INTERVENTION POINT 

Constant use of the mother language to develop the activities.

Journal 1

"...others prefered to ask and answer in their native language (Spanish)"

"one of the most used tools for their assignments is the translator"

Journal 2

"The ones who didn’t understand what I was saying asked to the person next to them and in this way all of them were involved in the activity".

Journal 3

"In this part my students also used the online dictionary and translator to build the story". 

"...the ones who worked in pairs negotiated meaning and answers between them which is a good strategy and others worked using the translator and online dictionaries"

I think it is a problem for me because during my classes I encourage my students to use their English. Nevertheless, some of them never try to do it because of different reasons. A good example can be the speaking activities; while I'm supervising their group, they try to use English and as soon as I turn around to go to other group, I listen to my students talking in Spanish. 

ACTION PLAN

I suggest two possible ways to solve this type of difficulty. First, I would give them more tools to use for their speaking activities. Maybe if they have enough input and speaking strategies, they might use them and start talking in the foreign language. Second, I would carry out a mini-action research project in which I could identify the roots of this issue and implement some strategies for my students to foster their speaking skill.

EXPLORING TEACHERS' BELIEFS  
1. What beliefs or assumptions about language learning and language teaching have you held throughout your English language development and your teacher career?

Teaching should involve engagement and joy.

-“I view teaching to be engaging and well structured”. (Metaphor narrative)

-“Based on their responses in a survey of interests taken previously, soccer was part or their appealing topics.  With this in mind, the entire lesson was created in relation to this sport connected to past events.” (Journal 3)

-“I wanted my students to practice what they had learnt in a contextualized and exciting way. Also I needed them to work together and build bonds as a group so I created a game of treasure hunt”. (Journal 4)

The classroom environment influences the learning process.

-“I encourage a respectful environment in which all the students’ opinions and ideas are welcomed”. (Metaphor narrative)

-“The classroom environment was very peaceful and quiet” (Journal 3)

Music, games and technology are useful resources for the language learning process.

-“Music, games and technology take important part in my EFL lessons”. (Metaphor narrative)

-“You have had very interesting classes in which you have shown that the use of technology in a classroom is very positive.” (Ana Zuñiga’s comment on my Journal 2)

There should  be a good behavior in the classroom (discipline).

-“I am a very strict teacher who enforces rules and discipline”. (Metaphor narrative)

-“some students got distracted by their peers and I had to persuade them to be concentrated on the task”. (Journal 3)

Teaching is an lifelong process of learning every day.

-“I am doing my best on being a better person and teacher every day”. (Metaphor narrative)
- "I'm aware being a teacher is a never ending process. You always learn something new..." (My autobiography) 

Enriching experiences encourage motivation on learning.

-“I was in 8th grade where an American girl came to study. She sat next to me and I was fascinated with the idea of having a "gringa student" in my class. Since then, we became good friends and I tried to communicate with her in English all the time. This experience made me get more engagement and commitment with my English classes”. (My autobiography)
-"My English teacher played  a crucial role on my motivation because she was very resourceful, creative, organized. All this encouraged me to love English even more”. (My autobiography)
-"As one of the most enriching experiences I had was a trip to the United States. I worked as a Camp Counselor in Fresno-California for 3 months”. (My autobiography)
-"During that year I had to teach English to 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders which was a challenge for me to lead both primary and secondary English lessons. It was also an enriching experience because I could learn more about being organized and supportive with my students.” (My autobiography)

-“Something similar happens to our students so that we as teachers must do our best to offer students good, positive and amazing learning experiences that shape their minds and lives in a positive way”.  (Sergio Hurtado’s comment on my autobiography)

- “I personally think your experiences have led you to be a great professional”. (Hans Oviedo’s comment on my autobiography)

Teacher should provide opportunities to their students for fostering learning.

-“A letter, a podcast, a comic strip or a blog were the ways they could use to talk with a famous singer and ask him/her about the frequency of the activities they do on their daily basis. I realized most of them decided to create a letter while others chose the comic strip. I felt very happy to see their attitudes towards the activity which was opened to their preferences.” (Journal 2)

