[MUSIC] Welcome back to Teach English Now. In the last video, we discussed Robert Gagne's first three events of instruction and discussed the need to gain attention, create clear objectives and stimulate the recall of prior learning. While these three events can happen at anytime, they are often presented at the beginning of a lesson plan. With that in mind, let's turn our attention to a few different teachers and see how they begin a classroom lesson. Let's start with a little background. These teachers are all instructors of high intermediate high school aged ESL students. As you watch these teachers, look for the three events of instruction and pay attention to what you like and dislike. I also want to introduce you to Jack P. Newscaster and Jill Q. Knowsalot who'll give you some live commentary. They will help to break down the instruction and provide their own analysis. Jack and Jill? >> Thanks, Dr. Dixon. Glad to provide the learner some instant feedback. I'm sure I'll tell you all that I know. >> Yes, Jack, and I'm sure that won't take long. Hi, I'm Jill. And together, we will do our best to give you insights that should help clarify each teaching moment. Shall we begin, here's teacher one. >> Welcome to class everyone. I want you to turn to page 23 in your book and we will learn more about some people in Australia. >> Ouch, that is no good. Looks like this teacher hasn't got the guts to turn up the volume. >> I hate to admit it Jack, but you are right. If the teacher doesn't turn up the volume, the students are sure to turn off the lights. Now, I don't mind that she begins the lesson right away. Sometimes beginning immediately is great! But it seems there could be a little more work to gain attention and stimulate the recall of the previous lesson. All she said was that we will learn more about some people in Australia. Hm, let's keep watching. >> We are doing this so we can finish this book by the end of the week. Then we will take a test about Australia. The test will be this Friday and it will be 25 questions. >> Hm, how's she doing on giving objectives here, Jill? I guess she did give objectives. They seemed a little bit fake, though. She said finishing a book and taking a test. What do you think? Are those objectives? >> Wow, thanks for asking me my opinion. What do I think? It seems to me that those objectives aren't really about the vocabulary, grammar, or language skills the students will gain. They might be objectives, but I don't think they're language objective. >> Now, let's look at teacher two. >> Class, settle down. Get your faces out of your smartphones, open books to pages 23, 24. Today, you're going to be reading a story. You're going to notice that there are some vocabulary that you've already learned. By the end of the week, you will have learned 25 new vocabulary words, and you will have gained better control over the past tense. You remember the past tense, don't you? >> Wow, he really wanted to grab the students' attention. But to me, it just looks like the teacher thinks that gaining attention means drawing attention to yourself. >> Yup. That was a bit scary, no doubt. It would have been much better to draw attention to the story through an interesting question or picture. Ooh, I'm still a little frightened. >> To be fair, he does go on to explain that there will be a story and mentions that the story is connected to a past lesson. But doesn't really go into detail about which words or vocabulary are similar or different. >> Yes, Jill, and I hate to keep going back to this point, but it still seems to me that there was a missed opportunity, not only to gain student interest but to connect the new lesson to past instruction by sharing a detail that might have made the class come alive. No interesting questions? No visuals to begin the class? I'm just going to say it, no good! >> But Jack, notice the objectives. There are language objectives, and they are specific, 25 words, better control over the past tense. I like it! >> Me too, I am easily convinced. Thanks for your opinion, but I still think it could have been a little better. Let's go to teacher three. >> Welcome to class, everyone. Let me introduce you to some words and raise your hand if you know these words. School bus, hiking, stranded, dingo, signal, dangerous, compass, outback. Good, I see some hands. Yes, some of these words come from our lesson yesterday. Which ones? Yes. What do they mean? Good. Now which words are new words? You're right. Stranded, signal, dangerous, and compass. What do these words mean? Who knows these words already? And what do I have here, on my screen? Yes, it's a compass. Can someone tell me what a compass is and what it is used for? >> That was fabulous. Notice the sense of confidence and the ability to use her hands. She even brought a visual aid. Very good way of bringing students into the Australian reading. >> And don't forget the technique she uses of inviting students to raise their hands for simple questions and then inviting students to respond out loud for more difficult questions. Jill, did you notice that the simple questions help students demonstrate their recall of prior learning? It was as gorgeous as my hair. Let's keep watching. >> Yes, that's a great definition of a compass and there will be some other really interesting words in our story today. You see, we're going to read a story to build up your vocabulary for today and help you learn words to express feelings. We're also going to help you to present, by the end of the week, a speech about an emotional time in your life. >> Mm, excellent objective discussion there. >> You've got that right, Jack. Notice that the teacher shares a short term daily goal, building vocabulary, and ties it to the weekly goal, presenting about feelings. Well done. >> There you have it. Three different teachers giving an introduction to their classes. My guess is that you have seen all of these kinds of teachers at one time or another. Teachers who don't take command of the classroom. Teachers who command too much. Teachers who do all of the steps but maybe without detail or clarity. And teachers who simply know how to engage students and introduce them to material. Notice how our last teacher attempted to make the readers think about and want to know more about the story they will read. In the next video, we will share the next three events from Gagne's events of instruction and discuss how a teacher has to put on different hats in a single lesson from instructor to coach to evaluator. See you next time on Teach English Now [MUSIC]
