Learning Disabled

Today was the students' Chapter 3 test.  First, Katie prepared them for it a bit more.  She was worried about the listening comprehension part.  Listening comprehension has never been my strength.  I'm a grammar person, so when I helped students through a vocabulary exercise, I gave them suggestions on how to use grammar to figure it out.

I think the rest of the test turned out to be easy for them, though.  I taught them two of the other sections, and they seemed to come naturally to the students on Wednesday.  The last part was a cloze exercise that students could figure out using grammar or the recording.  Dictation would have helped them with that, I think.

There was a mistake on one question: none of the answers made sense.  Katie said she purposely didn't tell the class about it because part of doing well in this class is using test-taking skills, and students will need those for the TOEFL and IELTS in the future.  I often wish I were more familiar with those tests!

While the students were preparing, Katie asked me to help the Arab woman.  Katie had said she thought the student had some sort of learning problem.  So far, though, it had been hard for me to read the student's natural ability because she hardly tries.  During group work, she's constantly on her phone.  She hasn't erased the answers in her book from previous times in this class, so Katie is going to lower her grade.  She often refuses to open her mouth when the whole class is repeating a word, yet she can produce correct pronunciation when I work with her individually.

A practice listening comprehension exercise was the first time her disability became clear to me.  While the recording was playing, I would point out the main ideas and tell her what to write: "Networking."  "Part-time job."  Instead of writing these simple phrases, she wrote other details in the recording.  Her spelling was almost unintelligible at times.  On Friday, I asked her about her goals for learning English, and she said she doesn't want to go to a university or have a career.  I really feel bad for her--languishing in this class might be making her lose motivation.  I mentioned it to Katie after class, wishing we could have her tested and identified so she could receive help for her disability.

Presentations About Our Lives

During yesterday's class, Katie finished Chapter 3 in the book.  The students will have a test on it on Monday.

Then we all worked on posters about our lives.  On one side, each person must have six pictures of things he or she has done in the past; on the other are pictures of the person's future.  It was a chance for each student to use past tense verbs and do a fun presentation about him- or herself.  We had started the activity on Wednesday.

First, I helped a struggling student with grammar and pronunciation while Katie walked around the room to help other people.  Each one had written his or her twelve sentences on a separate piece of paper.  My student often left out articles, so I tried to prompt him to put them in toward the end.

Then, I presented mine.  (Katie had done hers on Wednesday.)  So far, only two students have had time to go, but I think it will be a fun opportunity for people to get to know each other.  I remember cutting pictures out of magazines in Spanish class, and I enjoyed it!

Second Observation

Yesterday, I taught for the first 50 minutes or so again.  This lesson was pretty different from the first one I taught, I think.

Planning was different because the section of the book that I taught out of had many small explanations for me to make, then shorter activities to lead.  There was a lot of pronunciation, which was fine.  Also, it called for a CD, and my CD didn't have the radio interview that students were supposed to listen to!  I emailed Katie about it ahead of time, and she tried to cue her CD for me, but we still had problems.  My computer doesn't have track numbers, so I counted the tracks ahead of time, and that number turned out to be off.

Afterward, both Katie and my advisor told me I had dealt with that problem well.  Katie even said some teachers have been asked to leave the school for, among other things, taking half an hour to deal with technology mishaps.  It's typical to have trouble with computers and CDs, but it's how a teacher responds that counts.

The more I am observed, the more confident I become about my teaching.  I feel like more of a professional now, with my own ideas about how to teach.  When Katie teaches listening and speaking, she focuses more on body language and how to present oneself.  I agree that those factors are important, but I still think the students really benefit from instruction in pronunciation.  (Plus, I really liked my class on how to teach it!)  We each have our own style.

