Andy_CO#1

Speaking Group 2D

CO#1

Date/Time: 10/2/14 @1:00

Location: RM 311

Topic/Skill: Pronunciation

Teacher Presentation: Joshua Valentine

Classroom Management: 

I enjoyed observing Josh's classroom a lot, I thought he used his time really well and covered a lot of things. He had the agenda on the board so everyone knew what to expect for the class. Josh starts out each class explaining a new idiom to the students, on this day it was "to go with the flow". After a brief discussion (that I was included in) and some explanation we moved onto pronunciation. The lesson was on minimal pairs and how certain speakers have trouble with certain sounds. The "P" and "F" sounds and the "B" and the "V". A very interesting way to teach the students the subtle difference between the "B" and "V" sound: Josh used a piece of paper and put it up in front of his mouth and said a word that started with a "B" and then a word that started with a "V" (like Ban and Van) and when he said the B sound the paper swayed away from his mouth with his breath a lot more than when he made the "V" sound. Very cool. We had just learned about minimal pairs in our class so this was a good opportunity to see this being taught first hand. Josh used the choral drill to model the sounds for the class and had them repeat. Then the class split into pairs and practiced the activity on their own.

Then we discussed superstitions and Josh had the students get in groups to discuss what superstitions each student had in their own countries. Then everyone got back together and one student from each group got in front of the class and shared a superstition.

Materials: Student books

Student Participation: yes, lots

Feedback Provided: Yes, all the students participated and had positive wash back.

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: 

Good classroom management, Minimal Pairs paper exercise, and Behaviorism: choral drill, pairs and small group - repetition until habit forms.