For my third classroom observation I observed Vicky's listening class. As soon as I got there I introduced myself and got to meet some students. This happened to be the day that the students were given their midterm exam, but this ended up being very useful.
Because this was a listening class, the test was composed of parts where the teacher read aloud or where a clip was played. Students were asked to answer questions based on what they heard. The last clip of dialogue was one where a father and daughter talked about reading a bedtime story. This clip was particularly difficult to understand because of the way the little girl spoke. While her way of speaking was difficult to understand, it was good because it was a challenge to the students. When trying to become fluent in English it is vital to be able to understand all dialects and accents.
During the exam, a clip from the TV show Friends was showed. Before the clip was shown Vicky explained who each character was so that the students could answer the questions to the best of their abilities. While the clip was being shown one of the students turned away. I'm pretty sure that he had said he was practicing Ramadan and could not watch TV. This was a really good learning experience for me because as a teacher, I would have never thought that this would be a problem. In classes like this I would have to be more culturally aware because I would not have known otherwise.
Overall this was a great learning experience for me. While I initially thought I would miss out because this was an exam day, I ended up learning a lot. I was able to see an appropriate way to conduct an exam and how to incorporate clips and dialogue.
Lauren, I discussed this with my other Muslim students, and they said they could watch TV during Ramadan, but the problem here was the "romantic scene" that the teacher showed. According to my Muslim students, they're not supposed to watch the kind of romantic scenes that could possibly cause people to lust while they practice Ramadan. Well, obviously, it's a very religious culture, and we should be more culturally sensitive when teaching this kind of group. Some cultures are more religious than others. Just like southern culture is way more religious than northern or western culture in the U.S.
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