Lori CO-1

My first class observation was this week and it went really great! I'm not going to lie, I wasn't sure what to expect and was a bit nervous going into the situation, but within only a few minutes in the class my worries went away and my curiosity on how well I would be able to help the students replaced all feelings of nervousness. I wasn't sure of what the teacher's approach to my observation would be, but she quickly let the whole class know that if they had any questions at all, to come ask them to me -- instant deer in headlights! I was observing a intermediate grammar class, knowing all too well grammar is not my forte in English (or Spanish). However, when the formal class time broke into small group activity time and the students began to instantly ask me questions, I realized that I could answer most of them to both their happiness as well as my own.
I learned that the students had been studying English for a widely varying number of years. Many for over a decade while a few for just a few months, yet they were all on the same proficiency level. This reaffirmed the differences of intensity and efficiency of many language programs around the world. This opportunity also helped me to reanalyze many parts of English that I have not thought deeply on in a good number of years. By having to explain why something is worded this way or that, I had to rethink the mechanics of English, which I realized sometimes even perplexed me. Overall it was a great experience! I only had one instance where I wasn't able to give an adequate reason behind an English grammar rule, which has motivated me to relearned the rules. The gentle and friendly flow of the class really left an impression of openness and the potential of true progress in my mind.

Kasper - TP 1

My first meeting with my tutee, Hikaru Murakami, was quick. She is from Nagoya, Japan and has been here for about a month and half. After exchanging information we talked about what sports we play. She is a big fan of soccer and is trying out for a team, which is why she had to leave early. She is trying to get faster and was going to the gym. She is not a big fan of running just for the sake of running. I dont know what level she is but she has studied english in Japan and could understand much of what I was saying. I am nervous and excited about starting our tutoring sessions. My main concern is my lack of knowledge of the grammar terms but we can learn together!

Kasper - CP 2

On Tuesday afternoon, I met up with Fahd and Alaa for lunch at the circle K across from CIES. It was difficult for both of us to find something to eat there. The selection of food is quite small, Fahd settled on a tuna sandwich, snickers and a coke. I settled for a smoothie and trail mix. We went outside to sit with the other students and started eating our "lunch". I asked how the tuna sandwich tasted and Fahd replied "First and last!". I told him that most of the sandwiches were most likely old and of low quality. I asked him about saudi fast food places and the usual suspects (McD's, BurgerKing, Subway) are all there. But burgers taste much better in Saudi Arabia he didnt know why but they do. Perhaps they use different spices and toppings. I told him is the same thing in Nicaragua, they also bring your food to you and its more of a sit down place. Not many people can afford to eat there either. Also, we compared places like Chili's and Fridays, are restaurants reserved for special occasions.
Both Fahd and Alaa are anxious to travel to Miami and go to the beach. I told them its great place to go but can get expensive. Also, the media paints a different picture of what Miami is and isn't. They are trying to go before "Ramadan" that starts on August 1st and last through the month. I asked what is the meaning of "Ramadan" and they couldnt give me a straight definition. They explained they eat before sunrise and after sunset and they pray more. I asked if it was difficult but according to Alaa, your body gets used to it. For them its a away to be humble for a month and for that period all Saudi's are the same. Its something foreign to me since I'm not religious at all.
Both of them said that most people think Saudi Arabia is just dessert, oil fields and people walking around in white robes. They told me that their home city is big and looks like a city you can find in the US. The people dont all dress with the traditional white robes. They also commented is the same for the US,movies and tv focus on the big cities and many saudi's think all US cities are like NY. I like comparing the different cultures we have in our group and seeing how people think of the US and Saudi Arabia is seen from the outside.
I'm looking forward to dinner later tonight, should be good time.

Kasper - CO 1

This past Tuesday, I observed Karin's grammar class. The lesson of the day was present perfect. At first there were only 4 students in the class and slowly other students kept coming in late. Karin began the lesson with a quick check of the homework, a crossword puzzle. After she introduced the lesson of the day, gave the students some examples sentences on a handout and the class read them together. Next she showed a clip of the movie "Dirty Dancing" and asked students to pay attention to the lyrics of the music that included the topic of the lesson "have had" and to write it down. Afterwards, she paired the students for a "get to know you" activity. The students were supposed to ask each other 5 personal questions and use the "Have had" or "Have been". She gave them some examples on the board and on a handout then set them to work. Most of the students seem to respond to the activity and were able to ask each other questions but some pairs were very quiet. This went on for about 10 minutes, afterwards each pair came up to the front of the class and shared their questions by "performing" the interview. After each pair presented, Karin addressed the mistakes and praised them. She gave the class a quick homework assignment and sent them on their way.
Throughout the lesson Karin kept a great attitude and was always smiling. She gave many examples, wrote them on the board and reinforced when students did something good. The use of the movie as a teaching tool and cultural piece was a great idea. Also, she was not afraid to tell the students when she was wrong which is important for students to know. When the students were working in pairs, she paired with a student that was by himself but she was always aware of the time and continued to walk around the class. She did a great job of keeping the class moving when the late students showed up. I like that she knew all their names and in the beginning of the class welcomed them and thanked them for being in class at the end.

