Erik CO1

I visited Vicky Ledbetter, who was the young teacher from the video we watched in class, for my first classroom observation. The class was Composition for Level 1, so I was interested to see exactly how a beginner’s writing class progressed. Right off, Vicky entered the class with energy, welcoming her students to the room. Picking up a large paper bag, Vicky initiated class by asking the students to take out their journals. She asked “Why do we write in our journals?” A student replied, “To practice writing in English.” Satisfied with the reply, she moved on: “We’re going to bring material from grammar class into the journal, focusing on adjectives.” She spoke slowly, and articulately, making sure each student was following her directions.

She then passed the large paper bag around and the students pulled out a smaller bag, which contained a random object. Marbles, a piece of bread, bird food, a branch, and pasta were among some of the items the students were to describe in detail. She emphasized to keep the five Ws in mind when writing. Throughout the exercise, she was available for students’ questions, feeding ideas to them, and encouraging students to move in a particular direction. Throughout the entire class, Vicky was very animated, acting out certain actions or characteristics associated with a word, which worked very well for a beginning class still struggling with the productive skills of English.

The class began writing their first essay last week. They had already written their introduction, which Vicky handed back with feedback. Today’s class focused on the development of the second paragraph, or the body. She drew a graphic organizer for the set-up of an essay, and filled it in with the students. Most of the males spoke communicatively throughout the class exercise, so Vicky made sure to call on some of the quieter females here and there, which was a good tactic to make sure that all of the voices contributed to the lesson, and so she could confirm that everyone was keeping up.

Overall, Vicky quenched my curiosity for how a beginning level class would play out. Vicky certainly was a ball of energy, which facilitated the student’s grasp of English. She was animated, interactive, and interested in each of her students’ needs. And with that, patience was her side-kick.