Kareef Stephen TEFL Blog

     Date/Time: May 1st     Thursday  Topic/Skill: Listening practice Teacher Presentation:  The teacher started the class by chatting with the students before having them go to canvas and do listening practice assignments. Classroom Management: Due to there being only two students in the class Dr. Ciapetta was able to address the needs of each student whenever they had problems directly. There was not much managing to be done as the students were listening to the dialogue on their computers.  Materials: Laptop with headphones. Student Participation: The students were attentively listening to the dialogue and writing down their answers. Feedback Provided: The students provide their answers to the listening prompts on a Google doc. The teacher also has access to this document and corrects the students' English after they are finished typing. Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: I learned that to communicate with absolute beginner-level stud...

Date/Time: May 3rd  Friday Location: CIES building Topic/Skill: reading comprehension Feedback provided to the tutee: I had Rosario take a TOEFL speaking practice exam. We then went over his answers and analyzed the questions he got wrong. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Rosario needs help strategizing for the TOEFL exam. He needed some help understanding exactly what some of the questions were asking him. Additionally, he finished his exam early but did not double-check his answers. I think that in the future, alongside more reading comprehension activities, it would be beneficial to teach Rosario test-taking strategies as well.

    Date/Time: May 1st       Topic/Skill: Student-led discussion. speaking/listening practice. Teacher Presentation:  The teacher started the class by introducing the student Sultan, who was leading the discussion. Classroom Management: Dr. Ciapetta mostly let the class run itself as Sultan was the one leading the discussion. Dr. Rios was also there, as his class was taking part in the discussion as well. Both teachers would take notes and write down every mistake they heard a student make. Materials: No materials were used. Student Participation: Every student participated in the discussion by giving their own opinion on the questions Sultan asked. As Sultan is studying criminology, the questions were focused on how genetics and environmental factors play a role in people committing crimes. Feedback Provided: The teachers would take notes on a Google doc every time a student would make a mistake. They would write down the name of the student plus...

   Date/Time: April 30 th     Topic/Skill: Reading comprehension Group 4 Teacher Presentation:  The teacher started the class by reading a chapter from the novel  Hatchet. After this short reading, the teacher brought up an academic article the students were to read and summarize about international students and their lives on campus. Classroom Management: Dr. Rios is a great teacher, the students really like him. He confidently moves around the classroom as he asks students to read passages, encouraging them with light jokes and a caring personality. Materials: the book Hatchet and the article students were summarizing. Student Participation: Students would help each other when stuck on a word they didn't know. Other than that the lesson was mainly focused on the reading material with not much interaction between students. Feedback Provided: The teacher provided feedback whenever a student finished a passage.  Lesson(s) on teaching you ...

   Date/Time: April 30 th  Tuesday Location: Online through Zoom Topic/Skill: Speaking/Listening Feedback provided to the tutee: I conducted my diagnostic and discussed goals for improving his English language skills. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Dojun is a very kind South Korean man who wants to learn English because he works at an airport and would like to communicate with other stations/countries staff and colleagues. He does not have many opportunities to speak English in his daily life so the time that he spends studying and speaking with me will be vital in improving his English. His English is quite advanced already so I doubt he will need help with simple grammar. His speaking and listening skills need work so I will mostly be correcting his speaking but I also have ideas for article reading and listening comprehension practice.

  Date/Time: April 29 th    Topic/Skill: Past participle Teacher Presentation:  The teacher started the class by reviewing schedules such as an upcoming quiz. He then went on to the main lesson which was past participle. Classroom Management: The teacher monitored the three students asking each other the provided questions and making mental notes of mistakes the students made with their English. At the end of the class, the teacher said that he would talk about the mistakes he heard the students make in their next class meeting. Materials: A worksheet on Canvas that the students had to open as well as textbook material. Student Participation: The students interacted with each other and myself asking questions like "Have you ever met a president or governor?" and "Have you ever been to Canada". The other student would then have to respond with an answer. Feedback Provided: The teacher provided feedback whenever the students asked for help and als...