This week I taught Grade 1 and Grade 3. I'll start with Grade 3. This week was the second of the 2 week cycle. Last week, I previewed the presentation that the students would give this week. So this week, the entire class was dedicated to the student presentations. This class was entirely dialogic. To measure the student's English ability, I would ask an open referential question about the invention that they had created. They had to create an answer on the spot. I was also heartened when one class, students took it upon themselves to ask the other students in English other questions about their inventions.
This week in Grade 1, I was teaching out of the textbook. We were covering the present perfect and prepositions. I must confess that I probably tried to cover too much material during the class. What I covered was probably enough for 2 separate classes. So, next week, I'm going to narrow my focus. Among the highlights this week: My warm-up was very different than my previous one. I devised a game where the students watch a video clip, and then they have to guess how the clip ends. This was a dialogic game. I mostly got one word answers, but some students tried to answer with a question. I also wanted to focus on my error correction. I never once gave the explicit correction to a student error. If I heard an incorrect answer, I would say it aloud to the class, and wait for some other student to say the correct answer. This is student self-correction. And my final activity combined the spatial learner and the bodily/kinesthetic learning style. I set up a secret code around the room directing student to look a certain direction for the answer. This was preposition practice. After the game was introduced, the students could move around the room to solve the puzzle. Overall, the game was very successful.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Week 3 reflections
This week I taught Grade 2 and Grade 3. Grade 3 is doing a 2 week program. Next week, they will do a presentation of an imaginary invention that they have created. This week I did the introduction with my own presentation: "The Fart Collector." I used visual aids like a hose, bag and a frying pan. The students thought it was funny. My co-teacher needed to explain the directions for clarification. Most of the students did start drawing up their posters, which is a good sign. So it will be interested to see how well the students do during their presentations, and how much speaking the students actually do. (I made it a requirement that all students in every group speak.)
My Grade 2 classes focused on the question "Have you ever ...". The lesson involved a listening activity, the grammar introduction and listening to the song "Have you ever..." by Brandy. As the students listened to the song, they would fill in the blank of various past participles that are in the song. I also devised a speaking game where the students would ask me "Have you ever ...". I only did this game once because of time constraints This game was mildly successful. The only problems were that it was probably too long, and the same students volunteered to participate. When I did volunteer some other students, they didn't want to participate.
Overall, this lesson was fairly successful. On Monday, this lesson bombed. I included a couple more slides to the Power Point to clarify things. And I also pointed out in the book where this grammar point was. The students seemed to understand it better. The only other class where it didn't seem to go over well was the last period on Friday. I noticed that my co-teacher interrupted frequently with explanations in Korean. Maybe this was needed. But the flow of the class was different than all my other classes. So I assumed that class didn't go well.
My Grade 2 classes focused on the question "Have you ever ...". The lesson involved a listening activity, the grammar introduction and listening to the song "Have you ever..." by Brandy. As the students listened to the song, they would fill in the blank of various past participles that are in the song. I also devised a speaking game where the students would ask me "Have you ever ...". I only did this game once because of time constraints This game was mildly successful. The only problems were that it was probably too long, and the same students volunteered to participate. When I did volunteer some other students, they didn't want to participate.
Overall, this lesson was fairly successful. On Monday, this lesson bombed. I included a couple more slides to the Power Point to clarify things. And I also pointed out in the book where this grammar point was. The students seemed to understand it better. The only other class where it didn't seem to go over well was the last period on Friday. I noticed that my co-teacher interrupted frequently with explanations in Korean. Maybe this was needed. But the flow of the class was different than all my other classes. So I assumed that class didn't go well.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Methodology Reading Questions Week 4
Echoing Jaco, the methodology homework was much too long to put in a reply post.
Here is my task 1 and 2 for meth. week 4.
My lowest level class is really at a novice level. I will ask them what they did last weekend, and the typical answer, if there is one, is “PC bang.” Often even getting one word answers can be difficult. They need a lot of prompting. Some students can have difficulty with the listening activities. I will play it twice, and some students aren’t able to successfully hear the word and write it down.
Here is my task 1 and 2 for meth. week 4.
Task 1: Bill Johnson Chapter 2
1) In my school, all students are expected to be present and not tardy to class; however, I seldom enforce the rule that students need to be in their seats when the bell rings. As there may be any number of reasons why a student may be late, and I can’t fully understand what the student is saying, I figure its best not to enforce the rule. If there is a good excuse, and the other teacher overrules me, then my authority has been eroded.
