Jacob Gerke

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Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 54 total)
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  • in reply to: Hall Elementary – Winter 2014 #1345
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 03/03/2014
    Day of Class: Monday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: Ruby
    Module: Shopping
    How Many Learners: 13
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Ruby is really nice! She came early enough that I was able to ask her about her experience with the program thus far, and tell her a little bit about what we were going to do that day. She seemed very comfortable helping out at one of the tables, letting people know when they got it, and assisting when it was needed.

    We did some basic activities; I handed around a book and had people ask each other how much it cost. I did “this is an apple” with pictures of things like cashiers and registers, and then ended with some TPR involving paying with cash and entering your PIN.

    in reply to: Hall Elementary – Winter 2014 #1344
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/26/2014
    Day of Class: Wednesday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Measurement
    How Many Learners: 13
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    I was trying to think, last week, of what I should talk about today, something we measure that I hadn’t talked about yet… and I decided on age. I dictated things like youth, elder, young, old, and I looked up who the oldest woman ever was – a French woman who lived to be 122. I ran that as a dialogue (who was the oldest person that ever lived?), and then dictated the months, and asked people when their birthdays were. People oohed and aahed that I was born in ’87… really?

    in reply to: East Gresham Elementary – Winter 2014 #1343
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 03/04/14
    Day of Class: Tuesday
    MC: Robert
    DJ: Jacob
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Nutrition
    How Many Learners: 11
    Score: 45
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Really awesome class! Robert showed up about 9:30 (before I did!) and looked very poised and ready for his first class. I feel like he executed well, and held control of the class… even though I would occasionally insert a joke or two and derail things a little bit, he did a very good job with that.

    I did suggest a few things for him to do; when L came in late, I had him direct the class to greet her (which is what I usually do whenever someone comes in late), and I suggested a few tweaks to some of the dictations he had us write. But the majority of the class was executed very well, and I’m very proud of Robert! I look forward to discussing his future in the program with him soon.

    in reply to: East Gresham Elementary – Winter 2014 #1338
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/27/14
    Day of Class: Thursday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Talking with the Boss
    How Many Learners: 9
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Fun class today. I don’t know why I haven’t been making more use of my new laptop in my classes… I did do it one last term, but it’s just never occurred to me to use it this term. Today was the perfect day, though, because I was feeling a little strung out on this particular topic, but I remembered that the curriculum guide suggested a few songs to use in the class, and that’s exactly what I did.

    I played the first couple of verses of “Anything you can do I can do better” and had people write those down, and after practicing all the “no you can’ts” and “yes I cans,” I had the students say the first part and everyone else say “no you can’t!” with the sole student responding “yes I can!” This worked out really well.

    This actually took up a lot of time, so I ended with “You can’t always get what you want,” having people write down the chorus, practicing that part, and then ending by asking people what they wanted. I had a really nice transition for this, but I actually went two minutes over the end of class! Oops!

    in reply to: Lynchwood Elementary – Winter 2014 #1333
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/25/2014
    Day of Class: Tuesday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Telephone Etiquette
    How Many Learners: 3
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Phew! It’s a rotating cup game here at Lynch Wood… but it’s always three people! L as usual, plus M from last week and R making her return from last term. These three are actually quite highly skilled… so my lesson plan only took them 30 minutes to get through. Fortunately I had some backup ideas… we spent about 30 minutes listening and writing down the Rockwood Library’s automated telephone system options, and then we practiced asking for and confirming information over the phone. Only R brought her phone, but she didn’t mind letting the others use it to call me while I stepped out of the room, so that we could practice this in a bit of a more realistic setting.

    Afterwards, I had about 10 minutes left, so we did some TPR to loosen up after all that writing, and that was that!

    in reply to: East Gresham Elementary – Winter 2014 #1332
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/25/2014
    Day of Class: Tuesday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Small Talk
    How Many Learners: 11
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Boy, I was feeling tapped out this week, having gone five weeks with the same subject. But then, it hit me, that I could talk a little bit about what’s going on in the world, because that’s what we sometimes use as small talk ourselves! So I named a few countries, and then brought up what was going on in Ukraine and Venezuela.

