This is a continuation of my reflection, First Classroom Observation, Pt.  1. 

At the start of the new hour, the students were asked to present their group’s findings from the first hour. The students appeared to be extremely nervous, especially when asked to turn their cameras on. I really wonder why they didn’t want to do this, and in the end it came to an agreement with the teacher that they will have to use their cameras next week instead. I also noticed the teacher had to reiterate the instructions and questions very frequently. I wonder if there was something particularly confusing the students did not understand, and if so, were they too shy to say something? Is the assignment too challenging for the class and the teacher will need to bring it back down next time? As the class got more and more quiet the teacher began to call on students to talk. It is an oral communication course so the students do need to practice these skills, whether it is voluntary or not. When the class continued to be quiet, the teacher appeared to take on a new approach and reassured the students it is all right. The teacher continued to say things like “if you don’t have an opinion, just make one up.” I wonder if the students are quiet because they did not care about the topic? The teacher then further prompted to students to discuss the topic about their own countries. Was this so the students were able to talk about something they are more familiar with? As the hour went by, the students continued to be quiet. When they did talk the teacher would be very encouraging, even if their answer was wrong. Was this to build their confidence in talking which is more important than if they are correct or not?

One thing I found particularly interesting was the teachers fluidity throughout the class. When something did not work, they would change their tactic and approach the next time it came back to try and figure out what fit with the students in this particular moment in time. This happened the next time a group discussion came up, and the teacher instead assigned roles to each student. This gave the quiet students a chance to participate and have something to focus on that they missed in the first hour. This seemed to work, because when they had to present again as a group it ran smoother and students appeared to be a bit more confident in speaking. This also took away some of the pressure the more vocal students may have had. Lastly, when the class came to a close the students all turned on their mics to say bye to the teacher unprompted. Was this established in prior classes, or just something the students feel comfortable doing? I’m not sure. It would be a nice thing to add to class.