Alexandra CO3

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION 3- Speaking with Anisa.

Anisa introduced today’s task, the preparation of an oral class presentation/research project, by asking students if they understood the concept of a thesis statement. Most of the students appeared confident in their understanding, but judging by facial reactions there appeared to be at least some confusion or lack of clarity about the concept. Anisa then began by first describing a statement as being an idea or argument, a discussion which she used as a springboard into a review of five paragraph essays. Anisa stated that she would like the students to model their topic and subsequent points in the same manner one would organize this kind of essay. She went through the prescribed structure of the five paragraph format, a concept which was very useful to have a refresher on, since it has been a long time since I have had to write such a strictly structured piece of writing.
In terms of the student body, what I most noted was the division of students of the class. I sat more or less between the middle and the corner of the room. The table on the opposite end of the room was occupied primarily several middle aged Middle Eastern women of various national origins. In the middle table, there were a few Korean males, a Chinese girl and a girl from Panama. The table closest to me was made up of a group of Middle eastern youths, most of them speaking Arabic, only one girl, and one very vocal Turkish man. There was one outlying student who seemed rather despondent, who not seated t any table, but leaned his chair back against the wall between the tables.
The students were rather chatty on this day, so Anisa gracefully curbed this excitement by channeling it into the day’s activities. Today, Anisa helped them to identify thesis statements that they would like to develop into a later class presentation. The proficiency levels and verbal bravery levels in the room seemed rather varied, which became apparent as she went around the room asking student to volunteer their initial ideas. Some students spoke only in word clusters, while other readily expounded on their topics, if perhaps a bit too vaguely. Anisa took time with each person to help them refine their subjects, and after having gone through each student, she allowed them time to sit and work on their topics silently, and then after a few minutes, allowed them to turn to each other for peer critiques.
This predictably got somewhat out of hand, as the table nearest to me got into a fairly heated, but friendly debate about the origins and best qualities of baklava. Sensing that the noise was growing distracting to the other students, Anisa curtailed this tangent by seamlessly inserting herself into the conversation, engaging them briefly by acknowledging their opinions, and ultimately taking control of it the conversation in order to steer it to a close. This was a very useful strategy that impressed me with its subtlety, but effectiveness.

Alexandra TP 12

TUTORING PARTNER 12 – Geonae

On Wednesday, Geonae and I finally experienced a breakthrough, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. The victory was small but significant. Given some of the work we had been doing to this point, I felt that Geonae should at least have sufficient grasp of basic sentence structures to at least begin experimenting with verbalizing sentences. Being a diligent student, though I knew she was making progress in terms of her grammatical learning, I had been making virtually zero progress in coaxing her to speak, despite my best efforts to take baby steps towards this goal. Even after eight or so meetings, she had barely ever verbally joined more than three words together of her own volition, perhaps out of fear of making mistakes. Thus, in preparation for this session, I drafted two whole pages with the beginnings of sentences so that would make her have to work with me verbally in order to find logical consequents to the antecedents, however simple the final outcome.
Though at first it would take us about five minutes per sentence (I tried to be patient with her so she could feel she was generating sentences based on her own ideas), she began to work a bit more quickly. Although this was promising in itself, what made me happiest was when she would look up and mumble possible English sentences to herself. Some made only minimal sense, and others were surprisingly sophisticated compared to her other work, but it gave us great ground to begin discussing grammatical issues in the way she thinks through sentences. By the end of the session, we had only made it through the first page, but both she and I were pleased with the progress, and she seemed visibly proud of what she had done, which gave her courage to initiate an occasional direct question or comment to me unprovoked. As we were photocopying some of the work, I took advantage of both of our relieved moods, to tell her in earnest how glad it made me to hear her speak, and how I wished she would trust me enough to feel free to continue in this way, even if it meant making mistakes. I think she understood and I look forward to future progress and seeing what she does with the second sheet, which I left her for homework.

Jessica TP12

For my final tutoring session with Alonso we went over a brief reading lesson. We had been looking up info ont the Blue Angels (in anticipation of the air show we saw yesterday…it was AWESOME!) So I thought that to catch his attention and to make a reading lesson really interesting we could use an article from an aviation magazine. I found one about a new jet that Cessna is releasing and came up with a brief worksheet asking comprehension questions about the article. Before he read it we went over some vocabulary and checked out the title and photos. Then he looked over the questions, skimmed the article and answered the first few. He got the gist of the article fairly easily, but there were a few words that I didn’t have in the vocabulary list that gave him some trouble so we spent some time on those. 

It was great to see when he solved some of his questions and came to understand the points of the article. He also really got excited to learn about how to use aviation terms in English. One if his main reasons for coming to the U.S. was to learn the language so that he could come back to the states in the future and work as a pilot, but also to communicate with his boss back in Panama. His boss is German, and knows a little Spanish, but having Alonso be able to communicate in English would be a great help. The lesson went well over all and he learned some good vocab that we put to good use for our Pensacola road trip.

Brittany CO 3

For my final class observation I sat in Maria Samuel's listening class to get some insight before my listening lesson plan. This particular day they were continuing watching "The Terminal" with Tom Hanks as a foreigner indefinitely stuck in a NY airport. I think the context is great given the 'stranger in a strange land' theme that students can clearly relate to. First, Maria asked the class to recap what had happened in the movie up to the point they were at today. A few students raised hands and answered. Maria told the class that she'd be stopping the movie every few minutes and asking for a summary so to pay attention, be ready, and enjoy!

It had been a long time since I'd see The Terminal and forgot how good the story is, and how funny Tom Hanks is, but soon I noticed much of the humor didn't really translate as Maria and I were the only ones laughing at several parts. After 15 minutes, Maria stopped the movie as promised and asked for someone to summarize what they'd just seen. While she called a different student than before, the same students were raising their hands to answer. I noticed the second time Maria stopped the video and asked again for a summary of the previous 15 minutes, she called on a girl in the corner who hadn't volunteered yet. I like this move by Maria, though anytime I was like that girl in past classes I would have hated it, but as a future teacher, I know it's the best way to be sure every student is paying attention and understanding the material.

Class ended before the movie was over, so Maria told the class to remember what happened for next time. Though it's not as student-centered and full of activity, watching movies is definitely a great way to practice some extensive listening.

