Author: mhummel

Reflection on Teaching

Conversation Club – June 16

Theme of class – Part 2 of Around the World in 80 Days

                                                Initial Thoughts

I appreciate our post class conversation with Dian Henderson on how we can involve students in more conversation and less of it being filtered through us.  I think the benefit of having students from Day 1, is that you develop a relationship that enables you to gear your conversation, language, topics to their learning.  This was the uncertainty for me and what is the lag time of responses saying.  Did they understand the question? Was their mic off while they were responding? Are they still trying to formulate an answer before they respond?   You don’t know so you interject far too often and too quickly.

I liked Dian’s suggestions on how we could have taken the nuggets from the students and run with a new conversation and try to again involve others.  To me this would be something I would be more comfortable with in ‘my own’ class.  I know these sideline/segway conversations are good.  Again its that balance between serendipitous conversation and trying to accomplish the complete lesson of the day. Sigh…. 

Dian made an excellent point that in order to know our learners’ abilities better we could have looked over the Course Outline.  I only looked at some of the activities they were doing in class and not the outline specifically.  Thinking back we could have also had this conversation with Jason to further understand their level.  We are now done teaching in the TRU classes but I am making it a goal to FULLY understand what our Mexico group is all about.  I want to see/hear some of the activities they have done so I can gear my lessons/vocabulary/pace better.

As for cameras on – yes it would be nice.  This is our third time seeing this class and only once did we have a camera on.  In classes of 40 I had all winter I was grateful for the 2 or 3 that did have them on and not a constant blank screen.  I tried not to lean on the three too much for the affirmation that my message was getting across.  As faculty we struggled but recognized student’s decision for privacy and their right as adults paying our fees to learn how they wanted. We didn’t push it but man it was so nice when they did ‘show up’. 

Lots always to think about after these classes, I know more will be learned through watching others, and trial and error 😊.  It will only get better.  Thank you again for all your comments, it really does help.   

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

            I think our slide choices and theme were on track to keep students engaged.   I felt I was prepared for the class.  I felt I was engaged throughout the class.  I kept a list of who spoke so when students needing probing I would not always call on the same students.  I like the two slides we had on reading.  I think that defined for the students the start and end of our conversation.             

                                                            Some Concerns

            Biggest concern was a comment mentioned by Dian at the end of class.  We were conducting our class at a level 2 when this class was actually level 4 and 5.  I now feel bad for the students.  I am mad at myself that I did not find out more about this class so that I could up the conversation…grrrr…. 

                                                            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.

Dian’s Notes

Observation Mary-Ann and Paula in Conversation Club June 16, 2021

Lesson plan sent to Dian Monday evening.  Dian replied with a few suggestions Tuesday morning.

The lesson plan indicates the following outcomes:

1.0 Listen to communication from teacher and classmates, intended to strengthen confidence, to help pronunciation and to hear how new vocabulary is used.

2.0 Speak to and answer questions being asked of students.  Share information with classmates in small and larger group setting.

And one learning objective:

In a casual conversation club setting students will share aspects of their culture with classmates, through a variety of activities.

**Please note, I went through some of the lesson to color code where these outcomes and objectives were being touched on.

