Note:
I decided to call this blog post "Flying (Semi) Solo" because I knew that although I would be leading out in the lesson Wynne would help with a supportive smile or nod and chyme in where I was... stumped. Wynne allowed me full control of the class room and offered help where I needed it.
I arrived at LAGCC at 8:30 AM with a feeling of nervousness. But, not the nervous feeling you get when you are certain things would go awry. These nerves were different, more like stage fright before a show stopping performance. This was nerves caused by having a bit too much adrenaline than normal. I was excited to teach! Even with that excitement, I was worried that I would make some horrible mistake I would not be able to recover from. Or, even worse, loose control of the class and not be able to get through the lesson! I think this has to be a teachers worst nightmare. I figured these distractions could happen when reviewing such a monotonous topic as grammar, specifically capitalization, commas, and transitional words/phrases. The students might get bored or already know the subject matter and simply stop paying attention and start speaking with their classmates. Worst case scenario. Thankfully, none of this occurred; the entire experience was stellar!
After Wynne and I discussed a few protocol items about the lesson (for example, letting the students know the agenda and informing them about the use of PowerPoint for the lesson), she said, "This experience will be good for them." When initially planning the lesson, I realized that writing all the information about grammar rules would be difficult for me as well as for the students. I decided to use PowerPoint because my penmanship isn't the best and did not want to add additional work to the students by having them try to decipher my scribblings. I also chose this medium for a more
self-serving reason: it's what I am used to from business, and it places me in my comfort zone.
Before class, we placed paper on the walls around the room so that students could write their answer to activities. We placed them by student's desk so they wouldn't feel shy about writing on the board; the paper was right next to them so they could easily participate. Once in the class, Wynne spoke with the class briefly and turned it over to me. I began by explaining the agenda, introducing the title of the lesson, and what they should be doing during the lesson. (Wynne reminded me of this part by asking the students if they should be asking notes from the PowerPoint.) After that, I briefly discussed the warm-up capitalization activity and passed it out to the class. They were focused and seemed to breeze through it. After about 15 minutes, I asked the class to tell me what they know about capitalization instead of me just lecturing right away. They had great responses! Everyone seemed to understand capitalization rules although they weren't always utilizing it in their writing. A few students had questions about this, but, overall, everyone understood.
After I reviewed the "Top 4 Capitalization Rules," I went into the next section on commas. The students seemed excited to discuss this. One student in particular seemed really engaged and I utilized his enthusiasm by having him help to explain each rule I discussed. Admittedly, I was somewhat nervous about his knowledge of grammar because I was afraid that I would say something totally off and then he'd point it out and the class would loose faith in me. There were moments when we debated usage in class, and it was great! I felt like I were in a
real academic classroom. The back and forth was good and even helped students clarify specif misconceptions about commas usage. Once the lesson was through (and it took longer than I planned for), we did the accompanying comma activity. Wynne and I walked around the class to help the students where needed.I realized, while helping them, that the activity might have been a little too complex. However, I think the students liked the challenge and they worked through each sentences. One tip I used to help the students with placing commas was to read the sentence out loud. if they made a pause while reading,
usually, the comma would be placed there. (I made sure to emphasize "usually" because many students read without emotion or pause.) Half way through the activity, we asked students to start writing answers on the papers that were placed around the classroom. I was surprised how many students participated, even students who typically don't go to the board (when I'm there at least) were up there writing their answers.
Finally, we reviewed transitional words and phrases. I provided 5 common uses. One thing I noticed about myself in this section of the lesson was my poor questioning of the class to see if they understood. Wynne helped me a lot with this, and I was grateful. She asked really keen questions. (I asked her about this during lunch and she said that when planning a lesson I should consider "big questions" that relate to the topic. I am still uncertain about this, but I will keep this in mind when planning the second lesson.) After the transitional phrase lesson, I decided to change my planned activity. I had a handout in which I wanted the students to add transitional words to a paragraph to make it flow better. I decided, instead, to have them make capitalization, comma, and transitional phrase updates to their essays. Wynne suggested I have them work in pairs and swap papers and edit each others work. That turned out to be a great idea and very productive! (Some of the student comments were harsh and mean. I think they need to work on respecting each other. I am trying to figure out ways of addressing this before the end of the course because when they start college they need to know how to provide constructive criticism.)
To close the class, I asked the students to evaluate the lesson so that I could improve for next time. (I will post some of the evaluations on another blog post without student names.) All the evaluations were good. (Wow!) Some students still have questions, and I plan to answer them next week one-on-one.
Overall, I think it went well.
Now, let's see how the next one goes because "some days are better than others." : )
