Marco CO#1

Yesterday I sat in on Leslei Wagner for Grammar 2A. It was very eye opening. As someone who has never taught a language the approach with students is something quite different to any other situation. The instructor was very active with he students and getting them involved took more than I anticipated it would. 

Something that really stuck with me was how shy they were about participating unless they knew the answer or solution. In the free practice most students were quite silent, but in the controlled ones students were eager to prove they knew the subject matter. 

An example that stuck with me was one where she was explaining conjunctions, specifically the word "or". The sample sentence was a statement "She was wearing a blue or purple shirt." One of the students asked the sentence made no sense as the girl must have been wearing one or the other but it must have been evident. The instructor then explained that maybe it could be in a situation where, suppose, it's sunny out and you can't really tell. It was interesting to see how certain life situations simply didn't occur to the students.

When one takes a class in language one is presented with very simple situations and very basic sentences that describe something obvious. But this was an example that required critical thinking, usually one would not be stumped by something, but the lack of language hindered a certain process. This was evident throughout the class. 

It gave me the idea that maybe a good teaching tool would be to place an example or exercise where an irregular or problematic scenario was in play. More than just picking the right words, solving a problem in a foreign language.