    I was very careful to make my phrases neutral, but I did mention that there are protests going on in both countries. I showed people pictures of protesters (“this is a Ukranian protester!”) and then I had people do TPR, which produced a pretty amusing thing. I had people “raise their fist” and “hold up a sign,” and L started saying “No More Homework!” while holding her sign… so I ran with that. I already had “shout” on my list, so I just had them repeat what she was saying. This definitely helped raise the energy level in a class where it was a bit low, due to sickness and lack of sleep.

    in reply to: Hall Elementary – Winter 2014 #1328
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 2/24/2014
    Day of Class: Monday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Money
    How Many Learners: 18 (!!)
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Wow! This class just keeps growing and growing! Of 18 people, we only had two who were brand new, but 4 who were “new” in one sense of the word. A had come to classes last term, but this was her first one this term. R had come to the very first class, but none until tonight. Then we had J and D who had never been to our classes before… I think they had a lot of fun, and I hope they come back! J seems to be very good at reading and writing, so I’d really love to position him as an assistant to the lower level learners.

    But the class itself… we started with just 5, and quickly grew to about 14 or so. I squished 9 people to one table for a brief moment… and then I realized that, for the first time since I’d been there, we were actually going to need a third table. It’s a good thing I did this… because they just kept coming! I think the last people showed up around 6:30, but I wasn’t doing a very good job of watching the time (I had plenty of reasons!).

    I did run into a bit of an issue early on, as well, besides the students… one woman’s 4 or 5 year old granddaughter didn’t want to be with the other children, so she came into the library with the other students. This is fine, but she also was a bit shy and didn’t want to stand with her grandmother at first. So, she went over to a bench (there’s a long bench and lots of books on the north side of the library) and stood there, staring at the class. I really wasn’t sure what to do here. I acknowledged her as much as I could, but she didn’t say anything; I asked her grandmother to ask her to come stand next to her, still nothing. So, I let her be while keeping an eye on her. Eventually, I remembered that there are tons of crayons in little bins on other tables, so I offered her some crayons and paper, and she drew for awhile. Then, I suppose when she felt more comfortable, she went and stood with her grandmother for the rest of the class.

    It’s pretty tough keeping 18 people engaged by yourself… I encouraged interaction between students as much as possible, using dialogues and “this is an apple!” as well as TPR… there was quite a bit of laughter in this class! I keep saying that… but it’s true! I think that’s a good thing.

    in reply to: Lynch Meadows Elementary – Winter 2014 #1322
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/20/14
    Day of Class:/ Thursday
    MC:/ Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Homework Helper
    How Many Learners: 6
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Wow! Biggest class yet! We had quite a bit of fun today, and I learned a bit about myself, as well.

    Traditionally, this class is one where people are quieter, and the energy level is a little bit lower. I chalk this up to people coming to class from work, family… tired from the day’s events and slowly unwinding. I know I need to be mindful of all these things, but I wanted to see if I couldn’t raise the energy level to match some of my other classes. I was actually able to make good use of the homework assignment I was given to achieve this.

    The assignment was health related. It had lists of various vitamins and nutrients, and how they help your body. It’s tough to mime words like “riboflavin” and “vitamin D,” but because the text also contained words like “protein,” “fat,” and “carbohydrates,” I was able to come up with things that they helped with (pointing to your biceps, pointing to your brain, and jogging in place, respectively). By adding new things I could think of with the text, and doing traditional TPR activities where you go back and forth between actions and try to create a little confusion, I was able to produce some good energy and laughter in a group that doesn’t have it as naturally as other classes I teach.

