First class! I was not as nervous going into the lesson as I thought I would be. I was more excited to meet all the students than anything. I think the amount of preparation and practice Sydney and I did really helped with that. Typically when I feel prepared for a presentation I have minimal nerves.
This lesson we wanted to focus on introducing ourselves to the students, as well as practicing the past tense verbs they learned last class with Brian. We ideally wanted each student to turn on their cameras as they said hello in the beginning, but understandably some did not feel comfortable with that. I know if I was waking up in the middle of the night I wouldn’t want to have to be presentable on camera. We included a warmup activity about thanksgiving because it is coming up on Monday, but I think we should have found a way to make the questions more directly related to the verb tenses. 3 truths and one lie was a fun way for us to introduce ourselves and a few of the students were really keen to participate.
I think we will really have to figure out how to manage W as he seems to occasionally post inappropriate things in the chat. I was a bit alarming to come on camera and immediately have him comment that I was wearing too much makeup and that if I was alone I needed to find a husband. Nice to have Karen there to message him for us so we could focus on the lesson for the rest of the class.
Our main activity of writing sentences for each verb tense did not go as smoothly as It could have. I think we will need to be more clear about the directions if we use it again in a future lesson. I think Sydney and I worked really well together, but I need to be sure to moderate how much I talk as sometimes I felt like I was overpowering her. I need to give her space and a bit more trust that she can do things adequately as well. (note to self: stop being too type A)
