I observed Calyn Stringer's reading class for my last observation. She started the class in the usual fashion. First she wrote the agenda on the blackboard, and then she took attendance. Calyn then went over what the class would be doing in class, and also what they should be doing out of class. I thought the direction for the out of class assignments was a nice touch.
The bulk of the class was spent on a timed reading that wasn't graded. It was an activity that the students would be completing numerous times throughout the class and charting their improvements on a graph. Calyn allowed for ample time to complete the reading and follow-up questions. When the time was up, she asked if anyone had not completed the questions and a few students raised their hands. She gave them extra time to finish. While the students were reading Calyn walked the class and answered any questions.
After the reading was complete, Calyn had the class go over their answers. This was the majority of interaction in the class, and Calyn lead a good discussion. She involved all the class, calling on people and not getting bogged down with one question.
The only issue I saw with the class was the technical problems with the projector not displaying right. Calyn got sidetracked with this, understandably so.
I think what I can take from this class is to keep my focus on "student centered" learning. Even though lecturing was the majority of the class, Calyn was able to do so and still involve the students as much as possible.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Thursday, October 22, 2015
KellyMichael CP#6
After our tutoring session, Hammoud had two friends also from Kuwait stop by his apartment. Saud has just finished the CIES program and is returning to Kuwait briefly before continuing college in Alabama. Ali just arrived in the US, and is starting the CIES program. Ali's English is very limited, so I made certain I was speaking slowly and clearly for him to understand. In contrast, Saud seemed well practiced and very willing to talk. There were a few times Ali reverted to speaking Arabic. Hammoud and Saud both corrected him to "only speak in English" in order for him to receive practice time in a casual atmosphere. This was refreshing to see, and I know their teachers would be proud to hear how well Saud spoke of his experience at CIES. It was also motivational for me to hear how much he benefited from CIES and why it was important for him to learn English. We spoke about their plans to become engineers. Saud and Hammoud want to become electrical engineers, and Ali wants to be a civil engineer. We spoke about Tallahassee, and I made sure Ali knew I would be happy to tutor him or assist in any way transitioning to a new culture. It was a great conversation, and I think all parties involved benefited from the interaction.
KellyMichael TS#16
Hammoud and I met tonight again to cover his writing portion of the ILETS. In the 200 course, one of our first readings was on self edits, and I used some of the information that I hope will help him successfully write and edit his ILETS assignment. Prof. Ramin talked about two kinds of errors, rule and non-rule errors. Hammoud makes only non-rule errors, but the kind that are stigmatizing. It negatively affects the rest of his work when the first sentence has a stigmatizing error in it. So we talked about the kind of errors he makes (past tense irregular verbs seemed to be the most made error) and how the only way to truly correct these errors, memorization. I suggest he read over his corrected and edited writings from CIES and see what errors were the most consistent, and to be sure he look for those types of errors in his assignment. He agreed, and seemed to think it was a good idea that would help.
Elizabeth TS#16
October 22, 2015
I met with Boram outside of CIES for our last tutoring session. She had started the TA section of the 200 hour TEFL course and was telling me about the work involved in it. She was excited for the experience but also surprised at the amount of involvement she was doing in the classroom. She discussed being nervous about assisting the class and I suggested she pretend to know what she was doing and "fake it till you make it". I spoke with her about how her TOEFL studying was going and she updating me on what material she was reviewing and I gave her some suggestions for getting a better handle on it. She told me that her mother was visiting the US soon and I told her about some places to visit in Florida as I had just been in Tampa and Miami the days before our session. I also got some recommendation for Korean dramas to watch and she recommended 'She was a girl' and 'Iris'. I had previously recommended she listen to the podcast called 'Serial' to practice her listening skills and she told me she was hooked on it. We discussed what goes on in the podcast and I told her the ending was unsatisfying.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Boram outside of CIES for our last tutoring session. She had started the TA section of the 200 hour TEFL course and was telling me about the work involved in it. She was excited for the experience but also surprised at the amount of involvement she was doing in the classroom. She discussed being nervous about assisting the class and I suggested she pretend to know what she was doing and "fake it till you make it". I spoke with her about how her TOEFL studying was going and she updating me on what material she was reviewing and I gave her some suggestions for getting a better handle on it. She told me that her mother was visiting the US soon and I told her about some places to visit in Florida as I had just been in Tampa and Miami the days before our session. I also got some recommendation for Korean dramas to watch and she recommended 'She was a girl' and 'Iris'. I had previously recommended she listen to the podcast called 'Serial' to practice her listening skills and she told me she was hooked on it. We discussed what goes on in the podcast and I told her the ending was unsatisfying.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth CP#6
October 21, 2015
I met with Sarah for our last conversation partner meeting. She told me about how her oldest child was doing in school and how he was doing very well in his English classes. I told her she should follow his work and try to learn along with him. She also told me about some of the differences between her two children. Her boy is more independent and her little girl likes to follow her around everywhere. I told her about my nieces and how they both have very different personalities. She told me she is very different from her sister. Her sister studies physics while she wants to study biology or English. I told her how I hated physics when I had to take it in college and couldn't imagine studying it exclusively. We also discussed her husband and her wedding and she told me about how weddings are celebrated in Saudi Arabia.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Sarah for our last conversation partner meeting. She told me about how her oldest child was doing in school and how he was doing very well in his English classes. I told her she should follow his work and try to learn along with him. She also told me about some of the differences between her two children. Her boy is more independent and her little girl likes to follow her around everywhere. I told her about my nieces and how they both have very different personalities. She told me she is very different from her sister. Her sister studies physics while she wants to study biology or English. I told her how I hated physics when I had to take it in college and couldn't imagine studying it exclusively. We also discussed her husband and her wedding and she told me about how weddings are celebrated in Saudi Arabia.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#15
October 15, 2015
I met with Boram at CIES for another tutoring session. We talked about her TOEFL studying and how she was finding it difficult to stay motivated. I suggested she make a set schedule and reward herself for completing the study times she sets for herself. She told me how using the idea to record herself was helping her improve her TOEFL speaking answers but she was struggling with not sounding so monotone. She praised me for having lots of inflection in my voice and after analyzing my speech, I suggested she lengthen and emphasize the vowels in the words she is speaking to sound less monotone. I told her I struggle with sounding like that when I am very tired and it is extra effort to draw out the words, but it makes you sound more cheery and shows your emotions better. She appreciated the suggestion as it was out of the box and she had never thought of it like that before.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Boram at CIES for another tutoring session. We talked about her TOEFL studying and how she was finding it difficult to stay motivated. I suggested she make a set schedule and reward herself for completing the study times she sets for herself. She told me how using the idea to record herself was helping her improve her TOEFL speaking answers but she was struggling with not sounding so monotone. She praised me for having lots of inflection in my voice and after analyzing my speech, I suggested she lengthen and emphasize the vowels in the words she is speaking to sound less monotone. I told her I struggle with sounding like that when I am very tired and it is extra effort to draw out the words, but it makes you sound more cheery and shows your emotions better. She appreciated the suggestion as it was out of the box and she had never thought of it like that before.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#14
October 12, 2015
I had my last tutoring session with PJ at CIES. For this session, I had PJ read a story from his reading textbook called "A Drop of Water". To practice his listening skills as well as his reading skill, we switched off reading every other page. This story was all about how water can change from a solid to a liquid to a gas. After we would read a page, I would have PJ share his thoughts of the subject and what changes in water's state he had observed in his everyday life. When a more complicated concept was mentioned, such how water changes states or how clouds form, I would draw a visual representation on the white board. The story talked about snow and we talked about why it snows in some places but it doesn't in Tallahassee. Neither PJ nor I have never really seen snow, so we talked about how cold it needs to be for snow to form and maintain its shape.
