September Observations (7 hours)
One to two sentence description of class level skill and number of learners. How did the teacher facilitate learning? How did the teacher assess learning? Did you observe any challenges or barriers to learning? What did you take away from this observation? Either a do or a don’t do
Tanya works with a group of 12 adults who are at the beginning stages of learning English. She points out while the class is the most basic entry level, her students’ abilities vary depending on the degree of exposure they have had during their daily lives since coming to Vancouver. Tanya said many of them worked all day and were tired, so she used games near the end of her lessons to get them up and active. She explained how some had poor classroom experiences growing up and have a limited tool kit for how to overcome academic challenges. She said it’s important to make them feel comfortable and confident. She used humor to break the ice with an example everybody appreciates, ie. stealing from her husband’s closet.
Tanya provided basic responses using limited language and repetition. She used intonation and facial expression for emphasis, such as appropriate response to a question or surprise. She spoke slowly and clearly to annunciate her words. She knew to also teach placement of tongue and the shape of mouth as needed for those not pronouncing accurately. She varied her lesson based on the feedback from the class. If she noticed a mistake, so long as not interrupting group work, she taught it to everybody. This is a useful teaching tool because her students might be confused about the same thing. It also makes the student with the error more comfortable knowing their confusion is legitimate. Assessments were not shown beyond her dialogue during interactions with her students.
Authentic practice of the store using commonly experienced dialogue where they bring prior vocabulary together gives them context and makes their learning experience memorable with active engagement. One lesson flowed into the next with review and incorporating a few new phrases. The theme made it interesting with props and varying the activities without letting anything drag on. Tanya put all the vocabulary in context using multi-sensory learning, such as pointing to written words while saying them, marking syllables on the board, using cloze, and showing examples of items for instant recognition.
Tanya was fluid and organized with class management. She wasted no time arranging partnerships knowing adults will follow what she says right away. She used a bell for quick switches which was necessary with so many partners exchanging dialogue. She incorporated movement by having her students speak with everyone in lineups. By changing up partners aside from those at their tables, they spoke to others they may not have normally, which gets them out of their comfort zone to build their confidence approaching strangers. She called on her students to answer or put them in dialogue with a partner to ensure everybody participated as equally as possible. While they’re working with each other, she can check in on groups and provide extra help for those who need.
Tayna said she gives them homework to encourage learning outside the classroom, such as asking someone for the time. I would be interested to see the websites she could look up and link to provide for review of her lessons. Even if the review were not an exact match, this is a tool to get them more comfortable in their practice so they engage more in the wider world.
31 min
The instructor for “Teaching Listening: Gist and Detail” worked with a small group. She provided a substantial list of ways teachers can improve student listening to remember key words to sequence a story. Listening to an audio tape about an adult scenario rather than the teacher reading a story makes the activity age appropriate. Listening to the story more than once and repeating the story back aloud helped them become familiar so they picked up on vocab each time to help them with their reading activities.
What she could have improved upon was placing less emphasis on Isobel’s mistake by saying “Does everyone agree with Isobel” when she knew he student was incorrect. This put Isobel on the spot. If she wanted to use that approach, it would have been better to just say at the beginning, “please allow everyone to say their answers and raise your hand if you have another answer.” Chances are others in the group would notice the error and not so much time is spent correcting. Another thing I noticed was she overused words such as “good job.” This really isn’t necessary and if an encouraging comment is needed, it is better to say “thank you” or just to simply say “yes” to put less emphasis on being right or wrong.
8 min
The teacher in the video “Like A Pro: Teaching English with Song” taught a class of about 15. Her class seemed to appreciate her encouragement and soft mannerisms. Using words for emotions “how does music make you feel?” she had their interest right away with music and rhythm, setting a fun mood for her students to relax and engage. She used a visual as well to introduce an unusual word from the song which they may not be familiar. She made comparisons of feeling outwardly as well as feeling inwardly. I would have taken the comparison further to explain how long-term negative emotions versus long-term positive emotions can also affect us in our physical health, which is another reason why music is good for us. By having them work in groups, they had an easy flow of ideas and enjoyed laughs which built their relationships. Having them work together makes it more likely for them to exchange numbers and practice English outside of class. Singing and getting into the rhythm while discussing their familiar morning routine helped them be less anxious. By saying they didn’t have to rhyme in their verses, her students just got the words down without constraint. Singing their verse to the group built their confidence. As indicated by the amount of smiling, the class enjoyed the activity very much.
