Allyce_CO2

For my second class observation I chose to observe Vicky Ledbetter’s Group 1B 9:00 Grammar class. The topic was model verbs and reviewing what they were and how to exactly use them. First she asked the students which ones they remembered and then proceeded to write them on the board along with how they were used. They were as follows:

Advice—Should

Demand—Must, Have to

Permission—Can, May

Certainty—Might, Could, May

            She then had students say examples out loud as a warm-up. One girl from the Ivory Coast said in an uncertain voice “How can I help you?” Vicky was very encouraging and told her she was correct along with a congratulations, this seemed to really put the student at ease.  Another student spoke up, “I can’t swim!” and everyone started to laugh, the class was off to a great start.

            Vicky had a variety of activities planned after we spent time reviewing. The first one was rather fun and really made the students interact with each other. All the students had a worksheet which had statements like Can Cook well, May get married this year, etc. It was the student’s job to spend about 15 minutes finding someone in the class room who represented the statement. Vicky even made sure to include me and it was fun to answer the student’s questions and talk to them, everyone was very friendly and made me feel like I was part of their class!

           

            After we finished the activity, we spent some time going over interesting facts we learned about each other and everyone had a good laugh, the students had already established a rapport with each other well before I arrived and it was nice to see everyone get along so well and joke about one another.

           

            The second activity involved us role-playing. The students were reluctant to pick partners on their own so Vicky had to pair everyone up, I was paired with a gentleman from Saudi Arabia and our role playing scenarios were to 1. Act out a student losing their homework and 2. Explaining to one’s parents how the put a dent in the family car. My partner wasn’t sure what a dent was so Vicky acted out on the trash bin. It was really comical because at first she couldn’t put a dent in the bin so she had to violently stomp on it eliciting a laugh from everyone including me. After everyone had time to practice, each pair had to act on one scenario of their choice in front of the class, I was actually kind of nervous to do so and went last but I think it went over really well. All the students made an effort to include a bunch of models in their skits.

           

            The final end of the class was spent going over unfamiliar vocabulary terms which students encountered during the role playing activity and reviewing models. Overall, I think Vicky did a really great job of illustrating how relaxed a classroom environment can be while still inciting students to participate in educational activities. All the students’ seemed to really grasp what a model was by the end of the class. I was also very impressed by Vicky’s time management. The class was only 50 minutes yet Vicky timed everything perfectly, that may be one of the most important things I take away from this classroom observation.