So the 20 minute sample lesson and interview went pretty well. I'll write about the interview in another post, but here I'll share my sample lesson. The biggest problem was that the class didn't know each other and the students weren't really comfortable speaking to each other. A 20 minute game would have been better to make things more fun, but I don't think the 5 obervers wanted to see a getting to know you activity...
11/27/2004 - Ewha Women's University - Sex & gender lesson - James Trotta
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students should understand the vocabulary items (sex, sex-typed, sex-typing, gender, gender differentiated, and gender stereotype) well enough to define each item and discuss the concept represented by each item with personal examples.
Gender - Socially defined behavior regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex.
Gender differentiated - More suitable for one gender.
Gender stereotype - Actions and qualities associated with being a "real man" or "ladylike."
Sex - The biological categories of females and males.
Sex-typed - viewed differently for males and females.
Sex-typing - treating males and females differently.
An excerpt from "Parental Influence on Children's Socialization to Gender Roles" by Susan D. Witt, Ph.D. The entire paper is available at http://gozips.uakron.edu/~susan8/parinf.htm
Parents encourage their sons and daughters to participate in sex-typed activities, including doll playing and engaging in housekeeping activities for girls and playing with trucks and engaging in sports activities for boys. Children's toy preferences have been found to be significantly related to parental sex-typing, with parents providing gender-differentiated toys and rewarding play behavior that is gender stereotyped. While both mothers and fathers contribute to the gender stereotyping of their children, fathers have been found to reinforce gender stereotypes more often than mothers.
1. What are some gender differentiated toys for girls? Boys?
2. What are some sex-typed activities for girls? Boys?
Discussion
When you were growing up, did anyone in your family reinforce gender stereotypes (i.e. encourage you to be more ladylike or more manly)?
For example, were you encouraged to participate in sex-typed activities?
Were you given gender differentiated toys?
Did your parents reward play behavior that was gender stereotyped?
Lesson Plan: 10:00-10:20, Ewha Women's University Interview - 11/27/2004
Based on Mosaic 2 (intermediate - high intermediate) - chapter 3 "sex & gender"
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students should understand the vocabulary items (sex, sex-typed, sex-typing, gender, gender differentiated, and gender stereotype) well enough to define each item and discuss the concept represented by each item with personal examples.
Minutes Phase Roles
1-2 Introduction Teacher speaks to students
2-4 Vocabulary Teacher speaks to students
5 Reading Students work individually, Teacher checks answers
7-11 Discussion Students work in groups, Teacher monitors discussion
1-2 Summary Teacher speaks to students
Introduction: Teacher's name, Learning objective, Students can ask questions
Hand out worksheet
Vocabulary:
Difference between sex and gender,
Gender differentiated (dolls are considered feminine toys, cars are considered masculine toys),
Gender stereotype (to be manly you should be tough, athletic, aggressive - to be ladylike you should be sensitive, kind, pretty),
Sex-typed (I was allowed to play baseball, but not tennis. My sister was allowed to play tennis. My father said "real men don't play tennis"),
Sex-typing (My sister and I were treated differently. If a boy hit me at school, my dad wanted me to hit him back. If someone hit my sister, she wasn't expected to fight).
Reading: Notice how the vocabulary words are used and try to answer the 2 questions. Can check with partner.
Discussion: 3 groups of 3-5. These are academic vocabulary words related to academic concepts. You should be able to discuss these concepts by using personal examples. This is similar to what I did at the beginning of class when I gave some personal examples for each vocabulary word, but you should go into more detail.
I'm going to come around and listen, and maybe speak a little. Please ask questions if you have any.
1 main question divided into 3 smaller questions.
When you were growing up, did anyone in your family reinforce gender stereotypes (i.e. encourage you to be more ladylike or more manly)?
For example, were you encouraged to participate in sex-typed activities?
Were you given gender differentiated toys?
Did your parents reward play behavior that was gender stereotyped?
