Micro-teaching presentation #3 (FS19)

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galicia on November 18, 2019 at 9:39pm

The third micro-teaching activity allowed me to gain more expertise in the sequencing process in a lesson plan. However, after a meticulous analysis of the sequencing of activities, I noticed incongruencies. Mainly during the production portion of the lesson. Mostly, I was not able to differentiate the activity because, since the sequencing of activities, I did not take into the readiness of some of the students. As a result, I was left with a single production activity for the entire class, which goes against the concepts presented by Tomlinson (2001), regarding differentiation by readiness. According to the author, it is essential that teachers differentiate each in-class activity to suit the needs of each student.

On the other hand, one of the strong points of the lesson was the inductive approach to cover grammar. I need to be able to connect the grammatical structures and in-class activities. Essentially, the aim is to move away from explicit grammar teaching in every way possible. Such vision aligns with the discussion presented by Krashen (1982), regarding explicit grammar since according to the theorist, explicit grammatical competence tends to fail during an oral exchange. Similarly, the use of cognates proved to be optimal for the lesson.

Also, another strong point was the culture. Essentially, the culture proved to be a central component inside the lesson. Mainly, the whole sequence began with culture as the starting point. Which aligns with the discussion presented by Lee and Van Patten (2003), regarding culture. According to the theorists, culture should go hand to hand with the language. Primarily, in this lesson, I aimed to cover a traditional Mexican festivity which is similar to Halloween. However, I tried to stay away from the traditional narrative of “El día de los muertos” because it is prevalent among the classrooms, which tends become boring after a while. Instead, I opted to deliver a lesson in which one gets to see music, people, and social norms. Such characteristics are vital to engage students today. They do not want to learn about the traditional cannon; they want to learn and visualize themselves inside the lessons.

(351 words).

References:
Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New York: Pergamon.

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Selena Jaquez on November 23, 2019 at 9:30am

 Dennis,

I strongly agree when you states “culture should go hand to hand with the language.” I belive it is an essential part of our languages, our past, our present. Language without cultural relevance is nearly useless. Culture must be considered in foreign language teaching because the main purpose of learning a foreign language is to learn the customs and traditions of the speech community, and to become competent for communication with speakers of the foreign language (Lee and VanPatten, 2003). On the other hand, the lesson was well presented, since the activity was appropriate for SLL and HLS. I liked  the activity you proposed and the way you introduced questions about a traditional Mexican festivity.  Overall, you did a good job. (121 words)

Reference 

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen.   (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Permalink Reply by Evelyn Salazar on November 28, 2019 at 10:03am

Hi Dennis,

The lesson that you presented in the class was informative, authentic, and motivating. From what I saw on your presentation I agree that you have good knowledge on how to create a good lesson plan. You did many activities and you made differentiations with heritage learners. Another good point that you did great in your teaching lesson was your topic, it was very authentic, and I agree with you when you mention that Día de Muertos is something that we mostly see in every single classroom. The format and the way that you did the topic even though it has similar points it mentioned different traditions and places that I wasn’t even aware of and I’m Mexican, thanks to you I now know more about my own culture. (words 128)

 

Permalink Reply by melinda vargas on November 21, 2019 at 4:09pm

The subject of the lesson is, “El Día de los Muertos”. This lesson is a reading comprehension. For the presentation I showed a video accompanied by four questions to test their listening comprehension and introduce students to the topic. By presenting the video the lesson is able to cover Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences through its music in the target language throughout the film when words are being presented such as altares, difuntos, cemeterío, bebídas, calavera dulce, velas, pan de muerto, frutas etc. the focus is zoomed into the item as if the movie is pointing on the item. I found this lesson to be interesting because although many Spanish speaking countries celebrate the day of the dead, we all have different names for different things and celebrate the day differently depending what country you are from. In this lesson basic vocabulary is presented for the L2 and more vocabulary is presented for the HL who may or may not know Spanish. In addition to providing more vocabulary they may have heard before but are unfamiliar with the spelling. I also provide students the opportunity to share with their peers their tradition and opportunity to compare movies they have seen in the past. If I had a class with more HL or native speakers in comparison to L2; I would have provided students more opportunity to share about how their family celebrate the day of the dead or the difference in celebration in the US versus their main lands. This will not only incorporate more tradition into the lesson but also provide the opportunity for students to be aware of all the differences and that el día de los muertos is not just a Mexican holiday. By providing these opportunities I would also allow students to speak in the target language and learn various ways to say one thing in Spanish for example, ancestros, difuntos and antepasados; all mean loved ones who have passed away. (326)

