Level A: Unit 3.2

Powerpoints from the lesson:





Adjectives and Superlatives Worksheet:

Students constructing their outfits for the fashion show

A Smiling Model

Announcers Present their Models to the Class

This class was a combination of excellence, mediocrity, and chaos-- with the fashion show particularly lending itself to chaos. My explanation of the comparatives and superlatives registered with students, though the powerpoint was difficult to see from the back of the room* and the number of rules was overwhelming. The worksheet seemed thought-provoking, and students put answers on the board so there was nary an idle moment for quick workers and everyone got to look at the answers and listen to their peers receive corrections on pronunciation.

The fashion show was stuck at the end of class, when we hardly had time. As a result, outfit production was quick and students wanted it to bleed over into the more academic part of the activity. Not only was it difficult to get students to quiet down and shift gears, I didn't have time to review the clothing adjectives in each of the classes. The speeches were also so mistake-ridden that it was impossible to correct everything and difficult even to triage and identify the most grievous errors. This said, excellence can be derived from chaos, as the activity sent students through the roof with joy. Joy is an important morale-booster in these early months, as students patiently sit through lessons they don't fully understand due to the language barrier and truly work hard. Overall, it was worth it.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...


*I send all powerpoints and worksheets to a class email address, so students can review after the lesson.

**The adjectives and superlatives worksheet was taken from Life Lines Pre-Intermediate Workbook by Tom Hutchinson and Oxford University Press. The Newspaper Fashion Show was inspired by Stephen C., Fulbright ETA 2010-2011.

Level B: Conversation 4.1

We had our first class on family at the coffee shop rather than in the classroom in honor of Vietnamese Teachers' Day. The faculty members presented me with a bouquet of roses and material for a lovely new ao dai. Then we went around the table and everyone talked about their families and answered questions from the group.

In my mind, it was not particularly stimulating, challenging, or entertaining for the 5 advanced students, since many already know their peers and the sentence structures and vocabulary are elementary. Though useful in building the confidence of the 7 beginner students, I feel that there are better ways to do this within a structured lesson. While, of course, this lesson was adapted for the holiday, I make these observations because some seemed to prefer an abbreviated coffee to actual class. Since I am keen on listening to the faculty members' diverse wants and needs (and unmet wants or needs generally means lower attendance), this revelation bothered me.

As one could guess, I am still struggling to find the correct balance with this class. Some want a textbook, most do not. Some want structured lessons, others simply want conversation topics. They all want to learn, but they have a seemingly unquenchable desire for games and songs. Of course I want the class to be fun and engaging, but I want to facilitate productive fun and engagement, which is sort of like offering a kid healthy dessert. When students have a choice about whether they're coming to the table (and often have other activities planned during "dinner"), it's hard to entice them without giving in to their demands.

Level A: Unit 3.1

Pronoun Worksheet:


Market Activity Handouts: Cut out the pictures before class and put them in envelopes to give to members of the selling teams.





This lesson plan had various degrees of effectiveness in my three classes. In my most beginner class (Monday), we did not have time for the market activity, which I moved to the next class. Instead, we spent a lot of time on examples, pronunciation, and activities in the book. My instructions seemed clear and comprehensive, but without the diversion of a game, things got tedious.

In my more advanced class (Tuesday), we completed the market activity with relatively little chaos, and it seemed to be an effective way to practice what we had learned. In hindsight, I would have given students more sentence structures and vocabulary to use in the market dialogue because though the activity was dynamic, there was not a lot of meat after students grasped demonstratives.

In my Wednesday class which has both beginners and advanced beginners and the most variable levels of attendance and motivation, I made a huge mistake: I forgot the envelopes with the pictures for the market activity. Students still had handouts with pictures of the items, but these could only be used for reference in the activity. I adapted by having sellers write the names of products in the various quadrants, rather than placing pictures. This solution sufficed, but all variables considered, it was not as tight or as effective of a class as the other two.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...