14 min
Sept 16th 110 min
An ESAL instructor teaches about 20 students in her academic writing class. She reviewed homework which got them back into the concepts discussed previously. The mistakes they were finding were varied such as spelling, plural, tense. This broad review was helpful as she explained the errors. She displayed a picture of the Northern Lights to introduce the writing topic. Her students were interested in the picture, though I think a bigger impact would have been to show a video clip which displayed their movement. Her students said all the parts of the missing words in the paragraph using a cloze as she paused to describe the concepts. It is helpful she describes the difficult words or homophones to strengthen their vocabulary skills. She knows when to invite them to answer and when it is more effective for her to describe. This is sometimes due to time constraints and other times she judges the likelihood of their accuracy. When they were reluctant, she showed some frustration but did it in a humorous way while still making the point. Her combination of bringing in humor while maintaining focus and keeping momentum is effective. She explained the assignment on the white board. It would have been perhaps more effective to use a sample paragraph and show how to highlight to find the main ideas as a few students were confused. However, as a good teacher does after realizing students had some confusion, she noticed this and covered it in her review. She is a dynamic teacher, and it is clear her enthusiasm motivates her students.
Sept 21st 110 min
Another ESAL instructor had a class of 12 students. After reviewing the question-and-answer structure of common life scenarios, he engaged them in active learning by having them play go fish, with student A giving instructions and student B or C responding. Having them in groups of three meant they were almost continuously either listening or speaking to practice the lesson concept. After giving the formalities of the language, he accepted answers which were more relaxed, as long as they were accurate. Having them answer in a way which was comfortable without being overly cautious about the exact phrasing, is the way conversations tend to go anyway so it was good they were not corrected and told to stick with the exact script. The textbook is a useful resource but boring in isolation, so he brought it to life with some listening activities where they had to determine content as well as following it up with an activity which had them share about their name origin with a partner. Since the class is building connections, these ‘getting to know you’ activities are essential to build relationships and show that he also cares about getting to know them as his students. By giving them homework to introduce the person they interviewed in the next class, he encouraged them to communicate with their partner when class was over. Even after a short time having classes, it is clear his students feel a sense of community.
Sept 21st 110 min
ESAL instructor uses Canadian content so her students become familiar with iconic landscapes or events. She uses student examples from homework to identify common errors which shows them she is analyzing their work and providing feedback which is useful to more than the one student who made the error. She speaks her thinking aloud to show the process needed when analyzing more accurate word choice, using academic language and how much work is involved to ‘construct’ an essay. Analyzing work as a group helps generate collective ideas and pointing the logic behind why word choice is important i.e. use of opposites, transitions, reasons to keep words the same for emphasis/continuity or reasons why to keep word choice varied i.e. adjectives and interest for the reader. Where appropriate, she uses pantomime to highlight the meaning of words, draws background knowledge from her students, and seeks their opinions on the topic. She saves the video clips or more relaxed activities near the end of her lessons when students may be less focused.
Sept 23rd 110 min
ESAL instructor used a short video clip followed by a guessing game to activate thinking on the topic. She tapped into their background knowledge about the topic. Some students used poor wording and she discussed choosing more precise, academic words. She varied her approach, using easier language in her examples when the point was to focus on the specific outcome, i.e. determining a topic sentence, which they were to be quizzed on in the following class. After students did their writing, she collected their work for a quick assessment while her students were on break. This gave her an opportunity to point out common mistakes so they were reminded what to watch out for prior to their test the following class. By commenting on the most common errors, she had them take ownership of noticing and reviewing for their own common errors, which they have had lots of experience practicing in courses prior.
I had observed 7 hours in September as shown above (didn’t count their break times). These times here should complete the 10 hours observation. As of Oct 14th, I have now taught for 2 hours.
