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jwbhomer · Joined: 14 Dec 2003 Posts: 876 Location: CANADA

OP, yes, 7 classes of 2 periods each was the norm for me. Yes again, oral English was graded through presentations and similar exercises. Everyone had to do a final presentation in lieu of an exam, and during the course everyone had several "compulsory opportunities" to speak, contribute to discussions etc. ("Ve haf vays uf making you talk!") So I graded them for participation in class as well as the final presentation. It seemed to work well.

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

jwbhomer · Joined: 14 Dec 2003 Posts: 876 Location: CANADA

Actually TW's math is better than mine. At the last university I taught at, I had three classes (meaning groups) twice a week for two hours each time, plus one class once a week, the other session being taken by a Chinese teacher.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

You wrote:

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

whoops

Leon Purvis · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:29 pm Post subject:

Last fall, I began the semester teaching ten groups for two 40 minute sessions ONCE per week. This was in a public university. When we got another teacher, the number of classes dropped to nine, then eight.

I started with ten teaching periods and ended with eight. (20 hrs to 16 hrs)

I was allowed to cut the classes in half with twenty students coming in for the first forty minutes, then the second group of twenty coming in during the last forty minutes. It worked out pretty well.

The textbook that I was given for my freshman oral English class was horrible. I trashed it after two weeks. I created about eighty or so different scenarios which required from two to three students to participate in a conversation. In some cases, they were given key words to help them get started. They were allowed to prepare for one week.

By the middle of the semester, the class was given no preparation time for their presentations. Students were given an assignment and were required to speak extemporaneously for three minutes. My weakest students performed well with this system because they were allowed to pick their partners and because they weren't required to memorize anything. It was okay to make mistakes. What mattered most (in the non-English majors classes) was that I could understand them and that they could understand each other (in English).

Be flexible and be prepared to change course if you see that things are not working.

Come to class prepared to approach the lessons from another angle.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Leon Purvis · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 1:32 am Post subject:

It is not that difficult to create 80 scenarios if you base them upon real-life situations and things which they themselves may encounter one day.

One of the class favorites is the scenario in which a daughter brings a young man home to ask her parents for permission to marry him. The problem is that

a. he's a rock and roll musician with long hair
or
b. he's only four feet six inches tall
or
c. he is poor and lazy

With this scenario, the students took turns being the mother, the father, the daughter and the prospective fiance. As someone thought of an argument/counter argument, he relieved the person in line ahead of him.

Change the elements every few minutes. I had a freshman class that was very reluctant to speak, but once they got it through their heads that they could have fun with it, they lost their fears.

Fike2308 · Joined: 30 Jun 2007 Posts: 52 Location: CHINA