Level B: Conversation 3 Review

Three Groups: Chefs, Waiters/Waitresses, and Customers

Chefs deciding on a menu and specials

Waitress checking on specials with the chefs; Investigating why the
menus are not complete because her customers were starting to complain!

Customers giving orders/complaints to a waitress (front) and describing food to a chef (back)

I was so excited for this class. I set up candlelit tables, classical music, and a screen with a giant picture of the other half of the restaurant. A kitchen with pictures of food, blank menus, and pots and pans to aid in narrated pretend cooking. Tables covered with conversation cards, and "ship" and "sheep" sounding vocabulary words to review our pronunciation lesson and challenge customers to incorporate them into speech.

The only trouble was that several staff meetings were scheduled during class, so our 16-person class was down to 7 people. Talk about deflated balloon. The role-play went well enough, but it was lacking some of the energy that would have come from a larger class. Oh well.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...

Level A: Unit 2.2

Professions Worksheet:


Professions + Daily Routines Activity:


This class seems to have been an appropriate and engaging way to wrap up Unit 2. In hindsight, I regret not taking a picture of the blackboard after the professions activity. The board was divided into four sections: blue team, red team, yellow team, and green team. At the bottom of each section, students listed their professions. At the top, I recorded points and wrote grammar corrections. In my mind, the blackboard represents the dynamic and multi-faceted nature of the game.

The game progressed as follows: First, students chose their professions. There could only be one of each profession on a team. Second, students filled out the front of the worksheet, answering questions about their daily routines. Third, students interviewed people from the other teams, using the questions on the front of the worksheet and filling in the chart on the back. Each student talked to five people so teams had to strategize so that as a whole they had information from everyone on the other teams. Explaining the game portion of the activity before the interviews helped because students understood why they were talking to each other and how they should work with members of the other teams. For example, it was advantageous, albeit time-consuming, to follow the directions and communicate verbally rather than exchange papers to record answers because this provided room for error in which the other team might mishear a student's response.

During the game portion of the activity, I asked a question about each team in turn. For example, (standing in front of the yellow team's list of professions), "What time does the pharmacist go to work in the morning?" The first person to stand from the red, green, or blue team could answer. I was assured an assortment of volunteers since each person talked to five different people. At the beginning, I judged on basic content, but as the game progressed, I made the rules more difficult by discounting answers with grammar mistakes. By requiring students to use correct grammar, those who answered were more likely to consult with their team, and those not answering were more likely to listen aptly and wave their arms in the air and yell if they heard a mistake. Students were enthused to the point that I had to make a serious announcement about sportsmanship, which was well-received. All in all, the activity was a wonderful way to facilitate partner conversation and critical thinking, review professions and daily routines, engage in guided practice of grammar and pronunciation, and get excited about using English.

Lastly, a self-evaluation...

Level B: Conversation 3.2

Food samples

Students sampling food

Oy vey, forgot the peanut butter and jelly. It was just as well, though, because the timing was perfect without it. We learned a lot of new vocabulary, as students tried to put together their own recipes. The parallel line speaking activities are always great for this: vocabulary and pronunciation.

However, we've gotten away from true grammar lessons with our new syllabus, which is something I would like to change.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...

Level A: Unit 2.1

I felt awkward presenting this lesson. I plopped the sentence structure and prepositional phrases on the screen with minimal unpacking of their contents-- which, alas, is the mistake I feel most predisposed to as a native speaker. My mentor teacher suggests that I present a little more theory next time. She also suggests that I trust that students have reviewed the structure prior to class, so instead of belaboring the basics, I could plug ahead with an exercise from the book. Good advice.

Today's class was chock-full of activities. Students followed directions most closely on the word order and describing pictures activities because these were best suited to their levels. The word order activity was visually appealing, something I remembered from seventh grade English class with Mrs. Straub. In hindsight, I would have explained some vocabulary words in the pictures activity in advance since we had not discussed them previously.

And lastly, a self-evaluation...