Category: Observation Reflections

• Before the class started, this teacher got their newly assigned student teachers to draw a big map of Canada on the board, with the Provinces and their Capital Cities for preparation of a later activity. Meanwhile the students are reminded to take out their homework from the last class.
• The students in this class are also situated in a semi-circle/ U shape, and the teacher placed a single desk at the front of the room in the opening.
• While the teacher assigns pairs to the class, they hand out a white board to each pair. The students were then to write key points of the summaries they had written about from a text they had for homework. Once the class had begun their task, the teacher went out to quickly print out more copies of the texts the class is working with to give to not only their student teachers, but to myself and another observing student.
  • I’ve seen this a few times now where, the teacher leading the class will give them an activity to do before doing something quickly outside of the classroom, whether its printing something off or if the teacher needs to run to the bathroom quickly or grabbing a drink. The only downfall to this, is that if you take too long students will lose their motivation and not actually complete the task at hand.
• There are a few points where the teacher needs to reiterate to a specific student not to do the homework now, as they are working on something else.
  • Here the teacher never gets frustrated, instead explains each time what it is they want the student to do. In this case, it was to write a summary of what they read for homework. I think what may have helped in this situation would maybe suggest they finish the homework after completing the task given if time allows. The repetitiveness of trying to do homework might show that its completion is important to them.
• After this reminder, the teacher continues to walk around the class and gauge completion of the task. It is at this time the teacher tells that class that they are looking for completion and not perfection.
  • At this point I could tell that the activity was going on longer than anticipated, due to students either striving for perfection or distracted with their own homework. I think at some point potentially setting a timer on the board or 5, 3, and 1 minute reminders of how much time is left might have helped students focus on communicating their points opposed to striving for perfection.
• Once the teacher collects all of the boards, as it seemed the students would work on this all class if the teacher didn’t take the boards away. The boards were then lined up at the front of the class and read aloud. Once brief notes as well as quite a bit of praise were given, the boards were put away and cleaned by the student teachers.
• Some of the “critiques” were that we try to avoid repetition in our sentences and paragraphs, as well as summaries not having a conclusion. To show appreciation for the class’ hard work, and to acknowledge the end of the activity, a round of applause is had for the class.
  • While one might not do this after every activity, after one that may have been especially hard or nerve-wracking for students is a good idea. I think it will help diffuse any tension or anxiety the student might be facing from having their work being read aloud like in this instance.
• It is at this time, that the teacher formally introduced the class to the student teachers by their names, and then explaining that they will be joining and helping out with the class for the next 5 weeks or so.
• Next the teacher splits the room into 2 groups, then tells them to elect a leader. After this is completed the teacher explains the next activity to the class which includes the Map of Canada the student teachers had drawn earlier. There will be random questions about Canada that are fairly obscure that even most Canadians would not know the answers to. As each group gets answers correct, they move from one capital city to the next, trying to cross Canada first, or simply get the farthest.
  • I thought this was a really cute way to potentially introduce the provinces/territories and their capitals to the class, as well as some fun facts that they might not have known before. You could simulate something similar with review questions, and a drawn boardgame-esque route the teams could take. If you wanted you could even have treats/items for everyone, but the winning team gets first pick. I thought this was a really fun and adaptable activity!
• During the first question, the teacher took the lead with the first question to the class, using body language to mimic the different animals within the multiple choice question. They also repeated the question with a slower cadence, as well as the different answer options. They then made sure each team had an answer, and had said it aloud (as was the leader’s responsibility) before giving the correct answer and moving the “board pieces” accordingly.
• While the student teachers had gone through the questions with the class, the teacher supports both the class and the student teachers by asking more critical thinking questions about the activity. They even sprinkle jokes about the content of the questions to keep the atmosphere of the class less serious and more light-hearted. Once every question was done, the teacher lead the class in a brief round of applause to keep them motivated. Since the questions were random guesses and not knowledge-based for the curriculum , the students could be discouraged fairly easily, hence the cheering and applause to remind them this is for fun and not to be taken seriously.
  • This really caught my attention, because while the student teachers were doing great with the activity, this teacher sees where multitasking needs to be done in keeping the atmosphere light. It also shows how they bring their personality to class as well. You can visibly see that they believe learning should be enjoyable and fun.