-“I wanted my students to practice what they had learnt in a contextualized and exciting way. Also I needed them to work together and build bonds as a group so I created a game of treasure hunt.” (Journal 4)
2. What sources have you derived those beliefs or assumptions from?
Taking into account Freeman's (1992a) ideas, cited in Richards & Lockhart (2004), "teachers' beliefs about learning may be based on their training, their teaching experience, or may go back to their own experience as language learners".  During my life, there have been many stages in which I've acquired my own beliefs. First as a language learner, then as a teacher and now as a master's candidate. This last stage has been the most remarkable one for me because I've made many changes on my methodology since I started my masters studies. Every reading, lecture and class session have influenced on my thoughts and assumptions about teaching and learning.
3. How would you challenge some of those beliefs?
I'm pretty sure my role as a teacher is crucial to empower or disempower my students. In light of this, I would challenge my beliefs through reflection. As Deus Pinheiro (2004) states, "..because the personal emotional structure of the teacher has such an important impact on the learning process, it is necessary that teachers reflect on their actions and experiences as human beings and professionals..". Along similar lines he suggests "Reflection on personal experience is a must for anyone who wishes to be the best they can be!". Bearing the above in mind, this process of reflection is a challenge to shape my assumptions in order to be a better teacher and human being.

References: 
DEUS PINHEIRO, J. (2004). Self observation. A teacher Development Approach. Glosas didácticas, 11, pp. 192-206.
RICHARDS, J. & LOCKHART, C. (2004). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Clasroom. New York: Cambridge University Press.

CONCEPTUALIZING TEACHING ACTS

1. What do you usually do as a teacher? With what kind of rationale?

At the moment of planning my classes, I always think of my students, their differences as language learners, their preferences, intelligences and learning styles. After this, I try to implement a lesson in which my students can have an opportunity to live new experiences while learning. Now I'm trying to implement cooperative work but it requires some skills and time to achieve good results. Also, I try to create an environment in which everyone is responsible of his/her own learning, where everyone is free to share his/her ideas and to receive comments and suggestions from others.

2. What is your mind engagement like in the professional exercise of teaching?

I really like to be always learning something new to apply to my classes. Teaching is not a static process and sometimes we as teachers tend to remain in our confort zone. Since I'm very interested in technology, I usually read newspapers, articles and books which offer me useful information to learn and apply in my classes. Also, I love trying out many applications and online pages to engage my students.

3. How would you characterized your professional, personal and experiential knowledge of teaching?

I've learnt from different sources. The university, schools and institutes where I have worked have contributed substantially to shape my knowledge, methodologies, beliefs and thoughts. Also, experiences from other people have helped me be more open-minded and aware of this profession.The most important source of information, for me, is by reading. When I read, I can have a big understanding of many issues related to different areas. 

4. How do you see the relationship between theory, research and practice?

Theory, research and practice are all interrelated. Research is one of the most important aspects because through this, you can get theories which are the basis for our teaching practices. When teachers have the opportunities to do research, they are able to explore many fields of study and arrive to conclusions on certain aspects of education. Hence, teachers will be enriched with more theories to adapt to their teaching daily practices.

5. To what extent is there a cause-effect relationship between teaching and learning?

Teaching and learning are reciprocal. As a teacher, every time I go to the classroom I learn from my students. Likewise, it is important to say that it is necessary to acquire certain knowledge first to teach/share with anyone. We can learn from many sources of information, people and experiences, not only on formal classes. Along similar lines, we teach not only in a classroom; we teach through being a model for others, by sharing experiences, etc.

BELIEFS

• ENGLISH

Since we are not an English-speaking country, this language has been highlighted as one the most important and used language in the world. That is, because of the development of transportation, businesses, turism and education, more and more people feel the necessity of communicating in this foreign language.
From my perspective as an English teacher, this language has given me the opportunity to travel abroad, to meet wonderful people and to grow as a person and as a professional.

• LEARNING

When we think of learning people associate it with schools, institutes and/or universities. Learning starts from birth and continues throughout the life. You can learn from different situations, experiences, people; not only from teachers. Moreover, we learn in different ways and at our own pace depending on many factors, for instance, our multiple intelligences, insterests, learning styles, etc.

• TEACHING

Teaching is a demanding task. it is very related to learning. As I suggested before, you can teach not only in a school, you teach values, concepts and experiences to people in different situations. As a profession, it was designed to certain types of people. There are thousands of teachers, but not all of them teach. It requires some special characteristics like creativity, resourcefulness, patience, responsibility, commitment and sensibility among others.

• LANGUAGE TEACHING

Language teaching is an "excuse" to inmerse our students into the world. Through this, you can teach culture, math, history, geography, technology, sports, and many other things in a creative way. I can firmly state this is one of the fields in education in which you can select many ways to engage your students. Nevertheless, the results of this teaching and learning process are often long term. That is, because learners need time to develop their skills similarly as they acquired their native language.