Francis- Observation 1

I observed an Intermediate to High Speech class last Wednesday. The class's usual teacher was absent that day as well as the day before, so I actually observed the director of CIES subbing for her. Dr. Kennell was a really great teacher. He was friendly and helpful but also led the class through the lesson with confidence and ease. That day was part 2 of the activity they had started the day before which was taking notes from the audio of college lecture. The audio clip was heard again so the students could "flesh out" (a term Dr. Kennell went over) their notes and then a 10 question quiz was given through an audio clip. The students were allowed to use their notes.

After the quiz was over, Dr. Kennell went over each questions one by one. He kept student involvement by letting the students read their answers out. I felt this was a bit confusing because all the students were speaking out at once but Dr. Kennell seemed to work well this way.

Dr. Kennell also gave suggestions for note taking throughout the class. He introduced the Cornell style of note taking as well as advised the students to ask permission to use a recording devise. He also emphasized the need to not only absorb what the professor says but to also think critically about what is learned. I remember he said something about grad school being about knowing enough to challenge the professor and creating individual opinions and putting them forward appropriately.