• Once the activity is done, but before the class was released for a brief break, the teacher asked if the class would like to move to the language lab a few classrooms down. To which nearly all the students jumped at the offer, grabbed their things and went to the language lab to take their break there before class resumed.
  • You can tell that the students were really excited for the change of pace! I don’t blame them, because this classroom has large bean bag chairs and a couch at the back of the room. It is a much more informal setting, and it was nice to see the students motivated.
• 15 minute break
• When the class came back together after the break, they had assumed like a semi-circle while the teacher had grabbed a chair to replicate an atmosphere akin to a story time at a library. Before going directly into the story that the teacher had prepared, they had walked through past events and characters of the story so far to make sure everyone is up to speed. What the teacher is reading aloud to the class is actually a rendition of a novel they wanted the class to read, but the level was just a bit too difficult for the class. The teacher has actually gone through and adjusted certain passages to be more suitable for their class’ level.
  • Wow! This alone is a lot of work to do! I was impressed and amazed at how much love, work and consideration this teacher puts into their classes. Seeing this not only gives me ideas for things I might do for my future classes, but also I find this very motivating for my own future practice.
• Once the teacher started reading the text, they’d stop every once in a while to ask a question about the sentence just read to keep track of who is paying attention/engaged in the activity
• As the class moves through the text, the teacher both reminds students some of the harder words that have reoccured in the story, as well as explaining the meaning of new words. They also use onomatopoeia and body language to help the students visualize the story they’re listening to and understand the more minute details. Occasionally making eye contact to keep track of who is and isn’t engaged.
• The teacher is constantly keeping on their toes, rewording sentences or phrases that might not be clear upon first listen while gauging the class’ attention and retention.
• Once the “chapter” is finished, the teacher hands out a worksheet with a copy of the text for the class to work on in either pairs or by themselves.
  • I really enjoy the subtle way that this teacher gives the class choices without putting a lot of emphasis or pressure on the students to do so.
• While they get a morse code puzzle (the word “bye”) written on the board at the front of the room (the text they read talks about morse code briefly), student teachers check in with students in case they have any questions about the worksheet. The teacher comes back quickly and also talks through translations of the locations mentioned in the text brought up by the students.
• Informally coming together as a group to see what questions the class needs clarification on, and comes up with an equation to answer the more math-oriented question, as they had forgotten to make an answer sheet for this particular activity.
• As the class comes to a close, the teacher quickly went over the worksheet with everyone to make sure everyone had participated before setting them free for the day.

Advanced Reading and Study Skills

• For the first hour of this class, the students had a test based on the previous lessons until this point. As the teacher handed out the tests to the students, they reminded them about the test taking rules of the classroom, as well as that if everyone gets one of the questions wrong on the test it will be removed from the overall score of the tests.
  • Reminders of how you’d like tests to be conducted is a good idea, especially if the test taking culture is different where the students are from. I think even in non-ESL courses this is a good idea to remind students of your test taking rules as students might forget to silence or turn off a phone without one. That being said I think it is a good idea to remove one or two questions if the entire class gets them wrong, or change how much of the final grade the test is if the entire class’ test scores run lower than expected on average. Communicating this with your students either before or after the test is up to one’s discretion, but I think telling your students this is important because it shows that you care more about their learning than their physical grades which can be reassuring for some.
• During the test, the teacher gave my fellow student-teacher and I the resources that the class is working with. This included a textbook that they had curated for the class with various different essays for reading material, as well as a timeline for the course and the various tasks or projects to be done within its duration.
  • I really appreciated this, as we could not just see, but take home the materials for future reference of the types of resources we can curate for our future lessons/courses. Not only that but the teacher also made sure to answer any questions we may have had at that point.
• After the test was completed, the teacher collected all of the tests and marked them during the 10-15 minute break they had given the students. Once the students had returned from their break, their teacher had handed back all their tests and was met with some shock. Many of the students had never had a teacher return work so quickly before. Their teacher then explained that they try to get work back to students as soon as possible so they know right away what they might need to work more on, or so that they can ask any questions they might have about the test and get clarification, opposed to wondering and waiting or even forgetting what it is that they might have questions about. This way the test was still fresh in their minds when they get their marks back.
  • I had never thought of it that way before! While this might not always be feasible depending on the curriculum, or how long your class’ runtime is, I think I agree that getting things like homework and tests back to the students as soon as possible is a good idea. Even in non ESL learning environments some students get antsy if they cannot see where they are grade-wise within a course. So if one can alleviate that anxiety, it can also build a level of trust with students that they can count on you to get their marks back to them in a timely manner.
