Reflection on Teaching
Jason Brown’s 0450 class -June 09
Theme of class – Culture
This was my first experience teaching ESL students. My normal experience is teaching International students at a CLB 8 level. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to our next class together.
What Worked
Choosing a theme of Culture for the class was a good place for me to start. I am comfortable with the topic from my experience at SAIT. Once that was established it was not too difficult to build the lesson plan. When it came to building the lesson plan, we relied on the BOPPPS method to make sure we were covering all parts of a good plan. I really appreciated access to Jason’s workbook on activities. We pulled both of our participation activities from the resource.
I was happy with the end result of our PowerPoint. We tried to keep the language at the right level and make sure we didn’t speak overly long on each slide. There was information on the slides that grounded the lesson and then the activities were fun to hopefully put the students at ease with the topic.
Some Concerns
I don’t know if Paula was as comfortable with the topic, she never said and I hope I didn’t push too hard for it. I thought culture was something everyone can relate to and would enjoy the sharing in a couple of weeks through their presentations. But again, maybe I am speaking from my comfort level.
It’s always tough working with a partner and I feel I may have ‘taken over’ more than I should have and should have let Paula lead more of the slides. I hope she wasn’t offended and I will make sure she has a more active role and I stand back in our future classes.
Final Thoughts
I think about how this class may have been different in a classroom. I would be able to read students confusion and be ready to explain again. It is difficult on line and we need to respect the camera and audio participation of each student. Hopefully over time with the same students you can build a rapport where more feel comfortable enough to share both visually and verbally.
Teaching Observation Report
Wednesday, June 9th, 8:30 AM, ESAL 0350/0450-01
Teachers: Paula Ducharme & Mary-Ann Hummel
Lesson Topic: Culture and Your Home Country (Part of the “Making a Presentation Series”)
| Time | Observations | Comments/Questions |
| 8:19 8:30 8:32 8:33 8:35 8:45 8:49 8:52 8:55 8:57 9:00 9:03 9:04 9:06 9:10 9:12 9:15 9:20 9:23 9:28 | Ts in class PPT uploaded Sts begin to arrive Student teachers are introduced and introduce themselves to their students Mary-Ann introduces the slide explaining what will happen over the coming weeks Warm-up activity Paula and Mary-Ann start by modelling a way of introducing themselves as per the slide and Paula has students then tell 3 things about themselves Interactive whiteboard game to locate various countries. The teachers were very enthusiastic about guiding students to pinpoint their classmates and their own countries on the map. Teachers share definitions of culture, including Western culture, Eastern culture, Latin culture, Middle-Eastern culture, and African culture. Characteristics of culture Traditional clothingShared notes activityMary-Ann asks whether sport is part of culture to clarify Breakout room activity matching clothing to various countries – activity from cmns games — 6 students were put into the breakout room – Paula asks if students know what to do…At first, students didn’t have access to whiteboard. Instructor turned on whiteboard after a few minutes…. Breakout rooms finish and intructors guide students with pictures they were not sure of…Maliheh asks if the words can be typed in the chat bar Giving and answering questions (whole class) activity – demonstrated by the teachers…Teacher asks Rafiki to ask Fabiola a question — instructor confirms whether student needs help and then demonstrates and explains – Mary-Ann asks students to choose the student with whom they will interact – Paula starts guiding the activity on the next slide – Mary-Ann sometimes continues to guide discussion and Paula sometimes guides the discussion. The final slide is introduced. Mary Ann explains what their upcoming assignment is about. Mary-Ann asks students to identify if they want to work by themselves or in groups Exit ticket interactive whiteboard led by Paula. | Instructors were well prepared and arrived early to get set up and test equipment. Great ice-breaker to get everyone feeling comfortable. It’s great to give an overview like this as it allows the students to see the big picture right away Students liked this activity…great idea to set the tone and create a fun atmosphere for the class. You were both smiling a lot, which gives great energy to the class and made everyone feel good. This was a very useful activity as it allowed students to get to know where each person comes from in the world. It helps us understand the reality of each student’s situation. I think it was great to give this overall “satellite view” of world cultures and their locations, identifying unique characteristics associated with these regions. Discussed the # of “tribes” in Nigeria. I was thinking that the use of this term may be outdated a bit so searched and found the following: https://cfas.howard.edu/sites/cfas.howard.edu/files/2020-07/ArticleTheTroublewithTribe.pdf In the West, “tribal” often implies “savage.” I liked this interactive activity – it’s always good to find ways to engage students…teachers enthusiastically encouraged students to creatively develop list in shared notes Once students had whiteboard ability, they were much more interactive. Students were having fun and intrigued but didn’t quite have time to finish the activity. Student asks “what is the best coat in Greenland”? Once students get the hang of the activity, they start to have fun interacting. The activity started to proceed smoothly and students were engaged. Mary-Ann manages the student interaction when needed It was enjoyable to be able to observe how each pair of students interacted and got to choose a person with whom they would interact. |
Overall Comments:
I thought your lesson was very well-planned and seemed to be targeted at just about the right level given the mix of students we have. The lesson content catered to the diverse cultural and ethnic reality we have in the class, so I think this helped get students interested in the topics and activities. You planned for a variety of learning situations – teacher fronted listening, teacher-fronted whole class interactive work, and small group breakout room interactions. You made great use of the tools available like the interactive whiteboard, which forces students to participate (mind you they were participating as the activities were fun and interesting). In terms of your interactions with the students, they were very professional and you often smiled and laughed, creating a warm, friendly and safe environment within which the students could participate. To close your lesson, you tied it in to the upcoming lesson, which also helped students understand the structure and purpose of your lesson, so this was very helpful. Overall a great lesson. The two of you worked well as a team. Keep up the great work! I’m thinking these lessons you are creating now can be recycled for the teaching in Mexico. Perhaps we can even ask students to repeat their presentation as a “final assessment” to the classes in Mexico????? There might be an opportunity to build in some real international interaction.
Thanks for your well-planned and smoothly-deliverred lesson!
Jason