Alternative medicine (Advanced class 2010)

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

What on earth are you eating? (Ele 3 Wed/Fri 2010)

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

What on earth are you eating? (Ele 3 Tues/Thur 2010)

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Water: facts and myths (Ele 3 Wed/Fri 2010)

The lesson focused on the topic of water -interesting facts and myths!
In addition the countable/uncountable expressions:how many/how much and quantifiers a lot/not much etc

Pronunciation warmer: /w/ /v/ and /b/ sounds.

1) Speaking activity:How much water do you drink? questionnaire.
The students interview each other and compare/discuss their answers with another pair.

2) Reading/discussion activity: water -facts and myths.
In pairs the students read/answer the questions and discuss their answers and then again with another pair

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Water -facts and myths (Ele 3 Tues/Thurs 2010)

The lesson focused on the topic of water -interesting facts and myths!
In addition the countable/uncountable expressions:how many/how much and quantifiers a lot/not much etc

Pronunciation warmer: /w/ /v/ and /b/ sounds.

1) Speaking activity:How much water do you drink? questionnaire.
The students interview each other and compare/discuss their answers with another pair.

2) Reading/discussion activity: water -facts and myths.
In pairs the students read/answer the questions and discuss their answers and then again with another pair.


From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Alternative Therapies

As most if the students are interested in becoming doctors they were interested in the topic if alternative therapies and there was quite of interactions,except for Nadia and Ibitsessen who are often quiet.Mariem was absent today.
I did mid term counselling with the students.
From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Food food (Ele 3 Wed/Fri

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Food! Food ! ( Ele 3 Tues/Thurs 2010)

The lesson focused on the topic of food and also recipies of the students'favourite dishes.
There weren't many students today.
Most of the interactions were by Samia,Sadri,Akrem and Allesandro especially when they were talking about their recipies and how to make the dish.
Bassem could interact more but often remains quiet.
Kais,Mouldi and Anouar could also interact more but their low level in thier grammar and vocabulary seems to prevent them doing the activities as quick as the other students and therefore interact more with their peers.
From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

20 10 2010! (Ele 3 class Wed/Fri 2010)

The lesson focused on the date 20 20 2010 and the first year of World Statistics Day and also the topic of the average British man and woman plus the average British shopping basket.

I did the 'Forfeits'warmer but the students found it difficult to think of questions either it's too early on the lesson for such a warmer or they need more practice of forming/asking questions.

The students enjoyed discussing the significience of the numbers(that referred to the average woman/man)and quite a few of them had given good examples of statistics(guess I could have written up a few of their examples).
The students also discussing/writing about the average Tunisian
man/woman and also the average Cameroonian man,(however I'd forgotten Rachida who comes from
Madgascar).
The students who interacted most,either discussing/explaining or asking or teponding were the students Mounir,Habib,Karima,Soumaya,Amos and Kouloud while the rest of the students were much quiter in their interactions often silent(maybe needing time to think about the information
and the sentences before speaking to the rest of their group).

It was interesting/useful eliciting information
From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

food!food! (Ele 3 class Tues/Thurs 2010)

The topic was food plus a revision of the language of asking for directions.

Warmer:'Forfeits'from Hadfield's 'Classroom Dynamics'.
The warmer should have been fairly easy but even though I did the activity with the whole class and an example pair,before dividing the class into two groups,the students were very slow to formulate questions and doing the forfeit of saying an appropriate sentence according to the instruction.
Not many students today,only 13.
The main interactions were more between the more fluent speakers:Allesandro,Akrem and Koubair.
Bassem doesn't really interact with the others more interested in himself.
Mouldi is too weak for this level to interact with the others.
Although Saimi has quite a good level
in her grammar and vocabulary,she is too shy and not really that fluent;often her pronunciation is weak.

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

World Food Day (CAE Class)

Today I did the World Food Day lesson which focused on the students doing a role play:the students took and on various roles on discussing the appalling waste of food by consumers and by supermarkets and the group of 'Fregans 'collecting up food thrown away by the supermarkets.