Elizabeth Lopez
I had my last tutoring session with PJ at CIES. For this session, I had PJ read a story from his reading textbook called "A Drop of Water". To practice his listening skills as well as his reading skill, we switched off reading every other page. This story was all about how water can change from a solid to a liquid to a gas. After we would read a page, I would have PJ share his thoughts of the subject and what changes in water's state he had observed in his everyday life. When a more complicated concept was mentioned, such how water changes states or how clouds form, I would draw a visual representation on the white board. The story talked about snow and we talked about why it snows in some places but it doesn't in Tallahassee. Neither PJ nor I have never really seen snow, so we talked about how cold it needs to be for snow to form and maintain its shape.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth CP#5
October 13, 2015
I met with Sarah again at her home for another conversation session. At this meeting we discussed some Muslim holidays and how you must fast for them. She said the holidays are very fun and you look forward to breaking fast all day. I mentioned that I can be moody when I don't get food and she agreed that it can be difficult to control your emotions when you are hungry. We also spoke about the differences between Muslim and American holidays and how the season for them was approaching. I asked her if she had traveled anywhere else in the US and she told me her husband had but she hadn't had the chance. I gave her some recommendations of places to visit in Florida and told her about my home in the Keys.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Sarah again at her home for another conversation session. At this meeting we discussed some Muslim holidays and how you must fast for them. She said the holidays are very fun and you look forward to breaking fast all day. I mentioned that I can be moody when I don't get food and she agreed that it can be difficult to control your emotions when you are hungry. We also spoke about the differences between Muslim and American holidays and how the season for them was approaching. I asked her if she had traveled anywhere else in the US and she told me her husband had but she hadn't had the chance. I gave her some recommendations of places to visit in Florida and told her about my home in the Keys.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#13
October 9, 2015
I met with Yuma at Starbucks for his second tutoring session. During this session, we spoke about our class outing to Proof. Yuma had been invited by his other tutors but was planning on going out with them that night. He told me about how he had tried to go to a bar the past weekend but was denied because of his international ID. Yuma and I also talked about tea and how many people love tea in Japan. We discussed traveling around the US and how huge the country is. Our conversation was interrupted by a man at the table next to us who had just moved to Tallahassee and was from Lebanon. He was worried since he heard me say Tallahassee can be boring at times and he was used to the excitement of San Francisco, where he had previously been employed.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Yuma at Starbucks for his second tutoring session. During this session, we spoke about our class outing to Proof. Yuma had been invited by his other tutors but was planning on going out with them that night. He told me about how he had tried to go to a bar the past weekend but was denied because of his international ID. Yuma and I also talked about tea and how many people love tea in Japan. We discussed traveling around the US and how huge the country is. Our conversation was interrupted by a man at the table next to us who had just moved to Tallahassee and was from Lebanon. He was worried since he heard me say Tallahassee can be boring at times and he was used to the excitement of San Francisco, where he had previously been employed.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth CP#4
October 8, 2015
After our last TEFL class, we all went out to Proof to celebrate. At Proof, I began talking to Tai Yen, a CIES student from South Korea. We spoke about how it was living in South Korea compared to other places in Asia. Tai Yen told me about how Japanese culture can be difficult to understand as they may say what you want to hear, when in reality they feel very differently. I told of about how I work at an acupuncture clinic and he told me about how inexpensive it is to get acupuncture in South Korea. Tai Yen also told me about some of the places he's traveled in the world including visiting Moscow and paying off a police officer.
Elizabeth Lopez
After our last TEFL class, we all went out to Proof to celebrate. At Proof, I began talking to Tai Yen, a CIES student from South Korea. We spoke about how it was living in South Korea compared to other places in Asia. Tai Yen told me about how Japanese culture can be difficult to understand as they may say what you want to hear, when in reality they feel very differently. I told of about how I work at an acupuncture clinic and he told me about how inexpensive it is to get acupuncture in South Korea. Tai Yen also told me about some of the places he's traveled in the world including visiting Moscow and paying off a police officer.
Elizabeth Lopez
Justin TS#16
On Thursday 10/22 I met with Yuma. This was our final tutoring session so I planned on doing mostly writing exercises to see how far we have come. I had some questions that could be answered simply with one or two sentences but I also had some essay type questions. Yuma did pretty well at this exercise. He left out some little things but his ideas would come across with each sentence that I read. With the longer responses I spoke to Yuma about incorporating transitions into his work to help him create a better flow. We talked about how the writer can't only think about how they are getting their ideas across but also how the reader will be reacting to what is written. Yuma asked me to give him an example of how I would have answered the same question. I think showing him how I would answer showed him a way that a native would formulate their response. Our lesson mostly focused on this area since I had many questions for Yuma but Yuma also asked additional questions. It felt sad that this was the last session in the books for Yuma. However I will most likely continue to tutor Yuma at least once a week.
Elizabeth TS#12
October 8, 2015
I met with Boram again to review her speaking practice. We reviewed some examples of TOEFL speaking and I provided her with some examples of phrases and words to use when answering the questions. Kelly, who is also Boram's tutor, ran into us as he had a tutoring session planned after mine. We decided to sit together and discuss some thoughts on what we had experienced in the TEFL class. Kelly and I were going to co-teach that day and we shared our lesson plan with Boram and asked her opinion. We also discussed some issues such as the idea of marriage, comedy, and podcasts.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Boram again to review her speaking practice. We reviewed some examples of TOEFL speaking and I provided her with some examples of phrases and words to use when answering the questions. Kelly, who is also Boram's tutor, ran into us as he had a tutoring session planned after mine. We decided to sit together and discuss some thoughts on what we had experienced in the TEFL class. Kelly and I were going to co-teach that day and we shared our lesson plan with Boram and asked her opinion. We also discussed some issues such as the idea of marriage, comedy, and podcasts.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#11
October 7, 2015
I met PJ for his seventh tutoring session and had prepared for him to read a few short stories from his reading textbook. The first story we read was about all of the inventions that came about as a result of space travel and research. The story named how many of the things we rely on everyday such as x-ray machines, sneakers, and headsets were originally designed for astronauts in space. After we finished the story, I gave PJ two minutes to write down as many examples of items that resulted from space exploration. We then read another story about a boy who shrinks his classroom to be taller than everyone else. After every few paragraphs, I would ask PJ comprehension question and ask him to predict what would happen next. I also had him use the pictures to describe more about what was going on in the story.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met PJ for his seventh tutoring session and had prepared for him to read a few short stories from his reading textbook. The first story we read was about all of the inventions that came about as a result of space travel and research. The story named how many of the things we rely on everyday such as x-ray machines, sneakers, and headsets were originally designed for astronauts in space. After we finished the story, I gave PJ two minutes to write down as many examples of items that resulted from space exploration. We then read another story about a boy who shrinks his classroom to be taller than everyone else. After every few paragraphs, I would ask PJ comprehension question and ask him to predict what would happen next. I also had him use the pictures to describe more about what was going on in the story.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth CP#3
October 6, 2015
I met with Sarah at her home for our third conversation partner meeting. Sarah told me she need to do a presentation for class one of her American friends and she chose me. She wrote down the information about where I was from, what I looked like, and what my major was. We spoke more about some of our favorite television shows and what her children liked to watch. I asked her about her family and if she planned on visiting soon and she said she can be very homesick but is happy to be in the US.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Sarah at her home for our third conversation partner meeting. Sarah told me she need to do a presentation for class one of her American friends and she chose me. She wrote down the information about where I was from, what I looked like, and what my major was. We spoke more about some of our favorite television shows and what her children liked to watch. I asked her about her family and if she planned on visiting soon and she said she can be very homesick but is happy to be in the US.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#10
October 1, 2015
I met with Boram again at Starbucks to go over her TOEFL speaking skills. At our last session, I had recommended that Boram record herself answering the speaking questions so she could listen and self assess her answers. She showed me the three questions she had practiced and we discuss the types of questions typically used for the TOEFL. Many of the questions appear simple, but require a lot of self analysis and self awareness and Boram says realized she does not possess much of this before studying for this test. I listened to the recordings Boram had on her phone and after each recording was done, I went over some errors and places where she struggled to answer. I suggested she write her reasons and examples so they would be simple and easy to go off of when speaking. We also worked on answering and finishing a sentence without pauses or using "um" when thinking of what to say next.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Boram again at Starbucks to go over her TOEFL speaking skills. At our last session, I had recommended that Boram record herself answering the speaking questions so she could listen and self assess her answers. She showed me the three questions she had practiced and we discuss the types of questions typically used for the TOEFL. Many of the questions appear simple, but require a lot of self analysis and self awareness and Boram says realized she does not possess much of this before studying for this test. I listened to the recordings Boram had on her phone and after each recording was done, I went over some errors and places where she struggled to answer. I suggested she write her reasons and examples so they would be simple and easy to go off of when speaking. We also worked on answering and finishing a sentence without pauses or using "um" when thinking of what to say next.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#9
September 28, 2015
I met PJ for tutoring at his home for his sixth tutoring session. I used his school reading textbook and selected another story for him to read about the Moon. PJ had enjoyed learning about the Moon and solar system in another session, so this narrative would help build on that information. Before we started the story, we refreshed the info we had learned about the solar system previously and made some guesses on what the story might be about. The story was set in 1969 when Apollo 11 was to land on the Moon. The main character was a little girl who was very excited about the space adventures happening at the time, while her grandfather was indifferent and even opposed to the ventures to space. After reading a few pages, I would ask PJ some comprehension questions and explain why he thought the characters felt the way they did. We shared some opinions on whether space exploration was beneficial and showed PJ some of the great inventions that were the result of trips into space. I mentioned there was a Supermoon eclipse the night before and showed PJ a video of how moon eclipse work and why they turn the moon red. We continued to read the story and at the end the grandfather has a change of heart and admits that the lunar landing is a huge deal and unites the country as well as inspires children to be interested in the universe around them. To finish the lesson, we watched a YouTube video of the actual lunar landing mentioned in the story.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met PJ for tutoring at his home for his sixth tutoring session. I used his school reading textbook and selected another story for him to read about the Moon. PJ had enjoyed learning about the Moon and solar system in another session, so this narrative would help build on that information. Before we started the story, we refreshed the info we had learned about the solar system previously and made some guesses on what the story might be about. The story was set in 1969 when Apollo 11 was to land on the Moon. The main character was a little girl who was very excited about the space adventures happening at the time, while her grandfather was indifferent and even opposed to the ventures to space. After reading a few pages, I would ask PJ some comprehension questions and explain why he thought the characters felt the way they did. We shared some opinions on whether space exploration was beneficial and showed PJ some of the great inventions that were the result of trips into space. I mentioned there was a Supermoon eclipse the night before and showed PJ a video of how moon eclipse work and why they turn the moon red. We continued to read the story and at the end the grandfather has a change of heart and admits that the lunar landing is a huge deal and unites the country as well as inspires children to be interested in the universe around them. To finish the lesson, we watched a YouTube video of the actual lunar landing mentioned in the story.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#8
September 25, 2015
I met with Yuma Moriya for the first time at Starbucks. On our first meeting, I introduced myself and learned a little more about Yuma. He told me he is from Osaka in Japan. He is in Group 3 classes at CIES and is hoping to graduate school in sports management. Yuma was interested in improving his listening and conversational skills. I asked him about how it was living in Japan and told him I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture.
