Shelley Zansler

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  • in reply to: ETC – 2020 #12179
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: ETC
    Lesson Title: Fashion show / You’re the tour guide
    Date of Class: Mar 13, 2020
    Time of Class: 8:15 AM
    MC: AmandaAdventurousTraveler
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Kindai Senshu Program
    How Many Learners: 7
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 7
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 7
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 8
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 8

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today went really well. Logistically speaking, everything went as expected, which definitely helped in not feeling rushed or pressured.

    We started the class by doing a fast reverse yell and spell, since everyone knew each other’s names by now. Everyone did one typical yell and spell followed by a fast spelling of their name, which the whole group would fast-spell back. It went really well.

    Then we stood up and went through some clothing vocabulary. (e.g. “Point to ‘jeans.’ Point to ‘sweater.'”) That warmup activity felt just right in that it struck a balance between light movement, a little brain engagement, and interaction between learners. And it was an excellent prep for the fashion show activity!

    Amanda and I modeled the fashion show activity. I read the description Amanda wrote about her outfit as she modeled, and vice versa. The learners wrote their scripts with a little guidance. Then they practiced in pairs (with one group of three). The group of three really hammed it up, so they were great starters when it came time for the official fashion show. Some of the more reticent learners definitely got more comfortable after watching their classmates sell it. So fun.

    After a short break, we got everyone moving with the hero moves we had planned on using with the hero activity that ultimately got the axe. Then we did a role switch and had the learners take turns leading us as tour guides through the school. It was raining outside, but that school is huge, so there was plenty to look at. Some were more into it than others, but what can you do? Everyone participated and did a good job. We even got to watch a bit of a PE class and walk through the gym while students were having an open PE day.

    We finished up by running through the song, which definitely had some improvement, and asking everyone what their favorite ESL activity was. Singing the song, going to Fred Meyer, and trying candy were the top contenders. :)

    The only bummer about today was hearing that the sayonara party may be cancelled. This made saying goodbye to everyone a little weird. It was a very uncertain goodbye. I hope we work something out, though!

    in reply to: ETC – 2020 #12175
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: ETC
    Lesson Title: Describing American candy
    Date of Class: Mar 12, 2020
    Time of Class: 8:30 AM
    MC: AmandaAdventurousTraveler
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Kindai Senshu Program
    How Many Learners: 7
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 8
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 7
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 8
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Overall, today felt pretty good. We had to deal with more classroom shuffling and, as a result, lesson plan adjustments, which was frustrating, but Amanda did a great job figuring out how to make the weirdness work. There was also maybe a miscommunication about today’s start time, so we didn’t have much opportunity to discuss the day’s plan before starting class.

    Today Amanda challenged herself to have one main activity take up most of the class, and it went really well. It was a nice change of pace, and allowing for some “breathing time” throughout the activity seemed to let students to connect with one another more. Great! The activity was tasting American candy. We thought this would be super fun and exciting, and it was at first… But (rather humorously) the learners got tired of eating candy partway through. One even said he could really go for some natto instead. Ha! Very different from American students.

    Amanda created a cool chart for the learners to fill out as they ate the candy. We started with dictation of some candy descriptors (sweet, red, creamy, etc.) and contents (chocolate, peanut butter, etc.), and the learners used those to fill out their sheet. Then they would rank their favorite candies in order each time they tried a new one. They understood the sheet right away, which made it move smoothly. Then we did a round robin so students could say their favorite and least favorite candies and why they did or didn’t like them.

    At the beginning of class, we learned that we would not be able to use our classroom (the choir room again) for the whole day, so we had to join the first-year Japanese class. Amanda prepped the American students for the Taylor Swift song (“yes, we know Taylor Swift isn’t everyone’s thing, but help us out and you’ll get candy”) which was smart. They more or less did what we wanted them to do. Then we helped facilitate some discussion about candy based on the round robin. All the learners did it in English and Japanese, so everyone could participate. Then it transitioned into a sort of guided Q&A, which…I don’t know. I wish that I knew Japanese so I could have helped more. Some of the American students were better at including our learners than others. It was okay. I felt that our time could have been better spent if we hadn’t had to mix in with the Japanese class, but Amanda did note that it was good for the English learners to have to be understood by Americans other than us. Mostly it was just a bummer to not know about all of these unexpected circumstances in advance.

