Course Goals and Objectives

1) Understand components of successful lesson plans: Yes, I think that was well-summarized. I liked some of the ideas like a column for “notes to self.” As a non-teacher, I might have liked looking at more examples, but I guess I can do that on my own. 2) Skills in creating effective LPs using a variety of approaches: yes, I think that was achieved thru the methods Alex demonstrated; 3) Yes, he met the objective of using evaluative criteria. While he did work with selected grammatical and lexical features, and the demonstrations were valuable, I wondered now why he chose those; so in retrospect, context would have helped a non-ESL-teacher like me: why did he pick those instead of some other facet of language? 4) Phonology: yup, that was thorough and interesting; 5) personal LP: yes; 6) multi-word verbs… yes: all goals were met, and effectively.

Course Content/Design

I particularly found the first phase of the class, from opening day through the end of phonology, to be rich and cohesive. I loved the way Alex crafted potentially deadly material (phonetic symbols) across many sessions, resulting in a varied and rich curriculum — culminating with the haiku stuff, which itself was woven through several classes. It was elegant teaching: was almost musical, with harmonies and rhythm through the final fading note. The rest of the class, from a bird’s-eye-view, felt more disconnected to me: unthreaded chunks of interesting stuff. I’d gotten spoiled by the cohesiveness of the first part. Still, the class was very well organized. I liked both Alex’s organization and his willingness to toss it out the window when the situation called for it. That is, the daily agenda was great, but it didn’t bug me if we didn’t get through it all. I saw it as something to hang on to, not something to keep me afloat.

In-Class Learning Activities

I really liked the pace of Alex’s classes, with a variety of activities interspersed between the more “talky” part of the class — although the last few classes seemed to lose that easy flow. That was probably because we were doing the final presentations, so the Alex part of the class was changed. I wonder if there’s a way he could keep his same Alex pacing with the shorter time he had after the presentations. Probably not. Speaking of the presentations, his comments after each were impressive: how he cut right to the heart of something I hadn’t even noticed, and did it succinctly and positively. What else. I’m really tired of writing these evaluations. Sorry. This is the last one.

As I said in class today, I just like listening to Alex. I never know what’s going to pop out of his mouth. His wry and unpredictable sense of humor kept me attentive even when the grammar might not have. During our exercises he faded away, sometimes leaving the room, yet I don’t believe I misbehaved once in his absence, which is saying a lot: I was that engaged in the activity. I am really tired of doing poster activities, I must say. The haiku-writing and sharing was great. I didn’t have any profound Community Blackboard Moments but am grateful to be introduced to that tool. Islamabad was really fun to watch, and our having to figure out the lesson plan behind it while watching was an ingenious way to get us really to notice. I may never forget “I am driving across the bridge to New Hampshire where I have a choice. I can either live free, or die.”

Course Materials (Books, Readings, Handouts, tapes, etc.)

I liked the musical stuff Alex did. The book was useful but in places dense. Handouts: always useful. Some but not all were on Moodle and I’d wished they all were there, because I store stuff digitally more than on paper.

Out-of-Class Assignments

Developing the phonology lesson was a positive experience. It was an opportunity to learn to silence myself to some extent so that I could hear the great ideas of two shyer people. We had no problems scheduling time to work or assigning roles; it was, as group work goes, easy and pleasant. I forget what else we did outside of class. Oh, well, writing the lesson plan was a great experience, trying to think through each moment, and it was good to emerge with something I can adapt and use.

Feedback on assignments

Alex is off the charts on the excellent side of the scale. First, his responses were practically instantaneous. I should’ve tried sending something at 2:00 am to see if I’d get it back by 3:00. I can’t overstate the value of quick replies: 1) they value the Ss’ work by saying, “Look: I read it right away: I didn’t have to struggle to think of something to say”; 2) they show that the teacher is not the only one who is held to a standard of punctuality 3) instant gratification, when you’ve worked really hard on something, is such a treat. Further, the quality of the feedback was extraordinary: he always took the time — I imagine quite a bit of time — to write detailed comments; the comments were practical, insightful, thorough, encouraging, and actionable (e.g. for a lesson plan) — but they were never mushy or gratuitous. They were earnest and straightforward. Any positive remarks I got, I felt I’d earned.

Teaching

I adore Alex. I mean, his teaching. It was intriguing watching him step into and out of teaching-teaching mode, and teaching mode. He is remarkably articulate, and his brain frighteningly orderly from my perspective: he always seemed to know what he was doing, and how to explain it in small, clear steps. It was a wonderful thing for me to see his kind of teaching modeled. His wit, never canned, is a central aspect to his charm. He’s brilliant, and his understanding both of teaching and of teaching teachers is exciting. I appreciate hearing about the new things (e.g. music) that he is just now trying out: gratifying for a student to know he’s not settling into a rut after all his experience, and inspiring as well for my own future. I think it was in Alex’s class most of all that I noticed the dual role of teachers here, and got the most out of that. I mean, his role of professor of TESOL in the traditional sense — theory, etc. — and his role as teacher trainer. Many times he told us which kind of teacher he was at the moment, but not always; it was fun to watch and guess, which made me get even more from his teaching.

I’m sorry. I’m rambling. I’m tired. I really hope to take another class with Alex, for his innovative teaching style, imagination, variety of activities, humor, insight, organizational skills, humility, intellectual stimulation and massive knowledge about the field(s) he teaches.

What was the strongest aspect of this course?

Alex’s teaching. I think he could teach macrame and I’d want to do it for a career.

What changes, if any, would you recommend to improve the course?

I think I’ve alluded to some stuff earlier.

What would you suggest that the professor continue to do or do differently?

Really, this last page of questions practically kills me. I think I’ve made myself clear in previous answers.

Moodle

Alex was better than average in using it consistently, but sometimes an assignment was replaced with a newer version, and sometimes I knew that and sometimes I didn’t; other times something wasn’t there that I thought would be. And I wished (as mentioned earlier) that all his handouts had been available digitally.