Since we were at Starbucks, Yuma had gotten a pumpkin spice latte for the first time and we talked about how it was very sweet and had an interesting taste. He said he loved coffee and drinks around 3-4 cups a day. I prefer tea and drink very little caffeine, which he found interesting as Cubans are known for their strong espressos. I told him how my other family members are caffeine addicts and I just never developed the habit. We spoke of our Friday night plans and we were both were planning to enjoy Happy Hour after the session.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Yuma Moriya for the first time at Starbucks. On our first meeting, I introduced myself and learned a little more about Yuma. He told me he is from Osaka in Japan. He is in Group 3 classes at CIES and is hoping to graduate school in sports management. Yuma was interested in improving his listening and conversational skills. I asked him about how it was living in Japan and told him I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture.
Since we were at Starbucks, Yuma had gotten a pumpkin spice latte for the first time and we talked about how it was very sweet and had an interesting taste. He said he loved coffee and drinks around 3-4 cups a day. I prefer tea and drink very little caffeine, which he found interesting as Cubans are known for their strong espressos. I told him how my other family members are caffeine addicts and I just never developed the habit. We spoke of our Friday night plans and we were both were planning to enjoy Happy Hour after the session.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth TS#7
September 24, 2015
I met with Boram at the outside terrace of CIES to practice her TOEFL speaking skills. She had brought her TOEFL workbook with sample questions used in the speaking portion of the exam. We had just gone over how the speaking portions of the TOEFL in class, so I understood the basic premise of only having 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to answer. We practiced the questions by asking Boram one of the questions, such as "What is your favorite season?". After Boram would answer, I provided her with feedback on what she should work on. We did this with three different questions and I helped her analyze some grammar and word choice errors. I also mentioned her great use of idioms and expressions which showed a deeper understanding of the language. Going over these questions, I suggested Boram record herself on her phone and listen to herself answering the questions so she could get a better idea of what she sounds like and go over the areas where she is struggling. She really appreciated the suggestion and was excited to try it and improve her answers.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Boram at the outside terrace of CIES to practice her TOEFL speaking skills. She had brought her TOEFL workbook with sample questions used in the speaking portion of the exam. We had just gone over how the speaking portions of the TOEFL in class, so I understood the basic premise of only having 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to answer. We practiced the questions by asking Boram one of the questions, such as "What is your favorite season?". After Boram would answer, I provided her with feedback on what she should work on. We did this with three different questions and I helped her analyze some grammar and word choice errors. I also mentioned her great use of idioms and expressions which showed a deeper understanding of the language. Going over these questions, I suggested Boram record herself on her phone and listen to herself answering the questions so she could get a better idea of what she sounds like and go over the areas where she is struggling. She really appreciated the suggestion and was excited to try it and improve her answers.
Elizabeth Lopez
Elizabeth CP#2
September 29, 2015
I met with Sarah Alzuwaidi at her home for our second conversation partner meeting. She was home watching her children. Sarah had baked me a pastry and made me some Arabic coffee to try. It is served in special little cups and was light in color. It had a very interesting and distinct taste. We spoke about how you make the coffee and how Arabic people love it drink it frequently. Sarah and I also talked about different malls to go shopping and how cities in Saudi Arabia have many huge and beautiful malls. Her son was practicing his English alphabet on a piece of paper and later showed me a book with all the Arabic alphabet. I encouraged Sarah to practice and keep up with her son's Arabic as he will master English in school but it's up to her to refine his Arabic skills.
Elizabeth Lopez
I met with Sarah Alzuwaidi at her home for our second conversation partner meeting. She was home watching her children. Sarah had baked me a pastry and made me some Arabic coffee to try. It is served in special little cups and was light in color. It had a very interesting and distinct taste. We spoke about how you make the coffee and how Arabic people love it drink it frequently. Sarah and I also talked about different malls to go shopping and how cities in Saudi Arabia have many huge and beautiful malls. Her son was practicing his English alphabet on a piece of paper and later showed me a book with all the Arabic alphabet. I encouraged Sarah to practice and keep up with her son's Arabic as he will master English in school but it's up to her to refine his Arabic skills.
Elizabeth Lopez
Hannah CP #6
Last night I had the chance to meet with Honoka. Honoka is a Japanese exchange student currently studying at FSU. Since I've been learning about Japanese culture a lot, it was really nice to meet with her and discuss it. Honoka told me about how she originally went to college in Japan but decided to come to the United States to study. She told me that American schools are difficult for her, but she feels like she is learning a lot. We also talked about different TV shows that we watch. She likes watching some American shows but really enjoys Japanese shows. During our session, I asked her for some recommendations since I've started watching a lot more Japanese dramas.
Hannah CP #5
Today during Henrique's lunch break we got to meet up again at the Hecht House. It's been a while since we met so we started off asking about how our classes were going. Henrique told me about how he had two quizzes today. He didn't get to finish one of them in class so he had to leave early to finish it. The quiz was a composition quiz where he would have to write about his friends hobbies. He was supposed to write 10 of them, but he only completed four. He has to finish the last six in ten minutes. After that, we talked about American birthdays and what happens when he people divorce. He was interested to hear about my parent's divorce and compared it to his sister's divorce.
Frankie CP #5 & #6
For these last two meetings I had been with Andrea; on the first occasion we had gone out with Neila and Aviv to the Korean BBQ on Tennessee, while for the second we were with Hunter and Keunwha. At the BBQ with Neila and Aviv I had the opportunity to learn more about Isreal and Aviv's background. I had already known that it was compulsory for Israeli young adults to perform military service; however, I did not know how exactly that experience panned out. Aviv explained many things regarding his time there and the friendships that were made. It made me reflect on the idea of connection and community through a single cause, as Israel had done by making their youth come together and train. The food itself was quite good, we all shared a bit of each other's as much as we could--though I couldn't contribute much since I eat so much so quickly. The evening was delightful and we had made plans to hang out again, which he have done already. My final meeting for conversation partners was with Keunwha, Hunter, and Andrea downstairs at the CIES building. Andrea had invited me since she knew that I was also seeking a position in Korea to teach. I thoroughly enjoyed this occasion with Keunwha, as I had not really interacted with her before. I found her to be pleasantly polite and we discussed many topics. As usual, I tended to dominate the conversation and we spoke a lot about humor. I tried to explain a joke from a movie that I enjoy called Airplane! A running joke within the film was to take something someone had said literally, for example the air stewardess was speaking to a doctor on the plane and the doctor had said, "We need to land this plane now to get this man to a hospital," the stewardess responds, "a hospital! What is it?" the doctor finally responds, "it's a big building with patients." Another example was when a person would say, "surely, you can't be serious," and the other responds, "I am, and don't call me Shirley." I thought it was a reasonable subject to broach with Keunwha, as her English skills are quite good and humor is the last thing one is able to achieve in a foreign language. However, both Hunter and Andrea found my pursuit fruitless and bade me abandon it altogether. I would disagree and you can ask Keunwha herself if she finds such jokes funny, because I think that we really made some headway in this area.
GarretTS#16
October21st, 10pm
I am meeting with TaeYuen for the third time today. We met earlier this week to work on an assignment that he had wherein you were to formulate 25 idiomatic expressions. TaeYuen and I had great fun doing this, however, he misinformed me of the assignment. I thought that the assignment was about idiomatic expressions in general. What I came to find out tonight was that the kind of idiomatic expressions that were supposed to be covered in the assignment are what as known as phrasal verbs, which are idiomatic phrases consisting of a verb and another element, typically either an adverb or a preposition. We spent a little over an hour discussing the importance of context when analyzing any kind of idiomatic phrase, especially phrasal verbs. TaeYuen was having issues understanding that these parts of the English language cannot be pinned down specifically. A pretty funny example is the phrasal verb "make out." I explained to him that this can be applied in many different situations. He thought it was synonomous with sex, and I thought that was pretty funny. I spent 10 minutes explaining to him that making out, which can, in fact, often lead to sex, is actually a kind of kissing verb that involves intense kissing and intimacy. I found myself struggling with trying to explain to him what it actually was. I couldn't help but to feel deeply humble by the gorgeousness of language, and how it has come so far and evolved in such a way that one can fully know a word or concept (like what "making out" means), but yet still have trouble explaining it. I then continued on with the other common meaning of "make out," which means to seek clarity. I used an example that he thought was pretty funny, which was, "I am trying to make out the meaning of make out, but I am having trouble." He got a kick out of that.
