For this hour of observation I watched two VIPkids demo lessons. VIPkids is an online teaching company that primarily teaches children aged five to twelve from China. VIPkids has a set curriculum and uses an interactive online platform to facilitate learning. Teachers are encouraged to use total physical response and a reward system in all lessons. All lessons are taught one-on-one.
The first thing I noticed while observing these lessons was that the teachers were using total physical response as a method to teach. Specifically, the teachers used hand gestures, facial expressions and motions to convey meaning and teach new words. I like the concept of using non-verbal cues in the classroom to help facilitate learning. However, watching these videos made me realize that relying heavily on total physical response is very energy consuming.
In combination with the total physical response the teachers were extremely energetic and animated. Up to this point all of my observations had been of adult ESL classes and I have not yet seen this level of energy or animation. I think that this highlights one of the main differences between teaching adults and children. I will have to keep this in mind in the future if I am working with children.