esl ::: emily's so luscious

Practicum, Day Eighteen::: Peer Observation

Heather came to my class tonight. Using my fabulous syllabus as a guide, I prepared a simple lesson for "setting the table".

More on that later.

posted by E.M @ 10:26 PM 0 comments

Practicum, Day Seventeen ::: ProfObs5

My students were really hyper tonight, for some reason. Jamey came to observe again - my final prof observation. I was out all last week, to study for comps (btw, I passed!). Because of being out, and not having loads of time to prepare a lesson, I adapted my cooking lesson from a whiles back, but instead of following a recipe, we made brownies from a mix. I was excited to using a new lesson based on my new syllabus, and I had great expectations for the class. Unfortunately, it was a bit chaotic again. I take responsibility for that - I may have been out of my groove. I said WAAAAY too many words, again. I am trying so hard not to do that, and then there I go, chattering away like an annoying aunt. I know I'm doing it at the time, but I can't figure out how to stop. Also, the students' hyperness made them not want to speak English. They chattered a lot. In Spanish.
Giving students their instructions before moving into a new place works better than moving into the kitchen or into groups before instructions. That confirms my own analysis of that transition, so I was pleased. Of course, it didn't go perfectly, because I didn't give incredibly clear instructions, and I didn't hold their attention very well. They were so hyper and chattery and even more excited to be cooking in the kitchen, so that was a bit too much all together for my exhausted mind.
Situation aside, the lesson itself needed a specific language focus. I need to rewrite that lesson, and insert some activities that require students to produce language, and lots of it. The vocabulary lesson, which was intended to prep students for cooking instructions, didn't go well. One very big reason is that I didn't examine the text closely enough beforehand, assuming that it would be appropriate. But it included the word "sift"! When are they ever going to need to know what "sift" means? Never. Next time I do this lesson (if I ever do), I'll have a very specific vocab list, one more language activity for when the brownies are in the oven, and a wrap-up discussion to engage the students while they eat. And I really need to work on getting a timer and setting up some kind of English-only game.
Typically, the best part of the class was after Jamey left (not b/c of Jamey himself, but b/c the students calmed down a bit). I could tell we needed to do some classroom-y things to calm them down, so I reviewed the lesson Malinda had done last week. They needed that cool-down session, which I need to remember - if I always have a cool-down that pertains to the main lesson, they'll get that language focus I'm lacking.

posted by E.M @ 11:31 PM 0 comments

in other news ...

And now for the part of the show where Emily posts links to her other blog.
I've taken a break from your regularly scheduled programming to study for comps, but it's strange to be at home on a Thursday, knowing I don't have to prepare for class tonight.


Now, back to the studio!

posted by E.M @ 11:58 AM 0 comments

Practicum, Day Sixteen

Since I had to go to Asheville Monday night, Malinda filled in for me. She'll be doing the same next week, too, as I will be single-mindedly focused on comps. Since I'll be out so much, last week I told her she could start a unit of her own, and showed her the rough draft of my syllabus. We've finished up on the grocery-shopping for now, and I'm ready to move on to ingredient lists, recipes, and household cleaners ... since that's how I designed the syllabus ... but the unit she's working up is to do with employment. It's dead useful, so I'm not going to stop it, but it did cause a bit of disjointedness tonight. We split the class time, an hour of computer-work (only two students showed up for this) then an hour each for lesson. Continuing with the employment unit, Malinda led them through the job ads in the local freebie paper, and they talked about different jobs in the picture dictionary. My lesson, in contrast, seemed totally frivolous. I took a small story from one of the rejected side-by-side books, split up the sentences into single lines, added a few questions, and cut them into strips. I wrapped each strip around a piece of candy and put it in a plastic Easter egg (I put all my eggs in one basket, btw). Each student took two eggs, and read their line out loud. We put aside the questions for later. Then they worked together to put the story back together in the correct order. Then we read the story out loud, and answered the questions. The story was about the cultural significance behind meanings and traditions to do with colors, and the questions were more personal, like what is your favorite color, etc. I combined all the levels for the activity, b/c we had a brand-new novice tonight, who would not read out loud, and Yolande, who was able to help put the sentences together quickly. I asked her and Luis and Carmen to explain why they thought a sentence might go where it should, to get them to think about discourse markers. It was a fun activity, and they enjoyed talking about color-meanings in Mexico. They didn't seem to mind that tonight's class was disjointed, but I'd like to see a more cohesive three hours, rather than three separate chunks.

