Anna Prorok
September 5, 2014
CIES Observation No. 1
Vicky Ledbetter, Speaking, Group 2C
For my first classroom observation, I observed Vicky Ledbetter's speaking class. It was a very interesting class filled with an abundance of energy and excitement. Vicky is the definition of a passionate teacher who is excited about her subject. She started the class by taking attendance in a very unique way. She called on one person and then asked that person if the next person was in class and so on. The students replied with, "Yes, _________ is here". Vicky played American music while students were filing into the classroom. She also had the agenda written on the board as well as a short list of idioms that she and the class reviewed the day before.
For the first twenty minutes of class the students worked with their partners to finish planning their celebrity interview questions. I thought this was a fabulous idea to get students speaking and interacting with one another. Not only did it enhance their speaking skills, but they were also able to learn more about American culture (i.e., Hollywood actors or famous athletes). While the students were planning and practicing, Vicky walked around to each pair asking if they needed any help with anything in regards to grammar or pronunciation. One group made a "beautiful mistake" in one of his sentences. She told him that he needed to look over a particular sentence and when he looked at it again he realized where he had made a "beautiful mistake" and proceeded to correct it.
This class was so much fun to observe. The interviews ranged from actors like Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston, to athletes such as Christiano Ronaldo. Most of the students spoke very well with good pronunciation and volume. They were very enthusiastic about their parts and it was so much fun to watch. I thought this was a great idea to use teaching English for myself. She had a grading rubric that was simple and basic, but reviewed the rubric with the students beforehand so they knew what they were going to be graded on. Following the interviews, the students were required to do a time-speak activity/assessment where they were given a topic. From that topic they had to plan what to talk about, and then were given a certain amount of time to record their answers. Most of the students said it was very stressful for them and made them nervous.
While observing this class, it was such an interesting and at the same time, wonderful feeling to be surrounded by so many people of different cultures, all together to learn English with the hope of succeeding in the rest of their educational pursuits. I even exchanged e-nail addresses with two Arabic young ladies who I got talking to. They like Tallahassee, but don't do much outside of CIES because their friends are not here. They said in Saudi Arabia they liked to party at night, and Tallahassee is quiet compared to Saudi Arabia. All of the students were very warm, welcoming, and nice. We all had a few laughs at the end of the session when we played a couple fluency games that were even a bit challenging for me. I look forward to observing more classes and meeting more wonderful people in the future.
For the first twenty minutes of class the students worked with their partners to finish planning their celebrity interview questions. I thought this was a fabulous idea to get students speaking and interacting with one another. Not only did it enhance their speaking skills, but they were also able to learn more about American culture (i.e., Hollywood actors or famous athletes). While the students were planning and practicing, Vicky walked around to each pair asking if they needed any help with anything in regards to grammar or pronunciation. One group made a "beautiful mistake" in one of his sentences. She told him that he needed to look over a particular sentence and when he looked at it again he realized where he had made a "beautiful mistake" and proceeded to correct it.
This class was so much fun to observe. The interviews ranged from actors like Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston, to athletes such as Christiano Ronaldo. Most of the students spoke very well with good pronunciation and volume. They were very enthusiastic about their parts and it was so much fun to watch. I thought this was a great idea to use teaching English for myself. She had a grading rubric that was simple and basic, but reviewed the rubric with the students beforehand so they knew what they were going to be graded on. Following the interviews, the students were required to do a time-speak activity/assessment where they were given a topic. From that topic they had to plan what to talk about, and then were given a certain amount of time to record their answers. Most of the students said it was very stressful for them and made them nervous.
While observing this class, it was such an interesting and at the same time, wonderful feeling to be surrounded by so many people of different cultures, all together to learn English with the hope of succeeding in the rest of their educational pursuits. I even exchanged e-nail addresses with two Arabic young ladies who I got talking to. They like Tallahassee, but don't do much outside of CIES because their friends are not here. They said in Saudi Arabia they liked to party at night, and Tallahassee is quiet compared to Saudi Arabia. All of the students were very warm, welcoming, and nice. We all had a few laughs at the end of the session when we played a couple fluency games that were even a bit challenging for me. I look forward to observing more classes and meeting more wonderful people in the future.
It's good that you observed Ms. Ledbetter's speaking class. She's a very creative teacher, and her class is a good example of the communicative teaching method.
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