Anna CO #3

Anna Prorok

October 12, 2014

Classroom Observation No. 3 - Felicia Ciapetta

I was able to observe Felicia Ciapetta's Foundations Listening Class. I was intrigued by how she developed the lesson. She started out the class with writing the agenda on the board in very clear letters. Her handwriting was incredibly neat and easy to read. She had the students begin with a bell ringer activity where they had to talk about their favorite food with the person sitting next to them. I was not sure if the students sitting next to each other were at similar language proficiency levels or if it was random seating. She gave the students about 10 minutes for discussion after students told her that 7 minutes would not be enough time. 

After the schema building activity at the beginning of the class she transitioned the lesson into the discussion where each student talked about their favorite food. If someone in the class didn't know what that particular food was, Felicia would Google it and show everyone what it was. She told the students to take notes as everyone was telling about their favorite foods. After that activity, she asked the class specific questions (i.e., "Who liked macaroni and cheese?" "Who liked kabsa?" etc.) Then, she went over with the class each of the answers and everyone got the answers correct. She then had a quiz for the students. They had to listen to a YouTube video/song that named all the different types of fruits and vegetables. The students had to write down the words they heard as the song went on. She played it once for them but because it was too fast, she paused for two seconds or so after each set of three words. They reviewed the answers to the quiz and then time was up for that session. 

Felicia is a wonderful teacher who understands her student's needs and accommodates them in every way possible. She was incredibly energetic throughout the entire lesson and was so enjoyable to observe. The students in her class seemed to genuinely enjoy her lesson. I was even intrigued to learn about the different types of food that are found in different countries around the world. It was also great being able to see the techniques she utilized and hopefully have the chance to use them in my own listening class someday.