Brittany CO 2

Observing Jerry’s grammar class was interesting, but very different from the speaking class I’d been to the previous week. First, it was 9am, so most of the students didn’t seem quite awake or nearly as lively for class participation in grammar as they were excited for speaking activities. Jerry also had the agenda posted for students to see and they started with a word of the day, assigned to a certain student. Surprisingly I saw both my conversation partners in that class, and Gyusang got up to present the word of the day, ‘dowdy.’ He wrote the part of speech, definition, synonym and antonym, as well as an example and other forms of the words, such as adverb and noun.

Next they moved on to the day’s grammar topic, infinitives and gerunds, which Jerry said would continue tomorrow as well. This was said to be and then was apparently to students, a review, and the rationale from Jerry being that students often miss the opportunity to use gerunds versus infinitives in their essays. Students had a worksheet in which they had to circle gerunds (2 minutes) then Jerry read through each sentence out loud and asked, “is there a gerund here?” prompting class response answers. With any wrong response or question that came up, Jerry would write on the board or overhead the question and an example, and how to used it properly or interchangeably in meaning.

While Jerry is a great teacher and very knowledgeable of the material and how to explain it, the students enthusiasm and participation were noticeably less than other classes, which I think is mainly reflective of the time of day and subject- grammar is never going to be as exciting as conversing, but I do think a more student-centered structure during activities could perhaps help students’ motivation.

Brittany CO 1

I observed a group 4 speaking class with Ryan Flemming. First, Ryan put the agenda on the overhead for the class to see and read through it: 1) We have a class observer, Brittany, and what’s the rule about class observation, he asked the students- “observing only teacher, not us,” said one student, to which Ryan said “only teacher?”- quickly self-correcting, the student replied “the teacher.” Immediately I see with this group, and in his style, Ryan uses the ‘what?’ approach, making a point that something was wrong and prompts students to fix it. Second on the agenda for class was to go over their presentation feedback in 2 sections, grammar and pronunciation. Ryan timed 3 minutes for students to review and correct their grammar errors (directions written on overhead). Ryan also explained that since transcribing all errors isn’t possible, that he’d capped it at 8 sentences for them all to rewrite. Then students were advised to work on pronunciation with a partner of a different native language to help with sounds some don’t normally hear or speak. After the 3 minutes of independent or group work, they were allowed to ask Ryan for help if needed, and I saw him move between tables helping both in groups, but also knowing which students need more individual attention, and giving it. One example of the kind of impromptu explaining Ryan thinks of is the word ‘climate,’ which gave a girl some trouble, and Ryan wrote on the board to say it like you would ‘climb it.’ I noticed he’s great at thinking on his toes and the students respond well to his friendly demeanor, but also respect his authority when he moves them into a new activity or needs them to focus on task.

The next class activity was 10-15 minutes of speech topics for 1 minute recordings by each student. The topics were familiar to the students from work earlier in the week, such as an in-class article about television, the positive and negative effects of judging people on physical appearance, or discussing the possible causes of why so many students could have gotten sick the previous week. Students had a few minutes to review any notes they had on a particular topic then left the room one at a time to record their response. During this time Ryan walked between tables and generally addressed any questions students had while preparing for their responses. It seems like this is a common class activity since students were organized in switching turns with the recorder and walking outside the room.

The last activity was speech acts: this week, basic complaints or requests written on cards and random chosen by pairs of students. One group had to act out a man knocking on his neighbor’s door to complain that his music was too loud, and could he please turn it down. This lead to a pretty funny cultural moment when after one attempt, Ryan said this student had taken too long getting to the main point on the request; to this the student replied that he had to be polite and talk to him before complaining because since he’s an American, he could get mad and have a gun and shoot him for being rude. We laughed and it was funny, but it made me hope that’s not truly the common perception these students have of Americans!

Overall Ryan seems very aware of his students’ needs and levels and is able to adjust personal attention to the level of class management he needs to be directing at any given time. Ryan seems to have the perfect balance of instructor and relatable friend on his side, and it seems the students really respond to him well.

Brittany TP 12

My last meeting with Ozan was a few days after he had started a new session at CIES, so he already had a new essay topic for composition class and an outline in progress. He asked me to review it and I told him the 3 supportive points were well chosen and that given what we’ve worked on in his writing, he knew how to get the details and examples strong and fully supportive of his thesis. I asked if he’d learned anything knew or if any topics thus far in the session had given him any problems which prompted him to flip through his grammar pages and ask me to clarify the difference between present simple and present continuous. After a few sample sentences and a practice quiz that has the student select between the two tenses, Ozan said he got it. Tired from a first week of classes, the motivation wasn’t as high as usual with my studious tutee, so I chose to leave him with a few resources to help his study after I leave Tallahassee. Knowing his plans to eventually take the GRE, in addition to the TOEFL, I showed him the Princeton Review site and mentioned their exam workbooks as a good practice. Also, since the TOEFL listening section is generally composed of academic lecture, I showed him academicearth.org and suggested he listen to some interesting lectures to practice that kind of listening, while also feeling like he’s in a real university classroom. I even showed him the MIT computer engineering and various related classes recorded and he was pretty excited about that. Ozan has been such a great tutee to work with. I can’t wait to see where he goes after CIES!

Brittany TP 11

For my last meeting with Jiyeon I finally got to work on the slang and idioms I’d planned before, but we always tended to get off on other issues, which is great since I first and foremost wanted my tutees to tell me what they need help with or want to focus on, but I knew this would be a fun lesson, especially given the conversational work we discussed in our first meeting. I found a fun website of 10 randomly chosen slang words and phrases placed in sample sentences, then to see the meaning of the word/phrase, you click it and it defines it for you. Each time you refresh the site it gives a new 10 sentences, so we did that a few times and had some laughs (since explaining some of these is a very silly task) while learning some new commonly used American expressions (i.e “He flipped out” or “he’s such a klutz”). After a few rounds of sentences, I went to englishclub.com where they have an idiom, saying, and slang of the day. We spent the last few minutes together just talking about student life at FSU and she asked me some different cultural questions. One question in particular was where do most of us girls shop for our clothes, as she looked around campus and made a comment about the plethora of sundresses. I said Forever 21 and Target are about all most of us can afford, and she just laughed at how pretty everyone looks, joking that she has no time for that, to which I told her none of us have 2 young kids to deal with! I’ve really enjoyed working with Jiyeon and I wish we’d been able to meet earlier in the session that we did.