    That said, it really did feel like a pretty good day overall. One of our learners exchanged instagram info with one of the American students, which was sweet to see. Another bonded with his tablemates over Pokemon. One defended the Taylor Swift song when his American tablemates asked if he liked it and said that they did not. Like, stuff was happening. Today had some major pacing changes, both with our activity and the mixed class thing, and that seemed to be a generally positive thing.

    But hopefully everything goes as planned tomorrow. We’ve got some fun activities in mind, so a predictable location and schedule would be awesome. :)

    in reply to: ETC – 2020 #12164
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: ETC
    Lesson Title: Let’s go to Fred Meyer!
    Date of Class: Mar 11, 2020
    Time of Class: 8:15 AM
    MC: AmandaAdventurousTraveler
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Kindai Senshu Program
    How Many Learners: 7
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Everyone was pretty tired today, so things were a little low energy. We also had to switch up the lesson plan again, but we rolled with it as best we could. It was a generally okay day, with nothing super great and nothing super terrible.

    We started off by asking everyone how they were feeling. Everyone said sleepy. Then we did an action movement activity to get everyone moving a bit, which went pretty well. We were originally going to have the learners work on thank you cards on Friday, but we found that they were going to be working on them today after English class, so Amanda pulled together some card prompts while I worked with the learners on choral response for the “Me!” song.

    Learners took a little bit to catch on to the card prompts–we had to directly ask each learner things like, “What did you enjoy doing with your host family?” for them to produce answers. One learner wrote the prompts but left spaces blank because, as he explained (with translation assistance from the ETC coordinator), they’re only halfway through their stay, so they can’t yet know if a food or activity is their favorite. That was funny, and it was nice to see that at least one student was interested in writing a meaningful card.

    Then we did some grocery list choral response and walked to Fred Meyer. We split into teams to find the prices of the items on the grocery list. I was with Team Star, and Amanda was Team Green Miso Soup–emphasis on *green* miso. The activity started out pretty strong. Once my team got the hang of finding if prices were “EA” or “LB” things picked up a bit. It seemed like most of the learners fizzled out toward the end, so the activity may have benefited from being a bit shorter. It was funny to find, in discussing afterward, that my team and Amanda’s team had very different approaches to the activity. Team GMS went to an item and just picked whatever price they saw first, whereas Team Star did a lot of hemming and hawing about which yogurts or cucumbers to write down, even if there was an easier answer. For instance, we needed to know how much two cucumbers would cost. There was one type of cucumber priced in pairs (2 for $3), but there was *another* type of cucumber that was priced individually. These situations slowed Team Star a lot but lent a lot of opportunities to discuss “cheap” and “expensive”. It was similar for things on sale and prices with coupons. Of course, they opted to write the price for a frozen pizza that was on sale, a two-fer deal, AND had a coupon price. Boy! Haha. It was fun to watch them catch on, though.

    Everyone played rock, paper, scissors to pick a bakery treat we’d all eat. Somehow we ended up with nearly-frozen doughnuts. We finished class by pairing up to ask each other “How much are _____?” “______ are $X.XX” and then listened to Taylor Swift while eating freshly microwaved doughnuts. Everyone was pretty wiped out, but some were moving along with the music and singing a bit, even without their lyrics. That was a nice thing to see at the end of a low-energy day.

    in reply to: ETC – 2020 #12163
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: ETC
    Lesson Title: What would you like to buy?
    Date of Class: Mar 10, 2020
    Time of Class: 8:15 AM
    MC: AmandaAdventurousTraveler
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Kindai Senshu Program
    How Many Learners: 7
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 8
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): TL;DR: Today was pretty dynamic and had a variety of activities, including money practice, buying stuff, singing, and walking around.

