Some reflections of secondary practicum

1. Taller de Practica Docente
FINAL REFLECTION
Trainee's name: Liza Alejandra Oviedo Báez
Practicum Period: Noviembre
School's name: Colegio María Auxiliadora
Course: Secondary
SECONDARY FINAL REFLECTION
Teaching adolescents nowadays is one of the most challenging tasks to be done; especially taking
into account the enormous effort they might or might not put into their learning process.
Fortunately, I have been teaching adolescents for more than 3 years which made the experience
much more worthy. The idea of just having this background support is extremely comforting and
made the practicum period less stressful and more enjoyable. So, the aim of this experience was
focused on changing some habits when teaching and including more of other strategies to work
betterinclass.
All the activities proposed were thought on the main characteristics of the group and the different
learning styles they presented. The most important aspect I have considered was their
independence and ability to think abstractly in order to design activities according to the tasks
they needed to achieve. Moreover, some of the teaching strategies it could be mentioned
included aspects like being supportive for engaging them on the tasks, stimulating peer
interaction, praising good behaviors and academic improvement. Moreover, by creating a pleasant
environment students were more comfortable to share their work in front of their peers and in
front of the teachers. Activities such as games, moving around the class, using technology, telling
meaningful stories and avoiding lectures were very positive for their learning experience. Students
were able toshowinterest,enthusiasmandagoodattitude whenworking.
In order to develop thisexperience, it was necessary to develop some skills taking in consideration
the age of the students and their preferences. For instance, most of them wanted to work more
with speaking activities in which they could interact with their classmates and help each other
when speaking the language. Other skills to be developed were focused on the multiple
intelligences found in the class, so the strategies applied were flexible, authentic and student
centered, all these aspects intended to match the way they learn, for instance, we were able to
read articles from famous people’s lives, listen some songs of a particular band, role play, speak
and interact,classifyinformation,etc.
As a trainee teacher, I could see the important roles teachers play when guiding teenagers. It
should be known that unexpected emotions can appear and inhibit their learning functions and

2. their brain functions can also react negatively. Another thing to be considered is to find an
appropriate way to give feedback and improve student’s confidence when doing the tasks. Even
the time when they make a stepping stone is important to be considered like a big effort when
acquiring a second language. I can also add that the most interesting part about teaching
adolescents is interacting with them, from my personal point of view I have to say that a teacher
being involved with the students by taking some time for interacting with them, socializing and
making them feel important can truly connect teachers and students and create a better
environmentinthe classroom.
This experience may affect my future pedagogic decisions in such a way that I have to be very
flexible for using new methodologies, explore a topic in depth, anticipate the possible factors that
can affect negatively a classroom environment, provide meaningful input, build opportunities to
interact in class, etc. The other aspect to take into account is to try to always integrate all the
learning styles so that every student can feel comfortable and motivated when doing the activities.
According to Sara Coble Simmons (2001) people learn best through active participation and
involvement and by reflecting upon what they have learnt, that is why is important to see
ourselvesaslearnersandtothinkif our classroommethodologieswouldattractme as a learner.
To sum up, teaching is always learning, not only about methodologies and strategies but is about
learning how to communicate with people, how to manage class in difficult situations, how to help
others, etc. Learning as well as teaching is adapting ourselves into changes and advances, to help
students construct new knowledge and to be involve in every aspect that may affect them as
studentsandas a humanbeing.