Brittany TP 10

When I met with Ozan next, I had reviewed his last essay, which was about why parents are the best teachers for their children, and was prepared to work on his 3 main points of support and style points of rewording the intro and thesis a bit. However, when I got to Ozan’s house and we took out our work, he’d written a new essay on a much more difficult and limiting topic- does fast food and microwave cooking benefit society? This miscommunication led to slight detour of my plans, and I tried to go through his new essay with him. The problem was this time, the 3 points he thought of were very redundant, each referring to the convenience of the speed. I tried to help him brainstorm some other ways it could benefit society, and even mentioned the idea of offering one drawback of that kind of cooking, such as nutrition, but Ozan seemed confused and a bit overwhelmed, and complained about the topic. With that I said we should shelf this essay and go back to the original one he wrote and keep trying to bring that score up, and Ozan seemed good with this decision. Back on the original track, we worked on his 3 main examples and thesis and Ozan seemed to feel much better about this progress we made with this essay. I realized too that as a creative writing major I tend to want to help stylistically more than that should be a focus, but when I mentioned certain syntax or word choices, then apologized for being nit-picky, Ozan told me not apologize and that he appreciates my stylistic advice that will help him bring his essay to a 5.

Brittany TP 9

Before this tutoring session with Ozan, I emailed him a list of sample TOEFL essay topics to choose from and asked, if he had time, would he want to write a thesis statement that we could work on and plan an essay outline during our next session. The morning of our tutoring day I check my email to find he’d written a full 5 paragraph essay on a chosen topic- such a devoted tutee! I printed the essay and tried to mark it using some of the error marks from class and made notes on how what to work on and why. When we met, I first and foremost praised is effort and overall success of 5 paragraphs organized as supporting points, each relating back to his thesis. I went through the rubic handout from class and we discussed how we would score the essay as is, concluding it could have been a 3 out of 5, and then worked on how to raise that. The biggest issues for Ozan’s writing are actually more tedious issues that I thought we’d deal with given his limited English study, but the main focus was developing more detailed support and examining how to make it even stronger in relation to the thesis. Also, though I explained it’s not a big deal and could be worked on later, more style issues such as word choice and strong verbs, active versus passive, etc. Though overall I’m impressed with where we got his essay to by the end of our session. I encouraged Ozan to take some of the supporting details we worked on and rewriting the body paragraphs for next time.

Brittany TP 8

Since my TOEFL speaking practice was set aside for reading practice last session, this time I planned for Ozan, who said he hadn’t seen samples of the exam, get a look at what I’ve heard from students are the most challenging sections. Thanks to some awesome resources on englishclub.com, you can see sample exam sections for each skill. On the speaking page it has 2 sample “familiar topics” that students listen to, then given a specific question based on the recording, must speak and record their answer. There are 4 more responses required based on more academic discussion or lecture. We spent the hour working through the samples, choosing one question from each part (3 total). Ozan seemed overwhelmed and sighed, saying it was much harder than he expected. I assured him he was months away from his exam and had so much time to prepare. Since the exam sections gives students 20 minutes total for the whole speaking section, it seems especially daunting, but we spent time replaying the recordings multiple times so I could point out parts that led to drawing a response. Then we played back (along with reading the transcript) of the sample response and discussed that answer; finally, I asked Ozan to think of his own response, pushing him to just speaking more quickly and off the cuff in response to the question versus thinking over proper grammar and word choice in his head first. I think it’s important just to get his confidence up and assure him that most of the time, he can communicate just fine without over thinking it. We only had a few minutes left to look at the speaking section but the format is similar, only students answer questions about the recordings they hear. I believe the biggest issue is comprehending what they are listening to when they can’t pause or replay- there’s just one chance to catch what they’re saying, and I think that just adds more stress to these sections of the TOEFL.

Brittany TP 7

For my second meeting with Jiyeon I planned a lesson consisting of expressions of agreement/disagreement that would be common for speaking, as well as a list of common American slang and idioms (randomly chosen from a large master list). I told Jiyeon my plan and also told her to let me know if I was speaking to fast or if anything was unclear; to this she said that I was fine, and that just listening to me speak was great practice for her. So after a few minutes of discussing our weekends, I began going through the list of expressions. I wasn’t quite sure of her level yet, so I check with her if most of them seemed familiar or not, and I found about 50-75% of the expressions were new, if not just unsure of the meaning. A particular phrase “I couldn’t disagree more,” prompted Jiyeon to ask about modals (could/should/would/might) that have been confusing her. This tangent eventually morphed into the lesson, and, thankfully, technology is great and I could quickly find some examples and practice quizzes on my laptop to check her modal comprehension. I think Jiyeon understood by the end, at least better, and I explained that they are tricky because we use them in our speech so frequently and the meaning and word choice varies so much depending on the context, but that now that we went over it she would likely notice it when people speak, and in turn, learn when specific modals are used most commonly.

Brittany CP 9 & 10

After Ali and his friends invited me to experience their traditional cooking last time, I couldn’t wait to hang out and eat with them! They invited me to bring a friend, so my roommate Katie and I showed up around 10:30, were greeted by Ali, then he jokingly said they just started cooking- we were in for a late night haha… When we walked in there were at least 10 guys in the living room, made up of mostly Ali’s friends I had met before including Hassan and Mohamed and their good friend Jia. I didn’t realize what a fun feast they had planned, and for just starting, the house already smelled delicious. We sat down and talked with everyone while Mohamed and Mohamed were cooking away. One guy (wish I could remember all the names!) offered us Krispy Kreme donuts with the tea we all were having, and not one for donuts or wanting to spoil my dinner, I politely declined, but then found myself experience a mild cultural incident- Ali said (with a playful tone) “Ah, you’re doing to deny our sweets?” I explained my reason and thanked them genuinely anyhow, then Ali said, “In our country it’s common to have tea and eat something sweet before a meal rather than after.” I guess my face seemed embarrassed and I did feel I’d been rude now to refuse, but Ali quickly assured me it was fine and that they just wanted to show us their cultural traditions…still I didn’t deny anything else they offered for the rest of the night!

