Since it was Thursday, I didn't teach my usual class. I ended up back with Mary in Level 1. She was glad to see me because she needed help with this lesson. She put together a little store scenario to supplement the lesson about shopping, paying with and receiving cash, and receiving and making change. I was really impressed with her ingenuity. I got to help her by participating in the role-playing, writing words on the board as she demonstrated, and explained terms and concepts.
I think I really like this class now, too. It might be my new Thursday home. The students enjoy my company and like to talk during their break.
Tonight I learned to be resourceful- being creative and using easily available household times to enhance a lesson, finding a way to make poor-conditioned supplies work (our dry erase board was not cooperating), and finding a means somehow when a problem occurs because a good teacher does what (s)he can to make the lesson enjoyable and effective.
Sadly, I still noticed her correction. It wasn't as bad tonight as it was the first time, but a new form was added: utterance interruption and completion. She wouldn't give most students a chance to complete an utterance if they started to slow down or falter. She would complete it for them and move on. My philosophy is let them try. Often they will catch their mistakes. Let them try to fix it. If they miss it, can't figure out how to fix it, or ask for help, then chime in- and only if it can be done without interrupting the flow of speech.
It's easy to criticize others. I hope I can actively remain aware of this when I'm teaching and be open to constructive corrective criticism.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tuesdays are my favorites!
Tonight was great. I really look forward to Tuesdays. Tonight was unique. One student, usually the hardest worker, had a "whatever" attitude. She literally said "whatever" a few times when she had trouble pronouncing some words. The other students and I encouraged her lightly to keep trying. Eventually she started to lighten up and readopt her diligent attitude.
Tonight I kept in mind how much I talk about myself. At the beginning of the lesson, as people entered the class, we spent a moment talking about the weather changing from cold to warm and about Valentine's Day. They discussed work, and I talked a little about my own classes. I mentioned that the previous night I gave a demo lesson on teaching articles and that it didn't go as I planned, to which they got a kick out of my story. Less than an hour later, articles came up in a grammar segment. Ironic. We spent a little more time than planned on articles, but it was good because they had many questions and really wanted to practice. I made a drill up of the top of my head using a few practice dialogues in the book and altering them. The students loved it! The students began following a pattern in the book and then started using their own creativity. Their motivation seemed to be part pushing themselves and part trying to stump their partners. It was really inspiring to see the success. I partially made up a drill on the fly as a response to their curiosity and necessity, and they took soaked it up, took ownership of it, and expanded further than I planned or expected.
Even though we got off topic with the articles and dialogue drills (and a couple guys took an extra-long break), we still ended up ahead of schedule. We decided to press on and tackle comparatives. That was great! They caught on pretty quickly to pronunciation and when to use -er, -ier, and more. Sadly, we ran out of time to attempt superlatives.
Tonight I kept in mind how much I talk about myself. At the beginning of the lesson, as people entered the class, we spent a moment talking about the weather changing from cold to warm and about Valentine's Day. They discussed work, and I talked a little about my own classes. I mentioned that the previous night I gave a demo lesson on teaching articles and that it didn't go as I planned, to which they got a kick out of my story. Less than an hour later, articles came up in a grammar segment. Ironic. We spent a little more time than planned on articles, but it was good because they had many questions and really wanted to practice. I made a drill up of the top of my head using a few practice dialogues in the book and altering them. The students loved it! The students began following a pattern in the book and then started using their own creativity. Their motivation seemed to be part pushing themselves and part trying to stump their partners. It was really inspiring to see the success. I partially made up a drill on the fly as a response to their curiosity and necessity, and they took soaked it up, took ownership of it, and expanded further than I planned or expected.
Even though we got off topic with the articles and dialogue drills (and a couple guys took an extra-long break), we still ended up ahead of schedule. We decided to press on and tackle comparatives. That was great! They caught on pretty quickly to pronunciation and when to use -er, -ier, and more. Sadly, we ran out of time to attempt superlatives.
Another Thursday...
Tonight I asked to observe the lowest level, "Literacy," instead of level 1. I want a variety of experience. When I introduced myself to the teacher, she was more than welcoming. I ended up assisting her! I really enjoyed the low level. The teacher was very good about making the students pronounce things correctly without impeding the flow of the class. However, she did tend to get off task quite a bit by talking about herself and her life and family. This could be beneficial to some degree as it means added exposure to English, but too often the teacher trailed off or spoke at too quick of a rate for the students to understand while not repeating or clarifying. It seemed to be a waste of time and detrimental (maybe inefficient is more accurate and less harsh) to the learning environment. I am going to be cautious about this. I occasionally include my own experiences when they relate to the subject discussed, but I am fairly confident that it is not too much. I think it helps build a relationship between the students and teacher while showing how a topic actually applies, giving clarity to the student in what could seem ambiguous.
I was really impressed with the speaking ability of these students. Some students seemed to be more advanced than the level 1 students I encountered during my observation. Placement tests always confound me. I see so much overlap, I wonder about their accuracy.
My experience with this lower level definitely revealed an interest I have with a lower proficiency. I would really like to experience a lower level, if possible.