Participation in my class is usually voluntary. Sometimes, I will volunteer a student, and that student will put their head down. So if I don’t want the students to feel a lot of pressure, I will make them answer as a group. As far as having a dialog with the students, most of them aren't at a level where they can understand most of what I say. So my lessons tend to be tightly structured, and there isn’t a lot of free flow of dialog.
How else might it be set up? I could go to the student’s classroom rather than the students coming to me. That way, I know that they won’t be late, As far as participation goes, if the focus would be more on conversation than on trying to learn a new grammar point, then classroom participation would probably increase. I would have more time to focus speaking activities than on the grammar practice.
5) My school is the process of changing textbooks, so Grade 2 and 3 are still using old textbooks. I believe the technical term for books like this is “They suck.” There are 3 listening activities, and the speaking part is treated as grammar exercise. And then there is a one page speaking task. I don’t bother doing this because the directions are written in Hangul, and the activities are really boring. So I have to create my own. These books view the learner as passive because they aren’t given much of a task to do.
The Grade 1 book is better. I have only done the first lesson, so I can’t comment too much. With each lesson, there are two grammer points, a listening activity that focuses on each point, and a small speaking task for each point. There is also a review in each which draws both points together. This book’s philosophy is that learning is more of an active process. There is more opportunity to use the language.
6) There really isn’t much conflict between the rules of my classroom and the rules of the school. I show up, and I do my job. Anything that involves the students, I let the Korean teachers take over. In the past, there has been some conflict where my co-teacher thought that the lesson content was not appropriate. (I showed a zombie video clip. I thought that the students would find it interesting.) So now, everything that I plan, I send it to my co-teachers.
With Mary’s experience, it happens all the time that students don’t respond. But there was this one time I had the students ask their partners three questions. And then I would go around the class, and make at least half the students answer the question. If the students didn’t complete the task, I would make them stand up and finish it. One time, there was this girl who didn’t answer; so I made her stand up. I went back to her, and she still didn’t answer. So I tried for 5 minutes after the bell rang, and she still didn’t answer. I asked my co-teacher, and she said that the girl never talked to teachers.
Task #2
According to the ACTFL guidelines, I rated my highest class as speaking: advanced low, writing: intermediate mid, listening: intermediate high, and reading as intermediate middle. I rated my lowest class as speaking, writing, listening and reading as novice high. I marked writing at lower level because essay writing isn’t taught in Korean schools. They would probably have trouble writing essays in Korea. In my highest class, I marked speaking and listening as high because most of the students can understand understand what I am trying to say. I gave them a presentation that is due next week, and most of them finished the task within 30 minutes without the aid of a dictionary. I really can’t describe their reading ability.
My lowest level class is really at a novice level. I will ask them what they did last weekend, and the typical answer, if there is one, is “PC bang.” Often even getting one word answers can be difficult. They need a lot of prompting. Some students can have difficulty with the listening activities. I will play it twice, and some students aren’t able to successfully hear the word and write it down.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Reflections on Week 2/ First Week of Class
This week I taught Grade 1 and 2. I started out with "Introduction" and "Rules and Expectations" Power Point. The first graders got the longer introduction version. This took between 5 and 7 minutes. Then I did the "in a pickle" warm-up. With the first graders, I reviewed members of the family, learned personality characteristics, and had the students interview each other.
For the second graders, we learned vocabulary, did listening activities, read a calender, learned adverbs of frequency, played a game of "Guess how often the teacher" does an activity, and then I asked the students how often they do something.
For the most part, I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. A couple of second grade classes went a little slower, so I had to cut out the last activity. I had also intended for the last activity of second grade to be an interview, but there just wasn't enough time. I probably would have needed another 10-15 minutes.
I also changed the last activity of the first grade. I originally envisioned that they would draw the person's face, and then ask questions. I thought that a drawing activity might be fun. But that took too much time. I lost the students' attention. And then there was no time for the interview.
I did have a couple of problems besides those outlined above. I included a couple of things on the class handouts that I forgot to put in the Power Point. So I to add a couple more slides. Also the concept "every other week" seemed difficult to get across. I needed an explanation from my co-teacher.
Did the usual teacher-student interactions change as a result of the readings? Maybe a little. I've always enjoyed having interactions with my audience. I get bored listening to the sound of my own voice. So I think I've always been more turn-taking inclined. But, as a result of the readings, I probably did ask more open-ended questions. And I did focus on waiting longer before throwing out an answer or a cue. And this week, I don't think I spoon-fed any answers to the students.
Not as a result or the reading, this week was the first that I tossed around a ball during class. Maybe a moving object will make the class more of a game. After about 3-4 weeks, will the students still have the same amount of attention to the moving object? And I should probably change to a bean-bag.
