REFLECTIVE JOURNAL #4

SEPTEMBER 28^th

Tenth graders

In this lesson I only had 50 minutes to introduce the present and past passive. I decided to write some examples on the board. Once they finished I made them say the sentences in their native language (Spanish) and also I asked them what aspects in the grammar they could notice in the examples. After clarifying the differences and structures of this grammar topic, they had to complete an exercise in which they had to change the sentences from active to passive. I guided them to do the activity until I could be sure the topic was clear for most of them.

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. With this in mind I cut some papers of two different colors and students had to pick up one which was the color of their team. Once they were in their groups I asked them to tie up their shoe laces with the person next to them. In this way all of them had to create a strategy as a group and eveyone had a special function in the game. They also received a paper with the clues to look for.

The game started. At the beginning the teams struggled to move forward. There were different reactions at the moment of doing the activity. Some of them were excited, laughing; others adopted a figure of leadership to win the game. After 20 minutes all the clues were found and the team with more stratedies applied won the game.

I feel so good when I see my strudents enjoy while they learn. That really makes me think I can do even more things to show a different way of learning English. Nevertheless not everyday you can do this type of activity because of the school policies and curriculum. What is more, I have a textbook to use and my students have to finish it at the end of the school year, so I have to look for the best way to achieve my teaching goals and also the school requirements.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL #3

SEPTEMBER 23rd

This lesson was the third one trying to apply a differentiated instruction through a Virtual learning environment. This time I wanted to engage my students with an interesting topic for them. 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.

Since I wanted to know how much my students could report the past events, and as a way of introducing the topic, I showed them some pictures and they had to tell me what was happening in those images. I could notice they tried to communicate the message, but they didn’t remember the correct conjugation of the verbs in past simple, so I guided them through the right way to say the verbs. Also, they all were paying attention and focused on the activity which meant it was interesting for them.

Later, they started to work in the platform. Since it was a differentiated instruction I didn’t force my students to work individually or in pairs, so they decided who to work with. The only condition was to choose a person with the same color (level of proficiency). In the VLE they found first an introduction of the vocabulary related to soccer, a reading about the history of soccer, a video with an explanation of the past simple, activities to practice the verbs in past simple and vocabulary (crosswords, matching exercises) etc. During the development of these activities I could see my students were very engaged with the video and the crossword puzzle, also, 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. Nevertheless, some students got distracted by their peers and I had to persuade them to be concentrated on the task.

There was also one specific aspect I could see from a pair of students. They divided the activities to do between them, so each one was assigned to do one activity while the other was talking or listening to music. I am not sure how beneficial it could be for my students, but at that moment I suggested them to work together in all the tasks.

The classroom environment was very peaceful and quiet. This time I could notice they didn’t ask for clarification on the instructions as they used to do in previous classes. I guess this happened because I explained the activities at the beginning with an overhead projector and in this way they could understand better the instructions.

The last activity was a project in which my students had to create a mini story telling about a bad experience in a soccer match. From this task I wanted to know how much they had learnt in the lesson. In this part my students also used the online dictionary and translator to build the story.  Some of them were aware of the grammatical structures but some others just focused on the message.

I have to accept not everything was perfect. I had also technical problems with the platform and the activities created but fortunately I could make decisions and fix them quickly. The time planned for the class was enough for doing all the activities. However, there were some students who couldn’t finish the final project because of the time.

I can not expect all my students learn the grammar structures of the past simple and the vocabulary of soccer in a single class. I know they need more time to practice, real life situations, and a context in which they can practice what they have learnt. Consequently I’ll plan one more class to continue practicing until I see my students have a more clear idea of the content.

TEACHER'S JOURNAL #2

SEPTEMBER 16TH 

In this lesson I continued with the topic of music. I wanted my students to express their opinions regarding some famous singers’ daily activities. Since I wanted all of them to participate, I made paper cards with four degree makers:  I like it, I don’t like it, neutral and I hate it. Then I started saying sentences about famous singers and they raised their hand with the paper card showing their opinions. I found this activity very engaging for my students. 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.

After that I gave the instructions of the exercises in the virtual learning environment (VLE) and they started to work. In this lesson, also, they worked in the computer laboratory and they could choose to work individually or in pairs but with a person of the same color. Apparently everything was going fine. Some minutes later I saw my students couldn’t watch the video in the VLE, so I gave them the link of Youtube and in this way they could achieve the activity. One positive aspect I highlight of this type of listening activity is that these students could work at their own pace.

During the development of these activities some difficulties arose so I had to fix them quickly. . 

The last activity was a project. They had four options to choose from taking into account their multiple intelligences.  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.

Some extra activities were posted in case some of them finished before the time expected but it didn’t happen. The time was the appropriate one for the class. For that reason, the class environment was good so I didn’t have complications with the students’ behavior.

