II. REFLECTIVE WRITINGS
- Observation Stage
Task 1: The School and Learning Environment
Briefly and objectively describe the following aspects:
1. The school:
Describe the general background of the school including the physical location, organization, student population, philosophy and educational and behavioural policies.
ANS: The school is subsidized. It is in the center of Playa Ancha, easy to get to. It generally gets good results in the SIMCE and PSU tests. The school is not so big, it has two kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, first and second grades, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, two classes from third to eight grade and one class from first to fourth high school with full schedule. It depends on a Christian Lutheran church. The discipline and moral values are strict and that can be seen in the behaviour of the students. The average students do not come from the lowest social levels, except for some SEP students.
2. The classroom
Describe the atmosphere of the room and the levels of engagement in the room. Make notes on seating, sight lines, space, air, light, whiteboard, equipment, etc
ANS: The classrooms in the school are small, that sometimes create some difficulties because some of them get in trouble to look at the board. They have an electric fan, what is especially good, what is not so good is that the room is next to the patio, so the environment is always noisy. The natural light is relatively good and there is a bulb that is always broken.
3. The activities & resources:
ANS: The teacher uses a lot the book. It has readings, listenings and grammar exercises. It also has a CD to practice grammar, some tongue twisters and songs, the children love them. The date is always available, there are two computer labs also, but the internet connection is not very good.
Make notes on the kind of activities used, the nature of student involvement, balance of student doing things and teacher doing things
ANS: students read and answer questions orally and written, make oral reports, sing in group, teacher let them deduce rules, meanings and interact during the class, grammar is not explicit, it is included in the language functions.
Describe the resources used and the materials available within the school. How are the resources used in the classroom?
ANS: The date is always available and also two computer rooms, the sound now is broken but it can be used. There are dictionaries in the library.
- Assistant stage
Task 2: Student learning
In this second observation task, you should focus on the things that help to create conditions for effective learning and on the aspects that play a part in preventing learning.
1.The learners: How motivated are the learners? Why?
ANS: I consider most of the students are really motivated to learn English, they enjoy being able to communicate in another language, besides that English is useful for them, they can watch videos, sing songs, express preferences in the language, they are aware they can learn and they can use that knowledge, it is something practical
To what extent are they taking part in their own learning?
ANS: children have an active role in their learning, they always want to answer, act, play, cooperate, they can infer a great deal of items and structures.
To what extent are they expecting the teacher to do the work for them?
ANS: the teacher is a model for them to show what they can do with the language, they like to interact with her, she leads and organizes the different activities and they participate, many activities can be performed with this group.
1.The learners: How motivated are the learners? Why?
ANS: I consider most of the students are really motivated to learn English, they enjoy being able to communicate in another language, besides that English is useful for them, they can watch videos, sing songs, express preferences in the language, they are aware they can learn and they can use that knowledge, it is something practical
To what extent are they taking part in their own learning?
ANS: children have an active role in their learning, they always want to answer, act, play, cooperate, they can infer a great deal of items and structures.
To what extent are they expecting the teacher to do the work for them?
ANS: the teacher is a model for them to show what they can do with the language, they like to interact with her, she leads and organizes the different activities and they participate, many activities can be performed with this group.
2.Behaviour during classroom activities.
ANS: the behaviour is generally good, there are some exceptions who are not very interested in the class, but if they are encouraged, they can participate very well. when someone missbehaves, his classmates ask him to make silence and have a proper conduct. they pay attention, only long activities make them bored and they lose attention. they like fast and short activities.
ANS: the behaviour is generally good, there are some exceptions who are not very interested in the class, but if they are encouraged, they can participate very well. when someone missbehaves, his classmates ask him to make silence and have a proper conduct. they pay attention, only long activities make them bored and they lose attention. they like fast and short activities.
Describe the ways students are encouraged to participate in activities. Are there any particular strategies for managing issues and motivating students?
ANS: They like games a lot and songs, they also like reading comics. I think for this group it is good to make the language useful, to use topics they like and create practical activities. funny videos are also motivating. maybe they need more motivation to speak because only some of them do it but the rest are afraid of having bad pronunciation, writing they are good, but they do not speak so much.
Are there anystudents with special needs?
ANS: there is a boy with problems with social abilities, he is a little bit slow but can understand the subject. you have to be near him all the time and explain things personally. he needs to be encouraged to work in group. his classmates are aware of this and help him.
