Michael Fernandez-CO#3

Date/Time: 1.13.16 @ 1300h

Topic/Skill: Speaking 1B

Teacher Presentation: Class began with a light alphabet exercise. The students tossed a ball around the room and whoever caught it said the next letter of the alphabet. There were certain pronunciation errors, especially among the Arabic-speaking students (G/J and B/P), which the teacher made sure to correct. Next, the students were given back a previous assignment, where they had written on the back of a flash card a set of words all beginning with the same letter, determined by the flip-side of the card. In pairs, the students said the words on their partner's card, and the other student would attempt to spell the word. After this activity, the teacher had the students categorize some of the words on the board, according to their parts of speech. The students then orally defined the words on the board. The students were then divided into groups of four, and were given a card detailing some aspect of Tallahassee's history. They needed to read and understand the information given, and be able to paraphrase it. The groups then switched, such that the four new groups had one member from each of the previous groups. The students then tried to organize a timeline of Tallahassee using the information from their first groups in comparison with the second groups.

Classroom Management: this was a very entertaining class, and the teacher facilitated it with an appropriate mixture of fun, engaging activities with actual didactic value.

Materials: rubber ball, prior assignment, white board, and Tallahassee history cards

Student Participation: Students were very involved with the class. The ball exercise was simple and fun, and encouraged them to think on their toes and attempt spontaneous pronunciation. The group activities gave the students a chance to interact with each other, and they all tried to help their partners/groups to spell correctly, and later, to understand the timeline activity.

Feedback Provided: Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: I actually had fun in the class, partly because I was a participant in the card and timeline activities, but also because the class atmosphere was lighthearted but still very instructive. It is important that when students have reached an appropriate competency, that they are allowed to use their skills in different ways.