My second observation took place in another ESL 15 class taught by my mentor as well. Since the materials they were learning are the same as the class that I typically observe, I will discuss the students and their reaction to the lesson. Prior to my observation, the instructor of the class informed me that this class is different from the other section. She said that they are not as motivated as the other section. I kept this in mind as I observed the class.
The lesson was on references and citations. The number of the students in the class is much smaller. Many students were absent and some were late. There was not that much talk in that class beside the teacher and two students. It could have been due to the topic that they are talking about because what kind of discussion one would have when talking about APA and MLA!
I looked at the seating arrangement of the students. On the right side, most students were speakers of Spanish. I would here a Spanish word ones in a while. About four students sat in the left side of the class, and they were speakers of Arabic. This is not to say that there was a complete segregation--because the classroom itself is small. However, it was clear that those who sat next to each other are friends--and they happened to share the same language J
The activity that the teacher designed was very informative. She gave a packet that included information from various sources such as websites, databases, dictionaries, books etc. was very nice. The students were asked to write a citation that is suitable for the source of the information using APA style. I must say, this activity is very creative because the students have to find the information required for the citation. I would bet that the students learned a lot from doing all of this on their own.
The lesson was on references and citations. The number of the students in the class is much smaller. Many students were absent and some were late. There was not that much talk in that class beside the teacher and two students. It could have been due to the topic that they are talking about because what kind of discussion one would have when talking about APA and MLA!
I looked at the seating arrangement of the students. On the right side, most students were speakers of Spanish. I would here a Spanish word ones in a while. About four students sat in the left side of the class, and they were speakers of Arabic. This is not to say that there was a complete segregation--because the classroom itself is small. However, it was clear that those who sat next to each other are friends--and they happened to share the same language J
The activity that the teacher designed was very informative. She gave a packet that included information from various sources such as websites, databases, dictionaries, books etc. was very nice. The students were asked to write a citation that is suitable for the source of the information using APA style. I must say, this activity is very creative because the students have to find the information required for the citation. I would bet that the students learned a lot from doing all of this on their own.