Zachary Backes - CO 2

6/12/12

Today I got to observe Karen Devick's Listening class. I really wanted to visit this class, not only because one of my TPs, Talal, was attending but I wanted to compare it the other listening class I got to see last week by Ms. Upshaw.

The main thing I noticed right away was the difference in energy level of the instructors. It's not that Natalie was by any means unenthusiastic, but I'm pretty sure the energizer bunny would have trouble keeping up with Karen. She was all smiles form the moment I entered the room until the class ended and was able to laugh easily at anything, including herself.

One of my favorite moments was when she was trying to spell "concise" on the board for the class and stopped right after then 'n'. She turned and looked at me with a "hey, help me out here bro" look and I subtly hid "c" in feigned cough. Thinking that if I were in her place I'd be running for the exit and the nearest corner to cry in she just laughed it off and said "that is why I teach listening class, and not spelling". The class all laughed and the lesson proceeded.

The overall lesson was pretty simple; watch Paula Dean, who an absurd amount of the students recognized, make a simple recipe and then try and construct their own version in groups after a couple viewings. One aspect I thought she did really well was introduce vocabulary. The words were not only gone over prior to the video and explained but then they were introduced in the video in the same sequence she did. I thought this helped the students a lot as they were able to see how "mix" came before ingredients like "cake batter" and "eggs" to construct a full and complete sentence.

She even addressed Paula's southern accent and picked out how certain words she said sounded different because she was from the south. All in all I thought the lesson was superb, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Even if we were all starving by the time it was over. But what I really took away from the class was Karen's energy and enthusiasm for teaching, she was straight up having fun with it, and because of that so were her students.