Chloe CO #2

For my second classroom observation, I observed one of Mr. Angel’s speaking classes. First, he reminded the students about their upcoming presentations next week. Then the class did a “rapid fire” speaking activity. For this activity, Angel picks an interesting topic for a fast-paced class discussion. Today’s theme was music. He started the discussion by asking what music meant to each of them, and students responded with statements like “Music is my life” or “Music is a way to express feelings”. Then Angel asked the students to talk about the positive aspects of music. They were able to express many good points: For example, music can motivate you or put you in a good mood. Then the students had to discuss the negative aspects of music, such as promoting violence or using bad words. Angel also used some agree/disagree statements, including “Artists should not have high salaries” and “Downloading free music is stealing”.

This activity was great because it created a lively conversation in the class. It allowed the students to express their opinions and talk about a subject they are all interested in. They could agree or disagree with each other and bounce ideas around. The class discussed relevant topics like the influence of music on culture, especially in areas of conflict like Venezuela. The students spent the last 20 minutes working on their presentations- they picked topics from a list of 300 that Angel provided. Once someone picks a topic, it is no longer available to other students. This seems like a great idea because multiple presentations on the same topic become very boring. Angel’s class seemed very well-structured, and I loved the rapid fire activity because it gave the students an opportunity to communicate with each other about a meaningful subject.

Claire CO #3

March 21^st, 9:00-9:50am
Grammar 3 with Victoria Davis

The atmosphere of Victoria’s Grammar 3 class felt relaxed but a little less high-energy than the other two (lower-level) classes that I have observed before. She was continuing a unit from the previous day on the use of gerunds and infinitives and had the students do a succession of activities from their textbook. This material was significantly more nuanced and challenging than what was taught in the other classes I observed. Victoria occasionally struggled to come up with examples on the spot for the different sentence structures that were being modeled. I struggled similarly when working with my tutee recently, (who happens to be in this grammar class) so it made me feel better that even the professionals sometimes need to take a minute to think up examples! Victoria’s error correction was often implicit, recasting the student’s sentence with the correct verb form. She also gave some explicit feedback by saying things like, “No, that doesn’t work.” Regarding the choice of using an infinitive versus a gerund in certain contexts, she frequently said things like “That doesn’t sound right, does it?” I had thought we were supposed to steer clear of these kinds of questions because they appeal to a sense of intuition of natural-sounding English which English learners can’t be expected to have. However, I guess when students reach a certain level of proficiency and have enough familiarity with certain forms, we can ask them to evaluate in these terms, which is comforting to me. The class involved a lot of moderately controlled activities that weren’t inherently communicative, but as Victoria directed the students to work in pairs and then share answers together in class discussions, students came up with answers that were personal and funny. Victoria picked up on this and made the class more engaging and communicative by responding to the content (as well as the grammar) of their sentences with relevant comments or follow-up questions.

Claire TS #4

Date/Time: March 20, 12:00-1:00pm

Location: CIES

Topic/Skill: Pronunciation and TOEFL timed speaking Q1

I met with Ana for the second time today. I worked with her on a couple of pronunciation points that Brazilians have difficulty with—the -ed suffix and /d/ vs. /dʒ/ sound. For the first part, I explained the three ways we say -ed and in what context; I gave her some words cut out on little pieces of paper and had her try to assign each of them to one of the three ways of pronouncing -ed. Then I asked her to talk about what she did yesterday and  had her do a sample TOEFL speaking question that required her to use the past tense (and lots of -ed suffixes). For the second part, I gave Ana a printout of info I found online about where the /dʒ/ sound occurs in English (usually as the letters j or g), and how there are only a few cases where the letter d produces this sound (like graduate and soldier). I had her read some tongue-twisters and minimal pair sets to practice the pronunciation differences. Finally, I taught her four new vocabulary words/phrases with strong /d/ and /dʒ/ sounds and did another quick sample TOEFL speaking question with her. Looking back, I’m not really sure if these were great pronunciation issues to tackle with Ana. They were definitely hard ones for her to train her ear and tongue to get right, but I’m not sure if they would often cause her to be misunderstood or lower her TOEFL speaking score significantly. The way I presented the material seemed a little confusing to her, and Ana still made a lot of the same errors by the end of the lesson, so I might want to adjust my approach next time. However, I hope she will become more aware her pronunciation in these areas and build up her “monitor” gradually.