• Once the class had settled back in and the class was about to resume, there was still a student paying attention to their phone so there was a reminder to put it away before continuing on. The student did so and the class continued without further delay.
• The teacher resumed the class by congratulating them on what they all understood and did well on in the class. When noting where they struggled, the teacher reminded them all that getting answers wrong is not a bad thing, but it just shows what they might need more practice/work on.
  • I think it is good to remind students of this, as we can end up being our own worst critics, or they might come from a culture where doing well academically is very important. it helps reinforce that we are here to help them learn, not to execute a curriculum so to speak.
• When a student was confused as to why they got a certain question wrong, the teacher allowed them to explain their thought process. After understanding where the student was coming from, perhaps the teacher might tweak or change how a question might be worded for more clarity.
• It was at this point that the teacher showed the class a movie trailer with a theme relevant to the topic they’ll be discussing next. In this instance, the next topic was “Canadian Inventions” and the movie trailer was for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. After watching the trailer, the class was asked to guess what the next reading topic was based on what they had seen within the clip.
  • As a second language learner, I had seen teachers use scenes and movie trailers as listening practice, but not as a segue to what the next activity is. I really liked this, and I think I would like to try and use this within my own practice in the future!
• Before the class began their reading, the teacher reminded them of the anatomy of an essay, such as the introduction, body, conclusion, thesis etc.. of the essay and to look at the reading material as examples of how an essay should look like when they are writing their own. Not only that but the teacher also encouraged them to write their annotations in their booklets. The teacher then put a copy of the reading on the projector and made notes between the lines of the introductory paragraph as an example of how their can mark up their own copies before giving the class time to go over the readings for themselves.
  • I really enjoyed this. As someone who has had it ingrained in them to keep their schoolwork pristine, it is nice to be explicitly given permission to write on their paperwork. Having a physical copy of the reading as well makes it easier to highlight and mark points of interest within the text as well. Giving the class examples of how they can mark up their work gives students the foundation for how they might like to construct their own notes within the texts they are reading. I don’t think I would have thought of right away to tell them outright that it is okay to write on your schoolwork, but it is a good reminder for not only myself but others who might benefit from it as well.
• Once the students have had some time to go over the text for themselves, the teacher calls everyone’s attention so go through the essay together as a class, making sure to have everyone’s attention before continuing with another reminder to look for the different “anatomical features” of an essay as they go through it.
• As the teacher reads the majority of the sentence aloud, they give pause frequently to let the students finish the sentence together as a class to create a type of call-and-response.
  • I thought this was a good way to keep the class focused on the material, while also getting some speaking practice on some words they might not have seen or said before. This is also another way to gauge participation, at least with a smaller class, as you can hear each student’s voice or the absence of it. If there is a student continually not speaking you could get them to read a sentence aloud or get them to answer a question about the sentence just read to ensure they are still following along. If they struggle, it might be a good time to remind them to pay more attention, or that you aren’t explicitly testing them until you are actually testing them and want to ensure their understanding.
• As the teacher leads the class through the text, they constantly mark up the text with little annotations and notes as a visual reminder of what the students themselves might want to mark their own. Not only that but musing aloud about the text as they mark it shows students the though process behind certain annotations.
  • With something that might be new to students, like dissecting more academic texts, I think this is a great way to walk through the process without directly holding their hands through it. It reminds me of my classes in middle school and high school and struggling to deal with more academic texts. If a teacher had gone through it like this with me, I think I may have understood a little better. It also reminds me of the subtle nuances of doing higher-level written communication in a Second Language, and how some things may be common sense in one language’s context, but unheard of in another.
• Intermittently throughout the call-and-response, the teacher asks students to tell them where certain things are in the text such as the thesis statement of each paragraph as they continue through the work.
  • I think sporadic reminders will help keep students thinking about the anatomy of the essays, you would just have to be careful not to overload the students with too much information. However in this moment the teacher is good at gauging how students feel about the material.
• Once the class has gone through the entirety of the essay together, the teacher gets them to line up according to their favourite colours. Red being on one end and violet being on the other, students sorted themselves accordingly for the teacher to put them into groups of 2 or 3. They then were to spend the remainder of the class time working on annotating and marking their own copies of the essay they had just gone over.
