Final Internship Evaluation Ginna Allison By Elka Todeva May 8, 2010 I supervised Ginna Allison during her winter 2010 internship in Pachuca, Mexico, where she taught adult and youth learners at the ABC Escuela de Inglés, a small private language school with a long history of offering language courses. While Ginna has tutored immigrants in…
Final Internship Evaluation [my changes underlined] By Elka Todeva May 8, 2010 I supervised Ginna Allison during her winter 2010 internship in Pachuca, Mexico, where she taught young and adult learners at the ABC Escuela de Inglés, a small private language school with a long history of offering language courses. Ginna had not had any…
I was teaching in a city of about 400,000, situated about 1.5 hours northeast of Mexico City. Once a hub of silver mining, Pachuca continues its creep up the mountainside from its historic center. The population seems to be mostly working and middle class, with my students apparently from the latter. I saw almost no…
Internship Cover Letter This doesn’t seem to fit elsewhere in the internship materials so I’ll put it here. It is my opinion that SIT should not work any longer with Magdalena Chavez as the organizer, nor do I think the school should have accepted her irresponsibility this time. I believe that SIT, despite its long-term…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: March 4, 2010 Supplies: Lesson plan, book, poster Setup: Arrange seating. Hang poster and contract. Write agenda. Write: What did you do yesterday? Yesterday I ___________ __________. Time Activity Teacher Students 5:00 HW Return & collect Sharon: What yr animal eat/live? 5:05 What did you do yesterday? Model. Talk about yesterday…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: March 2 Supplies: Lesson plan, book, poster, blank poster, Sarah, Triceratops pix & lyrics and CD. Setup: Arrange seating. Hang poster and contract. Make good-behavior grid. On WB draw rods & colors & sample cloze sentences. Write (and cover with poster) questions: What color(s) are you? Are you alive? What covers…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: March 2, 2010 (I have once again lost a lesson plan: the final one for March 4, which was a pretty good and lively class.) Supplies: Lesson plan, book, CD, computer, church picture, basta stuff, philosophy game Setup: Write agenda. Write i and ee. 2-column grid: name & Mexican music (Jaime,…
Rather than point to the book, write on WB What did you do: good question, because it’s a shared point of reference Make sure that “transactional” language is as clear as the rest: avoid colloquialisms, shortened forms (“gonna”), phrasal verbs (“figure out”): set the stage with more clarity, modeling, and scaffolding. Go slowly here especially.…
Final Summative Memo: Stories — Observations on How Not To Teach What happened that impacted you and your teaching? What happened that has helped you become a more aware, humane, attentive, happier, critical teacher? For my final summative memo I’d like to explore my negative observations about teaching and turn them on their heads to…
Lesson Plan Saturday Conversation, February 27, 2010 SONIA, DIANA, SAMANTA, ALEJANDRO, ADRIANA, YAEL, GABY, JUAN MANUEL Supplies: Computer, flash drive, LP, Mad Libs, timer, pen & paper, address form, classical music selections, presents for everyone Agenda: No written agenda this time since we’re focusing on one task: your presentations. As always, we’ll explore pronunciation, American…
Some quick observations about tonight’s classes: I feel that the kids have returned, if only temporarily, to reasonable order. After the nightmarish class I created a full-color handout with four rules in English and Spanish, got them to read and check each one, and to paste a copy in their notebook. I keep the other…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 25 NAHUM, ALEXIS, ROBERTO, ARMANDO, JAIME, DANIEL, ILLALY Supplies: Prerecorded audio tape, LP, various objects for discussion, tape, camera, pens & eraser Write on board: Date; TAKE the train, the subway, the bus; RIDE a motorcycle, bike; walk; drive. Wh- words (including why… because); opinion words. Agenda: Explain why we’re…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: February 25 Supplies: Lesson plan, book, extinct animal picture, homework assignment, returned homework, pens & paper Setup: Arrange seating. Hang poster and contract. Make good-behavior grid. Explain theme (continue to work on animals past & present, and on how we ask questions in English) and look at agenda: Rules and business…
Situation here dismal. I’m going nuts. Have tried to keep my spirits up but being watched and criticized constantly has cracked me. I can’t wait to leave. Every time I walk by a window in this house I want to break it. Every time I pass one of my two cohabitants, I want to trip…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 16 NAHUM, ALEXIS, ROBERTO, ARMANDO, JAIME, DANIEL, ILLALY Supplies: Prerecorded audio tape, Faces, CDs (I am a rock, getting to know you) and their lyrics. Agenda: Explain why we’re doing each activity! Getting To Know You In My Opinion (book) Faces Tongue Twister I Am a Rock Eeek! Ick! Homework…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: February 23 Supplies: Lesson plan, book, poster, homework assignment, cootie catcher, reveal the picture photo, hunting photo My objective: Wh-questions in past and present Institutional objective: Finish activities and content through 9 Setup: Arrange seating. Hang poster and contract. Make good-behavior grid. Write on board: Agenda: Contract Cootie Catcher Jog Jog…