References: 

Lee, J., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen, (2nd Ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Kristina Robertson. Music and language learning,¡Colorín Colorado! https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/music-and-language-learning

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galicia on November 22, 2019 at 4:21pm

Dear Melinda:

Your lesson was very well delivered. Overall, the sequencing of activities seemed to be spot on. However, based on your reflection, it seems that the students just heard/viewed the vocabulary. I would suggest that you develop a task, in which the students have to do something with the vocabulary. Perhaps, you can do vocabulary preparation through a matching game (Lee and Van Patten, 2003). In addition, the comparison portion of the activities is unclear. Mainly, because the students might not have the competency to explain such differences. Lastly, I would suggest that you move away from the traditional day of the dead lesson. Mainly because it is present in every class across the borough. Which can be problematic, especially when students are not engaged in the lesson. I would suggest that you keep the theme, however, try to introduce the interests of the students inside the mix. By doing this, you will be differentiating the lesson based on interests of the students as suggested by Tomlinson (2001).

 

(167 words).

 

References:

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2^nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Maria Lorena Flores on November 22, 2019 at 9:46am

The micro-teaching activity presented helped me acquire valuable information in differentiation and the role that we play when it comes to preparing a lesson plan effectively.  According to Tomlinson (2001) teachers who differentiate instruction focus on their role as a coach or mentor, give students as much responsibility for learning as they can handle, and teach them to handle a little more.  One of my activities for differentiated instruction consisted of answering questions in full sentences while the rest of the students would have the beginning of the sentence in order to make it easier for them but a more challenging for a heritage learner. 

I found the lesson to be effective because it created inclusion with the students and also helped them see the difference between the country and the city.  For culture, however, I would have added for instance a city in a Latin country and have presented as part of the lesson and to include culture into the lesson.  On the other activity, students had the opportunity to work as a group and share their answers with each other.  They would be able to incorporate their thoughts as a group and individually.  Overall, the lesson provided a clear and easy way of understanding the differences with one another.  One particular activity I would change is the presentation, it was not differentiated for learners but could have.

Permalink Reply by Dennis Galicia on November 22, 2019 at 4:41pm

Dear Maria:

Overall, your teaching-demo was well delivered. Overall, the activities seemed to be well-sequenced. Mainly, the fact that you provided sentence starters for the activities was adequate. Which aligns with the discussion by Tomlinson (2001), regarding differentiation by readiness. Also, the cultural portion of the lesson seemed to be smooth. Which aligns with the framework provided by Lee and Van Patten (2003). However, as you mentioned, the presentation activity should have been differentiated. Perhaps, you could have began the lesson with vocabulary preparation. This task would have allowed you to differentiate it based on the level of readiness of the students, as recommended by Tomlinson (2001).

(107 words).

References:

Lee, J. F., & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making communicative language teaching happen. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2^nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Selena Jaquez on November 23, 2019 at 9:08am

Maria, 

        You did a really good job creating a micro-teaching activity about differentiating instruction between Heritage Language Students as well Second Language Learners. It is a teacher's responsibility to provide a lesson where students feel comfortable and welcomed around others. I found your lesson strong because is not only contained essential concepts for us as future educators, but also to gain more exposure to a different aspect of designing a lesson. According to Tomlinson (2001), there are many factors that affect HLS programs in the U.S. which need to be taken into consideration in order to make educating this unique group effective. For this reason, teachers need to be aware of their students' needs, backgrounds, learning profiles  and interests. (119 words)

Reference: 

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Selena Jaquez on November 23, 2019 at 7:43am

    Good educators monitor the classroom and adjust accordingly. The most effective teachers vary their styles depending on the nature of the subject matter, the phase of the course, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire students to do their best at all times. The teaching slide that I presented was designed to address Heritage Language Students as well Second Language Learners. The objective was to identify different foods from Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. In the practice phase I divided some of the activities in two parts, the first one for the SLL and the second one for the HLS.