We all just talked and got to know about each other for the hour the boys spent cooking; everyone was so curious to ask me as well as Katie about FSU, our majors, our families and our future plans, just as we asked them a million questions about their culture and their plans.There is just never a shortage of awesome stories when discussing life with students from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey- even though among that group there is also no shortage of tangents breaking out in Arabic. It was funny to watch them joke around and slip into their native language, laughing and shouting and busting on one another, seeing who is the biggest joker among them; Katie and I couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying, but we could tell what they meant, like who had cracked the best joke or who had said something ridiculous. We were all laughing and having a great time, and then it was time to eat! Ali asked if we minded eating on the floor, to which we replied absolutely not, and all circled the multiple pans of chicken and rice, the curry smell making my mouth water. Then Ali passed out spoons (which they had just specially washed), and when one guy refused, Albraa (the joker) yelled something in Arabic and motioned at me and Katie; it seemed Albraa was trying to persuade him not to eat with his hands with the guests they had. Katie and I told them we didn’t mind at all and if that’s how they wanted to eat that way they should, but they all went along with spoons. After just a few minutes Mohamed was annoyed and whispered something about it to me, so I said, seriously, use your hands then! Still hesitant, Katie and I put down our spoons and started eating with our hands (even though rice is a challenge), and the guys loved it- they all started digging in. The meal was so delicious and after we finished I thanked Mohamed for cooking, prompting the group to teach us the Arabic saying when thanking the chef, which includes a response from him. Our pronunciation was definitely off, but they cheered our effort. I have truly never felt so welcomed and appreciated as a guest by anyone, let alone a group of college age guys- I love my Arab friendsJ

After dinner the gang taught Katie and I how to play a popular card game in their region called ‘kout bo 6.’ It’s somewhat similar to Hearts, but when everyone is a kout bo 6 expert, it’s really confusing! I paired with Mohamed and Katie was with Albraa, but you don’t speak to your partner, you have to just play and hope you’re on the same strategy- needless to say, both us girls had a guy in our ear telling us what cards to throw- it was so funny. The rules dictate playing to 100 points, and when we kept switching up partners and calling them practice rounds, we ended up playing until 3:30 am- no joke! After all that time Katie and I had gotten pretty good and we were all being competitive and lost track of time. I never expected a traditional dinner invitation to be such a full night of fun, not just discussing these students’ lives, but also experiencing a night of fun they would have together even if we weren’t there. Truly a night I’ll never forget!

Brittany TP 6

When I met with Ozan this time I came with a few sites and print outs focused on TOEFL speaking skills and planned on working through a practice section I found online. However, when I came to the student lounge with my plans, Ozan asked if I could help him with a reading assignment from his class that he didn’t understand, so I altered the plan. The article assigned was about the Salem Witch Trials, a brief origin/summary, followed by comprehension questions including TOEFL style exam questions that are definitely a challenge at Ozan’s level. I read the article out loud while he followed with me to model the pronunciation of unfamiliar terms, stopping every few sentences to ask Ozan what had just been said. Sometimes he understood, but given the topic, some terms were especially strange and I had to explain the ideology behind the Puritans and why witchcraft, sorcery, and “dark magic” were in direct opposition to their beliefs. Going over the notion of a witch hunt, insufficient proof and unfair trials based on rumors and the fact that many of these women were nonconformists in society—admittedly a bit of a challenge to explain themes of this nature with a language barrier! Once we had read it and I had Ozan summarize it in his own words, we move onto the multiple-choice questions. This actually took the rest of our time together since the wording of the question (i.e which is NOT true, logical order of events, author’s main purpose, etc.) can be an explanation in itself, so with consistent reference to the text, I could see Ozan appearing discouraged, perhaps worrying about the notion of this in a real exam. I tried to reassure him that exam questions are always mean to be more challenging, even on the SAT that I took, and that it would just take practice with this format to get it down. I did tell him a good test trick in these sections is to look over the questions prior to reading so he’ll know what to look for in the text. Though my TOEFL speaking plan didn’t happen this time, I’m glad we could work on some reading practice.

Brittany TP 5

My next tutoring session was with a new partner, Jiyeon, from South Korea. We met at the library and she told me that her husband is in grad school at FSU and they have a 7-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son. Immediately working with her intrigued me- she isn’t trying to pass the TOEFL or get into a university, she is living here and is learning for communication purposes, so we discussed her current studies. Jiyeon takes 3 classes at the Center: grammar, composition, and reading- so she is most eager, as I expected, to spend our time working on speaking and listening skills. I showed her a few resources we might use in our sessions, including one of the NPR Storycorps, and happened to find one about a mother and daughter. Overall my plan for Jiyeon’s sessions is to focus on conversational speaking and pronunciation, as well as working in idioms and common slang to better her understanding of the type of everyday language she struggles with currently.

Brittany TP 4

For our fourth session I addressed again some issues Ozan specifically asked me to clarify: First, active vs passive voice, which can be a strange concept to native speakers, as we don’t usually realize we are using one or the other until it is explicitly noted. When I was giving Ozan a general explanation and showing him examples, I explained how it is easy to fall into passive voice when writing academic essays and that’s not good; I showed him an excerpt from an old paper I wrote for an anthropology class that my teacher marked up in red almost exclusively for use of passive voice. At first I think Ozan was a bit confused, but the examples in my other resources were clear and I told him it’s nothing more than a grammatical pattern, where passive will always be subject + auxiliary to be verb + main verb in past participle form. For Ozan’s confusing distinguishing rules of perfect continuous in present and future, I had to do some grammar refreshing myself, but with a few worksheets, sample sentences (which I paired in a comparison/contrast way) plus a practice quiz, I think Ozan felt pretty confident with those issues in the end.

Brittany TP 3

Based on the last session I tried to find references for using ‘of,’ and was able to find some samples sentences, but none with much explanation for what Ozan was confused. I asked a few other TEFL classmates their idea on it, and overall we were strugging to develop a more in depth definition for that one- thankfully Ozan’s ambiguity tolerance is good and he accepted that it’s a word/phrase he’ll just have to get used to. Ozan’s weekly email had expressed working with comparative adjectives (-er/-est endings vs. more), so I brought in similar resources to the second session. First we went through the general explanation together and spent the majority of the time working with sample sentences, or I would give Ozan the original word and he had to show me the comparative adjective form (and sometimes vice versa). Later I had him write the opposite adjective to the one I wrote (i.e ‘harder’; ‘softer’) then gave him a practice quiz (from englishclub.com) where he had to select the correct adjective form. Ozan amazes me sometimes when he so quickly learns a topic he told me he’d been confused about before, but I guess the individual attention can truly have a greater impact than a classroom- I know I always learned better when one person actually explained sometime to me rather than trying to teach myself or listen when distracted in class.