For the second graders, we learned vocabulary, did listening activities, read a calender, learned adverbs of frequency, played a game of "Guess how often the teacher" does an activity, and then I asked the students how often they do something.
For the most part, I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. A couple of second grade classes went a little slower, so I had to cut out the last activity. I had also intended for the last activity of second grade to be an interview, but there just wasn't enough time. I probably would have needed another 10-15 minutes.
I also changed the last activity of the first grade. I originally envisioned that they would draw the person's face, and then ask questions. I thought that a drawing activity might be fun. But that took too much time. I lost the students' attention. And then there was no time for the interview.
I did have a couple of problems besides those outlined above. I included a couple of things on the class handouts that I forgot to put in the Power Point. So I to add a couple more slides. Also the concept "every other week" seemed difficult to get across. I needed an explanation from my co-teacher.
Did the usual teacher-student interactions change as a result of the readings? Maybe a little. I've always enjoyed having interactions with my audience. I get bored listening to the sound of my own voice. So I think I've always been more turn-taking inclined. But, as a result of the readings, I probably did ask more open-ended questions. And I did focus on waiting longer before throwing out an answer or a cue. And this week, I don't think I spoon-fed any answers to the students.
Not as a result or the reading, this week was the first that I tossed around a ball during class. Maybe a moving object will make the class more of a game. After about 3-4 weeks, will the students still have the same amount of attention to the moving object? And I should probably change to a bean-bag.
All the Xie analysis is underlined.
Teacher Students
1.What is that? Pickle
2.Where do you eat pickles? Pizza, Chicken, Spaghetti
3.Kimchi? [Laughs]
4. This is call “in a pickle”
5.What does that mean?
6.Okay. Look at this. It says, “I’m in a pickle.
7. What about him, does he have a
big problem? Yes.
8. He says, “I’m in a pickle.”
Means what?
I have … Pickle?
Big... Problem.
10. On your worksheet, write
“Big trouble or big problem”
1-10 Monologic
Closed Questions
(KT directions in Korean)
11. Does anybody else need a pencil?
12. Today, who had a problem?
12, Open Question
13. Today, I woke up at 8:30. Is that
a problem?
Yes!
13. Display Question.
Informing.
14. So, what is the problem? I’m late.
14.Committing
15. Who else had a problem? I can’t find ????
15, Invitation to bid. Open Question.
16.Every English class? Finding.
17. So I can’t find...it.
17. Clarifying. Recast
18. What else?
19. What about homework?
19. Example
20. How much homework? Many, Many.
21. Many, many? Is that a problem?
22. Ok, I have a little or a lot? A lot
22. rephrasing, example
23. I have a lot of … Homework.
24. Ok, let’s practice.
[Big Moan (BM)] I’m in a pickle.
You say … Why? Why?
Why! Why!
Better Why! Why!
I’m late or I can’t find it.
24. monologic
25. Who would like some candy?
25. Invite to bid.
26. Stand up. I am in a pickle.
No. [BM] [Moan] [Laugh]
27. Bigger, Bigger. Good. I am in a pickle.
Why? Why?
I’m Late
28. Turn-taking, repeitition
28. Who else? Stand up. [Moan] I’m in a pickle.
Why? Why?
I’m late.
29. Ok. You’re late.
29. Invite to bid.
[Moan] I’m in a pickle.
30. Why? Why?
I’m late.
30. Invite to bid.
31. Ok, in a pickle means what?
Big … Big problem.
31. Confirming
32. Ok. This is review.
33. Who is this? This is... family
Who is that? Father.
Who is that? Mother.
Who is that ? Brother.
Who is that ? Sister.
They are... Best Friends.
33. monologic. closed questions, informing.
34.Friends is what in Korean? ________
What is that? dog.
He is the … dog
35. P-E-T. pet
35. rephrasing, cue.
36. What is pet? ________
36. open question.
37. Who has a pet? ??????? dog, fish
37. invite to bid. open question
Open your books to page 12.
38. Paul. The is my.. family.
39. Who is Paul?
He is my brother.
Good. This is my brother.
38-39. closed.repeating. confirming
40. Letter B. Who is Ms. Lee?
Who is Ann? Fill in the blanks on the
worksheet.
41. A, B or C
Who is Ms. Lee? C
Who is Ann? Two.
41. closed
42. Ok. Let’s fill in the blank.
Who’s the ___ Tall.
tall woman over there?
She’s Ms. Lee, my English ___. teacher.
Your English teacher, she’s very ____. Tall.
42. Argeeing
43. Who’s the ___ girl.
Girl over there?
She’s __ cute.
How old is she? She’s only __. six
43. Agreeing
44. What is cute? _______
44. confirming. closed.
