Christiana CO #1

Date/Time: May 9, 2017; 1:00-1:50PM

Location: Room 311 

Teacher/Subject: Felicia Ciapetta, Speaking 

Group: 3B

For my first class observation I sat in on Felicia Ciapetta's Speaking class with group 3B, an upper intermediate group of students who really seemed to enjoy their 50 minutes with her. The class started with a "bell ringer" activity in which the students talked amongst themselves about their answers to questions in the textbook, this was observed by Ms. Ciapetta who was sat at the head of the table listening carefully to what each small group was saying and engaging with them a few times. This was followed by a class discussion/lesson about conducting surveys. I noticed that the students spoke very well and were only corrected a few times on grammar or vocabulary mistakes, they also were able to understand just about everything she was saying and she was speaking at a medium tempo, which I was impressed by. After explaining that the class would be conducting a survey here in Tallahassee the students were put in partners and asked to come up with five survey questions about sports which was the decided on topic. As the students came up with their questions they engaged with each other and asked questions and Ms. Ciappetta monitored and interjected as needed, bringing certain points up to the entire class and also speaking individually within the partner groups. The class came to an end just as everyone handed in their questions and Ms. Ciapetta was going to decide on the questions that would be a part of their survey and they would be moving on to strategy in their next session.

I liked that there was a balance between class discussion and group discussion so the students were speaking amongst themselves as well as with the teacher which kept the class engaging and interesting for everyone. Ms. Ciapetta is very friendly and had a great way of connecting with the students, there was an air of fun in the classroom but all of the necessary lessons and activities got done which I thought was great. It was definitely a student centered lesson, each of the ten students were able to get their thoughts and questions in and there was not a lot of time when the teacher was the only one talking which was perfect since the students were speaking for the majority of the 50 minute class. The lesson moved very fluidly from activity to activity and there didn't seem to be any lulls or unused time. All in all it was a great class to attend and I really enjoyed seeing the teaching skills and strategies we have been talking about in our class executed so well in an actual classroom setting.