Patrick CO #2

Date: September 4, 2018

Time: 11:00-11:50 a.m.

Topic/Skill: Reading Group 4A; Review of last week’s work (Cornell Note Taking Method; Reading Articles and responding to questions; summarizing an article)

12 students were present.

Teacher Presentation: The teacher began the class on time and used visual aids (texts) projected on a white board. Asking students about their weekend activities helped them contribute to group conversation.

An online stopwatch was used to track times of small group and individual activities. Some of the text projected on the board was difficult to read. In the grammar class, the teacher routinely enlarged the text so students sitting in the back of the room could easily see the projected material.

The teacher engaged the students in conversation individually and in small group activities. This approach kept a balance between teacher-centered and student-centered activities. Most of the class time was spent in student activity—providing opportunity for application of reading comprehension skills. The teacher promoted the positive exchange of ideas, even when differing opinions were presented. Statements such as, “We can agree to disagree” promoted the idea that sharing of different opinions was acceptable in the classroom. This approach seemed to help students feel free to share their views without concern for receiving a negative response.

The teacher asked students to focus on words in context—and discuss what they thought was the meaning of various passages.

The teacher did have to remind the students about submitting Reading Logs. It appeared only 1 or two students had completed the assignment.

Classroom Management: The students were generally attentive and, except for a brief moment in getting students’ attention when starting the class, the teacher did not need to re-direct students’ attention to any given activity. The teacher kept the pace moving, and activities varied, but focused on the skills of the lesson, which promoted student engagement. The teacher used circulation to observe and assess student performance.

Student Participation: Students participated without excessive prompting. The teacher’s use of ongoing questions, including asking students to elaborate, promoted student engagement in developing further the concepts under discussion/exploration—how to discern meaning in a given text. Allowing students to comment, including using the perspective of home country as a reference point, helped students discuss the text from a point of personal understanding.

Feedback Provided: The teacher explained the purpose of the lesson. The teacher provided praise about good responses that explored meanings in context of a passage of text.

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: I was pleased to note that the teacher used several techniques recommended in our TEFL textbook (Snow and Campbell). For example, using one’s home country as a reference point, provided a framework for discussing textual meaning in a passage of text. The teacher used praise appropriately and variably; keeping track of time to pace the class and use time wisely, and encouraging good discussion about reading comprehension—the task at hand. This approach emphasized application of knowledge, rather than knowledge in isolation.