Games

Katie went through more of the book yesterday with the students.  They also had a review game with vocabulary they had been learning.  Katie divided them into two teams and had one person from each side face his or her team, with his or her back to the board.  The teacher wrote one word at a time on the board.  Each team had to explain or define that word to the person who couldn't see the board.  We had some "policing" issues with students speaking Arabic or turning around accidentally.  We let them look in their books and use ESL (not bilingual) dictionaries.  The students were really engaged!  Arab culture is very competitive, Katie told me, so it was easy to get the class into this game.  I've had students play games like charades and pictionary before, but this game really worked for a speaking class.  I might replace parts of the book with games the next time I teach this class, so this one was a good model for me.

Interviewing

Today's class was about interview skills for colleges and jobs in the United States.  First, Katie spent ten minutes setting up a computer while I went over two pages from the book.  She suggested that lesson right before I gave it.  After class, she told me that was intentional--she wants me to think on my feet.

The lesson went well, I think.  I'm developing my own style: I group the students differently from the way Katie does, for example.  After class, I told her about my idea to use the book as a jumping-off point for other discussion.  Katie said that could work great.  The way she teaches, there is a very defined difference between using the book and doing other activities.  I mix them together more, but both ways work just fine.

After the computer was ready, Katie talked about some things that are good and bad to do and say in interviews.  She played some bad interviews on YouTube, stopping them periodically to point things out.  Then, she had the students do mock interviews.  Most of them chose to be interviewers.  There were three teams of those: Harvard, our university, and another nearby school.  The remaining four students went into the empty classroom next door, where I helped them prepare to be interviewed.

Katie handed out a list of interview questions.  First, I had the students read through them and go over any vocabulary words they didn't understand.  I told them to give long, developed answers.  Then I asked each student a question on the list--they did well.

While most of the students went into the other room to interview, Katie sent me one student at a time to work on a question he or she wanted help with.  I gave them advice on what colleges tend to look for.  It was a great chance for me to get to know the students better.  I think it was also an opportunity for them to be introspective and figure out what their best personal qualities were, what they were most proud of about themselves, etc.

First Observation

Yesterday, I taught for the first hour or so.  I went through the book, but tried to adapt some of the activities to make them more interesting for the students.  When I was planning, Katie gave me a chart to use.  It had the activity (including page number), dynamic (pairs, whole class, or individual), the instructions I would give, and the number of minutes it would take.  I like that idea--I might use it again in the future.

I still felt a little rushed, though.  I didn't have time to ask the students how their weekends were, do a warm-up, or anything like that.  Because of time, I didn't have the discussion of how to become good at something that's initially hard.  Katie and my advisor, who observed me, said I did well.  The vocabulary in the book was difficult for the class, but I defined some new words and gave the students strategies to take notes, deal with a hard assignment, etc.  I hope they can use those strategies in other subject areas, too.

After my lesson, Katie worked with the students on pronunciation.  The students had fun, I think.  She gave them some chants to repeat, then listened to each one individually for the rhythm of English.  Some of them faltered at first, but they all got each sentence right in the end.

Test Day

Yesterday, the class took two tests: one on past tense verbs, the other on listening from the book.  The past tense verbs test was dictation.  Katie had made up sentences about individual students, each one containing a verb on their list.  The students had to write each whole sentence, and would receive feedback on the spelling of all the words in each sentence.  They would only be graded on the spelling of the past tense verbs in the sentences, though.  I thought that was a fun idea.

To prepare them for the past tense verbs test, Katie had the students quiz each other in pairs.  Most of them had clearly studied--it's a good class.  One of them admitted he had not, however.  It was evident from his attempts to answer his partner's questions.  Katie has told me after class that she thinks he isn't as smart as the other students, and tries to cover that up.  Many of the students think that by talking with the teachers before class and being polite, they can negotiate their grades.  That may happen in Arab culture, but not here!