I was really impressed with the speaking ability of these students. Some students seemed to be more advanced than the level 1 students I encountered during my observation. Placement tests always confound me. I see so much overlap, I wonder about their accuracy.
My experience with this lower level definitely revealed an interest I have with a lower proficiency. I would really like to experience a lower level, if possible.
Friday, February 18, 2011
After the Snow/Ice Comes.... more ESL
After missing a week, I was glad to be back. Classes were were smaller; mine was down by about 3. The teacher on Thursday, the one keeping me from teaching a class consistently, didn't even show up. The teacher that filled in on Thursday ended a little behind, and, in addition to that, missing a week due to the weather put the class a a little over a week behind schedule. My job was to catch the class up as much as possible.
I had to adjust as we went along through the lessons, picking what was most important and what could be skipped. Luckily there seemed to be a lot of repetition of material already mastered by the students or too redundant where it wasn't necessary. I think I did a good job of skipping over things. At first the students thought it was strange that I was skipping many items, sometimes a page or two at a time. They soon caught on and helped me by telling me if they already knew the material or not.
I remembered watching Mary teach level 1 when I observed her and put into practice what I wanted to, having more interaction with the students that caused them to practice more, and avoided excessive correction, which I think is probably the opposite of my problem.
I really like this class and wish I could teach it on Tuesday and Thursday.
I had to adjust as we went along through the lessons, picking what was most important and what could be skipped. Luckily there seemed to be a lot of repetition of material already mastered by the students or too redundant where it wasn't necessary. I think I did a good job of skipping over things. At first the students thought it was strange that I was skipping many items, sometimes a page or two at a time. They soon caught on and helped me by telling me if they already knew the material or not.
I remembered watching Mary teach level 1 when I observed her and put into practice what I wanted to, having more interaction with the students that caused them to practice more, and avoided excessive correction, which I think is probably the opposite of my problem.
I really like this class and wish I could teach it on Tuesday and Thursday.
First Thursday: Not My Ideal Situation
Tonight I found out that I will not be teaching the level 2 class on Thursday nights. Some other guy wants to come on Thursday nights only to teach and wants only that class. I don't know how I feel about this.
Instead of teaching tonight, I observed a class. It was a level 1 class. The students were really eager to learn and participate, full of energy. The teacher, too, was very energetic. Watching her teach, I picked up on a couple of techniques I wish I had employed on Tuesday. First of all, I should have had students repeat what I said more often during pronunciation drills. Also, I should have used more individual pronunciation.
One thing that I noticed the teacher doing that I would not do was her high level of explicit correction. She corrected so often that it impeded the students' production, often because she interrupted them and occasionally because they were too hesitant in production to maintain a constant rate of fluency. Instead, I would bring the class's attention to the pattern and address it.
Instead of teaching tonight, I observed a class. It was a level 1 class. The students were really eager to learn and participate, full of energy. The teacher, too, was very energetic. Watching her teach, I picked up on a couple of techniques I wish I had employed on Tuesday. First of all, I should have had students repeat what I said more often during pronunciation drills. Also, I should have used more individual pronunciation.
One thing that I noticed the teacher doing that I would not do was her high level of explicit correction. She corrected so often that it impeded the students' production, often because she interrupted them and occasionally because they were too hesitant in production to maintain a constant rate of fluency. Instead, I would bring the class's attention to the pattern and address it.
My First Class @ LIFT
After my brief meeting with Teresa in the morning, I had some idea of what to expect, but one can never know completely what to expect. Having essential supplies, i.e. textbooks, a syllabus, white boards and markers- even pens, pencils, and paper, already provided helped take some of the burden off of preparing. However, the markers don't always want to release ink. I showed up a little early to review the lesson to be taught and let the jitters subside. As the students started showing up, I felt comfortably and naturally in place. The lesson was easy to teach and, at least as it appeared, easy to learn.
During the second half of the class, we were interrupted to take a placement test. The test, as I was told, should only take them 20 minutes to complete. This clock in the classroom did not work and my phone died, so I had no way to tell time. The test was completed by the last person as we heard other students leaving their classrooms, meaning the test took nearly an hour. It put us behind but not that much.
I noticed a couple things I need to improve on. The main one is rate of speech. Not just slow down, because for the most part it was okay, but be constant and consistent. I would catch myself speaking too quickly and then slow down too drastically, almost to the point where I felt patronizing.
The class provided great immediate feedback and were very encouraging. My personality and charisma fit well with this class, making a great dynamic. I look forward to many more nights with them!
During the second half of the class, we were interrupted to take a placement test. The test, as I was told, should only take them 20 minutes to complete. This clock in the classroom did not work and my phone died, so I had no way to tell time. The test was completed by the last person as we heard other students leaving their classrooms, meaning the test took nearly an hour. It put us behind but not that much.
I noticed a couple things I need to improve on. The main one is rate of speech. Not just slow down, because for the most part it was okay, but be constant and consistent. I would catch myself speaking too quickly and then slow down too drastically, almost to the point where I felt patronizing.
The class provided great immediate feedback and were very encouraging. My personality and charisma fit well with this class, making a great dynamic. I look forward to many more nights with them!
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