Corbin Ryan: Class Observation #2

            I observed Victoria’s reading class last Thursday. She opened up the class with a pretty casual discussion about the way men and women tend to interact with strangers in the United States. I see the value here that this presents to a class of foreign English learners, since they not only get an opportunity to practice comprehending the spoken word, but also it is an opportunity to gain a perspective on American culture.

            Vicky (as she told me to call her) presented her students with several different reading activities throughout the class. The students have been given reading practice textbooks that contain many passages that are simple and easy to understand to native English-speakers. The class was given five minutes to read a short paragraph about the Erie Canal, and then had to answer a few reading comprehension questions, very similar to the FCAT tests I took growing up.

            The activity that appeared to hold the most value was one where Vicky projected a set of two passages from the textbook about the history of flags onto the whiteboard. This way, she could underline, circle, and point out words, phrases, and idioms so that the whole class would be able to notice them. This was especially valuable since the second passage was a paraphrased version of the first one, containing virtually the same information, yet explained using different words. In this way, Vicky as well as the students could point out the similarities and differences with ease.    

            Vicky seems quite comfortable in her teaching role. She seems relaxed and genuine, and it’s clear that her students are better able to connect and communicate with her because of this. Of course, I must also consider that her while her mannerisms seem favorable to me, they could possibly come off very different to someone of a different culture.