Brittany TP 2

After meeting Ozan and establishing our testing focused cirriculum, I researched more TOEFL resources before our session. In addition, Ozan emailed me with a few grammar topics from class he didn’t understand: articles, prepositions, and relative pronouns (who/which/that), so I looked up some practice and helpful tips for those as well. I already had a few resources and sample sentences for learning articles and common prepositions from the grammar log the previous week, but for additional practice, particularly for the pronouns, I printed some helpful pages from englishclub.com (which I highly recommend!). We went through a general explanation of each topic, followed by 2-3 sample sentences that I guided him through, and ended each topic with several examples that Ozan did on his own. Given how smart Ozan is, with some specific explanation and walking through each sentence, he seems to understand the work. The only point he was still confused about was the word ‘of’ when discussing prepositions, and wanted to know a definition. I couldn’t think of a real meaning for the words to easily express, and tried looking at sample sentences, but realized I view it as a meaningless common word that I could only explain by saying that it generally comes before a word that gives extra detail to the rest of the sentence (for example ‘I carried a box of books.’) and more like that. Other than the few I could think of I was at a bit of a loss to explain and told Ozan I’d look into it for next time.

Brittany TP 1

The first tutoring session I had with Ozan was mainly to get to know a bit about each other, assess his needs and find out what he wanted to focus on most. I reviewed the tutoring plan/getting started document Ramin sent as a guide to our meeting, but when Ozan seemed timid about telling me what he wanted to focus on or what he needed the most help with, I simplified things with a question: Do you plan on taking the TOEFL? Yes, he said. This was a good start since I have found a lot of resources for the exam, and based on my own experience of preparing for standardized exams, I feel like I can guide Ozan through the aspects of the test that are a real challenge. Ozan is also very dedicated to his English study; when I asked what he does in his spare time, he said he studies- even when I asked if he liked to watch TV he said mostly in English for listening practice- no lack of motivation with my tutee I can tell! As a Turkish student with a B.A in computer engineering, Ozan hopes to get into a Master’s program for medical software development, so he is to put it simply, brilliant, and I’m sure he’ll pick up these skills in no time. Since this was his first session I asked if any specific grammar topics or speaking situations had given him trouble, but he couldn’t think of any in the moment. Given his diligent attitude we decided to meet twice a week, and I told him to email me with any specific grammar questions when he thought of them.

Brittany CP 8

Since the last time we met I found out Ali had only 5 days left in Tallahassee, I wanted to hang out as much as possible until then! Because his birthday would be after he left, Ali decided to celebrate early and invited me to join. Truthfully I had no idea what to expect when I drove to University Club apartments (where his friend was hosting the party), and found Ali and a familiar group of CIES students standing outside the dark apartment. After being warmly greeted by some guys I’d met before and some new faces as well, I realized why the apartment was so dark- this party was all about the dancing! Lights out inside, loud music, furniture apart, and a select few students with some celebratory drinks all in the middle of the living room dancing away! Ali was eager to show me a good time and kept offering me a drink or said I should dance, and while I appreciated the offer, I wasn’t drinking, nor am I usually a big dancer… Admittedly, I was a bit nervous, and, as one of only 4 girls (only 2 of us American), I was very aware of how much I stood out, but thankfully most of Ali’s friends were very sweet and excited to ask me lots about myself as well as answer all my questions about them. I was able to spend a good amount of time with Ali, but he was moving about to spend time with all his guests, so I also spent a lot of conversing time with Hassan and Mohamed, also from Saudi Arabia. These guys were so nice and even seemed like bodyguards during a few instances when a few other boys at the party (who’d been drinking a bit too much) became quite insistent that I dance with them rather than stand and talk, or when someone else bumped into me, Hassan, Mohamed, and Ali would check repeatedly that I was okay and apologized over and over for the inappropriate behavior. I tried to assure them all that after 4 years at FSU, this behavior was pretty tame and that I wasn’t offended at all- though they still seemed a bit unsettled by the situation, I tried my best to keep it light and joke that this particular guy would be hurting tomorrow- and they finally laughed about it! Success!

Despite being a pretty different birthday party than I’m used to, I’m so glad I got to spend time with Ali before he goes and got to meet some new friends. This group of guys have been especially welcoming and kind, yet they continually thank me for taking the time to speak with them since it truly is helping them become more fluent. Before I left for the night the guys invited me to come over for them to cook me a traditional dinner- I can’t wait!

Brittany CP 7

This time when I met with Ali, it was a bit impromptu… I went a few friends to meet some TEFL classmates at Chez Pierre so we could all see Ramin’s band, then as I was waiting at the bar, Ali text me and I found him and several of his friends at the tables outside, already jamming to the Trio! I was so happy to see him since we’d had some issues trying to get together since Café Sheesha. We enjoyed the music and some delicious food, which for Ali was a new experience. While the girls and I shared a cheese plate, Ali was having smoked salmon with a seasoned cheesy spread over some toast, and he seemed at first not sure about the combination. I explained to Ali that for Christmas mornings my family makes bagels with cream cheese, tomatoes onions and capers with lox, and that even though it’s a traditionally Jewish dish, it is one of my all-time favorites- needless to say, Ali loved it!

One interesting thing I’ve observed repeatedly now is that while many Arab students, including Ali, adhere to their cultural/religious rule of not drinking, others though have decided to try it- when in Rome, right? The interesting note is how they don’t judge each other for branching away from what they know, but when the alcohol did take effect and they got loud and crazy in the corner, the sober students just laughed and apologized to my friends and I and said, “oh, they’re crazy!”

This meeting was also when I found out Ali was leaving just 5 days later, and since I’d hoped to have him in my final filmed class, I said I would plan a lesson sooner so he could make it. He was so gracious and even thanked me for including him (I thought I’d have to bribe kids to come to an extra hour of class!), but when I said his friends were welcome too, I suddenly had 5 volunteers! I truly am touched and continue to be amazed at how generous and supportive these guys are!

