Author: kpearson

On May 18, I was able observe Evangelitsa’s ESAL 0380/0480 Advanced Writing class. This class took place virtually and was brief with E completing some review from the previous class and outlining homework for this week before dismissing the students.

I had a chance to speak to E at the end of the class and discuss some wonderings I had during her explanation of the writing assignments. She began by explaining that she was not teaching the full two-hour class because it was taking place in the late afternoon; with classes only being able to be taught virtually, not all students are in the same time zone. A late synchronous class can be difficult for students who would normally be sleeping depending on the time zone they are in.

Something that stood out to me, and I was able to ask E about after the class, was E’s reminder of the students to use their own work. I had wondered if students learning English often use technology, like Google translate, to improve their writing and how to avoid this as a teacher. E answered after class that it is difficult to monitor the student’s writing process while they are not in a classroom, so she reminds them frequently of academic honesty and the importance of doing their own work. In a regular classroom where face to face learning can take place, E said that she would provide assignments that require the students to hand write and complete in class. Still, with the technology and access to other student’s work available, E also clarified that it is fairly easy to have an idea of what is the student’s own work and what is not.

E also helped to make it clear that when teaching writing, writing is a process and takes time. Virtually, break out rooms are able to be used for the students to share their writing, and in a classroom, the students are able to pair up to create sentences together and peer edit each other’s work.

I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to see the process of writing being taught by E during this lesson but was still able to see part of a lesson and had a conversation about the class afterward that provided me with a lot of insight.

On May 17, I was able to observe the first hour of Hilda Freimuth’s two-hour ESAL 0320/0420 Advanced Grammar class. This class took place virtually, and Hilda began with a cloze activity, then introduced the topic of adjective clauses. I was able to see how Hilda gradually opened the lesson and had it progress from lesson to practice. Along the way, I was also able to see a hiccup in the practice and Hilda’s improvising as a result.

I really enjoyed watching the warmup cloze activity that led into the lesson for the day. I had the opportunity to do this activity as well when I was a student in my TESL 3010 class, but was not able to witness it from a teacher’s perspective. I like this activity as it maintains engagement because it is something to watch, and the students also have to pay attention to not miss the words to fill the blanks with. The students also have to ensure that the phrases are written down as they are said which helps with grammar practice and sentence structure. With so many different parts of sentences, this type of activity could be used in many instances where grammar and sentence structure are the focus.

The adjective clause grammar lesson appeared to provide a bit more of a challenge with the one student stating that it had gone to quickly and students having difficulty putting the sentences together. In the TESL 3020 Pedagogical Grammar class that I completed, I was able to challenge my preconceived ideas about the simplicity of grammar through the practice of doing it myself and teaching lessons to my classmates. With my classmates already understanding grammar and learning along with me, questions and a lack of understanding were never presented from my classmates about what I was teaching.

The need for clarity from the students in Hilda’s class was a great opportunity to see how a teacher would adapt on the spot to provide more instruction when it was not part of the planned slide presentation. The students appeared to have a better understanding of the steps to create the clause phrase after having a few more examples, but difficulty was present again when they had to take the completed complex sentence and dismantle them into the simple sentences. Because I was not able to observe the second half of the lesson, I am not sure if Hilda brought attention back to the adjective clauses and what that looked like in the learning environment.

Without having the knowledge of how Hilda proceeded for the second half of the lesson, this observation showed me that I need to have other ideas to implement should my own students have questions or present difficulty with a concept. Although the students are at an advanced level, there is still a discrepancy between the level of ability between them; plus, grammar is hard! In my own lessons, I will try to remember to maintain a slow enough pace that the students do not feel overwhelmed and scaffold the lesson so that there is enough explanation and examples at the beginning and enough practice to go along with it.

On May 17, I was able to observe Jason Brown’s two-hour ESAL 0350/0450 Advanced Oral Communication class. Although the class was longer in time, I thought that Jason paced the class well and kept it interesting so that the time seemed to pass quickly. I was also able to participate in some of the group breakout room activities, which provided me with a lot of interesting observations.

