User:Charles Jeffrey Danoff/CELTA log/Week 1

These are the entries in my CELTA Log for week one of my four week course in late 2010.

@ TH

 * Most memorable part of the day was learning its possible to teach someone a language using only that language even if they know nothing. It was wild, but I learned how-to use basic Swahili pretty quickly (don't know how long I'll have retention, but ...)
 * Start w/hello
 * My name is ...
 * Bring out an object (e.g. orange / apple / water)
 * Go over what is this? This is?
 * Yes / No
 * 1, 2, 3
 * My fellow students and teachers are cool and seem genuinely interested in learning how-to teach English better.

HW

 * Working mostly at a coffee shop with a peer and a little at Grand Central Terminal and my Aunt's house, spent roughly 2 hours or-so preparing my lesson plan and a worksheet "Find someone who... re-mix" for my 20 minute lesson tomorrow.
 * Did a solid job of working right after school, could've been better about working more efficiently on the train and at my aunt's, learned I'll have a lot of work to complete after class.

TP 1
My first lesson went alright. Started with one of my favorite jokes from the ITESLJ, which got laughs from the teachers, but not any of the students. Got right into the task next. Only had 20 minutes and 5 Ss, so I didn't spend too long on the instructions, and for the most part the activity went well. Afterwards, tutor suggested I use simpler language and slow down a little.

@ TH
After teaching, watched 5 colleagues give 20 minute lessons. Then got feedback from our tutor. In the afternoon went over learner styles in preparation for our first written assignment, then went over a wide variety of styles to teach vocabulary. I was quite tired, and not ony top of my game as a student throughout most of the day. Small part of my listlessness was what I judged to be material designed more for those who've never taught before, which I found boring.

HW
Went to Barnes and Noble's coffee shop work on the next day's lesson plan. A couple fellow students were there too, which was fun to chat, but a little distracting. Got most of my lesson plan work done there, then finished all but the Vocabluary explanation sheets on the train home, which I just finished now on the inbound train the following morning. It is important to get to know my peers, but this afterschool time needs to be a little more disciplined, because in the ensuing weeks I assume it will get harder.

TP 2
Second lesson went much better, beginning with the students laughing at my joke. I was a little unprepared b4 class, because I wanted to print out my lesson plan, but was unable to, which flustered me a little. Once on stage I also realized I had not memorized enough of my lesson plan to flow naturally through the steps I had written. Out there it was fine, because I just flowed from one step to another. The tutor gave me some suggestions while teaching, including having the students read privately, instead of chorally, and have them work i pairs, when I was trying to haveenas a group. The pairs went well, save one weaker S amongst 2 strong Ss. Eventually, I took him aside and worked with him privately. Feedback I got afterwards was mainly about grading my language, speaking slower and using more ICQ's when I teach.

@ TH
Had more energy for this afternoon, which was nice. Something I've noticed is that despite being out of college over 3+ years, and having taught professionally, as soon as I was back in the student's role, I went back into all of my old routines, like lounging back in my chair and struggling to stay awake. Cognizant of that (and with more rest) I was much more attentive today to my posture and to pay attention. I find some of the material we've covered to be a little remedial, but today had a lot of new stuff that helped keep my attention, and which I think'll be useful in the classroom.

HW
Didn't have anything due the next day, so the work I did after class was prepping for my Friday lesson, giving me a chance to get ahead in my studies, which was welcome. I did the work just in one of the teaching house classrooms, which was nice, because it saved me some money, and while there if I had any questions I could go and talk to my tutor who was in her office. Got most of the work done in a little over an hour.

@ TH
Spent the whole morning watching fellow students teach for 40 minutes each. Learned some things watching them, but learned more about the students who are the same ones I teach. Especially one French gentleman, who is the subject of my first written assignment. We have to do a profile of one of our students as a learner. I was taking notes on him. Afternoon today was fun. Spent the first half talking about passive voice, which was interesting and kinda tough. I guess when you add (be + past participle) to something it becomes passive voice, or as Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=English_passive_voice&oldid=395481025) says "The passive voice is a grammatical construction (a "voice") in which the subject of a sentence or clause denotes the recipient of the action rather than the performer." After that we talked about lesson planning, breaking down the whole CELTA/TH NY process, which they were careful to note, "may be different from that of the school where [we] teach." I guess if I were really clever, I'd use this log to summarize what I learn each day as a quick review of sorts.

HW
Finished my lesson plan for Friday using the printer and copier available in the St. John's building. I then got some prelim work done on my Focus on the Learner assignment.

TP 3
Taught a lesson on laughter. Got the students laughing, and received positive feedback from my colleagues and tutor. Biggest thing I need to work-on is eliciting answers/responses from the ss, b/c I talk too much on stage. Have a touch of dancing bear going right now, need to get them speaking.

@ TH
Afternoon on CCQs and phonology was engaging and helpful.

HW
Did some writing of my Focus on the Learner assignment on the train Friday and Saturday, then finished it Sunday afternoon/evening. Created a how-to document to explain an online exercise for a student's pronunciation, and published it on Scribd here.