Teaching Speaking Day 3

Today was the same group as Day 2. Some students on the list seem to have stopped attending, so I was prepared to modify my group assignments to accommodate the absences. All the tech was working and I was able to play the videos and display the discussion prompts on the board.
Some whole class discussions and transitions took longer than I allowed for, so there was not time for discussion of the final video or for the closure discussion at the end of the plan. However, because this is a less formal speaking class, this is preferable to having too few activities for the students to do.

Teaching Speaking Day 2

This was the same course as the first day, but because it is a less formal speaking class, some students have left to return to their home countries, and some new students have joined the class midway through the term.

Also, because some classes have more students and some have fewer, there was a room change to a different building that I was not aware of until just before the class started. Thus I was not able to check if my computer was compatible with the projection equipment, and I found on arriving that I could not connect to the projector due to a difficulty with the cable. I had my files on a USB drive, and was eventually able to connect with my sponsor teacher's computer. The teacher is going to inform tech support of the problem with the cable, and I will also bring my own alternate cable if they are not able to repair it.

Teaching Speaking Day 1

Over the last three weeks, I have been observing a speaking class with a a focus on Canadian culture. Each class it two hours long and consists of eighteen students from five different countries, each with a different language base. The students are at an intermediate level of English and are concurrently taking reading and writing courses. Most of the students are eager to participate and are able to interact well with each other.

The general topic of this lesson is dating. The students were previously introduced to the topic by the regular classroom teacher at the end of the previous day's lesson. In that lesson, students completed a customs quiz in their textbook (Genzel and Cummings) that checked their previous knowledge of North American dating customs. They also briefly reviewed four common methods of meeting people to date, and compared them to what occurs in their own cultures.

My lesson focused more closely on some of the aspects of current dating trends: first dates, online dating, blind dates and speed dating. For each of these subtopics, I used a short Youtube video as an introduction, and then had the students work in pairs to discuss the ideas from each subtopic and to use the vocabulary. I arranged the students in male-female pairs where possible, but some of the pairs were female-female. The students seemed comfortable with this arrangement. I also arranged the pairs to mix the first languages, in order to encourage students to communicate in English.

My lesson plan is linked below, with any identifying information redacted.

Vicky's Rules of Ettiquette

The following is a classroom poster I developed for the #TESL0160 #transitioning course. It is meant to print out at 24 inches by 36 inches  (about 60 x 90 cm). I have reduced it so it will fit on the page here.
I would use it in an adult language class for immigrants to Canada, CLB levels 3 - 7. I would review it with the students, including any vocabulary they may need, depending on the level. I would project it and allow students to suggest changes or additions before I have it printed. 

Resources:

The printshop Deluxe, version 3.5 (2013). Encore Software, Inc. [Computer Software] Los Angeles, CA.

Vicky

Canadian Culture?

Does Canada even have a separate culture? Some #EAL teachers have found that immigrants come to Canada expecting it to be the same as the American culture they have seen in movies or on television. (See the video below, third speaker.) They are surprised to find that it is not. I would expect they would be equally surprised to find that much of American culture is not what they see in the fictional media either.