FSU CO #2

My second class observation was for a Listening class, and was the most open and pleasant of the three classes I observed this past week. The class was far more student-led than the previous Reading course, and the teacher brought a youthful, engaging, and fun energy to the class; this helped to ease any anxieties of the students, and showed me the importance of attending to students in a way that will make them feel safe and comfortable in making mistakes and in engaging with the material. The teacher also introduced me to the class, which helped in making me feel welcomed. The class was focused and listening and responding to a reading on the life and death of stars. I appreciated the choice of topic, as it maintained familiar vocabulary while also pushing comprehension boundaries with an intermediate-to-advanced-level subject. Students showed lowered affective filters in their eagerness to ask and answer questions, and to talk about the reading. To maintain focus on words to learn, the teacher gave moments to pause and discuss particular words, their definitions, and their usage. The discussion-heavy class was much more to my liking than the previous Reading session.