(the class for “slower” learners—FLO’s description, I don’t know what the “correct” word is. Enlighten me please. Thank you.)

Today was our first “class,” though it “officially” begins on Monday the 22nd when the Ss will receive their books.

The Ss who will be starting Gogo Loves English 2 at some point (no one seems to know when) also came to class this morning. ST1 told me that they’d rather be in my class than just go play. So I simply asked them to sit in the back.

“Why?”

So that I could clearly see who the Ss in this class (officially) are. (I offset “officially” because I’m learning that things are very fluid in Cambodia; something will be planned, but that’s not necessarily what will be done. It may be done, or it may be done slightly differently, etc.) Of course the Ss from the other level were welcome, but I didn’t want them to call out the answers to something that was new for the Gogo Loves English 1 Ss. It worked out fine with them sitting in the back; they watched the class and mostly restrained themselves from calling out the pronunciation of words.

First, I made sure that all Ss in GLE 1 had made their name cards; there were 5 who hadn’t. Then I called all the GLE1 Ss to come up front. I shifted the desks some so that they could gather around my computer. I’d wondered if it would work with 17 Ss; it did. The audio level was high enough and they could see the screen. I played the Silent E song from the Let’s Start Smart Long Vowel Word Families DVD (which I played for the more advance Ss earlier in the week).

Whereas I was able to include a fairly long list of words (mentioned in my post on Tuesday, August 16^th) with the other class, I only included 4-sets (8-words) with this class: tot/tote, kit/kite, rip/ripe, pet/Pete. I also only played the song once. I had my flashcards on-hand and went through these 8-words. To elicit the meaning, I drew on the board and mimed different actions representing the words. To confirm their understanding, I asked simple CCQs, such as, “I fly a  . . .” “Kite!” they called out. The most difficult words for them in terms of pronunciation were: rip/rip and pet/Pete.

To mix it up a little and add variety to the lesson, I then called them up to stand up and form a line (this introduced nicely the phrases/words, “Stand up.” “Sit down.” “A line.”) One by one they pronounced a word, some correctly, some incorrectly. Regardless of their performance, I asked them to go to the back of the line. This continued for several passes for each student.

From this exercise, I could see that some still had problems with the words. (Duh! They’d just been introduced this. : ) So after these initial rounds, I asked them to sit again, and I reviewed the 8-words with the Ss. Holding up a card, putting my hand on my ear, “rip,” “Ripe!” some would call out. But sure enough, there was always at least one, if not two or more, who knew the correct pronunciation. After going through the words in this manner, I then called on specific Ss. Repeating, repeating these same 8-words.

When it looked like most were “getting” them, I asked them once again to form a line. This time when they answered correctly, I said, “Awesome!” raised my arm for a high-five, and asked them to sit down. It came down to about 3-Ss who still had problems. I noticed before when I was “assisting” in the review lessons with STs 1 and 2 that these same couple of Ss had more difficulties learning. Just after class I spoke with the director about some things on my bullet list (I need to renew my visa next Monday, I’d like to get a lot of copies of the alphabet work sheet, I’d like to get a lot of copies of lesson plan templates*, etc.), I also mentioned that a few Ss need extra help. He suggested that some of the visiting volunteers . . .

(It’s interesting how I’m not really in that group any more when speaking with the director . . . yesterday Rob went so far as to say that I’m the “best” volunteer they’ve ever had . . . hmm . . . that’s cool . . . but does that mean I feel pressure to keep it up? Nah, my goal is to continue to have fun learning, teaching, and simply being here at FLO. : )

. . . could work individually with these Ss. Hmm, now I need to look through my photos and find their names. The list of student names I want to learn has jumped from the initial 64 to 111 (32 + 32, 64 + 9; 73 + 17; 90 + 21!) !!! Wow, that’s a LOT of names!

Okay, back to today’s first meeting with the first of two Gogo Loves English 1 classes per day (with younger Ss, How young? About 7 to 13-years old.)

What did I learn?

I learned that it takes a long time to really go over new words/ideas/pronunciations/etc. I learned (confirmed) that I do need to break it down into bite-sized chunks for them (like I did today). I learned that they love it when the “get” it and receive a high-five from the teacher. I learned that some really do learn more quickly than others. I learn that some who learn more slowly CAN learn; they just need a little extra attention. I learned that I do like working with the younger Ss; they’re just so excited to learn!

Now, what else is on my agenda for the day?

-Finish the next “chapter” of my “Patty, the Pig” story for the two different level of classes this afternoon (with the older Ss). I’m including “I’d like to,” “I hope to,” and “I want to” from this week’s lessons (in the story). I prepared the lesson plan last night except for this part.

-Teach the 1 p.m. class with the 21-younger Ss who are also going to “officially” start Gogo Loves English 1 on Monday. This class is with student teacher number 2 (ST2).

-Prepare my list of what I was a lot of copies of. Organize the names cards into the appropriate group. Organize the photos for copying into a word doc and printing. (Okay, this last item will most probably be pushed back to later in the day or for this evening.)

-Teach my 3 and 5:45 p.m. classes.

-Mark their stories which they’ll be writing in today’s lesson.

Yesterday after my 3 p.m. class, I met with the two student teachers. We discussed (okay, I talked mostly) what we plan to do over the course of the next 4-weeks (while I’m still here at FLO). Essentially, I told them that I want to think about it first, write the initial lesson plans, and then add more for them to do in regard to the planning, etc. I’d like to think it through first and give them a model (okay, several models).

Later last night as I thought about it, I realized that I really should prepare the very formal CELTA-style lesson plans for these Gogo Loves English 1 classes.**

“What? You haven’t been doing that?” you ask.

“Well, not exactly,” I reply.

Part of what I didn’t particularly enjoy while studying in Bangkok this past June were the many, many hours I spent typing into my word doc template my lesson plans. I really didn’t mind writing them (I enjoyed this, in fact.), but I found it to be annoying to type them in that awkward word doc. (I still think an Excel file would be better, or maybe the combination of the two, but I never had the time to design a template.) I think I’ve come up with the perfect solution (read below).

So, it’s 10:37 a.m. and I have my next class at 1 p.m.; lunch is at noon. Time to get to work!

Aloha everyone. I hope you’re well, happy, and enjoying your summer (wherever you may be : ).

In the Divine Light which encompasses us all,

-sj

*lesson plans. Bright idea from last night. Delegate the typing of the lesson plans into the computer to the student teachers! They will (hopefully) learn while doing so, they’ll see an example, and I won’t have to do it! Yahoo! Sounds good to me. As a self-employed person for the past 25-years, the idea of delegating is new to me. I like the thought of it!

**A lot of copies of the lesson plan templates? Why?

FLO is essentially asking me to train these two young student teachers (ST1 is 17-years old; ST2 is 20) how to teach. The director gave me a sheet yesterday that I surmise is the current teacher’s lesson plan. It’s an outline of the subject matter with a note that it will take 2 to 3 lessons or 2 to 3 weeks for any given item. There’s no more detail noted than that basic information. So when I prepare the lesson plans, I expect that they will continue to use them as a guide. Also, I plan to assist the student teachers as they look ahead for the lessons, which will follow my departure.

Ah, this leads me to a very important side note. Rob Hail, founder of eGlobal and major supporter of FLO, would really like to see a more developed volunteer program evolve where trained and/or experienced ESL teachers sign-up for specific time period. For example, I depart on September 17^th. Who wants to sign-up to start teaching on the following Monday the 19^th? And ideally arrive my final week, so that I can show you the ropes????? Enquiring minds want to know! : )