    I also got a little silly and had them stand up for the end of the class, and do “this is an apple” with some regular items, but the last item I used was a chair in the classroom, which people felt pretty silly holding, and laughed a bit. I felt a lot better about this group at the end.

    in reply to: East Gresham Elementary – Winter 2014 #1321
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/20/2014
    Day of Class: Thursday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Talking with the Boss
    How Many Learners: 8
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Fun class today! I came prepared with a theme – clarification – and added in a few activities that I hadn’t tried yet in the class. There’s an activity where ask if someone can do something – “Can you fly?” and they say “Yes I can!” and everyone says “No you can’t!’ I added in some physical emphasis by having people do a sort of fist pump (reverse fist pump?) for the yes, and a finger wag for the no. There was lots of laughter, so I think the class was well received.

    B, again, like last week, told me that I’m a good teacher. I’m not entirely sure how I should receive that. It definitely feels good, but then, I don’t want things like that to inflate my ego. So I just sort of stay neutral. But having repeat attendance from multiple students tells me I’m doing something right… I think more so than one person’s voice. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I’m really not sure.

    in reply to: Hall Elementary – Winter 2014 #1319
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/19/2014
    Day of Class: Wednesday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Measurement
    How Many Learners: 12
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):

    Nice big class today! I was struggling to come up with the theme for my lesson, and then I decided on “speed,” and it worked out really well. I introduced the concept of “miles per hour,” and applied it in phrases to different things. Usain Bolt (fastest man alive), the Bugatti Veyron (fastest car alive), and more mundane things like speed limits.

    I’ve been trying out using TPR to break up the monotony of writing and dialogue practice; trying to keep the energy of the class up, rather than saving it for the end. I think it worked pretty well, but honestly, I’m not entirely sure how to gauge if it’s better in the middle or at the end. Regardless, everyone had fun!

    in reply to: Lynchwood Elementary – Winter 2014 #1307
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/18/14
    Day of Class: Tuesday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Telephone Etiquette
    How Many Learners: 3
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Tonight was kind of challenging. I had one returning student, L, and two new students, J and M. M was a high level learner, and J was a very beginning learner. This presented a challenge, and I mostly helped J by spelling words out for him using the alphabet sheet, though I could have had L do that, and she did do that some of the time.

    I made things a little more interesting by bringing a sheet with me that had the military phonetic alphabet, and I had them practice that, first by just reading each word (bravo, charlie, delta, etc), then spelling out their name by writing “M for Mike, J for Juliet” and then reading that out loud. Afterward, I had a basic phone dialogue where they confirmed the spelling of a street name using this phonetic alphabet.

    I had intended to have them write a short message to leave on my phone, but I ran out of time to give directions on how to do that; I also forgot to go over the phone permission part of the loyalty cards. Next time, I’ll focus on this part, and definitely work in some real phone usage during the lesson. It worked at Lynch Meadows… I can make it work here.

    in reply to: East Gresham Elementary – Winter 2014 #1289
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 02/18/2014
    Day of Class: Tuesday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: Emily, Robert
    Module: Small Talk
    How Many Learners: 9
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    I think I “leveled up” today. It was a pretty hectic class, for many reasons. One, we had a new assistant, Emily, who was a big help; two, we had two noisy kids in the class; and three, I was fairly tired! I didn’t sleep well, but I made that part of the class, and people seemed to enjoy that.

    One learner, A, had her son (probably 4 or 5) in the class with her, and so I got some colored pencils and paper for him to scribble with. A did her best to keep him occupied (with help from myself and other learners), but sometimes he would shout, and once he hit A’s arm with the pencils, to which leaner P and I both said “no, por favor, no.” Later, he threw a pencil across the room, which I felt needed a pause of the class and a slightly more stern “no,” which was followed up a bit by A and also P.

    Being in a classroom with mostly stay at home moms, the students are pretty good about looking after each other’s children. C brings her infant to the class and gets help holding him and feeding if he’s fussy. Since we have child care, it’s fairly rare for any other children to be in the class… I was fine with A’s son being there, and did my best to handle the class accordingly.

    Where I did something I’ve never done before, however, was to absolutely make sure I followed up with A after the class. I fumbled through my Spanish to say that I’m sorry about what I had said, but that he really needs to not do that. I could tell that she understood and was telling him the same thing (specifically about not throwing pencils). I told him that it was fine if he wanted to be here, and she followed that up by saying he needs to behave.

