FSU TEFL 120 Certificate 2024 Summer 2

  Date/Time: June 26th, 2024 Skill/Topic : Group 3 Grammar with Prof. Flemming Classroom management: Level-appropriate speech rate, calling on students to help their peers in case they didn't answer correctly. Materials used: Browser randomizer, dice, browser search engine (for visual aids) Class agenda: Prof. Flemming decided that half of the class time would be spent reviewing for an upcoming quiz. He created a fun review game that utilized a randomizer found from the internet, and a die. Using the material that would be on the quiz, Prof. Flemmings assigned students a number and proceeded to use the randomizer to choose an individual to answer. The quiz material included grammar concepts where students had to use the correct tenses for past, present, and future. For the second half of class, Prof. Flemming reviewed a previously assigned discussion board where students wrote their own experiences with true or false questions to be answered. As a group discussion, he had students...

  Date/Time: June 25th, 2024 Skill/Topic : Speaking with Prof. James Classroom management: Level-appropriate speech rate Materials used: The movie "Stand and Deliver", browser search engine (for visual aids) Class agenda: The class was conducted as a follow-up lesson to a previous class. They first began by discussing a movie that they watched as a group and then took the time to watch videos about the main character in real life. After watching these videos, Prof. James began to gauge comprehension and speaking skills by asking open-ended questions about what the students understood, encouraging conversation amongst them.

Date/Time: June 24th, 2024 Skill/Topic : Group 4 Speaking with Prof. Ciapetta Classroom management: Changed the environment by taking the class to Starbucks (off of Tennesee St.) Encourages a student-centered classroom approach, letting students engage and speak to each other. Materials used: CIES Textbook. Class agenda:  Prof. Ciapetta began the lesson by having the students read a chapter in the textbook about how to start discussions about any topic. After giving ample time to read, Prof. Ciapetta had students break up into pairs to discuss what they read.  Prof. Ciapetta then switched gears in the discussion, applying a cultural aspect to the lesson by talking about American English  communication patterns. 

  Date/Time: June 24th, 2024 Skill/Topic : Group 4, Grammar with Prof. Rios (adjective clauses) Classroom management: Prof. Rios calls on individual students to get participation from more students. Materials used: CIES workbook grammar exercises, whiteboard + markers. Class agenda: Prof. Rios begins the class by addressing a new concept, adjective clauses. He addresses this grammar concept by explaining when you should use relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, etc.). He proceeds to have students do the worksheet fill-in-the-blank activity on their own.  After he does this, he encourages students to create example sentences using those relative pronouns using characteristics of their peers.

Date/Time: June 17th Skill/Topic : Reading with Prof. Flemming Classroom management: Level-appropriate speech rate Materials used: readingworks.org, browser search engine (for visual aids) Class agenda: While addressing the week's agenda in his reading class, Prof. Flemming took the opportunity to teach a mini-lesson on Juneteenth.  Juneteenth was set to happen later that week and he believed it was a good time to inform students by having them read a short article on the national holiday.  He surveyed the class to see if anyone needed help understanding vocabulary then asked comprehension questions to ensure that the students understood the article.  Moving on to his primary lesson, Prof. Flemming had students discuss and choose an article to read from the ReadWorks website.  He provides full linguistic support by reading the article out loud while carrying out actions from the article to aid in comprehension.  At the end of the class, he wraps up the lesson b...

TS Blogs July 13th, Saturday Session #5 with Ricardo at the FSU Rez Topic/Skill: Speaking fluency and listening comprehension in an informal setting. Feedback provided to the tutee: Ricardo and I went to the FSU Rez with a few of my friends and I introduced him to more FSU students while we were there. I passively monitored Ricardo's speech and provided feedback when he repeatedly made errors. I tried to let Ricardo speak with fluency so I rarely intervened, but the little feedback I provided him allowed him to speak with greater correctness. When Ricardo made an error, I would ask him to repeat it to see if he could correct the error himself. This proved helpful for him to understand the true significance of his errors. Lessons: The main lessons we covered were lessons on conjugational differences between the past tenses in English and subject-verb agreement. These were grammar topics that he had struggled with in the past, so increased exposure to his errors and their significanc...

