Observation lesson 13/12/2016: My Reflection

Lesson Topic: Joining a club (CEFR level B1-B1+)

Thinking about my lesson... it went smoothly.  We had guest teachers.... and considering the relatively big number of observers, my students seemed at ease, just a little uncomfortable at first.  Prior to the lesson, I discussed with the students (Ss) the importance of being confident, feeling comfortable in front of other people, good communication skills all of which are connected with well-being.

  I find the particular cousebook activities (Unit 2d) a good example of integrating the four skills  (listening, reading, speaking, writing). In order for Ss to have an informal discussion with their partner about which club to join based on adverts, they went through a sequence of activities - connecting the topic with prior knowledge/experiences/previous lesson(s), reading adverts and demonstrating understanding by answering questions, having a model conversation on joining a club), identifying useful language to express interests, feelings, suggestions. The topic also connected nicely with social action related to contributing to the well being of teens (Mirror messages campaign in https://www.dosomething.org/). One important question which I make to myself after setting the aims/objectives, in  the selection of activities is: if I leave out one of the activities I choose for the lesson, will the students be able to do the next activity or reach the next step? If they can, then the particular activity should not be included. I must say here that the brain teaser activity functions as a transition activity to give the brain a break (the brain needs it).  This is particularly useful for double period lessons.

 The critical question is: Were the lesson objectives met? What evidence do I have for the lesson objectives being met? I checked the lesson objectives with the assessment I set. I have the evidence (indicated in the assessment section of the lesson plan). The exit cards have given me feedback on Ss’ learning by the Ss themselves. That’s valuable and powerful – it gives me, the teacher, information about student learning that can guide instruction and it also gets students into the habit of thinking about their learning; thus, teacher and students become reflective. I wanted to share Ss’ exit cards with other teachers so I copied them all in the exit card below.  To be honest, I anticipated many of the things that Ss wrote that they learned but some were a nice surprise to me.

Incidentally, in planning a thematic unit and lessons, I use three key resources available to us which are very useful in setting the attainment targets/learning outcomes and lesson objectives:

1. Δείκτες Επιτυχίας/Επάρκειας

2.  Scheme of work(Lycea) – includes «δείκτες επιτυχίας» in English “learning outcomes”, themes/topics.

     3. Correlations with CEFR (Life_Pre Intermediate).

   

3 things I learned	2 things I want to learn more about	1 difficulty I had
To listen to others      Share my opinion      Cooperate      Things about well being      More things about well being      Joining clubs      About clubs      About new clubs      Ways to suggest something      You can join a lot of different clubs      Joining a club can make you sociable      You get active and creative      Adverts      Discuss about clubs      Kinds of clubs      About being a member in  a club      Make friendships      Be active and healthy      Smile can increase your well being      Keywords which I can use to give advice      for example,      Joining a club that you feel happy about is very important      Do what you love and have fun      Increase your well being by making new friends      Importance of joining a club (3)      Things that makes you happy      What do you earn from all this      The variety of clubs      Cooperate with other people      The interests of my classmates      That we can do a lot of things to help other people      Co opearate with my classmates      Why joining clubs is good for being healthy      Hobbies and interests my classmates have      What do you earn of joining to a club	/ (3)      New words      If our school has more clubs to join      Teen clubs at Cyprus      Be more active      Other ways to be sociable      How to make adverts in English      How I can have better relationships      More ways to increase my well being      I would like to know more about clubs. They sound interesting      Be more active      Other way to be sociable      How we can connect this puzzle?      (the student is referring to the picture puzzle used as a brain teaser)      Other ways to be sociable      About life   Some clubs(theatre, fitness)     Clubs our school has      More ways to help others      Actions clubs take      If our school have some clubs	/ (11)      I didn’t have any difficulty      Find the right words(discuss)      Choosing a club (2)

Homework samples:
Discussion forum: 

A club i want to join

a23panayiotis 3 days ago

Hi! In the future i really want to join a football club. By joining a club like this,I will have the chance to meet like-minded people and make new friends,learn new skills,increase my physical and mental capabilities and most importantly to have fun.In addition, I will be spending a part of my time doing something creative and also doing something that i really love.

Art club

a23stefanos 3 days ago

I believe that being a member of a club is very important as you have the chance to do what makes you happy and you are able to practice some particular skills you have! So I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my club! The art club! Most people would probably describe art as a picture, painting or a sculpture. I suppose that would indeed be a very accurate description. However, I believe that art is much more than that. To me, art is more of a creative way to express my deepest passions, thoughts, and emotions. Art allows me the freedom to use my imagination while giving me the confidence to conquer my worst fears. Many people may not even realize how often they actually see or experience art. Art is all around us every day. Art can also be seen in dancing, singing, drama, photography, and literature. Since I was a young child, art has always played a big role in my life.   Art to me is very important as it relaxes me and it makes me more concentrated. Drawing means a lot to me because i can imprit people and nature landscapes on a piece of paper in a slightly different and magical way, giving in this way more energy and power to the drawing. I am specialised on drawings with pencil and charcoal, and I am now practicing on drawings with paint (acrylic). My art club and more generally, art, requires a lot of patience and strength as you could probably work for 10 hours continuousely without having the expected result. But once you've succeeded,the satisfaction you get is just marvellous. Believe me!

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  Some clubs(theatre, fitness)Feel free to leave comments or questions!