This week Carmella and I were able to visit each others conversation circles. I thought that this was a really interesting experience, and I really enjoyed both having her come visit and visiting her group. I was worried initially about how having another person would change the group dynamic, but I found that when Carmella joined our group it was actually good for our group dynamic. Only two people showed up this week, so it was nice to have another person join in on the conversation, making us a group of four rather than three. Additionally, because Carmella didn't know either of the girls in the group, they were able to get to know each other for a portion of the conversation. While this made me more of an observer at points because they were having conversations that I had already had with my group, it was really interesting to be able to see how they seemed even more comfortable talking with someone new, compared with when I first met them and we began our conversation circles. Worried that this was a figment of my imagination, after Carmella left I asked my group if they thought that their English had improved from the conversation circles. One of the girls said that she wasn't really sure, but the other said that she thought that it definitely had, and that she was more confident in being able to converse easily with native English speakers. I was really happy about this and hope that this is something that others are experiencing as well.
I also really enjoyed visiting Carmella's group. It was great being able to see another facilitation and learn from the way she interacted with her group. Carmella asked her students to watch a film called "The Intouchables," which is a french film that I had already seen. She facilitated a conversation about this film that I thought went pretty well, and it was interesting to see the different group dynamic in her group as well. I enjoyed getting to know them a little bit and see how Carmella interacted with her students.
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