Jules CP-3

After juggling around our schedules, Stéphane and I were able to have our first conversation meeting last night around 10 p.m. We had originally planned on grabbing dinner after TEFL class, but he forgot that he had plans and instead suggested we go to Café Shisha for hookah. I don't usually smoke but it seemed like a nice late-night meeting spot, and apparently it's a favorite among the CIES students. It turned out that the venue provided a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere that lent itself well to open discussion of several topics.

Conversation was a little bit awkward at first, however, with me asking a bunch of the normal "small-talk" questions and him providing succinct responses. He confessed that he is pretty shy, but after the hot tea and hookah arrived he seemed to loosen up a bit. It was also helpful for us to transition back and forth between English and French-- as rusty as my language skills are, he really appreciated that I was putting forth the effort to make him comfortable.

Stéphane is a native of Côte d'Ivoire and has been in the States since December. I found out later in the conversation that he left the country right after the incumbent president was voted out but refused to leave his post, inciting violence against those who were loyal to the legitimately elected leader. On his first attempt to leave the country the airport was shut down, so he is very lucky to have made it over here. Apparently everything has calmed down since he left, but he is not sure whether he wants to return home immediately after passing the TOEFL exam.

We had a fun time looking through his photos of his last days back home, and he mentioned that some Americans found it surprising to see what a nice house he had-- "We don't all live in huts, you know?". He is interested in integrating himself more into American culture, and so I think I'll invite him to the next kickball game my group of friends has organized. We'll try to get him over his shyness. Actually, by the end of the night Stéphane had already made a new friend-- Abraham, the owner of Café Shisha. Apparently Abraham had overheard us talking in French and explained that he is from Morocco (another Francophone country). We ended up talking with him for several minutes. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable first meeting, and I look forward to exposing Stéphane to real-life American culture.

Jackie TP3

Jia and I went ahead and met tonight, as we would normally meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays after TEFL, and she needed some homework help. I have to say that this double session, as it was close to three hours long, was one of the most exciting things I have done that involve TEFL, or teaching, or helping another person in general! Jia absorbed so much of what I was teaching her, received much help with what she needed to accomplish, mostly on her own with my assistance, and learned advanced skills she could incorporate into her English vocabulary and knowledge. We focused mainly on writing this session—with many side talks about grammar and such. We started with her homework help—which was writing an introduction and a conclusion for an essay, and talking about Solar Energy/Electricity in English. We went through her introduction, and first I pointed out where some errors were, then I just said a sentence was not correct, which she would then fix, then I would let her read aloud and see if she could simply find it and tell her yes or no.

Then, as she requested help with prepositions, I went ahead and did the lesson I wrote on my grammar log! It was exciting, because I explained what prepositions were in a simpler way for her to understand, and then gave her a large example. It was a paragraph with highlighted prepositions that she then would circle if she didn’t know what they meant. I explained them, with some issues of “on and upon” (ah!). Then, my lesson plan was to do a scavenger hunt with objects in the room, but since we were at All Saints, I asked her questions about objects around us. I told her to tell me as many ways as possible about where a pen was. It was between two cups, it was on a table, it was next to me, it was beside me, and more. So, she eventually used many, many prepositions in the process of describing our surroundings.

I found out she needs a lot of help with “at” versus “in,” which I recall having trouble with when learning Italian as well. I knew the in+city/country tule, but many of the other sentences, for me, simply seemed awkward, but I promised her that I would find examples and a lesson for her to determine which one to use.

We then did my speedwriting lesson plan! It was so exciting, because I did as I did when giving it to the class, but made it for a higher level of student, as she is. So, I made her do lists of food words she knew for one minute, then drinks she knew for one minute, then gave her five minutes to write sentences with the food and drink words that use prepositions, as she needed help with them earlier. It really helped her use vocabulary and something we had just covered, and expanded her mind on how to use prepositions. I then found out she needed help with articles, so we reviewed what articles were, explained special circumstances, and did some examples and practice of articles. Then, we took a much needed coffee break!

Jackie TP2

Upon seeing the list of “tutees” I was freaking out a little bit—three new foreign students on my hands! It would have been possible, but I hoped to be placed with some of the CIES students I had met recently, who I knew had availability. And, luckily, I was! I met Jia Moon upon meeting Jia Yong, my conversation partner. So, now I have a tutee named Jia, a conversation partner named Jia, and a tutee at the Leon County Library named SuJIA! We talked about how Jia must be the Korean equivalent of a popular English name like, Sarah. But, as we met at the tutoring gathering, Jia and I got very excited about tutoring—which definitely fed into our next session! We decided on times, which worked out absolutely perfect, as I can meet her after the TEFL course, as she lives extremely close to my house, so I could pick her up. We decided on meeting twice a week—which may be reduced if we continue to tutor for long periods of time. Or, I will continue to help her with her homework and other issues she brought up.

Mainly, Jia said she had problems in wide-ranging areas, but I think they are confined to smaller sections. Her level is mixed—she is a Level 2 in Reading/Grammar/Composition, and a Level 3 in Speaking and Listening. But, upon tutoring with her, I’m not sure I agree with that; she was correcting essays of a designated Level 3, and knew not only the grammatical issues, but the “awkward sentences.” However, she wanted help mainly with pronunciation, writing, reading, and prepositions of time and place. She had issues with the questions on her tests, so we reviewed what kinds of questions would be a on reading test, and what those meant in the first place. Jia also played piano for all of her life, so I may incorporate some piano-based songs into her tutoring!