I am meeting with TaeYuen for the third time today. We met earlier this week to work on an assignment that he had wherein you were to formulate 25 idiomatic expressions. TaeYuen and I had great fun doing this, however, he misinformed me of the assignment. I thought that the assignment was about idiomatic expressions in general. What I came to find out tonight was that the kind of idiomatic expressions that were supposed to be covered in the assignment are what as known as phrasal verbs, which are idiomatic phrases consisting of a verb and another element, typically either an adverb or a preposition. We spent a little over an hour discussing the importance of context when analyzing any kind of idiomatic phrase, especially phrasal verbs. TaeYuen was having issues understanding that these parts of the English language cannot be pinned down specifically. A pretty funny example is the phrasal verb "make out." I explained to him that this can be applied in many different situations. He thought it was synonomous with sex, and I thought that was pretty funny. I spent 10 minutes explaining to him that making out, which can, in fact, often lead to sex, is actually a kind of kissing verb that involves intense kissing and intimacy. I found myself struggling with trying to explain to him what it actually was. I couldn't help but to feel deeply humble by the gorgeousness of language, and how it has come so far and evolved in such a way that one can fully know a word or concept (like what "making out" means), but yet still have trouble explaining it. I then continued on with the other common meaning of "make out," which means to seek clarity. I used an example that he thought was pretty funny, which was, "I am trying to make out the meaning of make out, but I am having trouble." He got a kick out of that.
GarretTS#13
October 20th.
Tonight I helped Abdul Alaban with an essay that he was writing. Abdul was assigned to write an Essay that included 5 paragraphs. He decided that he wanted to to write about Oud, which is a type of perfume, originating in the Middle East, that comes in two forms. The first of the two forms comes from the actual of the tree from which Oud comes from. Abdul explained to me that it is very common to burn the wood. The burning of the wood puts off a smoke that has a smoky/musty aroma that is absorbed into clothing and last a long time. Though used as a kind of perfume, the most common use for this type of Oud is to enhance the smell of a household or a room. If a person is planning to have a party it is very common to have Oud burning. The second, and more common of the two types of Oud, comes in the form of oil. Apparently Oud is very popular in the Middle East, so much that when a person has a guest over, it is not uncommon to show off the quality of Oud that you have. After editing Abdul's paper I gave it back to him to rewrite. I am planning to meet with him tomorrow to edit his 2nd draft.
Tonight I helped Abdul Alaban with an essay that he was writing. Abdul was assigned to write an Essay that included 5 paragraphs. He decided that he wanted to to write about Oud, which is a type of perfume, originating in the Middle East, that comes in two forms. The first of the two forms comes from the actual of the tree from which Oud comes from. Abdul explained to me that it is very common to burn the wood. The burning of the wood puts off a smoke that has a smoky/musty aroma that is absorbed into clothing and last a long time. Though used as a kind of perfume, the most common use for this type of Oud is to enhance the smell of a household or a room. If a person is planning to have a party it is very common to have Oud burning. The second, and more common of the two types of Oud, comes in the form of oil. Apparently Oud is very popular in the Middle East, so much that when a person has a guest over, it is not uncommon to show off the quality of Oud that you have. After editing Abdul's paper I gave it back to him to rewrite. I am planning to meet with him tomorrow to edit his 2nd draft.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
GarretTS#15
October 21st, Afternoon.
I met again with TaeYuen today to work on his second reading log. The book he chose is called "Stolen Voices," by Ellen Dee Davidson. This book is a bit weird, and the plot was harder for TaeYuen to follow. It is narrated by a young girl named Miri who, at 15 years old, has no talent. In the dystopian society of Noveskian, the city's class system is based on the talent each individual possesses. Each person's talent is revealed at a annual demonstration wherein each person, all of the age of 15, goes onstage and reveals their talent to the people in the crowd. When Miri's name is called, she panics and runs away. Miri has yet to find her talent. And people who are "Untalents" are doomed to a lower-class life. Some of the words that TaeYuen used for the vacuum part of the assignment were: indulgent, chirp, chant, and gilt. After having TaeYuen write his summary on the book, I looked over and edited it for him. He then rewrote it and completed the assignment. We finished at around 7 and as I was finishing up, TaeYuen asked me if I could help him with another assignment, which was a listening log. He also told me that he has a test on phrasal verbs/idiomatic phrases. We we met last night to work on his idiom assignment, he didn't explain to me that it was phrasal verbs. Considering that I had not eaten much all day, I told him that we could meet back at the library at 9:30 to work on the Listening Log together and that I would help him with phrasal verbs.
I met again with TaeYuen today to work on his second reading log. The book he chose is called "Stolen Voices," by Ellen Dee Davidson. This book is a bit weird, and the plot was harder for TaeYuen to follow. It is narrated by a young girl named Miri who, at 15 years old, has no talent. In the dystopian society of Noveskian, the city's class system is based on the talent each individual possesses. Each person's talent is revealed at a annual demonstration wherein each person, all of the age of 15, goes onstage and reveals their talent to the people in the crowd. When Miri's name is called, she panics and runs away. Miri has yet to find her talent. And people who are "Untalents" are doomed to a lower-class life. Some of the words that TaeYuen used for the vacuum part of the assignment were: indulgent, chirp, chant, and gilt. After having TaeYuen write his summary on the book, I looked over and edited it for him. He then rewrote it and completed the assignment. We finished at around 7 and as I was finishing up, TaeYuen asked me if I could help him with another assignment, which was a listening log. He also told me that he has a test on phrasal verbs/idiomatic phrases. We we met last night to work on his idiom assignment, he didn't explain to me that it was phrasal verbs. Considering that I had not eaten much all day, I told him that we could meet back at the library at 9:30 to work on the Listening Log together and that I would help him with phrasal verbs.
GarretTS#14
October 21st, Afternoon.
Today I met with TaeYuen again. We seem to get along very well together. Before getting to business, TaeYuen and I spoke for a bit about what it is that I am interested in. I explained to TaeYuen that I am very interested in people. I went on to explain that my fascination with people has fueled a deep love for art. I explained to him my opinion of what art is and how I do not believe that it can be limited to one definition, and if it were, then I would define it as any form of expression that conveys some aspect of the human experience. I talked to him about some art forms that I like most. I talked about poetry, acting, music, and movies, because those are some of my favorite artistic mediums. After talking for about 20 minutes I asked TaeYuen what we would be working on today, he then explained that he needed help with two reading logs. I explained that I only had time to help him with one, however, I can meet again later tonight to help him with the other. The reading log was similar to the assignment we had in TEFL class. Read a part of a book, write a short summary, identify 3-5 vocabulary words that he did not previously know. The book that we read together was called "Into the Grey," by Celine Kiernan. The chapter that we read set up the rest of the plot. The narrator, Patrick, recalls the night that his "Nan" burned their house down. Patrick, who was a teenage at the time, lived in a house with his Nan (a nickname for his grandmother), his parents, his twin brother Dom, and his younger sister, Dee. It is obvious that the grandmother has some sort of mental illness, but the specific illness has yet to be revealed.
Today I met with TaeYuen again. We seem to get along very well together. Before getting to business, TaeYuen and I spoke for a bit about what it is that I am interested in. I explained to TaeYuen that I am very interested in people. I went on to explain that my fascination with people has fueled a deep love for art. I explained to him my opinion of what art is and how I do not believe that it can be limited to one definition, and if it were, then I would define it as any form of expression that conveys some aspect of the human experience. I talked to him about some art forms that I like most. I talked about poetry, acting, music, and movies, because those are some of my favorite artistic mediums. After talking for about 20 minutes I asked TaeYuen what we would be working on today, he then explained that he needed help with two reading logs. I explained that I only had time to help him with one, however, I can meet again later tonight to help him with the other. The reading log was similar to the assignment we had in TEFL class. Read a part of a book, write a short summary, identify 3-5 vocabulary words that he did not previously know. The book that we read together was called "Into the Grey," by Celine Kiernan. The chapter that we read set up the rest of the plot. The narrator, Patrick, recalls the night that his "Nan" burned their house down. Patrick, who was a teenage at the time, lived in a house with his Nan (a nickname for his grandmother), his parents, his twin brother Dom, and his younger sister, Dee. It is obvious that the grandmother has some sort of mental illness, but the specific illness has yet to be revealed.
