In this online observation, I watched a Middle School grammar lesson in South Korea. The class size was small, the instructor is working with only 6 students. At the beginning of the class, it is very clear that the instructor values building relationships with his students. The students seem to be comfortable and eager to participate, even when asked questions that may be challenging for them. The classroom is very compact, even though there are only six students they look very confined in the space. The technology in the classroom is very limited, the only electronic in the classroom is a CD player.
To start the class the instructor leads the class in a small discussion, he starts by asking them to share how their weekend was. In this first question, the instructor allowed for single word responses but as he continued his warm-up he asked students for more information. I liked how he would give a specific number of responses he was looking for when he asked a question. For example, he told his students he was looking to learn two activities that they did yesterday. When one of the students only gave one activity he repeated and reaffirmed that he was looking for two answers.
In the main part of the lesson, the instructor was teaching from a prescribed lesson. He used a CD to play dialog and have students work through their workbooks. Although it was a prescribed lesson the instructor worked to infuse the lesson with his personality. During the vocabulary work, he led an interesting and engaging discussion that made the students smile and laugh throughout.
Watching this instructor I noticed how important it is to look for opportunities to connect with the students. He tried to personalize the lesson to his personality and it was clear the students were responding. Although in many cases you will be assigned material to teach that you won’t have control over, it is important to bring in your own personality into the lessons.