Level B: Conversation 3.1

Restaurant Vocabulary Sheet:


Restaurant Role-Play Materials:





Restaurant Conversation Order: Cut into strips before class.


I'm happy to say that the first of the new conversation topics was right on target for the class. The role-play worked particularly well in showing students the communicative side of English and getting them comfortable in a real-word situation. The conversation order activity was too difficult because it required knowledge of too many American foods. While I feel somewhat bad about using materials from the internet, I suppose it's not always necessary to re-invent the wheel. This lesson got students truly excited about learning.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...


*Materials for the first two activities can be accessed here: http://bogglesworldesl.com/survival_travel_english/restaurants.htm

Level B: New Syllabus

The new Level B syllabus: two classes on the communicative facets of an English topic and one on cumulative review. Students receive supplemental materials by email to prepare during the week.

Level A: English Club; Level B: Supplement

Level A: Map
Level B: Map

English Club students during the Circle and Squares Activity

This lesson was highly appropriate for both levels. Though the vocabulary words were easy for some, the activities held everyone's attention. Also, depriving students of sight forced them to speak more clearly and listen more intently. Students struggled with the pronunciation of words like straight and bridge, so we practiced these as a class. I am trying to be more in-tune to such mistakes, as I continue to identify the best pace for building students' confidence and moving everyone forward.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...


*The Circle and Squares Activity was inspired by Dr. Judy Ozment of Penn State University.

Level B: Supplement

This lesson involved far too much pronunciation. In the future, I will try to incorporate pronunciation into every lesson, rather than spending the whole class. I'm calling this a supplement because I am still planning the new syllabus for the class, and this lesson does not follow the old schedule.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...


*Unfortunately, the vowel chart and intonation packet cannot be uploaded without a scanner.

Student Seminar: Learning Styles

Visual:

Auditory:

Getting into groups.

Students engaging in group work.

Tactile:

Students acting out the airport scene from Home Alone.

Students building a robber trap like those used in Home Alone.

Students presenting their robber traps.

I conducted three, three-hour seminars on learning styles for new students at the college. First, I explained the different learning styles. Then, I showed students pictures and asked them to identify the learning style being used. Next, we practiced each learning style by studying an English movie. Students were asked to reflect upon which learning method felt the most comfortable for them; they took home a handout on learning styles and appropriate study methods for each, along with a quiz to help them identify which learning style they prefer.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...

Changes

I'm in a transition period right now. The Level A class was canceled due to the scheduling error, and I'm restructuring my Level B class.

Three new Level A classes have begun, and I'm using modified versions of the lessons presented in the first days of the trial class.

For the Level B class, I am choosing easier and more practical conversation topics. Though I was given the original conversation topics by the college, they proved unsuitable for the majority of my students.

Updates to come...

Level B: Conversation 2.1

Conversation 1 Review:



We began the second conversation topic this week: what makes a good teacher. Our grammar focus was conditional sentence with if-clauses. The class was more helpful to some than to others:

Things that worked:

The warm-up activity (change places). This activity got people listening, smiling, and moving. It was the perfect way to begin class. We started with easy and observable statements like "If you're wearing blue, change places," before switching to would rather and would prefer statements. Some students got a chance to lead the activity. In addition to asking people to lead who did not find a group, I asked people if I heard them speaking Vietnamese. That was appropriate for this exercise because I acted out the words so beginner students did not have to rely on their neighbors' translations.

Discussion. During discussion, we talked about teaching methods in Vietnam (past and present), differences in education between our countries, and challenges that educators face. The beginner students were visibly uncomfortable, sitting in a circle with no table to hide behind or piece of paper to stare intently at-- so I assured them that I would only ask for volunteers to speak and that they should listen for general meaning of the conversation. Their bodies visibly relaxed. The conversation seemed to engage most students. I watched as the beginners' faces changed from confusion to understanding time and again, like the sky darkening and clearing before and after a storm. Nevertheless, I felt bad about having a discussion in which only half of the students felt comfortable contributing.

Things that didn't work:

Interviews. During the interviews, students remained seated and talked to people at their tables. This meant that each person talked to two or three people, rather than six. Students also spent considerable time writing sentences, which slowed the pace of conversation, and, in some cases, limited the number of students engaged. Lastly, sitting created a stilted atmosphere, in which students were less likely to expand on topics and get into conversations than to insert words into the framework before staring into space.

When I debriefed the exercise, I mentioned that next time I would ask students to stand and mingle because it's helpful to listen to different peoples' pronunciation, vocabularies, etc. In my own reflection, standing usually gets the creative juices flowing, as it's more awkward to stand together in silence or stand without a partner than to sit. I would also give students a chart to record the names of their six interviewees, as a way to guarantee movement and give people something to do with their hands.

Practice Teach. This activity flat-out failed. Students did not understand my instructions about demonstrating teaching methods or teaching vocabulary words to their group. I was disappointed because the plan suggested dual infallibility: teach students new vocabulary, while appealing to tactile learners. Perhaps it was too narrow to expect students to teach a vocabulary word, or maybe I should have given information about mnemonic devices. Regardless, after several attempts at an explanation, I had students bring their chairs into the circle for class discussion.

