Improvisation and Grouping Arrangement - Assignment Example

There is conflict in the principles bulleted on pages 118-119. The writer first says that students should first study a grammar rule before practising it. Then in the very next point, he says that students should practice before studying a grammar rule.

In the observed lesson, the teacher was working on improving comprehension skills. She began by distributing comprehension worksheets to the entire class. Then she gave a brief summary of what was expected of the class. She then asked the class to read the entire comprehension. While some were reading the essay, other students had read the essay. She involved those students in a small group discussion while the rest of the students completed reading the comprehension exercise. Later she asked the students to read the questions and answer them. While students were doing this, she observed the entire class for students who were experiencing difficulty. She helped them out. As some students finished early, the teacher began discussing the answers. She even asked students to exchange their work to get feedback from another student. In this way, the pacing of the lesson was such that every student was involved in the lesson. The teacher ended the lesson by reading the questions aloud and discussing the answers.

According to the teacher, she had divided the lecture into four parts. The first part was introducing the lesson, the second part was involving the students in the lesson. The third part was the most important as students completed the learning activity. The final part was closure where the teacher took feedback from her students.

Richards and Lockhart chapter 8
Answer: The criteria for determining the success of a learning activity is by assessing the level of comprehension of the students. This can be judged through assessments and feedbacks. The teacher can also determine the success by observing the class in which the learning activities are being conducted. If the students are immersed in the activity and are enjoying the activity, then it is most likely to be successful.
In my opinion, an effective learning activity should be able to develop an interest among the students. The students should not consider the activity boring or too complex. It should come down to the level of the students and include them fully. The teacher should constantly take input from the student during the entire learning activity. The student should also be able to link the learning activity with the concept that he is about to learn through the activity.

Answer: It is extremely important to explain the purpose of a learning activity to the students. It is important because, without the necessary aim in mind, the students may consider the activity to be irrelevant. They may not want to participate in the activity. There is also a possibility that they may not be able to achieve the learning objective because they were unaware of the purpose of the activity.
For instance, if the teacher wants to teach personification through a learning activity, she would have to explain the purpose of the learning activity. This would allow students to spot the metaphors that they intend to focus on during the learning activity.
Answer: I would expect to use a grouping arrangement where different kinds of students are made to work alongside each other. Good students should be grouped with below-average students so that they help each other out and the pace of completing activities is normalized. In this way, the teacher would ensure that the good students do not complete the tasks before the average or below average groups. Also, students would learn to appreciate and help each other out. In order to make a fair division of labor, activities should be divided into parts by the teacher. The teacher should explain to the groups that each part is expected to be completed by one individual. For instance, in a presentation, the teacher could divide the presentation into different divisions and expect each student to complete one division.