Interactions:
There was lots of interactions especially with Farrah and Sara being the chairpersons;they handled the meeting very well in particular Ahmed who was annoying and irrating with his jokes and silly remarks.Farrah and Sara also
directed the flow of the content of the meeting very expertly from one group to the other.
Farrah summed up the main points well and also put forward some recommendations.
The 'farmers'and the 'World Food 'group were very vocal.
Tatyani as lone representative for the Fregans participated but in general seems to be working alone and isn't really integrating with the other students.
Some of the students(Tania and Ibissen) were quiet in their participation.

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Getting Around Tunis/Asking for Directions(Ele 3 Wed/Fri class 2010)

Yoday 's lesson, the focus was on the topic of public transport;getting around Tunis and Asking for directions.


From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Getting Around Tunis/Asking for Directions(Ele 3 Tues/Thurs class 2010)

Yesterday 's lesson, the focus was on the topic of public transport;getting around Tunis and Asking for directions.

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Holiday Postcard(Ele 3/Wed/Friday class 2010)

The students revised Present Continuous and also developed their writing skills via writing a holiday postcard.

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?
 

Holiday Postcard!(Ele 3/Tues/Thurs/ class 2010)

The students revised Present Continuous and developed their writing skills via a holiday postcard.
In addition asking and giving directions.

Began the class with a video of the song 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega to revise Present continuous.The students watched the video and wrote down what the people in the song were doing and then compared first in pairs and then in groups of fours.The students enjoyed coming up with their ideas.The students then watched the video and listened to the song to complete the song.The students wrote a conversation between the girl
in the video and a person coming into the cafe.
The students then practised their dialogues and read put them
out.There was lots of interactions between the students but the students who arrived late missed out on the beginning of the lesson.
The usual students were the ones who were quiet:Anis(a weak level)and Sami(a good level but her pronunciation is very poor).In each group there was someone who was the main secretary and one person who was mostly silent during the activities.
From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

University in England

The students were lively as usual and there was lots of interactions but unfortunatley it was mostly in Arabic or French,so very disappointing especially as it's a CAE class.

In the second part of the lesson the topic of studying at an university in England arose so it I showed the British Council Learn English video on the situation for  British students studying at an university in England.
From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Introduction to British Council Elementary Podcasts(Ele 3 Wed/Fri class 2010)

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

In the street(Ele 3 Tues/Thurs 2010)

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

When a man is tired of London (Ele 3 Wed/Fri 2010)

The lesson focused on the topic of London and the difference between the tenses Present Simple and Present Continuous plus the song 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega.

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide the writing of the journal:

1. Discussing/making New Year Resolutions:  Group 1: Elementary 3 The lesson focused on the topic of London and the difference between the tenses Present Simple and Present Continuous plus the song 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega.

1. Did the students contribute actively to the lesson? Yes, by interacting with each other in pairs and in groups when discussing the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous. 2. Were the students challenged by the lesson? They liked the challenge of working out/understanding the difference between the two tenses. 3. What did the students learn from the lesson? The students learnt the difference between the tenses Present Simple and Present Continuous. 4. Did anything amusing or unusual happen? In group 1 there's a lot more interactions taking place compared with group 2 Elementary class, which could be because of the background of the students: a balanced mix of male/female students and a wide range of nationalities and also a higher level of English. This group, when eliciting information about London this group's schemata was so much better. In addition the students were able to do the activities much more quickly than the other class so I was able to end the class with the song 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega; the students watched the video of people in the cafe and noted down what the people were doing (a fun way to consolidate work on Present Continuous).The students watched the video and completed the gaps(in Present Continuous)in the song. Some of the students were humming to the song while listening so they seemed to enjoy the song! 5. Were there any problems that occurred?  None. 6. Which part of the lesson was most successful or least successful? The students really enjoyed finding out interesting information about London and also the song ‘Tom’s Diner’ to consolidate their understanding of the Present Continuous.