I felt I was taking a risk with the activity - it's a bit more challenging than what we've been doing lately, and less function-oriented. I've noticed they have trouble with function words when speaking, and so far all my lessons have revolved around content words. I needed a fun way to push their limits, without damaging their confidence. The risk paid off, I think. Mainly b/c by pushing those limits, I could tell a little bit about where they are, and where I need to go next. A little reading practice tonight, and when I get back from my week off, we can go on to cooking instructions. That's where the recipe lesson would fit, but this time we'll do a variation on that, and bake some something from a mix.

posted by E.M @ 11:50 PM 0 comments

Self-Observation

First of all, here is a list of a few things the video showed for fact, that I was guessing about before:

• I'm very casual - I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.


• I need to stay more focused in class.


• My explanations are confusing.


• I need to be aware of the actual words coming out of my mouth.


• I say too many words. Too much filler - content words get buried and students can't tell what's important and what's not.


• I need to make sure I pronounce words as they are said in conversation - always.

When watching the video, the first thing I noticed is how very laid-back I am. There's an open, friendly atmosphere to the class. However, sometimes my casual demeanor detracts from my teaching. This shows up during moments of transition, anytime when I need the full attention of the class and am unable to command it, and during explanations, when I am so conversational as to use too many filler words. I believe if I can stay aware of these, I'll find better techniques and use them consistently instead. Most of it is coming from lack of experience, lack of confidence, and self-consciousness (instead of healthy self-awareness). I don't know if that is evident to people who don't know me well - I happen to know those are the qualities about myself I particularly do not want my students to pick up on, so I'm compensating with casualness and charm. Hopefully that charisma will get me through until I actually do know what I'm doing. Until then, these are the things I do in class that could be better.
Pronunciation practice is not focused enough. It has a tendency to get boring, especially when there are too many words on the list, like this lesson. I could stop doing this part, but I’m not sure what an effective substitute would be. Sometimes it's fun - this happens when something from outside is brought in (like asking them if they know what tortillas are) - the key is to bring up something that will get them talking about the words.
My explanations are very bad. I think out loud, and this confuses the students, as I circumlocute to find the right words to explain something. The explanation of wine led to an interesting moment, but this was a confusing sidetrack.
When I transitioned from the first activity to the second, it should have been seamless because they were already focused on me, and already sitting in a large group. However, my explanation was confusing (again). Students either tune me out because they're only getting a key word here and there in the sea of words I’m throwing at them, or they seem to tune out because they're talking to each other to clarify what I’ve said. The problem with that is when they clarify for each other, they're not always correct, because they haven't heard all the instructions yet. This is a continuous problem, so during the lesson I give them time to confer for each item. During the instructions and some explanations, they don't know that they are supposed to be listening to me right then.
There were so many problems with this lesson in particular even before I saw the tape, so I don't know how much of that I need to discuss here. A list of particularly bad explanations, so when I bring those vocabulary words in next time, I need to work on them extra hard:

• Cantaloupe


• Several / a few


• One-at-a-time / individual


• Each / for one (students discussed this among themselves during a break, while I was working with an individual student - I already knew I needed to cover this again, and seeing this on the tape reinforced that)