Time	Teacher says or does (T or M or P) Student says or does (S)	My questions or comments
9:15               9:30           9:31                       9:35         9:36       9:37       9:40          9:41   9:43             9:45                 9:46     9:47     9:48           9:49               9:52     9:53             9:54                   9:57                 9:59         10:01             10:03     10:04                           10:07   10:09         10:11                   10:14                     10:16             10:18             10:19         10:20       10:21	Both teachers arrive and upload PPT with title “Around the World in 80 Day” and they discuss map (I had sent thought some suggestions and they responded to that by including a map😊) Slides are attractive and not too dense in content   Ts talk though their slides before Ss enter and who the Ss will be and where they are from   Ss begin arriving M greets one of Ss P greets a few others and calls out names M greets a few others and Ss begin typing greetings in the chat P – “I keep having trouble with their names”   M asks if Ss remember T names and what they did last day M – indicates what they will be doing today M- says she would like to start again with introductions and ask Ss to one at a time, place their name on their country. M- asks Rafiki to place his name and asks what country he is sitting on M- tells ss to go to shared notes and has Ss type in how to say the name in their language   Ss begin typing and T asks about one and then asks S how to say it – T asks Ss to type it in   M – goes to next sS to ask to show on map Asks S to type it in and one S comes on to say it😊     M- how do we say it… Joyce show us where Equador is… M- continues on   T says “look at how beautiful this is” T calls on Ss by name – “wonderful” T – asks “Everyone try to say that”   M- “How do you say XXXX in Spanish?” S responds M- we have one more… Vietnam   M- asks s to put how it is said in the shared notes M- Beautiful   M- Thank you all so much.. We are going to go on to the next slide Think back to our class last week. Do remember where XXX and YY visited Let’s open our mics and just share T – calls on a specific student and another   T -asks another student by name but no answer T- just open your mic and share What was this place?   M- Do you remember how they traveled from country to country? Were they on a boat?      S answers  T recasts the pronunciation M- asks Ss if they have ever been on a balloon ride   M -asks a specific student to read the first para. M- asks a specific s to read the next para. M – says “very good”   M- asks next student M – says good Then asks who would like to read the next one. S volunteers   P – says Ok – good morning class and thanks MaryAnn P – comments about the notion of tipping P – calls out a specific S name – yes no question No response P – asks another student P -asks another student and another P – comments “customary to tip 15-20%”   M – introduces next topic (family in one house) and ask who Ss live with and asks Ss to type it in   M -asks a specific s and S offers info about children T -asks about the children     T- asks another S who begins to offer all kinds of info. T – very nice Jessica and asks if they are always happy S – responds   T- in Canada, we generally don’t live with extended families P -answers also about her family   P – okay, tended to “greet each other a bit differently.”  goes through some examples and asks Ss how they greet S begin adding in chat P- calls out s name “That sounds so wonderful.  I’d love it if we greeted …” P – calls out another student and asks how they greet in China   P asks another student by name and then asks if anyone has anything different.  “If you want to speak up”   S – offers what happens in Mexico and offers the notion of the gesture varies depending on relationship   P – offers ideas of fist pump, tap toes,   M- All right – travel in your country Open your mic and let us know about your country S offers – in Japan and that things are on time and talks about apologizing for three minute delay   M- asks Maliheh (Iran) what it is like in Mexico (Nallely answers) M- Does anyone else want to share S replied (Vietnam)     S – another Vietnamese S comments further about the traffic (Again this is a great opportunity to expand vocabulary – traffic jam, bottle neck, congestion, road rage)   M and P – comments – laughs, smiles     M- In Canada, we try to be on time   P – ok sports this time… What national sport in your country? In Canada, we go past each partner and shake hands and say “good game”   “So we will go onto breakout rooms and I want you to talk with your partner about national sports and how to end the games “Anybody confused?”   P -ok go to your break-out rooms and se you back in 5 minutes   T – talk about how it is going… noting who is in which room P -I will join XXXs room because she is alone     I visited rooms – some had no conversation M – stays in the main room     P- type a ne in the chat if your are back P – so what is something you learned S are quiet P- asks Maliheh S says it and writes it in the chat          P- Ok who would like to go next? What about Victor? What did you learn? What is your national sport? P – ok what about in Japan – what is your national sport? S replies and P asks how they end the game. S replies P – okay thank you   P – okay thank you everyone So we are going to move on   M- okay so circle or use your pen, what your country’s preference… S circle M- okay in Canada we do both… morning / afternoon But there is not one that is specific     M- asks a student to read the conclusion of the story S replies   M- okay and our final paragraph could we get Amy to read it?       P – exit ticket – what is something you learned about someone else’s culture.  S responds P = types in shared notes   S offers something she learned about Canada P – thank you  – very interesting P – anybody else   M- Thank you to everyone. Have a good rest of the week P – also says thank you and calls out names	80 DayS Impressive that you both were able to respond to my feedback that came to you just a few hours prior                 Q: what might you do to remember names?           Q: Why not have them speak?         Q: why one at a time and why type it?  What was the goal here?     Q: I wonder f Ss might echo how the person whose country it is – how they say it and others echo       Q: Yes, that is your intuition!!     Good voice volume, great smile and welcoming presence       Be specific – what is beautiful?   Could you call on specific Ss?     Good intuition             Good prompting     I put Kelowna in the chat… a place near Kamloops where Ss can do a balloon ride   Q – I wonder if Ss might restate what it was about?  Or point to  unknown word(s) This is an opportunity for pronunciation accuracy.          Q: how could this be more than a Y or N response?  Asking Open-ended questions   Q: I wonder if Ss know the word customary and percentage   Vocab could be nuclear, extended, step, etc   Good intuition – how could other Ss be involved in the listening, so it becomes a conversation amongst Ss not through you?         Q: Overall, I wonder how this might be a conversation between Ss not through the T Q: Are you asking both about the words and the gesture?            GOLD – that greetings and gestures vary depending on relationship   Q – are these new vocab?     Q: I wonder how Ss will adapt when things are not on time here with public transport😊     Q: Is there a way that this could also be about note taking?  So that the listener has a task not just the speaker!   Both of you are clearly listening to the Ss!   Not for doctor appts😊 and often not the public transport.               Q: Remember comprehension check questions         Good awareness   Q: why not visit rooms?  What are you hoping to do?  What feedback might you get from the breakout rooms?   You can check that by viewing their mics     What a gift – Ss may need to see and hear it So does pronunciation matter for any of this?   Q- notice it is different to ask what they heard / learned than what they know about their own country.               Q: Do consider that this is level four, so things like academic note-taking, doing quick info searches, looking at a data sheet. ,are all expectations at this level.   Q: Is there a way to connect the story with becoming orientated to knowing about Kamloops?               😊 anyone😊     Wonderful personalization

