Lifelong learning

On Wednesday, May 4, we will be discussing Lifelong Learning. In preparation for that event, I would like each of you to begin to think about ways to continue learning about current methods in TESOL even after you have left a structured TESOL program. To do that, search out one or two journals that publish articles on TESOL and language learning (you could do this online, through Googlescholar, through the library databases, or in the print journals in the library). Browse through the table of contents for several issues and find one article that interests you. Print out or photocopy that article and bring it to class with you. Before class on May 4, post the bibliographic citation to that article in the comments of this post.

Assessments!

Tonight, we'll be discussing assessment in ESL/EFL classes. For this blog assignment, think carefully about a test or assessment that you have taken at some point that you were unhappy with for reasons other than your own lack of preparation. What was the issue with this test/assessment? Was it an issue of reliability or validity? What kind, and in what way? Thinking back, what would have been needed in order for the test to give a higher level of reliability or validity?

Please answer with 2 paragraphs, one which describes the problems with the test, and another that suggests ways to fix those problems.

Responses should be submitted by classtime on May 4.

Demo Lessons

One thing that the mini lessons brought to the forefront for me was the importance of assisting students us use language skillfully, which means teaching real-life language as opposed to teaching grammar rules and scripted textbook language. I saw this demonstrated very effectively in the demo teaching of my classmates. Their lessons gave me insights into my own teaching because they were focused on what appropriate language is and how to develop the skills in students that would enable them to have meaningful interactions with native speakers and other L2 speakers outside of the classroom.

Another thing I saw the demo lesson exhibit was careful selection of materials conforming to their learners' English level. This made me more aware that input beyond the L2's level will result in no comprehension, and therefore, no persistence.

One last thing I gained out of the demo lessons was the realization that the optimal ESL learning environment is best structured in ways that increase learner participation and accountability in the process - i.e., teach them to perform both independently and interdependently.

Lessons from Teaching Demos

We've now had the opportunity to observe other students in the class teaching two times. Think about the teaching demos you have seen. Did you learn something new, like a new technique or a new activity? Did you learn something not to do, like a behavior or a task? Did you learn anything about yourself as a teacher, about teaching in general, or about what makes a good teacher?

Your blog assignment this time is to reflect upon what you learned from the teaching demos. This should be a personal reflection, and it is not your chance to criticize the teaching demos of your classmates, so please keep your comments polite and respectful and focused on your own personal lessons.

Not that this blog assignment should appear as a comment to this post, be a minimum of 1 paragraph in length, and should be completed by classtime on Monday, 4/25.

Assessing Speaking

Assessing speaking skills in any size class is a real challenge. The act of speaking is a complex process, and not very organized in that it does not go logically from one point to the next. Assessing the learner's communicative competence would be the overall objectve, but to accomplish that task, I would might have to consider that competence in selected areas most relevant to the task at hand. For example, if I chose an imitative speaking task such as sentence repetition, I would be listening for linguistic competence such as pronunciation. If I chose an intensive speaking task such as directed response, I could be checking logical order to assess discourse competence, linguistic competence (grammar and pronunciation), and maybe functional competence - did the learner complete the task. A responsive speaking task such as a picture-cued elicited description might put the communicative competence focus on the learner's ability to choose language appropriate for the situation, even as it considers pronunciation, grammar, fluency, etc. The point I am trying to make is that speaking assessment to be useful to both teacher and learner needs to be multi-dimensional in its approach, so as to better determine the learner's progress and growth in his communicative competence, and avoid evaluating one-dimensional, single-event testing, which might give the student the feeling that there are only certain dimensions of communication to be considered, when it is really about knowing how, when, and why to say what to whom in what manner.

Listening Assessment

Testing ESL listening fluency is difficult because you are not only testing the ability of the student to listen, but you are also testing ability in the other basic skills as well. He may hear what you ask him to do, but may respond incorrectly because he does not understand what to do. Still there are a variety of ways one can assess listening ability within the context of a small or larger class. For example, one could test through commands, starting out as a group exercise then moving in on asking individuals to perform a task. Reading a passage aloud and asking a series of questions about what they heard would be another. The difficulty of the task could be increased by varying the length of the passage from 2 or 3 sentences to a long paragraph. One-on-one conversational interactions to test listening would also be useful, but would be a bit more problematic in large classes. One thing I do at the outset of my classes is establish signals for when to listen, when to speak, and when to keep quiet. The finger on the ear is a good way to put them on point for listening to what is about to be said. I gravitated to the selective listening tasks because I see them as basic activities that can enhance a student's listening skills and can be easily woven into any classroom situation. As to when they are appropriate? Always and forever. Testing a learner's ability to listen and respond correctly is an ongoing teaching task, but it is especially critical in the ESL environment where understanding what the learner hears is essential for appropriate language production.

Assessing Speaking and Listening

In class, we talked a lot about teaching speaking and listening, and especially about incorporating these skills meaningfully into different lessons. Later in the course, we'll talk about assessment, but this blog assignment deals specifically with assessing speaking and listening. Take a look at pages 318-319 and pages 350-353 in the Brown book, which discuss assessment of speaking and listening. Choose one listening assessment and discuss it more in depth, especially in terms of how you might manage the assessment in a large (10+ students) class, when an appropriate time for assessment would be, and why you might choose that particular assessment type. Then do the same for speaking.

Note that you should have 2-3 paragraphs about the listening assessment, and another 2-3 paragraphs about the speaking assessment.

Also, note that this should be completed by Wednesday, April 20.

new lesson plan sheets

As noted in class on Wednesday, I've revised the lesson plan sheet for the second mini-lesson.  If you choose to just use my sheet, you'll find the word doc here, and the pdf here.

Week 10: Integrating skills

As TESOL professionals, we are sometimes asked to teach classes which focus on a particular skill, but, as we discussed in class, this does not mean that we ignore the other skills completely.  Think back to your first mini-lesson.  You likely targeted one or two skills in particular, but I want you to think about how you might integrate all the skills into that lesson. 

In responding to this blog assignment, you should post your response as a comment to this post.  First, review your mini lesson briefly, outlining the ways in which you targeted some particular skill or skills.  Then discuss in detail how you might integrate other skills into your lesson, and how this skills integration would improve the original plan.   Note that your response should be a minimum of two paragraphs in length, and should provide sufficient detail that we can (1) remember your lesson and what you did, and (2) imagine with you how the additional skills targeting would enhance the lesson.

Week 9: classroom management

This week, I want us all to think even more about different classroom management techniques, remembering that "Classroom management is a planned effort on the part of the teacher to make the classroom a comfortable place for students to learn" (Wesner 1999).   In adult classrooms, what we do and how we handle different situations is likely to be quite different from how we'd handle things with younger learners.  In this blog assignment, you'll have the opportunity to think specifically about classroom management with adults learners.

You will have two different aspects to your post:
First, go here to read about adults as learners. 

Second, go here to look at some tips on how to handle a number of different difficult situations in a classroom. 

Choose one of the situations from the second link that is relevant for you and your own teaching, and discuss (a) an additional way to handle such things, (b) an enlightening suggestion that the page gives, or (c) a similar situation in which one of those techniques worked (or didn't work).  Make sure to answer in light of what you read about adult learners, and include discussion of how possible techniques may not be appropriate for some age levels, cultural situations, etc. 

Your answer should be posted as a comment to this post, and should be at least 2 paragraphs long.

Part 2 of Blog Assignment

In the previous post, I had you list some online resources that you find to be particularly helpful.   Take a look at the different ones that other students in the class have posted.  Find one that you yourself have not checked out before and take a look at it.  On this post comment on what you think of that particular site.  What makes it a good resource and what advantages does it have?  What disadvantages does it have?  If possible, find an activity on that site that you think would be a good choice to use for a communicative activity in an ESL classroom (any age or proficiency level is fine, but you'd be smart to focus on your target group for your final project).  Post a link to that activity and tell why it is appealing to you.  Print out the activity, make at least 4 copies of it (for a total of 5), and bring it to class with you on Monday, March 7.

Note:  If you cannot find a good activity on the site new to you, you may return to one of your own favorite sites and find an activity there.  You will still need to bring 5 copies of that activity to class with you on Monday for our use in class.

Week 6 Blog Assignment!

Due to problems with the video camera, I have as of yet been unable to upload the teaching videos from Wednesday.  Hopefully I'll be able to upload them tomorrow.

For now, your blog assignment is to explore the web resources that may be most helpful to you as a TESOL professional.  To do this, google around and find some different activities that you might use as part of a lesson, either to go along with your mini-lesson or that would fit in elsewhere in your project.  Or, some pages that may not be as relevant for your project, but that you feel would be really helpful to you if you were actually teaching an ESL/EFL course.

As a comment on this post, list at least 5 different helpful websites that you found, and give a brief explanation of why you found that site to be a good one.  What kinds of resources does it provide?  How might you use them?  Is the activities on this site appropriate for all ages and proficiency levels, or only for some?  In other words, why might you recommend this site, and for what purposes?

Note:  We will discuss this blog assignment and some of the results that you are finding, on Monday, at which point I will add a second step to this assignment.  Overall, the entire blog (both this part and the additional part added on Monday), will be due the following Monday (March 7), by classtime.  You may choose to go ahead and post the first part now, or to wait and do the whole thing once you have the second part of the assignment.

Q4 - my ideal teaching situation

My ideal situation would center around teaching adults who are beginning ESL learners, pretty much to the type of class I am teaching now, and for the reasons I described in my previous blog. They want to learn, they are highly teachable, and they respond very positively to anyone willing to make a good effort on their behalf. The difficulties are real, as I mentioned before: their low-literate educational background demands a creative teaching approach; it is hard to assess and track their progress; intrinsic motivation will wax and wane because of the life situations with which they have to deal on a daily basis.

I am comfortable with this area of teaching as it parallels my previous teaching experience in East Africa where I taught secondary school students who were adults. The instructional context for that situation is very similar to that of the learners I am currently teaching.

But this is not to say that I would not be challenged. There is much to be learned from working with this ESL segment. Not a lot of research has been done in adult learner contexts. Therefore, the findings and lessons learned from those actively involved in teaching this population could contribute significantly to this field of endeavor. It would never be boring because I am sure I would be kept busy devising learning activities to increase the communicative competence of my pre-beginning and beginning adult learners.

Q3 - Other aspects

Q3 - Motivation. I have some comments to make on the issue of motivation in adult ESL learners. I am teaching a class of pre-level one learners - Hispanic working class adults with basic literacy in their L1, but not a lot of education in their background. They appear to have a positive attitude toward their ESL learning. Their major goals are to learn English either to get a job or function better on the job, deal with life situations in their community, and just be able to communicate better. Granted their motivation may vary day-to-day, depending on the task at hand; and there is extrinsic motivation being provided by the sponsoring organization - NDSM - in offering a grocery sack to those who attend 3 classes a week. But despite that, I think they still come because this is something they want for themselves, and they seem willing to sustain the activity for as long as circumstances permit.

Complicating their motivation, no doubt, are the endemic problems challenging this demographic overall: they are poor and highly mobile because of this; plus they have varied and sub-standard learning contexts, which make sustained progress difficult for them. These are also the same factors that make it hard to assess and track their progress in order to get better learning outcomes. But what I do see, and what motivates me as their teacher, is how much they want to learn and how teachable they can be.

What this all means in an instructional context is that I must maintain the self-motivation that is quite evident in this class, and make every effort to strengthen proficiency in their TL, particularly through conversation interactions. I sense that their attention is selective in that it is based on what they can both hear and understand. Capturing that moment when it occurs in order to give them productive language input will be the real challenge for me.

They are bonded as a group, and enjoy helping one another, which makes pair work a good option. The trick there is to pair a more proficient with a less proficient. They also respond well to full-class repetition and group choral repetition. My interaction with them is critical. I am finding that the more I am able to mix, mingle, and demonstrate, the quicker they are able to make a language transfer. Another important task for them is vocabulary - not just learning new words, but connecting words to a familiar task or situation. Lots of visuals. All of these approaches are ways that I think can effectively maintain the motivation that will keep them learning.

Blog Assignment #2

I viewed an episode of Kai-lan describing the Chinese New Year (Episode 111-24 minutes). The video featured vocabulary that people use in connection with this celebration. It included a lot of repetition and showed thechildren interacting with the items that made up the vocabulary words to be learned - all taught in a clear and fun way. From watching this one episode, I would conclude that the primary language value is vocabulary acquisition. And it does a good job of that - word presentation, recall throughout the video, allowing time for audience utterance.

As to its use as a teaching tool in an ESL classroom, I think there are possibilities, as long as the teacher keeps in mind that while these shows do teach a few words here and there, their primary purpose is not to teach a new language (as it is in an ESL classroom). What they can do is provide a creative way to launch an ESL lesson. Take the Kai-lan episode, ny way of illustration. It could be used to design a format for having students discuss their personal ways of celebrating the New Year. The lesson could be conducted as an open conversation on the topic, culminating in individual oral presentations to the class. It could be used to frame the vocabulary that students would use in group discussions/comparisons of how people observe this holiday, including their personal celebrations. If adapted for age and proficiency levels, I think there are useful lessons to be derived from showing children's videos. The video could be a novel point of interest, hopefully to gain student engagement for the language learning to follow. Teens/young adults might enjoy creating their own video in a similar style, which might be a good counter tactic to use in the event they considered viewing Dora or Kai-lan just too childish for words. Younger children would, no doubt, consider them a delightful way to transition to an English lesson since they love to participate in any bit of language they know.

Are they inappropriate in an ESL setting? Not if the teacher has a clearly defined language objective in mind when using them.

Question#1 Age levels

I am currently working with two different age groups: 1st graders in the 6 60 8 year range, and a class of adults, 18 to 40. Differences to consider include attention span, retention, interests, how fast they learn, motivation, and language ego. One obvious difference is the energy level. The 1st graders respond well to language stations, which allow them to physically and cognitively move through a variety of activities. This also deals with their short attention span. In contrast, my older learners have a more controlled attention span, but are not as spontaneous in their learning as the youngsters. The adults have more life experiences that you can work into lessons. The children are less inhibited when it comes to speaking; they like to participate in the language bits they know. Both groups need and appreciate recognition, and I find that the more I support them in making positive language communication, the more willing they are to engage in the learning process. I have also found that games and fun activities work equally well with both groups. While they all enjoy activities that let them interact with their classmates, I have observed that the adults collaborate better with each other. The children tend to battle for control, particularly when playing word games or competint to be the first one to answer questions. More structure and control is required to keep them on task.


One thing that I have found to be essential in working with both of my classes is taking the time to chat with the students and find out what they do in their free time and what they are interested in. In doing this I am better able to tutor and teach lessons based on topics they're interested in.


Returning to my observation that fun activities that work well with young learners can work equally well with adults, I think an interesting ESL lesson for both groups could be designed around the Kai-lan video I watched for the Blog #2 assignment. Let's say I wanted to have the classes communicate about the different ways people celebrate the New Year. Showing this episode to the class would be a good way to launch the communicative activities for this lesson. The 1st graders, I am guessing, would respond most enthusiastically. The focus here would be to guide them in identifying the things Kai-lan and friends did to observe this holiday. This could be done as a class exercise, followed by a visual depicting other countries' celebrations. The next activity would have them describe their own personal descriptions. They would now be ready to write down 3 to 5 ways people celebrate New Year. I would then ask for volunteers to give a little "talk" on New Year celebrations, using their list as a guide. Knowing this group, I would expect an almost 100% response.

The same activities could be carried out with not much adaptation in my adult class, albeit with more prompting and more encouragement to get them to engage. The main thing to bear in mind with any adaptation of materials for this lesson would be to peersonalize the tasks and keep it relevant to these learners.

Lesson Planning!

I haven't forgotten that I need to post regarding your lesson plans coming up, but I will return to that a little later today.

Okay, here we go!

First, decide on the contexts relevant to your teaching.  Recall that you have a final project that you will be doing for this class.  While it's not a requirement for your mini-lessons to be included as part of your project, double-dipping and including them should work to your advantage.  So, I suggest that you first think about the contexts (age level, proficiency level, type of class, any other relevant contexts) in which you will set your project, and then choose a mini-lesson that will fit within that in some way.  While it's not required reading, chapter 9 of the book discusses curriculum design, so you might consider at least glancing through it.

Second, choose what you want to teach about.  Try to choose your topic by communicative function, and not by grammatical point.  If you choose by grammatical point, then you will still need to find a way to make your mini-lesson focused on communicative, real-life English.  In other words, don't plan to teach a lesson about how to create passive sentences from active ones unless you are going to give the students practice in real-life communication that requires the use of passives.  Please do not simply teach us a grammar point without making it relevant.

Third, once you've decided on a general topic, you will need to plan for a 10-minute lesson, start to finish (with the number of people in the class, this first lesson just cannot be longer).  Suggestion:  take the time to read through any comments on Question #4 about ideal teaching situations.  See if anyone else commented on a preference for the same contexts that you are interested in.  If so, consider discussing team teaching with them.  On Monday, we'll be discussing many issues related to lesson planning, but reading chapter 10 of the book ahead of time could be extremely helpful to you!

Fourth, you will need to write up a formal lesson plan to turn in.  In doing this, you will need to realize that your mini-lesson is only 10 minutes of what would normally be a much longer class.  When you write up your lesson plan, you will need to tell what the larger goals and objectives of the class period are, as well as give some description of what comes directly before and directly after the 10-minute portion of your lesson, and how you transition into and out of the mini-lesson.  In addition, you will need to give step-by-step details of what your mini-lesson will include.

Please note that you should NOT plan to summarize your entire hour lesson during your mini-lesson!!!  You should actually actively teach a 10-minute lesson as if we were a group of ESL/EFL students that you were working with. Make sure that YOU are actively teaching (don't give us a handout and make us work on it for 8 minutes).

We'll definitely talk more about this on Monday, or you can email me if you have specific questions.  Meanwhile, I'll be emailing you tomorrow with the lesson plan format, which details the expected components of your lesson plan.  But you can preview it here:

Feb 9 Question #5: Apply your knowledge

You've had the chance to think about different contexts for teaching and learning, and now I want you to take that knowledge and apply it.  Let's find a lesson, and then modify it for a different age and proficiency level.

Valentine's Day is coming up, so let's use that as the theme.  Google around and find some classroom activities for Valentine's Day - make sure they are educational and that you can pinpoint a particular communicative objective!  Discuss at least 5 specific things you would change in order to make that lesson more appropriate for a different age/proficiency level, and tell why each of the changes would be appropriate, based on what we know about different contexts for learning and teaching.

Note:  If you so choose, the lesson you modify could also be the one that you teach for your first demo, but that is not a necessity. 

Feb 9 Question #4: My ideal teaching situation...

Chapters 6-8 (as well as the previous 3 questions) discuss different contexts for language teaching and learning.  Based on what you know about different teaching contexts, what do you think would be your ideal teaching situation?  What age and level would you most prefer to teach?  What other contexts would play into your dream job?  Think carefully about WHY these are your preferences?  How would those contexts best play to your own personal strengths as a teacher and individual?  Would you go with what you are familiar with, or with something totally new in order to challenge yourself?  Discuss as many details as you are comfortable with.

Note:  As you know, you will be doing a final project in this course in which you prepare a syllabus for a particular class.  You will have the opportunity to choose the relevant contexts for your course, and I'll want you to be prepared on Monday to make a firm decision about which specific age/proficiency level you'd choose to work with.  This question should help you prepare for this in advance and really think about why you would want to work with that particular age level, proficiency level, or other relevant context.  Even if you choose not to answer this question here on the blog, I suggest that you be thinking about it before you come to class on Monday!

Feb 9 Question #3: Additional contexts

In addition to age and proficiency levels, other contexts also affect how we teach and how our students learn.  These contexts include, for instance, cultural background of the students, whether the learners are EFL or ESL, whether or not the teacher is a native English speaker, and even the type of institution in which English is being taught.  Choose one specific context (other than age or proficiency), and discuss the practical considerations of that teaching situation.  Feel free to include personal experience, but refrain from (1) negative diatribes against any particular cultures, and (2) general stereotypical statements about any particular cultures.  If you want to criticize some particular aspect of a previous position you have had, please make your criticism specific to the particular teaching situation you were in, rather than assuming that all English teaching in that geographical location is subject to the same restrictions.

Feb 9 Question #2: Proficiency levels

We are all aware that our learners differ across proficiency levels.  But let's think about what this means.  To what does "proficiency" refer?  If we are teaching, for instance, an "Intermediate English" class, can we expect all of our students to be at that level?  Can we expect each student to be at that level in all different skills?  How is proficiency leveling potentially problematic?  How does proficiency play into how different levels of classes are taught?  Choose any two different proficiency levels (assume age level is identical) and discuss the differences and similarities between them in terms of teaching and learning.  Imagine that you wanted to teach the same functional concept to these two different levels - how would the lessons differ?

Feb 9 Question #1: Age levels

We are all aware that there are many differences between children and adult learners.  These differences range from cognitive development, to maturity level, to motivation for learning, and on and on and on.  Choose any two different age levels and discuss the differences and similarities between them in terms of teaching and learning.  Imagine that you wanted to teach the same concept to these two different ages - how would the lessons differ?

Online discussion for Feb 9 Snow Day

As we somewhat expected, today is a snow day.  However, rather than getting behind, I am going to post 5 different questions/topics/points related to this week's reading, and we'll discuss these online.  Here is how I envision this working:

1)  I do NOT expect you to simply answer the specific questions I raise.  The questions are to get you thinking, so that you can post some relevant thoughts about the topic.

2) I DO expect each of you to participate in at least 3 of the 5 discussion threads.  You can choose which ones, and you can address an issue that I brought up in the questions, raise a relevant question/discussion, or respond to a classmate's question.

3)  I do NOT expect that you will write the equivalent of an essay for any of these.  I DO expect that you will write something that shows you have thought about the relevant topic - this will probably require a bare minimum of one paragraph, and probably several.

4) Ideally, each student will have completed their participation no later than classtime on Monday.

Lemme know if you have questions!

A couple things of possible interest

I recently became aware of some things that you may find interesting:

First, here's an interesting job posting in San Antonio.

Second, the Tarrant Literacy Coalition is sponsoring a workshop on Feb 18 about informal assessments for English language learners.  RSVP's are required, and information is below:

How Do You Know What They Know?
Informal Assessments for English Language Learners

Speaker: Dr. Nancy Montgomery

Date: Friday, February 18, 2011

Time: 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon

Location: Catholic Charities
249 W Thornhill Dr, Fort Worth, TX 76115

About the Presenter
Dr. Nancy Montgomery will bring her wealth of expertise and years of experience from her work with teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL), as well as her hands-on approach to working directly with students in the classroom to this workshop!  She currently lectures at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and has been a presenter at national and international conferences on topics related to ESL in the area of literacy, as well as authoring textbook resources for ESL.

What makes this workshop especially relevant is her ability to share her knowledge in a way that will allow you to use it in your classroom on a day-to-day basis.  Her common sense approach to assessment and instruction will give you some great tools to put to immediate use in your classroom!

