A farewell post

 
Being able to work in my unidad repectora was a great opportunity to develop my personal and professional growth. In this final reflection i will write about the moments that were enjoyable and the challenging moments and my plans for the future.

First of all, it is important to mention that I found teaching extremely enjoyable when I saw that my students were having progress.  I learned many things of my students for example they have a great capacity for learning, enormous potential for creative thought. I also learned that they are very passionate with the things which interested them. There were moments in my lessons where I had to provoke student engagement with relevant and involving material. Sometimes, I had to add, adapt or replace the materials of my students because I considered that my students needed to be encouraged to respond about situations or texts with their own knowledge and experiences that are according to their level with topics they can react to.

I learned that all my students a large amount of energy for sports, dancing, singing and intellectual competitions in different subjects, spelling bee and chess. However, not all the students like to use their energy in positive things they also use it in the negative way resulting in discipline problems. Some students are very lazy and careless about grades, homework and class work. As a teacher I wanted to know what was happening behind the lessons and I took a moment to speak with their parents, fortunately we had an agreement.

One important issue for me was to develop rapport with my students and a positive and respectful relationship with my students. I asked the students to write a letter about their opinions about the course, the content of the coursebook, methods and working styles. For me was really useful to do that because I was able to implement some changes. On the other hand, my classroom observation provided me a significant help to understand what was happening inside the classroom that I was unable to notice.

I had wonderful moments and challenging ones. Next period I going to take Experiencia Recepcional and Practicum, so I will continue writing posts and reflect my teaching.

I learned too many things from this wonderful experience and have to thank my facilitador Daisy Giles, the school principal Ing. Juan Hamsho ,  the coordinator Joyce Viceizo, my students, my colleges of my unidad receptora and last but not least my peers thank you for your help, for your comments and advice.
 

I will conclude with these precise words ““Every story has an ending...but in life, every ending is just a new begining...”

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

final weeks of classes (High school)

Some of my students had oral presentations as final project about some countries.  Together we decided about the criteria for what makes a good presentation, and we invested time in the procedures and process that were involved during their presentations and so on. The students prepared their talks in the classroom, I sometimes helped them when was necessary. Next day, they had a chance to rehearse their presentations. In that preparation time students made some notes install the equipment, look up vocabulary in their dictionaries.
I really enjoyed their presentations because for that activity they prepared their talk and most importantly they made their presentations on a country of their own choice. I observed how motivated they were, I have to say that some groups spoke fluently without nervousness. However, there were groups that did not make eye contact and spoke softly. There was also feedback for their presentations some students asked follow-up questions, so everyone in the classroom was involved in active speaking. I think that kind of activity was a great opportunity for my students to learn, appreciate and respect other cultures.

On the other hand, I talked with some parents about the strengths and the areas of improvement, behavior during class. I really tried to not to focus just in the negative I included the positive aspects.  It is really sad that some parents have communication problems and these problems are affecting their performance they are living in a tension environment. After we talked we agree to keep updated by email. 
I also talked with all my students about their insights of the lessons orally and written. We had an open discussion of what is taking place in our class. Some students were open about it and other less open. We discussed about the coursebook, the things, topics or activities they want more and the things they want less, the things they like, useful etc. I that way I could evaluate my lessons and modify certain things. In that way I could plan future lessons.  

I feel really happy with the things that are happening now ….