I then had Paula and Mary-Ann spend 15 min to reflect on the lesson before we met to debrief it.

Strengths Overall :

Presence

Images on PPT represented cultural variety

The link to a reading (academic)

Using the Ss names

Connecting to students lives

Used a variety of tech tools (interactive white board and break out rooms)

Truly listened to and responded to Ss

Had a clear path and sense of pace

Demonstrated good ‘teacher’ intuition

Paula

From her notes: my attitude – the way I spoke to students (tone)

Overall demeanor – good

Welcoming – friendly encouraging –

Helps with motivation and creates calm environment

Engaged  – more present

Didn’t “check-out” when M was teaching

personal performance – still a bit too quiet

One change: I still felt too quiet.  I felt like I was stumbling.  I was worried that I wasn’t engaging.

Mary-Ann

               came in prepared with notes and for what could go wrong

I was engaged and interested

One change: If I knew the students more, I would be able to adjust the way I spoke, the vocabulary, the speed, but I feel I “dummied’ it down and I wish I knew their level better.

Together, we spoke about building on their strengths. 

We also talked about asking for a course outline and checking into what that level means for language proficiencies so that they can anticipate what to put into a lesson.

Thank you both for the opportunity to observe, share, and learn with you!

Dian Henderson

Reflection on Teaching

Jason Brown’s 0450 class June 14

Theme of class – Culture – Presentations

This was my third class teaching ESL students.  This was a Part 2 to a class a week earlier.  Since then I was also able to do a Conversation Club.

                                                            What Worked

            Paula and I worked hard on this lesson.  This was Part 2 of a three part topic.  In this class we introduced the task of making a Presentation.  I think it was a good flow and continuation from last class where we talked about culture. 

            I feel our slides were made well.  We had a good flow of how to prepare a good looking slide.  We had interaction where students could tell us what they didn’t like about some poor slides.  I feel after this discussion they all have an idea of what a good slide should look like.

            The second part was where Paula led the concept of body language and not to be nervous.  Some interactive whiteboard here and we open up the conversation for students to explain why the chose one image over the other.

            I feel we gave the information of what the expectation is.  I feel the slide that detailed the presentation expectation was clear.  There were no questions.

                                                            Some Concerns

            Two things.  I struggled in this class to get students to respond to my question on telling me if they were working as a group or individual.  AND getting them to tell me their topic was even more difficult.  I was hoping to come out of the class with a list of groups/individuals AND what they were planning to speak on.  That didn’t happen.  To try and relieve the quiet I suggested that if they did not yet know the topic they could surprise us.  Some took the bait and put in the chat that they will surprise us 😊.

