Merve: Reflection #1 (05/11/2012)

On Mondays, I am always energetic and super-ready to do lessons. So today, everything went perfectly well but the grammar point in this unit was very difficult for my A level students.
In the morning, I had four hours with my main class, who i like more than the other class. I planned to go through the first two pages of the unit  (p.48-49) in the four hours and do some extra work in case my students cannot understand the difference between uncountables& countables. I started the class usingout an interesting powerpoint instead of asking questions only. In the powerpoint, there were pictures of Garfield (about monday syndrome, weekend activities), and we had a class discussion about this issues. Then I showed my students the pictures of some famous restaurants and cafes in Eskişehir, we continued discussing on what they ate out at the weekend. Then, I gave each of them a picture of an empty fridge and they drew their favorite food. Using such visuals were very helpful to motivate them. They were all engaged and into our topic. Then we continued with the fridges in coursebook, and after my warm-up session it was very easy to make transition to the activity in the book. My students really enjoy using cards, pictures, colorful pencils and I let them use such materials in the warm up session. I believe such materials are really helpful to wake them up in morning classes and get them into the topic quickly and effectively.
Then, I explained them the difference between countables& uncountables, again using some visuals. They easily understood, and we had several controlled practice acitivities : we categorized the food in photobank. They talked about the food in their own fridges. However, I had difficulty in explaining all the points in English. I had to switch to Turkish for a few minutes to explain the difference. So far, I always explained grammar in English, and they were quite successful to learn. However, this time the topic was very difficult for them and wasn't present in their native language. That was my weakness today. I should have worked on it before the class, and I should have brought more helpful materials : more pictures, realia etc. The case was the same when I was explaining a/an , some, any. I provided them with good sentences on the board, and I tried to explain by underlining and categorizing the nouns. Most of them got what I was trying to say, but a few students were looking were Turkish explanation. I have to learn how to make them understand it in English, and I have to be ready with extra materials to provide further explanation.
In the afternoon, I had two hours with the other class. The subject was very interesting : I taught them the contaiers ( bar, bag, cup etc.),, I exploited the visuals as much as possible and they easily figured out the usages. I believe using visuals and conducting English-medium classes is very funny in low- level classes. They are quite successful, but there are always students who are not as quick as others. As a teacher, what I should improve is to anticipate problems and have solution in my mind beforehand.
To sum up, today was a great and tiring day for my students. I felt as I achieved my goals, but it was also good to see my weaknesses while explaining the grammar points.
Thank you for reading, have a nice class tomorrow!
Merve.

November 5th Lesson Reflection

Today my classes went very well.  I don't know if it was the post-Bayram excitement or what, but last week my students were difficult to manage.  Today we started a unit on living a heathy lifestyle and I love the unit so far.  We started by playing a game in which all students stood and had to say a body part.  If they repeated another student or couldn't think of a body part, they had to sit down and were out of the game.  With 32 students we ranged from simple parts like "head" to the very specific, "thumb nail."  Afterwards, I taught them "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" which they thoroughly enjoyed.  It was a great introduction into the lesson and got them up and moving which is something I think is really important in the classroom.  The first 2 blocks of class went very well.  We had a reading lesson about things that are healthy and unhealthy and I used a technique called "popcorn reading" to ensure everyone read the text.  In popcorn reading, a student starts reading and when I clap my hands they choose another student to continue reading.  Because anyone could be called at any moment, it forces students to focus on the material and follow along (plus it is just a lot of fun).  The grammar section is where things got a little more tiring.  I find that when we have grammar units in the 3rd or 4th block of class, it is hard to make the students complete the activities.  Despite this, we completed the grammar rules (taking a little bit more time than I had anticipated) and used the conditional tense to discuss what could happen if you engage in certain habits.  The students enjoyed this because they love talking about themselves and their own lives.  Similarly, I enjoy hearing about their interests and habits, so it was a great discussion for the entire class.  Hopefully, by using the grammar to engage in conversations about themselves, the material will resonate a little more with them.
Overall, I think today went very well.  I had a little difficulty with students chatting and failing to complete activities, but for the most part they were very well-behaved.  I tried to keep my energy extra high today because they always respond better when I'm more animated.  I definitely think that is my strong point in the classroom.  I move around the whole room and interact with every single student.  I still think I need to slow down when I speak, and repeat directions very slowly and concisely.  I also feel a little boring when going over the answers to different activities in the book.  Can anybody give me some insight/advice for livening up the activity/checking answer portion of units?

CP Lesson Reflection 5/11

Monday 5 November: Unit 5 Lesson 2

Positive points: Created an engaging team-game to review prepositions of location and vocabulary; prepared original PPT successfully illustrating and clarifying differences between types of containers and quantifiers; organized group work activity that engaged all Ss speaking and writing skills (usually I have difficulty creating group activities); managed classroom such that only Ss who raised hands gave answers

Need to improve: After I explained the directions to an activity, some Ss turned to their friends to repeat the directions or waited for me to give them directions individually--I need to give more clear direction and use instruction-checking questions so that the whole class understands the activity from the start. Also, at certain points when we were checking activity answers I felt that the lesson became boring and students were not engaged.

Overall impression: I made a successful effort to bring different engaging games/activities into the lesson. However, I need to keep improving direction-giving and need to find ways to make drilling and checking answers interesting and engaging for all Ss.

Reflection # 1: Monday, Nov 5th

Today the heat and Monday jitters got the best of my class. They were extremely responsive, but extra chatty. I had a hard time reigning them in. I have had this problem in the past, when I student taught middle schoolers, so I need to think back into the depths of my memory to conjure up some solutions. I also had difficulty with pacing. I knew we had plenty of time to get though the needed material, so I added in some activities or expanded some from the book, but I couldn't stop thinking about time. For some reason I felt the need to rush through these things. I believe this anxiety created a more talkative and somewhat confused classroom environment. Lesson noted, I just need to chill a bit. Welcome to Monday.

On the plus side, nearly all of my students were attentive to the lessons, although near the end the heat got the better of some. They enjoy doing things a little differently than the book states and enjoy moving around the room. I always like adding this in as well. It's less boring for them and fun for me as well.

Today I had lectures with my ‘better class’ so it wasn’t so much tiring.In fact, in the first hour it was difficult to call their attention to the lecture because they were sleeping.In the next hours it went on well especially I’ve been happy about vocabulary teaching section where we paid attention to the meanings and pronunciations of the new words.The part I am not perfectly pleased is the one where I want my students to write questions for the given answers.It was really difficult for them I guess because they couldn’t write correct questions to the answers.The thing I am not satisfied is that  I didn’t give them any extra examples, which could be better for them to make the activity clear. Actually, it was just the last activity before the quiz so it was difficult to do something extra while they were thinking about the quiz. 

Faruk's teaching practice (15.10.2012)

Hi all, Here is Faruk's class :) https://vimeo.com/51526411 Before the sessions we'll have tomorrow, let's share one thing we like and one thing we don't like about his class. D & F

Figen's teaching practice (04.10.2012)

Here is what I recorded last week in my A level class. Please share one thing you like and one thing you don't like about my class. Thank you Figen https://vimeo.com/50976365