Hannah CP #4
Today I met up with Salem from CIES again! We decided to meet at Sweet Shop again since it is close to my job. During our hour, we got to talk about a lot of things related to holidays. The main ones we talked about were Halloween and Thanksgiving. Salem thought it was interesting how Americans celebrate Halloween by dressing up and eating candy. He told me about how the CIES house will hold a Halloween party the Friday before Halloween and how he will have to dress up. I tried to give him a couple of costume ideas. I think he may decide to be a zombie. I let him know where the nearest Halloween store is. After that, he started to ask me questions about Thanksgiving and Black Friday. He wanted to know what businesses would be open that days as well as the types of deals that Black Friday would offer. In the end I ended up convincing him that Cyber Monday was better.
GarretTS#12
October 20th, Mid-day.
Today I met with TaeYuen. We worked on an assignment he was given wherein he was to comprise 25 examples of idioms. This was actually really fun. A few examples that we came up with were: feeling down, feeling blue, looking up ("the situation is looking up now that I have changed my approach."), and feeling blue. The examplse that I had most fun explaining to TaeYuen was the idiomatic expressions, "Changed the game," and "Game Changer." Explaining to TaeYuen that, in regards to the first expression, "Changed the game," the word "game" can be applied to many different things, including industries, different kinds of sports, and really anything that involves the participation of one or more individuals. The example that I used with TaeYuen was, "Computers changed the game." The word "game," in this situation, can be applied almost universally. Computers changed the way we communicate, they changed the technology world, and those are only a few examples of the impact that computers have had on many different "games." Whereas "changing the game" is more verb-related, the term "Game Changer" is a noun. TaeYuen was better able to grasp the concept when it was used as a noun - game changer.
Today I met with TaeYuen. We worked on an assignment he was given wherein he was to comprise 25 examples of idioms. This was actually really fun. A few examples that we came up with were: feeling down, feeling blue, looking up ("the situation is looking up now that I have changed my approach."), and feeling blue. The examplse that I had most fun explaining to TaeYuen was the idiomatic expressions, "Changed the game," and "Game Changer." Explaining to TaeYuen that, in regards to the first expression, "Changed the game," the word "game" can be applied to many different things, including industries, different kinds of sports, and really anything that involves the participation of one or more individuals. The example that I used with TaeYuen was, "Computers changed the game." The word "game," in this situation, can be applied almost universally. Computers changed the way we communicate, they changed the technology world, and those are only a few examples of the impact that computers have had on many different "games." Whereas "changing the game" is more verb-related, the term "Game Changer" is a noun. TaeYuen was better able to grasp the concept when it was used as a noun - game changer.
Hannah TS #16
Today was my last day with Youngseo! Even though today is the last day that I am supposed to technically meet with Youngseo, I have agreed to continue to tutor her for the rest of the semester! I don't really mind because we get along really well. We started off the session like normal, by completing a couple of word searches. After that, we practiced her spelling words. Once we finished that, we read a book about a dog named Pinkerton. Pinkerton is a teething dog who goes out of control at a museum. She enjoyed this book since Pinkerton ate a lot of things dogs shouldn't eat and the excessive use of the word "great". One of the things I've noticed throughout these sessions that the use of a schedule is important. Youngseo knew that throughout our hour we needed to get certain things done in a specific order. I can't wait to continue tutoring her!
Keunhwa TS#14
Date/Time: Oct. 2/ 04:40~06:00
Location: LeLoy Collins Main Library
Topic/Skill: My problem with Kakaotalk, Our
team teaching/ Speaking
Feedback provided to tutor. Hannah : Hannah
and I kept in contact with each other through Kakaotalk, but mine did not work since
the other day. I had no idea why my
account had problem suddenly. So I had
to make a new one and I showed her my new account which, she found, was different
from hers. I had trouble with finding
hers in my Kakaotalk. However, it
sounded weird that her account showed up when I came home. I can’t still understand why. Thankfully now we can contact each
other. I brought what I found for my
host country presentation because I couldn’t tell if many classmates are aware
of it or not. She told me that it would be useful to them. We discussed our team teaching plan, but the
library had to close at 6. We checked
out all of our teaching plans, and came to a conclusion that 50 min isn’t
enough to teach writing, so we decided to teach speaking lesion.
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutor,
Hannah you learned: She was busy just before she left her workplace,
because she had to cash out the money the staff had to pay for their lunches. She explained the meaning of ‘cash out’, and I
came to know that ‘cash out’ has a cultural meaning, too. If staff eat at their
restaurant, they do not need to pay for their meals in Korea, as far as I
know. While I talked with Hannah, I felt
that I needed to express my thoughts in full sentences to give my opinions clearly.
Keunhwa TS#4
Date/Time: Sep. 30/ 05:35~06:40
Location: Book-a-million
Topic/Skill: Comparing among women’s lives in
Korean, French, and the U.S/ Writing and speaking
Feedback provided to tutor, Neila: I showed
her my three tutoring session writings in the Blogger and she corrected my
errors. She didn’t do it instantly, and
gave me time to think about correct my lapses by myself. Her understanding
attitude made me comfortable. She explained the other meaning of ‘locate’. Then,
we moved on to Ben Franklin practice. She read the dialogs and I marked stressed
words in sentences. After that, I read
them aloud.
Lesson(s)
about tutoring and/or the tutor you learned: I learned the usages of ‘tell’ and ‘say’, which
are that ‘tell’ sounds indirectly, whereas ‘say’ sounds
more direct. When a person expresses
their thoughts or feelings, it’s better
to use ‘tell’ instead of ‘say’. However, when
expressing their demands, requests, it would be superior to use ‘say’. The word, ‘Locate’ may mean
‘seek’ or ‘contact’ on the
website. It makes sense, because every
website has its own address like real places on the map. The phrase, ‘what have you been’ has four words, but it should sound like one word. I have to practice it, and I will use it when
I say hello to my friends.
Keunhwa TS#16
Date/Time: Oct. 20/ 12:50~13:50
Location: CIES students’ rest place
Topic/Skill: Listening to and understanding the
meaning of the past unreal conditional tense in conversation/ speaking and
grammar
Feedback provided to tutor, Frankie: He asked
me what I wanted to know directly, which made me think what I needed to know
and helped me tell what I hadn’t understood. I told him that I had difficulties in understanding
contractions listening to them. He required
me to take examples of them. They were naturally
related to the past unreal conditional tense. I also was confused with the differences
between ‘would have’ and ‘could have’. I
thought they were interchangeable, but Frankie explain the difference creating examples
for me.
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutor you
learned: His major are philosophy and classics and modern English came partly from
ancient Greek and is much simpler than it, so he knows English grammar well. However,
his explanation was a little difficult for me to understand, because he used grammatical
terms which I hadn’t known. He used the term, ‘qualify’, which imply to make a statement
or assertion less absolute like if clause in the past conditional tense. In
addition, he taught me the noun, ‘quality’, which I’d known only the basic
meaning, the opposite of quantity. Besides that, it means peculiar and essential
character. The differences between ‘would have’ and ‘could have’ are follows: ‘Would
have’ expresses more vivid future while ‘could have’ indicates less vivid
future. (a) If I had had a car, I would have picked you up. (b) If I had had a
car, I could have picked you up. The sentence (a) suggests the speaker really wanted
to do it, but s/he didn’t. The sentence (b) conveys the speaker said it was one
of many possibilities.
Keunwha TS#15
Date/Time: Oct. 19/ 05:00~06:00pm
Location: at lake Ella
Topic/Skill: Our high school lives/ Speaking
and editing
Feedback provided to tutor, Neila: I brought
my blogger writings and she edited them. Thanks to her I could make sentences without
worrying about making errors. On the
other hand, I did not try to edit my writings by myself because I could help
from her. Some errors would have been
found by myself if I had proofread it.
Others could not have been found. Even though I could get help from a tutor or
teacher, I have to edit my writing first. I was with Aviv, her boyfriend as well. He came
from Israel, but has American citizenship, so can get a job here and has it now.
Thanks to his job he could learn English through his body, and it worked well. I said to them about my high school life which
was hard to me, and Neila told me about her fun and happy life in a high school
dorm.
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutor you learned: I should use no article
after ‘graduate from’ because it does not matter which college s/he graduated
from in my sentence. She lived in
Brittany in France which was so cold in winter, and there were apple trees everywhere. Cider means apple alcohol, which is totally
different from the meaning of it in Korea, Sprite. Moonshine is more strong
alcohol made out of apples.
Justin TS#15
On Wednesday 10/21 I met with Astin. Honestly as I was driving to his house I was sad. Ever since Astin and I have really started tutoring consistently I can see that he is really excited. It only got cuter at the end of our session today. Today Boram asked if I could help Astin complete his homework. Most of his activities had to deal with numbers. Astin had to create comparison between numbers, as in, if there is a total of 10 pennies, he needs to break them up into two separate pairs. Either 5 and 5, 4 and 6, 7 and 3 and so on. He also needed to practice writing his numbers. Something that Astin still struggles with is writing letters and numbers backwards. With me he keeps writing the number 3 backwards. He is a very intelligent child but he still has trouble creating his own writing in the proper forms but he is only 5. Today Astin and I had a really focused lesson which was good and I really enjoyed it. After we finished our lesson Astin gave me a hug and told me to stay longer. I talked to Boram about still coming maybe once a week so that I can still help him. I really enjoyed getting to know Astin and his family and I really want to keep growing our relationship. Since I might end up in South Korea I'd love to keep learning about their customs. Since Boram says that she would love to have me keep coming, I'm excited to see where our friendship will manifest.
