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October 6, 2009
Feedback welcome: my first course design
For my ESL/EFL Methodology course, we're doing instructional design projects. Fortunately for me, my teacher is kind enough to let me make some of my work for my Practicum course do double duty. I am outlining the course I'll be tutoring for the Practicum in my Methodology course. :-)
Here is what is have so far. PLEASE feel free to critique, suggest, and comment. (I don't even care if you're a teacher--if you have something to say, it may be helpful since this is really my first stab at something like this!) Just remember that this is draft 1...
Course title: "English and You: Life in America"
Setting: In a mid-sized suburb of Pittsburgh, a tutoring class is assembled through a literacy agency. I volunteer as a tutor with this literacy agency, and I will take on from two to five students this semester. All students are 20 or older, but most are in the 30-50 range, according to the literacy agency.
The students in the tutoring class are from varying backgrounds, but none have lived in the United States for long. Some are refugees, some are here to study, some are here with a loved one for a job. The students have enrolled in the agency's tutoring classes to improve their listening and speaking skills mostly because some of them have studied English in their home countries.
Students sign up to work with volunteer tutors through the literacy agency. When they sign up, students are tested on their abilities to determine the kind of tutoring that will benefit them most. The agency assigns students to the tutors and suggests texts for the tutors to use with the students.
The class meets in a local public library in a reading room or similar private area. The room will have a table with chairs around it. The students and teacher will all sit at the table together for class. The class will meet two times a week for two hours. Meetings will continue for six weeks. (At the six-week point, students are retested on their abilities in English.)
Texts and materials:
Textbooks will be used, but not extensively. (Text will be assigned by literacy agency--not yet assigned as of 10/6/09.) I will work with materials provided in the text and workbooks, but if they do not suit my students and their needs, I will either revise the materials (if permissible and appropriate) or I will develop my own materials. Most learning will be goal-directed and objective-supported through interaction and activities inside and outside of class.
Course content:
The course content will be based upon the students' needs and the available texts and materials (yet to be determined as of 10/6/09). In general, however, the course content will focus on English as it is used in daily American life. I plan to ask students in the first few class meetings what will be most helpful for them and what will be most interesting for them. From that information and the texts and materials I will build lessons and units.
Goals and objectives:
1) By the end of the course, students will be able to function in common contexts of life in America (through speaking and listening).
Objective: Students will build vocabulary skills with reading materials.
Objective: Students will practice speaking and listening with dialogues in the classroom as well as in real-life situations.
2) By the end of the course, students will have developed confidence in their abilities as English speakers in America.
Objective: Students will learn about American culture through projects and in-class activities.
Objective: Students will keep a "class-owned" list of idioms, metaphors, and phrases they hear used around them.
Objective: Students will keep a journal about experiences with American culture in their daily lives.
3) By the end of the course, students will be able to continue learning about English, America, and themselves as English speakers as they move through their lives.
Objective: Students will learn skills for independent vocabulary building.
Objective: Students will experience English use in a variety of settings, with a variety of people, for a variety of reasons.
Objective: Students will demonstrate their abilities and interests in a collection of work assembled throughout the course.
Posted by KarissaKilgore at October 6, 2009 6:21 PM