Intermediate Adult TEFL Class Video

 

Time Objective Observations Subjective Observations
0:00-1:23 Instructor enters the room and asks if anyone has taken the medicine before. He explains he has a cold and asks if anyone has any advice for him. Students give various suggestions. This is a good way to bring real world situations into the classroom to demonstrate a grammar point. Functional objective is very clear.
1:23-2:40 Instructor shows a broken laptop and asks what students think is wrong with it/what happened. “What do you think Simon said to me?” Nice to have the real object to help introduce the scenario.
2:40-5:59 Listen to a recording of dialogue and listen for how many pieces of advice Simon and Jenny give me, and what do I think. Students are asked to discuss the answers with the person next to them. I found it neat that he was able to make a recording to use in class, but also that he found other people to help him. Helps to keep the theme strong throughout the lesson, rather than finding a generic dialogue online.
4:59-10:39 Students will listen to the conversation again. Half the class will write down how the advice was given. The other half will write down how he responds to the suggestions. Do not have to write down every word. Afterwards, they were asked to compare their answers with the person sitting next to them. Then asked to share with a person from the other group. Students must stand up and mingle. They then share answers with the whole class. Good to get students up and moving around, especially since the classroom is fairly cramped.
9:58-10:16 Students are asked to clap along with the spoken sentences.  
10:39-11:06 Students are asked to identify what the advice in the dialogue pertains to. Then asked “what are some other things you could get advice on?” T writes answers on the board. Gets them thinking about other scenarios that this same vocabulary could be used for. Shifts the focus from the illness to the giving advice aspect of the lesson.
11:06-15:17 Students are asked to stand up and place themselves in the room depending on what advice they would like. They are asked to speak in those groups about what advice they could ask for or give in each scenario. After discussion, students are asked to share with the person next to them how many of the previous examples they used and why. I like that he gets them up and moving often during the lesson. I also appreciate that he listens to their conversations and writes down examples to use to explain concepts and correct mistakes.
13:33-15:17 Instructor wrote examples on the board of things he heard them saying. He then goes through each one and explains when and how you would use them etc. One student used “comfortable zone” and he asked him to share what it means with the class. Corrects it gently to “comfort zone.”  
15:17-17:46 Students are asked to write down 2 or 3 areas of their English they would like advice on. They are then asked to stand up and speak to 4 people and get advice on those areas. Afterwards, the instructor asks students to correct some of the questions on the board. “How I can improve my vocabulary.”  
17:46-19:29 Students asked to do the same activity using some suggested phrases and speak to different people. Next, they are asked to identify and correct sentences on the board that were said by the class during the discussion with the person next to them. Now that they have the concept down they are able to refine their word choice to express the desired tone of the advice using other phrases.
19:29-19:55 Instructor points out things that were said at the beginning of the class and thing that were said at the end. Asks for additional advice now that they have better tools to give it with. Nice way to wrap up the class, show progress and accomplishment, and tie everything back to the start.

Reflection: This classroom is very small and narrow, so it is ideal that he has it set up in a circular arrangement. If the desks were in rows it would be more difficult for students to interact with each other and move around the room. It definitely feels like more of a collaborative environment set up this way. This instructor seems to have a good rapport with the students and many of them share answers openly. He corrects them gently which would reduce embarrassment and encourage them to keep attempting new things. Compared to some of the other videos I have watched of the children’s classes in Asia, this one is a lot more communicative and less rushed feeling. It feels more like one of the classes I have been in. I liked the flow of the lesson and how it stuck to a strong theme, while still allowing the students to use the language in other contexts. It was nice to see how freely most of the students seemed to interact with each other.