I’m almost paralyzed. Every time I try to get up again after a knock-down teaching challenge, I get socked over again. Mister Popup, or whatever you call those toys that people hit as hard as they can in the face, only to slug him repeatedly when he rocks back upright. Magdalena is impossible. And in…
I must’ve deleted digital copies and tossed out hard copy of the LP before this one. Crap. Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 25 SONIA, DIANA, SAMANTA, ALEJANDRO, ADRIANA, YAEL, GABY, JUAN MANUEL Supplies: Chat A & B, Death Valley Queen video, Mad Libs, La Llorona transcript, computer, Breugel drawing and small cards, graphic organizer. Agenda:…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 16 Supplies: Audio tape, Getting to Know You song & lyrics, faces, headlines, Once I Traveled Agenda: Explain why we’re doing each activity! Getting to Know You Strangers Meet Expanding Headlines Once I Traveled… Homework: Faces Time Activity Teacher [I] Students [Thou] Objective(s) [It] 7:00 Welcome Invite questions on pretest…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: February 18 Supplies: Lesson plan: Poster board. Toy animals. Handout for Raquel. Audio tape cued to 6. Map of the world? Organizational goal: Finish activities 4 through 7 Set up: Arrange seating. Hang poster in back or side of room. Write on board: Endangered & Extinct Animals; tally for positive and…
Whenever I talk to Magdalena about a school-related matter, she tells me things I think she should have told me sooner. Her theory, I imagine, is “let her find it out for herself.” I’d prefer more… scaffolding. If she knows that a particular child has a particular problem with a particular thing, withholding it doesn’t…
From TeacherVision. [dealing with disabilities, but applicable]: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-discipline/resource/2943.html How to Manage Disruptive Behavior in Inclusive Classrooms Question 1. Could this misbehavior be a result of inappropriate curriculum or teaching strategies? [Inappropriate curriculum: yes. It’s too abstract, doesn’t tie to their lives, and is beyond their interest. I tried to tie it to their lives in…
The two classes last week with the jovenes had been abominable. Both times, they endured that grueling testing I wrote about, and then gathered in my class for instruction about an entirely new unit. From the first class to the second, they got progressively more out of control. My mind was spinning. I completely understood…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: February 16 Supplies: Lesson plan: dino pix, dinos, audio tape, markers, eraser, sticky stuff, Workbook objectives: simple past; -er comparisons; stress, rhythm and intonation. Simple SVO syntax for present tense Q&A On board: • Animals Past & Present: as we go along, branch to extinct, endangered, safe • Hang low: five…
I’ve now finished the third of my observations with Elka. She raised some interesting points, and some that were moot under my circumstances. I’ve outlined key takeaways in the memos posted here. More about how I’ve applied them: 1. She said I needed to intervene in correction both earlier and more often, especially with high-frequency…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 9 NAHUM, ALEXIS, ROBERTO, ARMANDO, JAIME, DANIEL, ILLALY Supplies: Audio tape, markers, eraser, sticky stuff, Norwegian Wood song & lyrics, index cards with nouns and prepositions, photograph, homework with feedback, ice homework, Illaly’s homework, computer, lyrics to Wind Time Activity Teacher [I] Students [Thou] Objective(s) [It] 7:00 Greetings. Explain class…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: February 11 Supplies: Dino pix, audio tape, markers, eraser, sticky stuff, LP, rods Workbook objectives: simple past; -er comparisons; stress, rhythm and intonation Add’l: Get them to know present and past of “to be” Time Activity Teacher [I] Students [Thou] Objective(s) [It] 5:00 Testing Helps administer test Listen & write Evaluation…
What a dispiriting sight it was to see my little students in the language lab taking their unit pre-test: little automatons sitting in glassed cubicles looking daunted and confused. I was genuinely shocked. Even my language labs before the dawn of time were more humane. So first the teacher flicks switches on a control board…
Memo in Response to Second Observation and Feedback After the first observation I adapted my lesson plans to incorporate ideas from our discussion: allowing for a physical and mental break every twenty minutes or so; always looking for opportunities to maximize and delve deeper into the language of an exercise; trying to be random in…
Here is Luz reading her homework about the importance of gymnastics. [audio:luz.mp3] And here is Lupita on swimming. [audio:lupita.mp3] And here is the teenage class trying to learn American pronunciation. [audio:teens.mp3]
Breaks One of the big challenges with a group of kids, no matter how small, is maintaining their attention. Two hours is a long class for adults and it must seem interminable for kids. Knowing that, I have tried to build in some physical, artistic and other exercises to break the monotony of the workbook…
In was a new and interest interested [interesting] experience. Gabriela We drove through coconut planatios [guessing based on L1] Sonia My thumb was a lot of sore. Sonia When I was (or when I had) three years. [e.g. Diana] I spended a lot of time there. Diana The instructor told me that I’ll I should…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 9 NAHUM, ALEXIS, ROBERTO, ARMANDO, JAIME, DANIEL, ILLALY Supplies: Audio tape, markers, eraser, sticky stuff, Norwegian Wood song & lyrics, index cards with nouns and prepositions, photograph, homework with feedback, ice homework, Illaly’s homework Time Activity Teacher [I] Students [Thou] Objective(s) [It] 7:00 Greetings & Pass-the-Word Whisper a short phrase.…