Homework. I have not figured out a way to assign effective homework for these students, or to use assignments effectively. Thus far, I have assigned articles, journal entries, and speaking assignments. Articles mentally prepare students for a topic, but the one time I asked students to discuss an article, very few had read. Journal assignments help students synthesize their thoughts before or after a discussion, but only one student turned in the last writing assignment. Speaking provides positive backwash for the competence I'm trying to build. However, there's little way to check that students have done this work. I have not decided how much this concerns me. I'm inclined to provide students with supplementary material and let them peruse it at their leisure. They have demanding personal and professional lives (most are married with children and work at the college), varying levels of English ability and motivations for study.

Things I'm pondering:

Corrections. When to give corrections? On what to give corrections? Whom to correct? The advanced students are primarily taking the class to practice pronunciation. The beginner students want to begin to speak. I want to encourage the beginner students, so correcting them after every word (or simply repeating and emphasizing with correct grammar and pronunciation) would be counter-productive. I need to stretch and support both groups, but it's difficult to correct an advanced student's subtle errors without correcting a beginner student's blatant mistakes. Last but not least, when I'm training my ear to the lowest common denominator, I'm listening for meaning above all else; so when an advanced student pronounces something incorrectly and I understand, my brain skips ahead for the big picture. I need to fine-tune my listening to pick up on these subtleties, at which point I can determine the best way to call attention to the mistakes.

Structure. Do I want to do 10-15 minutes on pronunciation each class, despite the fact that it will be difficult to integrate into the themes of the lesson? Or do I want to set aside several full class periods for pronunciation? I'm leaning toward the former. Secondly, when to include jazz chants/sentence stress? This class's conversation structure works well for grammar, but I have yet to formally integrate other language components.

Attendance. It fluctuates a lot because teachers are busy and things come up. I'm inclined to treat class like a club in which people come when they're free (classes don't build on each other as they do for Level A); however, low numbers means less classroom energy, and I think that's detrimental for a conversation-based course. After today's lesson, I sent text messages to people I had not seen in a week or two (completely appropriate here), saying I missed them in class and hoped everything was okay. People responded positively, and I anticipate a large attendance bump next week. When it comes down to it, many faculty members need English to qualify for programs abroad, so a little push from me might not be a bad thing.

Vibe. Relaxed and friendly with food and out-of class activities? Or more formal? I'm leaning heavily toward the former for faculty members, as they work all day and a fun atmosphere is what I've been advised. I have already gone to coffee with some, and am beginning to initiate my own invites, as well. If I establish relationships with the faculty members, I think they will feel more inclined to attend class and work hard. With Monday through Wednesday students, boundaries and some formality will be more important-- attendance and grades will also hold more weight.


And lastly, a self-evaluation...



*The warm-up activity was inspired by Mr. Lam, one of my hosts in Vietnam. The vocabulary chart in Activity 2 was inspired by Stephen C, Fulbright ETA 2010-2011.

Level A: Unit 2.2

Activity 1 (Listening):


Activity 3 (Acting):


This class did not go quite according to plan because a student meeting was scheduled at the same time, which the college gave precedent. Total class attendance was nine students, which apparently will be a trend for the rest of the year if the class continues. As it stands, English is not part of students' main schedules, so they must skip a class (or meeting) to attend. The classes they skip must slow their paces for absentees, or are canceled all-together. As a result, many schedules are compromised, teachers feel frustrated, and students are confused.

The majority of students in the class are third years, and the course began before the start of the new academic year. The college has proposed canceling this class and starting a new class for first year students from the same department (technology). This wouldn't be too off base since placement tests are happening this week for students in the business and agriculture departments, who will have class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, respectively. Altering the schedule would mean I would teach Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday classes of students in the same year, with English included in their main schedules. Downsides to this plan are that the current class has made significant progress, many students are devoted to learning English and need it more immediately for jobs after graduation, and the level at which they began the class (higher than the first years) may be more conducive to full-immersion language instruction. A decision has yet to be made.

Despite low attendance, class proceeded. I was concerned that the lesson would be too easy since many students have moderately-sized vocabularies, but little experience listening and speaking. I was correct: the students were familiar with the time expressions, so I modified the lesson to focus on hearing the difference between "What are you doing now?" and "What do you do?" and providing an appropriate response. We practiced with the blackboard race, which was slated to be warm-up. I worked to engage the most students by sending four to the board at a time instead of two and quizzing people in line about how they would respond to scenarios. Scenarios included, "It's raining after class. What do you do?" "It's 7:00 in the morning. What are you doing?" etc.

Though the blackboard race seemed to be the highlight, the sequence of activities was 1) lesson, 2) listening, 3) blackboard race, and 4) write a schedule and share-- with incremental increases in difficulty. We did not have time for the acting activity, nor did we have enough students. In hindsight, I question the activity's level of ambiguity and the extent to which is would have engaged and empowered students of varying skill levels. I continue to assess students' abilities to shape a class that stretches them, while building their confidence.

Lastly, a self-evaluation...