    We were in the choir room today, which was weird because there were no tables or chairs to work with, just stairs/risers. It ended up being okay because we did a lot of non-seated activities, but we did some planning to figure out how we can use the room accommodate future activities, which will be more writing heavy (or can at least benefit from a table top). The projector was also broken, so we had to shuffle around the lesson plan a bit so we could start working on the song activity while the Japanese classroom had an open period.

    Anyway. A lot of today focused on money and buying things. After a fun fruit basket activity (where we learned that one student doesn’t like anything but meat and milk–ha!), we did some money dictation and a “this is a ___” activity. We followed this up with a money grab activity, which went really well. One pair of students seemed to need to take it a little slower than the others, but they still pulled it off.

    After money grab, we went to the other classroom to work on the Taylor Swift song. That went okay. The learners seemed pret-ty reticent to sing along, which was expected. A couple learners were more vocal than the rest, so hopefully they can encourage everyone to relax a bit as we keep going. (I also noticed their teacher singing along!) Keeping in mind their skill level and our limited time frame, we gave them the lyrics rather than having them write them down, which has its benefits and drawbacks. Amanda and I discussed that writing the lyrics down would probably help the learners get familiar with the words and lend opportunities for us to provide context while they write, but given their skill level, it seems like we wouldn’t get very far and it would be pretty exhausting. Luckily, on our way back to the choir room, a couple learners were looking at the lyrics together and singing along, so that’s cool. We also suspect that not having the other teachers around will help make singing a little more comfortable.

    Next we did a shopping activity. Amanda brought in Portland postcards and teeny tiny animal figurines that learners could “purchase.” We started with a store transaction dialogue dictation, and then I played the part of postcard vendor. (Amanda played the part of a motion-sensor door.) The learners took turns picking out postcards and paying for them, following the dialogue. The prices changed, of course. Then we did a “this is a ____” activity for the little animals. Then Amanda played the animal vendor and I was the door. :) This activity was super cool because each learner got a postcard and an animal to keep. And I got to keep the eel that nobody wanted. Everyone wins today.

    The next activity was really great because Amanda locked onto a formula that allowed learners to produce their own answers, which has been a challenge for us up to this point. We walked around outside, accompanied by the principal(?). It started more or less as a yelling tour guide activity, but at one point early on, Amanda stopped and had everyone listen to their surroundings for a little bit. She asked “What do you hear?” and was able to communicate what she wanted them to do by gesturing toward her ear and providing an example. The learners caught on right away, and that engagement helped guide the rest of the walk. The principal even participated (“I see many students!”) which was cool. He seemed to think this walking activity was great. It was exciting that the learners were able to take in their surroundings and produce their own sentences based on their observations. When we got back to class, we just went around and reviewed what they saw yesterday in Portland and what we saw today on the walk. (Spoiler: a lot of stairs.)

    Despite the weird room and having to shuffle around the activities, today went really well. The lows were generally expected, and there were some unexpected highlights, too. Amanda’s preparation was excellent. The change bags, postcards, and animals really made the activities engaging. It also feels like a “yay” that the principal and the teacher seem to like our activities.

    That’s the end! You made it. I don’t know why I feel like I need to detail the entire day in these write ups. I’m adding a TL;DR to this one.

    in reply to: King Elementary – Winter 2020 #12160
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: King Elementary
    Lesson Title: Let’s ask each other questions!
    Date of Class: Mar 09, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: PatrikKilpatrickEvolutionary
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner: Sabrina
    Module: “Census 2020” (off-curriculum today)
    How Many Learners: 2
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Gooood

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 5
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 8
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 8
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 8
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 8

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today’s class was really cool. We did not talk about the census, it’s true… But! Today’s activity really upped learner engagement and connection.