Katie has been telling the students all the time not to make excuses.  She said the student who failed told her he had a headache.  We laughed after class--people with headaches can still pass tests if they study!  I think he, and some of the other students, give up sometimes when they think they can't do well in English.  The Arab woman did the same thing last class.  I'm going to give a long lesson on Monday, and there's a life lesson I think I'm going to try to impart.  Maybe these students could cover up their lack of knowledge in high school, but that won't work in the real world.  Furthermore, it shows real maturity for someone to admit he or she needs help and study harder.  Perhaps these students don't realize that can happen in college and graduate school.  It's a message that could even reach the good students, because everyone has something (English or not) that they need to do, but is hard for them.

I gave a pronunciation lesson before the test, too.  I had told Katie that I noticed the students were having trouble, so I showed them how to shape their mouths for each vowel.  She said I'm good at diagnosing the students' needs--it seemed that what I can work on is actually time management.  It turns out that I think activities will take longer than they really do.  On Monday, I plan to have a mental time limit for each activity.

The Textbook

Today, the students plowed through several pages in the textbook.  Katie has done so many activities outside of it that she said she thought the Chapter 2 test would be easy for them.  However, she needed to make sure the students were familiar with the format.  Also, many of the listening comprehension questions in the textbook are similar to those on the IELTS standardized test.

Class was quieter than usual because of the book.  The better students among the Arab men were mostly the ones who participated.  There were true or false questions on a recorded conversation, as well as questions about intonation and vocabulary.  The students were good at figuring out the meanings of words from context, which Katie said is on the IELTS, too.  There was a part that had students listen to a recording about learning styles; Katie had them practice taking notes.

We finished with a pairwork activity.  One student in each pair told the other what to draw, and the other student was supposed to use his or her listening skills to draw that picture.  They had handouts with pictures of squares, lines, etc.  To begin, we went over vocabulary such as "upper right corner" and "lower left corner."  I helped the Arab woman and Korean woman.  I think the Arab woman is a very visual learner--she often got answers right when she focused on writing.  But when the students were supposed to repeat words orally, she didn't do so until I prompted her.  When it was her turn to draw the picture, she cheated by looking at it, not listening to her partner.  Katie said the Arab woman would benefit from a one-on-one tutor--I agree.

Past Tense Verbs

Yesterday's class was fun.  The students were all rejuvenated after the break.  The first thing Katie had them do was a surprise speaking presentation.  They had two minutes to prepare speeches about their breaks using past tense verbs and sequence words.  She said they would have to do something like this on the TOEFL or IELTS, so it was good practice.  I wonder how she graded them.

Next, she had them do a cloze activity in their packet on past tense verbs.  They worked in groups of two and three while Katie and I monitored them.  Katie had me go over the answers at the end.  I had each person spell each verb out loud, which Katie said was good--Arabs have trouble with spelling.  Classroom management is still an adjustment, though.  The class and I agreed to start with the Bhutanese student and go around the room, with each person saying one answer.  Yet the moment I called on him, everyone else started talking.  After a little while, the class settled into the proper routine.  Katie said I should have told everyone else to be quiet from the beginning, though.  In Arab culture, students call things out and work together.

When I monitored the students, many of them had trouble with words that change tense according to vowel: hang/hung, choose/chose, etc.  I wonder why we didn't spend more time on pronunciation in the speaking/listening class, because I'm not sure they can hear the difference between each two vowels.  One student said /hang/ (in IPA), which is neither "hang" nor "hung."  Another student had a good question: is "read" pronounced the same in present and past tense?  We did read the list of present and past tense verbs aloud together once, but it seems like they need more help.

We did another activity out of a grammar book by Betty Schrampfer Azar.  One person would tell someone else to do something.  The other person would do it, and then the first person would ask him or her what he or she had done.  The other person would describe it in past tense.  The students worked in pairs, then as a whole class.  It was fun for them to move around, I think.

The last activity of the day was to talk about the 18-24-year-old brain.  We flipped to a reading in the textbook about that.  It was interesting that the students admitted the brain at that age is not fully developed.  I looked at the book during break, and I like that this chapter has a study skills theme.  Katie said she doesn't like its focus on intonation, however--Arabs tend to be good at that.