Katie- CO 2

On Monday I observed Maria’s AE-LI Listening Class. Maria is a very bright, friendly woman. She knows all of the students’ names and seems to have a very comfortable relation with them, chatting about a traditional dish with the students after introducing that day’s lesson: watching a cooking show. One thing that was apparent to me was that the class was full of Middle Eastern men and one Middle Eastern woman, all of who appeared to speak the same language. There were points in class when they would speak to each other in their own language, sometimes to help each other, but sometimes just speaking out of turn. Maria regained control of her class by trying to turn their attention back to the discussion or topic at hand, but at times it seemed a little like she had lost control of the class, possibly a side effect of her very friendly, comfortable personality, or that the students were a little restless during the video. It did not disrupt the class too much, and the students seemed to have fun in the class. Maria was very good at praising the students who had made a lot of improvement in their speaking, and definitely kept the students on task, repeating a lot of the things said in the video so that the students heard it at a slower pace. Some students were quieter than others, and the young woman didn’t speak very much, but it seemed as though they comprehended what they heard, which I would assume is the important part in a listening concentrated class, though might make it difficult to assess their comprehension and give them feedback. It was an interesting class to sit in on, and I learned how to cook a curry tofu dish!