Third classroom observation (second Ryan). Tuesday, March 11, 2-3pm
Ryan Flemming, Listening group 3, 13 students
Pace of Lesson: Starting quickly and adjusting to a slower pace during the main activity and getting busier trying to get a good start on the notes modeling homework.
Teacher Presentation: Begins with a new assignment, a listening log using Ted.com videos. Choose a main topic and describe with sentences including five new vocabulary. Demonstrate navigating the site. Then a timer is set for first activity, review a vocabulary list from the article "Sports Doping" including: to ban, to dope, to supervise, steroid, equilibrium, reproductive, cholesterol. Students quiz each other (peer assessment) and complete worksheet.
Main listening activity is an audio file about St. Patrick's Day holiday, about three minutes long. Play clip to introduce. Distribute handout and explain the task of transcription and the grading guidelines. Fill in the blanks, grammar must be correct but spelling errors that do not affect meaning are OK. I was asked to read from a script for the third hearing because the clip was a bit noisy, even when slowed. The students appreciated this and commented.
The third activity was a new handout article "Alternatives to Antibiotics", a VOA special English Science report, clearly recorded for an ESL audience. Another great source for many topical listening activities. He distributed the transcript on paper and asked class to form groups of three. Today was a guided exercise in note taking, not transcription (dicto-comp?). Ryan circulates while groups work giving hints to the class: skip lines, numbers and dates with keywords, never alone. Record when the speaker changes, write negatives as symbols (+ -) and arrows for increase/decrease, use simple subject, verb, object notation.
Classroom Management: Uses vocal and on screen timer countdowns to keep groups on task. Even forming groups with "find a partner in five seconds, four, three…". One girl was intent on working alone all class. I asked about her and Ryan said he wondered about her but was not requiring her to work with others until he understood her situation better. We spoke about tragic events in her home country recently. Groups work quietly, not as noisy as some other classes. When alarm sound indicates the end of the timed activity, Ryan does not have to ask for the class to reform, to my surprise.
Teaching Aids: Ted.com is a site that includes complete transcripts of every video. Computer projection of slides and agenda. Internet based timer. Paper handout worksheet. Software to slow audio file playback for listening comprehension. Google image search to illustrate vocabulary "shamrock" and "plyc" bacteria.
Student Production: This group is much more confident and outspoken in class. Comments include "I want to change my partner" are not disruptive, there is more mixing, telling jokes, asking questions. Ryan collects all class worksheets. Self assessment on vocabulary and peer assessment, exchange and grade using the projected transcription key used for listening activity, reinforcing students exposure to common errors in others. Discussion of "beautiful mistakes" and explain vocabulary in context: Irish "descent", "famine."
Overall Impression: Ryan is a very efficient user of time and the class seems to respect his efforts and cooperates very well. He is assertive, but never pushy. He is not ambiguous about anything and explains every part of the class activity ahead of time. There are no surprises and expectations are very clear. He is very well prepared, and prepared for the unexpected question.
Showing posts with label obs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obs. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Carlton CO #2
Second classroom observation. Tuesday, March 4, 2-3pm
Debbie Caretta, Listening group 1, 5 students
Pace of Lesson: This group of students required the teacher to adjust constantly to accommodate the low level of conversational English ability in this immersion class. The lesson plan is a guide only. Ms. Caretta explained to me before class that there are three foundations teachers and they coordinate the lessons for each skill area to share content and scaffold off of each other. The students need a lot of repetition and practice in class, so the pace must encourage them with small successes to keep trying.
Teacher Presentation: I was introduced as a student teacher and my presence was a means to practice simple introductions with several students. My unprepared interactions allowed Ms. Caretta to help students strategy to understand and respond to some unfamiliar words and phrases. The lessons at this level include how to study the language and prepare for class at least as much as other teaching topics. In this class, going over the students "Engrade" reporting program online was a challenging task in English. The main lesson task was parsing a personal story of family relationships in order to answer direct factual questions: "My sister's name is Sue. She calls me Deb. Sue has a family. She is married. Her husband's name is Jeff… etc."