Aviv TS#16
October 19th 5pm
I met with Keunhwa and Neila at blackdog café for a final
tutoring session. We began the session by going over Keunhwa’s blogs. Neila
read them out loud while Keunhwa and I followed along. When Neila would circle
a beautiful mistake, we both shared our opinion and tried to correct them
before Neila did. Afterwards, we went over different spelling issues that I
have. There are many different words in the English language that have silent
letters, so we went over several of these words. We then moved on to pronunciation
skills, she explained how to position my mouth to make the “th” sound. This was
very helpful to me so now I can say the word “Three” without it sounding like “Tree”!
We had a very calm and enjoyable tutoring session and I am looking forward to
sharing the 200 hour TEFL course with them.
Aviv TS#15
Friday October 16. Jun at 8pm
Before the session, I planned out an object gave to help Jun
with his speaking skills. I began by modeling the game for him. I found 2
different objects in my room, showed them to him and then came up with
different uses for these objects. Then it was Jun’s turn. He went and forum 3
different objects, a hat, a pencil case and a fork. He came up with different
uses for these objects and explained to me how he would use them. This helped
with his speaking skills. Afterwards, to try to get him into a deeper
discussion, I gave him different dilemmas and he had to explain what he would
do in these situations. They were all appropriate dilemmas for his age and he
was able to explain himself very clearly. Overall, we had a great final tutoring
session that was mainly to help his communicative speaking skills.
Aviv TS#14
October 10 at 8pm
Before our tutoring session, I searched up several different
activities to do with Jun. Also last session, he asked me to tell him about
some of my army experience because he shared concerns about his future army
service in South Korea. To start off our session, I began by giving him
different topics. For each topic he has to provide different pros and cons. I
modeled the activity for him and then as the first topic I told him to provide
me with pros and cons about school uniforms. This helped with his vocabulary
and sentence structure. To move on, since I promised him I would tell him a
story from my army service, I did just that. I provided a story that was
appropriate for him. Once I finished the short story, I then asked him
comprehension questions and went over the vocabulary I used. All in all, we had
a great tutoring session and practice vocabulary skills, listening skills and
speaking skills.
Aviv CP#6
Date/Time: 6pm to 7pm
10/16/15
Matt and I were not able to
meet up, so we decided to do our last session over Skype. Matt started by
telling me that he was in the emergency room earlier that day, he had injured
his foot pretty severely. I told him that Neila and I went camping over the
weekend at Cape Sand Blas. He told me about many other beaches that I should
visit, now I need to plan a trip to Panama City beach! Since I knew that Matt
is an Economics major, I consulted him about my taxes. I didn’t know how taxes
work in the United States, but since I have a job here I know I need to learn
how the system works. He explained to me how to do the process and that in the
end I will either get some money back or break even. Overall, Matt was a great
conversation partner, he exposed several different cultural aspects of the U.S
that I did not know about. I hope after this we will still stay in touch!
Aviv CP#5
Date/Time: 5:00-6PM 10/14/15
Matt and I met out front of the CIES building and
then Matt suggested we go to Chick-Fil-A to eat some chicken sandwiches. It was
my first time eating at Chick-Fil-A. We talked about the terrorist attacks that
occurred in Israel in the last two weeks. We also talked about how corrupt and
expensive American phone companies are for cell phone rates. I told him how
much cheaper it is in Israel compared to the United States. We then talked
about my weekend in Miami. I explained to him that my grandma lives in Miami
and I had to go and get the rest of my affairs from her house. Matt is in the
Economics club and is the secretary. When we were eating at Chick-Fil-A, we met
one of his friends from the economics cub. Afterwards, we talked about where we
are interested in going once we finish the TEFL. I told him that I was looking
into Czech Republic. All in all, we were able to talk about several different
subjects and interests that we both have.
GarretTS#11
October 19th.
Tonight I met with TaeYuen, a CIES student from South Korea. We worked on formulating a debate for one of his classes which involved analyzing a topic and then taking a stance in order to create an argument. The topic was: What age is too young to begin using a cellphone. TaeYuen and and I read a few articles and discussed the topic and the stance he took was as following, and in his words: "I believe that anytime before 14 or 15 is too soon. I do not think that children fully understand the responsibility that comes with using such an advanced piece of technology." I helped him further develop his argument with a few supporting details which came from a few articles that I read to him. The first article talked about how technology is leading to a decrease in memory because our brains do not place as much importance on remember information because it is so easily, and readily available. The second article covered a story written about a high school boy, a 9th grader, who was dating a 9th grade girl. The girl sent the boy, who at the time was her boyfriend, a couple naked pictures. Upon breaking up the boy showed the pictures to his classmates. This caused great embarrassment for the young women, which clearly exemplifies how most children, and even a large amount of young adults, do not fully understand what is at stake when irresponsibly using cellphones. I also posited the idea that I believe that so much of social media usage within the younger communities is mostly for social media, and overuse with these social media platforms often leads to a kind of compulsive and thoughtless behavior. We then formulated a counterargument and prosed the idea that in our generation, and future generations as well, technology is, and will continue to b, so heavily integrated into all aspects of society, and that the sooner that kids are exposed to technology, the more adept they will be interacting with it. We continued this counterargument by following up with the idea that while technology usage may not be completely detrimental to children, it is a huge responsibility on the parents end to make sure that they regulate technology usage, as well as fully explain to their kids potential repercussions of irresponsibly using technology.
Tonight I met with TaeYuen, a CIES student from South Korea. We worked on formulating a debate for one of his classes which involved analyzing a topic and then taking a stance in order to create an argument. The topic was: What age is too young to begin using a cellphone. TaeYuen and and I read a few articles and discussed the topic and the stance he took was as following, and in his words: "I believe that anytime before 14 or 15 is too soon. I do not think that children fully understand the responsibility that comes with using such an advanced piece of technology." I helped him further develop his argument with a few supporting details which came from a few articles that I read to him. The first article talked about how technology is leading to a decrease in memory because our brains do not place as much importance on remember information because it is so easily, and readily available. The second article covered a story written about a high school boy, a 9th grader, who was dating a 9th grade girl. The girl sent the boy, who at the time was her boyfriend, a couple naked pictures. Upon breaking up the boy showed the pictures to his classmates. This caused great embarrassment for the young women, which clearly exemplifies how most children, and even a large amount of young adults, do not fully understand what is at stake when irresponsibly using cellphones. I also posited the idea that I believe that so much of social media usage within the younger communities is mostly for social media, and overuse with these social media platforms often leads to a kind of compulsive and thoughtless behavior. We then formulated a counterargument and prosed the idea that in our generation, and future generations as well, technology is, and will continue to b, so heavily integrated into all aspects of society, and that the sooner that kids are exposed to technology, the more adept they will be interacting with it. We continued this counterargument by following up with the idea that while technology usage may not be completely detrimental to children, it is a huge responsibility on the parents end to make sure that they regulate technology usage, as well as fully explain to their kids potential repercussions of irresponsibly using technology.
Neila TS#16
On October 19th at 5pm, I met with Keunhwa and Aviv for our last tutoring session. We walked around Lake Ella and found a nice bench to sit at. I began by going over Keunhwa's blogs. Aviv and Keunhwa followed along and were both able to notice the beautiful mistakes and correct them. Afterwards, we went over several spelling issues. In the English language, there are several words that have an extra consent that is silent. We made several minimal pairs between them, for example calm and palm. We also discussed pronounciation. The "th" sound is difficult for them both, so I explained how to shape their mouth to make that sound. It was a simple tutoring session, but we all had fun and learned new things.
Neila TS#15
Today at 3:30pm, I met with He Jeong and Hyein at books-a-million. I decided that we would have a fun day so I brought them some welches fruit snacks and had games planned out. I brought cards with me and asked if they knew any card games and the suits. We went over what the suits were called and all the names of the cards. They didn't know any card games, so I taught them how to play go fish. The girls had a lot of fun and learned a new card game that we often play in the U.S. We then finished with a game of sharades, helping them with different vocabulary words. All in all, we had a relaxing and fun tutoring day since it was our last tutoring session.
Jusitn TS#14
On Wednesday, 10/21 I met with Fabian. After our first lesson I had a better understanding of what Fabian wanted to work on. I started the lesson by going over some common idioms that we use in English. Fabian has an interest in this because he wants to incorporate it into his own speech. It was interesting going over the lesson because there were some idioms that were the exact same in English and Spanish. We were able to focus on idioms for the majority of the lesson because we would run into comprehension problems and new words. Sometimes it was difficult to explain a phrase but I think with time I will have a better way of teaching exact definitions in a simple way. Near the end of the lesson, Fabian explained that he has trouble with some vowel sounds since there is a big difference between Spanish and English. I used some minimal pairs to see if I could identify specifically where he was running into trouble. From what I've seen it's mostly the sounds A and E that give him trouble. I think is due to the fact that in these two languages, the sounds are opposite to each other. I had trouble with this when I was learning Spanish but I've gotten over it with more years of learning Spanish. Hopefully I can help Fabian get over this next time we meet.
