A Teaching Demonstration with a Live Skype Session

Teaching so many classes with students I never met, this one is by far the most impressive in terms of their speaking skills.  

This demo is an extension of a previous workshop about how to conduct international video conferencing. The purpose is to help the teachers create a class like this from scratch, including the setup, lesson planning, and setting a joyful mood. Most important of all, the main idea is how to get our students to speak in the language and have fun learning English. 

Pre-teaching

Quickly going over my lesson plan, I emphasized the importance of getting students to Do something collaboratively in English. The previous task must facilitate the next. 

I then explained the setup of the Internet connection, an external webcam, and a microphone, complete with Skype audio and video settings. 

To demonstrate collaborative lesson planning, Jessica and I quickly went through our teaching procedures. We also tested the audio quality with some variations. 

In-teaching

Kinetic activities work well as a good warmer. Some silly questions about me helped create a relaxing vibe, too. The students then went into the mode that it's okay to be imperfect when speaking English. 

The students came to the webcam in pairs and did a simple self-introduction, followed by Jessica's follow-up questions. Her charming personality and beauty boosted their confidence and motivation to speak. She and the students talked about their shared interests in Japanese anime and K Pop. 

Post-teaching

These seventh-grade gifted students were terrific. Many of them spoke fluently with beautiful pronunciation and intonation. They were engaged in each task, and I especially enjoyed seeing their smile. 

Some good questions were brought up, such as how to train students for different topics, incorporate grammar from textbooks, and so on.  

All in all, I enjoyed this class a lot because everything went well as planned. The students' English level exceeded my expectation, and the teachers gave me positive feedback as well. Of course, I got to show off my English, which is the driving force for what I do.