Journal 1

This is my first journal and it is about pair work and group work, and whether they worked in one of the classes I observed in my tarining school.

PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK

 Pair and group work is inevitable in some lessons, and English courses are one of these lessons because teaching a foreign language is not like teaching numbers, algebra, physics and chemistry. It is not as clean-cut as mathematics, and it is not like getting concrete results from numbers. It is more demanding and quite different from the others in that it requires more sociability in the classroom. Learning English is not just memorizing the rules as in the positive sciences, but communicating and cooperating with others in the target language. One way of conveying this aim in the classroom is making students groups and pairs during the activities.

Students need to discuss between themselves in order to learn. There was an excellent example for pair works at my practicum school because the teacher paired her prep students up every day and every hour of the school. She emphasized the point that working in pairs gave students the chance to check their pair’s work, correct their mistakes and evaluate them. Nevertheless, pair work is not as always effective because some students may not be in good relations; therefore, it can be dangerous or useless to make two disagreeing students pair or putting them into the same group. Teachers may not be aware of this kind of situations, or they may ignore it. In such cases, the result is a predictable one: there is no discussion between these students at all; therefore, there is no production in the end.

 Another significant qpoint to think about is whether the students really speak English in the groups or not. Most teachers make groups in order to make their students communicate in English in the group. However, it generally turns out to be that students do not bother to speak English because there is a language they are all competent in. Thus, as long as there is not an impulse for the students to speak English except the teacher’s warning, students do not speak English in the groups.

 Although group work has some shortcomings, its advantages cannot be underestimated. Being in a group gives the students the feeling of belongingness; in addition, it enhances students’ self efficacy and self confidence because in the groups they become more successful than working individually. Moreover, working in groups creates positive peer relationships. However, it is difficult to implement the group work; thus, the groups should be arranged very carefully.

As for my lessons in the practicum school, I also used both group and pair works in my activities because I wanted students to interact and enjoy the lesson. In my opinion, instead of a very silent class, students should have fun together. So integrating fun and joy into the group work is of crucial importance in order to make the students participate the lesson.

All in all, even though monitoring group works is a very demanding process, making use of it will increase the quality of the lesson. As a result, pair work and group work will reach their goal with more time and effort.

Lesson Plan for Unofficial 3 ( 9th Graders)

ACTIVITY       & AIDS	INTERACTION	PROCEDURE	STUDENTS	COMMENTS	TIME
Warm-up Chinese whisper	T®C S®S	T shows the first student in the row a sentence which is a wish clause, and wants that student to whisper that sentence to the other friend in the row. The sentence is “I wish you were a fish in my dish” After Ss have finished, the T asks the last S in the row what the sentence is. After the T elicited the answer, she writes the correct answer on the board.	The first student S whispers the sentence to the other friend’s ear, and he/she tells the sentence to the other.	T wants to warm the class up because both the T and the Ss are new to each other, so this activity will warm the atmosphere. T wants students to have fun at the beginning of the lesson T wants to get Ss to think of the form of the real grammatical sentence.	4 Min
Pre-activity Reading Pictures about the story & letter	T®C C®T	T shows a picture of a sad girl (Maria) and asks questions about her and her mood, and what might have happened. T distributes the letter of the girl shown in the picture and asks Ss to read and underline the forms which show wishes of the girl	Students give answers about the mood of the girl. Ss read the letter and try to understand it. Ss underline the forms which express unreal situations.	T wants to get Ss’ attention by showing the picture. T wants Ss to be exposed to the forms of “wish clauses”. Teacher wants Ss to be aware of “wish structures”	6 min
Main Activity Writing & Reading & Listening Papers Pens Board	T®C S ®S	T asks students to form groups of three. T asks students to write an advice letter in groups and read it to the class. T asks about the Ss’ wishes in life, and asks Ss to write one wish they want most in their lives and stick it on the wish tree which is projected on the board. T asks Ss to choose one wish from the board and read it to the class so that the Ss can guess who she/he is.	Ss work in groups. Ss are expected to write a letter to Maria using “conditionals”. Ss will use “wish structures” while writing their wishes and they will stick it on the wish tree. Ss will try to guess their friends through their wishes.	T wants students to collaborate and to communicate. T wants Ss to analyze the sentences given in the letter and write them in a different form (in conditional form) T wants to get Ss to be engaged and have fun. T wants Ss to learn more about each other by learning their wishes in life.	25 min
Post Activity Listening & Speaking	S®S  T®C	T asks students to form a chain of wishes game. T starts the game by saying the first unreal conditional sentence, and chooses a student to continue. T ends the class by giving a brief summary of what has been done during the class, and says goodbye to the Ss.	First S adds a sentence to the T’s sentence, and the game goes on like that. Ss listen to the T and say goodbye to the T	Ss will enjoy the lesson by playing this game, and this will change their attitude towards the “wish clauses”. Ss will learn by entertaining.	5 min

Lesson Plan for Unofficial 2 ( 7th Graders)

ACTIVITY       & AIDS	INTERACTION	PROCEDURE	STUDENTS	COMMENTS	TIME
Pre-activity Guessing   Pictures about the letter	T®C C®T	T greets the students, and asks them how they are. T shows three pictures which are related to the text they will read later using powerpoints, and asks the Ss what the each picture tells them.	Ss greet the T too. Ss look at the pictures and try to guess what might be happening in the pictures.	This will help the T to have good relations with the Ss. Using pictures will activate Ss’ schemata.	5 min
Main Activity Reading & Underlying the “wish statements” Pen and paper, Slides & Blackboard	T®C C ®T	T distributes a regretting boy’s letter to his teacher. T asks the Ss to underlie the sentences which show the regrets and wishes of the student in the letter. T asks the Ss comprehension questions by using “wish clauses”. T retells the sentences she elicited from the Ss and writes them on the board. T shows three more slides to the Ss. The use of “wish clauses” is written on the slides.	Ss read the text individually. Ss underlie the sentences which show regret and wish. Ss answer the questions the T asks, and try to make sentences with wish clauses. Ss read the slides and try to remember wish clauses.	While the Ss are reading the letter, they will have the chance to learn the target form in a context, and it will be very effective for the Ss to learn. As the T retells the sentences using wish clauses, the Ss will pay more attention to the target form. Writing the sentences on the board will help the Ss to learn the “wish clauses” more quickly. Using only three slides will give brief information to the Ss about the target form and will not get the Ss bored.	14 min
Post Activity Reading	T®C S®S	T makes groups of three and gives each group a situation in which the characters are regretting some kinds of behaviors. T wants the Ss to prepare role-plays of these situations and perform it on the board.	Each group read their situation. Ss prepare a role-play by writing some sentences and each group comes to the board and performs their role-plays.	This will help the Ss to make comparisons between their own endings and the real ending of the story, and see the differences between the endings. Ss will have the chance to use the target form in a real-like life situation, so it will be a very effective activity. Ss will communicate in the target language, and this will enhance their social skills.	20 min
Homework Writing a letter to Santa Claus	T®C	T gives homework to the Ss. She distributes a sheet of paper to each student and asks them to write a letter to Santa Claus telling him their regrets about the last year and wishes for the New Year.	Ss listen to the T, take the sheets.	This will help the Ss to reinforce their learning.	1 min