Class on 9-22-2008

I was initially pretty uncomfortable with the entire concept of this multi-genre project. I chose "humor in the TESL classroom" for my topic, and I was growing increasingly apprehensive about how we were going to report on using humor to teach English. But, my group and I talked it over, and I'm now feeling MUCH more comfortable with this as a topic. I think that this project is going to be rather enjoyable, and I'm really looking forward to the outcome.

Aside from assuaging my fears on the multi-genre project, class made me (once again) very aware of the differences between undergrad and graduate school. Obvious differences aside, I always notice how much enthusiasm my fellow students have for school. It's obvious that they're there because they want to be, and not because they have to be. It's a nice change. :-)

Reaction to 9-15 class

I liked the activity we played in class. It gave me a chance to stretch my legs and get my blood flowing, and to meet more people. I didn't know the material as well as I thought I did, but I manged to figure out who my partner was supposed to be, thanks mainly to some generous clues. I also learned a very important lesson from Dr Smidt: Know how much is too much. As an ESL teacher, it will be my job to monitor my class during activities and determine if it's an effective and challenging activity, or if the students are merely becoming frustrated. While I didn't have any problems with what we did, I could definitely see how some students would become frustrated with such a task. I think Dr Smidt taught us all a very important idea that wasn't in the text, and I hope that I can remember to stay vigilant and remember to always observe how my class is feeling.

Reading for week 5

I like lists. There's a website that I frequent which is called Digg that frequently displays "Top Ten" lists (such as this list of the top ten reasons for making top ten lists) and I enjoy them because they provide me with a format that is much easier for me to follow than traditional print. That's why I enjoyed chapter 7 of L&S so much. Even though a lot of content was given, I could follow it much more easily than plain text.

Number 17 on the list caught my eye at the beginning of the semester, and again tonight. I've always know that anything can be taught to anybody, given the proper teacher, and I've often believed this to be true, even if the student doesn't understand the language of instruction. I tested my theory in my Wednesday evening class and even though it's far from a conclusive study, students can learn to use Picasa even when they're instructed in a language they don't understand.

Number 16 also spoke to me. When I was in Madrid, I had a wonderful teacher named Sara (without an H!) who would always correct our grammar as the words left our mouths, giving us a chance to IMMEDIATELY correct ourselves. I loved that she did this, and she taught me a lot about Spanish and also about teaching and proper correction. This also tied in with number 12. Even though some students may feel discouraged when they are constantly corrected, I enjoy it and learn best from it because the context is still fresh in my mind.

f1r5t p05t!!!!111oneoneone

I didn't know what to expect during my first class. It was my first graduate level class, and I was very, very surprised at the amount of interaction between the Esther and the class, and as the class went on and various methods were mentioned, they stuck in my head because Esther was not only teaching them to us, she was USING them. Simultaneously, it was wonderful and fascinating to see a professor using the material being taught in class. My undergrad degrees were in foreign languages, so I saw the material being used on a daily basis, but there was little "practice" being taught. Spanish doesn't have a lot of "theory" attached to it, and one could argue that there is no approach to speaking Spanish, you just do it.

I had a few emotional breakdowns those first two weeks of class, caused by the amount of work I had to do for each of my three classes, and I had to do it with the spare time I had after working full time and being a decent member of my family. A large contributor to that pool of stress was my looming presentation on the assigned readings for the week. I was well aware that during undergrad, I put work off until the last possible moment. I work phenominally well under pressure, but I knew that had to change for grad school. All of that led me to volunteer for the first presentation.

I liked being in front of the class. I like giving presentations, and I love being able to interact with groups. I thought the presentation went relatively well, but Esther gave me some advice that will help me hone my technique for next time. I'm aware that I don't work well in groups, and that habit reared it's ugly head during our presentation. I didn't let Veronika talk. I got nervous and mildly inspired, and I led the class on a wild goose chase of a discussion. During all of that, I nearly forgot there was someone else who was supposed to be helping me present.

Hopefully, I'll have a better APPROACH and METHOD for next time. :-)