esl ::: emily's so luscious

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