Adrienne Cardoza TESOL 424-Bro.

Wolf Tutoring Journal

English Exchange 5/8/13 Listen and Draw Paper pencils

Directions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Draw a large circle in the middle of your paper but at the bottom. Draw another circle, a little bit smaller, on top of your first circle. Draw another even smaller circle on top of the second circle. Then draw two small circles inside the top circle that are next to each other. Color them in with your pencil so that they are completely black Under the two circles draw a triangle that is pointed to the right. Then draw five dots that make a half circle shape under the triangle. Now, draw a square on top of the top circle. After that, draw two straight lines coming from either side of the middle circle that are about 2inch or 5cm long. 10. And then draw two squares in the middle circle one on top of the other. What do you get? Picture:

Running dictation Paper Pencils

Sentences: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. A big brown coconut fell on the mans head. The cool shiny red sports car drove down the road. The boring old dirty green coat was made in America. The mean stinky old man ran away. The cool shiny silver pot is broken. I had to make these up on the spot The sad little girl ran home.

Matching Blind folds Blindfolds

Describer words: Ballerina Angry Karate Telephone Dry erase markers Something to cover their answer Gangster Tired Surprised

Sentences: The monkey pulled his pants down. The sat happily playing alone. Lets go to the dance this Friday. Lesson Plan Objective: For students to have fun while practicing English. I want them to not feel like they are studying but just playing fun games. I want them to learn something new in the process, either a vocabulary word or a grammar rule, or pronunciation, or that English can be fun, just one thing. Introductions: Everyone makes their own name tag At beginning everyone says their name and where they are from Game 1: Listen and Draw Handout paper and pencils

Explain activity Mahana reads directions as everyone follows along. Show everyones pictures Game 2: Running Dictation Talk about adjectives, what order they go in: Opinion Size Age Shape Color Origin Material Purpose Divide into groups of 3 Pick 2 helpers----Explain rules One person from each team will be the runner and another will be the writer. That person comes to the teacher and the teacher either shows or reads a short sentence. They have to memorize the sentence and run back to their group and tell them what it was. The group then has to write it down correctly. The runner can go back to the teacher as many times as they need. When the group thinks their sentence is completely correct a second person must run to the teacher and have them check the sentence. If it is not correct they keep doing the same thing. If it is they win. Game 3: Blindfold Stay in groups of 3 Hand out blind folds-explain rules One person is blind folded. The teacher will yell a word and make a pose that has something to do with that pose. The other two people need to explain, without touching, what the pose is so that the blindfolded person can match the pose. Game 4: Telephone Divide everyone into two groups Explain game

The first person of each line will go outside with the teacher. The teacher will read them a sentence and they have to come in and whisper the sentence to the next person. Everyone whispers the sentence in to the next persons ear until the last person when and they will write what they hear on the board and compare answers.

Reflection Summary: Where to start? We were beginning to get a little worried at the beginning because it was 8pm and there were only 3 students. However, by around 8:10-8:15 we had about 16 students. So we decided to start our first game, the listen and draw. We passed out papers and got going. They did very well for the most part but there was one student who was particularly into the game and kept interrupting and making distractions so it was a little difficult for everyone to listen plus the students seemed to like the game alright but not enough to warrant our second round which required a mini lesson so we decided that we would just go on to the next game. We got them into groups, and maybe I should go take another math class because I totally messed up counting them out. Instead of groups of three I did three groupsface palmbut it worked out ok because they ended up in groups of six so I just divided each group in half. We explained the rules and began. The students loved this game. I was really surprised at how into they got they were running as fast as they could and the students reading the sentences were hiding and giving the other students a hard time and reading the sentences very well. The students actually wanted to play again so I quickly whipped up some sentences. I also realized that I COMPLETELY FORGOT to explain the adjective order so I took the opportunity to put a little lesson in. I asked them if they noticed anything about the sentences and they knew right away that there were a lot of adjectives. So then I asked them if they knew that there was a certain pattern to what order adjectives go in and they seemed to have an idea but didnt know exactly so we went over the rule. They seemed very interested, they all took notes and seemed genuinely intrigued which made me very happy that they learned something new as well as have fun. After the lesson we played again this time I didnt read sentences, I made the students do it in their own. They had a lot of fun hiding from the others and making it hard for them. Then we went on to the blind fold game. It went pretty well but they didnt seem to enjoy it as much because when I asked if they wanted to move on or keep playing they said move on. So for the last five minutes we played one round of telephone and then we were done and said our goodbyes. A. I thought that the running dictation went very well; all the students enjoyed it and were able to learn something knew from it. I also feel like I got to know the students a little more. I am glad we did nametags so that I could call everyone by their name so that they could feel like I knew who they are and that I care enough to use their names. B. Ok, this was one of those lessons where I did not walk away feeling awesome. I felt like we had to yell too much and that it was a little chaotic. I should have planned better. I think the reason it was chaotic was because I did not write out a step by step lesson plan for this like I usually do. I had the games all written down and knew in my head what I wanted to do but because I didnt write one specific detailed plan I felt very unprepared and unorganized and I dont like that feeling. I also found that I need to give more detailed directions, they found loop holes for

