For my second class observation I observed Mrs. Alexandra Ramos's class on "Talking," for level two students. I am seeing a trend with many of the teachers here. High energy. It seems that the class is only as energetic as the teacher is. Mrs. Ramos was instantly engaging the students talking with them about either topics that were discussed before, or about new things the students were interested in. Like the previous class I sat in on, students were encouraged to look at the professor like a friend that could teach them English.
Along those lines Mrs.Ramos highly encouraged students to voluntarily talk and engage with her in the exercises. This, however, did not put the power into the students hands. She still called names urging everyone to get involved and interact the material. Some students were less enthusiastic than others, and didn't engage. Instead of just ordering them to start doing something, she gave then something to work on. This didn't leave the students struggling with the idea and missing out of the lesson, but rather this gave the student the idea, and allowed them to apply it to the lesson and the example given.
Students were not left in the dark when it came to assignments both past and present. The first part of class was reviewing what the last class was on, and doing a quick activity on it. It forced students to apply the knowledge they gained last class, and to keep re applying so that they could become more comfortable with it. The next part of class went on to new material, but each section always had an activity, a hand out, or both. I could tell that regardless of the content being discussed, the theme of the teaching style was to get students involved and active and to have them start to think critically about what they were doing. This was accomplished in part by giving the students something they wanted to talk about in the first place. Something that they could share about. In this class, there was a hand out about superstition. After going over it, the students were told to write several superstitions that were prevalent in their own country and share about it. This really opened up students, and in order to tell their stories, they needed new words. The teacher was more then happy to assist in this and help them apply them.
Over all, I found this class to be a great blend of having a teacher who the students like and are comfortable with, and a class where the teacher is actively engaging the students and keeping them on task. The class seemed to flow at a brisk speed, but not at all too fast. There were always explanations given, and questions were encouraged. Also the class never pushed people along. There were time limits given, but even if students didn't finish, they were told that they could finish up while the exercise started. There was no rushing along... "Haste makes waste," and there was none of that. I was impressed with the handling of the material, as well as the handling of the students.
Along those lines Mrs.Ramos highly encouraged students to voluntarily talk and engage with her in the exercises. This, however, did not put the power into the students hands. She still called names urging everyone to get involved and interact the material. Some students were less enthusiastic than others, and didn't engage. Instead of just ordering them to start doing something, she gave then something to work on. This didn't leave the students struggling with the idea and missing out of the lesson, but rather this gave the student the idea, and allowed them to apply it to the lesson and the example given.
Students were not left in the dark when it came to assignments both past and present. The first part of class was reviewing what the last class was on, and doing a quick activity on it. It forced students to apply the knowledge they gained last class, and to keep re applying so that they could become more comfortable with it. The next part of class went on to new material, but each section always had an activity, a hand out, or both. I could tell that regardless of the content being discussed, the theme of the teaching style was to get students involved and active and to have them start to think critically about what they were doing. This was accomplished in part by giving the students something they wanted to talk about in the first place. Something that they could share about. In this class, there was a hand out about superstition. After going over it, the students were told to write several superstitions that were prevalent in their own country and share about it. This really opened up students, and in order to tell their stories, they needed new words. The teacher was more then happy to assist in this and help them apply them.
Over all, I found this class to be a great blend of having a teacher who the students like and are comfortable with, and a class where the teacher is actively engaging the students and keeping them on task. The class seemed to flow at a brisk speed, but not at all too fast. There were always explanations given, and questions were encouraged. Also the class never pushed people along. There were time limits given, but even if students didn't finish, they were told that they could finish up while the exercise started. There was no rushing along... "Haste makes waste," and there was none of that. I was impressed with the handling of the material, as well as the handling of the students.
I really like the instructor's idea about superstitions. It seems like a great way to gain some knowledge on a wide variety of cultures. That, and it sounds like a fun activity in general! Superstitions are not things we think about often, yet they are inherent parts of any culture. No doubt all of the students were curious as to other students' respective insights!
ReplyDeleteI, too, thought the superstition activity as good. Watch the crazy things some athletes and fans do and you will see you don't have to leave our borders to find reliance on superstitions for desired results. For expression of abstract thoughts, an expansion question to the activity could be "Why are some people superstitious?
ReplyDeleteI viewed Ms. Ramos' grammar class and can agree with you about her energy, involvement of students, and organized review and preview of content. She's fun, friendly, and fruitful from start to finish.
It soulds like a good class for me to observe. I can certainly learn from the "experts".
ReplyDeleteJodie (I don't have my own account)