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In this unit I have watched two videos where the same lesson has been taught twice. One of them is a good example of an effective lesson. Another video with some basic errors that were deliberately made will definitely help me to make the right decisions in the classroom. The students have difficulties understanding the contents of the first lesson due to a lack of variety of types of interaction with the students. The teacher keeps asking the same questions in the same form which seems hard for the students to understand without clear instructions. The students have difficulties understanding what exactly is required of them. The teacher could try to help the students, changing the words of the questions, avoiding using difficult grammar terms (modal auxiliary), encouraging them more positively and involving them in eliciting the words that they already know. Looking not happy, scowling and repeating that what they are doing is 'easy' demotivates the students greatly. I also think that the structure of the lesson hasn't been thoroughly thought through and explanations should have been given in a more clear and precise way. The papers have been handed out without any preliminary explanation which was confusing for the students. The teacher should be giving more examples, be more visual, use miming and gestures. When the students do an exercise the teacher should monitor the process and be available for the students in case they may have questions. It is obvious that the students participate more effectively in the second video. The teacher has a positive and engaging attitude and this is one of the reasons why the students respond with the high level of participation. The teacher smiles and learns the students' names and involves all of them in the lesson, speaks more slowly and clearly, uses the 'Engage' phase which is here based on the concept that the students know certain animals. I like the way the teacher linked the study activity to the activate activity, which looks rather smooth and natural. I also like the way the teacher used prompting techniques such as drawings and pictures of vocabulary items. I agree that the attitude that the teacher comes into class with will have a profound effect on the success of the lesson. I hope that this unit will help me to have positive and engaging attitude in my lessons and I will also be able to get my students respond with a high natural level of participation and keep them interested.
