My experience in teaching practicum II.

Before to start with the teaching practicum with teenagers my thoughts were totally different from what they are now. At the beginning I thought that it was going to be a difficult challenge to achieve, because I never before had the opportunity to teach English classes to teenagers; but in this practicum I did have, and it was one of the best experiences that I have had in my teaching process.

During this practicum I was assigned to work with two different groups of students. The first five weeks I worked with a small group of teenagers, they were only fourteen students between the ages of 15 and 16 years old. Then I worked with a bigger group. They were 26 students between 14, 15 and 16 years old. The groups were both totally different because in one group I could notice that the students were very quiet, they worked most of the time but sometimes they were very shy. One of the reasons I think they were very shy was because they were afraid of making mistakes and they were very sensitive about what other classmates thought or said about them. I knew that some teenagers are very sensitive about what other people think about them,because this was one of the characteristics that I studied during the first weeks of the course. That is why in my lessons I tried to use activities and techniques that engaged students to participate; also I tried to keep their self-esteem high by doing activities in groups because I knew in that way they were able to participate and take more risk.

Otherwise, the second group was very different because the teenagers liked to talk a lot, they were not shy, in a way they were very confident, but sometimes they were easily distracted that their attention span was shorted. For that reason, I always tried to look for interesting activities for them, because in that way they were going to be busy doing something fun or interesting. Nonetheless, that was not difficult for me because I had a lot of fun with them, I practiced and the most important thing I improved a lot during the five times that I was asked to teach a class, of course there were times in which I was assigned to teach only two or three stages of the lesson, and sometimes I was given with the opportunity to teach a complete lesson plan of one hour. This was really meaningful for me because I had the opportunity to work with real students even though, only were 9 weeks that I worked with them I learned many things because the feedback and advice that my mentor teacher gave me were  really useful for me and I am so thankful because she was a good mentor and model for me. In addition to this, the students I was working with were kind and respectful with me; they looked at me as a real teacher not as a student who was only there to practice.

Also, in my participations I felt so proud of myself because every time I taught a class my mentor teacher gave me some advice and feedback to improve for the next time and I took that into consideration that before to teach a class I had in mind all that she said to me and when I finished my lessons I was happy to see that the goal was achieved because I was improving every time.

In general the experience was really good because we learned many things but sadly there are good and bad aspects about this. One of the good aspects about this experience was the place, because we were in the university and we were practicing with real students, also we had a mentor teacher that was there to guide us and give us some advice to improve. The bad aspects were the day and the schedule because for me was a little bit difficult to stay at the university so late because of the transportation and the time of departure.

Class observation from Saturday, October 29^th 2016.

Teacher Ingrid started the class with a warm up activity called “Let’s construct sentences logically”. Each student had to say a word in order to construct a sentence. Students were asked to do this activity because teacher Ingrid wanted students to practice speaking.

For the next activity students did some exercises to review the topic of the previous class. Then, students practiced a little bit of speaking using the passive voice, to keep practicing the same topic students were asked to read a text about earthquakes, after that student complete some exercises related to the text.

When teacher Ingrid finished all her activities it was my turn. I had the opportunity to teach a grammar class. I started the class with a warm up activity I played “the broken telephone”. Then, students were given with a worksheet. I played an audio and I asked students to complete a conversation,When they finished they compared the answers. 

For the next activity I asked students to pass the ball, the student who got the ball was asked to create a sentence using a noun and a verb that I gave and I asked students to go to the board and write the sentence. To finish the lesson, I asked students to work in pairs to create a conversation using the second conditional. I selected some students to pass in front of the class to  practice the conversation.

Class observation  from Saturday, October 22^nd

The class began and teacher Ingrid started with a listening activity about natural disasters. Students completed some exercises then they compare answers. When they finished these activities students watched some videos about natural disasters to get familiar with the topic. Students were given with a worksheet and they did a matching activity. After those activities she explained “the past passive”. Students were asked to complete some exercises then they compare the answers.

For the next part of the class I had the opportunity to teach a reading class I started with a survey. I asked students to stand up to complete a survey about music. I asked students to look for 2 different classmates and ask the 5 questions. Then I asked students to share their answers. Later I selected some students to do a matching activity. I asked students to match the definition with the word; I checked Student’s answer with help of students. I explained the meaning and I gave some examples.

For the next activity students were given with a work sheet and a text about music. I asked them to read the text and then complete some exercises about the reading, when they finished the activities they compare the answers with some classmates. To conclude, students were asked to create a conversation to talk about their favorite artists using the passive voice; some students were selected to pass in front of the class and practice the conversation. When I finished my class, students went to the lab to practice listening and when they came back to the classroom it was time to do the oral evaluation.

class observation from Saturday, October 15th 2016.

