Language Learning Centre – Conversation Club 11/1

We had 10 students join us again today for our online conversation club. Our topic was about the Internet and Social Media. We had a few minutes in the beginning while we were waiting for more students to join so I asked if anyone knew about the Halloween incident in South Korea from the news. News and current events could actually be an interesting topic to do in the future.

We had good engagement with this topic. The students were able to talk about what social media platforms they use and share information they know about different social media sites. We had a poll to make things interesting and I used the interactive whiteboard for them to talk about what they have used Instagram or Facebook for. I tried to have follow-up questions after each person’s answer to extend their talk time and I provided explanations whenever necessary so everyone can understand. In the breakout rooms we asked the students to discuss why they use Google, Twitter, Tiktok, etc.  They were able to practice reasoning in English when they explained that they like to look up information or watch videos for entertainment. We also discussed which app they use to chat with family and friends.

In the breakout rooms we talked about social media use such as whether they use social media when they are out such as at school, and the answer was a resounding yes! They seemed to enjoy talking about which social media they like and dislike. Like always, some participated more than others but as I’m using the system of checking off students’ names, later on I was able to choose students who haven’t had a chance to speak as much. We went into the breakout rooms too late this time and I had too many students so not everyone got a chance to have good conversation time. For the next one we will be going into the breakout rooms right after a warm-up and I anticipate that it’ll be great as more of a main activity while providing as much speaking opportunity as possible for our students. We will also be trying out a different format where I lead the first half of the lesson and Matthew takes over the second half and assist each other with the online tools such as polls and creating breakout rooms so it’s more efficient and seamless.

I had our students share some feedback and suggestions for future lessons at the end. It was great to know that someone enjoyed learning about different cultures through our conversation clubs and find out that a student wants to talk about what to do in Kamloops. I look forward to taking these ideas into future lessons.