This hour was the second half of the class from Reflection #2. Again, it was a Level 4 Advanced Oral Communication class with 11 students from mixed backgrounds. This half of the class focussed on vocabulary used in political discussions and news articles as well as engaging in debates.
The instructor was constantly adapting his role as learning facilitator in this half of the class. In the vocabulary exercises, it seemed the instructor had planned for the students figure out the answers themselves and share when asked, and he would be providing support, feedback, and clarification. However, the students struggled with the vocabulary, so the instructor switched to more of an instructor role. He had the students guess at the answers, but he mostly had to teach the students all the vocabulary words. He acknowledged that he knew the words would be hard, and I thought that was important for him to say as a motivator to prevent the class from becoming discouraged or giving up on trying. After the vocabulary exercise, the students engaged in small group discussions which were to be shared with the class, but again they were reluctant to participate. Like in the first half, the instructor stepped in to prompt discussion and it seemed helpful to the students to have him modelling what a discussion should sound like.
The instructor assessed the students’ knowledge of vocabulary by asking them to provide answers for the two vocabulary exercises. He gave them a few minutes to look at the exercise so they had time to think and prepare and they would not be put on the spot. I think he planned to ask students one by one to provide answers and get an idea of each student’s ability, but everyone was struggling to provide the correct answers so he had to step in to guide them. He assessed the student’s oral discussion abilities by having them present a discussion to the class that they had prepared in small groups. He was able to assess each student’s speaking ability and their ability to choose appropriate language to communicate an opinion.
I think the online format of the class continued to get in the way of learning in this half of the class. It seemed that the students were hiding behind the technology a little bit and holding back when it was time to participate. The vocabulary exercises were less of a problem as they did not involve discussion with other students, but in the small group discussions there was very little discussion going on. I thought maybe the minimal participation was due to lack of familiarity with the skills being practiced, but I still think they hindered their own learning by not making more effort to participate. I think the instructor did everything he could to encourage participation, but at a certain point it is just up to the students.
One part of the lesson I liked and found interesting was the vocabulary exercise on language used in newspaper headlines. It never occurred to me that there is language specific to newspaper headlines, but when the instructor pointed it out, it was obvious. It was eye-opening to see how, even though the language in headlines looks simple, the students did not understand it in the way it was used. As I start teaching and making lesson plans I will have to consider what other places we use unique language like this.
Something I appreciated about the instructor’s teaching in this class was his ability to adapt. Whenever students were not participating in the ways he had planned, he was always able to modify his method of teaching to keep the class moving forward. When students were struggling with the vocabulary, he started explaining the vocabulary instead of having the students provide answers on their own. When they struggled to have in-depth discussions on their own, he stepped into the conversation to help. It seemed he ended up being more actively involved in the class than he had planned, but he did what he saw was necessary to help the students achieve the learning outcomes. That quick-thinking adaptability is a skill I hope to acquire as I become a teacher.