TS Blogs July 11th, Thursday Session #4 with Ricardo at my house. Topic/Skill: Writing an English poem. Feedback provided to the tutee: In our fourth lesson, Ricardo and I worked on an English poem. I provided feedback to Ricardo related to his rhyme scheme and how he could produce meaning through his writing. Poetry doesn't have a defined structure, so I let Ricardo have free reign on his writing, but I would intervene if the writing was;t understandable or coherent. I also taught Ricardo the meaning of an abstraction in poetry (i.e. when writing doesn't have clear meaning. Lastly, I helped Ricardo polish his piece to make his intended meaning develop. Lessons: The main lessons covered in Ricardo and I's session were poetic prose and coherency. The objective of the lesson was to help Ricardo purvey meaning through his poem.

TS Blogs July 9th, Tuesday Session #3 with Ricardo at Kameleon Tea  Topic/Skill: Completing a writing about cultural differences between Mexico and the United States. Feedback provided to the tutee: We reviewed his essay on the cultural differences between Mexico and the United States. He's done an excellent job outlining key distinctions such as family dynamics and holiday celebrations, and his personal anecdotes effectively illustrate these points. However, I recommend he delve deeper into the historical and sociopolitical contexts that shape these differences for a richer analysis. Lastly, I critiqued Ricardo's essay for grammatical correctness, specifically in subject-verb agreement. Lessons: The main lessons in Ricardo and I's third session were those helping Ricardo differentiate between the socio-cultural aspects of the US and Mexico. We also briefly talked about how Ricardo's everyday lifestyle is different in Mexico vs. the US. The last main lesson that we cov...

TS Blogs July 10th, Wednesday Session #2 with Arsene Topic/Skill: Reading an opinionated article with multiple viewpoints and devising a personal belief based on supporting evidence from the article. Feedback provided to the tutee: I aided Arsene in analyzing an article about the taxation of churches and helped him find different viewpoints from the article to agree/disagree with in his own writing. I assisted Arsene with smaller grammatical errors while he was writing and additionally, I curated his writing to make it sound more formal. One of the main grammar points Arsene had trouble with was active vs. passive voice, so I explained the difference to him and helped him omit passive voice in his writing. Lastly, I explained the use of transition words such as "however" and "additionally" and in what context you use each respectively. Lessons: Modal verbs, articles, and their usage, passive vs active voice, contradictory transitions vs additive transitions. Analyzi...

TS Blogs July 9th, Tuesday Session #1 with Daniela at Kameleon Tea  Topic/Skill: Writing a formal review of an academic article. Feedback provided to the tutee: I helped Daniela with her grammar in her review article. More specifically, I helped Daniela with subject-verb agreement, using commas to indicate unessential information, and making a strong conclusion. Daniela would often misuse "are" when the verb was singular, so I explained why she must use a different from of "to be" through inquisitive comments that helped her learn the difference. Next, for the use of commas when providing unessential information, I explained a method known as "the hamburger method" which in short is when the buns represent the information before and after the unessential information, and the meat represents the unessential information. Yes, you may eat the buns by themselves, but the sandwich is better with the meat. Lastly, I guided Daniela in her efforts to make her conc...

Date/Time : Friday July 26th Location : Bellamy 338 Topic/Skill : Listening (British Colonies in North America) Feedback provided to the tutee : Whenever Wei didn’t understand a certain word or phrase, she would pause the video so we could discuss it. For example, we covered new terms like plagued (by) , immodest , and precarious . I also gave more in-depth explanations about two idioms used in the video, into thin air and smoking gun . We practiced pronouncing thin and air separately and then together. Before we started watching the video, I briefly went over some important contextual information, mainly that around this time Spain and Britain were enemies, and that this was very early during the colonial period, so all the colonists were British and they had very little power over the Indigenous peoples. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned : This was a very impromptu video watching session, as Wei only let me know she would really like to watch some sort of movie/sh...

Date/Time : Friday July 26th Location : Bellamy 338 Topic/Skill : Speaking (Following up, time management, and career planning) Feedback provided to the tutee : At the very beginning of this session, I taught Wei two new vocabulary words to describe a light rain, sprinkling and drizzling (after asking her if she got caught in the rain after leaving the international dinner). The rest of the session was focused on discussing how to follow up with people after interviewing or applying for a job or internship. New vocabulary included: aggressive , candidate , nominate , and cohort . Finally, at the end we talked a bit about the merits of pursuing a Ph.D., and the term selling point came up. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned : Wei and are very similar in our reluctance to follow up with people out of fear of angering them and losing the opportunity. I think it’s really a skill to know how long to wait to remind people or ask them for an update, and to know when to main...

