Emily CO #3

Date/Time: Thursday, 9 March 2017 at 2 PM

Topic/Skill: Listening with Rebecca Turk

Teacher Presentation: My third classroom observation was a listening class with Rebecca Turk. Of my three observations this class was the smallest, with only four students. The class began much like the others with the teacher engaging the students by asking them questions about their holiday plans and the like. By this class I had learned that asking students personal questions about their interests, hobbies, or extracurricular activities was a benign way of encouraging English language use and learning. After a preliminary recap for the students the class delved into a listening assignment in which the teacher read aloud a passage of text and the students followed along. As the students followed along in their workbooks their version of the text had certain words or phrases missing and which students had to correctly identify and fill-in. After reading the passage aloud twice the teacher then had each student come up to the board and fill in one of the blanks. The teacher then went over whether their answers were correct and discussed what their meanings were. After this listening activity the teacher began discussing their next chapter which was about food. Instead of diving right in the teacher encouraged a short discussion about American restaurant habits such as leaving a tip for a server. This then segued into a game of Taboo which forced the students to think of creative ways to explain a word. It was interesting to watch such a commonplace game be used in this manner, it allowed students to have fun while also challenging their learning. It is definitely a technique and game I will use in the future.