Brittany CP 6

I was so excited to hang out with Ali at Café Sheesha, especially since I hadn’t been there in years! We both decided to bring conversational company, so my roommate Sarah, and Ali’s friend Mohamed joined us for drinks and hookah. We had an interesting range of topics during the couple hours we hung out, but the best for me is the cultural exchange- I love talking about the differences between countries, so when we’re discussing America vs. Saudi Arabia, the conversation is never short of thought-provoking and truly fun to see how we all do things differently! One intriguing point was Ali and Mohamed both said their fathers discouraged their coming to America claiming they weren’t ready or prepared for such an intense and independent experience, especially given the college climate of Tallahassee which clashes with several aspects of their more conservative culture. Ali explained that he was frustrated but finally convinced his father he was ready and could handle it, which as far as I can tell, he really can. When we spoke about English study I was so impressed by Ali’s focus; he said he’s known English on some level for most of his life after living here until he was 6, but could tell when he moved back to Saudi Arabia that he lost a lot of his skills. This led to his stressing how important personal practice is for him and for all ESL students. Ali said he used to practice speaking to himself in the mirror to maintain what English he could while away, and once he returned to the U.S, he’s gone out of his way to be social with fellow students and TEFL kids from past sessions. He told me he feels learning English is 90% independent study and that part of that is pursuing situations where he can have genuine speaking and listening practice with other native speakers. Ali’s personal drive truly amazes me, having just graduated and before that feeling some serious senioritis, it’s like that concept doesn’t even register for him! I envy his life philosophy of setting a goal and then dedicating oneself to each step in getting there- I need to steal some of Ali’s wisdom for sure!

Whitney CP-6/7

I guess I actually had 2 conversation partners this week! This is how it happened:

I ran into Habib at the CIES on Tuesday, and ended up staying for "Tea Time." It was good to finally have another chance to sit down and talk (briefly about we kept missing each other for tutoring meetings). Habib didn't pass the TOEFL when he took it a month ago, and contrary to what he originally told me, he is going to try to take it again. Gradually, the conversation shifted to more personal topics, and soon I was watching a Backstreet Boys music video ("Incomplete") of one his most recent favorite songs. I thought to myself: How ironic is it that the same boy band I was listening to 10 years ago is now back together and my 25-year-old friend from the Ivory Coast is listening to them? Okay, maybe "irony" isn't the perfect word for it, but I still find it pretty interesting.

Another really great thing about Habib, is that every time he introduces me to someone (even people I already know), he calls them his "brother." At first, I thought it was just because they were also from the Ivory Coast (as the 1st person was), but then he would say the same of his friend from Korea, Saudi, etc. It's wonderful to see that he's connecting with other students from other parts of the world, and I told him so. I asked if he and his Ivory Coast "brothers" ever did anything together, exclusively, and he responded "sometimes." He then went on to explain that while they do meet up every now and then, he doesn't want to spend too much time with them, speaking his first language, when he is here to learn English. That definitely explains his bonds with students from different cultures, and I encouraged him to continue in his wise decision. He does want more specific help though, and we agreed to arrange a meeting, now that my afternoons will be more free starting next week.

Today, I had lunch with Jongouk. When I learned it was "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-fil-a, I immediately decided it would be a fun cultural experience. We went to the Chick-fil-a on Appalachee, and were NOT disappointed--many different kinds of "cows" were represented, including those with ears and tails! He ordered the spicy chicken sandwich, which I thought a good choice, considering the spiciness of Korean food. Jongouk talked a lot about how good Korean food is--I think we need to make it together sometime....

The play-area sparked a conversation about what we did as kids--Jongouk never played in a play-area like the one there, although Korea has plenty in each of their fast-food chains. He never liked fast-food, and I agreed that I hadn't grown up with it either. He loved to swim though (in the ocean, since most Korean homes don't have pools). We had to stop by a gas station when car beeped "low fuel"--and Jongouk estimated that gasoline is roughly $7 USD in Korea!! No wonder hardly anyone drives!

I thanked Jongouk for attending my class on Wednesday, and was pleased to hear that he actually found the lesson valuable and really helpful for his reading. It's good to hear that from "the other side of the classroom"--you know? I mean, you design a lesson plan to be helpful, but it's good when someone in the class actually DOES find it the way you meant it to be.

This is my last "CP" posting for the class--but it is by no means my last encounter with Jongouk (or Habib, I'm sure). I have enjoyed absolutely EVERY minute of our times, including the week we were both tired and "beaten-down"--I feel we have come a long way out of it since then and grown a better friendship from it. These last 3 months have basically changed my perspective on so many things--from teaching theory to cultural ideologies. I am not the same person who started this back in May, nor do I think I'll be the person I am now when I actually start teaching my first class (1 month to go!).

Pat WW CP 12

Kellie and Karen’s class this afternoon was an exercise about Sherlock Holmes and using context clues. They worked directly from the workbook, and my Xeroxed copies. I was not sent off to make copies today but was allowed to participate directly with the students as they worked on the workbooks. I hope this is the start of a trend.

At the break, I learned the names of some of the women. Sisters Joanna and Alyssa are the wise guys of the group and made us all laugh. Anytime anyone asked a question, one of them would shout, “Use context clues!” Denise, who seems to be the oldest in the group, doesn’t like Vanessa because she is light skinned. OOOOOoo! I know there’s a future conversation in that!

I got home later to find that Johns Hopkins University had finally written me back. They asked if I still wanted to volunteer. Although Graceland/O’Donnell is WAY across town and I have to travel during rush hour, I’ve gotten to know these ladies and may stay put. On the other hand, The JHU program is right down the street and doesn’t start until 5 P.M. (Decisions. Decisions). I may try JHU and stay with whichever program lets me teach. Even though the CIES TEFL class is over, this is good good practice for the future and I don’t want to forget what I’ve learned.

Pat WW CP 11

Morning class at Graceland/O’Donnell was, I suppose, typical. The children went right into their classroom and Kellie and Karen started the English lesson on body parts. They started with a game of “head-and-shoulders-knees–and-toes” with the ladies and dispatched me to make more copies. By the time I returned, they had moved into the lesson in the English book. I looked for my seat again between Evangeline and Norma. But Evangeline was absent. It is probably for the best since she was more suited for a beginner’s class. But I will miss her and will wonder how she fares since I feel I made a personal connection with her. Norma still needed my help. She is also barely even with the rest of the class. So, for Norma, I was given the task of making flash cards (!!!!) with the vocabulary of body parts on one side and my expert drawings on the other. I was also given a Scrabble card game. We worked independently from the rest of the group with the flashcards and the Scrabble cards. She had problems with the sounds of “m” and “n,” “b” and “g,” and “k” and “t.” The scrabble cards worked well with this exercise. “Cat” became “bat” became “hat” became “sat,” etc. Kellie was impressed with my flashcard technique and may now give me more teaching duties and less Xeroxing. A volunteer can only hope.