• A few minutes before the end of class time, the teacher gives the students a summary of what it is they had gone over today, then explaining that annotating the essay they were working on in class is part of their homework for next class. They also explained about how there would be no class on one of the scheduled days the next week due to a public holiday that meant the school would be closed before letting them go for the day.

Advanced Oral Skills

• Since this was an early morning class, there were no other classes in the room previously, so my fellow student-teacher and I went in and sat down relatively early before the class started. The class’ desks were situated in a semi-circle facing the board. We actually had a really good conversation with two of the students before the rest walked in. They had been curious as to why we wanted to be English teachers.
  • This honestly blew my mind, as I had not considered students would want to actively get to know their teacher to this degree and what potentially drew them to teaching. While I understand that I am not directly teaching these students today, it helped me realize that not only are students there to learn a language for the country they are residing in, but also perhaps without realizing it, that they perhaps are looking for a human connection at the same time. No matter the demographic that we end up teaching, I believe it is important to recognize that a good number, if not all students came here alone and want to not only communicate for their daily life, but for making friends and starting a new life in a new country.
• Once all the students had piled in and class had started, a student presented to the class a quote that they really liked. There was a small slip of paper handed out to each student to fill out based on the speaking student’s presentation outlining a criteria to look for within the short presentation. One student per class is expected to present their quotes to the class, along with the translation in English if necessary, who said it and the history behind it.
  • Looking at this critically, I immediately saw the value in conducting the activity in this way. Students have time to come up with something that they want to present, whether or not the order of students was determined randomly or if they chose when they would like to go (this would also be a good opportunity to give students the chance for options and choosing to get them a little more involved in the curriculum). As well as giving something to look for within the presentation encourages the students to listen and pay attention to what is being said. I think this activity is a great way to get students into the mind space to continue with the class, as well as getting them comfortable with speaking and listening to different accents speaking English.
• After the student had their presentation, the class had a guest speaker from the school’s English tutoring program. The speaker let the class know about certain events coming up as well as when the room the program takes place in is open
  • This was really nice to see. At least during my time as a student, I never really knew if there were resources for helping or strengthening understanding, nor did I end up looking because I got swept up in trying to keep up with my classes. To have someone from the service actively communicate where and when to get help with homework or understanding shows students that might not think to get help that there are resources available.
• A group activity where the students are put into groups of 3 or 4, each person was given a role within the discussion, and was expected to relay what was discussed depending on the role they had been given.
  • This is a good way to give those who might not speak as much an opportunity to have their voices heard, as well as making the students use as much vocabulary as possible while discussing their individual group topics. This particular activity made use of a “devil’s advocate” where a student in each group was encouraged to counter-argue the topics within the text. I really liked this because it makes the students use their critical thinking skills as well as their speaking and vocabulary skills. This is definitely an activity I would like to use in the future.
• During this activity, the teacher first makes some rounds to ensure the student’s understanding of the tasks, then once understanding has been communicated by the students (either by verbally saying so, or by overhearing the conversation had, the teacher can glean that the students understand what they are to do in the activity). Once it is clear that the students understand, the teacher encouraged us to walk around the room to see not just the students at work, but to help answer any questions they might have about the text.
  • As a relatively hands-on type of person, I appreciated that this teacher let us interact with the students. I was glad to have been able to help out with answering a few questions the students had, and I could tell that some of the students were actually pretty comfortable with my presence in the room despite being a guest. I know personally that having a guest within your class to observe can be unsettling for some, so I was glad to see that the students didn’t feel threatened by my presence and observing. While I know that sometimes this is unavoidable, it was nice to see some students be at ease with my presence in their learning space.
• If there are any students noted to not be partaking in the discussion, the teacher makes a point to talk to them and ask their opinion on the paragraph that the group is discussing.
• Once the timer has gone off, as it had only been about 10 minutes, the class came back together to discuss what each group had read, as well as the discussions that had been had. This was a lot more informal, as students stayed in their seats and spoke to the rest of the groups in the room.
  • I think this is a good way to warm some students up to more public speaking without putting a lot of pressure on them by having them present in front of the room. It also has a much more relaxed atmosphere to it so that students hopefully will be more inclined to participate.
• After each group has had their chance to speak, the teacher keeps the students in their pre-established groups, but changes the roles each student has and gives each group a new text to discuss and work through.