everything! I forgot to tell them not to touch the blindfolded person for the first round of the blindfold game and they completely defeated the purpose of the game by just grabbing them and putting them in position. C. I knew the students enjoyed themselves when they wanted to play certain games again and when they were really into them trying their best. You could see the determination and smiles on many faces. I just wish I could have seen it for every game. D. I tried to make them feel like they were in charge of the lesson by asking them the choice to move on or stay doing the same activity. I think they liked having that say and by the middle of the lesson were not afraid to say what they wanted to do. E. I found that my listen and draw (the second part with the direction words)wasnt necessarily too hard but not appropriate for the time. They just werent focused enough and wanted to be more active than sitting in their desk righting down new vocabulary. Quite frankly they seemed a little A.D.D. so we decided that it wasnt the best idea to that part of the lesson as many of them might have lost interest and not wanted to participate any further. So we got rid of it and went on to the next activity.

Tutoring #1-5/14/13 Pre-listening Activities: Top-down Questions to think about 1. What do you need in order to play baseball? 2. How do you think a baseball is made? I chose to ask these questions because the first one kind of introduces the topic of baseball, and the video I used was How its Made: Baseball . After Koko started thinking about baseball I wanted her to start thinking about how things are made and what kinds of materials or work goes into the process. Bottom up-Vocabulary Circumference Adhesive

Cross-stitch

I just explained what the three words meant a little more than the pictures do and then we went on to the listening tasks. I originally had a lot more vocabulary but during class we learned that under five words is best so I tried to pick the most frequently said words or words that I was pretty sure Koko did not know. I tutored Koko last semester for online EIL 219 so I had an idea of her vocabulary and things she is capable of. I would say that listening is probably one of her weaker skills, which I really learned during this tutor session. Listening Task #1: 1. As you listen, circle the materials that are used when making a baseball: Cork Adhesive Ceramic leather paper thread wood wool yarn rubber metal plastic

This was a literal task. I chose a literal task first because I knew that the text was difficult, it was a documentary and it used a lot of difficult not used every day words. In order to make the text feel more accessible to Koko I wanted to start with an easier task, but it proved not to be so easy, which is mostly my fault. I got too excited and forgot to read the words out loud for her before beginning the video so that she knew what she was listening for which I think was a big reason for it being really hard for her. But I also found that even after reading them out loud she still had trouble. After watching the video all the way through we looked at her answers, in total there are seven materials that should be circled but Koko only had 4 circled. So I decided to go back and play the segments that said the other materials so she could hear. The first segment was for adhesive which I thought would be totally easy since we talked about it in pre-listening but no, I had to play the segment about 7-8 times before I decided just to tell her, and even then I had to play it a few more times because she still couldnt hear the word even when I pointed out exactly when they said it in the video. Is this normal? A less intense version of the event before ensued with the other missed materials as well, which is why I decided to change my second task. Original Listening Task #2 2. What are the stages of the baseball? What is it first called, then what does it change into?

Originally I wanted to do an activity that utilized inference; the video never comes out and directly states These are the stages of a baseball 1. 2 This would force her to listening beyond the general and make inferences of her own. But after the first task I decided that this task might be too hard so I made a question up on the spot. What surprised you most about how a baseball is made? I would say that this activity utilizes evaluation and appreciation to an extent. Even though according to levels of comprehension evaluation and appreciation are more difficult, I think in this context they were easier because there was visual with the audio. Most of Kokos answers had to do with what she saw not what she heard, which leads me to question if this was a good listening task. Summary I already recounted a few things when describing my tasks so I will spare you the repeating and talk about the other events that happened. We began the lesson, and we are good friends so I asked Koko how her day has been etc. and then I explained what we would be doing (listening two times and doing certain tasks during) and then we proceeding to the pre-listening. However, before we started I told her that I picked this video because she likes baseball and I thought she would like it and that I learned a lot from it. So then we did pre-listening and she knew all the baseball vocabulary, baseball, glove, bat etc. and pre-listening went really well. Then I read the first listening task and proceeded to play the video. The disaster that I have explained above ensued and I decided that I should change my second task because apparently I was a bad judge of listening level. So I asked the new question before we watched the video again and she had no trouble answering it. D. I dont feel like my tasks were successful at all. The first one was a disaster that Im sure ended up with Koko losing some confidence and getting frustrated (I know I felt a bit exasperated at the time and I could understand!) and the second task that I made up on the spot seemed too easy and quite frankly a bit pointless as all her answers had to do with what she saw not what she heard. F. If I could go back, and kept the same tasks, I would have read the materials out loud for before playing the video for Koko. But in actuality I would probably scratch everything and pick an easier text with more difficult tasks. I think that my text was too difficult even if the task was easy. I think I would definitely pick an easier video with less complicated words. G. I think this experience taught me a lot. It taught me how to wing it. It also taught me that teaching is unpredictable and that I should expect the unexpected. I was totally confident in my tasks, and boy was I kicked to the ground when they were not successful at all. I am glad I had this experience though because it has taught me that I need to have a backup plan and that I need to pick material that is not too difficult for students. If I have to pick between a super fun activity that is too hard and a little bit boring activity that is the right level for my students I will pick the boring one because no matter how fun, if you cant be successful you arent going to enjoy it. Students AND teachers need to see success in order to be motivated to keep trying. Its up to me as the teacher to choose the correct materials for my students.

