last class, English Access

On Friday 8^th,   I finished with my teaching practicum with the students of the English Access Program. As a warm up activity, I made use of a game called “Simon Says” I decided to choose that game because It helped me to capture student’s attention, and also because they were motivated before starting with the class. To continue, I gave them some role play situations; those were about some of the lessons parents taught us as children. During that activity, I could observe how motivated students were when preparing their role play. At the time they finished with that activity, I told them that I really liked to see them performing all the situations because they were using the target language; I also congratulated them for their performance in that activity. The teacher told me that he enjoyed that part too because the guys do love to speak, so that he said It is our responsibility to make them do it. After all, they were working in some exercises that were on their books before the reading section, and that was all I did with them that day. Let me tell you that I really enjoyed to be working with those guys, I learned many things from them, and I just want to tell teacher Cristian “thanks” for allowing us to have this great opportunity.

second class, English Access.

November 1^st, 2013

Hello everyone! Let me tell you that in my second class, I had the chance to introduce the third unit which was called “Growing Up” As a warm up activity, I made use of a game called change places if…; with this activity students were supposed to say a sentence about something they did when they were a child. To start, students were discussing some questions they had on their books after that, they were talking about the unit question which was “what important lessons do we learn as children? To do this, they got in groups of four and made use of a page to write all the lessons they learned as children, at the end they were discussing all of them. To continue, students were answering a survey by interviewing a classmate, and at the end they were sharing all the responses they got about their classmates.  To conclude, I can say that I liked this class because I felt more identify with the students; also the teacher told me that I looked more confident, so I hope to continue the same and do a better job in my last class. 

first class experience, third period.

On Friday 25^th, I started with my first class of the last period. This time, I had the opportunity to be teaching to the English Access Program. To start, I introduced myself and after that, students were doing the same by standing up, telling their names, and why they decided to study English. For the warm up activity, I made use of some flashcards that helped me to present the new unit which was about “what makes people want to buy something”. Then, they were discussing the first two questions that were on the book. To continue, they were answering a questionnaire about their recent shopping purchases, and also they were discussing with a classmate about the kind of shopper they are. To finish, I just introduced the new vocabulary of the reading, and that was all I did that day. Let me tell you that I really liked that group because they participate and ask as many questions as they can during the class, and believe or not it has been a new experience for me because I could see their interest to learn the language, which is nice and something that I did not see in the students of the English major in my last teaching experiences. Well, from my part I will try to do a better job next time, and also I will be ready to clarify all the student’s doubts.

third class experience, secon period

On Thursday 3^rd, I finished with the third class of the second period. That day, I was working with some practices about modals verbs only. To start, I made used of some flashcards about different places and students had to say what they could do there and what they could not using different modals verbs. The teacher told me that it was a suitable warm up. To continue, students were reading a short paragraph that contained rules of a hotel in order to complete some sentences about it using the appropriated modal verbs. Then, I provided them another practice, and it was about different images which they had to create sentences using the verbs that were added in the practice. After this, I asked students to talk with a partner about what “they have to do” in an English class and what “they do not have to do”, and then they had to pass to the front and write all the ideas they had regarding this. I did not like the students attitude in this activity first because they made a mess in the classroom, and second because some of them were writing stupid things about what I asked which I did not like, even though I tried to control the situation. To finish with the class, I just give them another practice in which they have to complete some phrases by filling the gaps and classifying them through the different uses according to the examples, and this was all I did in my last class with the students of the intermediate level I.

second class experience

On Thursday 19^th, I developed my second teaching practicum. This time, I had to continue with some practices about comparatives and superlatives adjectives, also I had to introduce the new topic which was phrasal verbs. To start with the class, I made use of some flashcards about means of transportation for students to compare them. Then, I provided them a reading in order to take out all the sentences in which the speaker was making any comparison through the reading. After this, they were working in oral and written activities that were on the book, and almost at the end I was introducing the new topic.

Taking about classroom management, I can tell you that I did my best because I tried to control the class in a better way, also I was more enthusiastic and I tried to fix all the mistakes that according to the teacher I made previously. Well, I had big expectations about my second class, first because I got a bad grade in the first one, and second because I wanted to show the teacher that I could do a better job regarding this. After the class, I thought I had got a good grade, but when I saw my grade it was less than the first one, so it made me feel really sad; the teacher did not explain to my why I got that grade, she just told me about a word I mispronounced. Another thing I did not like was that she was grading me in front of a student which I consider is not appropriated because students do not need to know the grade of the practitioners as we know, it is something between the teacher and the practitioner only.

Well, all this have helped me to understand that as teachers we are going to deal with many good and bad things, so we have to pay attention to everything we really need and take advantage of it.

first class experience, second period.

On Thursday 12^th, I had the chance to be teaching to the intermediate level I. This time I started with unit number five which is called In Shape. Fortunately, it was the unit Veronica and I did last period, so that I had some ideas about the lesson plan. To start, I introduced myself, and I asked students to do the same by standing up and telling their names and one of the expectations they had from the course. As a warm up activity, students listened to a song named fighter by Christina Aguilera, the students’ job was to underline all the adjectives they found through the reading. After that, they mentioned all the adjectives as a whole class. As a presentation, they were working on their books; they had to answer a questionnaire and at the end, they had to calculate the score and compare it with their classmates. Then, I introduced the grammar part, it was about comparatives and superlatives forms of adjectives; I really liked the way I did it because I could see how motivated students were when I provided some written examples, and also when I made use of realia for them to had a better understanding. In generally, it was all I did in the class. Let me tell you that I felt confident with students because they were participating and asking different questions. In the feedback the teacher told me about many things that according to her I need to improve, even though I know not all she told me is the true. To sum up, I just want to thank the teacher because in this opportunity I could remember what he told us at the beginning of the year, and it was to pay attention to everything we consider is important, and not to those things you are sure you do well in your classes and that some teachers criticize you. 

On Tuesday 20^th, I finished with my third class of the first period. That day, I was working with some practices only. To start, I made a quick review of the grammar part, also I wrote some sentences on the board for students to practiced and remembered about the all grammar explanation. During this, they were paying attention and providing different information related to the topic. I could see the student’s interest with the class, so it made me feel confident since the class started. After that, I provided them some written practice about the topic which was reported speech; students were really motivated working with this, also they were asking me some questions if they had any doubt. Then, I integrated a speaking activity for them to practice too. In that activity, I asked students to come out with a couple of sentences or ideas. Then, their classmates were going to report what their classmates had expressed. I observed that not all were practicing, so I motivated to do it, and at the end the activity took around 8 minutes because they liked to be practicing orally. At the end, I continued with a reading practice, and it was a dialogue. To work with this, students had to read a conversation, and after that they had to report what the speakers said. The reading took around 10 minutes because it was a little bit difficult, but they did a good job with this. To conclude with the class, let me tell you that I felt really satisfied because I could see how much students understood about the topic. Well, it was all I did in the advance level I the first period.