The second activity should not have been so exclusive of the content meant for the third activity. I should have combined them, and shortened them. What I did was logical, but counter-intuitive, and I should have gone with my first instinct, which was to divide the list in half, and do both actions on each word together as a class, and then they could finish the second half in their groups. That might have been more successful. Again, this is something I’d already reflected on, but the tape confirmed my pre-tape self-analysis.
Some students compel more attention than others, but I must make sure to pay equal attention to all my students. Blanca and Ruth are both very motivated to learn, so I tend to focus on their needs, but sometimes other students have questions that go unheard because they lack confidence to speak up. This is something I suspected might be happening, but seeing it on the video confirmed it. I'm using the video as a classroom monitor, in a way. Since I can't see and hear everything while I’m teaching, this tells me what else is happening that I can't be aware of when it happens.
When I get annoyed with myself for giving a bad example or a confusing explanation, sometimes that comes across as frustration or impatience with the students. I must stay aware of that danger.
The transition into their small groups didn't go as smoothly as it could have. In fact, it was pretty bad. All I said was "okay" and as I mentioned earlier, I say so many words that the students are not likely to hone in on one particular word just when I need them to. The more confusing my explanations get, the more they chatter among themselves. Instead of giving one set of instructions to the group, I had to sit with each group and go over the same instructions three times. If I had commanded their attention as a class, it would have been more efficient. I think it was a good idea going to each group and sitting down with them to discuss any problems they're having, and make clarifications or suggestions. That's something I’ll continue in future. The actual getting them into groups worked better, but that's because I had thought about how to group them during their break.
Reflection comes naturally to me, partly because of my personality, and partly because of my experience in theatre. Watching myself on the video helped because I was able to confirm that my self-analysis has been accurate, and because it showed a few things I'm not capable of knowing while I'm teaching, such as what the students are doing when I'm elsewhere. I think I'll be able to function just fine as a teacher without videoing myself often, because I am actually able to monitor myself so well. That's not to say that I am able to change things while I monitor - I can tell I'm doing something badly, but I can't alter my course. That will come with time, if those with more experience than I are to be believed. The value of the video is, to me, much like "exhibit B", when the lawyer brings out the enlarged and digitally remastered security tape to prove what really happened on the night of April 3, 2006.

posted by E.M @ 10:50 PM 1 comments

Practicum, Day Fifteen

Quality control was the order of the evening. Since I blundered in Monday's class, I needed to bring in the same content, but make it more palatable. I trimmed down the vocab list, limiting it to 20 familiar words, all of which have a container of some sort. The students were a bit skeptical, since they had already seen all these words, and we didn't really use the picture dictionary. I used the pronunciation practice to work on some individual sounds they've been having trouble with. This later prompted Malinda to go over vowel sounds again during her segment of the class. I finally figured out how to uncover the whiteboard (behind a carpet panel wall), so I used it to do some semantic grouping with the class. I wrote some headings on the board, such as box, bag, carton, etc. I asked the students to tell me something that comes in a box, and they took off with it. That worked well, and they even used some words that were not on their vocabulary list. :) Next time, I think they'll understand the format well enough to write the words on the board themselves. After they had the words in their groups, I asked them to complete the phrase on their vocabulary worksheet (which was set up like: "a _____ of flour). We then went over pronunciation of the whole phrase, concentrating on linking. This was my first quasi-successful attempt at teaching them linking, and I'm rather excited about it. After the linking, I made a sign that said "bi-lo" (thanks for the idea, Connie!), and students took turns being bi-lo or the customer, asking and answering how much certain items are. That also worked well, considering it was their first roleplay exercise ever. Like the groupwork, they'll get used to it. They seemed to enjoy it, especially since it gave them an opportunity to tease each other.
I've been trying to self-monitor my transitions, and I think I did a little better tonight. I know everything went much more quickly, but I'm not sure exactly what I did. I was very aware of trying to give clear instructions, and I made a conscious effort to keep my voice level up (instead of lowering it like I've been doing). The voice modulation is interesting ... instead of becoming louder, I seem to firm my voice a bit, which gets their attention. I can't be sure that I've hit the trick, but I'll continue to monitor it over the next few weeks. I'll be working on how to do that for my action research plan, and I intend to put it into practice. How better to learn than by doing it?

posted by E.M @ 10:25 PM 0 comments

Peer Evaluation 2 ::: Wendy

Wendy was missing a couple of students in her fourth period class - there were 3 girls and 4 boys, ranging from 9th through 11th grade. She seated me at the back table, which gave me a vantage point to survey the room. The classroom setting was what I'd call an organized jumble. Every surface was covered with art, signs, maps, and student work. The class goals and rules were also up on the wall, as unintimidating bilingual posters. The students faced the whiteboard, which doubles as an overhead screen, in three columns of school desks. On the computers in the back corner and along the wall were colorful collage signs, which had been made by the students the day before. Each sign had a picture that illustrated a vocabulary word, and a definition in the student's own words. My favorite was the sign for assassination: an "Extreme X-Men" comic book cover and the caption: "assassination: somebody kill you and you die".

