My last class (Intermediate English II)

This was a class full of feelings. I was happy because I was going to finish the first session of teaching practicum, but I was thinking that I was going to miss those students. 

That day, I arrived early to the class, and I started to talk to some students that were there.  I gave them some advice, and I confessed how happy I was because they were learning a lot.  I tried to encourage them to continue doing their best because I could see an enormous potential on them. 

I felt happy because of them, for I saw that they had a good level of English and a positive attitude toward the language. I think that the education they are receiving nowadays is better than the one I received when I was in that level, and that fact becomes a wonderful advantage for these coming professionals.

Well, I have to stop talking about my feelings.

The class…

That last class was an unforgettable experience for me. Students worked beautifully and they were enjoying the class as I did. We were talking about reported speech and students were competing between each other. They always like to demonstrate that boys are superior to girls or girls are superior to boys. I think that it is normal because they are teens. Then, I explained them some important details of reported speech and that helped them to understand everything. After that, I developed oral and written exercises and all students did the practice in the correct way.

 

I finished the class sharing some thoughts that could help them in their lives. All of them looked interested in my words ,and they told me how glad they felt. I was about to cry, but I just said “thanks.” They were clapping, and I decided to say “bye” and to go out to swallow my feelings.

THANKS GOD!

 MY THIRD CLASS

Well, this was a new experience for me. I had to start the class, but the teacher was out of the classroom, and I wanted to ask him about the Cd for the listening activity that I had prepared and that he had to bring. The teacher told me “start the class,” and I was wondering if he was going to give me the Cd. 

I started the class, and we had a great warm up. I enjoyed it a lot, and I am sure that students did it too, but I was still thinking about the Cd jiji.

I developed my agenda and when I arrived to the listening part, I asked the teacher “do you have the Cd?” He told me “avoid the listening, just continue.” In that moment, I felt something hot in all my body because I had prepared around 4 activities for that listening, and I had divided the time per each one. 

In my agenda, after the listening, I had just a mini debate, so I decided to go ahead with that activity. The debate was great for me, but I had to add questions that I hadn´t planned to ask. That situation made me talk more than what I had planned. The thing is that I had to use the time of the activities that I couldn´t develop. I am sure that students enjoyed the activity, but I didn´t want it to be like that. 

In the feedback, the teacher told me that in debates I don´t have to talk too much because the purpose is that students talk. In that moment, I felt something hot again, and I explained him that I had to do that because he didn´t give me the Cd for the listening.

Fortunately, I survived and any student realized that I was in a pickle. 

Thanks Lord!

MY SECOND CLASS

INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH

The class started with a competence between boys and girls because they like to compete a lot. They were full of energy, and nobody wanted to stop playing. I was very excited too, but I had to stop the game. 

In the class, students were transforming sentences from passive to active voice. I realized that students had a positive attitude toward the language and most of them were taking notes about single details. They were asking about new vocabulary and participating in every single activity. Those things made me feel happy because students appreciated my job. 

After that, I gave students some sentences that must be completed by them, and some students finished very quickly whereas others were still working. I waited for some more minutes, but they hadn´t finished yet, so I decided to start checking the answers. 

When I received the feedback, the teacher told me that I had to give more time to develop the activities because some students work very slow. I agreed and told the teacher that I was going to consider that observation for next classes.

Intermediate English

 

During this period I have been working with different groups: First, with advanced students; then, with Basic students. In this opportunity, I feel as if I am in the middle because I am teaching Intermediate English students.  I started my practice last Monday with a very special group. They have great attitudes toward the language and that makes me think that they are there because they want to learn. 

At the beginning, I saw that some students were looking at me in a strange way because they were not used to see me there, so I tried to do my best to transmit confidence.  I started the class with a quote “the best way to succeed is by acting on the advice you give to others,” and most of students shared their experiences and ideas. It worked as an ice breaker. Then, I continued with a warm up that made all students laugh. They were happy, especially boys, because they won the game.

I realized that the first impression that students have about the class and the teacher, is fundamental for the correct development of the following activities. 

During the class, I had to talk to some students because they were doing different things that didn’t have to do with the class. Example: Some boys were eating cookies, so I told them “mmm cookies are delicious, but you don’t share them with the teacher.” I tried to do it in a funny way, but they understood that they didn’t have to do it, so they kept their cookies. There was also a girl sending messages. I got near her and told her “Ahh!  You are sending messages to me. Let me check my cellphone.”  I was smiling, but the girl told me “I am sorry teacher, I won’t do it anymore.” With those experiences, I learned that we can correct students without being offensive or aggressive.

At the end, when my tutor gave me the feedback, he told me that I don’t have to ask, under any circumstance, if students understood the topic or the studied structure. He told me that teachers do not have to do that, and I did it. In my case, students gave me good answers because when I asked them, they told me to explain certain points. Anyway, I will take that into consideration in order to be a better teacher. 

Thanks God!