Overview of the Workshop
Participants will learn about the impact of formal and informal assessments with adult learners.  Examples of each type of assessment will be shared and discussed.  This session is appropriate for administrators, teachers, volunteers and tutors who work with adult students in all levels of ESL and adult basic education.

Sponsored by:
Tarrant Literacy Coalition
The Learning Center of North Texas
Catholic Charities
Space is limited to 25 participants. Advance reservations are required by Friday, February 11, 2011 (late reservations will not be accepted).

To make your reservations, email Angela at ahines@tarrantlit.org
In case of bad weather, the workshop will be held on Friday, February 25, 2011 at Southcliff Baptist Church, 4100 SW Loop 820, Fort Worth, TX 76109.  Please make a note of this date on your calendar and we'll keep you posted if we need to make this change.

First Reflections due tomorrow!

As you know, your first reflection is due tomorrow (Friday, Jan 28), by midnight.  These should be sent to me by email, preferably as a pdf.  If you have not yet started your service learning, make sure you send me an email (also by midnight tomorrow) to remind me of that in place of sending a reflection so that you are not penalized for a late reflection!! 

In terms of writing, because everyone is volunteering in different places, I like to allow you the freedom to discuss the aspects of your teaching, your knowledge, and your students that you want to.  However, I know that it's sometimes hard to come up with what to write, especially the first time.  Therefore, I am going to give you a prompt that you can focus on for your writing, if you choose to.  Please do not simply answer the questions!  The point is for you to use the prompt to guide possible things to write about, and the important thing is that you are discussing what YOU are learning from your volunteer teaching experience.

A possible first prompt:  Think about your expectations before your first meeting.  How did you feel?  Were you nervous or confident?  Prepared or worried about what to do?  Then think about how the class/session felt to you.  Were your expectations met?  In what ways?  What did you learn about yourself in terms of interacting with students in similar situations or on the first day of class?  Were you comfortable with it once you were there?  Why or why not?  What would you do differently if you could go back and teach that class/session again?

Also, if you have yet to start with a conversation partner, and you want some guidance and possible conversation prompts, here are some of my go-to sites for finding things like that.  Feel free to add to them if you have particular favorites of your own!
http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/topics_conversation.html
http://iteslj.org/questions/
http://www.esljunction.com/conversation_questions/
http://www.eslgenius.com/Conversation_Questions.html
http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/nov/conv.htm

Experiences learning with different methodologies (4353)

Blog Post #1 – for 4353 students
As discussed in class, there are many different methods that have been popular at different times and with different instructors of language classes.  Your goal for this blog post is to offer an example of a teacher (no names please) you have had who was clearly a fan of one particular method, and discuss how this affected your language learning.

Think back on a language course you have taken.  Pinpoint in your mind one specific method discussed in class that your teacher(s) used.  Think about the advantages and disadvantages of this method for your own personal language learning experience.

On the blog, discuss the use of that particular method and how its application affected your learning outcomes.  Specifically, do you feel that the use of this method helped or hindered your language learning?  Explain as thoroughly as possible, with clear examples, and support for your claims.  You should write 2-3 paragraphs about your thoughts, and they should be posted by classtime on Monday, as a comment to this post.

Functional vs. Structural Syllabus (5301)

Blog Post #1 – for 5301 students
As discussed in class, a functional syllabus is a way of organizing a language learning curriculum which focuses on communicative functions of language rather than sequenced grammar items (a structural syllabus).  Your goal for this blog post is to find an example of a syllabus and determine whether it is functional or structural.

Google around and find a language course syllabus, a textbook table of contents, or some other course schedule information.  Look it over and determine if you think the curriculum is organized more functionally or more structurally.  Is it a combination of both? Note that if you are not sure which it is, you are probably better off finding a different syllabus!

On the blog, post a link to your selected resource, and then explain your reasoning as to whether this resource is more functional or structural.  Be specific, as clear as possible, and plan to write 2-3 paragraphs about your thoughts.  Please make sure to post by classtime on Monday, as a comment to this post.