One thing I had not anticipated in my prior TESL classes about teaching a group of students from various cultures and backgrounds was having the students work together on a project. I had been more focused on how I would interact with these students and teach them that I had not taken into account that they would also be interacting with each other. The breakout room conversation when having to choose a topic for the group presentation allowed me to have some significant insight into the process of students working together and trying to communicate with each other using a shared language that is not the first language for any of them. English was their only connection, but that connection was sometimes weak depending on the advancement of the student’s language level and how assertive each was in communicating their thoughts.

It was interesting to see the influence cultural societal norms have in the role that students take, and I felt like this was true in the breakout room that I was able to be part of. Some students appeared more reserved or not as willing to share, and I wondered if the cultural norms from the Asian countries they were from, for example, China, played a role in the amount that they verbally contributed to the discussions.

This lesson was engaging and had the students working together. I appreciated being able to see how the conversations unfolded and the students worked together to complete their task. Becoming more aware of the dynamics in the group and seeing how the students interact with each other will help me to be more aware going forward and witnessing the challenges and successes that non native English speakers have in negotiating the English language together.

On May 12, I was able to participate in and observe Hilda’s hour-long Conversation Club (CC) class as part of the ESAL 0350/0450 Advanced Oral Communication class. It was a great opportunity to see a different style of teaching in an environment that I found to be quite laid back. There were even some things that came up that enabled me to notice and reflect on my reaction to those events, as well question what I would do in those situations.

Right from the start there was a problem with the internet at TRU and Hilda was having difficulty connecting to the group. I found myself to be getting anxious and wondering if there was somewhere else I was supposed to be or some information that I had missed getting about a time change. One of my fellow classmates was also in the Big Blue Button room with me waiting for it to begin. Soon after the class was scheduled to start, another teacher joined the group to explain what was happening and that some students would be joining from his class to participate in the group. I noticed that I instantly relaxed and was able to make note of the communication between the two teachers and how they were able to problem solve the issue of no internet connection to ensure that the class still ran as planned. I wondered how often this issue arises with the constant use of technology that we have now found ourselves in. I would like to find out more information if there is a backup plan for a problem where the teacher is not able to join the group and if the two teachers knew to contact each other to carry out the alternative plan of one teacher leading the group until the other could join.

My biggest learning experience in this group was when the other teacher asked my classmate and myself to lead the group, particularly in trying to get the students to turn on their mics and videos. I spoke first to tell the students it would be nice to see them and asked them to turn on their videos. No one obliged, but at that time Hilda joined the group. The other teacher turned on his video to tell the students to also turn on their videos. One by one the students began to do so. I realized that the teacher had been much firmer in his wording, and my wording and tone may have sounded like it was more of an option. I was able to reflect on this difference in our approach to the same request and realized that I may need to take a more assertive stance in a case like this where the students are not complying. Without really knowing the dynamics of a conversation club or the students involved, I was not sure how far to push the request or what the expectations were of myself as a facilitator. I wondered if the issue of noncompliance comes up in other situations and what the role of the instructor is in that, particularly when interacting with international students in a virtual setting. As an Education Assistant (EA), I find that I am more comfortable making a request of a student when face-to-face and when I am more familiar with the student. Without knowing a student or their background information, I find I am more hesitant to push something further. I still wondered what would have happened had a student refused to turn on their video and what would have happened if this situation was in a face-to-face classroom.

Another wondering I had was where the balance lays in allowing a natural conversation to flow and sticking with the learning plan outline. I found during one part of a conversation, one of the students was speaking about her traditions around the Lunar New Year. She had generally asked the rest of the students about their Lunar New Year, and, after everyone remained silent, Hilda said that no one celebrated it. The student went on to explain her traditions, and I wanted to ask the rest of the group what their own New Year’s traditions were and if they fall at different times of the year. I held back as I was unsure about taking up time and infringing on Hilda’s plan for the rest of the class. I was also unsure how much of my own curiosities as a teacher are able to influence the direction of a class.

Overall, I thought the CC was a great first class to observe. The energy that Hilda brought was fun and engaging. She was open and never held back when asking for her own clarity around what one of the students was speaking about. The students appeared to become more willing to share as the class progressed, and I really enjoyed seeing how the students had connections to something else someone was saying and were able to share their own thoughts. This was definitely a great class to share cultures and traditions and very quickly learn about other people around the world. I look forward to more of these classes and what else I can learn about as a teacher and as an individual with my own cultural identity.