                                                                         

Joint Productive Activity

Joint Productive Activity Lesson plan
Level: Upper-intermediate 4 semester		Length of class: 60 minutes	Coursebook: Traveller B1+		Date : Friday 24th, 2013
topic	Literature discussion.
Materials	Students’ favorite novels, notebook, pens
Background information	Prior to this lesson, students have read their own favorite novels and write about it. (authentic texts)
Lesson objectives	Students will: *participate in critical literature discussions. *ask questions and/or tell their classmates about book they have found particularly enjoyable.  *expand their own understanding of the literature, listening and sharing multiple perspectives in the classroom literature. *write short book reviews for the class.
Stage		Procedures		Interaction	Time
Seat arrangement:		Teacher seat the students in a circle.		T - Ss	5 minutes
Lead- in:		Give the students the paper sheets  and complete the chart with things they know  or don’t know about the novels e.g.		Ss	3 minutes
Process stage: Student’s presentation of the novel		One by one student will present their own novel, talking about the things they like about it , why they found it enjoyable		S - Ss	20 minutes
Evaluation stage:		Individually, students will complete the chart where they record title, publisher and so on and write book reviews for the class.		Ss - Ss	10 minutes
Activation: (feedback on task)		Orally, the students will talk about their opinions about the different novels that were presented.		Ss- Ss	10 minutes
Assessment:		Students will reflect on their experience		Ss	5 minutes
Conclusion

 

Joint Productive Activity

One of the principles of the school is to encourage the students to read as often and as much as possible. So, I believed that extensive reading will help me to do my joint productive activity because this kind of activity allows conversations. My students and I had the opportunity to express our ideas and opinions.

I decided to seat the students in a circle because I wanted to be closer with the students in order to share feelings, thoughts, information and perspectives.

During the lesson, many students found out that that they read common novels so, common experiences emerged during the activity. They shared with the class their feelings about it.

I also think that that the activity had a powerful impact on language learning because they were able to use the four skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking). I realized that at the beginning of the lesson they were a little bit shy, but then I realize how they were increasing their confidence.  In general, I could say that I did not expect that the lesson would be beneficial for them, they were engaged, exchanged their likes about reading novels.

To sum up, the joint productive activity let my students and I to work cooperatively, to expose to different novels and perspectives to different likes and preferences, but most importantly to be open to read other kind of novels and encourage reading extensively.

 

 

 

 

Focus on my students

After marking, grading and filling out the formats of fifty five students of high school I feel really happy with the results 98% of my students passed the exam with good grades, but there is still a few students who does not want to do anything before, during and after the class, they are so lazy and it is affecting their grades. I talked with them in private, but they still continue with that behavior. The only thing that I need to do now is talk with their parents. I do not want to do that but it is necessary. It is a kind of prevention for them to fail and to make their parents to be aware of their performance.

My students of junior high school are almost on examination week for both groups, we need to review grammar and vocabulary, as well as listening practice located on students’ book and workbook. As a final work the students will do a project, but I need to discuss it with them the topics that are interesting for them but my main focus are the topics that are relevant in terms of that they are studying and of course I am going to discuss the grade of the project, length of the activity and so on.
With my other group as a final project will have to write down a brochure in a variety of ways. Some teams will write about a town brochure, entertainment venue, and health club brochure. In groups they are going to decide it and discuss it with me.
I really enjoy watching my students working in groups and when they are explaining different topics for the rest of the class, because I believe that it is really important for the learners to have STT rather than the Teacher Talking Time!!!  

In a couple of days, I plan to ask my students for comments and feedback on the things I do and about the course. I will ask the students to write a letter about their thoughts, feelings about the course and explain the things they found difficult, easy, what seems engage and boring and other things they found important to write.
I really hope to find honestly on their feedback, because in that way I could have some changes in my teaching and that of course will have a great long-term benefit for them and me.

Soon will share their insights with you…                  

 

 

 

 

Catching up on my unidad receptora

 

I have been having a busy week with my students of high school because the examination period starts on Monday; the date for the test is on Tuesday. I am looking forward to see how much they have improved since the last test.

 I would like to mention that there was a mother’ day festival in the school, and ALL the school personnel (teachers, secretaries, janitors, prefects and so had to participate. Some teachers had to accommodate the inviters, others cut and give the cake; others had to be in charge of the sound and so on. 

