Maybe I`ve been spending a little too much time in the classroom recently, but one points are sticking in my head. I find myself analyzing my everyday conversation and noticing each time my utterances reflect a one point. In a class with an orange and red student it reached a crescendo today.
After spending a lot of time on learning a new routine we started talking a little about shopping, the them of the routine. I had planned to do let`s talk item, on dreams, something interesting and light for a Saturday afternoon to give the students an opportunity to talk more free form.
This is when the one points started. Do you prefer shopping online or in a store? I asked the red student. He replied in full sentence, telling me what he preferred. The conversation continued naturally, and a lot of one points were cropping up, about what was impressing, recommended, and so on. Rather than switching the topic to dreams, I decided to encourage this, and told them a short a anecdote about why I feel lucky this week – I lost my shoe on the train tracks last Saturday, but it was retrieved three days later! This made both my students laugh, and prompted the orange student to launch into a story about how she`d lost her bike, or rightfully misplaced it. It was a really well told story, with all the right elements, including suspense, so the other student and I were both enjoying it. I was very impressed with the way the orange student was able to tell such a story, stumbling over some words and phrases, but with a little prompting and whiteboard help, moving on smoothly. The story was so good that my anecdote paled in comparison, and I felt that it could`ve been so much better coming from a natural storyteller. It`s nice when the students personality shine through the language barrier and they feel confident enough to be able to use their talents in English. Or when they leave the other student with their head on the desk from laughter.-Ria
After spending a lot of time on learning a new routine we started talking a little about shopping, the them of the routine. I had planned to do let`s talk item, on dreams, something interesting and light for a Saturday afternoon to give the students an opportunity to talk more free form.
This is when the one points started. Do you prefer shopping online or in a store? I asked the red student. He replied in full sentence, telling me what he preferred. The conversation continued naturally, and a lot of one points were cropping up, about what was impressing, recommended, and so on. Rather than switching the topic to dreams, I decided to encourage this, and told them a short a anecdote about why I feel lucky this week – I lost my shoe on the train tracks last Saturday, but it was retrieved three days later! This made both my students laugh, and prompted the orange student to launch into a story about how she`d lost her bike, or rightfully misplaced it. It was a really well told story, with all the right elements, including suspense, so the other student and I were both enjoying it. I was very impressed with the way the orange student was able to tell such a story, stumbling over some words and phrases, but with a little prompting and whiteboard help, moving on smoothly. The story was so good that my anecdote paled in comparison, and I felt that it could`ve been so much better coming from a natural storyteller. It`s nice when the students personality shine through the language barrier and they feel confident enough to be able to use their talents in English. Or when they leave the other student with their head on the desk from laughter.-Ria
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