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!

My last class (Basic English)

Well, this was my last class. I would like to say that I am happy, but it is not totally true. I finished my classes with this group, but I will miss the teacher and the students a lot.

Working with Basic groups is amazing because you discover the marvels of teaching. I always remember when I started my major, and that fact makes me remember how my teachers treated me. I had good teachers who helped me a lot when I didn’t get something, and now that I have the opportunity of teaching, I try to be very patient with students. In this last class, I realized that some students didn’t understand some vocabulary, so I gave them one example, but they didn’t get it neither. That’s why tried many things until they got it. At the end, my tutor told me that it was nice because I tried many different ways in order to get my goal. 

This experience gave me a lot of satisfaction because I am learning to work with my brain, my body and my heart. I say with my heart because I am learning to love what I do.
 Now, I don’t feel nervous. I feel anxious because I want to teach again. 

THANKS GOD!

My third class in Basic English

In my third class in Basic English I faced a new situation. I developed a warm up called "scrambled basket," but I had a little problem. The students had to choose a verb in past and memorize their partners' verbs too, but when we were playing the game most of them forgot their partners' verbs. The game turned kind of complicating, but at the end I explained again and all the students developed the activity.

I learned that sometimes I have to think in many possible ways to explain a single activity because maybe the one I am using is not as clear as I think. 

That day, the teacher told me to develop a dictation practice and I have to say that I don’t like those activities at all because I spend many hour looking for an article or important piece of writing. Fortunately, after 4 hours, I found an amazing article which gave students a Little fun. 

Something that happened to me is that I was teaching about the endings of the regular verbs in simple past. I said that we pronounce with /id/ when the verbs end with /k/ /d/. At the end, the teacher asked me “how do you pronounce the this “pronounced”?” In that moment I thought that she wanted to prove me, so I pronounced it with /id/ at the end. After that, I realized that I had made a mistake, but it was too late. She made me remember what I had said about that rule.

From that experience, I learned that I have to trust myself because sometimes people ask me just to see how sure I am about what I am saying.

My second class in Basic English

This time I had to explain the grammar part of the unit six. It was about Adverbs of Frequency. I prepared a lot of material for the class in order to get students attention because some of them are visual, tactile or kinesthetic students.

At the beginning of the class some students looked kind of tired because the class was on Thursday at 5:40, and at that time most of people want to rest. That fact worried me, but I tried to make them wake up by developing some activities in which they have to work in groups to win. After the activity, students were paying more attention and I could develop my class.

That day, I learned that sometimes students can be tired or exhausted because of their daily routines, but the teacher has the power of making them learn and enjoy at the same time.

I had a little problem with the time because I prepared many activities and the time was not enough, so I learned that it is important that we calculate the time.
Because time was not enough, I couldn`t develop the wrap up, so I had to use an activity as practice and as wrap up. At the end, students were enjoying the activity, and the teacher told me that it was good because students were learning and playing at the same time.

THANKS GOD!

“TIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY. YOU CAN GET MORE MONEY, BUT YOU CANNOT GET MORE TIME” By J.M

My first class in Basic English

Well, I started to teach last Monday, and I have many things to say about the class.

This time I was very comfortable because I said: “ If I could deal with Advanced students, I will do it with Basic English ones. ” That thought made me trust in myself, so I felt as if I was the teacher of the course.

At the beginning of the class, I developed the warm up activity, which was “sharks are coming.” Students were very excited when playing the game, and I started to play with them because I knew that it was going to help me to break the ice. Then, I gave them a little quote, which was pasted on the board, and students started to give their points of view about it.

The class was about daily routines and time, and I used the clock and the flash cards I had created in Visual Aids.Students enjoyed the activity because they created a daily routine with the given flashcards, and at the end they had to say the time they do every activity. The great part was that some of the students revealed their secrets, and some of they were saying the time they go to the bathroom, take a shower, brush their teeth, etc, and some of them said that they wake up at 11, go to the bathroom at 11:10 and took a shower at about 1:00 pm. 

During the whole class I tried to help students to understand knew vocabulary because it was essential for the activities. I learned that mimics and pictures are the best friends of teachers because when the students couldn`t  understand a word, I did mimics and showed pictures, so that they could understand. I think that it really worked because all of the students developed the activities in a correct way.

About the wrap up, I can say that I felt very happy because even the teacher was participating and trying to help students. That part was wonderful for me. Ahh, and about the teacher, I can say that she is amazing. She gave me confidence and that was fundamental for the development of my class.

The best part was the grade. I was very happy and eager to continue teaching.

MY LAST CLASS

Some days a go, I started this adventure of teaching in the University, and as I have said in other entries, it has been wonderful for me. This last class was not the exception. For me, this was my best class, and the one which gave me more satisfactions. I introduced the topic about famous cities around the world, and I used the material I had prepared in Audio-visual aids. I had nice flashcards about the topic and they were very useful for me. The teacher told me that the material was excellent, and I noticed that he really liked what I had prepared for the class. Also, I felt very happy because I realized about the importance of preparing material thinking that we are going to use it more than once.

In the class, students were giving their opinions, and they were talking about those famous places. We played and enjoyed the class a lot.
After I finished it, I started to think about the way how I finished my last class; It was totally different to the way I finished my first class. In this opportunity, I wanted more time, and I wanted to continue teaching and sharing with students because I felt part of the group. Then, the teacher congratulated me and told me a lot of good things. That fact motivated me a lot.

I think that the best way to learn is by practicing, and I am sure that at the end of this section I will be a better student and a better teacher.

THANKS GOD