    While there was no specific lesson plan in mind at the start, Patrik worked up an open-ended yet structured activity on the fly that challenged learners (and facilitators) to produce short, authentic stories about themselves. This activity allowed both learners to engage with the lesson and challenge themselves despite having different strengths (listening vs writing vs speaking).

    Initially we only had one (high-level) learner, and at that point, Patrik had hoped to focus the day on challenging them to work on the nitty gritty aspects of English production. The class started out as an authentic conversation between the MC, learner and DJ, and that conversational theme carried throughout the class even after the other learner arrived.

    There were some surprising moments where one learner really locked into the stories they were telling and produced some strong narratives. It was really cool to watch, and it was a level of engagement I hadn’t yet seen from this learner. The two learners also connected with each other more than usual. A lot of their connecting conversation was not in English, but the energy level was high and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was a super fun class with a lot to take in.

    in reply to: ETC – 2020 #12159
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: ETC
    Lesson Title: Stuff you see in Portland
    Date of Class: Mar 09, 2020
    Time of Class: 8:15 AM
    MC: AmandaAdventurousTraveler
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Kindai Senshu Program
    How Many Learners: 7
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 8
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 5
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 8

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today was our first day meeting the homestay learners from Kindai Senshu High School. We started with alphabet sheets and yell-and-spell, which went smoothly. There was some expected reticence or shyness about “ready,” but they caught on quickly and got bolder with that sort of stuff as the day went on.

    After those initial activities, we moved into a map exercise. We determined that this activity was too difficult and abstract, so we essentially did a 180 and moved into Simon Says. Having everyone stand up and do some moving around seemed to loosen everyone up–learners and facilitators alike–and the learners got to go around and act as Simon, too.

    We did a name game round robin where students introduced themselves and said two things about themselves. This went really smoothly, and learners were able to tell each each other about things things about many of their classmates (not just the person they interacted with directly).

    Since we knew they’d be exploring Portland after class, we did some dictation related to things you see in Portland. Amanda prepared visuals, which really helped provide context.

    There was a campus tour planned with the Roosevelt High second-year Japanese class during our class time, which was a little funky. The tour appeared to be a lesson for the Roosevelt students, and the Kindai students were supposed to participate in some way. It was kind of unclear. We each tagged along with a different group. Amanda was more proactive in leading her group and creating structure. I talked with the learners in my group (which merged with another, so making four English learners in this particular group) and just tried to point out objects and ask questions.

    After the tour, we had a little chunk of time left, so we went back to our classroom and did a round robin about what everyone saw on the tour.

    Overall, it was a good first day. Not everything worked, but the activities helped us gauge learner levels and rework tomorrow’s activities in advance. Learners were shy about giving things a try if they weren’t certain about the answer, but it seemed like they were catching on to us being totally cool with them being “incorrect”. So hopefully stuff like that will get easier as the week progresses.

    Amanda was super well-prepared and has some fun activities planned for the next few days, so I’m eager to see how everything unfolds.

    in reply to: King Elementary – Winter 2020 #12154
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: King Elementary
    Lesson Title: What is the census?
    Date of Class: March 2nd, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: ShelleySincereLearner
    DJ: markabogadooptimisto
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Society and Culture
    How Many Learners: 2

    Preparation: 7
    Technique: 5
    Engagement: 6
    Connection: 6
    Poise: 5
    Reflection: 6

    We consistently have 2 students in this class, one of whom has unique disabilities and is accompanied by an assistant. The other student is patient and understanding of minor disruptions, and the MC dealt with those well.

    in reply to: King Elementary – Winter 2020 #12153
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: King Elementary
    Lesson Title: How can I control indoor pests?
    Date of Class: Feb 24, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: ShelleySincereLearner
    DJ: markabogadooptimisto
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Safety in the Home (Healthy Home)
    How Many Learners: 2

    Preparation: 6
    Technique: 5
    Engagement: 6
    Connection: 6
    Poise: 5
    Reflection: 7

    An interesting class in that one of the students had special needs. He has come to this class previously, but not often and came with a support person. The other student was patient with this individual.