Wendy had no trouble getting her students' attention (I tried to figure out how she did it, but it seemed effortless). They went over the vocabulary, referring to the collages they had made. Then she passed out copies of a reading on the Civil War. On the whiteboard, Wendy drew what she called a "double bubble," a concept obviously familiar to the students. They took turns reading, a paragraph at a time, taking time to pause and discuss new words or concepts, and to start filling in the double bubble (which was a non-linear outline for comparison). After each paragraph was read, Wendy asked a different student to answer a question about that paragraph. A small discussion about cash crops led to an excellent teaching moment in which the students had a chance to describe sugarcane to Wendy. She didn't know it was edible in cane form, and the students really got into their descriptions, which stretched their adjective use. Then the class worked through the post-reading questions together, one at a time. Next came a brainstorming section, when Wendy wrote "Civil War" on the board, and gave them 2 minutes to write all the words they could think of about the Civil War, drawing on vocabulary from today and prior lessons. Next they worked in groups to find 5 new words, and put them all into semantic groups. She took them to the computer lab to research topics on the Civil War. Wendy directed them to a website that presents American History in simple language without dummying it down. [http://www.americasstory.com]

During their group work, Wendy let me read their journals from yesterday - they had written their opinions about the Mexican-American War. The journals are an excellent idea. It gives them a medium in which to write without feeling constrained by too many rules, with freedom to write what they feel (no right or wrong answers). It teaches them to think critically. Wendy teaches them about current issues that are relevant to them, and encourages them to discuss. She helped them write a letter to Senator Dole, in lieu of the walk-out the students themselves had proposed. They all signed the letter, taking as much a part in democracy as students can. I was impressed by how she had handled that situation, and how she empowered the students.
Wendy's students are open and communicative, and seem to have a good time while learning. She is very much herself - at home in her own skin, interested in what the students have to say, commanding respect without belittling. I was impressed by the comfortable atmosphere. One thing I noticed is that it would be almost impossible to have a student-centered class at the high school level. They would be totally out of control. A few of the activities were student-centered, but otherwise, it's all teacher-driven.

posted by E.M @ 11:58 PM 0 comments

Peer Evaluation 1 ::: Connie

One of the biggest challenges Connie faces in her class is not knowing how many students will show up for class, and if they do, what level are they, and how many of them were there last week for the lesson that this lesson builds on ... ? See the problem? I'm impressed by how well Connie handles this uncertainty - by forging right ahead, and dealing with whoever comes, catching up those who have missed crucial information from prior lessons. The problem tonight was that only one student showed up. However, b/c she was videoing her lesson, she really needed to have class as usual.

First, she reviewed the time vocabulary from the last lesson. The student, Patricia, seemed to be very uncomfortable with telling time. She was a very-beginning novice, but I'm not sure she could tell time very well in Spanish, either. Connie used copies from the Oxford picture dictionary and flashcards to go over phrases such as: quarter of, quarter after, half past, etc. These were good tools, but the best was when she brought out the clock. She turned the little dial on the back to make it show the time on the worksheet, and that worked so much better, b/c Patricia could see the movement. Patricia had a lot of difficulty with "a quarter to". Using a quarter ($.25) to demonstrate the idea helps, but they haven't officially covered money yet. I noticed that Patricia says "I don't know" very quickly, when just a little extra thought will produce the answer. Watching the clock hands move helped her a lot.

About an hour in, Guadalupe peeked in the door, and Connie invited him to join the class. It's good that he did, b/c Patricia perked up considerably when the attention was not all focused on her. The pair together made more progress. Patricia was less self-conscious, and volunteered more answers. Guadalupe had apparently studied much of this information, but the practice was good. Too often, we assume that b/c a student is at a slightly higher level, they don't need to cover rudimentary language, when we should recycle regularly so that those basics don't fall through the cracks. When I found out she has access to the Heinle Picture Dictionary, I suggested she use the pages on time and time of day, b/c it worked well with my students. That seemed to help. I really like the basic words section of that dictionary - and it goes along with the first part of her course goals and syllabus.

