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.