    in reply to: Rockwood Library – Winter 2020 #12143
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: Rockwood Library
    Lesson Title: What is Super Tuesday?
    Date of Class: Mar 03, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: PatrikKilpatrickEvolutionary
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Primaries & Caucuses
    How Many Learners: 11
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc):

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 4
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today we learned about Super Tuesday! In an unexpected turn of events, Patrik forwent the alphabet sheets partway through the first set of letters and pivoted into a sign language-based alphabet sheet activity. Woah! Learners also seemed surprised, but their energy levels picked up quickly, and they seemed to have a fun time with it. Shelley was supes excited and taught the sign for “ready!” Some learners seemed really into signing “ready!” before fingerspelling their names. The unexpected activity was engaging and seemed to wake everyone up.

    Then we jumped in to some Super Tuesday dictation. Learners (hopefully) got some understanding of Super Tuesday and its significance and got some familiarity with the democratic candidates. Overall, learner connection was pretty good. Before starting the lesson, Patrik readjusted the seating arrangement just a bit, and different people than usual were interacting with each other, which was cool. We finished off the class with an SNL video that introduced the democratic candidates and discussed COVID. The video was maybe not as effective as hoped, and Patrik felt uncertain about it partway through. But! It seemed like learners were mostly focused on the video and listening to it.

    Overall, it felt like a relatively high-energy class that moved quickly.

    in reply to: Rockwood Library – Winter 2020 #12120
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: Rockwood Library
    Lesson Title: What’s the weather this week?
    Date of Class: Feb 25, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: PatrikKilpatrickEvolutionary
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Portland Rains!
    How Many Learners: 10
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): I didn’t check up on attendance sheets, so I don’t know about them, but everything else looks good.

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 5
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 5
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today we had four new learners and six regulars. Seeing new faces was nice, but so many new people made for a strange flow, and classroom focus was hard to reign in. The new learners were concentrated at one end of the table, and DJ and MC discussed the potential benefits of shaking up that kind of arrangement in the future. Experienced learners jumped in to help keep the class focused and moving, which was cool. The lesson also had some really neat practical elements, where learners looked at their phones to check the upcoming weather and tell others about it. We ended the class with some My Fair Lady and almost got everyone to sing “the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.” Overall, it was a pretty weird class. DJ, at least, learned a lot. :)

    in reply to: King Elementary – Winter 2020 #12055
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: King Elementary
    Lesson Title: What to do to deal with mold
    Date of Class: Feb 10, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: IanLankyLobo
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Safety in the Home (Healthy Home)
    How Many Learners: 2
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Good! That box is so tidy!!

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 5
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today we focused on mold and prevent it. Class started with one learner, but another showed up a half hour in. We used an infographic for multiple activities, including listen and point and round robin sentences. We also did a storytelling activity, where learners told a story about a time they dealt with mold. Learners then retold the story one sentence at a time, and we wrote down each sentence. It was neat to see learners do some extemporaneous sentence building and self-editing upon repeating the story for dictation, and it felt like a good activity for a small group. MC and DJ agreed that more time would have been nice for this activity, but it was great to see the lower level learner, who seemed uncertain in her abilities, tell a story without too much trouble and get more confident in the retelling. It seemed like a nice way to show learners that they know more than they think.

    The two learners were at different language levels, and MC noted that he wished he had better gauged the level differences and scaffolded the activities more effectively to ease the less advanced learner into them. We also discussed the challenges in striking a balance between very structured activities and more interpretive/extemporaneous ones, and when each of those activities do and don’t work. (Does that make sense?) Anyway, learners seemed challenged at times, but there were also lots of moments of understanding firing off, which was cool. DJ learned a lot, too. :)

    in reply to: Rockwood Library – Winter 2020 #12053
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Lesson Title: The Bill of Rights
    Date of Class: 2/4
    Day of Class: Tuesday
    Time of Class: 6p
    MC: Patrik
    DJ: Shelley
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Education and Government
    How Many Learners: 13
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): We are out of attendance sheets. I meant to print and copy more before class, but I got sidetracked and forgot.

