" Get to know your students. Observe them carefully in terms of how the talk and act in class, the sort of questions they ask, who they interact with, and how they interact with your mentor teacher and each other during instruction."
There are seventeen students in the class. There are six females and eleven males. All of the students with an exception of one are from Asia. The one exception is from Sweden. Students are very engaged in class. Originally, the instructor informed me that because most of her students are Asian, the class would be quite or inactive in the class. I actually disagree with her. I found it rather the opposite because last semester I observed a class in which participation was a rare act. Thus, comparing that class to this class, I would say that the new class produces more activity than the other. [Going off topic here: it could be because the instructor of the first class uses more teacher fronted approach while the other instructor whom I am currently observing does a LOT of group work activity. Nearly %80 of class time is devoted to group work.]
Although the class is active, there are some characteristics that I do not approve of. For example, the students (in groups of 3) had to present a Power Point presentation about Penn State. One group had some kind of malfunction, and the instructor kindly gave them an extension. Then, she had the next group present. While she talking to the class about the other group, the group who had the malfunction started chatting. Interrupting her mini lecture, the teacher told them to pay attention--yet, to my surprise, they continued talking. THEN, when I told them to be quite and let the instructor continue her instruction, they did not listen until I repeated it. I know what they were talking about because I was sitting next to them. But I also knew that they can resume their talk after class ends.
In addition, I found that there are a number of students who space-out during class. I tried to figure out why, but I have no clue at the moment. I am hoping that by next blog, I would be able to find a solution. I know that some learners space-out when they are board-- but, I do not understand how it can take place when they are doing group work--tasks that requires members contributions.
Students rarely ask questions in class. There are only two students who ask questions, but they are about assignments only. Nonetheless, once in a while, those two students (PK, Q8), along with a student from Sweden, would ask questions about language in relation to the activity that they are doing. For example, today, the class learned about connecting words that are used for the purpose of comparing and contrasting. Some of the questions were as followed:
"Can you use 'a like' at the beginning of the sentence?"
" is it alright if we use however in the middle of a sentence without ending the previous sentence?"
"do we have to place 'too' at the end of a sentence that begins with 'like'? "
Other questions students ask include:
"when are we presenting?"
"when is this due?"
"I did not go to college in my native country, so, how can I compare college there to here?"
"to how many people you want us to respond to?
What I loved about those students is that they are willing to help one another. For example, for most of the questions above regarding assignments, sometimes students would answer these questions before the instructor. Occasionally, they would answer it in a very low pitch as the teacher explains it to the entire class. Nonetheless, the responders are familiar to the questioner. What do I mean by "familiar"? Stay tuned for the next blog as I will be using a visual aid to explain that term.