FSU TEFL Certificate Course Summer 2024

  Date/Time:     June 3rd 11-11:50 Topic/Skill: reading Teacher Presentation: Memorial Day essay Classroom Management: the teacher timed the prese Materials: projector, computer Student Participation: teacher called on students and had an active discussion after reading the essay Feedback Provided: the teacher explained what Memorial Day is and provided visual aid for new vocabulary  Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: Reading interesting stories can provide as a helpful teaching aid for class engagement.

  Date/Time: June     3rd 1-1:50 Topic/Skill: speaking Teacher Presentation: environment  Classroom Management: The class was centered around conversation. She introduced new topics and vocabulary as the conversation progressed. Materials: Classroom curriculum book Student Participation: the students spoke about their environments in their home countries and their experiences here in Tallahassee with the recent tornado. Feedback Provided: the teacher had students pronounce words over again when they misspoke and gave them space to think about what they wanted to say. Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: current events help bring relatability between the teachers and students.

  Date/Time: Monday June 3rd, 10-10:50 Topic/Skill: grammar Teacher Presentation: contractions Classroom Management: the teacher timed her presentation so the students had enough time to complete their activities  Materials: projector, PowerPoint  Student Participation: the teacher had the students make contractions by giving them sentences with the longer form. For example, she wrote “we are” and the students responded with “we’re”. Students helped each other with the lesson as well. Feedback Provided: The teacher provided encouragement and corrected mistakes when they just couldn’t get it. Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: Student’s can help teach students.

Date/Time: Monday June 3rd 9 am Topic/Skill:Possessive Pronouns  Teacher Presentation: listening Classroom Management: students listened to audio recordings 3 times and did their worksheets that accompanied  Materials:projector, laptop, image search on google, course curriculum book Student Participation: The classroom was interactive and the students were eager to learn. They had a good rapport with the teacher. Feedback Provided: the teacher explained the students mistakes after their second attempts Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: speak slow, be patient, and listen for understanding 

  CO Blog Date/Time: May 6th 2:24 pm Topic/Skill: Listening skills Teacher Presentation:  the teacher presented an audio description of workbook pages Classroom Management: the teacher used google docs to grade assignments as soon as they were done. Materials: Computer, google docs, WhatsApp  Student Participation: The students asked questions about the material  Feedback Provided: The teacher actively corrected the student assignments  Lesson(s) on teaching you learned: the process is slow and repetition is important with listening material 

Date June 12 4pm  Location Hetch House  Celebrating Milestones: Reflecting on Progress: Pouya’s journey has been impressive. We reflected on his achievements so far, highlighting the areas where he's excelled and outlining future learning goals. To wrap it up I played him a song about endings and goodbyes to close our chapter. We deconstructed the meaning through repetition and detecting word stress and tone. He was able to use context to explain the words he missed. We did a fill in the blank page for his notes.  While reflecting I realized language learning is extremely complex and a proper technique is imperative for success. 

 Date: 06/12/2024 Location Hetch House  Speaking with Confidence: Everyday Scenarios Role-Play This session focused on speaking patterns and common everyday situations. We started with simple greetings and progressed to more complex scenarios like ordering food at a restaurant. The aim was to practice expressing specific needs while building upon existing knowledge. I learned enunciation takes practice and a good example is important to start with.  The wrong pronunciation can change the meaning of a statement in some cases so it is important to be mindful of the way you say a word.

 Date: 6/10/024  Location Hetch House  In this lesson, I incorporated reading and speaking. Pouya read his essay to me and I provided discussion questions so that we could discuss his ideas further. This provided space to expand on thoughts he would’ve usually stayed away from due to being unable to communicate the thought.  I learned that encouragement can help a student get comfortable with going outside of their comfort zone. 

 Date June 6th 4pm Location Hetch House  The focus today was writing and composition. This lesson I let Pouya write his ideas in a short essay. I was able to provide assistance when he needed and check for mistakes periodically.   I learned that Pouya excels when he has references and he actively makes connections to other English words he’s familiar with.

 Date: June 6 Location: Hetch House  We did a compare contrast activity with a venn diagram as essay planning practice. Today we wrote about the similarities and differences between the US and Iran. We shared information and by the end of the session we left with a deeper knowledge of each other’s ideas about the environments, the politics and culture.   I learned about Pouya’s culture and his ideologies. I realized that foreign countries and the people that live there are sometimes different than how they are portrayed in the media. It’s good to hear stories first hand. 

  Date :May 28th Location: Hetch House  Today we listened to a song, Grenade by Bruno Mars. I had him listen to pieces of the song rather than whole. We examined the hyperbolic elements in the lyrics and the idioms that came up. This was enjoyable and level appropriate. I learned sad songs are generally slower and easier to understand when it comes to music being used as listening material. 

 Date:  May 23, 2024 Location: Hetch House  Today we focused on writing. I helped him write a letter. We went over the purpose, format, vocabulary and grammar in this lesson. I gave him visual aids as reference and a quick example of my own email. He did extremely well grasping the concepts and applying the information. I learned that visual aids can carry the lesson smoothly if they are used correctly.

Date: May 21, 2024 Location: Hetch House  Cultural Nuances: Understanding Idioms and Slang. Language goes beyond vocabulary; it's about cultural context. We explored idioms, slang, and cultural references to equip Pouya with the ability to navigate social situations effectively. I gave him a passage with idioms and we deconstructed it together. Today I was reminded that I, as a tutor have different understanding and perception of the world due to cultural knowledge and so does my tutee. It’s important to use my knowledge of culture and integrate it into English lessons so that my students can have a proper foundation for slang and idioms.