For listening skill, it is important for the students to take brief and accurate notes. None did so when asked. The story included 3 generations with names. Since none could recall the structure or remember the English relations without notes, they needed more cognitive scaffolding. So she shifted the lesson to demonstrate the Cornell note taking method (2 columns, key words and phrases only). Only some of the students bothered to copy her model. To check on learning, Ms. Caretta tried a new and simpler scenario with her pets types and names. Class time ended before this could be completed.
Classroom Management: This requires patience because these students are probably not used to an American classroom and can have very different expectations of politeness and discipline. They also cannot pick up the cues the teacher may send until they are more clear as to her expectations. This was apparent as some students are texting in class or even admitted to watching video. They know they are supposed to be using English only, but sometimes will ask classmates questions in Arabic. This behavior was noticeably irritating to other students. Ms. Caretta's tone and demeanor was always positive, if a little condescending, even if she had to repeat her requests.
Teaching Aids: Ms. Caretta used the projector and MS Word document to start. When she shifted to modeling the Cornell note taking skill, she used the whiteboard. Students all had a universal English picture dictionary but did not use it in class.
Student Production: Students asked to write paragraphs about family to be read aloud. Nothing is collected for grading in this class, but classroom interaction is easy to grade because there are only 5 students. Student productive work largely stopped near the end of the period when a rain of white dust began dropping from the air conditioning vents overhead, causing several students to shift seats and become alarmed. There was no explanation that could be provided other than to call maintenance.
Overall Impression: It becomes apparent that when working at the foundation level across cultures, the disparity in language skill levels has a pronounced impact on the classroom environment, even indirect study skills. It is so easy to overload one student while boring another with a particular task. The roles can be reversed in the next minute. Ms. Caretta is very sensitive to finding a balance between the lesson goals and the needs of each student.
Debbie Caretta, Listening group 1, 5 students
Pace of Lesson: This group of students required the teacher to adjust constantly to accommodate the low level of conversational English ability in this immersion class. The lesson plan is a guide only. Ms. Caretta explained to me before class that there are three foundations teachers and they coordinate the lessons for each skill area to share content and scaffold off of each other. The students need a lot of repetition and practice in class, so the pace must encourage them with small successes to keep trying.
Teacher Presentation: I was introduced as a student teacher and my presence was a means to practice simple introductions with several students. My unprepared interactions allowed Ms. Caretta to help students strategy to understand and respond to some unfamiliar words and phrases. The lessons at this level include how to study the language and prepare for class at least as much as other teaching topics. In this class, going over the students "Engrade" reporting program online was a challenging task in English. The main lesson task was parsing a personal story of family relationships in order to answer direct factual questions: "My sister's name is Sue. She calls me Deb. Sue has a family. She is married. Her husband's name is Jeff… etc."
For listening skill, it is important for the students to take brief and accurate notes. None did so when asked. The story included 3 generations with names. Since none could recall the structure or remember the English relations without notes, they needed more cognitive scaffolding. So she shifted the lesson to demonstrate the Cornell note taking method (2 columns, key words and phrases only). Only some of the students bothered to copy her model. To check on learning, Ms. Caretta tried a new and simpler scenario with her pets types and names. Class time ended before this could be completed.
Classroom Management: This requires patience because these students are probably not used to an American classroom and can have very different expectations of politeness and discipline. They also cannot pick up the cues the teacher may send until they are more clear as to her expectations. This was apparent as some students are texting in class or even admitted to watching video. They know they are supposed to be using English only, but sometimes will ask classmates questions in Arabic. This behavior was noticeably irritating to other students. Ms. Caretta's tone and demeanor was always positive, if a little condescending, even if she had to repeat her requests.
Teaching Aids: Ms. Caretta used the projector and MS Word document to start. When she shifted to modeling the Cornell note taking skill, she used the whiteboard. Students all had a universal English picture dictionary but did not use it in class.
Student Production: Students asked to write paragraphs about family to be read aloud. Nothing is collected for grading in this class, but classroom interaction is easy to grade because there are only 5 students. Student productive work largely stopped near the end of the period when a rain of white dust began dropping from the air conditioning vents overhead, causing several students to shift seats and become alarmed. There was no explanation that could be provided other than to call maintenance.
