, he said make sure you find the class that fits your personality, whether that be children, teenagers, or adults.
Mitchell CO#1
Classroom Observation Blog
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