Listening class. Not exactly the best idea for a class, I don't think. It's a bit boring. Basically, my students wear headphones for two hours listening to English speakers and filling in blanks or multiple choice bubbles. Of course, listening skills are important, and my freshmen could sure use the practice, but I am trying to find more interesting ways of improving their listening by supplementing with commercials, YouTube videos, songs, comedians, and reading aloud a chapter from a mystery novel each week (The Westing Game). If you have any great ideas, e-mail me!
My favorite part of this new class is being able to teach freshmen. There is a world of difference in English level between my freshmen and sophomores! What I like about them is their innocence. They ask questions that our sophomores know not to ask. "Will you live in China the rest of your life?" "You can be my best friend?" "What do you think of Obama?"
I had one freshmen class over on Monday night. One of the students stared me down for a good while and finally said, "Before I came to university, I had never seen a foreigner." Wow. I've heard it before, but it surprises me every time!
My favorite part of this new class is being able to teach freshmen. There is a world of difference in English level between my freshmen and sophomores! What I like about them is their innocence. They ask questions that our sophomores know not to ask. "Will you live in China the rest of your life?" "You can be my best friend?" "What do you think of Obama?"
I had one freshmen class over on Monday night. One of the students stared me down for a good while and finally said, "Before I came to university, I had never seen a foreigner." Wow. I've heard it before, but it surprises me every time!
I like using listening journals, where you have the students watch a TV episode from either YouTube or Hulu and then have them write a brief summary and tell the class about it. Since your class is so large, you could have them present in smaller groups.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of experiences in the basement of Kinlaw library when I had the 'opportunity' to listen to a Spanish speaker ask me a question and then gave me ten to fifteen seconds to answer in Spanish.
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