  • I thought this was really smart! With the pre-established groups hopefully students will have already become more comfortable speaking in the group and be more inclined to participate. By giving the students a different role, the teacher can see which students may have been more reluctant during the last exercise and give them the more proactive speaking/presenting roles that had also been pre-established in the previous activity. Not only that, but having done and understood this activity once already, the students don’t need to be told the instructions again, or might just need a reminder opposed to ensuring understanding of the activity from the get-go.
• The teacher makes their rounds again once the class goes off into their groups, gauging how long they need to complete the activity by seeing who is done, and who might need more time with the written portion of the group work. Once the students have finished the written portion of the activity the teacher gives the class a short break.
• 10 minute break
• Once the class reconvened and the students returned to their seats within their respective groups, the class went over each individual answer for all the group’s paragraphs one by one. As they went through the teacher made sure to clarify any phrases or words that either students had shown trouble with, or that they thought might be more difficult for their level.
• For the rest of the class, the teacher had gone through the group discussion questions and answering questions the students might have about them, as well as marking down what the homework is for the next class before the class ends.

Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate Grammar

• Before Class: The classroom does not have a previous class in it before this one, so students have shown up for the lesson about 30 minutes before the lesson. They either settled into their seats and having either brief chats with other classmates/friends or have taken the time before class to prepare themselves and check/do their homework from the previous class.
• When the class did start, there was a brief introduction of myself, my name and why I was joining the class for the day before jumping into their teaching routine. A new student had joined the class, but since this was already the second week of classes there were a bit behind on previous lessons. They had made it clear that they needed to catch up and that with the nature of summer courses, it is a faster paced environment so they would not be able to cater to them as well as if they had been there since the first class.
  • While it is unfortunate that the student had missed the first few lessons, I think that explaining this is important for the students to recognize their own responsibility for their learning as there is only so much a teacher can do if they aren’t there for class.
• The teacher had been a bit late in arriving to class, and was doing their best to quickly et their things organized so they could lead the class efficiently. While they were getting organized, they gave a student (the only one in the slightly higher course of the two) a slightly different text book with the answers in the back so that they can check their answers when they study by themselves outside of class time.
  • I loved to see this, because it showed me that the teacher took into account the different needs this particular student had and made an effort to cater to them.
• Once the class has its ”official” start, and each student’s name tag has been handed out, the teacher begins by going through the homework from the previous lesson and using it to do a warmup/review. While reviewing the homework, the teacher was speaking clearly.
• At this point in the class, students are quiet but attentive as they follow along. This is in the same classroom as hours 1 and 2, so the layout remains the same as the teacher stands at the front of the room using the projector to display the students worksheet onto the whiteboard, then using a dry erase marker to fill in the answers as students answer the questions out loud as a group.
  • This was the first time I’ve seen this technique used and I thought it was so smart! I remember when worksheets were printed on a clear sheet of plastic and the teacher would use a projector and use water soluble markers to write on them. So I thought that this was a brilliant way to emulate it in a much more modern setting. It also makes it more interactive because you can get students to go up and fill in the blanks themselves after working on problems individually.
• When the students were calling the answers aloud, they were encouraged to say the entire sentence leading up to the answers, not just the answers themselves.
  • I like this, because it helps the students become more familiar with speaking in longer sentences, but also being able to read aloud more comfortably.
• Uses the examples given in the text book to give an opportunity to students to speak on past experiences.
  • I think this is a really great way to engage students and get them to bring a piece of themselves to the conversation. Not only that but they might learn a new word/phrase related to their interests, or even how to express themselves more fully within the English language. This is also another way that we as learning facilitators can help our students be seen, not just as a student, but as an individual with unique life experiences.
• It is at this point the teacher is explaining the difference between every day use, and academic use. Specifically how in modern speech, the grammar may not be correct but the meaning of what is being said is easily conveyed.
• During short conversations to re-engage the students the teacher makes notes of the students birthdays and home countries.
  • I believe this is something that would depend on your students. Some of them might not be comfortable with giving out private information like that, so while it could be seen as a caring gesture, not everyone is willing to give this kind of information about themselves.
• The teacher showed that they have good control over the atmosphere in the classroom, as he is able to reign in the students when it starts to get a little loud or rambunctious.
