September 12, 2013
I
arrived at room 354 Kellogg with time to spare, which was perfect because
Isabella was in the hallway, chatting! Hers was the class I was observing, and
she only had praise for her teacher, Ms. Sohan. Making plans with Isabella is
complicated by her lack of a phone, so we talked about upcoming events until
class began.
Ms.
Sohan began by introducing a Youtube channel to improve pronunciation. She
highlighted the benefits of a video—the subtitles, the visual of someone’s
mouth moving to make a sound, and the fact that “no one will be there to laugh
at you!” The class chuckled appreciatively. The atmosphere was friendly and
relaxed, thanks in large part to Ms. Sohan’s humorous attitude. Her laughing
and making jokes let the students do the same. She almost immediately led the
class into a role play.
After
passing out a handout on different intensities of pain (a chart I’m sure we’ve
all seen from 0-10), she chose two students to play doctor and patient. The
doctor was one of the most talkative students, while the patient was very shy.
She was reluctant to come to the front, but Ms. Sohan and the other students
cheered her name until she came. Someone said, “She’s shy.” Ms. Sohan said,
“Yes, but we want to make her brave!”
While
doing the role play, she first let the doctor predict what he would ask the
patient. “What is your name?” he asked. After that, Ms. Sohan guided him to
say, “What’s wrong?”
“I
have pain,” the other student said quietly. Ms. Sohan fluttered around the
scene like a guardian angel, whispering questions and responses periodically. After
thanking the students, she returned the class to looking at the scale of pain
and clarifying what the numbers mean in accordance with the intensity: no pain
to severe pain. Her speech was loud and clear at all times, and she moved
around the room, between tables. I also noticed she raised one hand in the air
when she wanted to make sure she had everyone’s attention. She asked the
students to explain words to her (“What is a cough again? I forgot!”) as well
as mimed the actions that match the words (sneezing, gesturing to her eyes,
ears, etc. and throwing up). She used her students’ names frequently as well as
in the example sentences and scenarios.
After
the explanation, she paired students together, moving them around the room. She
assigned doctor and patient roles, and they recreated the role-play. I heard
students make errors near me (“What part of your body pain?”), and I saw her
circulate throughout the room, correcting and listening. She then wrote the
common questions on the board and discussed them. When a student was confused
over saying “My ____ hurts” versus “I ____ hurts,” she asked a classmate to
explain the distinction.
Then,
Ms. Sohan passed out a sample dialogue between a doctor and a patient. She
first read the dialogue loudly and clearly. She asked comprehension for
potentially confusing words (terrible, plenty). Afterwards, she chose two
volunteers to read the same dialogue. I noticed them using the same inflections
she had when she read it through, and the rest of the class laughed at how
dramatic they were. Ms. Sohan then read the four comprehension questions aloud,
slowly, while the students wrote the answers on a paper she could collect. She
then read the dialogue a final time and collected the paper.
The
students seemed relaxed and entertained. She was a good mixture of fun and
strict (“Complete sentences, please!”). I enjoyed the experience.
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