Briggs CO #1

I observed Josh's group 3B, Speaking course. The class was a continued discussion of the movie they students had watched in the previous session, 'The great debate'. He used a student centered approach as groups discussed two sides of the debate argued in the movie. As the students spoke, he corrected their errors. He asked many thoughtful questions that offered opportunity for deeper discussion of the topics. He had a relaxed demeanor and affective approach with the students. He made sure to call upon and include any students that were not participating in the conversation. He had a very good understanding of their level of English and knew when it was needed to place vocabulary words on the board. The discussion lead to the topic of civil disobedience. He engaged the students by asking them ways in which they break laws. At first, most of the class did not mention any ways they broke laws. He introduced the topic of speeding, an act of civil disobedience. It was then, that the discussion really took off.  One student remarked, "Oh, yeah, well I do that."