Oct 5th 10:30-12:20
I observed today. The instructor introduced how interactional resources are used in an essay. She read through the material while pausing to have them fill in a word every few sentences to ensure they were tracking along and on task. She paused to define difficult vocab and discuss which words were which of the instructional resources. She facilitated learning by using humor, drawing them in with her opening video clip, checking for understanding after each paragraph, defining difficult words or unusual expressions. While I was unfamiliar with the 5 terms, such as hedge and booster, I caught on quickly and helped students during individual class work. The instructor assessed her students through observation and changed the direction of her teaching based on their understanding.
It was a shorter teaching day because they had a quiz which took up a good portion of the time. I helped mark a basic section of the quiz as they were handed in. Instructor was having tummy trouble and needed to exit for a little while.
Oct 7th
10:30-11:00 me teaching
The instructor gave me instructions on what to do while she set up the lunch. I introduced their academic editing workbook and gave examples of each review item. Then S worked individually, and I helped some through a question as needed. I explained more difficult concepts on the board and the rest of the concepts verbally. Overall, the concepts were all very easy. I had been given the booklet the class prior and should have reviewed more of the content ahead of time so I would have led the discussion with more background info. I pulled it off by using the thinking aloud strategy to teach them how to gain understanding through re-reading and inferring. I talked it out, coming to the conclusion the three sentence excerpt was about companies making profit at the expense of work conditions and how this then impedes on profit if reputation is ruined. I was able to teach that example in their booklet only because I have a good deal of experience talking about such topics and have a wide range of background knowledge. Clearly I don’t have general knowledge about everything though so I should always read ahead, especially given the academic excerpts in this booklet are more advanced. I was lucky in this circumstance.
11:00-12:20 dinner/dance
Then we had the Thanksgiving party. It was amazing to see everyone dancing, leading their song choices on YouTube, etc. It made me realize how although the instructor spent a great deal of effort to get everything made, it is worth it when you see the appreciation on everyone’s faces. Research shows the day-to-day teaching is much forgotten and it is moments like these students remember, sometimes for a lifetime. This lunch celebration showed a welcoming school, the teacher not just caring words but caring through actions. A relaxed social environment helped them drop their guard, build connections. Confidence was boosted by encouraging them to dance and lead in song with everyone friendly and clapping. This socialization amongst students and staff would boost their confidence to talk to each other outside of class. The event breaks down barriers. It shows the teacher’s personality and adult-adult rather than top-down classroom environment of teacher-student. An event such as this encourages shyer students to approach their instructor with any questions they may have.
Oct 12th 10:30-12:20
Instructor introduced argument essay and started by trying to entice an argument. This didn’t work since the S are from cultures where you don’t argue with the teacher. We laughed about this after.
10:40-11:20 me teaching. I did review and assigned each group an interactional resource term to watch for. I asked for a different volunteer to read each paragraph which I felt was best since I am unsure of the S’s and haven’t yet determined who is uncomfortable reading aloud. I realized afterwards it wasn’t necessary to assign groups to find terms since it didn’t always work out this way, sometimes the group with that task couldn’t find it even when I was narrowing down the search. But it was effective in the sense they knew I was calling on their group, so they paid closer attention. Another way I could have done this would have been to pause after each paragraph and find all of the review terms to see which group could find them all the fastest. That would have allowed for more group discussion.
Oct 14th 10:30-12:20
I taught for an hour today. I did a slide show to demonstrate all the reasons why salmon die before they can spawn. S were given numbered fish cards and had to read the screen when the slide with their number came up as to the reason why their fish died. With all the information on the slides, this game took far longer than expected. I therefore ploughed through the next part of the lesson which was an essay by reading it myself to the class, pausing to describe difficult vocab. I knew they had some assignments on this essay and I wanted them to hear the pronunciation clearly as well as have time to get their work done. The instructor informed me after that the S were tuned out during my reading because this generation of i-phone users have a limited attention span. I had noticed just a few and had walked over and reminded where we were on the page, but I was heavily focused on the tiny print of my paper so I missed that the majority of the class had been ignoring me. I had assumed being adults as well as foreigners they would be tuned in and listening, so I was surprised by this. The instructor pointed out the more mature S as well as the Asian S were all reading along because they are trained to pay attention while the younger non-Asians succumbed to the draw of their devices. The instructor said she’s noticed this trend so much she wants to conduct research on the problem. She said next time to walk around the room while leading as well as assign parts for them to read so they never know when they will be called upon. Clearly, even if it takes longer to assign parts, it is more important as many of them are attending to the reading as possible. Definitely don’t want them to get away with so blatantly tuning out either!
