Jaclyn Jacobson CO#1

I observed a 1A speaking class taught by Felicia Ciappetta. I was one of the first people who arrived to class, and greeted everyone who came in. It was exciting learning where everyone came from, and a bit embarrassing when I struggled over pronouncing their names. Then, Felicia, the instructor, arrived and played Pandora radio while everyone discussed, in pairs, the “bell ringer” question: “Is love a choice or a feeling?” A pair of girls asked me to join their discussion. One of the girls was from an area near Dubai, and the other was from Saudi Arabia. I asked them, “Are you in love?” They both laughed and exclaimed, “We’re married!” Seeing as they were both around my age, and married, was a cultural shock to me. Actually, most of the girls in the class were already married. Felicia then turned the question into a class discussion, and even I had to give my opinion on the subject.

Afterwards, Felicia asked the pairs to write down elements of a successful presentation. Once five minutes were up, Felicia put the presentation discussion on hold to review the class’ “beautiful mistakes”, a list of about 10 grammatically incorrect sentences she had written down listening to the students’ sentences throughout class. Once the class as a whole had finished correcting the sentences, she resumed the presentation discussion. She wrapped up class by assigning a presentation from each student as homework. Before the class left, I asked if anyone needed free tutoring or a conversation partner, and the students happily gave me their information.

Overall, I learned a lot observing this class, both from Felicia and her students. I enjoy the way Felicia keeps the attention of her class by using a lot of body language and humor.  I also like the fact that she used Google images frequently to represent certain ideas, such as hooks and butterflies. Being interactive, especially integrating relatable examples into the lesson, is key. More than anything, the students overwhelmed me. Amazed by the diversity of the students, I learned so much about their cultures and look forward to speaking with them more in the future.