• Once the assignment/worksheet had been handed out, the teacher used this as an opportunity to quickly run to the washroom
  • I had never thought about it much during my time as a student, but thinking about it I believe this is really smart. Student will have a few minutes to work on whatever was given, but also without the watchful eye of the teacher they perhaps might feel more inclined to ask a classmate for help. This could also be a quick brain break for students that need a moment to collect their thoughts. It could also be seen as a moment where you “shake up” the classroom, as bathroom breaks tend to be more on the unpredictable side.
• 10 Minute Break
  • I believe it is important to note that this particular teacher had a cart with all of their supplies for the courses they taught that day. I loved this idea, so long as all the classes are taught in the same area or building this seems like a much better idea compared to other options I’ve seen teachers using to carry not only their teaching supplies, but also assignments taken for marks and whatever else might be needed that day.
• During the break, most of the students spoke in English most notably with the other students without a similar cultural background, as neither parties could communicate in their mother tongue.
• Once the class came back together after the brief recess, the class was split up to do partner work with the person beside them with a few stragglers being told to join certain groups.
  • Looking from a teacher’s perspective, I now understand why I was put in groups against my will as a student so many times. It is to make sure that everyone is included and felt seen, even if the desire in the moment is to be left alone or even just hesitance at a social interaction with new people. I hope to be able to engage my students enough so that there might not be as much hesitance not just in group work, but that they feel like their voice and opinions are just as important as the content being taught.
• It was during this time that the teacher took my fellow student-teacher and I to the ESL textbook room and gave us a copy of the course’s textbook for reference when going through the course materials for the remainder of the class time, but also as reference to the kinds of materials we will probably be working with when we start teaching lessons with our sponsor teachers.
• Once we had returned to the classroom, while going through the assigned worksheet the teacher made note to explain not just the meaning of certain words, but also the context that they may be used in.
  • I think this is another thing to note because native English speakers have grown up in most cases with these opportunities sprinkled throughout our lifetimes, usually with a parent or someone older to correct us when we use them. With ESL learners, I think it is a good idea to give them as “heads up” as to which contexts certain phrases or idioms might be used.
• Due to explaining the contexts of certain idioms, there were brief off-topic conversations, but they only lasted about a minute or so before moving on to the next question.
• It was at this point that the teacher had realized that there was still a fair amount of content to go through before the end of class and that time was approaching rather quickly. They then put up the next page of the worksheet up on the projector, and proceeded to have each student go through and real aloud one line each.
  • I think this is good for letting the students prepare to speak aloud opposed to being called on at random, and perhaps give them a little more confidence for when they speak/ read aloud.
• Before letting the class go for the day, the teacher reminds them of a test next class as well as test-taking strategies, such as reading the instructions carefully, and to read the text provided a few times before answering the questions on the test. Then, when assigning homework for the next class the teacher makes notes for themselves to remember what it is that they had assigned.

Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate Reading Lesson

• Before Class: Students are lively and chatting in both English and their first languages
• The class takes their seats in a U shape that goes along the walls of the classroom, with another smaller row between the teacher’s desk and the back row of desks
• When class starts, the teacher hands out personalized nametags that the students created on the first day of classes
  • I thought this was a brilliant idea for many reasons. Not only is this a great way to learn the students names, but you can also expedite attendance while showing your students that you know who they are.
• When they have the attention of the class, the teacher reminds the class of how they prefer their questions to the class answered, called aloud opposed to raised hands.
• A student had come in a few minutes late, they had quietly taken their seat while the teacher changed their status on the attendance sheet.
  • While in my experience this is a common occurrence, I appreciate it as a student who has both been running late, or on time/early for a class I like it when my lateness is not acknowledged because I don’t want to disrupt the class, but also that it doesn’t create a fear of being late or the mentality of “well I’m five minutes late so I might as well not go because I’ll get in trouble”.
• When going over the homework from the previous class, the answers are spoken aloud by both the teacher and the students going one by one. After all the answers have been said, a copy of the correct answers are put on the board so that students can check their spelling
  • While this may be common practice, it hadn’t occurred to me to show the spelling of the answers so that students can check their spelling
• Gives students a paragraph to read for a few minutes, then afterwards reading the paragraph out loud at a pace similar to that of conversation.
  • While some students might have trouble following along with this pace, it does get them familiar with a more conversational pace that native speakers have opposed to slowly going through line by line and making sure every word is understood.
• When looking at the paragraph with the class, the teacher showed how to find definitions within a text with parenthesizes.