Lesson Plan T/T Kids: February 11 Supplies: Audio tape, markers, eraser, sticky stuff, Old Woman & Fly, LP, dinosaur posters, tangible objects for comparison Time Activity Teacher [I] Students [Thou] Objective(s) [It] 5:00 Testing Watches Magda administer test Listening exercises Evaluation 6:00 Introduce Animals Past & Present Write Dinosaur Days on the WB before Ss…
You need to collect oral and written grammatical errors that your ESL/EFL students make. Errors are best understood if analyzed in context. Bring back written homework, journals and essays that your students wrote or just type up / write the errors you would like to include in your error database. For your oral errors, either…
Ways to correct midstream: pretend you didn’t hear it? Whisper the question? “Do you mean…” Watch for patterns of mistakes. Focus on common, repetitive errors in pronunciation in syntax. Listen to form more than content when giving feedback. Early feedback: correct in the moment, before bad patterns get established and repeated. Really look at language…
Elka’s feedback to my Saturday 4-hour conversation class A lot on WB. Pleasant atmosphere. Agenda. T starts exactly on time. T chats with Ss. Topics on WB. Which ones were yours? [ed note: all topic ideas were theirs] Personalized. Ownership of language 9:05 Card game/expressions It is good that you went ahead [other were late…
This one will be observed by Elka. Lesson Plan Sat Conversation: February 6 Objectives: Develop spoken fluency & comprehension, focusing on usage of simple past tense, gender pronouns and definite/indefinite/zero articles; build general vocabulary and deepen vocabulary in an area of interest. Introduce some idioms related to a topic. Attend to pronunciation. Play with language.…
Lesson Plan T/T Adults: February 2 Supplies: Audio tape, markers, eraser, sticky stuff Time Teacher Students Notes Write agenda: What did you do? Memory game Appointment book Norwegian Wood Dreams 15:00 Memory: Review learn irregular past forms. Stick cards to white board (six rows of four). Write sentence starters for past and present. Play memory…
This was the one after that which Elka observed. I tried to build in a lot more breaks and the kids loved them and didn’t want to get back to other stuff. Once again I realized how little they know of what the book is presenting, and I don’t know if that’s the fault of…
I hate this workbook. In one tiny box on one page, they glossed over the huge topic of the prepositions “to,” “in” and “at,” whose distinctions can be very blurry. At the same time they introduced them to definite articles and zero articles. And all of it without an explanation or repition. There’s never any…
On the work front, she’s been very elusive about what I’m supposed to be doing and when. It wasn’t till minutes before my first class that I first saw the classroom. I didn’t get the books till the night before. It’s been unnerving. She initially seemed to be flexible in how I approach my classes,…
Here is what I skimmed from the conversation I had. Oh — Elka also said that I’m a good writer but that I write too much; I’m too wordy. That pissed me off. Critique my teaching, but don’t critique my writing, unless I ask, thank you very much, goddamn it. I suspect that this is…
Here is Elka’s written feedback, transcribed: Objective Observations Comments T on time ready to rock and roll. Some materials on WB. Introduce Elka. Ask kids to ask her: “What is your name?” even though some already knew it. Kids are funny how that have a problem with inauthenticity. Did you do your HW? Yes, good.…
What Went Well & Why I think the kids loved the memory game about -self. They seemed engaged. I kept it egalitarian, not making it a contest of winners and losers but one of reinforcing collocations. It succeeded because a) Ss were engaged, b) there was a sense of fun and community, c) noncompetitive, d) visual,…
Basta [Stop] for my Mexican Conversation Students Objective: Ss try to pick an answer that doesn’t duplicate others. Necessities: Empty box, alphabet cards, pens & white board, timer 1. Divide Ss in teams of two 2. Let each S pick one category and write them on the white board. 3. One student picks a letter…
Again, I’m writing this several days after the fact so my memory is weak. But this class seemed to go less well than the first. I sensed less interest o the part of the students. There was some nice laughter and cheerful moments, and I had a lot of things planned. I think in retrospect…
I’m writing this well after the fact so my memory has dimmed. I think that’s a good thing. The kids’ class went okay. Based on the success of the previous song I’d brought another body part/action song. In fact, it was Hokey Pokey, and they loved it. The class seemed to go very quickly to…
I don’t think I like teaching. I worry too much if everyone is happy. When people aren’t paying attention I take it personally, and also don’t know how to manage getting their attention back. It’s hard to be on-stage non-stop. Everyone paying attention is watching your eyes for their next cue. The others have no…
While I’ve heard that the circumstances for teaching are never ideal, I continue to be baffled by how to handle the days preceding my first classes. Last night I met my second two groups. It was only the night before that I got the workbooks, which were entirely different than those I’d first been given…