Tutoring #2 -5/30/13 Pe-Listening Plural noun worksheet I did this activity so that Koko could know what to listen for, not all plural nouns have the same ending so by doing this exercise she can get more acquainted with the sounds and know what to listen for. Dictations: Dictation 1 As Europe emerged, from the Middle Ages, surnames became fixed. Then surnames were passed on and carried overseas. For most of history, people only had one name. Today we have first names, middle names, surnames, and nicknames. Dictation 2 Our names are important. They are not just labels. They also tell people about our families, backgrounds, cultures, our countries and beliefs. Our names are us. First names come from a broad variety of sources. Many parents find names for their babies in the religion they belong to. I chose these dictations because they arent too long and they were made for Kokos proficiency level. If a dictation is too long and hard it is almost guaranteed that students will give up. Summary We are good friends so before we started we just talked a little about what was going on with us and things like that and then we started. I started by saying ok this might be a little boring but I really think it will help so just do your best and it will be good. For the pre listening, I asked if she knew the rule for pronouncing plural s endings, like when the s makes an /s/ sound or a /z/ sound and she said no so I told her that when the end of the word end with a voiced consonant like car (and then I had her put her hand on her throat and say it so she could feel the vibration) then the word ends with a /z/ sound and if it ends with a non-voiced consonant like cake (did the same thing so she could feel the difference) then the word ends with an /s/ sound/. Then I read some words and had her tell me if they were plural or not. She got them all right and then we moved on to sentences and she got all those correct too. After that we did the dictation. After the dictation we went over her mistakes and went through every plural ending word and determined whether it ended with /s/ or /z/ and I answered all of her questions and we went on to the next dictation. She missed some of the plural endings but she did very well. I had her do an assessment and she actually said it was fun, which surprised me so I asked about it. She said it was fun because she could understand it. In class the dictations were too hard and she couldnt follow but this one was pretty good because she knew most of the words and there just a few she didnt know. After that we ended the session and went on our merry way.

D. I actually feel like my task was somewhat successful today! You could see the difference between the two dictations and see that Koko was getting better or at least starting to notice. She also said that she learned something new and that she actually enjoyed it, which completely surprised me. I figured she would be really bored because dictations arent fun and two dictations are twice as not fun. However she said she enjoyed it because she could understand the passage. F. One thing I might change about what I did is the order. I might like to give her the first dictation without doing any preparation to see how she does then go through all the pre-listening and teaching part and then give her the second one so we could better see how much she improved. I am not sure if this is the right way to go about it but it seems to make sense in my mind. I think it would have also been good to have Koko say the words herself. If she can say the difference she is more likely to hear the difference as well. G. This experience taught me a lot as well. It taught me that even if the topic or activity is kind of boring students might still enjoy it. When I gave Koko the self-assessment she wrote that she thought the activity was fun (quite frankly I was surprised and had to ask why) She said it was fun because she could understand most of the passages (she didnt know a few words). She said that in class a lot of the dictations are about psychology or other strange topics and that a lot of the time she had no idea what to write and didnt really understand any of it. So I feel like this i+1 concept is really important. Students can be motivated simply by the fact that they can actually understand most of the material and thus feel successful. Overall Reflection Overall I think this was a very good experience I feel like the most important thing that I learned while doing this is that materials and listening tasks need to be at the correct level. If it is too hard students lose motivation and feel like they cant do it, and I saw exactly this in my first tutor session, if it is too easy they get bored and start to lose confidence in you as the teacher who is supposed to know best. So if I take anything away from this it is that material should be comprehensible with a little challenge and that sometimes you have to wing it in order for that to happen so be prepared. One last thing I learned is that I really love teaching English, especially in a way that helps students progress.