  • This was another instance of it never occurring to me that that is a method of determining meaning within a text without using a dictionary.
• While reading another paragraph out loud to the class, the teacher sat in an empty space in the middle of where the students were seated (mostly on the one side of the room to see what is shown on the projector), and read out loud another paragraph while the students follow along.
  • I really liked this, because it visibly takes away the degree of separation that some people might have between teacher and student. Not only that but it helps make sure that the students can hear what is being said that they might not be able to get if the teacher was farther away. It also helps keep students on track by being in a closer proximity.
• When a student isn’t paying attention, and laying their head down the teacher was very firm about no sleeping in class. The tone caught me off guard as it was a little harsh, but I understand that the teacher finds this very disrespectful.
  • While I was not able to be there for the very first class, this might be an important rule to implement at the start of the course, as well as other things you expect as classroom etiquette. This will help those that come from cultures where sleeping might be allowed in class to know that you should not do it here as well as other rules that might not be commonplace in their home country.
• The teacher has a good gauge for words that might be a bit harder for students in this lower-mid level class, as they not only elaborate further on definitions of words, but also potential situations they might be used and elaborating further on idioms that might be within the text.
• Reminders that while reading their texts, to re-read passages a few times so that they might be able to glean the meaning of some words by the surrounding sentence. As well as that if you can replace the word and the sentence makes sense, its meaning is probably similar or the same.
• The teacher reminds the class that you need to be honest with your learning needs, that getting answers wrong is not a bad thing, but that it just means you or the class in general needs a bit more time working on whatever it is they got wrong.
  • I loved this. During my time as a student I have been made to feel stupid or lesser than because I needed more time to practice certain concepts that I could not quite grasp. I think it is good to remind students that getting an answer wrong does not reflect on them as a person.
• Walks through idioms more in depth, using ones the class already knows as examples before introducing new ones to the class and explaining their meaning. Then listing scenarios where these idioms might be used in everyday life. Doing through the examples again as a listen and repeat.
  • I think doing a listen and repeat afterwards is a smart idea so then they will hopefully be more comfortable when the time arises to actually use the idioms they learned.
• Gives the students the task of doing some solo work on a worksheet within a booklet handed out in a previous lesson. After a few minutes the class was lead to go over the answers. While going over the answers, again using real life examples with the answers that the students might come across in their lives within Canada. Not only that, but also using the resources put up in the classroom as well. Pointing to maps and other pictures to help visualize the examples they’re coming up with for the class.
  • I think this is a great idea! Not just to put up examples and resources for the students but to bring attention to them and use them for examples within class time. This is something I would like to include in a future class that I lead if circumstances allow.
• After giving a few examples, the students are then asked to think of their own examples that they may have heard already, or translating idioms in their own language and explaining their meaning. This lead to a brief conversation on similarities and differences of idioms in various cultures.
• Before giving the class a 10 minute break, and saying so to them, the teacher gave them a list of new vocabulary words to work on for the week and lead them through a listen and repeat of the words on the list.
  • This particular teacher didn’t have an outline of the plan for the class, and so I thought giving them one quick task before letting them have a break was a good move. The class had gone for a little over an hour at this point, and they could tell the class was getting a bit restless.
• 10-15 minute break
• After everyone had settled back in from their break, they were given another worksheet of fill in the blanks. The teacher then came around to check on both their progress and gauge about how much longer people might need to complete it.
• Then once they had deemed enough time had passed, the teacher once again sat in the middle of the class, and read aloud the paragraph with brief emphasis on the answers while the class reads along.
• After this activity, let the class know that they had finished the chapter and that there would be a test the next class on what they just finished covering. Then using the last ~20 minutes of class time, the teacher had gone over key points of the chapter intermittently checking for understanding and clarifying points that may have been more muddled for students.
• During this review session, the teacher asked questions and got the students to give examples to show they understand the content.
• Before ending the class early, the teacher explained what is going to be on the test and how to best study for it. This particular test format was made so that if you know the vocabulary for the chapter, you’ll get at least a passing grade.
  • During my time as a student I always appreciated it. This gives the students an idea of what to expect and can severely reduce test anxiety.
• When the class finally ended, albeit a few minutes early the teacher let them know that they would be sticking around for a few more minutes in case anyone had questions or needed clarification on anything.
  • I think this is a great practice, as it gives those a chance to ask questions one on one in case they may have been hesitant to reach out during class time.