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Practicum, Day Four ::: ProfObs1

< rant >
Chandrika observed me tonight. Only four students showed up for class. Genia theorized that perhaps they didn't want to come b/c they knew we'd be cooking again. Well, since I told her two weeks ago that I had a cooking lesson plan that I wanted to use, and that I would be using it for my observation, and she decided to rush in and "make biscuits" Monday night to start "her idea" for a "cooking theme", I blame her completely. For everything. Yes, including world hunger. I know I shouldn't be angry with her for doing that, but what was she thinking? Did she want to make it seem that I was following her lead, to retain her dubious "authority"? I feel like she resents my presence in her classroom. As we were leaving, I thanked her for letting me teach the class tonight. Her only reply was "you did fine." wtf?
< /rant >

Edited 02-08-06 @ 8:31 PM

All things considered, the lesson went well. Genia stayed pretty much out of the way, as if her pouting might bother me (it didn't). I stuck to the lesson plan as closely as I could, given my aversion to structure.
After giving up on more students showing up for class, we headed to the kitchen for the lesson. I used the Heinle Picture Dictionary to look at cooking vocabulary. Genia rummaged through the cabinet to find a few utensils to show. I went over the utensil's use, and the word's pronunciation. I think this could have been better - identifying the words by the object they represent gives learners a solid reference, but I didn't really know how to optimize that. I wasn't expecting that, and their interest caught me off guard. I started the recipe part, and realized I had no clue what I was doing. I held up the items we'd be using for the recipe, and asked them to identify each one. Then I went through the recipe line-by-line. I've noticed that when Genia asks them to repeat words after her, they repeat the tone as well. So I was determined that I would give them a whole phrase, so they'd have more than one word to mimic. We took some time working word-by-word as well. This part felt forced, even while I was doing it.
What I want to know is how to shift gears smoothly when that happens. If something isn't working, or doesn't feel right, how do I move on or change it? I've thought of just pausing and asking them if they have any questions. I love it when they ask questions. Sometimes I find myself so lost in what I'm doing that I forget to pay attention to them, and I miss questions, or funny "I don't get it" looks. When they're asking questions, I can direct the lesson to where they need/want it to go. For example, when we were going over the word "tongs", one student asked what the difference is between "tongs" and "tongue", which then led to the difference between those words and "thong".
When they were ready to actually make the cookies, I told them to have at it, and to speak English with each other. That didn't really happen ... Chandrika interjected at some point to ask Yolande to speak English, and Yolande actually started translating what Chandrika had asked! I got tickled, but I could see the problem. I suggested that they try two different ways in English before they resort to Spanish. If I continue to insist on that, I think they'll try. I know if they try, it will improve their English more quickly than anything else I teach them. The students worked very well with each other as a team, so I think I'll incorporate more group work. They seemed to be having a good time. While the cookies baked, we sat and chatted. The ladies decided to convince Chandrika that I'm a good teacher. I was surprised when Yolande said that she and Blanca don't even come on Mondays, b/c I'm not there. Ruth said she learns more when I teach than when Genia does. That made me feel good about what I'm doing, even though I know I have a lot to learn.
We had about fifteen minutes of class left after the cookies were done, which wasn't quite enough time for the writing segment, but I was going to get it started anyway. But two things thwarted me: 1, Yolande and Blanca had to leave early; and 2, right as we were taking the cookies out of the oven, Genia came into the kitchen and said that we'd just "take our break, since we didn't take one earlier". While we ate our cookies, I casually reviewed some of the vocabulary with Ruth and Maria, and kept conversation going in English.

I think the main thing they need is more practice speaking and listening in context. So what I need to figure out now is how to give them that.

P.S.
The cookies were great!

posted by E.M @ 10:27 PM