My last interview was completed last night. It was with a co-teacher (Sandi) of someone I already interviewed (Suzi). This interview allows me to confirm and validate what I observed in Suzi's class and interview (I did not observe the two of them teaching, however.)
She allayed my concerns about the fact that Suzi arrives late to class. Sandi let me know that she is one who comes early to class and stays afterwards. She herself suffered with rheumatoid arthritis since she was twelve. I think her physical challenges have a way of reaching the students affectively.
She highlighted a few stories about students who come early to class and stay later. It reaffirmed an earlier finding from at least three of the other teachers I interviewed: this is a learner strategy that they have which helps them to overcome the fear of embarrassment from making a mistake in the large group. In fact, she is the one who comes to class early and stays late. The class often goes past 12 and they often stay an additional 15 0r 20 minutes.
She also said that she tries to speak at a slower rate, she repeats infomation, she uses eye contact and she smiles and stays relaxed when she teaches. I was happy to hear this since I noticed that Suzi has a faster rate of speech that was a bit concerning. These are all effective ESL teacher traits.
She also uses the technique that Nancy uses a lot. She starts the class with students asking about word meanings and such, e.g. her "fasting" example.
She and Suzi are now also using children's materials in class (see Janine, Lisa, Ann, Myra, and Jimena).
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