Observing classes in Lenoir City Schools
During our visit in Lenoir City Schools we had a chance to watch
classes of elementary and high school levels.
In elementary school, me and my partner watched an ESL class for kids
about five to seven years old. The teacher started the class with a video about
numbers from 1 to 20. In the first moment they just listened and watched.
Second, the kids sang loud the song following the video. They were really
excited because they were able to understand the numbers. Afterward, the
teacher introduced a previewing book for the kids. She told the story using an
English book, and then in Spanish, due the fact that the kids mother tongue is
Spanish. To finish the class, the teacher asked the kids to make a draw about
any element from the story they had listened to. It was a good way to help
students show their learning.
After that, we went to high schools and we observed two different
classes; one of drama and the other of English. In the drama class, the teacher
asked some students to represent a scene using
techniques like mime, taken
pictures. It might seem that they were playing “Simon says”. One student had to
introduce a scene from whatever he wanted and then he had to say “Click”. From
this point, the others students were able to follow the instructions, add some
new information through their movements and freezing their bodies while the
story is told. The students loved this class and we have to agree that dynamic classes are always welcome. In the English class, the teacher asked
students to make their self-assessment concerning the essays they had done days
ago. After that, they explained the structure of an essay that consists in
introduction, development and conclusion.
Observing those classes we could note some significant differences from
our reality in Brazil such as the students’ behavior, motivation and
participation. Moreover, the number of students in classes, mainly in elementary
schools, is very low than we have in Brazil. The school’s structure represents
also a big difference considering Brazilian’s schools. Regarding the
similarities, the methods and techniques are close of what we are able to use
in our classes. The things we found interesting was that in high school they
put in the entrance the pictures of the top ten students what we understand
being a good motivation for them. Also, they put pictures of the graduated ones
and the best at sports. Besides, we were surprised about the students` behave.
They raise their hands when they want to ask something being respectful with
the teachers.
