Kelly- CO1

On Wednesday I attended my first Classroom Observation in a Foundations Listening Class. There were two other students observing the class from another program, and I think that momentarily overwhelmed the teacher Vicki. She was a bit nervous rearranging seats and reworking her lesson plan to accommodate us.
The students had been filling out a worksheet in which they ask others basic facts about each other (Name, Birthday, address, talents, future goals, etc.) So the teacher made use of the three native English speakers in the room to be the interviewees for the students. She began be going over things the class had previously learned about Dusty, a young man who has apparently observed the class before. He explained that he like to go hiking- which prompted the teacher to theatrically walk around the classroom miming a backpack and climbing on chairs. Further, Dusty drew a picture of a stick figure going up the mountain- which led to the student's "Aha!" moment. Dusty also explained that he liked to line dance, so he looked up a proper song on Youtube and demonstrated the dance. To many students this was very American, and "cowboy." And cowboys are from Texas, right? This helped me see how important it is to use and explain things in several different ways for people to have that revelation of understanding.
I fear that I may have been a difficult person to interview for this worksheet as it seems that I am rather eccentric. Having to decide my favorite movie and song was difficult and I attempted to make my answers as inobscure as possible. But that's not how it turned out. (Uh yea, love Edith Piaf. Favorite movie? Um, well Orfeu Negro I guess, heard of it? Excellent Brazilian film from the 1959). I apologized for my lack of easy answers- I really should have given it more thought or just said the first English language and easy to recognize thing for their sake.
The class was fairly casual due to its small size (about 5 students). The teacher used the student's first names and seems to have developed a rapport with them. The class vibe was very friendly, Vicki seems to be a very kind, compassionate, and bubbly person. However, I think the performance of playing the teacher can sometimes make her a little nervous, especially if things don't go exactly as planned or expected. She moved around in the class and made a real effort to make the student understand things that came up (Using the computer, acting it out, drawing pictures, creating scenarios in which the vocabulary is used). She gave the students lots of positive feedback and was never harsh to them with their mistakes. The students were also very nice and seem to respect and like their teacher. The students are doing exercises, but they are guided and made to stretch their English use beyond the exercise's parameter. The class flowed nicely, and the period was over before we knew it. Vicki announced that class would be over soon, allowing the students to wrap it up.

The Final Scene from Orfeu Negro. My favorite scene ever- It will make anyone feel fantastic about the world.