45. Who is cute?
Nobody is cute?
He’s the only one that’s cute.
45. open question. invite to bid.
46-55. monologic, closed. elicitation
46. What do you think of this person?
She is ____ Mother
She is kind.
What is kind? __________
Please write.
47. What about him?
He is _____. Mean.
What is mean?
Min Jin, what is mean?
Ya Bin Han.
48. Next, he is__ Shy.
49. What is shy? __________
50. He is _____? Friendly.
[Chin Gun Han]
Chin Gun Han
51. What about him?
She is ____? Quiet.
52. She is ___? Loud.
What is loud? ______
53. He is __? Funny.
What? _____
54. He is ___? Serious.
What is serious? ____
55. He is smart.
What is smart? ____
Thank you.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
So my warm up activity is to teach an easy English idiom.
This is the detailed lesson plan. I will use a Power Point and probably the white board.
- In a pickle.
- Have the students guess "in" and "pickle." (I will only be showing pictures.)
- Reveal the phrase "in a pickle."
- Ask the students, "What does that mean?"
- Show a couple of pictures of people "in a pickle."
- Reveal meaning. Then ask students what it means (summarize).
- Ask for examples of problems.
- If students unable to respond, then give an example (cue). Ask for 3 more problems.
- Mini-dialog:
Me: (Big Moan) I'm in a pickle.
Student: What's the problem.
Me: I'm _______. (Give 1 point if student uses white board answer. 2 points if they create their own.)
- Teacher models dialog with other teacher passing a ball.
- Ask for volunteers. Students pass the ball to each other. (Student asks Student.)
Blog entry #1.
As I have no classes this week, all I can comment on is my warm up plan. My teaching objective for this warm-up is to teach an easy English idiom "in a pickle." My students are seated around 6 tables which I call "teams."
The techniques that I will employ include asking open questions, cuing modeling and student to student communication. I covered "cuing" in the above lesson plan, but I didn't cover "modeling." I will model the sample dialog with my co-teacher. We will toss a ball back and forth. The person with the ball is able to speak. Then I will ask a student, then that student will ask another student, etc.
Originally, the plan was just to present the idioms and their definitions. I would ask the students to guess what each picture meant. After reading all the classroom interaction ideas, I realized how teacher dominated it was, and I made some modifications to it like the mini-dialog.
As I haven't done the lesson yet, I can't really comment as to how it will go. I think that since it will be the first class of the year with me, getting volunteers may be difficult. I think an amusing part may be the big moan that I let out, and getting the students to let out a big moan if their first one was unsatisfactory.
If I have learned anything so far from this exercise, it's that I probably need a more detailed lesson plan. And with a little tweaking, a lesson plan can be built that involves more student interaction.
This is the detailed lesson plan. I will use a Power Point and probably the white board.
- In a pickle.
- Have the students guess "in" and "pickle." (I will only be showing pictures.)
- Reveal the phrase "in a pickle."
- Ask the students, "What does that mean?"
- Show a couple of pictures of people "in a pickle."
- Reveal meaning. Then ask students what it means (summarize).
- Ask for examples of problems.
- If students unable to respond, then give an example (cue). Ask for 3 more problems.
- Mini-dialog:
Me: (Big Moan) I'm in a pickle.
Student: What's the problem.
Me: I'm _______. (Give 1 point if student uses white board answer. 2 points if they create their own.)
- Teacher models dialog with other teacher passing a ball.
- Ask for volunteers. Students pass the ball to each other. (Student asks Student.)
Blog entry #1.
As I have no classes this week, all I can comment on is my warm up plan. My teaching objective for this warm-up is to teach an easy English idiom "in a pickle." My students are seated around 6 tables which I call "teams."
The techniques that I will employ include asking open questions, cuing modeling and student to student communication. I covered "cuing" in the above lesson plan, but I didn't cover "modeling." I will model the sample dialog with my co-teacher. We will toss a ball back and forth. The person with the ball is able to speak. Then I will ask a student, then that student will ask another student, etc.
Originally, the plan was just to present the idioms and their definitions. I would ask the students to guess what each picture meant. After reading all the classroom interaction ideas, I realized how teacher dominated it was, and I made some modifications to it like the mini-dialog.
As I haven't done the lesson yet, I can't really comment as to how it will go. I think that since it will be the first class of the year with me, getting volunteers may be difficult. I think an amusing part may be the big moan that I let out, and getting the students to let out a big moan if their first one was unsatisfactory.
If I have learned anything so far from this exercise, it's that I probably need a more detailed lesson plan. And with a little tweaking, a lesson plan can be built that involves more student interaction.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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