esl ::: emily's so luscious

Practicum, Day Two

Class took place in a different room this evening. The room we were in had one table just big enough for everyone, and no whiteboard. most of the students reacted by being chattier than usual. A new student showed up, and Genia tests them as soon as they walk in the door. She asked me to take over with what she had started - just a packet of worksheets. The packet had been photocopied from some outdated workbook, and attempted to incorporate several different methodologies. There was a TPR activity, and a couple of conversation activities, and several matching exercises. I walked them through the worksheets, b/c Genia had asked me to, but I encouraged them to ask peripheral questions. We did a little with "How are you/I'm fine, thank you". I need to make an activity with more adjacency pairs, b/c they are eager to learn "appropriate" responses. One of the worksheets was a form letter ("Please excuse my son/daughter," etc), but the only things they had to fill in were the names. We went over Miss, Ms., Mrs., and Mr., b/c they seemed to be having trouble with the teacher's name. Turns out that was new information to them. The information on the worksheets mostly dealt with going to the doctor, body parts, common ailments, etc. Genia kept talking to them about learning the names for body parts b/c it's on the test (!!!!!). The students just looked at her blankly. I piped up and told them I felt it was useful for them to know these things b/c when they or their children are sick, they need to be able to communicate with the doctor. That registered with them. I shouldn't be angry with her for staying safely inside the text, but I get so frustrated that the students aren't learning purposeful language. The only thing I can do is try to be different myself, and make sure my lessons have a point.

posted by E.M @ 11:06 PM