Justin TS#13
On Tuesday, 10/20 I met with Yuma. I decided to focus on Articles for this lesson since that was something I know he wanted to work on. Once again as we went through the lesson, Yuma stopped me whenever he needed to clarify anything and to ask for examples. Since I wasn't sure how long this lesson would go I had a fun video for Yuma to watch. Since I know he likes soccer I wanted to show him a really cool youtube channel that he could follow and practice his english. It's called Copa90 and they make loads of videos about soccer. I decided to show him an episode about Borussia Dortmund since I know that is his favorite team. It was a long video so I would constantly stop and clarify if Yuma felt lost. I thought he did really well and that he was able to gain a large amount of understanding about what the episode was about. I told Yuma that he could use this as a great resource to practice his English in a subject that actually coincides with his interests and hobbies. I'm not sure what I plan on doing for our last session but hopefully I can plan a good one for Yuma.
KellyMichael - TS#15
Hammoud and I met to work on writing skills for the ILETS test. We discussed the way he currently tackles the assignment and starts writing the paragraph as soon as time starts, and hurries to the end to finish. My suggestion was that he start with a quick outline based on the information provided, and then write his paragraph with more attention to detail. I also told him he wants to use all the time provided, and rushing through to make sure you finish is only going to garner more mistakes. I showed him an example quick outline, and how it makes writing the paragraph easier and more time efficient. I think Hammoud will still use his own method to accomplish the goal. He didn't seem very accepting of the idea of outlining, and is still more worried about finishing the exam before time runs out.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Andrea TS #16
Luna and I are a strange mix of conversation and tutoring. She had experienced a racist event recently, and she was very indignant about it. She felt like she had to talk to someone about it because she wants to improve her ability to discuss and argue in English. As a lawyer, arguments come naturally to her, but I can tell that it's very frustrating to not be able to say what she wants because of limitations in her vocabulary and grammar skills. Having her practice speaking in this way appeared to motivate her, and it also allowed her to get the frustrations off her chest. In the past we had focused more on grammar, but I think that speaking practice was more appropriate for this lesson. She fears that she has hit a plateau in her English skills so I recommended that she expand her approach to learning beyond just what the classroom offers. She's still intent on shadowing a class at the FSU Law School, and it is my hope that this will be enough to reinvigorate her motivation.
Andrea TS#15
This was my fourth session with Aviv. Since it was our final session, we decided to look over the past mistakes from the other speed writing activities we had done. For the most part, Aviv has no problems with organizing his thoughts, and his outlines are neat and well done. However, he still needs a lot of help with his vowels when spelling. I feel like this is something that he will only be able to master if he practices on his own. It seems like a very important thing to perfect if he wants to be a teacher. I had him review the most frequent mistakes with me, and we set up some flash cards using scrap paper. I hope that our sessions helped him.
Matthew TS #16
Date: 10/20/15 5:00-6:00PM
Tutees: Matthew and David Hong
For Matthew, he had to write a rough draft for a school speech on a myth. He chose the city of Atlantis. We introduced the main features of Atlantis in the introduction paragraph. I made sure to ask him questions about his grammar when he made mistakes. A common mistake was capitalization of proper nouns, such as Atlantis and Atlantic Ocean. We did some research to learn more about he history for his body paragraphs. He learned about its origins and wrote about how long Greeks have been subject to this myth. He made a lot of progress on the rough draft of his paper, finishing it in our short time during our tutoring session.
For David, we focused mainly on grammar. He had trouble with the perfect tenses. He got them confused with the continuous and past tenses. This was easily adjusted when I showed him the formula for past, future, and present perfect tenses. He then was able to conjugate and create sentences with new words. After this, he read an academic article for his grade level on the atmosphere and its different layers. He learned a lot about the importance of the layers on our health and safety. His comprehension and ability to understand vocabulary words in context was excellent. He has really improved a lot since I started seeing him.
Tutees: Matthew and David Hong
For Matthew, he had to write a rough draft for a school speech on a myth. He chose the city of Atlantis. We introduced the main features of Atlantis in the introduction paragraph. I made sure to ask him questions about his grammar when he made mistakes. A common mistake was capitalization of proper nouns, such as Atlantis and Atlantic Ocean. We did some research to learn more about he history for his body paragraphs. He learned about its origins and wrote about how long Greeks have been subject to this myth. He made a lot of progress on the rough draft of his paper, finishing it in our short time during our tutoring session.
For David, we focused mainly on grammar. He had trouble with the perfect tenses. He got them confused with the continuous and past tenses. This was easily adjusted when I showed him the formula for past, future, and present perfect tenses. He then was able to conjugate and create sentences with new words. After this, he read an academic article for his grade level on the atmosphere and its different layers. He learned a lot about the importance of the layers on our health and safety. His comprehension and ability to understand vocabulary words in context was excellent. He has really improved a lot since I started seeing him.
Andrea TS 14
Hye-Jeong and I finished our chapter book in the last session. In order to continue practicing her reading, I asked her to pick out a book from the children's section from the library. Before starting, I had her try to guess what the book was about, and we read the summary on the inside flap of the book. I told her that since we had read he last book together, this time she would be reading to me. I only helped her with unfamiliar vocabulary words, but for the most part she didn't really need any help. After reading and doing her homework, we did an activity that was similar to a Madlib but simpler. At first Hye-jeong was reluctant and didn't want to work. I set aside the activity and did something else, and by her own volition she decided to finish the Madlib afterwards. I think I'm going to continue tutoring her even though we've finished our eight sessions.
Matthew CP #6
Partner: Aviv
Date: 10/16/15 6:00-7:00
For our last conversation session, Aviv and I discussed the possibilities of him traveling to the Czech Republic to teach English. I talked about an interesting previous night when I got injured and had to go to the hospital. We also discussed the amount of new free time after TEFL was over. I talked about a trip to Orlando with fellow TEFL students. We continued our discussion about how American businesses are over-priced and expensive and lack competition because of political corruption. He also talked about his weekend at the beach and how relaxing it was to stay there. We finished off thee conversation talking about American taxes and how much he would have to pay at the end of the year. I assured him he would probably have to pay no taxes and would likely get a refund at the end of the year. I really enjoyed getting to know Aviv and learn about his culture from Tel Aviv and Israel. We talked about Halloween coming up and how Israel has a similar holiday when it is a prerequisite to get intoxicated. I found this amusing because in America we have many holidays like this but Halloween usually isn't one of them, for most people.
Date: 10/16/15 6:00-7:00
For our last conversation session, Aviv and I discussed the possibilities of him traveling to the Czech Republic to teach English. I talked about an interesting previous night when I got injured and had to go to the hospital. We also discussed the amount of new free time after TEFL was over. I talked about a trip to Orlando with fellow TEFL students. We continued our discussion about how American businesses are over-priced and expensive and lack competition because of political corruption. He also talked about his weekend at the beach and how relaxing it was to stay there. We finished off thee conversation talking about American taxes and how much he would have to pay at the end of the year. I assured him he would probably have to pay no taxes and would likely get a refund at the end of the year. I really enjoyed getting to know Aviv and learn about his culture from Tel Aviv and Israel. We talked about Halloween coming up and how Israel has a similar holiday when it is a prerequisite to get intoxicated. I found this amusing because in America we have many holidays like this but Halloween usually isn't one of them, for most people.
Justin TS#12
On Sunday, 10/18 I had my first tutoring session with Fabian. Since we have become close as conversation partner, Fabian asked if I could also tutor him. Since I had some free time over the weekend I fit Fabian into my schedule. Fabian met me at the library which was nice since he has to rely on the bus. Since this was our first time and kind of out of no where I didn't exactly have something that I knew he'd be good at. I decided to start with my preposition lesson and just in case I had some materials on adverbs ready. The preposition lesson actually turned out to be a really good session for Fabian. I know that Fabian struggles to produce his own sentences and communicate but he knows a lot about English. The similarities between Spanish and English might help. As we went through the lessons I was able to pick out some areas to work on in the future. I'm hoping to keep working with Fabian because he also wants to help me with Spanish.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Justin TS#11
On Monday, 10/19 I met with Astin. Since I had my transportation figured out I was able to go to his house. Since I noticed last time that he only had a few books that I could help him read I decided to go to the library and bring my own resources. Astin loves learning about animals and since he's young I just tend to find anything that he enjoys and we read about that subject. I found books today about sharks, Komodo dragons, and crocodiles. He was really excited that I brought some of my own materials which was good. Sometimes when we work Astin tends to want to move onto another subject. Since I think these sessions are more to expose Astin to English outside of school I try not to force him into something he doesn't want to do. I do my best to lead the sessions but I like to balance in the fact that we are sometimes working with his frame of mind and attention. At one point I noticed some cards that we could play with and try to quiz Astin on. Most of these cards were simple words that had a visual aid to help him identify what the word was. Astin would always know what the word was when I told him but he had trouble producing it for himself. I hope that next time we can work on this. For the rest of the session we read a couple more sections of books. I might find some new material for our next session or bring my computer and find some videos for him to watch.
