BSL mini course - 31/03/14

Monday 3pm - 4pm

Week 2 and the class has got even larger. For the first time in my brief teaching career, I found myself having to pause, wait for the realisation in the student's minds that I had stopped, and then make a small point about the increased volume and the need to pay close attention. I don't believe they are being disrespectful or misbehaving... Much of the chatter came from discussions about what they were learning and from what they had found out for themselves. That is something to commend and I would like to think that I did. 

I have found that this particular group is moving along very quickly. For some of them they seem to be genuinely excited by what they are learning and have plenty of questions to ask. It's very evident that the students that are progressing the best are those that have applied themselves to learning the alphabet, something I asked them to do prior to the course starting. It's a sound base for me to build upon, especially as it's only a brief course. I'll be encouraging that again.

Already I have spotted that they all seem to gravitate towards the same people, although during the conversation pieces, I was able to use individuals from different groups to work together. Perhaps breaking up these peer groups will bring greater control to the direction that some of the conversations can take, away from the matter at hand.

Areas for improvement :

Look at using more types of groups during some class exercises. Try to encourage some of the quieter students to show of their abilities.

In preparation for the classes after the Easter break - weeks 3-6 - build in more uses of technology that exists - for example " Mobile sign" a tablet app that helps learn additional vocabulary.