Jessica CO2

My second observation took place in Jerry's Grammar class. He's a bit more reserved than the other teacher's I've encountered through CIES but he had a great relationship with his class and the overall atmosphere was positive and relaxed. Student's obviously felt comfortable asking questions or talking in front of the class. After a quick role call he wrote the word 'Appositives' on the board. I personally had a sinking feeling in my stomach realizing that I had no clue what the word appositives referred to, off to a winning start, haha. (Appositives I learned are phrases that don't have verbs and are used to elaborate upon or rename nouns that they lie next to in sentances. Example. My brother, a motivated golfer but a rather lazy college student, won the championship after failing a history exam.) To keep interest in the class high Jerry, a creative teacher, used a news article about a U.S. business man and billionaire who sponsored a small soccer team in the U.K. to teach about appositives. He gave the 2 and a half page article to the students and asked them work in groups and to skim it for appositive phrases. It was a very helpful class for the students, and the me, the observer. He also made sure that each student had a clear understanding of the topic and took the time to re-explain to the few who had lingering questions. He also showed examples that were incorrect and explained why they wouldn't work. Another positive thing he did was to encorporate the student's strengths, culture and language into the discussion when possible. For instance the French name 'Jean' came up and he asked the student from Africa to pronounce it for him. Making references to students' native culture I'm sure makes them more relaxed and gives them a chance to show off their own customs/ language.