 I had to be in the raffle, at the beginning of the festival mothers were giving numbered tickets and then giving prizes to those mothers whose numbers are chosen by chance.  I was a nice experience because it was a nice festival in which I could realize how talented the students are in playing musical instruments, singing, dancing and reciting poetry. We also had a teacher’s party. I had so much fun and also had the opportunity to meet with others fellow teachers that work in the kindergarten, elementary school and the university.

On this week there was no homework with my students of high school because we’re reviewing the units and the contents in the test.   

With my students of junior high school we have regular classes.  Different booksellers came to my “unidad receptora” and I receive many gifts from the publishers like agendas, pens, and free course books for teachers etc. next week all the English teachers in the school were are going to have a meeting and we have to decide which course book will be for the next period. I started to feel pressure because I have not decided if I going to be working in my “unidad recetora” and I want to choose the right material for my students.

In my next post I am going to comment about how well my students did on their tests.  

 

 

Teacher Observation / Evaluation Report II

Teacher Observation / Evaluation Report I

classroom observation II

Agregar leyenda

Agregar leyenda

classroom observation I

Partner Professional Dialogue

Partner Professional Dialogue

The Partner professional Dialogue was an excellent activity that let me think and reflect about my teaching about the types of community involvement, the language development and additional opportunities for students’ choice. The observation provided me a useful help to have a different panorama of what is happening in my lessons.

Without too much thinking, I asked the coordinator Prof. Joyce Viceizo to be my observer and my partner to carry out the professional dialogue. My professional dialogue and peer observation involved the following steps:

1.    Pre- observation discussion:

We had our meeting at the school library and we discussed the questions, we agreed that it is vital  to increase the amount of parent and community involvement in classroom, because if we collaborate together by exchanging ideas we can share and acquire knowledge, that will be useful for the students to connect and apply their learning to their homes and community.

Then we discussed about language development activities that were in my unit. We agreed that in the unit were opportunities for teacher-student and student-student dialogue. The way I contextualize the unit is: a unit that focus on the four skills. For me it is important to include in my lesson plan the resent topic work and ask the students about it. In that way, I could connect the content of my unit to prior knowledge and experiences from home and community.

The activities in the unit were appropriate for the intermediate level. Both of us are really interested in talking with smalls groups of students in order to connect school to students’ lives and experiences that could provide knew knowledge. This kind of  instructional conversation will be fantastic activity for the students because it is an excellent way to encourage them to have opinions, express, exchange ideas and think critically and questioningly about what they are learning. I will try to use the students’ own knowledge and experiences as much as possible.

Next, we discussed the format of my lesson plan as well as the format of the classroom observation. She considered having another observation and evaluation report that it is used on my "unidad receptora".

2.    Observation:

The day of my formal observation I was really nervous because I thought that I was having a test that I could fail. I observed, that my students responded differently when they noticed that they were having an extra person that was sitting in the classroom.

I really tried to not look at my observer but I noticed that she was making notes, following the steps of the lesson plan. I really tried to be myself and act naturally.

3.    Post-lesson discussion:

The meeting took place at the school library again; we both report our impression of the lesson. We discussed about the observation and evaluation report, the things that she observed in the planning, presentation and development, interpersonal dynamics, and class management as well as the classroom observation based on the five standards for effective teaching.

We commented about my strengths and weakness during the lesson. My strengths were the way I planned my lesson and class management. The things I need to improve were making the aims and objectives of the lesson clear to students, explain instructions clearly and make use of gestures and body language.

4.    Follow up:

I am going to follow her advice and not get lock in that kind of  ways of teaching. I am going to try out all the suggestions and ideas that we talked previously.

I am sure that the observation provided me a useful help a in-service teacher can get because my observer gave me the opportunity to get insights from a different perspective and view of point. I also think that the observation can tell me things that I can’t see.I believe that it is vital to not take anything personal, and see observation as a way of improvement. I will try to follow her advice and reflect my learning during this partner professional dialogue.
I am looking forward to do the next activity which is joint a productive activity which requires student collaboration.