VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 15:56:17 06/19/03 Thu
Author: Simone Couto
Subject: 7th TASK

SEVENTH CLASS : T H E C L A S S R O O M

Stephen B. Ryan wrote "Overcoming Common Problems Related to Communicative Methodology" [ http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ryan-Communicative.html ]
Analyze the following lesson plan having Ryan's text as reference.
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/OConsumerEdBuyCar912.htm

Despite the fact that Stephen B. Ryan talks mainly about communicative approach in relation to the topic of English as a Second Language, the analysis he makes can certainly be applied to other subjects such as that in the lesson plan established by Karlys Wells fore Consumer Education/ Family and Consumer Science.

One of Ryan’s chief ideas that he put forward straight away in the introduction of his text is that lessons should always be meaningful and practical, besides being fun. Nonetheless, despite Wells’ class plan probably being able to offer fun for the students (since they can have a lot of participation and interaction with one another), I do not really believe the theme chosen for 9th to 12th grade is at all appropriate. How will these young learners be able to use all their new knowledge in a meaningful and concrete way outside the classroom tasks? Certainly it can be handy if their parents let them one day assist in the buying of a car whenever that will happen in the future, but I believe it ought to be something more significant and immediate to the students and their realities, like for example something they actually intended to acquire in the near-future, such as a bike, a computer, new trainers or even a DVD.

As for the stipulation of an adequate feedback from the teacher, Wells’ does not mention this at any time. Certainly they will have some kind of assessment from their peers at different times, but I do believe that, from one stage of the project to the next, the teacher should make a small intervention in order to mention how well they are managing to complete each activity. Feedback is always important even if it shall be done at the end for it will give students an idea of whether or not they are working properly, motivating them even more to do a good job of it during the process or for the next project.
As for setting goals, from the lesson plan, we can certainly see it was fixed in a very clear and objective ways through the determining a description and questions related to the project from the very beginning. However, students must also be aware of this whether the teacher writes this on the board or simply tells them. After all, only this way will students be able to know what they will actually be learning with the project, making them motivated and interested in the entire process, as well as making the learners responsible as well for how much they will acquire.

As for inconsistencies in teaching styles, we cannot really tell much from what is mentioned in the plan, maybe by watching the class with a trained eye for spotting details it would be easier.
As for the lesson established having a framework or not, I would definitely say it does. Even so, it does escape somewhat from the traditional routine, leaving the students perhaps too free to work by themselves and with themselves. The controlled practice phase seems to have been left out entirely, for though the learners do get instruction in relation to what they are meant to do, this really is not followed up closely by the teacher. Therefore, if a few of the students get confused and do something wrong during one of the steps, the outcome or the achievement of the goals might not be too successful.
In relation to cultural awareness, I do believe that if this class was to be carried out in an American or English all-boys school it would be profitable. But if we were to set it in the average Brazilian context, or in a mixed sex one, the teacher would probably find it complicated to encourage students to the level required to put the project to practice due to its theme.

To conclude, I would say that after analyzing the lesson plan, having Ryan’s text as reference, I would dare say it could be much improved and rethought before being put to practice, despite its being faithful to some of the topics mention by Ryan depending on how and where it would be implemented (some of what Ryan said only would be able to be seen if we observed the actual class.)

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.