[2-1-4] Skype Exchange Session 1: Self-introduction and Talent Show

We made it!

The purpose of session 1 is to help my students and their Japanese counterparts from Tokyo Metropolitan Tama High School of Science and Technology get to know each other and also prepare for the following group presentation sessions about some shared issues. Collaborative lesson planning is instrumental in making it happen, so I've closely with my partners, Toshi and Rhi, developed lesson plans, worksheets, and a checklist. Prior to this session, we went over some details of equipment and step-by-step procedures.

Well, It’s quite demanding but definitely rewarding as well when seeing my students speaking and listening to a lot of English attentively. On top of that, two classrooms were virtually connected, with students from both sides so engaged throughout the whole session. My partner also told me that four other colleges of his came to participate and said many good things about the session. What a pleasant surprise!

Reflection

1. Turning the webcam of mine towards my students so that they could see each other was definitely a right thing to do, for it suddenly became so much more interactive.

2. With four of my partner’s colleges’ participation, I hope our very first session did win their recognition and support that this project has no intention to replace regular English class but to help our students experience real application of the language.

3. My students were really paying attention to the presentations of their counterparts. I always think getting used to different English accents plays an important role in effective communication.

4. The boy who played the guitar is actually an extremely shy and sometimes withdrawn student. However, when he played, I could really feel his confidence and dedication to music from his face.

5. Those two girls who sang a song with ukulele blew everybody away. The girl on the big screen enjoyed their performance a lot, with her significant body language like nodding and clapping.

6. Sorry about the not-so-good sound quality on my side. It's not easy to push those really shy ones to speak up.

7. To sum up, we did have fun speaking and listening to English today and can't wait for the next session.

Agenda

1. Reminding S of the coming first Skype exchange session and the topic: Self-introduction and Show and Tell.

2. With the two given questions, students are divided into two groups and collaboratively discuss their ideas about why self-introduction is important and what makes a good one.

3. With students’ ideas written on the mini whiteboards, two reporters from each group share ideas with his/her own words.

4. With the introduction to the six elements of self-introduction, students are able to answer some questions correctly based on their own real situations.

5. With the Student Self-introduction Survey, students come up with four questions corresponding to each element and complete the worksheet by interviewing other members.

6. With the completed survey, students are called on to orally introduce one of his or her classmates in English.

7. With the elements of self-introduction, students write a paragraph with at least twelve sentences as their own scripts of the first session.

8. With the complete script, students are able to give self-introduction with visual aids, eye contact and sufficient volume.

Preparation