    HLS come into the classroom with very different backgrounds such as the number of years they have been in the U.S. and how many generations their families have lived in the U.S. These backgrounds produce a unique variety of Spanish and cultural connection for each student (Beaudrie, Ducar, and Potowski, 2014) . Teachers must be aware that one group of students requiring specific types of attention in the classroom is the HLS group. One of the strong points of this lesson was to emphasize reading and writing skills first and then listening and speaking skills . This is because many HLS already have skills in listening and speaking and need help with their reading and writing.

     According to the theorists, there are many factors that affect HLS programs which need to be taken into consideration in order to make educating this unique group effective. Tomlinson (2001) found that teachers with successful programs understand their students’ cultures and make efforts to be involved in their lives. However, it may be hard at times. Tomlinson (2001) also reports that students who stay closely connected to their home culture will more likely be successful than students who do not. I would have incorporated more culture in this lesson by showing students a video of traditional dishes since they are rich in culture and colorful. Something I would have done differently due to differentiated instruction is to provide teaching strategies such as brainstorming, where the students contribute ideas and lecture, where the teacher talks and explains an idea while the students take notes. It would help them understand the topic better and be more confident when doing the activities. (377 words)

References:

Beaudrie, Sara, Ducar, Cynthia, & Potowski, Kim (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. New York State, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Evelyn Salazar on November 28, 2019 at 10:40am

Hi Selena,

I’m strongly agree with you when you mention that good educators can adapt the class with different styles based on the needs of the students. The lesson that you presented in class had culture about Dominican Republic and Nicaragua and the characteristics in the food from those countries. Another important factor is the differentiation that teachers need to address in heritage learners. Almost every classroom in United States has Heritage learners that have different needs from second learners, even though these students may had been expose to the language, the majority of them need help grammatical, and with the different linguistic variations that we may find in the Latino communities. (words 110)

Permalink Reply by Karolina Custodio on November 30, 2019 at 12:52pm

Hello Selena,

    I enjoyed your lesson you presented in class and the way you differentiated the lesson for heritage language (HL) and second language (L2) learners. It is important to help all students to achieve academically and as teachers we must find the best strategies. According to Tomlinson (2001) it is important to recognize our students in order to provide the right approaches based on their profiles, cultural backgrounds, proficiency levels and other factors. By differentiating the activities for this two groups of HL and L2 students will be beneficial for you and your students, based on how students perform you will be able to address any struggles they have while learning the target language. (114)

References:

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

Permalink Reply by Karolina Custodio on November 23, 2019 at 3:15pm

    On the third micro-teaching activity presented in class helped me how to prepare a differentiate lesson for heritage language (HL) and second language (L2) learners. As an educator, it is important to provide our students the right approaches that would work best in the learning and the acquisition of the target language (TL). Tomlinson (2001) discusses how teachers apply different approaches that focus on what, how and how students produce what they have learned in the classrooms. Both groups present differences. According to Beaudrie, Ducar and Potowski (2014) it is important to recognize these differences such as; students’ backgrounds, level of proficiency, etc. that students bring to the classrooms. For instance, some activities were differentiated on my lesson.

     The first activity was based on a video presented in class; students were asked to answer questions in pairs. Additionally, the video was simple to comprehend, and it presented a lot of vocabulary for the whole lesson. It would be a collaboratively activity, therefore, students will think, pair and share with their peers. During the practice phrase, I differentiated the activity for both groups. They had the same reading activity, but a differentiation was made for the L2 learners. For example, HL learners had questions based on Barranquilla’s carnival. They were asked to write full sentences in order to challenge them in the TL. Through this, HL students can strengthen their knowledge in the HL. On the other hand, L2 learners had the same questions, but they had sentence starters to facilitate them to complete the questions in the TL. It would be effective to provide the L2 students with starters because it would serve as a support since they are just learning the topic. Overall, the activity would keep both groups engage. Lastly, just like the first activity in the presentation part, little differentiation was made. In this activity students will have to write about any Hispanic celebration. It was prepared to be performed in pairs. An HL and L2 learners will work cooperatively in order to exchange knowledge and support each other while producing the TL. (346)

References:

Beaudrie, S., Ducar, C., & Potowski, K.(2014). Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition). Reston, VA: ASCD.

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