Later at lunch, the conversation scenario was much as it was before with the other group. Who am I and what was I doing there. I am getting better at answering questions and am learning more about the ladies in the group. They are all significantly younger that me and we may not “hang out” but there is a good rapport.

Pat WW CP 10

Since it’s been hard for me to find a CP, I am staying all day at Graceland/O’Donnell. There were two afternoon teachers. Kellie was still there but Karen had replaced Liz. The afternoon group was the same afternoon group of women and children as yesterday. Fewer women attended this time. The children went right away to their group in the next classroom. I (the volunteer) was dispatched to another room to make copies for the afternoon lesson. When I returned, Karen had started an art lesson with the ladies. Several words on the board: pattern and spirit-catcher filled me in on what was going on. I did “volunteer” work. I passed out markers and picked up paper and transparency scraps.

At the mid afternoon break, I talked to the ladies again. Because it was my second time with them as a volunteer, they seemed friendlier and they wanted to know all about me. I told them how old I was (1^st question), where I was from, where my husband was (on a 15 year vacation), how many children I had, and why I was here in Baltimore. This led to my talking about the care of my 94-year-old mother. It seems I am not alone in caring for an elderly parent and this lead to a good conversation. To my surprise, this group spoke better English than the morning group.

Pat WW CP 9

No word from Johns Hopkins or the other organizations so I guess I am officially a volunteer at the Even Start Program at the Graceland/O’Donnell Elementary School. The morning class is actually very informal as the Mothers and their children are together for a short time. We all played a getting to know you game. Then the children went to their own classroom.

There are two regular teachers in the class: Kelly, who speaks no Spanish and Kate who is multilingual. They started the class with a listening test to try to get a sense of their English levels of understanding. This was all very familiar. There are only 12 women in the class so after the mid morning break, Kellie and Kate had looked at the test papers and identified several women who needed individual help. This was to be my job. I would sit between Evangeline and Norma in the classroom and make sure they were getting the directions and following the program.

At lunch, provided by the program, I got the opportunity to speak casually to the ladies as they ate lunch with the kids. Through an interpreter, I learned that Evangeline had very little understanding of English. She was 42 years old, had 5 children, and had been in the US for 14 years! Her youngest was 7 and just starting school that is why she decided it was finally time to learn English. I asked how it was possible to be in the US for 14 years and have so little understanding of English. This lead to an animated discussion among the ladies about being a “stay at home Mom.” Everyone seemed to have an opinion about the pros and cons of that situation. There were a wide range of opinions. I felt like I was part of that group as seemingly for my benefit, everyone did their best to speak in English.

Pat WW CP 8

I called the EBLO organization that I found in the paper first thing in the morning explaining my situation and my time constraints. They said I could come over today! I was there in about an hour. The place reminded me of the literacy program in Tallahassee. The program is housed in an old library building. I met the director, Elizabeth Galuardi and the first thing she asked me was if I spoke Spanish. “I do not,” was my reply. She said that was all right, as they desperately needed volunteers for all sorts of things. (Great. I’m in!). So, I filled out the paperwork, federal and state. She didn’t need my CV, since I was a volunteer. But she did need (wait for it…wait for it) my fingerprints. Ah, Life in the Big City.

I started that afternoon as a teacher’s aide in a program called “Even Start Family Literacy.” It’s a program, I learned from its brochure that offers a number of educational and cultural activities for the entire family. “Mi Segunda Casa” was the program that afternoon. About 20 women attended, each with a child in tow. We all went to the playground! It was actually a good opportunity to talk! I spoke to two of the women: Lupe and Melissa, both from Mexico. Their English was halting but understandable. Although the teacher of the class encouraged them to speak in English, they seemed to want to chat with each other in Spanish. I did my best.

Tomorrow morning I will help in the English language class and hopefully start a conversation.

Pat WW CP 7

July 4, 2011…Picnic at my house complete with grilled dinner on an old-school charcoal grill no less. Not much opportunity for non-English conversation, although many languages could be heard at the fireworks display that evening at the Inner Harbor. I picked up a copy of the City Paper, the alternative weekly newspaper, and found that “LatinoFest” is being held on July 25^th and 26^th in Patterson Park. This could be a starting point for a CONVERSATION! It’s sponsored by EBLO, Education Based Latino Outreach. (Another lead)

Pat WW CP 6

I called the new leads for CPs from my new friends who speak almost perfect English except for an occasional and charming “j” for “y” substitution. It’s the weekend and a holiday so we’ll see.

I never dreamed it would be this hard to organize a conversation. I am especially disappointed with the City of Baltimore’s outreach organizations. I’ve left numerous messages at the phone number listed on their poorly laid-out website. The voice on the message identifies herself as the Literacy Outreach coordinator but so far no responses. I’m cynical enough to imagine an institutional malice and indifference masked by incompetence. As I said, we’ll see.

Pat WW CP 5

I called Lilly to try to follow up on our conversation but she had not too many leads for me. I’m sure she has friends that need to practice speaking English but I’m OLD and no one really wants to hang out with their grandma. Fortunately Lilly’s mother, Liz, got on the phone. We mainly talked about our shared experiences at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and her studies there. We laughed a little as we compared notes about the Graduate Dean and her peculiarities. She was Dean when I went there in 1987. Things haven’t changed much since I was there. It was a friendly conversation. She invited me to dinner that night with her husband, Ruben and Lilly. We ate at Arcos, a Mexican restaurant that I had never heard of. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was great. I ordered a tortilla soup. Fabulous! And to top it all off, a live Mariachi band!!! OMG!! I haven’t done this since I left LA! I love a good mariachi band!!! Baltimore is becoming more interesting by the minute. Liz gave me a few leads for CP between all the singing, laughing, eating, and eating.