Justin CP#5
On Friday, 10/16 I met with Fabian. We met at CIES and since it was such a nice day and we had some time, I took Fabian to Landis. We found a nice little area under a tree to see how each other were doing. Fabian said that since it was a new session starting, he didn't have a very hard week in class. Then I told him about the miserable work that I had. This week I had 3 midterms and a presentation that was important for that specific class since we don't have any exams. Needless to say I had a rough week. Since Fabian is younger than I am he hasn't really had experiences like this since he hasn't gone through university yet. I had a couple topics ready to talk to Fabian about since he asked me about doing research. He already has his sights set on becoming a doctor since that is what his Father did and what his 2 sisters do. Most of his family actually works in somewhat of a medical field. I found it fascinating that his father is a well respected doctor and that he hopes to do the same. Fabian is the only member however, who wants to continue his studies in America. I'm trying to help Fabian by giving him information about prices of public and private universities within the United States. I have had a little trouble figuring out exactly how he wants to go about his University but it also might be confusing to him at this point so hopefully we can clear some things up. One of my favorite things about meeting with Fabian is that each time we're together I can tell that he is getting more confident. He has a better flow and consistency to his speaking abilities and it's great to see him improve. After talking about University we got on the topic of idioms, traveling abroad and folktales. I told Fabian how I plan on maybe going to Peru this summer if I get a scholarship. He said that it sounded interesting and would be a good time. We also spoke about folklores within our culture like Sasquatch or the Lochness monster. Fabian told me about El Chullanchaqui, which is a legend about a half goat half man creature. It is said to roam throughout the Amazon and basically protects the forest. Obviously with something like this there are always people who claim to have see it in real life. It's interesting that something like a folklore and the common traits associated with them are similar across cultures. I'm hoping for the next meeting with Fabian that we can solidify what he wants to do in the future.
GarretCP#6
On October 14th I met with Khyrsi. Khyrsi actually happened to be in the class that I taught for the TEFL program. At the end of that class I asked for a show of hands from everyone who was not returning to CIES (it was relevant to my lecture), and she happened to be on of the students who was not planning to return for another session at CIES. The 14th was Khyrsi last day in the US, at least for a few months. We mostly spoke about her plans for the future. She explained to me that she could not afford to do another session at CIES and so she will most likely continue her studies on her own. I thought this to be interesting because it put so much into perspective in regards to how lucky we, American born citizens, are to be born and raised speaking English. Of all the students I met and spoke with this Summer, I noticed a reoccurring theme in all of them, and that was this idea that the US is at the apex of the world in terms of achieving "success." So many of my tutees would equate success to how much money you make annually. I couldn't help but to feel grateful being born here. But at the same time, I felt bad because I feel like we perpetuate this idea of success being how much money you make, and that is what is fed to other countries through the media, music, etc. Anyhow, Khyrsi said that she would remain in contact with me, and that upon her arrival back to the US, she will probably end up in NYC where a couple of her friends own an apartment.
Neila CP#6
October 19th at 5:30pm, I met with Keunhwa and Aviv at black dog café. The coffee shop was packed, so we had to sit outside. This led to the discussion of the weather. We talked about the fact that when Keunhwa goes back to South Korea, she will have to get used to the weather there. She explained how there is a lot of pollution in South Korea and when she goes back, it will irritate her throat. Somehow, we changed topics and talked about education. Keunhwa shared that her mother was the first of 9 kids and wasn't able to get a good education. When her mother was already a grandmother, she went back to finish middle school. In South Korea, they have alternative schools for older women to finish their education. That way, no matter their level, they won't have to be in a school with young kids. I found this very interesting. We also discussed the army in South Korea. Aviv shared that he was in the Israeli army for 3 years because in Israel, men have to do 3 years of service and women have to do 2 years and 4 months of service. Keunhwa told us that men, in South Korea, have to do 18 months of service, but women don't have to do service.
Neila CP#5
On October 12th at 5:30pm, I met with Keunhwa at books-a-million. We talked about a variety of things! We started off the conversation talking about different South Korean reality shows and how celebrities are viewed in their culture. She explained to me that there are several reality shows solely for celebrities. One of the shows is called "We got married!" It's a show where they get celebrities that just got married, give them tasks to complete and then film them completing these tasks. We then discussed, more in depth, the subject of the old South Korean corporal punishment in schools. Since Keunhwa was a teacher when this punishment was still being used, she had very interesting stories that she kindly shared with me. I'm very glad Keunhwa has been so kind to open me to up to a completely different culture and share all of her stories. She has broadened my horizon.
Keunhwa TS#13
Date/Time: Oct. 15/ 03:40~04:40
Location: at CIES students’ rest place
Topic/Skill: The book Hannah was reading for
her assignment, Scope scholastic/ speaking and writing
Feedback provided to tutor, Hannah: She was
busy with her unexpected assignment, so she brought her book, titled ‘Toshie’. I asked her as many questions about it as
possible. I was interested in why and
how the author found her, Toshie, because the writer came to her recently and
she was born in 1920’s. After listening
to Hannah’s explanation about her stories and the Japanese time period when she
spent her youth, I came to think of my mother’s case, which seems similar to
Toshie. I told her my mother’s
experience of leaving her hometown to make money and Hannah told me about her mother.
Then I asked about pronunciations of contractions,
which are difficult to recognize in conversation. She took many examples of
them and tried to find cool video clips. Before we finished the tutoring, I
asked about a snore which I hadn’t thought about before. She explained the
meaning of a snore and why those sentences are a total snore.
Keunhwa TS#12
Date/Time: Oc. 14/ 05:35~06:40
Location: at Book-a-Million
Topic/Skill: Tongue twisters, Poem of English
pronunciation, Critical incidents of us/ speaking and writing
Feedback provided to tutor, Neila: When I
entered into Book-a-million, I heard the song, ‘New soul’ which Neila
introduced to me. From that time when I
listen to this song, I would think of her. She showed me a poem about English pronunciation
which I had seen before, but appeared difficult, because it had tons of unfamiliar
words and it was a poem, not a story. I
felt afraid of it, so I didn’t try to understand its purpose. However, at this
time I could follow the lines of it with Neila. She read it with explanation. Then she showed many tongue twisters, and I
was interested in the ones using ‘w’ sound. I practiced them with rhythm she taught
me. I told her about my critical incidents in the U.S. and she told me about hers in France. She edited my writing as well.
Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutor you
learned: She informed me of a poem which says that English pronunciation is crazy. If I say English pronunciation is crazy, people,
who are trying to study it, would think that my English is not good enough.
However, if Neila says the same thing, people would think she is right, or everybody
agrees on it like themselves. Anybody can read Korean
if he or she learns the Korean Alphabet, but I can’t read unfamiliar American persons’
and cities’ names, so I want to say that it’s
crazy. In writing, it appeared evident,
I should reveal the verb ‘sit’ before on the seat.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Hannah TS #15
On Thursday after meeting with Professor Kim, Keunhwa and I made our way to the lounge in the Hecht House. I've found that I really enjoy working in there! It's a lot comfier than the library. Keunhwa informed me that she wanted to practice more speaking today. She has no problems reading but, she needs to work on speaking and listening. Earlier that day, I had informed her about a book I was reading. She decided that she wanted to ask me some questions about the book. As she asked questions and spoke I made sure to correct any mistakes I heard. It ended up starting an interesting conversation about history. The book I was reading is about Japan in the 1920's. We began to talk about Korean history as well as our own personal histories.
Hannah TS #14
On Wednesday, I met with Youngseo again. Unlike our previous sessions, she didn't have that much homework to finish so we worked more on reading. To start the session off, we did a word search and a fill in the blank worksheet. Then we practiced her spelling words a couple of times. Youngseo and I read a book about a man trying to get a woman's attention. As per usual, we switched off on reading. I've found that she really enjoys it when I exaggerate my voice when I read so I've been trying to do that a lot more lately. After that, she wanted to read her fairy book. We started reading the book a couple sessions ago and on Wednesday we were able to finish it! Afterwards, I let her draw her favorite fairy in the book.
Hannah TS #13
Last Tuesday I met with Keunhwa at the Hecht House. Normally we do our tutoring at the Leon Collin's library. One of the first things we went over was our class that we taught. I was finally able to give Keunhwa the videos and we set up our appointment for our meeting with Professor Kim. After that, Keunhwa showed me a grammar book that she received in her English class. In the book, it was covering pronunciation so we started to work on it. While the textbook terms are correct, they are a little awkward. I went over contractions with Keunhwa and helped her practice them. I made sure to let her know that certain contractions are considered very informal so she should be careful when she uses them. After we went over that Keunhwa went over some of my Korean homework and helped me!
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