Overall Impression: It becomes apparent that when working at the foundation level across cultures, the disparity in language skill levels has a pronounced impact on the classroom environment, even indirect study skills. It is so easy to overload one student while boring another with a particular task. The roles can be reversed in the next minute. Ms. Caretta is very sensitive to finding a balance between the lesson goals and the needs of each student.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Carlton CO #1
First classroom observation. Tuesday March 4, 9-10am
Ryan Flemming, Grammar group 3, 10 students
Pace of Lesson: Brisk and continuous. He engaged a few students before class began on a spelling and pronunciation point in Portuguese and jumped directly to the syllabus when class was due to start. Students asked a variety of questions during class, and were engaged most of the time because there was a variety of short segments.
Teacher Presentation: Class period was about 50% lecture and modeling and 50% student group activities. Agenda was all preplanned. I was introduced as an observer of the teacher, so students were clear I was not evaluating them. Ryan asked permission of the group for a time for correction. Lessons were presented as short presentations followed by 5 minutes of group work. During the group, Ryan circulated and made notes that he used to present at the end as a set of "beautiful mistakes" that were not attributed to any student, but presented for the benefit of all.
Classroom Management: Focus questions to start or wrap up a segment were addressed to specific students, so they were aware they could be called on at any time. It was assumed they all had smartphones, so sometimes Ryan asked them to just "take a picture of the screen" to capture notes and many did.
Teaching Aids: Computer screen projection included the lesson outline with annotations. A blank MS Word document was used for presenting grammatical errors and corrections. A present/past word list was projected to support the tense review. A familiar online dictionary (www.grammar.about.com) was helpful to quickly present information to answer student questions.
Student Production: Students were called on by name to contribute, ask or answer questions. Groups chose topics from subset like "movies" and expanded examples of compound sentences. Direct interview of partners with clear expectation to produce 4 sentences reporting what the partner said, integrating listening, writing and speaking.
Overall Impression: Ryan impressively manages to seem flexible and responsive to the students while keeping to a detailed and explicit lesson plan. The classroom is a quiet, yet busy environment. No time was wasted during setup or changing activities or groups. An excellent model of our books advice to build in accountability yet let students control choices so they become more motivated and involved.
Ryan Flemming, Grammar group 3, 10 students
Pace of Lesson: Brisk and continuous. He engaged a few students before class began on a spelling and pronunciation point in Portuguese and jumped directly to the syllabus when class was due to start. Students asked a variety of questions during class, and were engaged most of the time because there was a variety of short segments.
Teacher Presentation: Class period was about 50% lecture and modeling and 50% student group activities. Agenda was all preplanned. I was introduced as an observer of the teacher, so students were clear I was not evaluating them. Ryan asked permission of the group for a time for correction. Lessons were presented as short presentations followed by 5 minutes of group work. During the group, Ryan circulated and made notes that he used to present at the end as a set of "beautiful mistakes" that were not attributed to any student, but presented for the benefit of all.
Classroom Management: Focus questions to start or wrap up a segment were addressed to specific students, so they were aware they could be called on at any time. It was assumed they all had smartphones, so sometimes Ryan asked them to just "take a picture of the screen" to capture notes and many did.
Teaching Aids: Computer screen projection included the lesson outline with annotations. A blank MS Word document was used for presenting grammatical errors and corrections. A present/past word list was projected to support the tense review. A familiar online dictionary (www.grammar.about.com) was helpful to quickly present information to answer student questions.
Student Production: Students were called on by name to contribute, ask or answer questions. Groups chose topics from subset like "movies" and expanded examples of compound sentences. Direct interview of partners with clear expectation to produce 4 sentences reporting what the partner said, integrating listening, writing and speaking.
Overall Impression: Ryan impressively manages to seem flexible and responsive to the students while keeping to a detailed and explicit lesson plan. The classroom is a quiet, yet busy environment. No time was wasted during setup or changing activities or groups. An excellent model of our books advice to build in accountability yet let students control choices so they become more motivated and involved.
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