Pat WW CP-4

Well, Baltimore City Community College turned out to be a bust. Their program doesn’t start until July 15^th. So there was no way I can wait that long to find a conversation partner. But I did meet Lilly Marquez. She was waiting to see the same person I was waiting to see and looking for an opportunity to join an academic community. We struck up a conversation and got to know one another sitting and waiting for Ronnie to finish with some admin duty related to BCCC registration.

She is from Mexico and has been in this country for 3 years. Her parents are artists and they brought her to the US when they came to study at the Maryland institute College of Art. I am alum of that University so we struck up a conversation. She finished high school in Mexico where she had studied English but she said she didn’t have much practice in speaking. She speaks mostly Spanish at her job in the Fells Point area of Baltimore so she still didn’t get much practice. I thought she sounded great. She only had made a few mistakes in speaking. She is looking to finish her education when her English speaking improves.

Lori TP-5

For my last tutoring session, I went to PAEC again this week. Unfortunately I was told that there wasn't anything for me to do, because there were too many volunteers and not enough children to go around. Intriguing, but great! lol.

So instead I decided to help my conversation partner with any work that she was working on this week in her classes. We met at Starbucks (yum) and posted up at the best table for awhile. We went over a few of her written assignments, and I helped clarify all the different prepositions that could be used in each instance. This was fun for me, I like explaining things I know well. (Doesn't happen as much as I would like). I was curious about the level of reading she was on, totally creeped on her workbook. She was reading at a fairly high level. This made sense to me because I read Spanish a lot better than I speak it. We touched on this idea a few times in class as well.

She wanted to find more resources to work on her listening skills, and luckily I happened to have resources galore from our class. I was happy to forward various listening websites such as the accents catalog from around the country. I particularly loved this website, and hope it helps her out as well. I think my tutoring skills improved some over this summer, however I think I still have a long way to go until I'm completely comfortable with the idea of being a teacher and tutor for others. But I'm okay with that =)

Lori CP-6

For my last official conversation partner meeting we just hung out at Strozier to work on homework and feed our Starbucks addiction. We talked about the fourth of July holiday and what we did. I invited her to my roommates and I's going away party in two weeks. I was hesitant to invite her over to the hurricane that my house can be sometimes, but it's all good =D. I asked how her new conversation partner was, how the new session was going. We talking about dating and how it can be rough if long distance. Usual girl topics. lol. I really think we have moved beyond the quiz a stranger about their country and culture phase and are just friends now. It's fun having a friend from the other side of the planet. Maybe one day we will both end up on the flip side and she can show me around Bucheon. Maybe sooner than later! Hopefully.

It's crazy to me than someone can come to live here in Tallahassee, Florida, from such a bustling and lively country and city, and love being in Tallahassee. Maybe I've just spent far too much time here, but it still blows my mind.

I am incredibly curious to see how Jae adapts to Tallahassee, and the U.S. Where she will be after a year of studies here. I hope things work out great for her. I know they will, she works hard and is bright. I think her positive outlook and spirit are really what will help her succeed in the end. I really hope wherever I end up, that I can remember her strength and it will motivate me to persevere.

Lori TP-4

This week at PAEC was quite different from the last. I was expecting chaos, noise, children running in every direction and flustered volunteers. When I arrived at the class there were only four children in the class quietly sitting on the floor watching Sesame Street. Confused, I hesitantly asked the teacher where the rest of the children were. Camp had ended for the most of them, she said, and only five children would be in the class this week.

So after the Sesame Street YouTube video ended (crazy how things change and stay the same) I was assigned to help a girl with her workbook activities. I was impressed. She was a smart little cookie. I felt obsolete. She flew through the activities, and I helped with minor corrections here and there. Overall she was doing great and it made me really happy.

I also realized I was becoming better at keeping the students on task. I was quite the push over the previous week, and wondered how these other volunteers that looked around my age could keep so many children in line, trained teacher voice and all. Education majors, it must be in the water. I tried to watch, and duplicate. (I gave up on the singing of books as a form of reading though, I just can't bring myself to do it, sorry kiddies). Overall this day when really great, even though I was sad most of the kids I had helped from the previous week were gone.

Craig TP 5

The start of an idiom movement!

With the next tutoring session, we still had a very basic game plan of what to do. As previous lesson places had been successful, we decided to meet up at Starbucks where brilliance is made. At the very beginning when we were just settling in and making basic conversation I didn’t realize it but he asked me on something I had said that perhaps to a non-English speaker might not make any sense. I made mention to the phrase “right off the bat” in regard to a story that I was telling. In calling me out on this and asking for an explanation I began to realize the direction our lesson would go. I began to write out multiple phrases that are culturally relevant or said in everyday life here in the US. From time to time it was very difficult to figure out proper explanations and ways to use the phrases in correct English. As I began to realize, slang and idioms go hand in hand. We also went through a lot of slang terms and obscure words that perhaps are not typically on the radar for the non-English as a native language speaker might come across. Overall, it was a very fun lesson and one that I thoroughly enjoyed because it was not super serious, it had a very relaxed tone and was more culture sharing than English teaching.

Craig TP 4

In this meeting, we decided to bring it back to our original meeting and go over reading, speaking and pronunciations. By reviewing a book that he already had we continued to read and stay one pace. Once again, the TH use in speaking was a very difficult concept to grasp and redirect. I think it is really going to take a dedication to practice to evolve this habit into a native tongue. This go around we had a lot more of a conversation concerning where words came from and the native language of which they are based. It was really interesting because we discussed some of the Turkish language as well and it made for a learning lesson for both of us and not simply just a student teacher setting.

Craig TP 3

Our next tutoring was as up in the air as possible. We decided to “coffee shop” it up and it turned out to be a great location to study, review and check out really cute girls. The later of course was not exactly academic but we had to review anyways because we have a fine appreciation for all areas of study.

This go around we came to the agreement that a review of his homework would be best suited for that lesson… Between examining our surroundings of course. The overall flow of his homework was very basic and he had pretty much written out the sentences already and wanted me to review them. After remembering a piece of a lesson that we reviewed in CIES I decided to use the “question” technique. When he would ask me a question about a gap in the sentence, I would respond, “I don’t know, is it?” The response was very positive and I would say that a good ¾ of the time questioned, my partner was spot on with the correction that he suggested.

Honestly, I felt that my job was already done for me this round. We were very productive and in going over homework he had already completed and just doing touch ups was a great way to feel productive and an even better way to review.