When a man is tired of London(Ele 3/Tues/Thurs 2010)

Today's lesson focused on the differences been Present Simple and Present Continous and the topic of London and places of interest.

From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide the writing of the journal:

The  Song ‘Tom’s Diner’ and the difference between Present Continuous: Group 2: Elementary 3 For this lesson rather than do the topic of London and end the lesson with the song I decided to begin the lesson with a song focusing on the difference between the tenses Present Simple and Present Continuous via the song 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega.

1. Did the students contribute actively to the lesson? Yes, by interacting with each other in pairs and in groups when discussing the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous. 2. Were the students challenged by the lesson? They liked watching the video and writing down what the people in the song were doing and then comparing, first in pairs and then in groups and also the challenge of working out/understanding the difference between the two tenses. 3. What did the students learn from the lesson? The students learnt the difference between the tenses Present Simple and Present Continuous. 4. Did anything amusing or unusual happen? The students were much more animated in their interactions and produced a higher level of language structures and vocabulary. The students enjoyed coming up with their ideas. The students then watched the video and listened to the song to complete the song. The students wrote a conversation between the girl in the video and a person coming into the cafe. The students then practised their dialogues and then read them out. There was lots of interactions between the students. In each group there was someone who was the main secretary and one person who was mostly silent during the activities. 5. Were there any problems that occurred?   The students who arrived late missed the beginning of the lesson and therefore the song. The usual students were the ones who were quiet:Anis(a weak level)and Sami( high level). 6. Which part of the lesson was most successful or least successful? The students really enjoyed the song ‘Tom’s Diner’ to consolidate their understanding of the Present Continuous. The song was more motivating for their learning.

Reading between the Lines (CAE class/Sept 2010)

In today's lesson I revised some of the vocab from last week's lesson via a vocab cards where the students have to give a definition of the word/expression on the card and their partner have to guess the word.
Did a warmer actvity from British Council Learn English;the 'How to ' video section in which a colleague pays another colleague a compliment.The students enjoyed watching the video and then did a matching vocab activity and also did a role play activity complimenting their 'colleague'
Warmer:word bank from the Flo Jo CAE web site(later look at the reading section)

Focus on developing reading skills:

During the reading pre discussion
on what kinds of books they read,whether they were 'fast' or 'slow' readers one of the students said he his reading skills were actually better in English than in Arabic;some of the other students said reading in Arabic was really difficult.


From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?

Neighbours from Hell! (Ele 3 Wed/Fri Sept 2010 )

The lesson focused on the topic of neighbours and the different problems that you can have with them.Also there was a focus on
present continuous.

Ian the new Senior Teacher observed the class for half an hour and it was useful to have someone note down the interactions taking place.Like me he had noticed for the first group activity,where the students were noting down the different prolems with neighbours,that a person in each group was the 'secretary'.Also due to the class being Elementary some of the interactions was taking place in French.
The students who did most of the interactions were Amos,Soumaya,Mounir,and Yemna.

In the last lesson,I'd showed the 'Big City Small Word' section of the British Council Learn English Central web site and at the end of today's class Soumaya showed me her notebook;she said liked the episode 'Injured Football Player' and in fact had written down the vocabulary from the pre-task activity!
http://c0953132.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/BCSW-s01-e09.mp3


From the book Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms,Richards,J.C.,in the chapter,approaches to classroom investigation,some important procedures are recommended:
Bailey 1990,Porter et al.1990,Walker 1985 state that it's important to make entries on a regular basis and immediately spend time after the lesson in writing up about the lesson
In addition to review the journal entries as some things which were not obviously apparent might appear so later on.

On page 16 Richards,J.C. mentions some reflection questions to guide thé writing of the journal:
What did you set out to teach?
Were you able to accomplish your goals?
What teaching materisls did you use?
What grouping arrangements did you use?

Did anything amusing or unusual occur?
Did you discover anything new?
Did students contribute actively to the lesson?
Were the students challenged by the lesson?
What do you think the students really learned from the lesson?
What did they like most about the lesson?
What didn't they respond to?