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.