Colin CO#1

CO Blog #1

Date/Time: 5/8/2017 9:00AM-9:50AM

Topic/Skill: 3B Grammar – gerunds/infinitives plus phrasal verb of the day

Teacher Presentation: Leslie Wagner taught this class, and began class with friendly chat about everyone’s weekend and other similar small talk. Later, the daily schedule was presented, as well as some information about grading and the syllabus, as well as how the English speaking level a student is in will impact their evaluation in the class. She moved on to explaining the daily phrasal verb, which for this day was “bring up.” She explained the meaning and how it was used, and gave examples of its use, and requested that students generate their own examples, correcting for errors such as students suggesting that you “bring up a conversation” with somebody, rather than bringing up a topic of conversation. She moved on, and led the class in working on gerunds and infinitives, starting with student pair work generating examples and following up with explanations of why they were correct or incorrect, using a primarily inductive approach. Throughout the class period, there was a good mix of pair work and more teacher-oriented learning.

Classroom Management: Shortly following the beginning of class, the instructor made sure the students knew what to expect as well as what would be expected of them. During pair work the class was livelier than other times, but never unruly. Two students were especially animated, and the instructor politely but firmly requested that they make sure to keep using English during class and to stay focused on the topic at hand. During pair work, she would walk through the classroom, observing student work. Near the end of the class she did gently chide some of the students about getting ready to leave class a bit too early.

Materials: White board, computer and projector, some handouts

Student Participation: students were engaged, with ample opportunity for participation. While more teacher-oriented learning did take place at times, this was by no means constant.

Feedback Provided: When going over pair work, the instructor selected several student examples and explained if they were correct or incorrect, and why. When something wasn’t understood, she would explain it in simple terms be it a grammar point or a new vocabulary word. For instance, at least one student didn’t know the meaning of the word “whispering,” so she explained it in a hushed voice, demonstrating it while explaining it.

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: The pair work was very well balanced with a more lecture-based approach, and the lesson must have been meticulously planned for each section to take a specific amount of time. The instructor also did a very good job modeling patience in maintaining control of a class which, while not unruly, perhaps wished it was still the weekend and wasn’t always completely focused. It was a good lesson in managing groups and keeping them on track.