If I had the oportunity to teach this lesson again, I would bring more material necessary for all my students and I would try all the exercises in the VLE from a different account to check everything is working well in the platform. In general I can say I feel so happy about the possitive attitudes my students are showing towards these lessons.

TEACHER'S JOURNAL #1

SEPTEMBER 9TH 

This lesson was an interesting one. I have been trying to implement the differentiated instruction with my students in order to let them develop their learning according to their level of readiness, learning styles, multiple intelligences, interests, etc.

The topic of the lesson was urban tribes. First I made them write a mini map of concepts in order to know how much they knew about urban tribes. I could notice some of them had specific ideas but some others didn’t have enough background information. After that I made some groups according to their proficiency level, but with a particularity: they were classified by colors. Yellow, the advanced ones; orange, the intermediate ones and green, the basic students.  They received a worksheet with some exercises to do with their group. All the activities created in that worksheet were related to their opinions regarding music. In this part I could notice most of them were using their English to talk to their partners expressing their preferences.

After that we went to the computer laboratory. A virtual learning environment (VLE) was set for them using the Moodle platform. The computers were classified by the 3 colors previously assigned, so students had the chance to sit in the computer they wanted according to their color and also to work in pairs or individually.

They were asked to develop three activities in the VLE in which they could practice the present simple tense by asking and answering questions to and from their mates, reading and writing.  In this exercise, there were some students very commited to the activity, trying to speak all the time in English while others prefered to ask and answer in their native language (Spanish).The last activity was a project. Students had to choose one of the urban tribes and make a virtual poster writing some information in present simple.

As they were doing the activities I realized some important strategies my students use for the class. First, one of the most used tools for their assignments is the translator. Also, some of them use online dictionaries. Moreover, there were a big number of them who listened to music while doing the exercises.

There were also some constraints in the class. First, the computers didn’t have installed the Microssoft Office program, so I guided them to use another program available in the computer.  I realized some others decided to work on web pages. Additionally, at the moment of uploading the virtual poster some students couldn’t do it because the file was heavier than 1mb allowed by the VLE, so I decided to ask them to send it to my e-mail.  On top of that, the advanced and intermediate students finished the task and started making noise and walking around the classrrom disturbing their classmates.

Fortunately, the class was finishing and I could close the lesson properly. I am sure that this lesson would be different if I had assigned extra activities for the ones who finish the tasks early.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

 MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Some people usually have a clear idea of what to study or do in the future since their childhood or their elementary school. That's not my case. I remember having a passion  for music and sports, and I was good at most of the school subjects, but I hadn't chosen what to do in my future life until something interesting happened. I studied my secondary in a public school and 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, making speaking mistakes (which made me feel embarrased) but now I realised it was a good way of learning. 

This experience made me get more engagement and commitment with my English classes. Aditionally, 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. However, at the moment of deciding what to study in the university, I wasn't sure of studying for being a teacher. 

Some moths after graduating from school I entered the English Licenciatura Undergraduate Program of Universidad Surcolombiana. As I said before, I wasn't totally convinced of being an English teacher; Nevertheless, as I started taking different courses and having interesting experiences, I realized how much I could contribute to the society, and specially children and adolescents. In light of the above, my passion for teaching began to grow. 

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. At the beginning, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of differences with my language, culture, people, weather, food, etc. It took me more than a month to accustom to this place. I felt very frustrated because I didn't understand what they said and I thought I hadn't learned anything in the University, However, with the pass of the time the things started to change and I could improve my English proficiency level, make friends from different parts of the world and know more about other cultures. 

I completed my undergraduated studies in 2010 and the following year I started working as a full time teacher in a Private school called Piaget. I had worked in an English Institute and also in small schools before so I felt I was prepared to take this step. 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.

In 2012 I was hired to the biggest private school in Neiva called Comfamiliar los Lagos, which was a real privilege. There, I had to teach English to secondary students that is what I really liked. I had to take a course of a different methodology they use called the Holistic Approach. There, in that school I could understand I was born to be a teacher. Moreover, I love working with teenagers, because while I teach English, I advise, support, and help my students to deal with all their adolesence issues. On top of that, I'd like to highlight that in that school I met wonderful people, I made real friends who are a very important part of my life. They have helped me grow as a teacher and as a person.

I'm aware being a teacher is a never ending process. you always learn something new...

MY TEACHING METAPHOR

My teaching metaphor

My teaching philosophy is based on my beliefs and my assumptions about learning. In my personal teaching methapor, I view teaching to be engaging and well structured. I have been going through different experiences which have helped me change in many aspects. When I started teaching I adopted a traditional methodology. With the pass of the time I've been shaping my teaching practices. Now, I am more open minded. In my classes, I encourage a respectful environment in which the students' opinions and ideas are welcomed. Also, music, games and technology take important part in my EFL lessons. Sometimes I tend to focus a lot on grammar and textbooks.What is more, I am a very strict teacher who enforces rules and discipline....sometimes bossy and moody, but I am doing my best on being a better person and teacher every day.