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):

    Today we honed in on the Bill of Rights. Patrik had enough time before class to find a video that gave a rundown of the Bill of Rights, so we used that for some listening practice and dictation. Patrik felt that given the amount of time he had to prep, the video could have been utilized more, but it did prompt some interesting discussions, particularly around “”the right to bear arms.” We used that as a jumping point for what was a pretty lively round robin and finished off the class with some recitation and explanation of ILRC Red Cards.

    Overall, learner engagement was good, but some learners seemed to have more trouble engaging with peers than others. Thirteen people came today, with some new and familiar faces alike, so it was a full house with a lot of laughs.”

    in reply to: Rockwood Library – Fall 2019 #11998
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: Rockwood Library
    Lesson Title: Where Mold May Grow
    Date of Class: Jan 27, 2020
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: RaminPolyglotMaestro
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: Healthy Homes
    How Many Learners: 7
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Seems good!

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 6
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 6
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 6
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 6
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 7

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today we focused on where mold can hang out in your home and what to do about it. Learners were eager to help one another and work together. This worked better with some students than with others, as there was a pretty wide spread between language levels. We had two new learners today. At the end of class, DJ and MC brainstormed ways to effectively make sure new learners don’t fall behind while keeping higher-level students engaged and making sure the class is moving at a decent clip. That said, it seemed that everyone in the class had enough challenges to keep the lesson engaging, like pronunciation and spelling of unusual words (asthma, wheezing, dizziness, etc.).

    in reply to: Midland Library – Fall 2019 #11935
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: Midland Library
    Lesson Title: Even more perfect apple pie
    Date of Class: Dec 11, 2019
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: NickHardworkingRetired
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: In the kitchen – holiday recipes
    How Many Learners: 6
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Good

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 5
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 5
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 4
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 5
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 5
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 6

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today was Millicent’s dress rehearsal. We had a relatively small class with two new learners. Class centered around an apple pie recipe, which was used for dictation, document search, and listen-and-do. We moved through activities a little too quickly and had about a half hour to fill in at the end. DJ, MC, and Auditioner collaborated to create activities, which included extra speaking and pronunciation practice and a sort of reverse listen-and-do, where Auditioner performed an action and students called it out. Then we went around one by one, saying the action aloud. Millicent stayed collected despite the activity scramble, and we all discussed ways to slow down and stretch activities during the debrief.

    in reply to: Midland Library – Fall 2019 #11916
    Shelley Zansler
    Spectator

    Site: Midland Library
    Lesson Title: What’s for dinner?
    Date of Class: Dec 04, 2019
    Time of Class: 6:00 PM
    MC: NickHardworkingRetired
    DJ: ShelleySincereLearner
    Assistants/Shadowers/Auditioner:
    Module: In the kitchen/holiday recipes
    How Many Learners: 16
    Materials Status (loyalty cards, alphabet sheets, etc): Good

    Self Evaluation

    Preparation: Forgot to Show Up (1) vs. Every Hair In Place (10) = 7
    Technique: Completely Incompetent (1) vs. Flawless Delivery (10) = 6
    Engagement: Snoring Loudly (1) vs. Absolutely Riveted (10) = 8
    Connection: Open Hostility (1) vs. Kumbayah (10) = 7
    Poise: Charlie Brown (1) vs. Prince (10) = 7
    Reflection: “It was ok.” (1) vs. Life-changing Epiphany (10) = 8

    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific): Today we went over some common utensil vocabulary, did a recipe dictation, and used some baking tips for a document search. The class was pretty big and had a wide range of student levels, which may have contributed to us not being able to complete the planned activities. MC made sure to have enough activities in the lesson plan so that there wouldn’t be any dead space, and DJ brought props to give visuals to new vocabulary. Common vocabulary was used throughout all activities, which made them feel connected to one another.

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