So I'm working on a little worksheet for a 20 minute sample lesson plan. I have to deliver the lesson for an interview at Ewha Women's University in Seoul. The lesson is supposed to be based on Mosaic 2 chapter 3, Sex and Gender. Of course that leaves a ton of options: Mosaic 2 grammar, reading, writing, listening/speaking or my own stuff. Frankly the book didn't inspire me to come up with 20 brilliant minutes, so I'll be using my own material. It's hard to choose some aims so narrow that student learning objectives can be realized in 20 minutes, but I think it can be done. I'll let you know how I did and what I tried after the interview...
So I spent most of my day working on final exams. What I'm doing this semester is asking fewer questions that require more thought by putting each question in a special context. So I might ahve 2 or three sentences explaining a situation and then ask students to produce something relevant based on a word or two I give them that forces them to use the grammar we covered in class. Obviously I won't be giving any real examples, and I'm too burned out to think of more right now, but I promise to share more of what I've done later.
And if you were wondering about the timing of the final talking tests, it hasn't changed.
Nearly a year ago, I wrote about how important it was for students to be assessed by the same criteria. This is especially critical at Catholic University where I teach in Korea because each class is graded on a curve. For example in a typical class of 20 students I can give 5 As, 6 Bs, 6 Cs, and that means I must give 4 Ds and Fs.
So students are competing with each other for a limited number of high grade. Now as final exams approach, the university intends to do what it has been doing for a while. During Finals week, the written exams would be given on the first meeting and then the oral exams would be given.
The university allows teachers to begin oral exams the class before finals week; most teacher chose to do this because they would then finsih the semester sooner. I stopped doing that because I noticed that students who took the oral exam earlier (the class before exam week) did worse than students who took it a week later (after the written exam). It made sense; students with an extra week to study (say two weeks instead of one) will do better. Making all students take the oral exams during final exam week was more fair.
The course has been reduced from three class hours to two class hours each week. That means we meet only for two hours during final exam week. 1 hour for the written test and 1 hour for the oral test. But the oral tests take two hours (to do all the students in a class). This year I will be forced to assess some students a week apart because classes meet only two hours.
I've explined this to my boss and asked to do the written test the week before finals week so that all students do oral exams during finals week. But I have a bad feeling that this won't be possible and that I'll ahve to assign some bad grades based on a students luck in getting a good exam time rather than a students English.
So my new director and coordinator just finished observing us teachers. I was the first, and I think my observation went fairly well. Here are some things that helped me:
1. Show off. Don't just teach from the book, show off one of your more creative activities, preferably one you'e made.
2. Use a familiar activity. The game I was doing with my students is the same one I had played with 5 different classes previously. Reduce the chances of some unexpected problem by doing something you're very comfortable with.
3. Explain the theory behind your choices on the lesson plan or observation form. I know that before observing my class my directors were expecting something brilliant. I had explained that the game was there for linguistic input and reduced affective filter as per Krashen's monitor model. I explained that there would be a grammar drill for homework for a more cognitive approach to grammar teaching, because Krashen's acquisition emphasis didn't do enough to promote accuracy, etc.
The game wasn't a communicative one, so without the explanation they might have been wondering if it was a waste of time; students didn't need to produce much English. I would ahve been self conscious about the lack of communication if I hadn't explained myself (and dropped a few key names and words) on the observation form.
4. Smile and have fun. Look like you enjoy your job!
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So we didn't get very far revising the definitions I wrote about last time. But we did get somewhere. First, we copied the APA references from my previous post into MS Word. The I realized that the italics and indentations didn't come out on the web (rookie mistake) so we fixed the references. Then, each student found a quote they liked from the source, did an in text reference, APA style (this required very explicit instruction from me; it seemed like I was doing the work for them). Also each student explained the quote in their own words.
I think this showed students how things work in Western academia. You find good information in a source, include it, reference it, and explain it.
I ahd my students define "civil society" and "NGO". Today we're going to work on revising those definitions starting with the work they've already done and this stuff below. Hopefully by comparing my references with their own, students will be able to create a list of references. Then we'll work on citing them in text.
1.
NGOs
Fisher J. (1998). Nongovernments: NGOs and the Political Development of the Third World.
West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press. Retrieved September 4, 2004 from
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=85952031
2.
Civil Society
Hearn, F. (1997). Moral Order and Social Disorder: The American Search for Civil Society.
New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Retrieved September 3, 2004 from
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65316769