John CO #4

Date/Time: June 22nd, 2:00pm-2:50pm

Topic/Skill: Listening (Notes and Lecture questions) with Ryan Flemming in class 4A.

Teacher Presentation: The teacher gave a presentation on the FSU Museum of Fine Arts (MOFA) and the field trip they will be undertaking tomorrow. The teacher went over the rubric for an assignment the students had completed the night before, going in-depth about what he was looking for and the flexibility of his expectations. 

Classroom Management: The teacher had the Class actively look at the notes they previously took and the feedback he already provided while standing at the front of the class going over his own notes he took alongside the students. The students were very involved with the instructor because he even went as far as to sit next to all of the students while giving instructions to create a friendly and open atmosphere just like Dr. Rios did in an earlier class I observed. I seem to notice a trend with all the classes I am observing that an open and friendly environment fosters communication and connection between students and the target language. I directly saw how not only the instructor, but the environment as a whole was open and welcoming to an extreme, I was able to see how cultural connection brought them closer together as they underwent their learning together. The instructors and their class management definitely had a great impact on this but I also wanted to note the students themselves being very open and even willing to stop and chat in between classes with me and answer the many questions I had. 

Materials: Projector, lined paper, pens/pencils, computer. 

Student Participation: The teacher asked the students basic questions about the museum and what they are hoping to see when they get there at the beginning of class. The instructor constantly asked the students to correct potential errors they may have when writing notes and what they can do to improve their note-taking even if it is correct. The students, after receiving both personal online feedback and in-class feedback, are tasked with further watching the lecture and taking better notes in the future so they can build on the skill as a whole. Students were given the opportunity to over their notes with their peers to reflect and improve their note-taking strategies. Student participation as a whole, even outside of this one class seems to reflect the idea that student interaction fosters better learning than students only dealing with the course materials alone. 

Feedback Provided: The instructor did a great job of providing feedback on the notes they previously submitted to Canvas with individual comments online based off of an established rubric. The instructor did a great job in communicating what common errors students made and common errors he could foresee any student at their level making in note taking. The constant use of examples in the class shows students a very good model in which they can take their own notes in the future. 

Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: The way ESL teachers provide detailed feedback on students' ability to use English to take notes using a rubric. Rubrics are great ways to ensure that students know course expectations and create fair grading scales that the student can use to improve with in-class analysis. The fact the teacher allows the students to take notes that they can use on a quiz they have next week gives an extrinsic motivation to make the notes so that they can get a good grade in the open note quiz. Although, when speaking to another teacher about the subject he said that the people in this class are at the highest level that CIES teaches at, and regardless of what they take away from the classes they are finished after this term so it is only in their best interest to learn the things being taught for the intrinsic motivation of knowing English rather than the desire for a good grade in the classes.