Chris

Currently Teaching:

Listening 5

In this class, we use a wide variety of materials and methods to enhance listening comprehension. In a typical week, students will do a dictation, in which I read a creative story, sentence by sentence, and students write what they hear to the best of their ability. Listening to music is usually reserved for Fridays, with emphasis placed on slow to medium paced songs with clear English voice as the focal point (e.g. Frank Sinatra, The Beatles). Other activities include speaking and listening, in which students comprehend and recall target information from conversations with a partner. We often listen to the traffic and weather report on 680 News with similar but not exact information repeated every 10 minutes. Gap-fill and comprehension exercises are completed while listening to typical conversations and descriptions from American Headway (Blue book). Documentaries, sometimes with subtitles, and normally with clear English, such as David Suzuki and the Nature of Things or intermediate level TED Talks are also used to stretch student's listening ability.

Reading and Writing 5

The major assignment in this class is to publish an article review for www.hansawrites.wordpress.com Students choose a museum, gallery, restaurant, bar, shop, park, or festival to review and write about their experience. Students include key details: its location (closest subway station), cost, service, clientele, history, and give details about what it looks like, smells like, feels like and sounds like. Students write about what they liked and didn't like and whether they recommend the place and why or why not? Students are encouraged to show the qualities of a place and give examples to explain opinions. Students write about the resonance of a place they visit -- what do they remember most? What was the most impactful part of the experience? Students take at least one photo and include a website address for the place they visit.

Speaking 2

Students are encouraged to communicate in the past, present and future tense until they can speak confidently about what they did on the weekend, what they like to do routinely and what they will do in the near future. The class has an informal structure, where conversations often occurs naturally based on what is new or interesting in the world and in the lives of the participants. Introductions occur every time a new student joins the class and students must vary the personal information they share.

Speaking 4

Students are expected to have a strong command of the simple present, simple past, future tenses and the present perfect. Conversations often occur naturally based on the collective interests of the participants, while speaking mistakes are identified and corrected as they occur. Mistakes are good -- they show us what we don't know. I facilitate a comfortable learning environment where communication is emphasized over perfection or competition. Outside the classroom activities include: "Talking to Canadians" in which the students must leave the classroom for the reception area, Starbuck's, Tim Horton's, or Eglinton Station to elicit answers to questions about all things Canadiana.