Thomas CO #4

I sat in Marilyn Sohan’s 1PM class for my 4^th class observation; this time it’s her speaking class. There was also another class observer in my class who doesn’t appear to be a TEFL student. For this class discussion they talked about the morality of corporal punishment. They moved tables so they face each other while they are debating and the teacher split the class into pros and cons. She gives them 5 minutes to plan their speech based on research they did before class and also goes over the rubric. The debate starts and each side opens up their argument. They take turns explaining their reasoning, examples, and experiences. Some people didn’t properly prepare their research and the teacher suggested properly listening so they can add to their argument. After the debate, the teacher asks the class how they felt about expressing their opinions and one of the debaters had a tough time because he was arguing against his experience and opinions. Sohan responded by saying that playing devil’s advocate can actually help you because you understand the opponent’s argument and can prepare beforehand in order to counter what they are going to say. Overall, this was a pretty interesting class and I felt like I learned a lot even though the teacher didn’t talk too much.