Tatum CO #2

Topic/Skill: Speaking Group 4-A

Teacher Presentation: During this class, the instructor went over the expectations for the presentations on Friday and then did a "Rapid-fire" speaking exercise. The topic of the speaking exercise was "Parents spanking children." To conduct this debate, the instructor had a list of seven leading questions such as "should parents spank their children?" and "if parents spank their children, at what age should they start and at what age should they stop?" From there, students add their own input and opinions while also asking questions about how this topic is viewed in the US. For example, one student was curious about the FDC (Florida Department of Children and Families) and the instructor spent a few minutes talking about the FDC and what it does.

Classroom Management:  This was a casual discussion so students were just encouraged to speak. When more than one students wanted to talk at once, the instructor would order the students first, second, third, etc. to keep the discussion flowing in an orderly manner. 

Student Participation: Most of the students participated in the discussion at least once as it was for a participation grade. However many students spoke up multiple times for each question. There were conflicting opinions in the class which made the discussion more lively and fun for the students. Many of them were also curious about the American point of view of the topic and used the questions as an opportunity to talk about discipline in their own country and culture. 

Feedback Provided: Sometimes the instructor corrected students or provided them with the vocabulary word they were looking for if they were struggling. However, for the most part, the instructor let students speak and self-correct along the way as they were very high-level students. Many of them made very little grammar mistakes and none of their mistakes impeded the audience from understanding what they were saying. 

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: I really enjoyed watching the debate and I learned how I might conduct an activity like this in the future. I also learned I don't necessarily have to plan a class full of activities. For higher level students, a debate like this would be interesting and give them a chance to practice their speaking skills while also learning new vocabulary in context.