Taylar TS #1

Date/Time: March 17, 2017; 4-5PM
Location: 1911 Jackson Bluff Road
Topic/Skill: Basic Alphabet and Spelling
Feedback provided to tutee: Christian needs to work on his spelling and grasp of the english alphabet.  I had to help him spell each vocal word I gave him and when I asked how to spell the word without showing it to him, he used random letters that did not make a lot of sense. Instead of telling him "no" or "that's wrong" I said, "are you sure?" and "try it one more time." When he did get it I would give positive feedback like "excellent!" and a lot of high fives! I thought that positive feedback would help more with his motivation to learn from the tutoring sessions. I also let him keep the alphabet table and flashcards that I made for him so he could practice. 
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: One of the biggest take aways from my tutoring session with Christian was that his skill level was actually much higher than I originally anticipated.  His speech skills, like his pronunciation, were very good and he was able to recognize different words like zebra, ball, fish, and even butterfly when I showed him the picture.  He struggled a lot with spelling and his grasp of the alphabet was not very good.  However, it did allow me to gage his skill level and plan exercises and activities for future sessions to improve his spelling and reading skills. 

Taylar CP #1

Date/Time: March 8, 2017; 5:00PM
Location: Dirac Starbucks
Topic discussed: Eun Young and I discussed our majors (we found out we were both IA majors!) and what we wanted to do after we graduate.  We discussed what our Spring Break plans were. We also talked about what we did on the weekends with friends and some of our hobbies. 
Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: When we were talking, we discussed our international experience and Eun Young shared some things about her life back home in Seoul. She talked about the differences between where her actual home was (in the province just outside the city) and life in Seoul. We talked a little bit about Korean food and I related the Korean food I had on vacation with the Chinese food I had when I studied abroad.  When we were talking about our majors and post-graduate careers, Eun Young told me she wanted to work in the foreign office for the Korean Government.  We talked about the differences in government between South Korea and the US and how we both wanted to go into a field of work that was involved at the international level.

Taylar CO #1

Date/Time: March 8, 2017; 1:00PM
Topic/Skill: Speaking
Teacher Presentation: The students were to pair up and discuss different places to take their significant other on a date.  The instructor had them write down their own ideas before discussing it with a partner, giving them 1-2 minutes to think of ideas and 2-3 minutes to discuss. 
Classroom Management: The instructor gave the initial instructions for the lesson and let the students discuss without interfering in the conversations unless asked by the students.  The instructor would bring the class back together after each breakout session so the students could switch partners. 
Materials: Worksheet, Projector, Whiteboard, Internet (Procon.org)
Student Participation: High; The students were interactive and consistently asking clarification questions throughout the class period.  The students also did not limit themselves to the topic of conversation the instructor provided.  They often continued the conversation beyond the parameters of the lesson.
Feedback Provided: The instructor provided feedback on a Post-It note.  He would go around the room while the students were talking to each other and write down notes on a Post-It.  The students would review the post-it after the discussion was over and self-assess each other. Most of the feedback consisted of grammar errors and pronunciation. 
Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: One of the best lessons on teaching I learned from Ryan's class was the impact of student participation, especially when it comes to speech.  The aspect of the lesson I liked the most was when the students self-assessed each other.  I often find that even in my own studies, if you can teach the material to someone then you have a good grip on it.  When the students were able to give each other feedback and tell each other what they need to improve on, it was a great showcase of how much they have learned and how good of a grasp they have on English through speech. 

Ryler TS #3 (adult)

Tutoring Session #3 (adult) with Dasom

Date/Time:

03/19/17, 6:00-7:30pm

Location:

Black Dog Cafe in Railroad Square

Topic/Skill:

Meeting and assessment.

Tutoring Lesson:

I used the Needs Assessment Questionnaire provided by CEIS to help me get a feel for Dasom's skill level. Since she is a current CIES student she was able to tell me what levels she was in for each language component. She told me she is in level 2 in Grammar, Composition, and Listening; and in level 3 in Reading and Speaking.

I asked her what she felt was the most difficult for her and she said 'speaking' so she would like to focus on conversation practice. She is naturally timid so speaking is even more difficult for her. 

I asked her all of the prompt questions from the guide requesting that she respond with full sentences. if possible. She struggled quite a bit and lacked confidence in her abilities but made a good effort of it and I helped her along where she needed it and gave her positive feedback when she didn't. 

Dasom told me that she only hangs out with the other Korean students from CIES and speaks to them only in Korean and watches Korean TV at night. I recommended that she try to start spending time with other students from CIES (or locals) so that she will be forced to casually practice her English speaking skills. I also recommended she try to watch only American (or British) TV while she is here so that she can feel more immersed in the language.

Next lesson we will do more conversation and speaking practice and I will bring worksheets on articles and present perfect; two grammar issues she wants to practice more.