Reflection on teaching practice 22/01/08

The lesson started at 9.30am and 7 learners attended the class , 2 male and 5 female. I began by introducing myself , and greeting the learners as they arrived. I told them we would be continuing to learn about health and asked them what they had learnt the day before. Their answers were not very clear , but I think it was still a good exercise , as they all looked through their work from yesterday, and I wanted to link my lesson in with what they had been doing.


The aim of the lesson was to be able to make an appointment at the doctor's , and I felt they would need practice in listening for times and days for this , so I then asked them to tell me what day it was , ( though I had already written the day and date on the board ! ) and then asked them how well they knew the days of the week. They were unsure of them , so we practised them in a chorus and I taught them a simple song to help them remember them. I also did a TPR activity with them , where they had to stand up if they heard the day I had given them individually. Some were a little unsure about singing the song , but they all seemed to enjoy the TPR activity, so much so that I couldn't get them to stop for a while, especially as I had handed it over to them to say and listen for the days too !


We then practised listening for times , with a kinaesthetic activity using paper plate clocks , this worked quite well and it was easy to see who was struggling and who needed extra help with this. There was a nice class atmosphere and the learners helped each other out a lot.


I then briefly practised symptoms with them using flashcards , this was to link in with their previous lessons. I drilled some of the pronunciation with them for this. I think I still need to be tighter on drilling , ensuring they stop and listen then asking individuals as well as whole class chorus.
I elicited from them where we go if we are sick, and also whether we can just go to the doctors anytime. One learner gave me the word appointment, which I then got them to spell. I then wrote the aim ( as a title ) on the board. I told them we would listen to a conversation on the CD and asked them to tell me if it was at the doctor's or at the dentist's - I'm not sure how clear my instructions were here, but they seemed to get the idea and most were able to tell me the right answer. I then let them listen to it again, this time with a handout with options to tick - most managed this quite well , with just one or two stuck on the answers , so I then read the options out to them, to ensure that it was not reading that was a problem. I also read the dialogue out myself afterwards, though I had not intended to do that. By that time everyone had all the right answers.


I then gave them a handout with a simpler dialogue on it , which we practised together as a class. I had elicited the words receptionist and patient from them too. First of all, they were the patients and spoke as a chorus, this was a little unclear I think , but then I got one or two individuals to do it with me , then let them practise it in pairs. There were an odd number of learners, so I initially asked 3 to work together , but then chose to work with one individual at a tme , swapping the pairs around as I went . This gave me an opportunity to listen to all of the learners individually and check any mistakes, though there were probably a few moments where one or two learners had finished and were waiting. I then asked them to practise again , but this time using their own name and changing the day and time. They did this for a while, I then went round the class checking they had understood the right day and time. On the final practice I gave them an appointment card each so they could write down the day and time they were given , again I took the opportunity to go round to each individual.


On the final review near the end of the lesson, when I went round the class checking each individual, there was still a problem with the request ( Can I make an appointment with Dr Smith please ? ) for one or two learners, so I used the initial letter of each word on the board and then erased them one at a time to help them to remember the sentence, which worked quite well.

For the final few minutes , I gave them a handout to practise the spelling of the days of the week.

I think it had been a nice atmosphere , and I think the aim and objectives had been achieved by the end of the lesson, as they were all able to make an appointment with me , and most of them could tell me the day and time of their appointment afterwards , though I felt they still needed more practice in days and times. In future lessons , I would like to drill pronunciation more and do choral drilling in a tighter way. I would also still like to do more differentiation, and possibly more concept checking too with individuals.

So glad more than 6 learners came so my TP would count this time ! That's one out of three done !