Observation report-1

1. 3. Observation Report 2 Intermediate Oral Skills Laurie Frazier 04/02/12 I observed

Laurie Frazier’s ESL 230 (Intermediate Oral Skills) class from 2:30-4:25pm in Kolthoff
140. The class had eleven students from around the world. The majority of students were
from China, but there were a couple Arab students and one Spanishspeaking student. The
classroom itself was right next to a fire pump room, and it got quite noisy sometimes. The
noise did not seem to affect instruction while I was observing, but I could see how
outside noises could be distracting for a class, especially an oral skills class where
listening and speaking is the focus. The teacher started class by writing the day’s tasks on
the board. I could see how telling students what the plan is for the class could be helpful.
The teacher can reference the list and try to stay on pace with completing the lesson as
planned, and the students can reference the list and know what to anticipate during the
lesson. Allowing students to see the tasks for the class before class starts could help them
feel involved in the progression of the classroom activities. By being transparent with
students about the lesson plan, students can potentially more actively engage with the
lesson. After writing the tasks on the board, the teacher asked the students about their
weekend. She asked, “How many students spoke English over the weekend?” The class
then talked about their weekends and who they spoke English with. Some of the students
said they talked to sales people while shopping and another student said he talked to his
American roommate. He said his roommate was complaining about school, which lead
the class to discuss making small talk with people. This discussion transitioned well into
the next fluency activity. I think spending time asking students about their weekends and
how they used English outside of class engages students in a personal way. The
discussion allows students to share their experiences with each other, and it allows the
teacher to gauge which students are using English outside of class. The discussion also
allowed the class to talk about casual speech in every day settings like the mall or at
home. By relating the students’ experiences to speaking English, students may be able to
feel like all their experiences are valued in their English learning, even if they are outside
the classroom. The students then participated in a fluency activity where they stood in
two lines at the front of the room. The lines faced each other, and the students were asked
to talk about their listening homework assignment. The students were assigned to listen to
a news report online. The students were labeled A and B, then partner A was asked to tell
partner B about their assignment. Partner B was supposed to ask partner A follow-up
questions to obtain more information. The student roles were clearly defined, and it was
apparent that students had done this activity in previous classes. Before students began
speaking, the teacher asked the class how they can be good listeners and examples of
questions they could ask their partner to get more information. The example questions