Ford Brodeur CO #1
Date : September 6th ... 10:00am to 10:50am
Topic/Skill : Compositions (Foundations Level) taught by Felicia Ciappetta
Teacher Presentation : The class started promptly at 10:00am with a warm-up that was supposed to be done by the students. Mrs. Ciappetta made the students write the alphabet in uppercase and lowercase letters in under a minute. However, the minute was not shown on any sort of timer nor was it strictly followed. I think it was used as a classroom management device to make sure the students were paying attention and to make sure they were focused on the assignment at hand. After the warm-up, Mrs. Ciappetta proceeds to write out the directions of her next activity on the board. Some of the smarter students go ahead and begin on that assignment while others are lagging behind on the warm-up. In order to proceed to the next assignment, students had to submit their classwork to Mrs. Ciappetta. Around 20 minutes into class, everyone has pretty much caught up to the current assignment at hand. The next activity that Mrs. Ciappetta assigns is for students to write 5 positive and 5 negative sentences with the verb be. This activity's subject was to be written about a student's best friend that they have. Steadily, one by one, students would then submit their written work to Mrs. Ciappetta and she would give feedback on their writing. After that activity was finished, Mrs. Ciappetta assigns the same activity but with the subject on family members. This activity takes up most of the class.
Classroom Management : Mrs. Ciappetta had very good classroom management. She would always respond to students that have questions. She was very attentive to her students as well. She would walk around and see if any students were having trouble with the activity at hand. I did not see her take roll orally, but I think that is because she took roll while the students were doing an activity. The basis of taking roll silently, I'm assuming, is to make sure students do not get distracted and it's a small enough class where silent roll can be done efficiently. One aspect that was different from my upbringing and the students in the CIES program was the usage of phones. In American schools, using phones during class was seen as disrespectful. However, Mrs. Ciappetta encouraged students to use their phones for their assignments and for translation purposes. This was my first classroom observation and there was not any disruptive students in the class. I was not exposed to any discipline or strict classroom management.
Students Participation : Students in the class were very well behaved and they were ready to complete their work. Since it was a composition class, it was a very quiet ordeal. Everyone was writing and there was not much talking. That being said, when there was talking, it was encouraged by Mrs. Ciappetta for students to speak English to her or others. Students were all engaged in work and were busy during the entirety of the class period.
Classroom materials used : Students were able to use their phones, lined paper, and writing utensils. There was a classroom textbook used by everyone and some of the assignments of the day were picked from there. Mrs. Ciappetta used the whiteboard for writing out directions and the projector to show exemplary works/examples from other students to the class.
Lessons on Teaching : My first classroom observation was very helpful to me. I gained a lot of insight on what it means to be an English teacher (TEFL). I wrote down a series of questions during my observation and I asked them to Mrs. Ciappetta after the class was over. I will put them at the bottom of the blog. Probably the biggest thing that gained from this observation was the cultural difference in teaching. For instance, the phones being used by the students really threw me off. Being brought up in American-style teaching, I have never used phones in a classroom for translation purposes or using them for activities. My 2nd language teachers were adamant on having us ask them questions orally and never using "google translate". The bottom line is that , as a teacher, I need to adapt my teaching methods to the students and use helpful technology that most students will be able to use on a daily basis.
Q & A (Answers are paraphrased from her responses and are not verbatim) :
1. Usage of phones ? Why do you use them ?
Mrs. C : I let the students use them to let them translate things easier. Google images is a very helpful tool for comprehending language.
2. What kind of notes do you make on a student's paper? ( I asked this because at a foundation level, I wouldn't be sure if the students would be able to comprehend the feedback).
Mrs. C : I write very basic responses/feedback to their writing so they would be able to understand it.
3. What is the most difficult thing for students to understand in this kind of class ?
Mrs. C : Grammar composition in a sentence. The usage of the alphabet.
4. What is the easiest thing for you to teach in this kind of class ?
- I forget her response to this question.
5. Do you ever use typing ?
Mrs. C : Yes, but not often. I'd rather focus on them writing and composing their sentences on paper.