ANS: They like games a lot and songs, they also like reading comics. I think for this group it is good to make the language useful, to use topics they like and create practical activities. funny videos are also motivating. maybe they need more motivation to speak because only some of them do it but the rest are afraid of having bad pronunciation, writing they are good, but they do not speak so much.
Are there anystudents with special needs?
ANS: there is a boy with problems with social abilities, he is a little bit slow but can understand the subject. you have to be near him all the time and explain things personally. he needs to be encouraged to work in group. his classmates are aware of this and help him.
3. Discuss the learning styles and levels of English in the classroom.
ANS: I think many students in the class are visual learners, they like images and they recognize vocabulary easily when you show them cards, they like magazines, videos, word games, etc. there are kinesthetic also that need to be moving all the time, they help delivering things, organizing groups, the activities have to be more active for them and there are some auditive students who like songs and tongue twisters, they enjoy reading and listening to dialogues. it is good to have varied activities to work with them so that everybody can understand. there are also a few that need repetitions and patterns to internalize the structures, so I use many examples and excercises to be sure they learn.
For the following questions describe as accurately as you can the type
of work performed asthe assistant of your guide teacher:
1.What kind of activity did you perform the first time your guide teacher asked for your help? How long did it take?
the first time I had to do a handout for a test about directions on a map, they worked individually and locate different points in the city, I helped them going to their sits, it took half an hour.
2.What were the
students doing before you started helping out? Who
gave theinstructions, you or your guide teacher?
they were studying in pairs, the teacher gave instructions and the students raised their hand when they wanted me to go to explain something.
3.How did the students react? Describe the atmosphere of the room and the levels
of engagement in the room.
the students got used to my assistance very easily. the atmosphere was good, the teacher was confident and could perform her class meanwhile I attended individual doubts, especially with the students with difficulties. It was a great team.
4.What other assignments were
asked you to do? How often?
not a lot, checking homework and organizing groups but I always liked to be around the classroom to answer the doubts of the students and check if they were working
5.What activities or resources did you propose? Were they used? How effective were they?
I proposed some games in english and the teacher adapted them to the topics being treated, they were good and the students enjoyed them.
6.Were you asked to prepare any kind of special audio visual material for the requiredassignments? How did the student like it?
I was asked to prepare extra material to review at the end of the semester, I created some excercises to draw, pictures to select answers, contests, the students liked it and participated, the interest had decreased a bit since the grades were ready and they seemed some tired and longing to being on vacations.
7.Did your guide teacher provide feedback on your performance in the classroom?
Howoften? How did you react?
I just received feedback almost in the end of the semester about discipline and timimg, I prefered to let the teacher face the discipline aspects of the class, although I imposed behavoiur during the classes and I accepted the advice about timing and about how to deal with exceptionally fast students (extra task)
Teaching stage
Reflect:
Tell what you now believe (your philosophy).
I believe anybody can learn english. there are no bad students, just wrong motivators, english can be fun and exciting and there are many resources to use. children respect you if you respect them.
Write the questions you still have and explore possible answers.
I always try to make the class more active and participative but we can not avoid the traditional things like writing on notebooks, I would like to have more space to change sits, form different groups but in this case is difficult.
Write about other perspectives you now see.
I think that english is not to be used only in the classroom but students and teachers can use social networks to practice and keep in touch besides, a lot of material can be shared and students can realize how useful english can be
Tell what actions you will take as a result of new learning. What are your
next steps (goal-setting)?
I am gathering all the material I can to have different activities in the classroom and I am reviewing different aspect of didactics, such as methods for effective learning. Tell what you now believe (your philosophy).
I believe anybody can learn english. there are no bad students, just wrong motivators, english can be fun and exciting and there are many resources to use. children respect you if you respect them.
Write the questions you still have and explore possible answers.
I always try to make the class more active and participative but we can not avoid the traditional things like writing on notebooks, I would like to have more space to change sits, form different groups but in this case is difficult.
Write about other perspectives you now see.
I think that english is not to be used only in the classroom but students and teachers can use social networks to practice and keep in touch besides, a lot of material can be shared and students can realize how useful english can be
Tell what actions you will take as a result of new learning. What are your
next steps (goal-setting)?
this was a good experience to be sure that I like to teach and get ready to do it professionally. I need to improve in some aspects but I am sure with practice I will overcome them.
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