Jennifer –Classroom Observation 1- 9/8/10

Today I observed the Advanced Composition class taught by Ah Young Kim. Going in I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I was hoping that it would give me some good insight as to how to move forward concerning Woon Jee. Ah Young started out the class by talking to some of the students and then progressively she started to hand out folders to each of the students. As she was passing them out, she reminded the students that this was their first draft and she was editing them solely based on their success at constructing a convincing cause and effect essay on the affects of television. Once she had finished passing out the papers, the students all began to work individually, correcting their mistakes and asking questions either to each other or to Ah Young.

Ah Young was very accessible to/open with the students and was joking with several of them throughout the class. She had to stress English only to several of the students who had switched back into their native languages while discussing their papers. Biou, my conversation partner, was in the class and asked me to look over her paper with her and explain some of the notes Ah Young had written. I thought the feedback that Ah Young gave Biou was great. She manages to focus the student’s attention on the problem without giving them one solution. She left it open for the students to figure out how to rework their essays in their own words. Ah Young later explained to me that the students spend the majority of their time writing during her class or reviewing the feedback that she gives them.