Topic/Skill : Compositions (Foundations Level) taught by Felicia Ciappetta
Teacher Presentation : The class started promptly at 10:00am with a warm-up that was supposed to be done by the students. Mrs. Ciappetta made the students write the alphabet in uppercase and lowercase letters in under a minute. However, the minute was not shown on any sort of timer nor was it strictly followed. I think it was used as a classroom management device to make sure the students were paying attention and to make sure they were focused on the assignment at hand. After the warm-up, Mrs. Ciappetta proceeds to write out the directions of her next activity on the board. Some of the smarter students go ahead and begin on that assignment while others are lagging behind on the warm-up. In order to proceed to the next assignment, students had to submit their classwork to Mrs. Ciappetta. Around 20 minutes into class, everyone has pretty much caught up to the current assignment at hand. The next activity that Mrs. Ciappetta assigns is for students to write 5 positive and 5 negative sentences with the verb be. This activity's subject was to be written about a student's best friend that they have. Steadily, one by one, students would then submit their written work to Mrs. Ciappetta and she would give feedback on their writing. After that activity was finished, Mrs. Ciappetta assigns the same activity but with the subject on family members. This activity takes up most of the class.
Classroom Management : Mrs. Ciappetta had very good classroom management. She would always respond to students that have questions. She was very attentive to her students as well. She would walk around and see if any students were having trouble with the activity at hand. I did not see her take roll orally, but I think that is because she took roll while the students were doing an activity. The basis of taking roll silently, I'm assuming, is to make sure students do not get distracted and it's a small enough class where silent roll can be done efficiently. One aspect that was different from my upbringing and the students in the CIES program was the usage of phones. In American schools, using phones during class was seen as disrespectful. However, Mrs. Ciappetta encouraged students to use their phones for their assignments and for translation purposes. This was my first classroom observation and there was not any disruptive students in the class. I was not exposed to any discipline or strict classroom management.
Students Participation : Students in the class were very well behaved and they were ready to complete their work. Since it was a composition class, it was a very quiet ordeal. Everyone was writing and there was not much talking. That being said, when there was talking, it was encouraged by Mrs. Ciappetta for students to speak English to her or others. Students were all engaged in work and were busy during the entirety of the class period.
Classroom materials used : Students were able to use their phones, lined paper, and writing utensils. There was a classroom textbook used by everyone and some of the assignments of the day were picked from there. Mrs. Ciappetta used the whiteboard for writing out directions and the projector to show exemplary works/examples from other students to the class.
Lessons on Teaching : My first classroom observation was very helpful to me. I gained a lot of insight on what it means to be an English teacher (TEFL). I wrote down a series of questions during my observation and I asked them to Mrs. Ciappetta after the class was over. I will put them at the bottom of the blog. Probably the biggest thing that gained from this observation was the cultural difference in teaching. For instance, the phones being used by the students really threw me off. Being brought up in American-style teaching, I have never used phones in a classroom for translation purposes or using them for activities. My 2nd language teachers were adamant on having us ask them questions orally and never using "google translate". The bottom line is that , as a teacher, I need to adapt my teaching methods to the students and use helpful technology that most students will be able to use on a daily basis.
Q & A (Answers are paraphrased from her responses and are not verbatim) :
1. Usage of phones ? Why do you use them ?
Mrs. C : I let the students use them to let them translate things easier. Google images is a very helpful tool for comprehending language.
2. What kind of notes do you make on a student's paper? ( I asked this because at a foundation level, I wouldn't be sure if the students would be able to comprehend the feedback).
Mrs. C : I write very basic responses/feedback to their writing so they would be able to understand it.
3. What is the most difficult thing for students to understand in this kind of class ?
Mrs. C : Grammar composition in a sentence. The usage of the alphabet.
4. What is the easiest thing for you to teach in this kind of class ?
- I forget her response to this question.
5. Do you ever use typing ?
Mrs. C : Yes, but not often. I'd rather focus on them writing and composing their sentences on paper.
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