            I am waiting to see Evangelista’s report.  She had quite a few suggestions of places to improve.  It is VERY interesting to me that I took offense when she made some comments after the class.  I know this is something I should learn from but I felt our rationale for what we did was justified but I WILL swallow my pride and take her feedback as improvement to my teaching.    

                                                            Final Thoughts

            I walked away from the class a little uncertain.  It is very difficult when you do not know the students to understand their level of communication.  AND with cameras off I can’t even try to read their faces and expressions.  I think if I had this group of students on a regular basis I would know them better and will have opportunity to build a rapport. I am now anxious to see if they understood our lesson well enough to produce a small presentation.  Time will tell.

Reflection on Teaching

Hilda Freimuth – Conversation Club- June 09

Theme of class – Around the World in 80 Days

                                                            What Worked

            When Paula and I decided on the theme of travel it got us quite excited.  I am not sure of Paula’s travel experience but she was game for the idea.  I think the pace of the class went well.  We didn’t sit to long on one place and moved the class through multiple countries.  The questions we planned for each country were pretty generic and in most cases,  students could contribute.

            We started the presentation with a little reading from the book and we had different students read the paragraphs.  The worlds were easy enough and no one struggled.  I think the idea of the story came across and it set the theme for the slides that came next.

            The slides themselves looked good.  The images were clear and the picture itself offered enough to look at and give hints to the student.   We determined they enjoyed the activity – the balloon ride around the world based on their participation in answering our questions.       

            Paula and I worked hard at keeping the pace moving and trying to engage the students.  When Rafiki from Rwanda turned on her camera to show us a ‘typical souvenir’ from Rwanda it was a very positive moment for me that students were engaged.  We did probe for more students to share but not being prepared there were no other takers.                                                   

Some Concerns

            It’s never perfect and although we strive to make a perfect presentation and know what we want to accomplish there is always something.   In this case it was the fact that no one had cameras on.  It was surprising to me that this was not a requirement for a conversation club.  I was expecting this to be similar to a f2f conversation club where students can feed off of each other and continue the conversation. This was not the case and when students started to put their answers in the chat I was disappointed.

            AND again, similar to my first post – I hope I did not ‘take-over’ the class and Paula felt she was more in the background.  I will work on this for future presentation – it was never my intent.

TESL3050: Conversation Club Evaluation

(to be completed by the Language Lab Coordinator)

Students’ Names:   Mary-Ann Hummel + Paula Ducharme

Sponsor Teacher:   Hilda

Date: June 9, 2021                     

Please indicate the student teacher’s progress by completing all parts of the checklist below.  Indicate if a category is not applicable (n/a).  Share this evaluation with the student teacher prior to submitting it to the Practicum Advisor.

Lesson Planning Skills

Exceeding Expectations

Meeting Expectations

Approaching Expectations

Not Meeting Expectations

Comments:

You began your lesson with the theme of travelling – well done! I like how you had students read part of the book to give the lesson some context. Loved how you moved from slide to slide (place to place) and asked questions. To see if students have ever visited some of the places, try to use the POLL option – it’s a fun and quick way to engage learners as well. For slides where students don’t engage so much, maybe have some strange but interesting facts ready about the place. I like the idea of what souvenir students could take home as well.

Teaching Skills

Exceeding Expectations

Meeting Expectations

Approaching Expectations

Not Meeting Expectations

Comments:

Excellent! Your pacing was ideal, your transitions were smooth, and you showed great flexibility. Loved how you just picked up where you left off after the tech issue – nicely done! You were gentle in any error correction and you let the lesson flow according to the answers of the students. Try to get students to unmute though rather than type in the chat (the idea is to speak as much as possible).

Communication Skills

Exceeding Expectations

Meeting Expectations

Approaching Expectations

Not Meeting Expectations

Comments:

Excellent! Your speaking speed and your choice of grammar and vocabulary were ideal for this level – well done! I also liked how you allowed students to use their own native language when they did not know the words and worked with them on the English counterparts.

Professional Qualities

Exceeding Expectations

Meeting Expectations

Approaching Expectations

Not Meeting Expectations

Comments:

Wonderful! You were on time and well-prepared for the lesson. You had a professional presence in class and showed a friendly demeanor. You were respectful of your students and their efforts and used gentle error correction when needed. Your infusion of humour and smiles made the lesson a warm and welcoming one!

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 9^th, 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