For this observation, I observed an online advanced communication class. The students in this class are adults, all with unique cultural and social backgrounds. While watching this lesson I made two important observation. First, I noticed that having students present independently requires a lot of positive reinforcement. Second, I observed how important material and topic selection is.
For most of this observation the students were presenting independently. During the presentations the teacher gave feedback to the students and often provided positive reinforcement. The positive reinforcement was given at times in which the students were struggling to form a sentence or were visibly nervous. The positive reinforcement encouraged the students to communicate more. Perhaps more generally this teacher creates a safe space where students can feel comfortable learning. In the future when I have my own class, I want to create a similar atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement.
During the second part of the class the teacher showed a video. The video showcased a somewhat controversial opinion. I believe this was done to stimulate group conversation. I found it interesting how impactful the video was. Just by having the students watch a five-minute video the teacher was able to test listening comprehension, have students’ express opinions and introduce new vocabulary. I think this activity was so successful because of the video selection. The video was short enough to keep the student’s attention, the topic was interesting, it had subtitles and showed body language.