Moving on from vocabulary practice, Connie made a sign that read "Bi-Lo" and put it in front of each of us in turn, and the rest took turns being the customer, on the phone. This was very good practice, and the students enjoyed it. They even added "thank you" and "you're welcome" to the end. With only 10 or 15 minutes left of class, Connie brought out her modified deck of cards (no face cards) for a game of "go fish". Her rules were weird - not that it mattered. It was effective practice for numbers and the students had fun.

Connie is calm and organized, which puts people at ease. She stays on track very well. It’s possible that staying so focused causes her to miss out on some detours to spontaneous teaching moments. Despite the fact that teaching isn't about a "bag of tricks", Connie has just that - she's worked hard to fill her bag with supplementary materials, to be prepared for two or ten students. After seeing her teach, the only tips I have for her are to be open to spontaneity and to learn the rules for “go fish”.

posted by E.M @ 11:14 PM 0 comments

Practicum, Day Fourteen ::: ProfObs4

Every time I turn around, I'm being observed! Tonight I videotaped myself (well, Pedro worked the camera, on account of I don't know how). I haven't watched it yet, but I'm not too worried about it. I'm curious to see what I've missed by not being able to watch myself. Thank goodness we have video cameras - I think an out of body experience would not lend itself to effective CLT!
I had another computer disaster (a relatively minor one). I keep losing my phone connection at home, where I only have dialup. This time, my connection borked while I was sending myself tonight's lesson plan, so I never got it. And b/c I was using the same account, it didn't even save a draft. That's what I get for waiting till the last minute and depending on unreliable technology. When I got the my office and realized what had happened, I typed up a worksheet from memory, but I didn't have time to rework the entire lesson plan. That whole story was to explain why I was unprepared for class. In other words, the computer ate my lesson plan. That's okay - I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do, and tried it.
I had a huge list of vocabulary words. I guess in my effort to recreate the lesson, I overcompensated on the side of quantity instead of quality. I didn't realize until later that I had actually given them 36 words. In retrospect, I should not have included words like "avocado", which are sold individually - that should be a separate lesson. A box of cereal is fine, and a carton or jug of milk. But they still had trouble with "each" and "for one", combining the two to say "for each", which sounds awkward. We'll work on that another night. I'm going to recycle the list in more manageable parts. I felt like I was out of control, tossing words and phrases left and right, and then I wasn't able to juggle the questions that arose from them. Because the list was so large, each step took longer than it should have, and we didn't have time to combine as a class again after their group work. I wanted to go around the room and give them an opportunity to report, but hopefully we can do a variation on that next class. Ideally, I would have followed that with how to ask for items, and how to ask for the price. I'm not too worried about messing up tonight, b/c I know they're not damaged, they haven't learned anything incorrectly, it's just been a time set-back. I'm sure part of my out-of-control-ness was due to the camera, which switches the actress on. I need to video myself more often, to see how I look, but I wish I could be unaware of the camera. Does anyone want to come rig my classroom with hidden cameras? I'm sure the government has done that already - I just need to find a secret agent and convince him to let me see the footage ...
Back to reality!
Problems with tonight's class:
- Disorganized
- Huge vocabulary list
- Confusing activity
- Ran out of time so loose ends did not get tied up
- Teacher was out of control (actress button got pushed, maybe?)
- Transitions were still wonky
These are all things that can be prevented by thoughtful planning, time management, and careful self-monitoring.
Next class, I will pare down the vocab list, and see how they do with a bit of simple roleplaying. I'll keep it simple - simple seems to work consistently well for me, but it has to be deliberate. I need to let Malinda do some teaching, too, since she hasn't gotten a chance with all these observations.
That's not to say I don't appreciate the observations, b/c the feedback I get is quite valuable, and it doesn't disrupt my class at all. Not that I think the class would notice being disrupted ... we're a bit rambunctious at times. At any rate, I look forward to hearing what Jamey has to say about it.

posted by E.M @ 11:33 PM 0 comments