Oct 19th 10:30-12:20
I noticed how the students loved the instructor’s hook of movie clip. It provoked empathy and compassion for our topic of homelessness.
I taught 10:40-11:30 I explained we would do a round of reading, which was about two sentences each and going clockwise around the room, pausing to discuss elements of each paragraph. After each paragraph, we stopped and I asked specific students to answer i.e. what was the hook? What made it a good hook? Thesis? Topic sentence? Supporting details? What surprised them? Etc.
Then students worked. They knew what to do. Only a few had questions. Instructor explained to me after marking she notices they know the hook, thesis, topic sentence but that they don’t have enough supporting details. She said our focus will be on flushing out ideas in full so as not to jump from opening to closing. I notice the pace of learning is much quicker than elementary students. She is confident most will grasp this well before the end of term.
11:40 Instructor taught how to write a conclusion because they need to prepare for their quiz next Wed. She focused their attention on a few concluding paragraphs from essays they had recently read. Comprehension was part of the discussion. Although the lesson was on format, it always is paramount students understand what they are reading so they remain interested as well as always learn new things in as authentic a context as possible. Those whose work I peered at I saw were finishing their conclusion with a quote, question, prediction or advice as she had instructed.
I requested we show them a video with a 3-D printer which was the paper’s main argument as a solution to homelessness. I’m sure she would have thought of the video regardless of my suggestion, since teachers know that linking written description to visual examples tends to solidify conceptual learning and help students retain knowledge. Plus, it was just a good way to wrap up the lesson. The instructor explained she doesn’t always start with a video clip, sometimes she says students need one more at the end when they are fading after a period of high concentration.
Oct 21st 10:30-12:20
I taught until 11:35. As a hook to the essay on Super Bugs, I had them play a dice game with Halloween candy representing three levels of resistant germs. I realized I hadn’t played a long enough demo of the game with the instructor as some students were a bit confused at first. However, since all the rules were written clearly on the board, they read them over and that helped them catch on. All caught the main concept that the germs had different levels of resistance and the SuperBugs were the most dangerous. It’s definitely easier teaching students who independently problem solve. Those confused never sat there asking what to do but instead read the board to figure it out or they adapted a close version of the rules. The game was supposed to be 10 min but they enjoyed it so much, so the instructor said to just keep going for about 20 min. I was really surprised none of the students had heard of Halloween (or, quite possibly, they just never volunteered to say they had heard of it). It is always a balance between not explaining enough or wasting time over-explaining. The fact that problem solving became part of the experience for some of them was not wasted time.
I then led the essay, pausing for them to finish latter parts of sentences. I also paused at the end of each paragraph to discuss the text. I had them locate all the parts of the essay. My feedback was to project my voice more, increase my presence in the room and have students only fill in one word. That makes sense, especially as they trailed off at different speeds if asked to finish the sentence. Using one word also improves pace and allows more control for breaking to define words, discuss word choice or explain concepts.
Oct. 26 10:30-12:20
My 50 min. lesson observation day Wed, October 26th started with a catchy video debate scene. This opener worked well since they’d seen the movie trailer during the previous class and were slightly familiar with the story. Giving them a question to focus on provided purpose for watching the video clip.
It was difficult to hear with the fan combined with accents and I was asking students to repeat. I guessed what they said to answer, picking out keywords and basing my response on that. I would have been able to have the group discuss the topic more rather than me simply answering, but I didn’t know enough about their responses, so I just summed up and moved on. I forgot about the man who can only read lips and next time I’ll be careful not to have my back to him.