    The rest of the class went well, lots of laughter as usual, and I followed up with Emily and Robert after class and had a nice discussion with them.

    in reply to: Lynch Meadows Elementary – Winter 2014 #1021
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 2/13/2014
    Day of Class: Thursday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Telephone Etiquette
    How Many Learners: 5
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Good first class. People showed up late, to the extent that I wasn’t sure if anyone would show up at all… and it was just one, and then three, and then five! I was impressed.

    We had one new student, M, who was very nervous, but as she got past that, I could see her skill level was actually higher than the people I usually work with at Meadows. It was actually from my interpretation of her looking bored (could just have been tired) that got me to change up what I was doing – I had a 3rd grade reading assignment, and I was having them listen and point, but instead, I scanned the page and picked out words I could easily mime to get their meaning across. I put my fists in front of my eyes and spread my fingers for “woke,” I waved my hand over my shoulder for “yesterday,” I spread my hands out comically large for “big,” etc. This livened up the class a lot.

    Also, I’m not sure exactly who bought them, but Aly brought us carrot sticks and ranch dressing. If I wasn’t teaching I would have eaten all of them myself. (they did all get eaten, which was nice.)

    in reply to: East Gresham Elementary – Winter 2014 #1018
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 2/13/2014
    Day of Class: Thursday
    MC: Jacob
    DJ: N/A
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Talking With The Boss
    How Many Learners: 9
    Score:
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):

    Oh boy, I was not prepared for this class. I forgot my folder that had all my spare alphabet sheets, and there were none on site, couldn’t get any printed in time… had to have some people share. Only one person showed up on time, the rest trickled in up to 15 minutes after class started.

    I did have a lesson plan, and I executed it well… very well, in fact. I had them write the phrase “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry about that!” and I wanted to model an instance where it would be used… so I very carefully selected one student, had her stand in a spot, and bumped into her as I was looking at my phone, and modeled the phrase in a very hammed up way. The laughter was intense. I made sure to follow up after class, check in, thank her, apologize for real, all of that.

    But after that, I was having people write another sentence, and one of my students… I don’t even remember how exactly this unfolded. What I remember is hearing my name, looking at B, and her saying (paraphrased): “Me gusta, me ENCANTA, me encanta… you are a great teacher, and you help me with my English a lot. Thank you.” So, as a joke, I said “Well, Valentine’s Day is…”

    I didn’t even get to finish that before the class exploded into the most raucous laughter I’ve ever heard. I lost my composure… everyone was done writing and I wanted to model the sentence for them, but for what felt like several minutes (probably only one or two), I would look at my notes, look at a student and start laughing again. I finally managed to get the sentence out and everyone calmed down.

    Class went as usual after that. I think it was good that I mixed things up a little bit, because there was definitely a period or two where the energy was a lot lower than usual. Phew.

    in reply to: Hall Elementary – Winter 2014 #973
    Jacob Gerke
    Spectator

    Date of Class: 2/12/14
    Day of Class: Wednesday
    MC: Joshua
    DJ: Jacob
    Assistants: N/A
    Module: Measurement
    How Many Learners: 4
    Score: 21
    What happened (as short or as long as you like, but be specific):
    Joshua taught his first class! We also welcomed a new student R, today, so lots of new things happening. I feel like Joshua did very well, and we had a very nice chat after the class happened.

    I’m still a little shaky being DJ, because I don’t have as much experience with it, and because of past issues with taking control of a class. But we had no power struggle issues; Joshua asked for some advice, and I gave it, specifically with when to move on to the next part of the lesson. Joshua was very helpful with our new student as well, who is a bit lower level than the others.

    I noticed that we got to the end of what Joshua had written down for his lesson plan with about 15 minutes left, and he ended up making up some sentences, having people say them out loud and write them down as well. I don’t know if Joshua did all of these off the top of his head (I should have asked!), but I was impressed with how he handled that. We ended right on time! Solid class.

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 54 total)