Lily had the opportunity to begin the class; she did a warm up activity and when she finished the game she introduced the topic “So do I” and “Neither do I” she explained to students when to use those expressions and also she explained the formation of the sentences. After that, she gave students a worksheet with some exercises, she asked students to work in pairs and when they finished students were asked to compare the answers. Then, she gave another worksheet to keep practicing the topic, she asked students to work in pairs and then compare the answers with another classmate. When students finished these activities they were asked to create a conversation in pairs using the grammar presented before. Some students were asked to pass to the front and practice the conversation.

For the second part of the class teacher Ingrid explained the topic “used to” she explained the formation of the sentences also, she explained how to use the topic and when to use it. She worked in the book and students completed some exercises. When they finished they were asked to create a conversation using “used to” teacher Ingrid asked student to create a conversation in pairs to talk about what they used to do in their childhood. Some students were selected to pass to the front to practice the conversation.

Class observation from Saturday October 1st

In this class I had the opportunity to teach a complete lesson plan, I felt very excited and happy with this class because since the first time that I teach I had improved a lot.

To get started with the class I did a brainstorming activity, I started discussing about future plans and dreams and I asked students to stand up and go to the board and write a dream or plan that they had for the future. I read students plans and I asked students why they had those dreams. For the next activity I introduced new vocabulary, I had 5 words with 5 pictures, I selected some students and I asked them to look for the picture or word and match the picture with the word and paste the flashcards on the board. Then I asked students if the pictures were ok, and I told them if they had questions about the vocabulary. In the next activity students were asked to read a text about “future plans and dreams” I asked some students to read the text when they finished reading the text I ask them to complete some exercises related to the reading, after that I asked them to compare the answers. In the last activity students were asked to write a paragraph about their future plans and dreams. When they finished writing I asked students to give me the papers and I told them that they had to read the paragraph they got and I told students to guess the writer.

When I finished my participation teacher Ingrid started with her lesson. She introduced the topic “Adverbs” she explained the formation and when to use them. After that she gave some sentences and adverbs, students had to match the sentences with the adverbs when they finish teacher Ingrid checked student’s answers. In the next activity students practiced some exercises, she gave a worksheet and students practice some exercises. Later she did other activities and students work in the book. After all these activities teacher Ingrid gave students some time  to practice speaking because they were going to have an evaluated role play.

Class observation from Saturday September 24^th

To begin with the class my mentor teacher started with a warm-up activity. She played “hangman” students enjoyed this activity, because it was like a competition. Also, it was a good idea before to start the class and introduce the new topics.

The class began and Teacher Ingrid worked with the book, she asked students to read a history from the book and complete some exercises, Students were asked to compare the answers and then share with the whole class. In this activity it would have been better to introduce the new vocabulary before to read the text because some students were lost with the meaning of some words but at the end the activity worked very well and students could do all the activities that they were told to do.

After that activity, it was time for me and Lily to teach a complete lesson plan. First, Lily started with the encounter, some strips of paper with should and shouldn`t were given to the students, Students pasted on the board the strips of paper with should and shouldn’t. Then she explained the negative/ positive and contraction of should and shouldn’t and introduced the questions “what should I do?” When she finished explaining the topic, it was time for students to practice some exercises, she asked students to complete a worksheet individually using should and shouldn’t. Students completed the worksheet individually, then, they compared answers with the person that was next to them. For the following activities, I was in charge of developing them.I asked students to choose a picture and write a sentence according to the picture that they saw. I told them to use Should or shouldn’t to write the sentences after that I checked the sentences with Student’s help.

When they finished the activity I asked them to write a problem

that they had, I told them that it could be real or imaginary. They wrote the Problem in a blank page, when they finished of writing I collected all the papers and asked students to work in trios. I gave to each group 3 problems and students had to write at least 5 advices per each situation.Then I asked students to read the problems and share the advices with the whole class.

Class observation from Saturday September 17^th.

  During this class I was 

given with the opportunity to teach two stages of the lesson plan. I was in charge of encounter and remember. 

I introduced vocabulary about jobs around the house. I selected some students to go to the board and   paste the definition with the words. Then, I asked students who didn’t participate in the activity if the definition with the words   were ok. After that I asked  students  if they had  questions about vocabulary; some students  were not clear with  some words like “do the vacuum” I explained  the meaning and I gave  some  examples.  Luckily I had the pictures and that was useful because with the pictures students had a better idea of the meaning.  For the next stage teacher Lily the other TA was in charge of the grammar explanation she explained the topic “be going to” using a power point presentation. Later it was time for me again to practice. I asked students to go to the board and do some exercises on the board. Then students practice other exercises in the book and they compared the answers. In the second part of the class teacher Ingrid explained another topic. She explained the use of have and has, and then students practiced some exercises in the book when they finished, students did a review of the whole unit. To finish, students practice writing before the evaluated exam.