  TS Blogs July 25th, Thursday Online Session #9 with Do Jun Topic/Skill: Watched a video, "Love According to Rumi" and discussed the topic through an informal debate. Additionally, I tasked Do Jun with proposing a philosophical argument related to the topic. Feedback Provided to the Tutee: I critiqued Do Jun's production of a philosophical debate relating to its grammar, delivery, and structure; but allowed his premise and supporting evidence to stand. To add, I showed Do Jun how to politely disagree in English, as to continue debates and not escalate them to an emotional level, using phrases like, "I think that is an interesting point, but have you considered..." Lessons: We covered a lesson on the philosophical debate by watching a video on the poet and philosopher Rumi. We discussed how this form of debate is different from formal debates. I explained the cultural topic of polite disagreement in English conversation or debate to Do Jun. I taught him how to ...

Date/Time : Wednesday July 24th Location : Bellamy 338 (later, walking to Call Street Garage and a short drive) Topic/Skill : Speaking (Personal Impact of Pandemic, Travel Ice Breaker, Future Plans) Feedback provided to the tutee : This was another session with lots of jumps between conversation topics. For the most part, Ana and I covered some new vocabulary, such as pedestrian (when talking about drivers’ behavior in Tallahassee) and height or golden age when describing the period of time when a civilization was most powerful and influential (when discussing our answers to a travel ice breaker question, described below). Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned : Icebreaker questions can sometimes help you learn a lot about yourself and other people. Usually, I tend to think of them as awkward or difficult to answer in a bad way; for example, I’m really bad at coming up with two truths and a lie. Sometimes, though, they’re difficult in a good way, in the sense that they ...

Date/Time : Wednesday July 24th Location : Bellamy 338 Topic/Skill : Writing (Final Research Paper) Feedback provided to the tutee : I helped Ana make some minor changes to her final research paper about the importance of English as a global language, especially in the world of international business. These were mostly simply mistakes, like forgetting to add the possessive s or using a colon to preface a list of items. We also briefly discussed the difference between saying necessity to versus need to in a sentence. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned : Coming up with a title for a research paper is always one of the most difficult parts, unless you start out with a clear title in mind. It can be helpful to bounce your ideas off of another person who has read your paper and can give you well-informed guidance. Alphabetizing sources in a reference list can also be a time consuming task, at least for Ana and myself. We both learned that we need to recite the entire al...

  TS Blogs July 24th, Wednesday Online Session #8 with Do Jun Topic/Skill: Conversational Skills: Exploring the cultural differences between American and Korean work culture and ethics. Feedback Provided to the Tutee: I asked Do Jun questions related to the state of Korean work culture and would restate the questions when he had trouble understanding them. I corrected Do Jun's repeated grammatical mistakes but didn't intervene for most of our conversation as I wanted him to gain confidence in producing the language. Lessons: The main lesson from this session was cultural. When Do Jun describes some aspects of the work culture in South Korea, I respond with a comparison centered around the American work culture. I also taught Do Jun a few idiomatic phrases that he was having trouble producing (e.g. South Korea's work culture is deeply rooted in accountability and output). Overall, in this lesson Do Jun and I were able to talk about many things related to both American and Ko...

  TS Blogs July 18th, Thursday Online Session #7 with Do Jun Topic/Skill: Past Perfect Tense in English Grammar Feedback Provided to the Tutee: Today's lesson on the past perfect tense was engaging and productive. I explained how the past perfect is different from the past simply because usually, it is dependent upon further information in the sentence. Do Jun asked insightful questions, and clearly understood the material. His ability to differentiate between past simple and past perfect tenses showed significant progress. Lessons: We began with a warm-up activity where Do Jun shared recent activities using the past simple tense. This helped set the context for introducing the past perfect tense. I introduced the past perfect tense using the structure "had + past participle." Clear examples were provided, and students were attentive and engaged, making the explanation smooth and effective. Do Jun complete exercises individually, forming sentences with the past perfect te...

Date/Time : Wednesday July 17th Location : Bellamy 338 Topic/Skill : Speaking (Grading Systems and GPA) Feedback provided to the tutee : Ana and I compared grading scales used to evaluate students in my courses here at FSU and at her university in Mexico. She had some initial difficulty translating the terms into English when I asked her to explain the letters associated with each grade bracket (?) so I told her it would be fine to say the words in Spanish. She persevered, though, we discovered the difference between the satisfactory and unsatisfactory grading system in Mexico and the US. I also explained how unweighted GPA is calculated. Reflecting now I can't give a specific example, but we definitely covered some new vocabulary. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned : Grading and GPA is so different around the world, and sometimes so confusing and complicated! For example, it was very difficult for me to explain the difference between unweighted and weighted GPA,...