  Date: May 17 3:00pm Location: Hetch House  In this lesson we focused on independent learning strategies: Empowering Language Growth. This session focused on empowering him to learn independently. We discussed resources like podcasts, techniques, and study habits for self-directed language acquisition.  Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: We learned about podcasts and reading recourses that can be found in pdf form through google scholar.

  Date :   May 15 3Pm Location: Hetch House Building Rapport: First Meeting with Pouya This post details my initial encounter with Pouya. We explored his current language abilities through questionnaires and discovered areas for improvement. He really wanted to focus on speaking. I got to know him a bit and experience conversation with him to get a gauge of his level. He was lower intermediate and ready to learn. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I got to know Pouya and his situation personally and was able to make a diagnostic by pulling information from our interaction.

 Date: 06/15/2024 Location: Hetch House For our last interaction I incorporated reading, writing, and speaking. We described something exciting that happened in our recent past. I went first to provide background and example.    I wrote it out prior to us meeting so I read what I had. I used facial expressions and word stress to communicate my experience and to add excitement to the story.    I then gave him a short checklist to use and my writing as example for his. He gave it to me after a few minutes and I checked for meaning and corrected his grammar. I then had him read it to me and after that we concluded our lesson.  Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Incorporating reading, writing, and speaking is fulfilling but can sometimes be challenging because it’s easy for the lesson to become overshadowed by one aspect. Time management and structure is very important for this not to happen. 

 Date: June 4, 2024 Location: The Union We listened to music to find meaning through inflection. He shared his favorite song and I shared mine.     It was a popular song by Justin Bieber with a slow pace which allowed for clear pronunciation. I replayed certain parts a few times and did fill in the blanks with him. I encouraged him to try to pronounce those words and gave him examples of those same words used in a sentence.   Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: It is important to be intentional about level appropriate listening material. Songs are harder to choose for a lesson because of factors like pace, rhythm, idioms and so on..

Date: 05/31/2024 Location Hetch house As a continuation to the previous lesson about culture in Burkina Faso and Jamaica, we connected our experiences to that of America. We examined aspects such as culture and the culture shock that an immigrant can experience being in such a different environment, especially without English as a first language. We spoke about the differences in community and the last thereof.  Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: It was a great opportunity to teach the diversity of the USA and expand his perspective from just his experience in Tallahassee. I shared locations he can visit to have a lively experience of the city.

 Date: May 23, 2024 Location: Hetch house  Today we focused on speaking. We talked about his country (Burkina Faso) and my jhome country (Jamaica). We did a compare and contrast activity with aspects of the culture, geography, and education. Communicating the general experience of living there was our main objective. I went first so he had references and I introduced new vocabulary as we went through the conversation.   Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: We learned about the diversity of each other’s culture. 

  Date: May 17th Location: Hetch House Today we focused on speaking and language patterns. We role played scenarios that the average person will frequently come across. We started with greetings just for review and then we got into more difficult territory such as ordering from a restaurant. This was reinforced information, as he’s already learned how to place an order but it is important to communicate need. Therefore, I tried to add variation to the information he already knew to prepare him to go into more details if he ever needed to.   Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: language learners usually engage better when the subject has practicality and use.

 Date May 13, 12pm Location: Hetch House Today we made a presentation. Mounir came prepared with the content and I helped him navigate PowerPoint. I taught him the main controls and to convey the messages through paraphrasing. I could tell he found paraphrasing a little difficult so I showed him some examples to possibly make it clearer. He learned how to site his sources and create a good hook for his audience. I feel like we covered good material this lesson. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: When teaching, it’s important to consider the softwares and programs students have to learn to use. For example, PowerPoint had unfamiliar vocabulary and commands.

 Date May 11, 11AM Location: zoom Mounir and I worked on speaking today. I used the job interview questions used in the previous lesson and asked them out loud. This turned into a role played conversation which went pretty well. Especially considering the fact that he had a strong schema due to the prior lesson. I introduced and reinforced vocabulary to him such as “salary, independence, collaboration”.   Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Role playing activities are highly engaging and help bring purpose to the lesson.

 Date: May 6, 3PM Location: Hetch house Mounir and I worked on writing today. I gave him a sheet him job interview questions based on his desired job in the future. He wants to be a pro soccer player so I focused my questions in that area. An example question is, “what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?”. He completed the exercise with my help. We focused on fluency.   Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:  I learned that my tutee benefits from a context driven lesson and that I should moderate my speed when teaching him.

    Feedback provided to the tutee: Mounir stated he needed help with reading comprehension so we worked on an article with questions at the end.     He already started working on it prior to us meeting so the first thing I did was read the article and revise the questions he had already answered. I advised him that the article was far more advanced than his skill level and encouraged him to try a more understandable material.   Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:  I learned that my tutee is eager to learn and will stop at nothing to acquire his second language.

  1/10 April 30th, 12pm  Location : Hetch House Feedback provided to the tutee: Today was the first time I met with Mounir. I got to know him through diagnostic questions. We were able to communicate and share our thoughts with a few vocabulary limitations. Once we got to know each other a bit, I gave him an intermediate grammar test to see his proficiency, he scored 8/12.  Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: This gave me insight on where I should put my teaching efforts.