Categories: uncategorized
Date: 05 April 2005 06:43:48
One-and-a-half hours done today. As well as teaching the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, I also got the students to practise saying the letters of the alphabet and several phrases the teacher has taught them: "Can you speak louder, please?"; "Can you speak slowly, please?"; "Can you please help me?".
I didn't feel the class went very well. It seemed a bit disjoint, and I was a unsure in places of how strict I should be on the pronunication. I also wasn't sure of how well I conducted various activities. My mentor teacher makes it seems so easy!
I shouldn't have worried too much: my mentor teacher said I did a great job and showed great improvement from last week. My interaction with the students was good; I involved all of the students throughout the class; I boosted the students confidence throughout; and I had plenty of energy and lots of enthusiasm. A few things to improve on, including more eliciting and more focus on the learners at lower levels.
Three women from Iraq particularly amuse me and make me laugh. When we get them to sing the alphabet, they love to sing it at the top of their voices and with smiling, happy faces, while other students are a bit shy when it comes to being so vocal this early on. However, all the students are very keen to participate and give every activity a go -- even if they need a bit of prompting. It's great to see the students enjoying the class, having fun and learning the language.