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Language Conversation Groups. Combining Learning with Fun!. Beth Kupper -Herr Leeward Community College, Hawaii. Let’s start with an icebreaker…. What the groups are all about. Who What How. When Where Why. …and “what else”. WHO. Participants Students taking language classes
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Language Conversation Groups Combining Learning with Fun! Beth Kupper-Herr Leeward Community College, Hawaii
Let’s start with an icebreaker… Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
What the groups are all about • Who • What • How • When • Where • Why …and “what else” Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHO • Participants • Students taking language classes • Language instructors • promote program • extra credit • resource for leaders • Leaders • Native speaker students • Coordinator • organizes groups • trains and works with leaders • communicates with instructors • provides attendance data Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHAT(overview) • Small group led by native speaker • Purposes: • improve speaking and comfort level • learn about culture and country • have fun! • Meet one hour per week • Membership is set (encourage cohesion, bonding) • Participation is voluntary… • but when students sign up, they are told “This is a commitment” Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHAT(overview, continued) • This semester, we offer groups for • English (ESL) • Spanish • Japanese • Hawaiian • Korean • Chinese 23 groups! Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
HOWget enough leaders Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
HOWset up groups Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
HOWset up groups • Assign students to groups (4 – 6 per group) • Accept that you can’t always get every student into a group • Track attendance (we use TutorTrac) Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
HOWget started Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
HOWkeep records Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHERE • Groups meet inside & outside • Groups can get noisy! • Have sheets & mats Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHEN • Time & day • When leaders are available • When students are available • Soon after class meets • Minimum 5 weeks, maximum 10 weeks Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHYBenefits for students Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC Who has a YELLOW paper?
WHYBenefits for leaders Who has a BLUE paper? Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHYBenefits for instructors Who has a GREEN paper? Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
ISSUES, POTENTIAL PROBLEMS & DECISION POINTS • Attendance? • Stay flexible • Stay positive • Mixed levels? • Pay or volunteer? Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
WHAT ELSE? extensions or variations of the program • Foundation building groups (101 level) • More peer group activities for our Learning Resource Center Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Conversation Celebrationa major event! Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Some groups went outside… Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Faculty joined in… Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Games, snacks, fun! Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
More activities to try • Calendar chat • Conversation starters • Charades • See Conversation Leader Guide for more • Conversation leaders have great ideas! Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Thanks for coming! Additional copies of handouts distributed at this session can be downloaded from:http://tiny.cc/languagegroups Want to continue the “conversation”? Contact me at bethkh@hawaii.edu Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC