Class Observation 1

Saturday September 3rd 2016

Tutor: Lorena Perez
Module: 16
Book: Let's Talk 2

First Class

The day finally arrived!! Being in the saturday’s program is a huge opportunity to me. I can be in a real class observing what my mentor does. On these 10 following weeks I will have the opportunity to observe and deliver any activity that my tutor requires. I am in the module 16 with Miss Lorena Perez. It is a speaking module with only 14 students.

There were only 8 students because they had to be in a project at Don Bosco school

Warm-Up

The topic was: What’s the weather like? The teacher wrote the date, the number lesson and

the objective. After that, as a warm-up she wrote 4 numbers on the board and she asked to the class why there were important for her. Students were able to participate because they did the same, they had to write 4 numbers and ask each other if they could guess why these numbers were meaningful for them. I really enjoyed this activity because my mentor asked to their assistants (in this case my classmate and I) to help her with the activity. This activity can be adapted to any topic to deliver it as a community builder.

Encounter

Also, the teacher asked them to watch a video related to the topic, where the students needed to write on their notebooks all the words that were related to the weather, for example: cool, fresh, windy, dull and so on. The video was a real interview that took place in London and some cities of the United States. By using realia materials, students can listen to the native speakers’ accent. The teacher played the video one more time but with the subtitles. I would definitely use this idea because I saw that students were willing to correct themselves because of what they had written before.

Clarify

Moreover, the teacher divided the class in two different groups, they wrote on the board all the words they had listened before with their respective synonym. I liked the way how the teacher tried to to clarify some of the meanings because she creates an environment where every answer is possible and correct. One of the CCQ’s she asked were:

• Do you know all the words or do you have any doubt?
• Can you tell me a sentence using this word?
• Do we have this type of weather in our country?

For a moment I forgot that I was in a speaking module, they talk and talk and share their ideas with others. I just saw one or two students that were afraid to participate.

Remember

In this module, I could see that students like to challenge themselves, that is why in the Remember stage, they were forced to remember 10 words and their respective synonym. At first, all the vocabulary were written on the board, secondly, the teacher erased all the words. Finally, she asked one by one what was the synonym of each word. Of course, she gave them one minute to remember all the words. For example:

• What is the word for cold?
• What is the word for chilly?
• What is the word for humid?

They enjoyed it because some of them knew the word but not the correct pronunciation. It was really fun to see how they were learning and having fun at the same time. I would do this activity with my students because it is really useful to apply CCQ’s to them. I would only modify it if I change the topic, otherwise, this activity was perfect.

Internalize

I used to think that a teacher needed to follow the exercises from the book; however, because of the previous activities, at the time to open their books, students completed the exercises from the book and they shared with a partner if they had the same answers. This activity made me realize that the book is only useful as a guide, as a teacher we can come up with new activities and leave the book just to reinforced what we have taught.

Fluent Use

I was very attentive to the fluent use stage because it is the most important part in a lesson plan. I was surprised when the teacher asked them to listen a weather report. Their task

was to prepare a conversation similar of what they heard talking about how the weather would be tomorrow. They had 10 minutes to prepare it. After that, the teacher asked them to make a circle so everybody could see each other at the time of the performance. Their performance was perfect, they used several words to describe the weather and they showed professionalism.

Wrap-Up

After the performances, it was to to relax. They were anxious because it was almost time for the break; however, the teacher gave them a short poem. They had to read with emotions. For example: they needed to be angry, happy, sad or laughing. Some of them were shy but others deserved an oscar. I would do this activity to help them to be in touch with their emotions.

After the break

As a consequence of the Crea-J Project, some of the students arrived late. The teacher could not start the class because more than half of the students were not on time. The teacher was really patient and she waited for them.

Encounter

The class started with the topic “Extreme Weather” and the teacher asked them to write on their notebooks the following words: power lose, drought, floods, frost bite, wildfire and close-roads. They needed to classify them in three columns:  

                         I know -----------  I have an idea ----------------  I want to know

Then, students got up and shared their answers with a partner. I like the TPS technique (Think-Pair-Share), because it helps the teacher to observe if the students understood the task.

Clarify

In this part the teacher asked for a volunteer to write on the board the same words they had classified on their notebooks. Later on, students could checked the spelling and ask for the meaning of a word. Some of the CCQ’s the teacher asked were:

• Do you remember any situation in our country where we had floods?
• In which situation does a person suffer or frostbite?
• In which country can you see droughts?

Because all of them already knew the meaning of the vocabulary, expressing their opinions were not a difficult task.

Remember

Teacher asked them to open their books and they had to discussed several questions by using the previous vocabulary. After 5 minutes, the teacher asked them one by one each question in order to avoid that some students participate more than others, she always tried to keep a balance and she gave the opportunity to express what they thought. What i liked about this idea is that no one can express that your opinions were wrong, because they are learning to listen first and then express if they are agree or not. As I said before, no one bother someone else because they know each other, and they know who participate less than the rest.

Internalize

Teacher divided the class in groups of three. She numbered them from 1-3. Each group was assigned with a extreme weather and they needed to think in 5 things they should and should not do to survive. They had 10 minutes to prepare it. Then, two of the students presented what they had written. I would do this activity with my future students because the activity was controlled but at the same time they were free to express different ideas.

Fluent Use

In this part students took a time to complete some exercises from the book. They will have an oral presentation next week and the teacher allowed them to practice.

Conclusion

What I learned in this week was no matter the activity you deliver, as a teacher we need to

help our students to use grammar structures and new vocabulary in real life situations. Also, if you planned your lessons with lots of activities, students will feel that English is fun. I am impressed with these students, they like to share and compare their answers with everybody. They enjoy oral presentations because they like to challenge each other to see who participates more. My mentor is the best, I like the sequence of her activities, they are short but meaningful. I have learned that for every task it is necessary to allow them to share with their classmates, because they feel free to use the language and they feel proud of themselves when they discover that they had the same answers.