1. UNLPam – Facultad de CienciasHumanas
PRÁCTICA EDUCATIVA II
(Didactics of ELT and Practicum at Primary School Level)
Blanco Gallego, Fátima
Practical N° 20
Reflections on my Practicum
A. What was the biggest challenge you met during the practicum?
One of the biggest challenges I faced during my practicum was classroom
management. The fact that my class was very talkative combine with the anxiety
generated by the ingredient of being the last module on Friday afternoon made me
feel frustrated sometimes. There were some days in which the “silence, please” or
“children” were not enough. The students continued talking without paying attention
to any word I uttered. Nevertheless, I decided to use another method that I
remembered I have read in the theory: I clapped my hands and it worked! Most of
the children were quiet, and the ones that continued talking were asked to be quiet
for their own classmate.
Another challenge I had to face was find interesting complementary
activities related to the topic that we were teaching: “Family” and that these
activities were suitable for the level the children have. Most of the time, my partner
and I ended up writing our own texts because the ones we found were too complex
for the children. That was another problem too. Sometimes, we even find it difficult
to low our level of English when writing.
B. Which of the lessons taught did you enjoy most? Why? What did the
students do?
The most enjoyable lesson was the last one I taught. When I arrived at
school I was very nervous and excited as well. That Friday, children were
supposed to bring their projects ready to present them orally. Thus, I was afraid
that children may have forgotten to bring their posters. Fortunately, as soon as we
walked towards the classroom, some children run towards us cheerfully saying
“Teacher, teacher, mirá” as they showed us their productions. Feeling a sweet
relief I entered into the classroom. By this time, I was more confident and more
relaxed. I started by greeting the students and then asking if they had brought their
posters. Just a couple of students raised their hands. I asked one girl to present
her poster first, and she agreed. She walked to the front of the class where I was,
and then she started reading her poster. When she finished I said “Excellent! Very
good!” and clapped my hands enthusiastically and so did the rest of the students.
There were two or three children that did not want to speak in front of their
classmates so, I read and showed the poster for them to the rest of the class.
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2. UNLPam – Facultad de CienciasHumanas
PRÁCTICA EDUCATIVA II
(Didactics of ELT and Practicum at Primary School Level)
Blanco Gallego, Fátima
When we finished with the incredible presentations, I congratulated students
for the hard work. While we were preparing the materials for the listening, the
children started to talk loudly. I tried to calm them down but they did not pay
attention to me neither to my partner. I switched to Spanish hoping to have better
results. And something didhappen. One child corrected me. He said “Teacher,
chicos no. Children” I was shocked because he had noticed the change. Evidently,
I was really cheerful. After that, the children behaved perfectly. We could listen to
the song twice but the most important thing was that children not only listened to
the song but also they understood it. This was noticeable when I asked students
questions related to the song such us “What is the song about? Is it about a pet?
What is the mother’s name? Is Holly the sister?” Also, they were able to solve the
activities without any doubts.
C. What evidence of students’ learning did you perceive? How did you
record it?
On the posters, children were supposed to write about their favourite idols
(his/her name, age and if he/she has a son/daughter, brother, etc.)In this way, they
could put everything into practice because students had to write the sentences on
their posters and then read them orally. Besides, during the listening
comprehension activity I asked students “¿Para qué se usaba el she/he?” in order
to prompt metalinguistic awareness.
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