Reducing teacher talk by giving just enough information and instructions and no more is always a goal in teaching. This is done by posing questions or topics and having them collaborate more in groups. Certainly as adults, they have a wide range of ideas and experiences to draw from. When whole group responses are needed, I will use the name cards next time when asking for participation.
My lesson plan was too wordy and I didn’t have the lesson rehearsed in my head ahead of time. At one point, I over-spoke by giving instructions, then reading off the plan after I had a few quizzical looks. I realized after what I was asking them to do it was so basic that I needn’t have written it in such detail on my lesson plan. I do find it easier to make a lesson plan in quick short point form as basic sequence is really all I need to guide me. It is better to lean more on confidence that I know the material to avoid getting caught up reading off a lesson plan. It is best not to overthink, know I have the background knowledge and to stick to a basic plan.
In the article I covered all the content and discuss the gist of the paper, leaving the academic words for them to find and define. Although I didn’t finish fully, they got the point of the compare and contrast essay stating both points of view while proving one side of the argument. I will not revisit the topic finishing the debate because the STEM versus STEAM argument is a bit weak as it is obvious that STEAM should win the debate.
During the following class on Friday Oct 28th, I wrote down all the students’ names. I realized that I knew about 6/20 names in the class and my instructor helped with the rest. On Friday, I collected the exit ticket homework and received about half of them back. Others asked for a new copy which I handed out and said that they would get it back to me the following class. Although this exit ticket had a wider range not specific to my lesson and therefore not time sensitive, I realized that exit tickets are best completed in class to ensure I receive them all.
Fri, Oct 28th 10:30-12:20
I helped with introducing the topic, showing images online. Teaching time approx. 10 min. They worked fairly independently, I just helped a few with some word definition or sequencing questions. They have test worth 20% next class, so the lesson was taught by the instructor to ensure they fully prepared for their test.
Nov 4th 10:30-12:20
I taught the essay about Canadian discoveries. It was enjoyable to help the instructor teach Trivial Pursuit. We worked together to keep momentum of the game going. Students certainly love trivia games!
Nov 16th 10:30-12:20
I never recorded by time spent teaching today, but it felt like 15 min. I introduced the topic of discoveries for the classification essay. I read with the class and was careful to not have my back to the student who lip reads. We discussed the Canadian inventions in the article. The S selected difficult vocab to define, paragraph by paragraph. We discussed some of the content but were out of time to go into much review of paragraph structure because we went to the LLC for Christmas craft. It was good to see how much time is spent in building of community happens here with students enrolled in ELL as well as how often instructors bake goodies for their students to show they care.
Nov 18 10:30-12:20
Today I taught for the first hour. It was good to tie this topic in with the last as I referenced previous knowledge. I also did a reversal of Trivial Pursuit in that I gave the descriptions and they chose the category. I chose topics based on the feedback from the exit slips that they loved learning about Canadian content and culture especially. While they worked on their essays, I noticed how much I need to ask if I can look at their work so I can be useful while they are constructing essay outlines. I notice they ask more often if I don’t hang back and if I’m going round to each group finding out their problems in writing. I’m careful not to overdo though, as I don’t wish to hover and I also know thinking time is important. Some students spend a lot of time thinking and then write quickly in the final 15 min.
Nov 23 10:30-12:20
This day was my final observation. This day was also the anniversary of my Mom’s death. I also had been stuck with a three day headache. I was lucky to have the topic of Terry Fox and heroes. Student interest was high. I had a student thank me for talking about Ghandi. In hindsight, I could have improved my lesson with higher order questions, names given after pictures of each hero on the slides. I also forgot to number students before asking them to share ideas in Jigsaw groupings. I have never used closed captioning before and this would have been good to do for the student who is hard of hearing. However, everyone was inspired to come up with a hero and say what their hero accomplished, so despite a few mistakes, my lesson was a success overall.
Dec 2 10:30-12:20
Today was the final day with the class. I enjoyed helping out with the work and we went to watch the soccer game soon after. I was glad to attend today as it was closure and I have learned this past week how important it is to have closure as I move on to other things to both respect the class by saying farewell as well as for myself.
